Your profile lists you as female. Is that true? Because the sex women have with one another is less likely to cause candida exchange as the sex between male and female. But usually, candida isn't caused by anything, it's everywhere. It gets out of hand when the organisms that inhabit the intestinal tract become compromised, often by the use of antibiotics but also by many other things, and that provides room for a nice home for candida to get a foothold. The smell might be candida, but there are many things that can cause odor down there. If you are in fact male, it's not likely you got candida, as it's not easy for it to enter the small opening in a male's anatomy than the large opening in a female's. But it can happen. As far as your diet, you don't really explain it very well. Apple cider vinegar isn't food, it's used for people with an acid balance problem in their digestive system. If you don't have what it treats, it can be harmful, not beneficial. Garlic and coconut are largely carbohydrates, so it doesn't appear you've cut out carbs. Many people are confused by the term carbohydrate. Most of a healthful diet is made up of carbs, in the form of veggies, some fruits, and whole grains. The carbs most people talk about avoiding in a healthful diet are simple carbs, such as white flour and sugar. The high protein diets are mostly advertised for weight loss and muscle building, not health, as long-term studies don't show long-term benefits of eating this way. Usually people add garlic as an anti-fungal or antibiotic or for cholesterol control, but you don't really say why you added it or what form you're using. You say your body feels dry and scaly but don't say if it is in fact dry and scaly -- feeling something isn't the same as having something. And your HIV status is irrelevant to any of this, so it indicates perhaps something emotional going on. There's not enough info for any of us to know what's going on with you, but one simple piece of universal advice is, if you changed your diet and it made you worse off, the changes weren't the right ones.