u/Hopeful-Chest5269

This will be a long haul, but I think it’s worth it. For context, I am a 23 year-old woman.

Back in 2023 after an incident with birth control side effects, I dealt with six months of excessive bleeding, which led to me being hospitalized with blood loss and chronic anemia. Since then, I have treated it as issues have popped up, but not worked on maintaining my blood count. Since I graduated from college last year, I’ve had more time to focus on my health and address the root causes rather than treating individual symptoms. Overall, I feel like my immune system has been taking a beating and I have not done the proper work to help my body thrive.

I have been dealing with TMJ since I was 18 but it has become significantly worse in the last 2 to 3 years. This has led me to seek treatments in physical therapy starting this week as suggested by my dentist for the dental issues it has caused. I have dealt with jaw pain, tension in my face, headaches, and Dental wear and tear.

Since my bleeding episode three years ago, I have also seemed to deal with reoccurring fungal symptoms from my weakened immune system and not addressing these issues together. I’ve had on and off yeast infections, or oral thrush, sores in the corner of my mouth (which can also be from an iron deficiency), digestive issues (which I historically have not had), nail symptoms, and general skin symptoms that are linked to yeast. In the past I have treated this by eating a shit ton of yogurt and kefir. But I would also notice when I would slip up on my intake in physical ways, like vaginal yeast symptoms, and oral thrush.

Anemia has been a consistent issue since I’ve begun menstruating, which is what led me to begin birth control. I will go through peaks and valleys of iron maintenance on my end, which is my fault. My consistent anemia symptoms are bruising, feeling cold, fatigue, menstrual changes, and shortness of breath.

Here is where this all comes together. One month ago, I became very ill with influence a which developed into acute bronchitis. This was treated with my doctor through proper protocol, which includes antibiotics (side effects often include yeast infections and thrush). I have felt like these have exacerbated by existing issues listed above and brought them to the forefront of what is actually going on with my general health. Through my general research of these topics individually, and looking further online at medical studies, I believe that my anemia, recent antibiotic use, and general immune and vitamin deficiencies has led to the Candida overgrowth in my system (Fourie).

My theory is that the Candida overgrowth is also linked to my TMJ. I am led to believe this since I have been with my current boyfriend. We have been seeing each other since January and over the last month or so he has also mentioned having jaw pain, which is new for him. Obviously, we have been swapping spit and been sexually active, and I am wondering if my overgrowth has been transferred to him leading to these similar symptoms.

After a little bit on looking online forums, I have seen people reporting issues of jaw pain and also deal with IBS, Crohn’s disease (more susceptible to candida issues), and other GI related issues.

Our bodies are working organisms, and I am starting to believe that all of these issues are tied together. I hate the term “gut health” but I do believe that people have found relief with diet changes and that maybe those changes led to reduced candida growth. I will be conducting an experiment over the next few months and I will report back here consistently with my findings.

Plan of attack:
Anemia treatment plan
\- Ferrous Sulfate, 325mg three times a day for one week and then once a day thereafter (per my dr recommendation based on my current blood work). I will be taking these on an empty stomach and avoid dairy and calcium for two hours on both ends.
\-Vitamin C supplement with each iron supplement to increase iron absorption.
\-Vitamin B6 (folic acid) and vitamin B12 daily for red blood cell production (dr rec).
\-Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) (Datta Mitra).
\-Vitamin K (dr rec) for cardiovascular health (AlBlooshi).

TMJ Treatment plan
\-I begin physical therapy for TMJ this week based on my dentist’s recommendation.
\-I am looking into getting Botox to weaken the muscle wall, rebuilding habits, and PT.
\-Once these are addressed, I am working with my dentist to get Invisalign to fix the Dental issues from jaw clenching.

Candida treatment plan
\-Vitamin D3 taken with a fat for better absorption (Kherad).
\-Vitamin B12 and iron, see anemia treatment plan above (Jenkins) (Fourie).
\-Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) see anemia treatment plan above (Lei).
\-Magnesium supplement (Hans).
\-Zinc supplement (Roselletti).
\-Probiotic supplement.
\-Increased water intake.
\-Boric acid suppository for 7 days.
\-Swapping out my toothbrush.

I will be following this as well as a reduced sugar and yeast diet as well as I can. This all just clicked for me as I was doing research and trying to fix all these health issues individually. My quality of life could in general be improved by no longer having to manage one off symptoms.

Maybe all my issues are just from not addressing my anemia leading to weakened immune system which opened my vulnerability to a Candida overgrowth which I haven’t really done anything to fix.

I will report back and I am interested in everyone’s thoughts and experiences.

Cited sources:

AlBlooshi S (2025) Vitamin K and women's health: a review. Front. Glob. Women’s Health 6:1590414. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1590414

Datta Mitra, Ananya, and Ralph Green. “Unusual Micronutrient Deficiencies as Causes of Anemia.” Nutrients vol. 18,4 664. 18 Feb. 2026, doi:10.3390/nu18040664

Fourie, Ruan et al. “Iron at the Centre of Candida albicans Interactions.” Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology vol. 8 185. 5 Jun. 2018, doi:10.3389/fcimb.2018.00185

Hans, Sandeep et al. “Magnesium impairs Candida albicans immune evasion by reduced hyphal damage, enhanced β-glucan exposure and altered vacuole homeostasis.” PloS one vol. 17,7 e0270676. 14 Jul. 2022, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0270676

Jenkins, W M et al. “Nutritional deficiency in oral candidosis.” International journal of oral surgery vol. 6,4 (1977): 204-10. doi:10.1016/s0300-9785(77)80010-0

Kherad, Zahra et al. “Vitamin D3: A promising antifungal and antibiofilm agent against Candida species.” Current medical mycology vol. 9,2 (2023): 17-22. doi:10.18502/cmm.2023.345062.1416

Lei, Junwen et al. “Riboflavin Targets the Cellular Metabolic and Ribosomal Pathways of Candida albicans In Vitro and Exhibits Efficacy against Oropharyngeal Candidiasis.” Microbiology spectrum vol. 11,1 (2023): e0380122. doi:10.1128/spectrum.03801-22

Roselletti, Elena et al. “Zinc prevents vaginal candidiasis by inhibiting expression of an

This will be a long haul, but I think it’s worth it. For context, I am a 23 year-old woman.

Back in 2023 after an incident with birth control side effects, I dealt with six months of excessive bleeding, which led to me being hospitalized with blood loss and chronic anemia. Since then, I have treated it as issues have popped up, but not worked on maintaining my blood count. Since I graduated from college last year, I’ve had more time to focus on my health and address the root causes rather than treating individual symptoms. Overall, I feel like my immune system has been taking a beating and I have not done the proper work to help my body thrive.

I have been dealing with TMJ since I was 18 but it has become significantly worse in the last 2 to 3 years. This has led me to seek treatments in physical therapy starting this week as suggested by my dentist for the dental issues it has caused. I have dealt with jaw pain, tension in my face, headaches, and Dental wear and tear.

Since my bleeding episode three years ago, I have also seemed to deal with reoccurring fungal symptoms from my weakened immune system and not addressing these issues together. I’ve had on and off yeast infections, or oral thrush, sores in the corner of my mouth (which can also be from an iron deficiency), digestive issues (which I historically have not had), nail symptoms, and general skin symptoms that are linked to yeast. In the past I have treated this by eating a shit ton of yogurt and kefir. But I would also notice when I would slip up on my intake in physical ways, like vaginal yeast symptoms, and oral thrush.

Anemia has been a consistent issue since I’ve begun menstruating, which is what led me to begin birth control. I will go through peaks and valleys of iron maintenance on my end, which is my fault. My consistent anemia symptoms are bruising, feeling cold, fatigue, menstrual changes, and shortness of breath.

Here is where this all comes together. One month ago, I became very ill with influence a which developed into acute bronchitis. This was treated with my doctor through proper protocol, which includes antibiotics (side effects often include yeast infections and thrush). I have felt like these have exacerbated by existing issues listed above and brought them to the forefront of what is actually going on with my general health. Through my general research of these topics individually, and looking further online at medical studies, I believe that my anemia, recent antibiotic use, and general immune and vitamin deficiencies has led to the Candida overgrowth in my system (Fourie).

My theory is that the Candida overgrowth is also linked to my TMJ. I am led to believe this since I have been with my current boyfriend. We have been seeing each other since January and over the last month or so he has also mentioned having jaw pain, which is new for him. Obviously, we have been swapping spit and been sexually active, and I am wondering if my overgrowth has been transferred to him leading to these similar symptoms.

After a little bit on looking online forums, I have seen people reporting issues of jaw pain and also deal with IBS, Crohn’s disease (more susceptible to candida issues), and other GI related issues.

Our bodies are working organisms, and I am starting to believe that all of these issues are tied together. I hate the term “gut health” but I do believe that people have found relief with diet changes and that maybe those changes led to reduced candida growth. I will be conducting an experiment over the next few months and I will report back here consistently with my findings.

Plan of attack:
Anemia treatment plan
- Ferrous Sulfate, 325mg three times a day for one week and then once a day thereafter (per my dr recommendation based on my current blood work). I will be taking these on an empty stomach and avoid dairy and calcium for two hours on both ends.
-Vitamin C supplement with each iron supplement to increase iron absorption.
-Vitamin B6 (folic acid) and vitamin B12 daily for red blood cell production (dr rec).
-Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) (Datta Mitra).
-Vitamin K (dr rec) for cardiovascular health (AlBlooshi).

TMJ Treatment plan
-I begin physical therapy for TMJ this week based on my dentist’s recommendation.
-I am looking into getting Botox to weaken the muscle wall, rebuilding habits, and PT.
-Once these are addressed, I am working with my dentist to get Invisalign to fix the Dental issues from jaw clenching.

Candida treatment plan
-Vitamin D3 taken with a fat for better absorption (Kherad).
-Vitamin B12 and iron, see anemia treatment plan above (Jenkins) (Fourie).
-Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) see anemia treatment plan above (Lei).
-Magnesium supplement (Hans).
-Zinc supplement (Roselletti).
-Probiotic supplement.
-Increased water intake.
-Boric acid suppository for 7 days.
-Swapping out my toothbrush.

I will be following this as well as a reduced sugar and yeast diet as well as I can. This all just clicked for me as I was doing research and trying to fix all these health issues individually. My quality of life could in general be improved by no longer having to manage one off symptoms.

Maybe all my issues are just from not addressing my anemia leading to weakened immune system which opened my vulnerability to a Candida overgrowth which I haven’t really done anything to fix.

I will report back and I am interested in everyone’s thoughts and experiences.

Cited sources:

AlBlooshi S (2025) Vitamin K and women's health: a review. Front. Glob. Women’s Health 6:1590414. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1590414

Datta Mitra, Ananya, and Ralph Green. “Unusual Micronutrient Deficiencies as Causes of Anemia.” Nutrients vol. 18,4 664. 18 Feb. 2026, doi:10.3390/nu18040664

Fourie, Ruan et al. “Iron at the Centre of Candida albicans Interactions.” Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology vol. 8 185. 5 Jun. 2018, doi:10.3389/fcimb.2018.00185

Hans, Sandeep et al. “Magnesium impairs Candida albicans immune evasion by reduced hyphal damage, enhanced β-glucan exposure and altered vacuole homeostasis.” PloS one vol. 17,7 e0270676. 14 Jul. 2022, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0270676

Jenkins, W M et al. “Nutritional deficiency in oral candidosis.” International journal of oral surgery vol. 6,4 (1977): 204-10. doi:10.1016/s0300-9785(77)80010-0

Kherad, Zahra et al. “Vitamin D3: A promising antifungal and antibiofilm agent against Candida species.” Current medical mycology vol. 9,2 (2023): 17-22. doi:10.18502/cmm.2023.345062.1416

Lei, Junwen et al. “Riboflavin Targets the Cellular Metabolic and Ribosomal Pathways of Candida albicans In Vitro and Exhibits Efficacy against Oropharyngeal Candidiasis.” Microbiology spectrum vol. 11,1 (2023): e0380122. doi:10.1128/spectrum.03801-22

Roselletti, Elena et al. “Zinc prevents vaginal candidiasis by inhibiting expression of an