Friday, February 21, 2014
Antibiotic Induced Depression
So. I have been realizing that I have depression and have had it maybe since October. I started antibiotics in August and I realized I had alot of motivation at the time. I also had a stronger sex drive too. So whatever I am taking medicine wise has lowered both of these. I basicaly sit around during the day and wait for the kids to come home and just read my favorite blogs or lyme stuff or watch tv. I get the stuff done I have to do but there is definately a motivation change since before taking antibiotics. I haven't really been consistantly taking probiotics or b-vitamins either. I only mention this becaue b-vitamins are manufactured in the gut and are necessary for virtually every metobolic function in the body. Antibiotics, destroy even good gut bacteria and these bacteria are necessary for manufacturing b-vitamins in the body. So I think I have really done myself in on this one. I am not sad or depressed feeling. I just feel lethargic, unmotivated, am lazy and unproductive but that definitly is within the realm of depression symptoms. I am going to try and take a neurotransmitter test and organic acid test to assess these things. And in the meantime up my probiotics and b-vitamins and see if I turn a corner. It is basically like watching life pass me by when I just sit around like this. Pretty lame.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Tomorrow Will Start, Byron White A-Bart
Yes, my LLND wants me on A-Bart. I will no longer take rifampin but I will take A-Bart. I haven't had Bartonella symptoms for over a year but I did the bart treatment and now will test with the bart herb as my LLND wants to. No biggie. Other than, in preparation to take the A-Bart, I opened the bottle and it is stinky! It smells way worse than the A-Bab. The A-Bab is spicy but the A-Bart...stinky...and I am not looking forward to drinking that. Yuck. So I think I will only go through one bottle of it and be done. But the A-Bab, I will continue through the treatment. So tomorrow I will add in the A-Bart, then the Ceftin, then be ready in a couple of weeks for my LLND appointment where we will take Babesia meds. And I am keeping my fingers crossed for the clindamycin and malarone. That is what I want to take based on my research and thinking it through. Much prefer the pills to taking the liquids.
Friday, February 14, 2014
How it's Going
Well, I have been typing my notes under my last A-Bab Babesia Post. It is going OK. I am making progress, slowly but surely so that is fantastic. My feet, which have been a problem for YEARS ever since getting lyme disease are now doing so much better. They are no longer shedding massive amounts of skin near the heels, and the pain is barely detectable now. I used to push on my heel with my thumb and wince at the pain. All over. Now I push, and I can't get it to hurt. It is like there is padding between the skin and the bone where there didn't use to be. Hard to explain but I feel like my feet are coming back to me. I had always (for 32 years) had beautiful supple feet. Never could understand the need for lotion. Yuck! But the past 5 years - had to have regular pedicures to get all that dead skin off where my heels really hurt. It was pretty embaressing the amount of dead skin that would come off my heel but it was necessary to do it. The need for those pedicures is greatly if not completely reduced so that is great.
What are my major symptoms now? What do I look to find resolve from? Well, it has become apparent that I am under some sort of depression. Not a sadness, but just an unmotivated, sluggish state. There is plenty to do, but I just don't do it. Like I would just rather sit. It is not mental in that I have a mental list of all the things I want to do. It is just not doing them. Laziness is what my husband calls it. So it IS a problem. I never was a lazy person. In fact I don't see myself as a lazy person but the fact is I am very lazy right now. Lots of resting without sleeping. I am hoping that it will get dealt with my upcoming Babesia antibiotic treatment.
What else? Well, another longstanding symptoms is touch tenderness. Along all my muscles. Like if I gently push a finger against the muscle it hurts...for a while after. And I think why? I remember taking Clindamycin for a tooth infection and all my muscles on my shoulder and neck were hurting and sore. A reaction to the medication. It made me think that maybe that particular medication targets the muscle areas in a way that none of the other medications I had taken (doxycycline, rifampin and tinidazole) could or had done. Nothing has touched this symptom. Nothing has made it better. Not one thing yet. Other than the Clindamycin. And I did get extreme muscle soreness in the lower body (buttucks, thighs) after taking high doses or Artemesinin for the first time.
But my LLND doesn't prescribe Clindamycin. She has her things she prescribes. I am going to try to convince her to give it to me. I would like to take it for a year. I really want to beat the crap out of whatever is causing this pain in my muscles and I really think the Clindamycin is a key to doing it. So, we'll see. I know it can make me more prone to a C. Diff infection but there are many people who haven't gotten that infection after taking it long term, i.e. 1-3 years. Also, I take tinidazole which is a medication that combats C. Diff so I would be on the safe side anyways. My dream combo would be Tinidazole, Minocycline (or Doxy), Ceftin (which I am already on) combined with Clindamycin and Malarone. I read that some with fibro symptoms respond better to Malarone and that Babesia Duncani has become resistant to Mepron so that is why I would like Malarone. I should say that that is all from what I have read from some LLMD's experience but is not proven. I prefer Malarone to Mepron also because I would much rather swallow a pill than drink yellow paint on a daily basis. But, I am nervous to ask for what I want. I need to get over that. Also Clindamycin and Malarone is much more affordable than Mepron and Zithromax. I just don't completely trust that combo. Also, doc's like Jemsek say that they have treated longstanding lyme disease and babesia with IV clindamycin with very good outcomes. That gives me alot of home. For the quinine portion of the babesia treatment, I read I can drink tonic water. So in addition to the meds, considering my liver is doing fine with it all, I will take the artemesinin and tonic water.
So the biggy symptoms now that I want gone are Depression (Apathy, Lazy not Sad) and Muscle Pain gone. I want them gone!
Oh, and I am also thinking about adding a Humaworm Parasite Cleanse in too...just in case parasites are a cause of the depression or muscle pain.
Lastly, I was reading that an effective treatment for treating toxoplasmosis is clindamycin combined with atoquovone. That is mepron. Interesting as it is a parasite that goes into cyst form and doesn't respond to the regular parasite medication. Clindamycin gets at that parasite. That is what I want to take. For a year. DOWN with this disease. BTW - I don't have toxoplasmosis, just found it interesting, that is all.
Now, I know I said, lastly, but let me just dream for a bit. Dream of a life without the lazy dullness all day long. Dream of muscles that are strong to touch so when my kids sit on me it doesn't hurt. Dream of jogging, laughing, having life fill me in every cell. Having energy (motivation, will) t o clean my house, then meet a friend, pick up my kids, take them to their volunteering projects, do homework without weariness. I am dreaming now. But also believing it will become a reality. Intention.
What are my major symptoms now? What do I look to find resolve from? Well, it has become apparent that I am under some sort of depression. Not a sadness, but just an unmotivated, sluggish state. There is plenty to do, but I just don't do it. Like I would just rather sit. It is not mental in that I have a mental list of all the things I want to do. It is just not doing them. Laziness is what my husband calls it. So it IS a problem. I never was a lazy person. In fact I don't see myself as a lazy person but the fact is I am very lazy right now. Lots of resting without sleeping. I am hoping that it will get dealt with my upcoming Babesia antibiotic treatment.
What else? Well, another longstanding symptoms is touch tenderness. Along all my muscles. Like if I gently push a finger against the muscle it hurts...for a while after. And I think why? I remember taking Clindamycin for a tooth infection and all my muscles on my shoulder and neck were hurting and sore. A reaction to the medication. It made me think that maybe that particular medication targets the muscle areas in a way that none of the other medications I had taken (doxycycline, rifampin and tinidazole) could or had done. Nothing has touched this symptom. Nothing has made it better. Not one thing yet. Other than the Clindamycin. And I did get extreme muscle soreness in the lower body (buttucks, thighs) after taking high doses or Artemesinin for the first time.
But my LLND doesn't prescribe Clindamycin. She has her things she prescribes. I am going to try to convince her to give it to me. I would like to take it for a year. I really want to beat the crap out of whatever is causing this pain in my muscles and I really think the Clindamycin is a key to doing it. So, we'll see. I know it can make me more prone to a C. Diff infection but there are many people who haven't gotten that infection after taking it long term, i.e. 1-3 years. Also, I take tinidazole which is a medication that combats C. Diff so I would be on the safe side anyways. My dream combo would be Tinidazole, Minocycline (or Doxy), Ceftin (which I am already on) combined with Clindamycin and Malarone. I read that some with fibro symptoms respond better to Malarone and that Babesia Duncani has become resistant to Mepron so that is why I would like Malarone. I should say that that is all from what I have read from some LLMD's experience but is not proven. I prefer Malarone to Mepron also because I would much rather swallow a pill than drink yellow paint on a daily basis. But, I am nervous to ask for what I want. I need to get over that. Also Clindamycin and Malarone is much more affordable than Mepron and Zithromax. I just don't completely trust that combo. Also, doc's like Jemsek say that they have treated longstanding lyme disease and babesia with IV clindamycin with very good outcomes. That gives me alot of home. For the quinine portion of the babesia treatment, I read I can drink tonic water. So in addition to the meds, considering my liver is doing fine with it all, I will take the artemesinin and tonic water.
So the biggy symptoms now that I want gone are Depression (Apathy, Lazy not Sad) and Muscle Pain gone. I want them gone!
Oh, and I am also thinking about adding a Humaworm Parasite Cleanse in too...just in case parasites are a cause of the depression or muscle pain.
Lastly, I was reading that an effective treatment for treating toxoplasmosis is clindamycin combined with atoquovone. That is mepron. Interesting as it is a parasite that goes into cyst form and doesn't respond to the regular parasite medication. Clindamycin gets at that parasite. That is what I want to take. For a year. DOWN with this disease. BTW - I don't have toxoplasmosis, just found it interesting, that is all.
Now, I know I said, lastly, but let me just dream for a bit. Dream of a life without the lazy dullness all day long. Dream of muscles that are strong to touch so when my kids sit on me it doesn't hurt. Dream of jogging, laughing, having life fill me in every cell. Having energy (motivation, will) t o clean my house, then meet a friend, pick up my kids, take them to their volunteering projects, do homework without weariness. I am dreaming now. But also believing it will become a reality. Intention.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Byron White A-Bab Notes
The day after starting Byron White A-Bab for a babesia duncani infection I noticed my feet and hands were really cold. We haven't changed the thermostat so it is not that. Nor am I getting ill. The 3rd day of A-Bab, I noticed the cold sensation even more. Right now I am on my 7th day and the tip of my nose is icy, I have been holding hand warmers to keep my hands warm and my feet are cold especially at the toes. I think on the 4th day (8 drops), my right hand seized up and just felt very arthritic. I rarely if ever get the arthritic symptoms so that is interesting too. This A-Bab is bringing out a whole new set of symptoms. Today I took 14 drops. Tomorrow will be 16, Next 18, Then 20 and that will be the final dose. I will wait a few days and then I need to add in the A-Bart 10 drops 2x a day from the start. Then I get to add in the Omnicef. Then, after all that - probably a month down the road, I will have another appointment with my LLND. I really want to have her prescribe Clindamycin. I really felt it was effective at getting into the muscles. My muscles were really sore on it but I felt like it was getting in there where other antibiotics haven't. So right now, I am on Tinidazole and Doxycyline, too add in Omnicef and then hopefully Clindamycin and Malarone. I would like to stay on that protocol for about a year or so - to really hit the deep muscle pain and get rid of babesia. I would do this while staying on the herbs as well. As long as my liver cooperates. Not that I have reason to worry, I just have to go have some bloodwork done to check and make sure my liver is well enough to take the medicines.
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