New to the forum. I suspect I may have chronic lyme disease. Please help.

I am writing this on no sleep, per another lyme-like episode, so please forgive any mistakes.

I have struggled with several symptoms for the past few years that have been progressively getting worse. I have not yet been tested for lyme disease, but have had a full blood panel that only showed that I have slightly high calcium levels, nothing else.

I frequently suffer from spasms, tremors and other weird transient skin feelings. I am highly sensitive to medications, supplements, artificial food additives and even cosmetic ingredients. I find myself unable to gain weight, and instead have been progressively losing weight, even during periods where I was eating junk food. I have absolutely no energy, even after a good night's sleep. I cannot tolerate exercise except for a short walk, and even that can be a chore sometimes. Also, tinnitus, small wounds are leaving scars that don't go away.

My diet consists of mainly steamed vegetables, lean meats, fish, salad, eggs, cheese and olive oil.

My biggest concern, and the reason I am asking for help or suggestions is that I am now unable to tolerate starch, sugar or high-carb foods at all currently. In the past I have had some reactive hypoglycemic symptoms after eating a lot of rice or cake, etc, so I went to the DR. for blood testing, which came back normal in that regard. I was convinced there was a mistake, so I bought a glucose meter, and used it every hour after a normal meal with carbs, and my levels all remained normal, nowhere near diabetes.

If I eat something high in sugar/carb, around 2-3 hours later, my skin will start feeling "prickly", almost electric numbness. The sensation of sitting on a hard surface is painful and numbing. Depending on how much sugar/carb I ingested, this lasts for several hours, usually only subsiding by the end of the next day, provided I don't eat anything starchy. I described this to the dr. but had nothing to say, almost as if this is something I am imagining.

So far this is very debilitating, and I don't know where to turn or what kind of testing to have done. Has anyone else had these sensations?

Also, I get skin infections pretty frequently but no one else that I've heard of seems to have this issue.

Thank you very much for the information! I have a lot of reading to do.

Many with Lyme and coinfections find sugar/starch to cause flareups of symptoms. Also, if you've ever been on antibiotics, there is a possibility of Candida overgrowth in the gut, which can impair tolerance for carbohydrates.

The solution is to treat for Candida:

High dose probiotics and/or kefir (can make your own at home for less than buying it in the store). Be sure to take probiotics at least 2 hours apart from antibiotics and the other anti-fungal herbs below, as these substances will inhibit the effectiveness of the probiotics.

Also, there is a yeast-based probiotic that can help fight off Candida called Sacromyces Boulardii (Florastor is one brand, there are others).

Coconut oil or caprylic acid capsules (strong anti-fungal) - if taking the oil, probably need about 2 Tablespoons a day (can take with meals).

Biotin - at least 8,000mcg 1-3x/day (prevents the candida from reverting to spore, enabling it to be killed more easily).

And at least one of the following anti-fungal herbs (preferably more than once a day):

Olive leaf extract
Grapefruit seed extract
Thyme
Oregano (essential oil is stronger; do not take on an empty stomach)
Garlic

And no carbs and no sugars in your diet while you are trying to get rid of the candida. The only safe sweeteners to use are xylitol and stevia; avoid artificial sweeteners such as Splenda or NutraSweet.

For Candida dietary guidelines or anything else you ever might want to know about Candida, see the many links and info available on candidapage.com/

Molybdenum as a supplement (I'd suggest 100mcg/day, but may need more initially) can help with die-off from yeast, as this mineral is used by the body to process & detox the candida toxins.

Also, chromium is needed for adequate carbohydrate processing, so once you've gone on the anti-fungal protocol (above) for a while and you are starting to feel as though you want to try to eat some mild carbs, be sure you are taking chromium.

Most multivitamins have some in it, but may not have enough...I think the recommended dose on chromium is 100-200mcg/day (but no more than 200mcg/day).

The bonus about going on the Candida protocol is that it is also good for those with Lyme. Because Lyme also feeds on sugar. And coconut oil is very healthy, good for the large intestine (short chain fatty acids nourish the lining of the large intestine), and is a natural anti-inflammatory.

And some of the other herbs for Candida are also anti-Lyme and anti-parasitic and may also help with other Lyme coinfections.

If the Candida protocol is not helping, then you may need to add or change to a more general anti-parasitic protocol. Weight loss in spite of adequate dietary calorie intake is one of the hallmark symptoms of parasitic infections...but can also be caused by Lyme/coinfections.

I hope this helps...take care,

Razzle are you still around? I have a couple questions in regards to how you got your numbers and doses for the protocol you wrote about. I have many symptoms that suggest Candida as perhaps my problem. I am going to try the protocol but want to get my supplements and questions out first.

Thanks

Twiggs, I've alerted Razzle that you have asked some questions. I'm sure that Razzle will be along as soon as possible to answer you.

Thanks Razzle and I am on it big time. I see a LLMD next week but this is my plan of attack. My main symptoms now are weight loss and inability to gain despite eating more than enough, Low body temp all the time (morning temp consistently at 96.8 and never higher throughout the day of 97.4) Tinnitus which started upon my er visit for bloody stools. chronic Sinusitis which started way before any of my IBD issues. I also recall right before I had blood in my stools for like a year or more I was really irritable when I didn't eat..

Do you know of any good parasite cleanses or is what you listed it basically? I keep seeing cleanse programs specifically for parasites.. I would also think that perhaps one could cleanse for parasite and fungus at the same time? I had pulled 2 ticks off of me in one summer like 5 years ago but never had a rash. I wont rule out lyme and will let my LLMD go through his process next week.


Thanks for the reply..