Excellent Progress

Yes I tested positive for Mycoplasma and my testing result said "recent and acute exposure". I'm researching it, and it looks like it's a pretty stubbon infection to get rid of. Treatment looks like it is even more complex than for Lyme or Bartonella!

My LLMD said he doesn't worry about treating it because lots of people in the population have this infection anyways. But as I am reading the Buhner book about it, it seems like a pretty serious infection!

oh, and lymepickle, my LLMD says that if there is no improvement within a couple of weeks, that's when she alters therapy. You seem to have been on the same meds for a while now. Has your Dr or have you ever considered Zithromax? Bc Zithromax is what took care of the remaining body aches that I did have. Just food for thought! =)

Thanks for the suggestion Chapelle! Yes it has been on my mind to try azithromycin! Macrolides are supposed to be the best bet for mycoplasma, but mycoplasma requires at least 2 intracellular antibiotics and treatment for 8-12 months! It seems like forever.

My LLMD doesn't treat or bother with mycoplasma treatment, his statement was that if you are well your immune system handles it and he said lots of people have it anyways, he only treats Borrelia, Bartonella, and Babesia.

But my LLND I think treats for it, so might switch abx with him.

So you don't have mycoplasma? From what I am reading the most common co-infection that Lyme patients have is mycoplasma. More common than even bartonella. Then again even if you do have it you would be treating it well with 2 intracellular antibiotics like your doxy/zithro.

That is a good sign, was it kind of inflammation herx? believe me you do not want mycoplasma! Ya mycoplasma is the one thing I actually tested positive for, my bartonella was a clinical diagnosis but testing came back negative. Even my Lyme was like a boarder line result with just 41 and a few INDs but technically negative. I want to actually get my Lyme retested in a month just to see if any of my INDs ever became +s.

Chapelle, you are a pharmacist so I am curious about what do you think of cymbalta? I have actually been off the escitalopram for over a month now and it's not that I'm depressed anymore, but I just have like a chronic mild inflammation going on and slight fatigue. I believe both are from the mycoplasma. So I asked the psychiatrist for cymbalta instead. Is it any good or anything I might want to consider before taking it? : )

Ya I'm not taking it for depression. More because I wanted something that would cover the slight burning/inflammation. It isn't really fibromyalgia, it's more a slight fatigue combined with slight inflammation and body discomfort. Again I believe this is caused from mycoplasma.

I am generally against taking the meds too but my psychiatrist was so insistant on me to take something! I stopped taking the anti depressants but she seemed to think it is really important I take one so I just figured maybe cymbalta because it is advertised to help with the burning and pain? I know you are right about what they do to the serotonin synapses in the brain. My understanding is it floods the synapse with serotonin and so the receiving synapse compensates by making less serotonin receptors kind of lowering the volume down of the overstimulation. The signalling neuron also makes less serotonin. The Doctor and the patient then really think oh this patient has a medical diagnosis of depression and needs to take anti-depressants... When is it really a form of chemical change from the drug? Debatable for sure, but to be honest it did help me with thoughts of self harm for sure. But then after not feeling that way my Psychiatrist still thinks I'm depressed and need them.

Anyways I'm going to can my plans for cymbalta. Thanks Chapelle.

Yup on second thought I'm going to discontinue the cymbalta. I only took it for 1 day which was yesterday. And as usual with anti depressants I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep. I hate when that happens, happened when I first started the Cipralex (Canadian lexapro) too. I guess it keeps the serotonin out of the synapse but too much and during sleep we need melatonin instead! Anyways it does something to the serotonin melatonin pathway, not sure what. Going to stop it now. also I should remember symptoms are symptoms! And a sign that I need to do something about them, not just kind of cover them up and pretend that they are not there!

I had Mycoplasma about 10 years ago without knowing it. The only symptoms I had was wacky menstrual cycles. Didn't realize it was due to Mycoplasma. This caused difficulty in conceiving. A Fertility specialist tested me for it and it came back positive. Who knows when I got it and how long I had it. I was out on an antibiotic for 2 weeks and conceived that very month! Have been fine ever since. I was tested for Mycoplasma when contracting Lyme and the test came back negative so I think the antibiotic I took 10 years earlier must have gotten rid of it.

Low serotonin can cause generalized achiness. You might want to try 5htp, precursor to serotonin if you'd like to go a more natural way. It will help you sleep as well. Whatever serotonin you have left over in the evening, converts to melatonin. The more serotonin you have, the more melatonin you will produce from what I read. You can start with 50 mg. it takes bout a week to see if its helping you. You may increase the dose slowly until you feel benefit from it. To balance out the serotonin, you may take Tyrosine in the morning to enhance dopamine production. These are amino acids that you would get from food and what your body uses to naturally make its own neurotransmitters.

I know Lyme and especially with Bartonella or other coinfections can cause mental changes. You are trying to treat the disease but it doesn't mean you have to suffer with the symptoms if there is a way to diminish them for a better quality of life. A symptom of Lyme and Bartonella for me is constant full body pain. I treat the symptom of pain with pain medication which helps me have a semi normal life. I've been sick for over two years. If I didn't take pain meds, I wouldn't be able to function. 2 years is a long time to lose of your life. That is why I like to treat my symptoms while I treat the disease, so I can still live and somewhat enjoy life and my kids can still have their mommy while I'm treating this disease. That's something I decided to do but different things work for different people :).