Posted 5/23/2017 6:31 PM (GMT -5)
Hi all,
I have been infected for about 2.5 years, and treating for about one. I have gone through many oral ABX, and am currently pulsing 2 weeks on/off four different ones.
When I first saw my LLMD I decided that I would let her take the reigns, as there are so many people telling me so many different things that it's overwhelming. Also, I'm not medically trained.
I have had some improvement, and I feel as though my symptoms are mild when compared to most others. My Igenex tests came back positive for anaplasma, babesia, and suggested Lyme as well. We're also assuming bartonella.
However, I'm not sure which of these diseases is the cause of my symptoms. For instance, I don't have any air hunger or sweats, which are associated with babesia.
I'm coming up on a year of ABX and they don't really seem to have affected me either positively or negatively.
Since the beginning I have been interested in Buhner herbs since I was a fan of his before I got sick--however my doctor seems to pick and choose from various protocols/practitioners/etc.
I recently started LB Core from GreenDragon Botanicals (cat's claw, knotweed, and andrographis), and my intuition tells me it's working. It's also caused my first obvious herx (sudden joint and muscle pain). Recently, from my own research, I added in ashwagandha, which is amazing! It's totally cooled down my mood, as before I was very short tempered, and all my rages would trigger my symptoms almost more than anything else. What I'm saying is that the herbs that I thought would work for me seem to be working for me.
I want to list my symptoms, and what I'm currently on. If anyone has any direction for me, I would really appreciate it. I assume I'm not supposed to do the lyme, bartonella (just in case), babesia, and anaplasma protocols all at the same time?
Symptoms:
- left-sided muscle/nerve type pain: mostly in my arm, shoulder, and thigh. Occasionally my neck will hurt on the left side, and my head as well, but not as often. Left arm pain is my main symptom. Almost no pain on the right side.
-"weak" muscles--where my arms feel heavy--I can still lift normally, but my arms get tired very quickly when I hold them up. Usually one side or the other, occasionally both.
--"tingly" arms and legs. Usually one side or the other, occasionally both.
--random pain in knees that comes and goes. it hurts when i bend them certain ways. it went away for several months but returned after I started the LB core. my wrists and ankles also flare up with pain when I hold them certain ways or when I get angry. Sometimes during exercise.
--bowel issues (not sure if this is related or not)--have super regular BMs for a few days, then very unregular--an unpredictable cycle
--pelvic area pain after intercourse.
--occasional brain fog--maybe once or twice a month as most, and is always short lived.
--aforementioned irritability/inability to cope with stress (ashwagandha really helps!)
Currently taking: rifampin, tinidazole, azithromycin, and minocycline. also, cryptolepis, teasel, houttunyia, red root (my idea), ashwagandha, sida acuta, cumanda, LB core (knotweed, cat's claw, andrographis), lumbrokinase, artemisinin, microbinate (monolaurin, allicin, olive leaf and oreagno extracts), grapefruit seed extract, low dose naltrexone, alpha lipoic acid.
My symptoms are so random and come and go so often that it's impossible to know what's causing what. I honestly feel like the antibiotics are not working, and so I don't really care about them either way. I want to start guiding my own treatment using Buhner herbs, but I don't know which ones to take--should I base them on my symptoms or on my test results?
For the longest time I was taking only Sida Acuta, and have only recently added in the crypto, teasel, and houttunyia. LB core is even more recent.