Posted 12/30/2015 5:10 AM (GMT 0)
Hey! I’m new to this forum. This is my first post, but had some correspondence with Traveler a few months ago. I’ve been reading posts from afar, and have found a lot of collective wisdom here.
Please excuse my big, long post!!
I’m in the beginning phases of this journey, and have a few questions, if anybody has good advice for me, it would be much appreciated!
I won’t load you all with too many details, but will just say I had a tick bit in 2011, and a lot of symptoms, intermittent and sometimes steady from about 2013 on. Things had kicked up a notch when I found the forum this last fall. I had been having a lot of steady head pressure and pretty bad headaches among other new things. Traveler encouraged me to get hooked up with an LLMD, which I did (thanks Traveler!), who gave me a clinical positive lyme diagnosis.
My Igenex testing done in November came back with an indeterminate lyme, positive bartonella, positive babesia, and positive mycoplasma p. I had talked with my LLMD some about herbal vs antibiotics, and settled on maybe be starting with antibiotics. She didn’t discourage me from the herbal path, but said she has had very few patients who go the herbal only route. I think that freaked me out a little. My LLMD started me on doxycycline right away, which I was on for about 3-4 weeks before my tests came back.
When my results came back, she prescribed Ceftin and Zithromax, wanting to go after the Bartonella first. I was on Ceftin for about 2 weeks, but when I went to refill my short supply that insurance covered, the pharmasist informed me that he was mistaken on cost, and that the two months supply for both would be $1200. AHHHH!
… I never did get to the Zithromax
We revisited things, and decided to take a herbal approach, in light of finances, but also a nagging feeling that I had since the start of things.
…..I feel like I have so many questions, but I am just going to start with a couple :
Am I totally whacked for opting out of antibiotics? I’m learning the gravity of these diseases, and don’t want to take them lightly at all. It seems that most people are on combination antibiotics and even some herbs on top of that. Is it unwise to proceed without antibiotics? Not enough? I’m sure that this falls under a matter of opinion or preference largely, but I’m just trying to get a feel for it from some people who have been through it.
My LLMD started me on :
A-Bart. 1st week 1 drop only/wk , next week 2 drops only/wk, next week and on 1 drop daily
I’ll be adding Buhner herbs and ramping up, once stable on the A-bart, and ( Japanese Knotweed, Cat’s claw, Sida Acuta, Houttuynia, Red root, Hawthorne, Ashwagandha, Eleuthero, EGCG, L-Arginine) Also taking Milk Thistle Seed, Lyme homeopathic drops, B-Complex, Magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Mirenga Powder, Fish Oil, Probiotics and Sacro-B.
As soon as I can get my mercury fillings removed ( I have a ton) , I’ll start taking Alpha Lipoid Acid. I was taking Alpha Lipoic Acid for about a month until I read that it was extremely dangerous to take if you have mercury fillings. Whoops.
I would love some input on what to add.. or not add to the mix! And any good advice, really!
My last question is….My husband has recently been having some small red flags: toe pain, finger pain and muscle twitches. Seems small, and could be nothing, but he knows his body pretty well, and these are out of the norm. Should I give him something to try and see if he has a reaction to it? If so, what would be the best for this?
I have more questions regarding my little ones, but for now, I’ll leave that alone, or I’d be typing all night.
Anyhow, Thanks so much for taking the time to read my crazy long post.! Any advice would be very welcomed!!!