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High levels of carbon dioxide in blood?

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Posted 1/17/2016 9:19 AM (GMT 0)
Has anyone experienced elevated carbon dioxide (or "bicarbonate") blood levels associated with Lyme, Bartonella, or Babesia?

I've been consistently testing borderline high--between 32-34 mmol/L (reference range is 22-31 mmol/L)--ever since I quit smoking cigarettes 6 months ago. Before I quit, my levels were normal--around 26 mmol/L--which is strange because I'd expect my blood to be more oxygenated, not less, after cessation from constant smoke inhalation.

There are times I definitely feel the effects of excess CO2--increased dizziness, disorientation, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, etc. which often leads to a panic attack. The lab results also show elevated levels of ammonia--56 umol/L (reference range= 11-32 umol/L) in my blood, which can cause similar symptoms.

Any input is appreciated!
Posted 1/17/2016 10:10 AM (GMT 0)
how are your O2 levels ? you could buy a pulse oximeter and monitor your O2 levels, they are quite cheap
www.amazon.com/b/ref=dp_bc_4?ie=UTF8&node=8619065011

CO2 and O2 are gases involved in the gas exchange in the lungs. Usually when one rises the other falls, we breathe in O2 and exhale burned O2 (CO2).

Bartonella and Borrelia both can affect the heart quite seriously. Most of the time the damage is reversible but sometimes it is not. Bartonella can erode the heart valves, which is irreversible and requires prosthetic valve implant. Borrelia can impair the heart muscle nerve conduction, which is a condition called "heart block". This is almost always reversible with treatment. Both bacteria can infect parts of the heart and produce endocarditis, pericarditis, etc...

If the heart is affected then the its pumping efficiency will decrease, the blood flow is going to suffer, and of course that can lead to problems with gas exchange (low O2 high CO2).

Of course all these conditions are worsened by the decreased lung capacity that you probably have due to smoking. 6 months is not enough to reverse it.

You should treat seriously any heart issues. Lyme disease is not a deadly pathogen. Usually. The vast majority of the very few cases that lead to death occur due to heart failure. You should do a full heart exam: EKG, Echocardiography and maybe a stress test. I also had a holter monitor installed for 24h, in my case it only showed tachycardia... If they find nothing serious then the condition is probably reversible with treatment.

In the mean time you should take magnesium and CoQ10 to help your heart muscle a little bit.

Post Edited (mpost) : 1/17/2016 3:14:26 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/17/2016 11:33 AM (GMT 0)
Excessive CO2 is how I discovered what I have. CO2 is a by product of the Urea Cycle (how we process nitrogen.) When studying protozoans like Trympanosoma brueci, they reduce enzymes like ornithine decarboxylase or ornithine carbamylase. This makes the Urea Cycle much less effective and since ornithine decarboxylase is the rate limiting step of the cycle, it backs up nitrogen levels. Reducing my nitrogen intake helped as did supplementing my genetic mutations on the methylation pathway. Having pathogens like I have will cause stress to the body and the body responds by epigenetic shifts that make things run more smoothly. These shifts are good things, but they are also bad. They are bad because I now have less efficiency in the pathway and that makes getting well much more difficult.

I don't believe I that I have Trypanosoma, but I do believe I have a protozoan that causes issues to the enzymes of the Urea Cycle. Mepron worked great but couldn't kill all of the protozoans and they came back. Artemisia worked briefly as well.
Posted 1/18/2016 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
mpost, thanks for your response. My O2 levels are normal, and I've had a normal EKG (and EEG, for that matter). I've experienced palpitations and adrenaline surges in my solar plexus unrelated to panic or anxiety attacks, but other than slight tachycardia everything is always inevitably "normal".

Georgia, what supplements did you take? Are you still on Artemisia for the protozoal infection? I had terrible results with methyl b12 and methyl folate, and have heard mixed reviews about the efficacy of L-ornithine supplementation.

I'm on an extremely low protein diet and don't eat any meat, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, nuts, or seeds. Additionally, due to poor digestion and leaky gut if I do eat any high protein foods I experience extreme anxiety, excitotoxicity, disorientation, and derealization, all symptoms of both high ammonia and an autoimmune inflammatory response.

I can't tolerate digestive enzymes either and have yet to trial Betaine HCL to aid in protein digestion. Thus I'm at a standstill!
Posted 1/18/2016 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
Sounds like you have a protozoal infection like I do in addition to other things.

I benefited at one time or another on these items and don't currently take anything but probably should.
Pectasol-C
methyl folate
molybdenum
tryptophan
sublingual melatonin
Artimesin
Mepron and Zithromax
Nopal cactus
Nigella sativa seeds
chia seeds
Sunlight helps a lot
exercise helps a lot
Eating low fat helps a lot
Eating low nitrogen and low sulfur foods helps a lot.
Amy Yasko's Multi-Vitamin
I'm sure I'm missing some, I have tried quite a few different things to see what made a difference.
Posted 1/18/2016 4:10 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the info, Georgia! Were you tested for Babesia? Do you experience DP/DR?

Also, was the Artemisin you took an herb or synthetic prescription drug? Which of the herbs in the artemisin family--sweet Annie, wormwood, mugwort--is recommended as an antiparasitic for protozoal infections?

I already consume a low sulphur diet, and my only fat intake comes from virgin coconut oil. I can't seem to find evidence as to whether its antiparasitic properties override the high fat content that would lend itself to biofilm production.
Posted 1/18/2016 10:54 AM (GMT 0)
I was clinically diagnosed but found it under darkfield microscopy.

DP/DR will occur when your neurotransmitter pathway isn't functioning properly and that is most likely due to one or both of too high pathogen load and/or metals like aluminum/lead. Supplementing this pathway with tryptophan and melatonin may be necessary but difficult to implement. Sounds like you may be homozygous for COMT as well.

Artemisia was Dr Zhangs and I took it by itself which is a no-no. My parasite became resistant to it.

Black walnut has a napthoquinone derivative in it and is effective in reducing one life cycle of the protozoa. It will also increase oxidative stress and you need to clean that up before you start treating.

I'd bet you have fungal issues as well and they need to be addressed. You obviously have too many histamines which means your GI flora need an overhaul. Diatomaceous earth may need to be in your future at some point. Your environment needs to be examined thoroughly to make sure there is no additional fungal source increasing problems. Everything must be done in baby steps because you have too many free radicals causing oxidative stress.
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