10/13/2026
The Fibromyalgia—Candidiasis Connection! (And it mostly starts within the gut.)
[This is an educational article by Marc J. Bielski, M.D. (author of “Unraveling Candidiasis”) and not AI generated or spam.]
• Disease-causing yeast within the gut create bowel issues (IBS, IBD, and more).
• With time, their presence will progress to invasive candidiasis within the gut wall/tissues, with biofilms.
• This is likely to escalate to invasive candidiasis, involving their entry and colonization into the bloodstream, creating widespread bodily harm, with their infectious, allergic, and inflammatory effects.
Fibromyalgia syndrome is a condition that typically involves pain.
About 4 million adults suffer with fibromyalgia in the United States, and almost 1 in 20 people, or 5 percent, are affected worldwide. It is a chronic condition in people of all ages, but most sufferers are diagnosed during middle age. Women are twice as likely as men to have it. And its incidence has only increased since the post-COVID pandemic.
Since it shares many similarities with arthritis, these two conditions are often confused with one another. Having one does not exclude the other, and people can have both. It is possible to tell these two conditions apart.
Typically, fibromyalgia involves neck and shoulder pain, morning stiffness, fatigue, and sleep disturbances. Although these symptoms can be present in an arthritis sufferer, fibromyalgia pain is usually associated with someone’s muscles and connective tissue, not their joints. Therefore, unlike arthritis, diagnosing fibromyalgia depends on the minimum number of body points that are tender when touched.
Most medical experts believe fibromyalgia syndrome is closely related to chronic fatigue syndrome, and both are thought to represent manifestations of the same disorder. Since there is a chronic fatigue–fibromyalgia syndrome connection and a candidiasis–chronic fatigue connection (chapter 15), there must be a candidiasis—chronic fatigue-fibromyalgia syndrome connection.
Research reveals the involvement of disease-causing yeast in fibromyalgia syndrome.
Using the citric acid cycle of metabolism, disease-causing yeast and other fungi can produce numerous harmful metabolites, including citramalic acid, tartaric acid, 3-oxoglutaric acid, and carboxycitric acid.
Among these, tartaric acid is specifically known to be destructive to muscle tissue (as well as citramalic acid).
It is thought, therefore, that the overproduction of tartaric acid by disease-causing yeast (and other fungi) in susceptible people causes muscle damage of fibromyalgia syndrome.
Furthermore, for many reasons, chronic candidiasis can promote excesses of lactic acid, a substance that can make muscles more prone to fatigue.
Some physicians believe that fibromyalgia syndrome is related to a decreased flow of lymph through the lymphatic system. Lymph is a fluid created within all the tissue spaces of the body. After its formation, it flows into small vessels that lead to larger vessels and eventually enters the blood. Lymph contains proteins (serum albumin, serum globulin, serum fibrinogen), salts, organic substances (urea, creatinine, neutral fats, glucose), water, and immune cells called lymphocytes. Decreasing the flow of lymph increases the amounts of these substances within the affected muscles, leading to increased pressure and pain within these areas.
It is not known whether candidiasis can decrease lymphatic drainage, but the presence of citric acid cycle metabolites is certain to exacerbate this condition as well as the inflammation that accompanies the infectious and allergic contributions of disease-causing yeast.
The evidence supports a candidiasis–fibromyalgia syndrome connection, especially when the chronic presence of disease-causing yeast adversely affects the nervous (chapter 10), endocrine (chapter 11), and immune systems (chapter 14).
One or more infectious invaders (harmful molds, bacteria, and parasites) may actively participate and need to be addressed accordingly. And holistic physicians also consider the adverse contributions of toxic heavy metals because many sufferers improve with detoxification.
Therefore, a comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment is usually required. So, instead of having no hope, fibromyalgia syndrome sufferers now have information to guide them towards a way to regain their wellness.
MJB M.D.
