September symptoms

I almost feel like my old self again - this is month 9 in the lyme and co-infection process. The last two months the focus has been on targeting co-infections as well as candida and fungus. I am pulsing the artemesian for babesia and started that back up yesterday. I am going to add olive leaf extract in lieu of cats claw to mix up the anti-bacterial. I also bought supplies to begin the GAP diet tomorrow. I needed a break and had one week with no supplements, no herbs, and ate whatever I wanted including - blechhhh.. sugar. I went to a high end bakery that sells cake and can't believe I ate the whole slice. When hasn't been doing sugar, sugar tastes wretched. Then work stuff.. people always press one to eat crap... and I gave in to the going away goodies brought in for a co-worker leaving. I went camping, kayaking, snorkeling with my beloved and ate whatever I wanted on this trip as well. So much more energy!

What remains:
headaches - but SO MUCH better
left foot - sore sole
achy wrists
calves cramp when I walk up stairs and hills
feet cramps - they do this weird contortion thing.
wonky tummy (gerd) - nausea
low mood - really deep sadness, shame, sorrow - which is probably related to my PTSD journey
fatigue - but SO MUCH better
woozy
pain flares - on occasion
wonky body temperature regulation - today I am running a mild fever
sweats (I noticed when I went back on the artemesian, the sweating accentuated)
floaters in right eye - I went to the ophthalmologist because of flashing lights and a significant change in floaters and discovered I had a torn retina!
tongue and jaw tension (probably stress)

I think what might be left is just, well, pushing 60.

Buhner says to keep up with herbs until you have 3 months of no herxing.

My GP wants me to come in if the leg cramps don't clear. I told her they were improving... but only a tiny bit. The use of the magnesium concoction I made helped clear up the night cramping, but my legs continue to hurt when I climb stairs or up inclines. It would be good to be screened for peripheral arterial disease I think, and maybe my lumbar spine.

I haven't been around for awhile because I have been focusing on a big book project. My therapist encouraged me to submit it to a proper editor in that she believes it will do the greatest good this way. Synchronistically I was prepping a book proposal for a certain publisher, and she happened to have a contact with this group. I sent it to her contact and they wrote back and said it was sent to a particular editor. I did some research and discovered she is an "acquisitions editor" which I think is a good thing. It is good to wrap it up.

This summer I did hardly ANYTHING creatively. I really focused on rest and good nutrition. Work, Dr.'s appointments, and lots of time in the hammock and at the beach.

I think things really turned the corner when I added this idea of fever therapy and getting to the sauna 4 days a week to get my body temperature, and targeting co-infections and candida/fungus. I felt HORRID for a stretch when I shifted focus, but now, feeling almost back to normal!

What a wild ride.

Below is the one bit of clay play I did over the summer - I picked it up from the kiln this week.

I was going to give it to my therapist (healer and child is the title) but my spouse loves it too much..I do too..maybe I will make a second...but I have learned, well, things don't seem to like to repeat with me.

Thanks for listening!

VIEW IMAGE

Girlie - thanks for the reality check! Gonna keep questing and keep working the health journey and imagine MORE for myself. Big grins of gratitude and thank you for the compliment on the creation. tomorrow I might have at making dragons.

Questing,

I liked reading your post. I enjoy hearing about how it is for others. Congrats on being almost healed and having a normal week of sun, play, food! Good for the soul. I noticed you did Zhang clinic. Are you in NYC? The clinic is very near me and I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks and hope you continue feeling good.

Girlie - will do re: posting the dragon's. Huddie - I wound up just buying Zhang's book, reading it, and testing out some of his herbs. I herxed like crazy on the allicin and the hottuynia. They were too expensive for me. I love the allicin, but just too pricey and decided to buy the hottuynia bulk. Hello Blueberrymuffin!

Love hearing that sweating lessened herxing. Interesting and good to know. Thanks.

Cr3 - thanks for that! Ok won't do that yet. How did you find out about the mold? How do they test you for that? Curious about that myself. Hope you are better now.

Questing I love you art work. I can paint on a flat surface but making something with dimension is difficult for me! Good job.

Oh and Buhner says symptom free for 2 months before you stop herbs. Not herxing.

Huddle - RE:mold. My LLMD is a ENT and he tested me for the HLA gene and I had it, plus my horrible allergic reactions when I am in moldy environments made him think mold toxins were really my problem, worse than the lyme. However, that wasn't the case. I also have an ENT locally (my LLMD is out of town). My local ENT said he went to a conference on sinus biofilms and to do a neti-pot rinse with a drop of Johnson's baby shampoo, xylitol and salt to eradicate the biofilms. I did that and a huge gelatinous black mass slithered out of my nose (sorry TMI). I think that it had been there for years because I suddenly didn't feel any pressure in my sinuses. I also did a 30 day nebulizer with flucozinole and antibiotic, 3x a day. The next month, my LLMD gave me the Mold/Candida LDI shot. And I've been really doing well, off all allergy meds for the first time in my life....

Huddie said...
CR3,

That is the most amazing story I have ever heard. I cannot believe the black mass that slithered out of your nose. OMG, what was it? I'm shocked they suggest Johnson's baby shampoo in the neti pot. It has parabens in it and we are supposed to be super careful with what we put in the neti pot (meaning into our head). I was told only purified water, possibly a pinch of salt. So glad you are better.

This may sound like a stupid question but are lyme/mold connected some how? I ask due to the biofilm reference. I had chronic sinus infections at one point in my life (ENT wanted to perform surgery, I declined). I used the neti pot, essential oils and did the candida diet. Never had a sinus infection since.

Huddie can you share your experience with the neti pot? Which essential oils did you use?

I also use essential oils to kill fungus. I steam 2 drops of peppermint, thyme oil and lemon myrtle and sniff it when I start to get stuffy. I also put 5 drops of Pau 'd arco in my neti pot if needed.

There is a huge connection between Lyme and Mold, because basically they are both related to an inability to detox the toxins.

Here is a link about the Lyme/Mold Connection: https://chriskresser.com/5-things-you-should-know-about-toxic-mold-illness/

"Removal of biotoxins in patients with CIRS usually begins with binders like cholestyramine or Welchol. Other steps include eradicating biofilm-forming staph colonizations that tend to develop in the nasal passages of CIRS patients and correcting high/low MMP9, ADH/osmolality, C4a, TGF-b1, VEGF, and VIP."

You can use a different Baby shampoo. You only use a pin prick. This is what the baby shampoo does: http://www.boogordoctor.com/5-step-program-to-eliminate-chronic-sinusitis/

My LLMD tested me for the HLA gene. I got my other genes done at 23andme to figure out my methylation issues. I actually have the gluten intolerance gene too!

Having suffered since I was a baby with a clogged nose, and 3 surgeries later, the best thing I did was go Gluten free 20 months ago. That cured about 80% of my allergies. And I think that helped my gut...which helped my immune system...which is now kicking Lyme's butt. It's all connected!!!

Good luck with the kiddos.

I paid $125 for the 23andme test and they had a special $75 for another person in the family, so I did my son (you do one son, you get the results for both hahaha). It's a saliva test.

Then, you run your results through Livewello.com for $25 and Geneticgenie.org for free for the Methylation profile. Methylation genes tell you how you handle detoxifying.

Livewello.com is interesting. You automatically get lumped into these genetic groups where people post questions about their medical issues and its amazing how similar peoples stories are based on genetics.

CR3,

We are in our weekend home and the moment we arrive my son starts sneezing like crazy. It is also a high pollen/allergy week and our home is surrounded by trees. My husband went to retrieve his hiking boots from our basement and they were covered with light green stuff. Is that the bad type of mold or just humidity mold and/or is it ALL bad? I called our realtor and asked for a mold specialist and her response was "I have been living up here and selling homes for over 30 years and your house does not have mold." Thoughts? It also always has a musty smell when we arrive - smell is from the basement. Once windows are open it is fine. It isn't a mold smell as I am very sensitive to any mold smells. However, this could/may be the odorless type. Thoughts? Thanks.