Posted 2/17/2013 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
Justme,
I can't even imagine what you are going through- just like I could not relate when my daughter seemed to be in terrible pain 24/7. I did a lot of research and asked people what worked for them. I tried a lot of things, but nothing seemed to work for her. I tried a lot of different antioxidants and other things that many Lyme patients claimed that helped them. Heat only made her herxes worse. We eventually found that her pain was alleviated in proportion to the extent that we discontinued using toxic substances to treat her, and also to the extent that she was effectively detoxed.
I don't blame you for desiring to find symptomatic relief- wherever you can find it. Its just that sometimes there is no symptomatic relief available for some kinds of physical problems unless you go to the root of the problem.
I don't know why, but my mind keeps focusing on the fact that you have seizures, chronic pain (syndrome), and have been sick for a long time. Your problems may be from something as simple as ammonia buildup in the brain and entire body, or maybe its something else. Since I have been studying Hypothalamus, Pituitary, and Adrenal (HPA) articles, I am constantly seeing descriptions that fit your situation in these articles. Please forgive me for bringing this up again, but some things keep crying out to me.
I have just recently read another excellent article about HPA dysregulation, its complexities, and its consequences. Here is a particularly relevant section:
"Immune system up-regulation is a key component of the metabolic dysregulation seen in hypocortisolism. Since cortisol is profoundly influential in maintaining homeostasis within the immune system, a decrease in baseline levels or a suboptimal stress induced rise in its levels may lead to maladaptive immune system dysfunction. Cortisol selectively suppresses cellular immunity thereby preventing tissue damage from excessive inflammation. Low cortisol states permissively allow up-regulation of cellular immunity resulting in increased production of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-12 (IL-12). These cytokines cause immune over-activation not only by suppressing
production of anti-inflammatory humoral cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) and stimulating other inflammatory mediators (such as nitric oxide), but also by suppressing lymphocyte function and disrupting T-cell signaling.
The result is amplification of numerous inflammatory pathways and increased susceptibility to developing inflammatory diseases, including autoimmune diseases, mood disorders, atopy, malignancy, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain syndromes, obesity, glucose dysregulation and fibromyalgia. Furthermore, due to down-regulation of humoral immunity, hypocortisol patients become more vulnerable to assaults by infectious and environmental pathogens such as parasites, allergens, certain bacteria and toxins.
.... Furthermore, some pharmacologic agents commonly used to treat the symptoms of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as NSAIDS and opiates, can further exacerbate HPA axis dysfunction."
Here is the link to the entire article:
http://www.a4m.com/assets/pdf/medical-news/A4M_Hypocortisolism_paper_draft_3-Final.pdf?SESSION_MAIN=0lgqjpa7eq5cmbs5e6kqik26m3
Low cortisol levels can create pain syndrome, cytokine storms, tissue damage, and all kinds of immune and other organ dysfunction including seizures (found in another article). If a low cortisol situation applies to you, then, you may be spinning your wheels in looking for relief. If your cortisol levels are low, and if the situation is addressed, then you may find that you will gain a lot more than pain relief.
Nonetheless, I hope that you can find relief any way that you can.
Don