Depression and Yeast

GERD: Yeast, the North [and the South] end of the GI Tract.

In a recent post over at the Ultrametabolism Blog Dr Hyman discusses an often overlooked aspect of the GI and Brain connection. GERD = Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease – heartburn and depression, -more details on the Bullet Proof Liver. Yeast can poison the entire body, from gut to brain.

In the spirit of full disclosure I will tell you at the outset that I have a delightful, tho occasional, working relationship with Dr Mark Hyman, author of two interesting books on many of the subjects covered here. He's on the front end of change in medicine today, and puts complex chronic, apparently incurable conditions into a workable context medically.

I've heard him speak many times, and strongly recommend that if you have the chance to see him on a PBS fund raising presentation, or he comes to your town, he is an easy guy to spend the day with, and is loaded with useful, innovative information. Past Medical Director of the Canyon Ranch Spa in Lenox, MA, Hyman is an evidenced-based scientist and office clinician who works everyday with the most challenging cases.

Just a few words to pique your curiosity about his excellent piece:

Do you think symptoms like these could be relevant for our discussion of why SSRIs don't work? These “mental symptoms” are associated with chronic yeast infections. See Hyman's post for the numerous other medical issues with yeast overgrowth, often secondary to chronic use of antibiotics.

Depression
Irritability
Inability to concentrate
Exhaustion

With a yeast infection, giving SSRIs can actually make the person deteriorate. The yeast overgrowth often brings constipation, down-regulates the liver's ability to metabolize our psych meds, and the meds we give for depression can directly increase the pre-existing toxicity of the yeast infection!

And from a clinical point of view, don't forget that drugs such as Valium and Xanex, as well as Buspar and even birth control pills can significantly contribute to drug interactions with antifungal agents. Antifungals can back these up making a person appear drunk, or even neurologically impaired. So if you do use an antifungal, think about the other drugs you are taking.

You can follow up with Cozza, et al on page 227 [most antifungals block CYP 3A4] for the details if you are interested in that interaction. All those others mentioned here are 3A4 substrates, and can't pass that blockage caused by the antifungal.

How do I know? Been there.