Gentle Healing? IV Rocephin? Artesunate? Ozone therapy? PICC Lines? Candida Complications?

I should have just typed 'Help, I'm a mess that's likely a lost cause!'. So many questions, still so overwhelmed and frustrated and still not seeing how I'm going to get through this. So far I've had negative reactions to just about everything I've been instructed to take, from Molybdenum, Melatonin and Magnesium, to A-Myco, Ivermectin, NAC, Mitonutrients and more.

After being on Fluconazole for 6 months and still testing positive for Candida Lusitaniae, my doctor put me on Voriconazole (since I'm allergic to Nystatin). I knew blurred vision was a common side effect, but began getting extremely jittery and shaky (like you feel after too much caffeine, only worse), some extreme muscle pain as if all of my muscles had been painfully overstretched, and itchy welts. Because the welts looked like an allergic reaction, I was told to stop taking the Voriconazole. We were trying to treat the yeast first in the hopes it would calm my system and allow me to tolerate more things. But now it seems my options for treating that are down to IV medications too! I know I won't be able to handle Amphotericin B so we need to look to a different solution (and I am adding garlic too!).

After consulting with some other doctors, my LLND said that the best thing to do would be to go back on Fluconazole and add in IV Rocephin to lighten my bacterial load in the hopes that it will give my own immune system some backup to attack the yeast on it's own. I told her that I don't tolerate IV's very well and antibiotics are hell on my system but she said that Rocephin is actually very well tolerated and we would start with just 2 infusions a week, and I could do as many hyperbaric chamber oxygen therapy (HBOT) treatments as I wanted to help with pain and detox. She also suggested every other week we swap 1 Rocephin treatment for IV vitamin/nutrient therapy and possibly ozone treatment. Because of my gastric sleeved stomach, she said that avoiding the digestive system altogether was most likely the best way to get this stuff into me. Oh and she mentioned something about Artesunate being a good med that is gentle on the system too.

I did do my first HBOT on Weds and it went better than I expected, although I'm not sure if the reduction in pain right now is from that or from discontinuing voriconazole. I'm scared and frustrated and really don't want to do antibiotics but I'm having a hard time really tolerating ANY of the supplement/herbal etc protocol at all right now either. I'm hyper hyper hyper sensitive and very sick and feel like just giving up! I already have bad veins and bruise horribly from simple IV's and blood draws so I can only imagine what my arms would look like after just a couple of weeks!

But I started looking up Rocephin and talked to a friend of mine who is a nurse. She told me that it is horrible stuff and makes for a painful infusion which is why her clinic won't even use it! Many others talked about stomach pain, diarrhea, gallbladder issues, widespread body pain and only limited effectiveness even doing it 5 days a week. And apparently you can develop C. Diff at any time, even weeks to months after stopping the treatment! I know some of these side effects are rare, but I am one of those people who always tend to get the rare side effects and/or the common side effects tend to be amplified. It seems like PICC lines are preferable for Rocephin treatment but with my sensitivity and adhesive allergy, I know it would drive me crazy having that in my arm all of the time and the fact that I can feel even regular IV's the entire time they are in (they hurt and feel kind of pinchy), leads me to believe a PICC would be even worse. I don't know how I'd even get through the anxiety of it being put in! UGH!!

Does anyone know if Rocephin is actually as 'well tolerated' as my ND says it is or know if there's actually another antibiotic that is even better tolerated and gentler to the system? I absolutely cannot tolerate azithromycin (z pack or whatever) at all as that one causes severe gastro distress, but other antibiotics do the same, just usually not to the extremes of that one. Is there anything that can be taken along with an antibiotic to lesson it's horrible effects, aside from probiotics (which I already take)? Would something like Zofran help keep the gastro effects to a minimum? Pain medication to deal with herx reactions?

Any alternative super gentle treatment options I could consider? Has anyone done the ozone treatment thing or know much about it? Does having so many disabling neuro symptoms limit my treatment options? I did just have an MRI of my head yesterday but won't get the results til Tuesday at the earliest. I guess depending on what that shows, it may have a big impact on treatment too.

Out of curiosity, if you could choose any treatment that is currently available for Lyme disease, regardless of things like money or location, what would your ideal treatment plan look like? What would be the easiest of all available treatments to tolerate?

(Ugh, I know I've probably said the same thing like 5 different ways now but I'm way too tired to edit so I hope you'll forgive my fogheaded scattered rambling! lol)

You know you should be on Actigall for your gall bladder when on IV abx, right?

As far as C-difficile goes - I would think the the IV abx would be WAY better for your gut than oral antibiotics.


I haven't heard overwhelming testaments that the IV rocephin is difficult to take.

BTW - is your nurse friend lyme literate? If not, then it's maybe not a good idea to discuss what's good for lyme...as she may not be knowledgeable, or know enough people to have a good idea of successes, tolerance, etc.

I'm glad I did what I did... Lot's of different herbs. I decided I didn't want to do IV.

I don't know about rocephin.

I don't have answers about the meds.

If money and eveything else were no objective, I would like to go to Hansa.

In fact, the next doctor I seek out will likely be one who does bioresonance. I don't really understand it very well, but it sounds like a cheaper (I think) and easier way to identify exactly what my driving issues are so I can address them in an effective order. At least that's what I've been leaning towards lately.

"Gah! It's infuriating that money comes between people and getting the care they so need! Can I ask what effects the artesunate had? Was it in pill form? "

I did Artemisinin, and then Artesunate. On both of them, I woke in the middle of the night, shivering and also with anxiety. (A few times)
Can't remember what else I felt...other than a bitter taste in my mouth after the Artemisinin.

They were both capsule form.

You do realize that IV abx doesn't = no herxing...or necessarily a 'gentler' road....right?

I guess I won't really know until I at least get one treatment done, I'm just afraid of feeling lousy and herxing like crazy since I have the CBS gene mutation which inhibits detox. I have some detox strategies in place but I'm worried about getting through some of those too. Can you feel the PICC line once it's in or do you actually forget it's there once used to it? Are you a super sensitive to pain like I am? How was the procedure getting the line? I worry about sleeping with it because I toss and turn and am afraid to catch it on something while sleeping. I can't even manage to keep my wrist brace on all night before getting annoyed with it and tossing it off! Do you think a PICC line is worth it for even just 2 IV's a week? The only reasons I haven't completely dismissed the idea of getting one yet are because my veins are horrible, IV's and blood draws are painful (and often require multiple pokes) and since they can be used to draw blood from as well, it would make the frequent blood work my ND wants me to do much much easier. But right at the beginning of summer? I think that has to be the worst timing possible. Kinda like finding out I had diabetes a week and a half before Halloween! At least that went away with the weight loss.

I definitely will ask my ND about Actigall because gall bladder problems are so common after all weight loss surgeries already so I don't need to add any more risk factors or be forced into surgery while my body is already so weak and ill. Thank you!

Are you referring to MTHFR gene mutation? I have 1 or 2 of them I forgot. A majority of the population does. It takes just the right combo for me to herx. I actually wish I herxed more so I could tell what works and what doesn't.

After the first couple of days with the PICC you forget about it. Can't even feel it. The procedure was very simple and painless. They numb your arm up before poking it. Just don't look at them sticking the line in your arm!

In regards to sleeping. The PICC doesn't hinder you in any way. I sleep right on it most nights. I have a Power PICC, which is the most common prescribed PICC line. It is secured to your skin with an adhesive anchor called a stat lock with extra strength adhesive. Don't worry about it coming out. It won't. The end of the PICC line would probably break before the stat lock failed.

If you only are getting 2 IVs a week... I would recommend not getting a PICC even if you have bad veins. The dressing changes and home infusion services are kind of a hassle. If you can just drive somewhere get your IVs and go home that would be best for 2 IVs a week. However, IV rocephin is dosed either 2x a day, 4 days a week or 2x a day, 7 days a week. 2 days a week won't cut it.