First a short history starting in 2008. I took 2 doses of Levaquin for bronchitis which sent me into a downward toxic spiral consisting of over 90 symptoms with many daily panic attacks and mega mucous production being the worst. No sleep for 8 days. My doctor wanted me on Xanax but I refused to take it knowing the consequences of withdrawal problems. On the 9th day I caved in and was taking 0.5 mg to .75 mg from April through June and began tapering in July and was finally off it in August. Horrible withdrawals! I was cdc positive for Lyme disease in 2009 and took 100 mg doxycycline 2x daily for 2 months and thought that it was eradicated ( who knew?). I plugged along until 2012 thinking all my symptoms were still from the Levaquin and Xanax withdrawals. My fatigue was overwhelming so I decided to research Lyme disease and took it upon myself to get the test kit from Igenix. Yup.....positive. I waited 3 months for an appointment with an IDSA doctor. He's written many books on the subject. I showed him my Igenix results and he told me I didn't have Lyme disease. He was very condescending. I found an ILADS doc, thanks to this site, and waited another 3 months to see him thus began my antibiotic journey from 2012 to 2015. During that time I had allergic reactions to certain meds, yeast infections (even though I was on high doses of probiotics and A.D.P.), c-dif and very annoying GI problems. I am also heterozygous for the MTHFR genes.
I have used Byron White's A-Bab with not too much problems but his A-Bart was very tough on my system so my Lyme doctor stopped it along with the abx (continuous bad herxes) and suggested I see a doctor who specializes in the methylation cycle which I have been seeing for the past 5 months. I have many snp's and it is slow going and costly for the supplements. To be honest, I am still in the dark how this whole process really works.
I had to double my bp meds and now have Hashimoto's disease and Raynaud's. My weight has dropped drastically over the years from feeling sick and sticking to candida and Lyme diets over the past four years. My symptoms have gone from over 90 down to 15-20 depending on the day/week. Anxiety (on and off), noticing some depression setting in, difficulty breathing (bad), chills which come and go, blurry vision, head pressure, big-time cognitive problems, NO energy, on and off fatigue (at times have a hard time walking 20 feet), rage/anger (hate this one), apathy, rashes, flu-like symptoms and more. I have very little pain. Life is at a standstill as many of us know.
My husband had a brain bleed June 2014 and was hospitalized for almost 3 months. He had therapy to learn how to swallow again due to a massive throat infection and overall body weakness. He does fairly well but his perception is off as well as his eyesight so he does require my full attention but I am grateful that he is still with me as it was touch and go for quite some time. I love this man! Of course, it is difficult at times due to my STUPID diseases!!!!
Right now I am only on 100 mg. Doxycycline 2x daily. LLMD waiting for the MTFR pathway to
open up before adding more abx if I chose to go this route at all. I was using Japanese Knotweed for quite some time but stopped a few days ago as it was making my breathing much more difficult (herx?). Many supplements: EPA/DHA, A.D.P., B6, Methyl B12, hydroxycobalamin, milk thistle, D3, BH4, SHMT, L-glutathione, curcumin, vit c, minerals, mag citrate, zinc and peroxynitrate scavenger.
I want to start Buhner's protocol. I have bought the books but have somewhat of a hard time reading. I need help treating Lyme, bartonella and possibly still babesia. Could those doing this protocol give me advice on what I need to take to get started. Can I target all 3 diseases at the same time. I do know that I should start with one herb at a time and go low and slow but I am not sure where to begin. My LLMD seems to feel a lot of my symptoms are bart related. As you know I am on here a lot even though I may not post often but I really need to be personally directed. I get so confused. And to think I graduated college with a 3.88 gpa as as a registered nurse. Unbelievable!!
Sorry that this post was a bit longer than I anticipated. Thanks so much in advance.
Patty xo
Post Edited (summer16) : 5/10/2017 3:13:03 AM (GMT-6)