Met with a new Doctor

I met with a new Doctor, who is an ND, a charming fellow. I am not sure if he is ILAD's certified or not but he was recommended to me by the CANLYME society and does seem to know a lot about LD.

He was a very nice Doctor and sat and listened to my whole story. He explained lyme testing in great detail to me, and looked over my blood work very thoroughly.  

He said based on my Igenex test, which isn't' fully positive but IND's and some positive bands, as well as a positive IFA, as well as based on my symptoms he says he is 80% sure I have LD.

I told him I have been taking Buhner's herbs, and they have helped but I still have my days. He told me to just keep on with them and let him know if I plateau then we he maybe recommend some kind of IV therapy (not IV Antibiotics).

What he did do was prescribe some progesterone cream to help me with my extreme PMS issues. In hopes that balancing my hormones might help control some of my symptoms as well.

I still feel kind of lost at sea. I have been having some pretty good days, but then bad again. It makes me wonder, if he is only 80 percent sure, maybe I have some rare autoimmune disease. Or maybe my Lyme has gone autoimmune. I feel like I'll never get rid of this. I have so many random sore pains in my body. I never know where it will hurt next on my bad days.

For those of you that followed a herbal protocol, was your progress very noticeably linear? Or did you have the good and bad days for a long time.

(I have been treating with herbs since May 2016. )

 

Oh how come? Did you have a bad experience with it before?

I was a bit surprised that he prescribed it but my hormones have been bothering me for years now, even before Lyme and my regular MD always just suggested Birth control pills but I don't do well on them.

I think any added hormones is a flag for cancer. that's me. i never did HBC either for that reason.
I think women since the dawn of time have dealt with these changes.....again this is me.
Maybe biodenetical as Girlie said, sincerely I am not convinced. Why your progesterone is low anyway? Mine is because I am getting there, but lyme has thrown a curve ball.....so now I have issues with having not enough progesterone to keep ovulation. Anyway, this is a very personal choice. My only reason, as I said, is I am to scared of side effects.

Heck my obgyn could not talk me into how safe a BC pill was.

A co infection can be affecting your hormones which can be causing the pms issues.

artermix said...
I think any added hormones is a flag for cancer. that's me. i never did HBC either for that reason.
I think women since the dawn of time have dealt with these changes.....again this is me.
Maybe biodenetical as Girlie said, sincerely I am not convinced. Why your progesterone is low anyway? Mine is because I am getting there, but lyme has thrown a curve ball.....so now I have issues with having not enough progesterone to keep ovulation. Anyway, this is a very personal choice. My only reason, as I said, is I am to scared of side effects.

Heck my obgyn could not talk me into how safe a BC pill was.

This is why I refused estrogen replacement, even though I was literally at 0 by the age of 50. That's a little early to be at zero. But, I do use progesterone cream. We need our hormones in balance, minus the normal lowering of estrogen for women that happens as we age.

Here are two good articles showing the difference between estrogen and progesterone - they do not do the same things.
"Why is progesterone taken?

Progesterone is used along with estrogen in women who still have their uterus. In these women, estrogen-- if taken without progesterone--increases a woman's risk for cancer of the endometrium (the lining of the uterus). During a woman's reproductive years, cells from the endometrium are shed during menstruation. When the endometrium is no longer shed, estrogen can cause an overgrowth of cells in the uterus, a condition that can lead to cancer.

Progesterone reduces the risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer by making the endometrium thin. Women who take progesterone may have monthly bleeding, or no bleeding at all, depending on how the hormone therapy is taken. Monthly bleeding can be lessened and, in some cases, eliminated by taking progesterone and estrogen together continuously. Women who have had a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus through surgery) usually do not need to take progesterone. This is an important point, because estrogen taken alone has fewer long-term risks than HT that uses a combination of estrogen and progesterone.

my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases_conditions/hic-what-is-perimenopause-menopause-postmenopause/hic-hormone-therapy


www.johnleemd.com/physiological-effects-estrogen-progesterone.html

Also, we hear about estrogen lowering as we age...but what we don't learn is that Progesterone lowers as well. And we end up estrogen dominant...even with the low levels...often that causes a lot of the symptoms.


Here is a link to an article showing the 'hormone diagram' - you will see progesterone is quite high up on the pyramid.

/www.drlam.com/blog/how-hormones-can-help-address-what-causes-fatigue/1611/

Traveler - I've also read that for post menopausal women, taking the break isn't necessary...

I think when I start using it, I will take a break though...even if it's just the 3 days.

Here's some information that I have used:

www.progesteronetherapy.com/how-to-use-progesterone-cream.html#sthash.tuvMirSD.dpbs


And some info from Dr. Lee

www.johnleemd.com/progesterone-cream.html

I bought his book pre-lyme...I may take a look at it again..and see what he says about post-menopausal women taking a break.

I was never tested for hormones until about a year after my adrenals crashed - 2 years ago, I believe is when I was finally tested. I was 51 and discovered that I had zero estrogen. Even my doc was a little surprised. I now use a soy free progesterone cream daily - except for my 3 days a month. I do have to say that it helps improve my moods! LOL!