Sick

Well, my son had a croupy cough and then my daughter got it really bad. She had barking coughs throughout the night and "stridor" which is very loud throaty breathing that just sounds painful. I don't have any croup like coughing but yesterday at about noon I felt stomach pain and then was so tired I fell asleep and took a nap on the couch for 2 hours. I had been up in the middle of the night the past 2 nights with my daughter who had the croup so it was much needed rest. Good thing I woke up because I had to go pick up my kids from school! When I woke up I had terrible pain throughout the flanks on my back which I assume are my kidneys based on what I know from being at the doctor. After picking up my kids, I went and layed down on my bed for a few hours until I needed to make dinner. My back felt a little better. Today my right side still hurts which I am assuming is liver pain as there is tenderness there. I did a coffee enema to help my body detox as well as took a baking soda, aloe vera and epsom salt bath. Beside that, my nose is running, I am sneezing alot and I just feel pretty weak as in I am moving much more slowly and have to take breaks alot between trying to keep a handle on the messes that four children make when their mother is too weak to get after them to clean up. If the pain worsens or doesn't go away, I will go into urgent care to make sure nothing more serious is happening but I think things are slowly on the upswing rather than the down.

Darn Candida!

Ugh! Prolific sweet flavored phlegm. This is so disgusting. I hate it too. But I am figuring out this darn candida thing that has bothered on and off. Throughout pregnancy I would always get this sweet flavored phlegm, nausea and feel unmotived and low. My kids were born with thrush and had to take nystatin. My symptoms always resolved after pregnancy. Thank goodness! Until I got sick. I noticed a pattern of feeling sluggish, down and low accompanied by phlegm. Well guess what I am feeling now? Those very things. But you know what? They started the VERY day my yeast infection went balistic. So I think I have found the culprit. Darn this yeast! I hate it! I don't know how I am going to deal with this if I have to do a year or years of antibiotic therapy with Lyme. Seriously? I am so glad I figured this out and will know how to treat those symptoms if and when they occur in the future but I am not liking it right now!!! I just feel yuck. It's not a herxheimer. It is yeast. If you know me, you know I will be working on a way to beat the yeast but I am sure it will take awhile!

A potential Herxheimer remedy

So as you know I was just reading and quoted something from the Jemsek Specialty Clinic site. I am continuing to read the wealth of information they have and I have found a new remedy for dealing with a Herxheimer reaction per Russell McMillan DDS, DPH:

A 1 1/2 hour hot bath (!) with:

1 cup salt

1 cup soda (I assume he means baking soda and not Coke!)

1 cup Epsom salts

1 cup aloe vera

Here is the reference for the remedy:

Given the miserable experience which we may exact on our patients during therapy, we would perhaps be better off if we followed the advice of Russell McMillan, DDS, DPH, who wrote the Arthritis Trust of America in 1994 with his personal remedy for the Herxheimer reaction. "I take a saltz bath which consists of adding 1 cup salt, 1 cup soda, 1 cup Epsom salts, 1 cup aloe vera, to a hot bath which I remain in and keep hot for about 11/2 hours all the while consuming about 2 quarts of warm water. Evidently the perspiration and osmotic pressure removes the causative toxins. I find it quite helpful" (117). Hey, sounds ok to us.

Could it be?

I've read of recurring Erythema Migrans before I started my antibiotics. I have had this rash start about 2 weeks into Doxycycline. I don't remember a mosquito or anything biting me as of late to get such a large welt there. It did have a very faint ring around it that went up to my wrist about 6 days ago. Now the top is raising and has a reddish purple ring around it. It was itching pretty intensely when the large ring was around it but it has died down. It has just remained a raised 3/4 inch red flat welt/bump with the ring around it. Could this be my original bite recurring now that I am taking antibiotics?

I found some information on a recurring EM rash with antibiotic therapy from the Jemsek Specialty Clinic website:

A little recognized fact about the EM rash is that it can recur, usually in the original site, with or without antibiotic therapy. We estimate that between 5-10% of patients demonstrate this phenomenon during their illness. Other patients remark that they have migratory rashes of moderate duration from time to time that remain unexplained. It is more common, in our experience, to observe the presence of recurrent EM after the onset of antimicrobial therapy. We note that some patients erupt with rash repeatedly while on antibiotic therapy, often in different areas. Eventually this dissipates as the patient improves on antibiotic therapy. Pressure points may play a role in the appearance of the rash, but gravitational influence does not appear to play a role in terms of the site of eruption, i.e. as one would see in a vasculitis-like presentation characteristic of most drug reactions. The first appearance of rash has been reported as late as 6 months into therapy (personal observation). This has led to obvious diagnostic challenges when one is on antibiotic therapy and has to consider a drug reaction. However, we have come to recognize that the LD rash on treatment presents as flat or occasionally raised coalescent islands of erythema, in contrast to the classic generalized morbilliform rash caused by a drug reaction. When confronted with this clinical picture, the Jemsek Specialty Clinic views this as a positive indication of therapeutic benefit, probably representing a dermal form of the "Herxheimer reaction", and so we generally proceed cautiously on with antibiotic therapy, usually with eventual resolution of the rash.

Understanding Rifampin

I think I just found the reasoning behind why Dr. Singleton writes in is book The Lyme Disease Solution to take Rifampin 3 hours away from other medicine. I found this by re-reading Dr. Burrascano's 2008 Guidelines in which he states in regards to Rifampin:

"Finally, because this drug (Rifampin) is an inducer of cytochromes, co-administration with other medications may result in lower and more brief blood levels of the coadministred drug".

Basically, it will get rid of the Doxy in my blood if I take them together so definitely a good idea to separate them as Dr. Terese Yang advises as well.

Added in more Rifampin

Well, I just took 2 300mg Rifampin pills instead of the 1 300mg pill I was taking. Hopefully this won't worsen the yeast infection which, btw, I took 1 diflucan pill for today and will take another in 72 hours. My stomach feels sore and tender but I am thinking it is from the increase in yeast. My body doesn't like yeast, it is the thing I am most reactive to via allergy testing, albeit IgG and not IgE although my throat closes a bit when I eat bread products. Anyways, I don't think I have Bartonella because I don't really feel anxious so I am adding in that 2nd pill just to see if it brings out anxiety which could then indicate Bartonella. If it doesn't, I am pretty sure I don't have it, which of course, would be fantastic!

Another Good Doctor's Appt.

Relief. I went to Urgent Care today and the doctor gave me 1 prescription for diflucan and 2 refills plus nystatin cream. Thank you Lord! I didn't even ask for the refills or the cream but he asked me how long I will be taking antibiotics and I told him I didn't know. He then said he was going to give me a few refills. I meant to ask for the cream but forgot. My blood pressure was 128 over 88 today so it was a little high. It could be fear of asking the doc for a prescription related to Lyme Disease treatment or it just could be the antibiotics or maybe getting high blood pressure. I have never had high blood pressure.

Side note. I felt embarrassed when the nurse looked at my chart and saw lithium on there. There are such a negative stigma attached to that medication and I felt her looking at me with different eyes. Like she wasn't dealing with a normal person and it makes me feel bad. She was a great nurse, I really liked her but truth be told I might be afraid of people who took those medications until I became one of them and know how it feels. I told her I had been sick for 3 1/2 years and we finally found out it was Lyme. I don't know what they think when they see my chart that I had lithium on there and then I no longer take it. Maybe they think it was a fluke thing. Hopefully.

Raging Candida

Well, after adding in the Rifampin a couple of days ago what I have now is a raging yeast/candida infection. Ugh. I am going to go to urgent care tomorrow and request some diflucan or nystatin. Whatever works for this. It has been hard to re-adjust diet now that I am adding in the antibiotics because you have to take them at certain times away from other foods and other supplements or whatnot and it gets very complicated. The only simple carb I had today was about 15 potato chips. I know, not good. But it is better than yesterday. I have felt extremely fatigued, lonely and light depressed feeling manifesting in the form of discouragment but I am thinking it is the yeast infection. I am actually allergic to yeast and so I think my body is not liking this. I have noticed the past few days when I have tried to swallow my vitamins and antibiotics my throat has been tighter so I am thinking that is caused by the yeast too. Why? Because when I eat bread my throat gets tight as well so I think the yeast in my body is tightening my throat. I also have like this sweet flavored phlegm that I am coughing up. Disgusting and too much information. It helps me to write it out here so that I will know in the future what my symptoms are and what they can be attributed to but I know these type of body things are super disgusting. I should also note that the yeast infection began a couple of days after beginning Doxycycline but after adding the Rifampin has quadrupled. Anyways, I feel discouraged I have such a bad yeast infection just a week and a half into the doxy and 4 days into the Rifampin. My stomach feels tender too and I have had gas as well which I believe is the yeast. Still thinking I may not have Bartonella because I don't seem to have much of an increase in anxiety. We shall see. From what I can tell, the Lyme is what is giving me the anxiety because I felt anxious pretty strong there on my fourth week of herbs. I would be grateful if I didn't have bartonella. But I am not grateful about the Babesia Duncani! Especially when others say it is the most difficult to get rid of. Well isn't that great! Here's to hoping I get rid of it!

On Weight Gain

Well. I am a woman. And I want to be fit. Lyme causes exercise intolerance. Lithium causes weight gain. When I didnt know what was causing my depression and anxiety about 2 years ago I began taking lithium. I had a hair analysis test that revealed very low levels of lithium so that is what made me think it would help. It did help, and very quickly resolved my low feelings. I knew it could cause weight gain but feeling as terrible as I did I was willing to take the risk. I have been off of it for a year and a half but I gained 3-5 pounds every month I was on it and have not been able to lose it It is really, really frustrating. I wish it would just melt away but it hasn't. I pray nearly every day that I can lose all this weight. I feel ashamed to be around friends and family who knew me before. Even though this isn't all my fault, I just feel so ashamed that I look like I do when I was the one running long distances and training for marathons before they ever set foot in a running shoe. Now I am the one who no longer does those things while I watch all my friends, who start putting on the pounds hit the gym, go running and be in the greatest shape of their lives. It is hard for me to be on the outside. I have topped my top pregnancy weight (my 6th pregnancy) by about 15 pounds. It is just so embaressing. I don't know how to lose it all. The day I do, I will feel like I have arrived. And I intend to experience that day!

Rifampin Update - Or lack of!

Well, the Rifampin has turned my urine orange. How's that for not beating around the bush? But that is what it is supposed to do. I am at the 24 hour point and I don't feel much mentally but I do feel more muscle pains here and there on the increase. I also had a brief moment where my right ear felt 'full' or like I almost couldn't hear out of it but this was fleeting. This leads me to believe that perhaps I don't have Bartonella after all. Because of my overriding symptom of anxiety we suspected Bartonella, even though my testing revealed Lyme and Babesia Duncani but not Bartonella. From what I have read, if you have Bartonella, Rifampin is supposed to cause a sharp increase in anxiety type symptoms the first week you take it and then you should feel alot better at the 3 week point. We shall see. This lyme journey is interesting. Never thought I had Babesia, always thought it was Bartonella, but maybe I am wrong about the Bartonella too!

Tonight...Adding Rifampin

I just took my first 3oomg pill of Rifampin tonight at 6:2opm. I learned after listening to Dr. Terese Yang that they are to be taken away from Doxycycline or else they will bind together. I also recall reading somewhere that a doctor (I think from The Lyme Disease Solution/Singleton) that he recommends patients take Rifampin in the evening (2 300 mg pills). He also has them wait a week to get up to the 600mg dose so that is what I am going to do. I will do 300mg Rifampin for one week then add the next 300 mg in. I am a little nervous to begin another medication and get the mental side effects. That is, unless nothing happens and then I will know I probably don't have Bartonella. I did the HH2 Zhang capsules and I don't seem to notice anything when I added those into my herbal protocol. Speaking of, I have been out of the Zhang capsules for 2 days now. And I will know I don't have Erhlichia as well because they both respond to Rifampin. If I remember correctly, if I have Bartonella, my symptoms should worsen the first few weeks I am on Rifampin then greatly improve, with the first week being the worst. So, here we go!

Antibiotics & Yeast Infection

So, it has arrived. The lovely antibiotic induced yeast infection. Ugh. Next time I talk to my doc I am going to get some fluconozole or nystatin or something. I have been struggling to keep sugar, carbs and dairy out of my diet. I just haven't made that transition. I was doing much better BEFORE I started the antibiotics but now I feel a little stalemated. I search the cupboards to find something to eat that is substantial enough to not make me feel nauseated when I take the antibiotics. It has been the CLIF builders bar with 20 grams protein. But it has sugar. Ugh. But it is in line with the Insulin Resistance diet. But not good because it still has sugar and yeast love that stuff so I have to stop eating those. Problem is, I can't find The Lyme Diet book by Dr. Nicola McFadzaen that has a bunch of meal suggestions. Second problem is that my protein powder tastes bland so I was adding NuMedica chocolate flavored greens powder that is sweetened with Stevia to add good flavor. Well, I just bought more but the problem with that is that it contains probiotics with will keep my body from absorbing antibiotics so I can no longer mix the protein powder with the greens! So I am back to square one. I'll get it down. I pray I find that book too.

Weird Doxy

So the other night (I think it was yesterday or the day before) I was sitting on the couch with my computer and with all the kids who were watching a movie and all of a sudden I just felt big. As if I was almost airy and expanding. That is a first for me. It is like you are being filled with air...it must have been some weird central nervous system effect from the Doxy because it was quite unusual and un-earthly feeling. On another note, my feet seem to be feeling better. I was in the bathroom getting ready and feeling the bath carpet under my toes and thinking "this feels really good". I normally always wear Crocs sandals to help me not feel the pain in my feet when I am walking but I have been noticing it subsiding while on the Doxy so thumbs up. Thumbs down on increased yeast though. I will have to make some dietary changes and get a fluconozole or nystatin prescription because I don't want major flare-ups. Anxiety is down so that is super. Will be adding in 300mg Rifampin here shortly and then upping it to 600mg per day.

Hit 72 hours and feeling the Doxy

Okay. I felt like I wasn't able to concentrate and guess what it has been 72 hours just like it has been written and I believe the Lyme is starting to die off and I am experiencing a herxeimer reaction which means for me is that I have anxiety. Just a feeling in my throat and stomach completely unrelated to life because life is really great right now. I feel happy. I just have anxiety. Weird, I know but wow. I guess I am casebook. I had the 4th week reaction to the herbals and I have the 72 hour reaction to Doxy. Great! It actually really is good as it means bugs are dying. I just took 600mg magnesium and 6 sprays of 5-htp. Hopefully that will bring calm!

FDA Supplement Ban Bill

If you value taking your supplements and having freedom of choice, like I do, read on. Your supplements are being threatened. According to Mercola, 20,000-40,000 supplements may be pulled from the shelves if this legislation is approved with between 20-40 billion in annual loss to our US economy. My husband takes melatonin every night to get to sleep - this prevents him from having to take an addictive pharmaceutical. I don't even take one pharmaceutical and I have gotten rid of 75% of all my Lyme and co-infection system and can live a pretty stable and normal life through supplements and this is why this matters to me greatly. Check out the video and the information on this link for more:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/13/fda-to-ban-new-supplements-and-classify-them-like-food-preservatives.aspx

Listening in on Klinghardt/Mercola Interviews

Here is the link to their interview which I found on Jenna's Lyme Blog. Thanks Jenna!

www.lymediseaseresource.com/wordpress/dr-mercola-interviews-dr-klinghardt-re-chronic-lyme-disease/

So far so good on Doxy!!!

Well, this is my 3rd day in on Doxycycline. It is my first Lyme antibiotic. AND! I can report that I had a few brief moments of numbness and tingling in my toes last night but other than that it is all good! And all good I mean that I am feeling a piece of me coming back again that I really didn't know if I would ever get back (it could be the Gingko that I am taking helping as well but I don't think so because I took that a few weeks ago)! I feel creative, I feel motivated and I am walking on my feet with out my flip flops and I don't feel pain! That is great! I have had foot pain for 3 and 1/2 years with about a 5 month period without it. So it's all good news for me on Doxy. I am at 2 100mg pills 2x a day. The next antibiotic I will be adding in about a week is Rifampin. I learned from listening to Dr. Therese Yang's video on Lyme that it needs to be taken 2 hours from Doxy or they will bind! I think my doc forgot to mention that to me. God is good and I think he is helping me - I think it also helps that I am doing chlorella, my vitamin protocol, mineral baths too...

Sweet, sweet relief

My daughter's visit with the doctor went amazing. I was so supported and got exactly what I came in for - IgeneX testing plus mosquito allergy and IgG levels to see if her immunity is low. It went great. Her blood for IgeneX was drawn today and will be sent out today. How fantastic is that? I am just really blessed. I will probably start her on herbs - astralagus, olive leaf, grapefruit seed extract and maybe something else cat's claw and/or reservatrol. I just feel happy. I took her to the mall and she rode the carousel 3 times, then we went to the Cheesecake Factory where we had a barbeque chicken salad and a slice of original cheesecake to go, and we also watched the kids practicing at the ice skating rink inside the mall. Lastly, we went into the Disney store where she picked out a Snow White doll, not the barbie type, but the really soft ones. It was a great day and I am glad I felt supported as a mom. Before coming home we went into the apartment office to pick up a package that we had a slip for and upon walking out, one of the employees, in a conversation with another employee said "Mom's know their kids better than anyone else". I think that the Holy Spirit may have inspired him to say that because that's how I feel and it is what I needed to hear - especially after taking my daughter into the doctor to have her blood drawn for the first time in her life!!!!

PS - Still no reaction whatsoever from taking Doxycycline. If I do have one it will be coming tomorrow or the next day as I have read it takes about 48-72 hours for a reaction as it takes that long for the lyme spirochetes to die off. I think.

Started first antibiotic today - Doxy

Well, I just took my first doxycycline pill today at 10am. I have been really putting it off. It scares me. I think I am also just having a case of the scares lately. I feel anxiety here and there and it has gotta be the treatment because it is unusual and reminiscent of a year and a half ago before I started amino acid therapy. I also woke up grinding my teeth this morning so that is not good. I found a website that has the top lyme blogs and I read some of them. Very discouraging some peoples reaction to just the doxycycline so I am not so enthusiastic about starting the medication. Ah well. Maybe it will work for me.

Waking up and Wishing

Well, my husband was fumbling around to find his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night and it woke me up so here I am, on the internet, site hopping and enjoying some home and family life style blogs. I actually went to school for Interior Design for one year and then went on to go to a bible school for 4 years. I had a huge creative streak in me and I loved, loved decorating. Looking at these blogs makes me think about how I would be taking cool pictures of all of my creations but with Lyme it seems that the creative side of my brain doesn't function very often. I seem to do better during the winter months, although it is September, still really hot here and my creativity hasn't seemed to kick in. In my mind, I would like to make some fall decorations and decorate the house but 1) I started lyme herbals and they seem to make me more tired, 2) we are moving to Australia in a few months and everything I do will just go into storage and 3) I am unmotivated and tired from the Lyme which is really just number one rephrased. So when I am too tired to be creative I daydream and imagine it in my head. I imagine I have a beautiful home, and that during fall it is decorated in checks, apples, leaves and good smelling candles. In December, my house of my dreams have Christmas trees in nearly every room in the house....small and large. The kids rooms each have a tree with their very own ornaments that they have received and collected through the years. There are people milling about, friends and family, enjoying themselves in the comforts of our home. It is a comfortable, warm, friendly place to be. I am in the kitchen moving about or sitting down in the corner with a cup of tea chatting with an old friend. I am driving my grandkids to their lessons and babysitting them during the day to help out my children in any way that I can. I am writing books in my spare time to encourage those going through hard times. I have the occasional bible study/prayer group at my house (we rotate homes). I have a special holiday party every year and during New Years our whole family enjoys the snow and cozies up together in the house to enjoy each other's company as we ring in the new year. I have diligently studied health and nutrition and often help young moms and ladies with different health concerns they are facing. I donate my time to a local government clinic as a nutritionist for their patients as a free service to the public. I also work with a primary care physician in helping their patients implement long term health goals. Well, maybe those not the last two things as I am still 'up in the air' as to if I really want to go back to naturopathic school or not. The real deal, I want my family to be happy, healthy and successful and I want my home to be be-U-tiful! So those are my dreams and this is why I salivate over these home and family blogs where the women have it all under control and use their excess energy to create! OH, I long for the day! In the meantime, I live my life reading their blogs and feeling my mind with all their creativity and it is a good thing for now.

Falling off the bandwagon

Well, when things get hard I fall off the bandwagon. I had a routine going of exercise every 5th day and eating pretty healthy throughout the days (juicing, protein shakes, etc) but during the 4th week of treatment I just did whatever made me feel good and it certainly wasn't exercising. I just was tired, anxious, up late and too stressed to think about juicing. I wish this wasn't my downfall. I know some people are so die-hard routine oriented and I wish I was for the sake of my health and family but it is really hard for me to "stick with it" when I feel like that. Maybe it is something I will recognize and push through as I get used to treating lyme.

Today I'm tired

So, today I am tired, and unmotivated. Ugh. Also seven days before the cycle begins. However, I feel much more fatigued this month so there is a definite link to the naturopathic herbs that I have started and been doing for a month now. My house is a mess. Didn't take the kids to karate today because we have had something every night this week after school and I mean every so I decided to let them rest and me rest and not go to the 9:30-10:30 class. They were overjoyed because it means more game time for them. They wake up and play video games until we tell them "no more" which was today at 5pm. Bad I know but they don't play any video games during the week and look forward to Friday and Saturday to play games although I am thinking that it would be better if they did 40 minutes of reading/math/spelling and then they would get 20 minutes game time (and maybe throw so clean up time in there too). And then take away Saturday morning gaming until they did clean-up of toys then they could do it Saturday afternoon. That way they wouldn't complain when I make them stop playing games to go to karate. I know that has nothing to do with lyme but as I sit here staring at the mess of children's toys and dishes that are piling up everywhere, it is what I am thinking about. I sure hope this fatigue gets better because I'm not liking it!!!

Found a local Doc! Yet to go!

So, I was calling around today to find out if it was okay to take herbals before taking the western blot test and I thought to ask if anyone knew of any lyme docs in the my area which I live. I got 4 suggestions! Sweet! So I called and I made an appointment with one of them for my daughter and apparently they take my insurance. Not to mention they will take her on Monday at 10am. That is one business day after I called!!! Thank you Jesus! (I don't want to get my hopes to high because I have been disappointed when I had high hopes for doctors and they fell flat or worse!) Maybe it was the Holy Spirit that lead me that direction because I was at wit's end and had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to pay $325 out of pocket with no reimbursement do a phone appointment with my California naturopath (my insurance requires a face-to-face appt. to be eligible for reimbursement and my Cali doc is not available for another 2-3 weeks to do one PLUS we would need to fly out) to get her started on testing and herbals and now I will only pay my $5 copay! (Yes my husband has really good insurance except they are not very lyme/nutrition testing friendly but the copays are unbeatable). So that is a burst of good news. On a side note, I was supposed to start Doxycycline today for myself but I didn't because I felt like going out and having a tomato, mozzerella, basil panini (1 and 1/2 to be exact) and then later on I went and sat out in the sun. One last hurrah of dairy and sunshine before Doxy! I actually had a little bit of iced tea and I think it gave me a bit of jittery anxiety type feeling although it is hard to determine if it is that or the fourth week of treatment that I am still in (with only the herbal protocol). I don't know, I think I am going to eat some of the friday night routine fare as well....pizza!

Emotionally Tired

Went to the pediatrician today and I am too tired to elaborate much but basically he wants my other doc to make a decision on the antibiotics. She doesn't have anything that shouts "lyme" so that is fine. Also Texas is apparently a hostile environment for doctors to treat lyme as no doctors names are found anywhere on the message boards. Nice. So I am having a telephone consult with my naturopath doc to order bloodwork and start herbals for her. I am sure I am just overstressed but I feel like she has something driving her to have all these little outbreaks and things going wrong. She has a bright red nose boil right now and it is making the end of her nose look like Rudolph on one side. I am just exhausted. I was so emotionally anxious about this appt. with her pediatrician because I knew it would be a long shot to get antibiotics in Texas for lyme and it was. I tried. The route of least resistance was not that (!!!) but to go with my established lyme doc even though if I have a phone appt to establish my daughter as a patient I will have to pay $325 out of pocket and it will be non-reimbursable because it wasn't a face to face. If it is lyme, we'll fly them down to see the doctor. That way my hubby, and my other child can have a face to face with the doc as well and then we will be all established via insurance and get 80% reimbursement. Yippee. I am up late again. Not been eating too great. Exhausted because I stayed up late last night listening to a Dr. Terese Yang video and now tonight because I am still a little wound up from today. Take a deep breath. Release. Things will be fine, I know but better safe than sorry.

Relieved.

Relieved on two counts. Count 1. Magnesium. I haven't been taking it for almost 2 weeks and guess what? Magnesium deficiency can cause nights sweats and anxiety so I have been loading up today and I have to say, I feel much better! So maybe it was a combo of the 4th week of treatment and forgetting to put my magnesium up with the rest of my vitamins so I could remember to take it. Count 2. My doctor e-mailed me back and let me know that she thought it was right that I was concerned about my daughter. Phew. Don't know why it matters so much, but it really bothers me to be perceived as a paranoid whack job. I think all women are protective of our kids and want what is best for them. I just feel better. Downside. She's not back in the office until September 21st as she is on vacation so I couldn't get my daughter on antibiotics until then. Ugh. That is like 2.5 weeks and would be 3 by the time we could get there. In light of this , I just scheduled a visit with my daughter's pediatrician who is DAN doctor but not an LLMD and doesn't have much experience with lyme disease (and may not want any for that matter!) Ideally, I would like to get her on 28 days of cefuroxime but I'll "settle" for 21 if he is willing to work with me. I feel a little scared talking to a doc who doesn't know much about it. "My daughter got bit by a mosquito, she then developed irritability, a purple mark on her face, then another red dot, then this bubble with white dots, then she had flushed red cheeks, then her back hurt, then her leg hurt, then she starts emotionally breaking down over dumb stuff, then she gets two passing red ovals on her leg and then her face, then last night she woke up in the middle of the night and had a croupy cough and then she just caught the nose sore thing that I have had for years (my husband had but it went away). She could have caught that years ago but why now. Personally, I think her immune system has been down since the bite and I would feel more comfortable in treating her for a lyme, or a lyme like situation because it all began with that darn bite!" I hope they help me because I lose sleep because it has now been six weeks and I am at the point where there are just too many "little" things adding up. Things she has never had before.

Naturopathic Treatment Update

As I wrote before, I am on week 4 of treatment and I am 5 days in to artemesinin. I noticed about 3 days ago (2 days into artemesinin and 3 weeks into the other treatments) I began to have dry skin above my eye below my eyebrow. When I put on makeup it looks "cakey" becuase the skin is peeling off almost like I have eczema. Just an observation. I am also very tired today, had a burst of worry yesterday, have "headaches" behind my eyes and feel very lethargic as well as having a general headache too. So that is my week 4. Yesterday, I seriously felt like I could use a valium to calm me down I felt so stressed and uptight. It has been a LONG time since I have felt like that. It's gotta be the Lyme treatment, right?

The 4th week of treatment.

Okay. So I think I am understanding why yesterday morning I woke up from a dream about my daughter having spirochetes in a panic state and emailed my doctor how I want to get her on antibiotics because of all the things I listed in my previous post "Scared". I think I am understanding why this morning I woke up with sweat all over my back and neck, had anxiety when my husband wasn't in bed (he was downstairs reading) and then woke up with a dry mouth, feeling very hot and now I have a headache (oh and not to mention the bloody nose). To be clear, I haven't had these symptoms for about 2 years as I have been on vitamins to prevent them. Here is a quote from Dr. Burrascano's 2008 Guidelines that I think explains it all:

"With treatment, these monthly symptom flares are exaggerated and presumably represent recurrent Herxheimer-like reactions as Bb enters its vulnerable growth phase and then are lysed. For unknown reasons, the worst occurs at the fourth week of treatment. Observation suggest that the more severe this reaction, the higher the germ load, and the more ill the patient".

So that is what I am going through. I honestly feel like such an idiot, and I seriously mean I feel really stupid for e-mailing my doctor about my daughter in my semi-panic state. I came across like for sure she had lyme. I truly think there is a 99% liklihood she doesn't have it at all! I am just scared and want to be safe, that's all, but it is embarassing if the doc thinks you a total whackjob! Ugh. If only we could erase e-mails and take them back after sending them, I would totally have taken the e-mail back. Anyways, I then re-mailed her (per my husbands advice of trying to make me feel a little more at peace with my idiocy) and said that I was probobly just an over-worried parent!

So the previous paragraphs were written this morning. The status now is, no e-mail back from my doc AND another red oval is appearing on my daughter's cheek. This time I am not freaking out like I did yesterday but I am thinking there is something going on. She also appears to have a little scar at the place of the mosquito bite from Yellowstone. The oval she had two nights ago has disappeared. In fact it had nearly disappeared the morning after the night she had it. It had almost completely faded. And now 2 days later, a new one on her face. I don't like waiting. My husband has the exact antibiotic they give to kids for lyme and the dose is half a tablet per day. Trust me, I am really tempted to give it to her but I am waiting to do it the right way and go through the doctor. By the way, the little ovals don't itch so they are not bed bugs. She sleeps in the same bedroom with her 3 brothers (she doesn't want to sleep in her own) and none of them have these little red dots.

Scared

My daughter just told me her back hurts. Ok. Fine. That's no big deal right. Well, in light of what I know about Lyme I am a little scared. Why? We were in Yellowstone National Park and we were looking at a huge bull moose down a little path at the end of July of this year (2011). Well, there were more mosquitos there than I ever have seen and I think we all got a little bit but my daughter got a major bite that was swollen for a long time. But there was no bull's eye rash but it was like 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter and covered spanned her whole little left arm. I didn't like it. Since that point she has been more irritable. When we were at the mall walking around she plugged her ears because she didn't like the noise of all the people who were back to school shopping. It was "too loud". Then a few weeks ago she had this bubble on her left ankle filled with 6 white postules. It was really weird. Before that she had a huge pimple like thing on her face. Now I know I am starting to sound like a hypochondriac because in and of itself all of these things could be nothing. The thing is...the pimple was like over a month ago and she still has a purple mark on her face. And now she has another bubble on her right arm, but this one doesn't have any white dots on it. And the other bubble on her ankle...it is still there after 3 or more weeks. And now she just told me her back hurts. So I am scared. Could this be Lyme or some mosquito born disease. It has been about 30 days from that trip into Yellowstone. Oh and it addition, her cheeks have been really pink the past few days (unrelated to heat).

Gingko Biloba is a POWERHOUSE!!!

Oh my goodness! It has been years, YEARS, since I could remember a persons name when they told me it. I know that sounds terribly rude but it is true. I used to volunteer at a church, and I ran the whole children's ministry and it was then that I began forgetting everyone's names that I met. Not the people I had known or daily interacted with but just the people who dropped their kids off who introduced themselves. That led into now forgetting everyone's name at church that I meet today even though I don't volunteer, don't run anything, but virtually run nothing and do nothing (but be a mom to four children under the age of 9). BUT TODAY, today!, today I remembered someones name that I met. I mean, it stuck like glue. I can hear it and I can remember it. ISN'T THAT AMAZING??? I am freaking out! Because today is the day I took 2 separate doses of gingko biloba (120mg each). I mean, that stuff seriously is a powerhouse if it could get me to remember a random ladies name at church that I spent 2 seconds meeting (if you go to church you may be familiar with the church meet-and-greet they always ask you to do after worship...say "hi" to your neighbor and say "God is going to do big things" or something along those lines (of which I never say, at least most of the time never say). Anyways, I am so impressed and SO EXCITED!!!!

So far...No herx from Artemesinin

So I am really not feeling much from adding in the Artemesinin other than MORE fatigue. That is basically ALL I have felt. And a tiny little cranial headache. And lack of motivation. BUT...I haven't been taking the "Appetite" supplement which tends to give me get up and go and makes me feel motivated. I am going to need to start taking it as I will be moving soon and needing to put my stuff in storage and I need the motivation (aka guarana I think) to get me moving!

Don't be a victim

Don't be a victim. These were the string of thoughts going through my head in the morning. Some mornings I can hear God quite clearly and I feel like this is him. I was reading another Lyme blog, which can be very encouraging to do knowing people are going through what I am, and I was beginning to take on this victim mentality without even knowing it which I believe God was trying to show me this morning. What does this mean? It is like being an African-American now with a chip on your shoulder because of all the injustice you have suffered in the past. Differently but with the same end of being a victim, Lyme patients DO suffer injustice, that is a fact. But the thing about being a victim is that you carry the pain with you and you pass it on to your kids and then they are disabled with it somewhat even though they didn't have to be if you didn't accept a victim mentality. We move on and we move past, despite the confusion in the world about Lyme, they will understand one day and we...we walk in faith of that day and not by the sight of today.

Embaressed

Friends just came over to drop off one of my children from a playdate. And they came in. And I have been really unmotivated to clean and my kitchen is a mess (not the worst) but living in a small space, everything looks messy quite fast. I am a bit of a perfectionist when other's come over and it would be better to not be so!

Adding Artemesinin Today

So I just took my first artemesinin pill this morning. We shall see what the side effects are. When I started the herbal protocol (Lyme Support, Teasel and Smilax) I had a severe headache and nausea with dry heaving that lasted for about 12 hours and then I was fine. Oh, well I had fatigue too. And the fatigue lasted quite a bit after that - for maybe a week. But it is sketchy because all my kids started back to school and we were running an earlier schedule so I really think it was the combo of both the herbs and school starting.

However, after reading Stephen Buhner's blog on Planet Thrive, I think that the whole root Artemesia Annua would be a better herb to take than the artemesinin. Why? He explains that Artemesinin is one single component pulled out of the whole herb artemesia. Bacteria can develop resistance to one component by itself but cannot develop resistance to whole herbs and he thinks, and because he does, I think that the whole herb would be more effective. But I am doing this protocol because this is what my doctor wants me to do and she wants to see my reactions from it.

Side Note: The past two days I have been taking 1 or 2 of the Source Naturals Reservatrol capsules that Buhner recommends. Oh my word. First night. I was restless all night and woke up at 3 am and went downstairs, got a small snack and read on the internet for a bit before I calmed down. Then yesterday, left ear pain - big time. Not as in an ear infection (I don't think) but the interior cartilage hurt and still does. Plus I feel that restless leg syndrome except not in my legs must in my ankles and elbows mostly. Interesting. It is Buhner's number one herb for lyme and bartonella. I think it is doing something for sure but today I am not going to take it because I need to judge what type of reaction I am getting from the artemesinin.