Bartonella Psych Symptom Recovery Questions?

So this is my first post on here although for the past month or so I've been involved on these forums just as a fly on the wall. Anyway, a quick backstory.

After being perfectly healthy and free of mental or physical health related issues my entire life, I began to have neuro symptoms in November '17 (sporadic dizziness, anxiety, depersonalization, spaceyness). After going from shrink to shrink for a few months, a family friend tipped me off to Lyme and co. and I tested positive for Bartonella and Babesia, and only +41 band for Lyme. This apparently suggests that Lyme is not an active infection within me, which would make sense given the fact that I've missed all of the hallmark physical Lyme symptoms (joint pains, etc.). I've been slow and methodical with abx, so I've been ramping up Minocycline over the course of the past month and finally have reached 100mg x 2 per day. In a few days, I plan on adding Bactrim to pair with it and a week after that, Malarone.

My biggest issue (by far) has been the depersonalization/spaced out feeling and the anxiety that comes with it. I feel as though if my depersonalization were to be eradicated, my anxiety would easily follow suit. With just the mino, I've felt perhaps a slight reduction in symptoms, maybe the dissociation lifting a tad, and the general anxiety going down. So here are my 2 main questions for those of you who've dealt with what I'm talking about (specifically depersonalization):

1. is it a gradual return to yourself (as in you feel more and more clearheaded and normal every day) or one day do you just look around and realize you feel like you always had before?

2. My LLMD says that given my presentation and the fact that I was only symptomatic for a few months before beginning treatment implies that I should have a very positive prognosis for recovery and should expect to feel much better within the next few months, but given all the horror stories you can read online of people undergoing years of treatment with little to no relief, it just seems so random. What do you Lyme/TBD pros make of my case and prognosis?


Thanks for taking the time.

LJ

Did you have the depersonalization before or after you started treatment, and was it constant?

Depersonalization, spaced out, disconnected, psychosis, dementia have been the worst symptoms for me since day 1. They're absolutely demonstrable. However, i was undiagnosed for 6 years so your prognosis will be way better than mine. The only pathogen I've tested positive for is bartonella but me, and my new doc, both suspect i have some protozoan infection as well considering my strong psych symptoms. This despite testing negative for babesia every time.

I can't give you any advice on treatment or progress since I've made none, but if you need someone to ask questions or speak to, I'm happy to. The severe dissociation really is the worst thing imaginable

I'm right there with you and do not have any obvious advice.

As for your specific questions:

1) For me it has been an up down thing. Before I started treatment and during the first few months of treatment, I was almost constantly in a depersonalized state. As treatment went on, I would experience brief moments where I was almost rediscovering myself. Like "hey good friend, there you are...where have you been?" These moments became more frequent and for longer durations. Now I am more often "myself" than not, but I still get those moments where I think, "oh no, who am I and where did I go now?" These moments have become more laughable for me now, but I do still get them, and occasionally they are the cause for a brief, but intense panic attack...but I recover from the panic almost instantly now. Progress.

2) The prognosis for anyone with Lyme and coinfections is so personal and individual. Though I only had the anxiety and depersonalization for less than a handful of months before diagnosis and treatment, I've come to discover that I had many less severe symptoms of Lyme and coinfections for over 10 years. I always brushed these symptoms off as normal bodily inconveniences, just toughing it out. This delay in treatment of the minor symptoms has made it so I am now a chronic case, most likely treating for life. I do however believe that anyone healing anything needs to have a confident and clear mind to achieve full healing. I'm guessing your doctor is giving you a confidence boost by saying your prognosis is good. Hold on to that confidence boost and keep at it. You will improve one way or another as long as you keep trying.

Knock on wood! My psch symptoms are not as bad as they were three month ago but still have them flare time to time. I hope to make a full recovery my self. My new symptoms are sharp nerve pain maybe the herbs are getting into that area finally who knows.