Hi emotions -

I would first try a different antiviral like Acyclovir or there are others. I think that if you contracted CMV from a tick, like many of us do, it's probably not all you contracted. It's possible there are other burdens on your immune system but you just haven't tested for everything - how can we? MDs have to know what to test for and it's often a shoot in the dark.

I was battling 4-5 different viruses when I first started and had to try a couple different antivirals to get any relief, AND had to bump up dose to 1600mg/day. ALWAYS protect liver while you're on antiviral Rx with milk thistle seed, burdock root---I take both. You can also do a cleanse if you're sensitive to the herbs.

Also, you can try Beyond Balance IMN-V-II and III ---these didn't work for me at first, but then did after a year of tx and I'm not sure why.

Here are a few more antiviral herbs:
Olive leaf
Oil of oregano
Licorice
Houttuynia
Ginger
Chinese Skullcap
Astragalus
(there are many other herbs that have anti-viral properties)
Provocation Neutralization
Samento

Neuro-psych issues like depression and anxiety result from neurotransmitter imbalances that can be caused by neurotoxins from the infections and/or the treatment and also from GI imbalances. Science found blood vessels that link gut and brain so often, what's going on in the GI can really affect the brain and cause neurotransmitter imbalances and sx like you describe.

Many of us treating are taking everything orally and that's a good way to disrupt the GI flora, microbiome. One common imbalance is yeast/fungal overgrowth, which can cause neurotoxins from acetaldehyde and ethanol! You bet they can cause depression and anxiety. The die off once you start treating it can also cause the neurotoxins. Other bacterial imbalances can also cause problems in the gut.

Healthy diet is CRITICAL. It's also helpful to incorporate a GI binder to help detox better.

Hope this is helpful -

-p

I'm so sorry emotions - you're trying to manage quite a bit, which is extremely difficult when we're so ill.

Are you under the care of a regular MD or a Lyme specialist?

My gut instinct is to suggest you go off the those medications (Ativan, Cymbalta, Abilify) and try to address those symptoms by addressing the underlying causes. IF they address sx, they mess with just about everything, and cause additional disruptions that you end up chasing with more drugs. Now, some people really do make progress on them, particularly with sx that cause stress and that can sometimes trump everything because stress is particularly damaging and disruptive.

But if it were me, that's probably where I'd start if things weren't working right - slowly, safely, unwind and try to rebuild one thing at a time without the drugs.

I had some pretty severe neurotransmitter imbalances when I got real sick and then again when I started treating - depending on what I was taking and how much I was detoxing. It really takes some time to work through reactions to the treatment and exploring possibilities making sure you are detoxing really, really well.

Looking at your salutation, fatigue, sweats, dizziness, memory loss/brain fog, depression, anxiety, insomnia can all be caused by multiple things. So that takes awhile to figure out. Here are a couple more questions:

Are you supplementing thyroid correctly? Most MDs don't know how to test thyroid correctly, much less treat it and underfunctioning thyroid can cause those sx and more. Often, adrenal function gets haywire if thyroid gets imbalanced, as well as other endocrine functions. You probably should also have neurotransmitters tested. A naturopath or Lyme MD should be able to do this much better than a regular MD.

Also, have you explored yeast/fungal overgrowth? It can also cause those problems. There is a list of sx in this post:

Y/FO post in the "New to Lyme?" thread:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=1606610&g=3644275#m3644275

And of course, the gut health I mentioned is really important because so many of those sx can be caused by issues in the gut - this could also include tick infections affecting GI function.

I'm sorry - there really isn't an easy answer or solution and sometimes, the more these regular doctors try to help us, the bigger the mess they make. These are very smart, capable MDs yet most are primarily trained to diagnose symptoms and prescribe drugs for them. Few understand how to investigate cause. It's baffling.

If you are not currently working with a Lyme specialist, I think it's critical for you to find someone. I can't tell from your posts if you are still treating tick infections. You might need to do that (although that doesn't mean via IV) as well as work through the other symptoms you're having---it's very possible they are related to the tick infections but that should be ruled out.

Sorry - that's a lot to dump on you. It just seems like you need to switch directions.

-p

Yes I am being treated by LLMD and she wants me to go see an LL infection disease doctor. This is a lot to handle right now since I can't organize and make decisions because of the depression. I was positive for anaplasma at one time but it cleared.