Remaining symptoms of random IBS & anxiety

I’d test for SIBO for sure. Common in lyme esp w diarrhea. Currently dealing w it w a lot of same symptoms but feeling a bit better after starting to treat it

Any chance you are ovulating or menstruating at or near these times? Do these episodes occur the same number of weeks apart (wondering if it has to do with the growth cycles of a particular bacteria)? Do you have MCAS and therefore react to high-histamine foods or other triggers?

I would be very curious to know what your cortisol levels are like during these episodes as well. HPA axis dysfunction and adrenal issues in general can cause either low levels that make you overreact strongly to the tiny bits your body does make OR high levels that make you feel awful. Other hormonal fluctuations can affect this, too. The stress of these illnesses as well as the infections themselves can cause damage and major imbalances that can take a while to correct and often involve concerted treatment - not just antimicrobial treatment. Many folks require prolonged therapy to get back to feeling good, even when active infection is no longer the issue. It's great that you are looking at diet and nutrients as ways to find a batter baseline. Keep brainstorming! You'll figure this out.

Yeah that seems to be a good number for tsh at least. As far as symptoms being up and down, I wonder myself sometimes. I just figured it was likely because my thyroid antibodies are sky high. Wishing you all the best on your healing journey!

Most of yesterday evening was spent with high anxiety and what I’m guessing are panic attacks.

Continuing to wake up every morning with nausea/diarrhea and extremely high anxiety feeling, racing thoughts and crying.

I talk with my PCP today. A while back she suggested sertraline/Zoloft for the anxiety/adrenaline rushes. I’ve looked at this as a nuclear option only, but I’m kind of getting to that point of considering trying them out.
I have “innumerable tiny white matter hyperintensities in my subcortical region,” and I am beginning to wonder if these are playing a role in my issues. Maybe they’ve caused a chemical imbalance...

Any opinions or experience with SSRIs as part of post treatment recovery?

My only additional thought is that the reduction in the herbs (particularly the cats claw & specifically Chinese Cats Claw - uncaria rhynchophylla ) has created the imbalance upon reduction as there are studies showing said herbs are anxiolytic and effect serotonin levels via modulation.

Post Edited (GanglionCyster) : 5/19/2020 7:44:34 AM (GMT-6)

Zbreezy,

I’m not in a legal state, but I do have access (obviously very limited strain choices) and have used it & cbd regularly throughout my treatment for various issues including anxiety - edibles, tinctures, and inhalaton. Part of my concern is that currently cannabis is not helping near as much as it should or at least has in the past.

Thank you all so much for your insight.

With a heavy and sad heart I’ve decided I’m going to try the nuclear option here. I’ve been prescribed Celexa and then atarax as needed. I HATE the idea of SSRIs, but I need some sort of relief. No amount of detox or really anything is helping.

I feel like I’m literally going crazy. I can’t stop falling into rabbit holes trying to find the cause. The adrenaline feeling and crying and confusion won’t stop. My gut is mess despite being pretty good through this whole ordeal. I can’t function at all. My wife is carrying us as a family and I can see it affecting her - which causes tons of guilt.

I think I’ve just had a series of extremely unfortunate events that have lead to a non stop fight or flight response that can’t get kicked.
Here’s a quick rundown:
Early last year my daughter was pretty seriously concussed playing football with me.
Very shortly after my wife was sexually assaulted at work.
Right after that our former apartment complex got bed bugs (a major phobia of mine.) Treated everything, tossed most stuff, and right before we were to move to the country and the house I grew up in - our apartment complex caught on fire.
Literally the day we were moving was when I made my first trip to the ER due to Lyme (diagnosed two weeks later)
I had been spending the 2 months prior on the property cleaning it up as it had been vacant and neglected that spring. The tick that infected me came from that 2 month span.
Then the fight with Lyme and ALL that comes with it - lost my job, hospitalizations, major medical debt etc.’
Then as soon as I thought I beat it, or had it under control, the pandemic started along with a very close family member being diagnosed with glioblastoma. Currently sent home from hospice & is not expected to make it more than a few more days.

All of those events set me on high alert. Constantly concerned about my daughters recovering brain. Worried about my wife’s well being - she was a bartender/manager prior to Covid. High alert and anxiety for every used item purchased out of fear of bed bugs. I treat my yard regularly & bought chickens to free range and eat ticks but just looking outside when the grass is growing causes my hair to stand on end. I LOVED the outdoors prior to this. Just being in my yard causes constant worry. Now the pandemic and all the little high alerts constantly happening - wash your hands, cover your face, stay away, etc etc.

I think it’s just been too much for brain and body to handle - especially since I have some evident physical brain changes due to my Lyme experience. I do have a short history of panic attacks/anxiety/depression but resolved it naturally 15 years ago (after trying SSRIs, benzos, etc)

Since mid April I’ve had more bad days than good. Which prior to that I had months upon months of good days in a row.

Honestly, I’m hoping it’s some General Anxiety Disorder triggered by all of these negative and repeated anxiety inducing events. If this doesn’t work. I’ll jump back into herbal treatment super heavy and see how that goes - can’t afford LLMD for anything else. I just need some relief. I just want to live and enjoy seeing my daughter grow.

Anyone had success with SSRIs, atarax or Celexa specifically?

Thanks for listening, and caring, and being such good human beings.

Thank you for updating us and sharing a bit more of your story. I think that trauma and related stress can have a major impact on chronic illness. I have a few thoughts after hearing your history, for you to take or leave.

When I hear that someone was cleaning a house and then got sick, my mind goes to mold exposure. Is this something you have evaluated, such as with the CIRS panel of blood tests or a Great Plains urine sample? Psych symptoms are extremely common with mycotoxin illness.

It's fine to take a drug to help you through a rough patch. That's what drugs are for. Psych meds involve a lot of trial an error, so don't hesitate to try different ones if you don't see improvement or don't like the side effects.

Another option for literally rewiring your brain is DNRS. It's designed for exactly the symptoms you describe. It takes work, but I have found it tremendously helpful. It lifts you out of the rabbit holes, stops the catastrophizing, interrupts the fight-or-flight, detangles the PTSD of these dastardly illnesses, rewires the neural pathways that perpetuate symptoms. It sounds goofy when you look into it, and the videos are pretty hokey, frankly, but it's a legitimate therapy. Maybe worth a try.

I have a bit of experience with psych meds. Before I knew that I had Lyme, and before I was disabled by it (four years ago), I had a few years of health problems - three-day migraines, depression and anxiety, sensitivity to sound, hormone issues, etc. When no migraine meds helped, I decided to try SSRIs. Paroxetine (Paxil) made my face swell up and make me panic for 24 hours, so that clearly wasn't an option for me. I tried Lexapro, which felt helpful for anxiety and depression after the first few weeks of fatigue passed. (Lexapro is biochemically very similar to Celexa; my psychopharmacologist told me that the active ingredients are the same, but that Celexa has different fillers.) All of my non-psych symptoms continued, unfortunately, and I lost my ability to orgasm and gained 30 pounds, which I could not shed even with some unhealthy methods. (I'm not into fat-shaming, just couldn't afford a new wardrobe!) I also developed IBS (diarrhea when nervous, in my case) while on Lexapro that thankfully went away when I stopped it. I later learned that my microbiome was messed up by the Lexapro, and I dropped all of that weight in a single month on gut dysbiosis herbs. Tapering off the Lexapro took as long as I had been taking it (six months on it, six months to taper off).

Fifteen years ago, when I first contracted Lyme but remained undiagnosed, I was passed around to dozens of cardiologists and neurologists, eventually ending up with a psychiatrist prescribing me klonopin for anxiety and PTSD (pronounced completely healthy otherwise, of course). On a fourth of a tablet of the lowest dose, I was able to function. On a half-tablet, I was a numb zombie; if the ceiling had fallen in on me, then I would not have reacted. But on the fourth-tablet, taken daily, I stopped getting worse and stopped minding how sick I was. (It had been two years. I was 89 pounds, never slept, had crippling brain fog, POTS, migraines, dizziness ... and was 22, broke, and alone.) When I weaned off the fourth-tablet of klonopin, after six months of taking it, the withdrawal was bad but only for a couple of weeks. I didn't actually get better until I stopped taking it, but perhaps it played a role in stopping the progression of the neurological hyper-reactivity.

My sister has found klonopin very effective as a rescue med. She takes one and then just sleeps for 12 hours, and when she wakes up, whatever was wrong tends to be better.

I had a friend taking a Xanax every day who was able to wean herself off of them using blue light therapy. And of course I have many friends who have found medicinal cannabis very helpful.

You will find what is right for you. It's good to try things. Something will help.