New to this board

Hi Hippiehikerchick!!!
Welcome to our forum!!! I'm sure you will find the people here to be caring, helpful & kind!! I am sorry that you have a need for this forum, but I'm glad you found us!!! This also seems to be one of the busiest LD forums from what I have seen. I am on here quite a bit lately due to high pain levels right now.

It really sounds like you are set up to get some good treatment with what you described!! That is soooo important! I have not been successful in that at all. I live in a small rural area where "docs" still tell people "If that bullseye rash is still there in a week or two come back & we'll see what's going on". I have tried to educate those that have been diagnosed with LD & even they don't want to hear it!

I agree with you on what to put into the signature - although it is helpful to list what you have have been diagnosed with, as a lot of us have memory problems & it would help us get to know you a little faster.

I look forward to reading your posts & getting to know you!!

Welcome! :)

Thanks for the warm welcome! And thanks again for creating such a positive Lymie space!!!

LOL @ you, traveler - I'm from Podunkville myself and drive an hour each way to see my LLMD. (not too bad compared to what some others are doing.) My naturopathic and chiropractor are all nearish to my LLMD. So I just took a job out here and keep joking that if I have to drive an hour 3-4 times a week, I might as well stop and work 8 hours too.

Here's what I LOVE though - all 3 of those doctors work together. I just started seeing the chiro, but he has swapped cards with my naturopathic. My naturopathic and my LLMD work hand in hand and call each other before putting me on anything new meds or supplements. So I've got a great team - now to get better!

So here's a quick breakdown of the regiment:
LLMD: Did 4 months of abx - Cefeuoxime, Doxy (was allergic),and Cefdinir - was off by Christmas time and sick again mid January with upper respiratory issues (my Lyme had caused a couple bouts of bacterial pneumonia), went back on Cefdinir for a couple months and also did a 3 week round of Mepron for Bb and 6 weeks of Zithromax. I've been off all abx since June and think I'm holding my own. I'm down to Rx's of Omeprazole (my poor stomach lining got sooooo disturbed by the Doxy), Nystatin for Candida

Naturapoathic:
* Suggests going dairy (tough when you're from WI) and gluten (tough when you're vegetarian) free - I'm working on this one.
* Currently I take:
* Cat's Claw
* Artemesinin
* Cordyceps
* Flax Seed Oil - LLMD recommends Fish Oil
* CoQ10 - Ubiquinol
* B-Complex
* Vitamin B-6
* Vitamin D
* Probiotic
* Nattokinase - for my elevated platelet counts
* Epsilon Rizol - combination of a few anti microbial essential oils. This is a Klinghardt thing.
* Topical Magnesium
* I've ended up with some major digestive issues and have been doing so GI repair work as well - can list those if anyone's interested.
* I'm going in for results of a food allergy screening tomorrow.

I also take (on my own - with approval, but not suggested by any of my doctors)
* Evening Primrose Oil - daily to regulate my cycle
* Cranberry - help when on abx to avoid yeast infections and I take it now to decrease swelling in my lymph nodes.

My chiropractor owns a "Maximized Living" facility (well worth Googling to see if there's one in your area). Their theory is that your brain is the greatest healer you can turn to, but if your spinal cord is pinched, your brain's messages are not getting where they need to go. I knew prior to this chiro that I have neck issues and have seen a chiro for about 18 months before i went to this guy. My previous chiro's would only do the covered adjustments so 12-20 per year. This guy's treatment plan for me was for 72 adjustments in 10 months. He says that everytime you are adjusted - your brain gets a surge of messages through and this is especially applicable because it jump starts your immune system.

He is also a dietician and as part of my treatment plan, I was provided with a book laying out a couple food plans for healing. (If you've read Singleton's Lyme book - it's very similar to his Anti-inflamation diet) He is completely committed to what I call "clean" eating. And especially for us Lymies, we need to feed ourselves - not the bugs so I love that. He promotes exercise and we do these "7 minute workouts" that can be modified - went to my first one last week and held my own pretty well. I struggle with exercise because my knees and hips can be so bad somedays that just taking a walk is brutally painful.

Maximized living has what they call 5 Essentials for healing:
1. Maximized Mind
2. Maximized Nerve Supply
3. Maximized Nutrition
4. Maximized Oxygen and Lean Muscle
5. Minimized Toxins

I can't say enough good about the atmosphere at this place either. You come in a do some exercises to kind of prep yourself for the adjustment. There are no appointments so you just come during adjusting hours and do your thing - you get to know the other people there and it's just so refreshing - especially compared to mainstream medical. Like I said - if you can find one in your area, I definitely recommend going in for a screening to see how your nerve supply is doing.

Sorry for the book!!!

Just the prescribed Rx's. So far, I've not had a problem with my insurance not covering my abx - they made it a pain to get the Zithro - covered the first 21 pills and then I had to pick them up 8 at a time - so every 4 days to the drug store and another co-pay, but that's so not bad compared to what others have gone through.