Need opinions, please! Is it really time for me to stop?

Hi All,
I'm in a bit of a conundrum - Is it really time for me to stop my treatment???

Here's the situation. My liver started expressing it's sincere displeasure with me with constant pain/pressure in the back and very "blonde" stools, my intestines were really yelling at me with tons of intestinal gas (it never 'moves out' - it just stays in my intestines, 'rolling around') and of course, I was not a very happy camper with those things going on. During this time, I was using my Chronic Tonic, liver flushes daily, probiotics up the wazoo, and of course detoxing as much as I could without over doing it for me.

So I chose to stop my Lyme treatment until my liver and bowels came back under control - oddly enough it took 12 days (I detoxed the whole time), so I gave it two more days to just 'be happy' and then faithfully started back on my treatments. During that two week break, I felt great!!!! I had more energy that I was used to, slept great, wanted to be out doing things (granted, it was small things with frequent rests - but I worked in the yard & garden!), and was generally in a much improved mood for a number of reasons.

Well, here I sit, just 4 days after restarting the herbs, and now I feel sick - not like I'm herxing though - I've been through that enough to know all too well what that feels like. I'm nauseous, but not in the same way as I always have been when herxing. I have headaches - hard to compare those, as I've had all kinds of headaches while treating, but these feel different somehow, and I just feel unwell. My liver is struggling again and my bowels are definitely unhappy again.

Considering how wonderful I felt during my little 2 weeks off of treatments, I'm wondering if I'm done with treatments - ie (dare I say) healed from Lyme? and that's why the treatments are making me feel ill (not herxing ill though) now? It was kind of a relief mentally when I restarted the herbs, because I wasn't sure that I was done, and we all know what too short of a treatment time means.

One of the things that keeps me guessing is the adrenal and thyroid issues that I'm still dealing with. I know that I'm not done with my recovery from those things. My thyroid still likes to swell and I can't loose the weight I gained when it went on strike, and although I generally sleep a good 7 or 8 hours a night now (major YEAH!!! ), I still don't have the energy I should - or did 2 years ago.

So I'm turning to those that know me and my situation best - you all on this forum - for help in finding the right answer for me at this time - because I'm afraid to say that I'm healed yet!!! LOL! Could I really be done with this already? It's been 5 months since I started treatments for a 3 month old infection.

Opinions, please???? and thanks in advance for helping me to figure this out!!!

This *is* quite the conundrum, Trav!

I don't feel qualified to comment. However, I send you a BIG HUG and best wishes with whatever you decide!!

Listen to your body, it knows best and doesn't like those herbs anymore. I say give it another rest from them and if symptoms come back, try it again or something new.

Sorry your having these issues right now.

Prayers for a complete healing!

Maybe one of your problems is that you are putting your probiotics up your wazoo instead of swallowing them like the rest of us!!!

Laughter is the best medicine -- thanks for my dose!!

Seriously, though, I vote for going off the medicines and see how your body responds. Crossing fingers for you!

I think if you felt better off the herbs, then get off of them! You have other issues, like your thyroid/adrenal stuff that could be the reason you still feel tired. I'd say get off of them and see what happens. Keep supporting your body!

I can't wait to see what you end up doing Traveler, keep us posted!!

Liver whisperer? LOL!!! Okay, I'll have a try at it!! Thanks SpeyFisher!

I've pretty well come to that conclusion now too, IHL. It's time to see what this old body can do on it's own now I think!! LOL!

Thanks Mr Mike & Lyme Pickle!!! I'm going to continue to be hopeful, and not continue my treatment and see how I do!! Be prepared for me to come crying to you all saying it didn't work though!!! LOL!!!

And I agree, LP - I've been thinking for the past week, I can't really be done yet, can I? LOL!!! I stared treatment in earnest in August of 2014, so it's been a solid 5 months in treatment so far - and I'm one of those that is constantly saying that Lyme rarely is the only thing passed - but maybe it was for me?? Okay, I'm really nervous about that possibility!!! LOL!!!

Gall bladder issues? LOL! I guess you could say that - I had my gall bladder removed years ago. Ginger helps with my digestion though and any nausea that I deal with. So I'm not sure what that all means!

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed and jumping off the boat!!! I hope I float!!! LOL!!!

I don't think there's anything I can add - others have said it.

Listen to your body....I think it's a good idea to stop...

If you keep an eye on it....and symptoms return, you can just start up again.


Sounds to me like you've killed it, Trav aka The Lyme Warrior!!!

Traveler, if you said it was reinfection rather than relapse (I think you said you had a tick on you for just 2 hours?). Then you caught it still relatively early. Maybe that's why it's done so fast. You knew exactly what to do.

Actually it's good and I'm glad you made it through. We can all know if all else fails we always have the option of the chronic tonic!
Maybe it even works better than the abx?

There are homeopaths who work with people via Skype or phone, but the former is better since seeing you can give them more clues to help them pick out the right remedy. I wish my first homeopath did that. I guess he will if I make one trip to see him in person, but I don't want to travel. It's hard to find a good classical homeopath. There is one in the Seattle area that treats people all over the world. Send me an email if you want any more info. on it.

Putting my 2 cents in, Trav:

I would say the liver has to be loved and cared for--we don't get another. I would stop a long list of herbs and maybe take just a couple of herbs to continue to increase immune function and protect the liver--at least for a while, and see where that goes.

You need the liver for the rest of your life and I think we should be gentle to it and not overwhelm it unless there is a life and death situation and you must continue the same treatment in order to save your life. I would rotate between a couple of herbs to get the benefits of most maybe each week or maybe 5 days on and 2 days off everything. If I wouldn't have a dr and I would have to treat myself, I would be conservative at this point because you already made progress and I would be concerned that by pushing it, I would make things worse.

Hugs!

Traveler, you may want to add ox bile and digestive enzymes to your diet and see if symptoms improve. Since you don't have a gallbladder, your digestive process is lacking the bile in the small intestine to assist in digestion and this can cause the white feces and gas.

Of course, I also recommend that you get your liver checked for hepatitis and cirrhosis for piece of mind.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... you may also want to add DGL to your supplements. I read my notes because I recently had excessive gas, bloating, and stomach discomfort each time that I ate. I also had these weird headaches in the back of my head. These headaches were not causing as much pain as they were making me feel like I was lacking oxygen, I felt drunk dizzy, and it felt as if they were draining my energies away. I also noticed that my body woke up more tired than usual, as if sleeping was not restoring my muscles (toxicity?). Anyways, I added DGL because of the stomach issues and by coincidence, it also helped with most of the other symptoms.

I looked up Licorice and saw that it helps with chronic fatigue, yeast infections, and liver troubles so maybe it does help?

Post Edited (Healing98) : 1/31/2015 6:23:28 PM (GMT-7)