In all honesty, you guys, when I read about this stuff I thought it sounded like snake oil. It’s supposed to do what? Then, I got the worst rash of my entire life last winter: it was so painful I couldn’t sleep for more than 3 hours at a time before it woke me up.
I’ve always had sensitive skin, and I got careless and used my husband’s Old Spice deodorant once, and next thing you know, my pits were on fire. I could tell that yeast was a major player, which made sense because I’d been on amoxicillin a few weeks before (for a UTI it didn’t cure: cayenne pepper killed that). It wouldn’t have been so bad if only I hadn’t tried Monistat on it, but how was I to know I was allergic to that, too? It immediately got exponentially worse, and even coconut oil with minced raw garlic steeped in it could barely keep up.
I was in a lot of pain, and wearing old rag shirts because I absolutely reeked of garlic. It was a rough winter…I have pictures, but I’ll spare you.
Anyway, a friend of mine who’s a retired nurse suggested activated charcoal. I’d heard of it and thought it sounded totally kooky, but by then I was desperate to get a full night’s sleep…and stop smelling like the morning after the night before at an Italian restaurant. I also thought it would be rather nice to wear real clothes and leave the house again.
I ordered a bag of loose charcoal from Amazon, and then didn’t even use it for the first 2 days I had it, because it was going to be such a mess and I’d have to lie around with no shirt on and a towel under me and then take a shower so I didn’t get wet charcoal everywhere…all of which made me feel awfully foolish when I finally tried it.
It tingled fiercely for about 30 seconds, and then within a few minutes I felt the perpetual itch begin to subside. By the time it had been on there for an hour, it didn’t itch and didn’t hurt anymore. When I rinsed it off, it had gone from a medium red to light pink, and the inflammation was gone. After a few applications, the virulent rash that haunted me for a month had vanished.
It’s safe to say I’m now a fan of the stuff.
What does this have to do with UTI’s, you ask? Well, nothing. It has no direct effect on your bladder.
Activated charcoal is like a magnet that travels through your gut, sucking up anything in your gut that isn’t nailed down. This means that it will vacuum Candida right off your intestinal walls, and it adsorbs the toxins released when other things, (like the olive leaf extract you’re taking for your UTI) kill Candida. Sounds weird, right? If I hadn’t seen it suck Candida out of my skin like a boss, I wouldn’t believe it, either. I’ve already explained about Candida die-off and the link between recurring UTI’s and intestinal Candida, and I don’t want to sound like one of those hokey sites that wants you to buy their book to discover how your life can revolve around this stuff from now on, so I’ll just give you the most important things to know about using it:
- You have to take charcoal with water only, and it must be taken in the middle of a 4 hour fasting window. Wait 2 hours after you eat and take supplements, take the charcoal, and then wait two more hours before taking or eating anything else. Drink plenty of water with it; charcoal needs water to work.
- Don’t take it if you’re constipated. I repeat, do not take it if you’re constipated. Ideally, you kill enough Candida with OLE or ginger/cinnamon tea to be having loose bowels, and then you start taking charcoal.
- Charcoal is the single most effective way to rid your gut of Candida and the UTI-causing pathogens it harbors, because the other things you take to kill Candida get absorbed into your system at some point, and never kill the Candida in your lower intestines. Because charcoal is never absorbed, passing all the way through you like fiber, it removes the Candida that nothing else touches.
- You want to take biggish doses of this stuff, at least 1/2 tsp per dose. With the 280 mg capsule size charcoal is often sold in, you’d have to take about 10 at a time to get 1/2 tsp, and most bottles have only 100 capsules. That’s a mere 10 doses, so the loose powder form is much, much more cost effective. Be sure to seal the bag back up tightly after each use.
- For skin infections, mix charcoal powder with just enough water to make a thick wet paste, like black grits. Spread it over the affected area and cover with something in order to keep it wet, like a piece of waxed paper. Charcoal has to be kept wet to work. Do not apply to open, broken skin or the tiny pieces will get in there and stay, like a tattoo. Lay a moist coffee filter over the area, in that case, and put the wet charcoal on top of that: it will still work.
[…] in water first thing in the morning, and half that between meals during the day, if needed. Follow the timing instructions carefully. Activated charcoal must be taken with water, 2 hours away from any food, supplements, or meds. It […]
I’ve been doing the quick and dirty cleanse for the charcoal and am on day 2. I swear some of it is coming out in my urine. Is this a thing that can happen? Should it be concerning? I just don’t want to be hurting my ureters or anything…
Thanks!
No, charcoal stays in the digestive tract, like fiber.
What are you seeing, exactly?
Have you taken a clean catch sample for a closer look?
I didn’t see the grains of it but like a dark gray little cloud almost – kinda like when you disturb the charcoal in water. I can’t think of what else that would be…
I’d follow the procedure for a clean catch next time, and see.
Ok. I’ve only seen it the one time so maybe I was seeing something else. I’ll try to just clean catch most of my pee so if I think I see it again I can get a better read
I also was wondering- is it possible to pee out Candida too? There’s a few times now I’ve seen what looks like some white lumpy stuff in the bowl from peeing but pee results are negative for blood or even white blood cells really.
Oh yes, Candida can grow in the kidneys, and things like OLE and the celery/lemon/ginger juice blend kill it and flush it out.
It looks like shredded tissue paper, mostly.
Sometimes there can be irritation and a leuks spike right before it shows up, and sometimes it just surprises you.
It typically happens right after a charcoal cleanse, and/or after starting on the juice.
Ok. I wasn’t able to do the celery juice concoction yet because I’ve had a busy weekend. But I have been doing the OLE/cayenne/garlic with some ginger tea and lemon water all day for a week now, and am on day 2 of the Q & D charcoal cleanse. And yeah there’s def been some irritation before every time it’s happened.
So that’s encouraging. I’ve been taking a little bit of magnesium silicate at night to make sure I have a good movement or am about ready to before I take the charcoal. The only thing that really made me go heavy otherwise was the Ascorbic vitamin c but that was a bad idea because it hurt my progress so I stopped. I do plan on kinda doing a grand finale next weekend of the juice with the tail end of the Q&D Cleanse- hopes that nukes it all finally 🙂
The juice after charcoal cleansing will get right to work in your kidneys and bladder!
It sounds like you’re doing great…are you doing lemon juice shots with meals? (Sorry if you’ve mentioned that and it’s escaping me: I can’t scroll up and review previous comments in the app while I’m replying)
Those shots usually keep things moving along nicely, and they cleanse the liver and break down kidney stones as well, if there are any.
I am doing lemon shots with meals! I was just about to add horseradish root to the regimen as I just got a grater. That’s 1/2 tsp with meals right? Should it be instead of garlic or taken with it?
Thanks for all your input so far!
Awesome!
If that hasn’t ever gotten you loose, I’d try taking a second shot for a couple of days to get things chugging along nicely while you take charcoal.
Yes, half a teaspoon mid-way through meals along with a shot of lemon juice: it’s great that you’re starting on it after you’ve taken some charcoal; that maximizes the benefit to the bladder.
It’s easiest to swallow it by pinching the grated flesh together and taking it with a mouthful of milk; those oils are pungent. 😂
OK. great.
Do I keep doing garlic too? I wasn’t sure.
I did grate up some horseradish last night and put it in capsules (about 2 equals 1/2 tsp), but i think i need to dry it out or something? because the moisture still in the root seems to be dissolving the capsules lol
The horseradish replaces the garlic, and *should be consumed right after grating*, or mixed into something fatty to stabilize it, like mashed avocado.
OH. ok. I thought I read somewhere recommending putting it in capsules due to the potential for puking? maybe that was something else?
capsules were good for me because i work and can’t freshly grind horseradish but maybe i can keep some in a small jar- you said mixed with avocado would stabilize it?
Truth be told my tongue could use a break from the garlic so this is good news! lol
It can be put in capsules, but then those capsules need to be taken immediately. They’re not meant to hold anything wet.
Mixed into mashed avocado and stored in the fridge at work would be great; fats buffer the oils and mitigate the taste, which was why I took it with a swallow of milk. I couldn’t even taste it, going down.
Got it. Thanks!
After three courses of antibiotics and all sorts of other things like essential oils, I’m doing the OLE and the Charcol. Bought Activated Charcol which is 500 msg per serving. How many of these servings should I be taking?
Hi, I am a 56 yr old female. I have battled Candida on and off my whole life having surgery as a premie for intestinal deformity and put on antibiotics. I have had bladder- yeast infections many times treated with antibiotics and nystatin then switched to herbals and probiotics and sometimes the Candida diet. I’ve had many years of remission of bladder- vaginal yeast only to have it manifest in other areas like oral thrush and chronic constipation to where I have to do enema or colonic to have a good BM. Lots of mucus in my stool. A decade ago I developed IC and food sensitivities to where there were only a few foods I could tolerate. After 2 years of trying everything I discovered LDA Therapy which gave me back many food’s and put the IC into remission for 3 years although I still had constipation and bouts of oral thrush. This past year I’ve had a ridiculous amount of stress i.e., my husband had a heart attack, 3 of his family members were diagnosed with cancer, my mom developed dementia, and my brother broke his back. My food intolerance returned with painful trapped gas, nausea, dizziness, and flu like aches. I started the LDA Therapy (low dose antigen shots) again but after a year of treatment, I’m not getting as much relief as I did from them before. Recently I’ve had 2 UTI’s with bloody urine in 6 weeks. With the first one I went to doctor but she didn’t culture it only gave me bactrim. I had a horrible gut reaction of cramping and bloating with 1st dose so was switched to amoxicillin. (I’m very sensitive to most medication and even herbals). I took a probiotic along with it. The antibiotic caused an IC flare that lasted 2 weeks. I was still feeling flu like and now have another UTI with back pain confirmed by AZO test strip positive for leukocytes, neg for nitrates. I do not want to take antibiotics. Took d-mannose along with oil of oregano 5x a day for 4 days and bleeding stopped after 2nd dose. Felt some relief of bladder symptoms but had horrible flu like symptoms with head ache and joint aches, dizziness and oral thrush. On 4th day test strip still had a little bit of purple and I still had burning bladder. I switched to OLE 500mg 20% oleuropein. 3 doses of that and die off symptoms now include painful bloating so I will back down on dosage. I found your blog and read your protocol. I’d like to try it but I’m allergic to lemons and whole cloves of garlic make me vomit. Are there any alternatives? Can I do a colonic instead of the magnesium before I take the charcoal? Is there a protocol for someone who is hyper sensitive like me?
Any help would be so appreciated,
Renee
Hi,
Wondering if you have any other suggestions for products that ship outside of the US. Or, some tips on what makes it a good product especially for more complicated ones like the Charcoal. Im in Canada and all these would not ship to me:
– Coconut Activated Charcoal Powder, Large 8 Oz. Ultra Fine
– Jarrow Formulas Shelf-Stable Fem-Dophilus, 1 Billion Organisms Per Capsule, Supports Vaginal and Urinary Tract Health, 60 Capsules
-Nature’s Way – Pau D’Arco Inner Bark, 545 mg, 180 capsules
– Swanson Super Strength Olive Leaf Extract 750 mg – 60 Caps (2 Pack)
– Ultimate Flora Women’s Care Probiotic Supplement Vegetable Capsules – 2 boxes of 30 caps
I’ll continue to look for them from other places that will ship, but I know that the Charcoal Brand is hard to get – even from their website it’s a 20$ shipping fee to here.
Thanks!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this wealth of information! I have been battling recurrent uti’s for 15 yrs, and I’m desperate now, as the last one will not leave. I’m on day 4 of your plan and liking the results very much. How long after a clear urine test can one start consuming the items you mentioned to avoid? I eat a lot of fruit on a mostly raw diet and take vitamin C for allergies.
Keep going until a first morning’s test has been crystal clear for three days running (watch it past the 2 minute mark) and then slowly begin to taper down a little every day, like you built up. Keep staying away from irritants until a week after that first clear test, then slowly add things back into your diet one at a time.
Keep up the good work, and let me know how it goes!
Hi, I have been really enjoying your information. I was in horrible pain over 4th of July and ended up in urgent care. Of course antibiotics were prescribed but I going to do your regimen, 1st day today. I stopped the antibiotics after 4 days. The doctor called today and said he found Staph and enterococcus. I didn’t see anything different for this difficult strain to get rid of. Will the same regimen work on Enterococcus?
Yes, OLE and garlic are both excellent against those bacteria! Cayenne won’t do much for you, so you can skip that or take it at half strength.
Thank you again for your response. I have follow up questions. I’m not taking vitamin C like you explained but I do take Cinnamon, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Chromium, Potassium, Magnesium, these are for blood sugar and blood pressure balance and they really help. I stopped my multivitamin temporarily because of the vitamin C. Are there any other vitamins or minerals I should avoid right now besides Vitamin C? And any dietary changes I should make?
Sorry for the delayed response, I just saw your two comments in my spam filter and moved them out: I’ve no idea why the stupid system does that.
On diet: I listed the basic things to avoid in the Phase I post, like sugar/starch, alcohol, tomatoes, caffeine, dairy..if you’re interested in ideas for what would be helpful to eat while you fight this, check out the “pH connection” post: there’s a link at the end to a chart of foods that are alkaline or acid-forming in your system. You want to choose things that aren’t sweet from the left side of that chart.
Oh, and what about Grapefruit Seed Extract? Can I add that to the regiment? Should I add it…what does it do? It does have Ascorbic Acid in it.
I’ve found that grapefruit seed extract can be a helpful adjunct in treating an infection, but taken by itself it doesn’t do the heavy-lifting like OLE, or raw garlic. It’s one of those things that, if you already have some, I’m not against using it if you feel like it helps.
If the ascorbic acid content is relatively low, you can mitigate it with baking soda water..just don’t take mega doses of ascorbic acid, like some places on the internet tell you.
Your blog is fantastic, and so helpful – thank you. I just wondered for how many days should I use the activated charcoal?
It depends on how much intestinal Candida you have, and you won’t know that till you start taking things that kill it. Be sure to follow the instructions on timing carefully, and don’t take any till your bowels are running loose from taking Candida-killers like OLE and cinnamon/ginger.
Please don’t hesitate to ask questions about *anything*: killing Candida can be a real bear for a couple of days, but you feel so much better overall that you’ll LOVE it when you’re done.