Update - back on antibiotics

So i started the Maintenance protocol over a year ago....I'd have to check my notes.

Supposed to be taking abx one week per month. So one week on and three weeks off.

I decided to push it and skipped 3 (or 4?) cycles.

i wanted to know what my baseline is...and if I could maintain...

I am on my third day of abx (I am doing Tues/Thursday/Friday/Sat) and things are heating up.
I feel my head (could it just be mino side effects, and not herx?) and my nerve pain is pretty bad.
Not enough to know for sure if I'm herxing....yet.

My head is definitely fuzzier.

Well, for one - Dr. J told me to keep going with the Maintenance. I just stopped for that period of time...to see how I'd do...plus I get so tired of taking the abx.

And secondly, I still do have symptoms...even though I'm on maintenance. So, I am trying to figure out if they are active infection....or just damage....that may or may not resolve.

i don't like taking the abx. I cringe every time I swallow them now. But, i don't want to let up...and relapse.

As long as we have symptoms, we need to continue treatment, either abx, herbal or both. Dr H way back in his guidlelines stated that some of us will need to be on some maintenance treatment for the rest of our lives. Just need to find the right affordable combination you can live with. Nerve damage is the worse to determine if it is from existing infection, past infection but needs more ti e to heal, or permanent damage we need to just live with.

I'm on my 4th week OFF abx after stopping DSF late Sept and so far so good... but still have a few lingering neuro issues I can live with.

Post Edited (tickbite666) : 11/13/2020 7:45:13 PM (GMT-7)

“ Dr H way back in his guidlelines stated that some of us will need to be on some maintenance treatment for the rest of our lives. Just need to find the right affordable combination you can live with.“

Might be a challenge for me to get abx for the rest of my life - here in Canada.

Good luck tomorrow at work Girlie ... let us know how you do.

Remember the park ranger... The symptoms kept coming back but he would return abx again and now he is in remission after 7 - 8 years in ABX. I am on 3 year and still crying.

"I guess I shouldn’t have pushed it - I took a few cycles off and now I’m doing some heavy killing again."

So your symptoms are worse now than they would usually be on the maintenance protocol- if you hadn't taken that time off?

Were you able to work yesterday?

I'm curious about how pulsing abx affects the immune system. You've said that your wbc count drops when you're on abx and it goes right back up when you're off.. a crude metric but also direct evidence of changes that may be significant to how you're feeling. I guess it has something to do with changes in gut microbiota? Has Dr J ever explained what he thinks is happening? I'm sure he understands this stuff better than most, though I don't know that it's well understood by anyone really.. and what does he say about herxing while on the maintenance protocol?

Sorry for so many questions

In my own experience with all of the different treatments, I've never really noticed a clear benefit on the other side of a "herx" as some people seem to.. and without treating for the last few months, I'm still experiencing fluctuations in how I feel from day to day, week to week.. so that's kinda where I'm coming from. I tend to think the increase in symptoms has less to do with the killing of pathogens (or the flourishing of them for that matter) than it does with other changes in the body. In addition to that, we're so sensitive to everything.. hard to ever know what's really going on.

Anyway I can definitely sympathize with not wanting to take any steps back after coming so far.. I've been tempted to start treating again recently.. so good luck on that front, and I hope things settle down for you again quickly!

I don’t recall what DrJ said about my wbc dropping when in abx.


Interesting - I passed the temp test at the front door of my workplace.
They do the wand on the forehead.

We’re wearing masks inside the kitchen now. Used to be just in common areas where residents are.

Dmitry said...
Girlie - how is your diet?

If I were you I'd experiment with a low carb one, since insulin(as a response to carbs, especially refined ones) suppresses immune system.

Its really important to rely on immune system as much as on antibiotics, if not more..

I don’t follow a specific diet.
Pretty much gluten free - but gluten doesn’t affect me adversely when I do eat it.
I’m not dairy free - I eat cheese and I’m not low carb

Re immune system - that is why I only take abx a few days per month - to allow the immune system to kick in.

I’m feeling pretty good now - just my “usual” few symptoms.

running wild said...
Could some of the symptoms be worse because of a milder form of herx? And how are things today?

That’s what I’m thinking.

Today is pretty good so far.

I think I will go back to shorter time periods between my cycles.

I will do one week on/three off or maybe four weeks off.

Thank you Glascis!

How have you been?