oh!

:(

Hmmm. I actually don't follow the LDN (low dose naltrexone) 'community' so I'm not sure what happens when people on HIV meds take it. I just know what some other Lyme patients have to say about it, which is a different set of immune system issues, often involving some inflammation and some autoimmune effects along with suppression of some other immune functions, rather than just suppression of various immune function.

I think that some adaptogens like eleuthero, schizandra, etc essentially help re-orchestrate some of your immune function (perhaps not in an immune system disease like HIV but probably with other less severe imbalances). The idea is that this effect reins in some overactive inflammatory products of the immune system and raises production of other immune system chemicals if they are depressed for some reason.

I think there's been a lot of research on this in the past (such as all the Russian research on eleuthero in the 1960's including very long-range studies on thousands of people) and much of it shows that people fend off seasonal colds and flu better after a period of time taking adaptogens, and withstand stress (like loud/stressful work environments) and are in measurably better immune function.

I have held up to colds and flu better when on adaptogens. My only major noticable LDN success, and it's a huge one, is the fact that I stopped getting frequent yeast infections when I went on it, and that seems to change whenever I get off of it for a few weeks. the additional interesting thing about eleuthero specifically is that I htink it raises adrenal function, which is a fairly specific effect to think about when assessing it's effects. You may have more energy for reasons other than immune ones.

I think that even for people who don't have serious immune system 'diagnoses' like HIV or Lyme, a serious problem with recurring candida may indicate that some kind of immune system function is out of balance. That's assuming that bad diet isn't the problem.

I also did some reading trying to find what info exists about passing vaginal candida back and forth among hetero sex partners (or toys for that matter). There was a small study that showed that instead there was a small correlation between recurring candida and people who used saliva as lube during parter or solo sex, which I thought was interesting. Some lubes that contain glycerine (which many do) can irritate some people's bodies and promote candida. I think I heard (didnt' read anything to confirm) that vaginal candida overgrowth is made worse if you've got vaginal irritation for some other reason, such as poor lubrication (and candida leads to poor lubrication, itself) so I think these are all issues to consider for women who get recurring vaginal candida. Since men often dont' show symptoms, some people suggest that vaginal candida that's resistant to treatment may sometimes be a re-infection of a female by her male sex partner, and I' ve heard of doctors treating both partners with systemic antifungals sometimes when this sort of recurrance despite treatment occurs. Or, of course, using condoms and thinking about whether the saliva issue is a factor may be helpful.