I meant to post this a couple of days ago, but never got around to it.
Some might remember a thread I started a couple of months ago titled "Relapse or Candida?" Well, as some might have guessed by now I did indeed relapse. Without making a long story long, I will briefly describe the events leading up to my relapse and how I am doing now (in bullet points, chronologically).
- Bit by tick a little over two years ago. Symptoms hit like a freight train 4 weeks later, went to an LLMD 2 weeks after that and started treatment (started treatment 6 weeks after bite).
- Treated continuously for 9 weeks, then started pulsing.
- Pulsed all through 2015 targeting all infections. I was progressing well. Continued to improve, even on my "off" weeks.
- By Christmas of 2015, I was somewhere between 95% and 98% better.
- I was doing so well my doctor wanted to start me on his maintenance program. I still pulsed, though it was an infrequent dose of abx. Only on abx 5 days of each month. I continued to improve. Most days I forgot I even had Lyme. In 2016, I moved, vacationed overseas, was promoted at work, enjoying cold beer, etc.
- Mid to late July I started feeling funny. During this time I researched the possibility of Candida and even gave some anti-fungals a try). Old symptoms started to appear quickly.
- At this point I made the decision to restart one of my previous protocols (still have pounds of abx in the cupboard). I now knew that this was not Candida, but rather Lyme reappearing and I did not want it to progress but rather I wanted to stop it dead in its tracks. I was very, very depressed. I had made it 7, almost 8 months virtually symptom free. This was a devastating blow.
- Within 2-3 days of restarting abx, my general malaise and loss of appetite was gone! What had took maybe 1-2 months to treat with my initial infection took 2-3 days. I was very encouraged.
As I type this, exactly two months after restarting an aggressive protocol, I feel great. Maybe 85%. Not quite where I was 3 months ago but I am doing really well. This is unbelievably encouraging. I thought I was going to have to start all over again. It is like I am treating an acute infection.
Since relapsing, I have read a ton about
relapsing. One thing I have read consistently is a relapse is typically less severe as the initial symptoms. I think this is due to the immune system being better equipped to fight the infection.
My current concerns and curiosities:
- Maybe some bacteria that went dormant during initial treatment decided to come out? If this is the case, this is a good thing.
- Will this become cyclical? I have read some articles and heard of patients who feel great while on abx but relapse every time they come off. I don't want this to happen to me. I know there are a lot of variables at play and that this disease is very individualistic. It also does me no good to worry about
the future.
- Are any co-infections at play here? Maybe, but I really don't think so and I don't think so not because I am in denial. I don't have strong hallmark symptoms of the primary co's. If I have Bart, I don't think I would have lasted 7 months virtually symptom free. Bart has a much shorter life-cycle.
Anyway, this is where I am at. Relapsing was one of my worst fears and it happened. To my pleasant surprise, SO FAR it is not near as bad, and I am responding very well to treatment. I am happy I jumped on it quickly. I clearly am not out of the woods yet, but I am hopeful. I do not think it is all that uncommon for one to have to kick these infections back a couple of times before ridding them (by ridding I don't necessarily mean eradicate).
Hopefully this was an informative post for those concerned about
relapsing. I will keep everyone updated with my progress.
Post Edited (Fronton) : 9/27/2016 9:42:24 AM (GMT-6)