So here goes...
I have been treating with antibiotics for over a year now, with some success. Before that I treated with herbs for 8 months or so and saw no progress, in fact I got worse. I have almost struggled more with the mental than physical side effects: depression, anxiety (horrible!), OCD and intrusive thoughts, depersonalization, just feeling "out of it", horrible temper, lashing out at my mom and fighting wtih her, horrible memory (can't recognize anyone's faces unless they're family or very close friend), forgetting conversations, names, places, routines, etc. I have been taking sertraline 50mg for over a year with some relief of depressive symptoms but it has not helped with anxiety.
In November I found a hard, non-painful lump just above my collarbone in the left side of my neck. At the time I was just finishing a course of antibiotics, i believe it was rifampin and alinia. I went off those in December.
In December I began treating with Disulfiram starting with 1/4 of 250mg and slowly increasing. I was up to 250mg but feeling so sick from herxing that i dropped back to 125mg. However, ever since this fall, I have been struggling with increasingly bad anxiety and OCD. Part of this is situational (an abusive roommate and a relationship that went badly), but I thought that it would resolve once I moved away from that situation and got counseling. However, it has spiked over the past few months to the point that now panic attacks are common, 3-4x/week (never struggled with them before this year), and there are times were I will just lay in my bed crying because the intrusive thoughts and OCD trigger my anxiety and I'm afraid to interact with anyone because of what's going on in my head.
In late february the swollen hard lymph node was still there, and bigger, and I went to see a regular MD. He was very concerned and immediately ordered blood panel, x-ray, and ultrasound to look for cancerous lymph nodes. He found several other lymph nodes I hadn't but they all looked reactive (ie responding to infection, not a malignant process). so he doesn't "think" it's lymphoma or something of that nature but isn't sure. I have to get rescreened in April if these lumps don't go away...which they haven't yet.
My LLMD thinks that the hard, non-painful lymph nodes (I have 2 now), are due to lyme. So, I have really upped my detox game along with the disulfiram. Epsom salt baths, red root, lymph support, livaplex liver supplement, vitamin B/D/C, alpha-lipoic acid, activated charcoal, etc, detox teas and smoothies, eating around 90% clean (as a displaced college student due to the lovely (*eye-roll*) COVID-19 i'm doing my best in that department but also just trying to survive
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In terms of the OCD/anxiety, I'm wondering if it's not a detox issue but instead a problem with bartonella and/or babesia. I've treated with rifampin, cefuroxime, Alinia, malarone, bactrim, azithromycin, and ivermectin already, along with herbal supplements. I thought that these had hit it already but maybe not.
My symptoms are 50% resolved. Migraines are a thing of the past, I have a little more energy, stomach aches are much better, brain fog is clearing up, depression is lifting, joints don't hurt all the time, I don't get the aches and pains that send me to bed at 8pm on a friday night as a junior in college LOL.
I still have some burning pains, almost like fever pains sometimes, and symptoms like hypothyroid, and the swollen lymph nodes, some nausea with occasional vomiting, a cough sometimes, and an itchy scalp along with horrible acne-like breakouts on neck, face, shoulders, chest, etc.
Honestly, all of these things are somewhat tolerable but I just am at the end of my rope when it comes to this anxiety/OCD, hense this horribly long post. it really comes down to two things:
1. What have you guys done that has helped with this PLEASE?! If it is Bart/Bab WHAT CAN I DO TO HIT THESE? it's nearly impossible to get to my llmd right now because of COVID-19, so I'm desperate for any remedies like herbs I can do myself.
2. Has anyone else had the hard, non-painful swollen lymph nodes (going on 5 months now for me)? I would really like to think that the MD's suspicion is right that they're not cancerous (lymphoma was his original suspicion), but the fact that they're there isn't doing anything for my anxiety.
if you have made it to the end of this post you are a wonderful human being and I owe you one! thank you for any help that you can give me. everyone stay safe and strong as we weather these storms together!