Landed in ER

I burned up last night after eating a bowl of pasta and meat sauce?? That internal burning in the head chest and my entire body, and landed in the hospital, so weak, panic, heavy arms and anxiety. The burning is still going on right now. The hospital never checks for bart or babs despite my drenching sweats and blood pressure drop smh . Too weak to drive . I dont know what to do to stop the burning it's awful, they sent me home with gabapentin which I am not wanting to take because its used as a anti seizure and muscle relaxant and causes all types issues. I dnt like taking meds. The burn is so bad in my head and chest my whole body idk what to do. Turmeric works for a little , it happened also after taking binders chlorella and activated charcoal? Histamines ?

A quick question, MedicalNerd, if you don't mind. I don't know your history, but is it possible you have RMSF? If so, you could be experiencing the alpha gal allergy.

If this is not possible, you have my deepest sympathies for having to endure that episode!

So sorry the struggle continues, MedicalNerd. I don't remember if you have explored mast cell activation syndrome before or not. Burning sensations, nerve pain, panic and anxiety, and many other symptoms can be MCAS flares. Pasta with meat sauce is generally a very high-histamine meal. A strict low-histamine diet might help to reduce symptoms enough to tell whether MCAS is part of the picture for you. Turmeric (or the extract curcumin) can help a lot with MCAS and any form of inflammation, so it's good that you are seeing improvement with that. I would increase that dose and any immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory supplements you take right now, rather than gabapentin. (But do what feels right for you!)

Have you noticed any other patterns related to what you ingest? Like maybe flares coming after a morning cup of coffee, or after fermented foods, vinegar, tomato products, cured meats, citrus...? Or after certain supplements or activities?

For me, MCAS caused burning sensations in my head, chest pain, intense brain fog, anxiety, fatigue, nerve pain, buzzing, and other things. I didn't realize that the high-histamine foods I ate most days were causing my symptoms. For me, a low-histamine diet was a huge step forward in my healing. Curcumin and quercetin are great for helping my immune system stop over-reacting and causing these symptoms.

I was stuck in the mindset of thinking that the battle I was fighting was just kill microbes and detox, kill microbes and detox, over and over. Reading Toxic by Neil Nathan helped me move out of that paradigm and get better. For others, maybe killing microbes and detoxing is enough, but for those of us who are more reactive, often some other process or dysfunction is occurring that needs to be addressed before we can make progress.

I hope your find relief soon!

saraeli said...
So sorry the struggle continues, MedicalNerd. I don't remember if you have explored mast cell activation syndrome before or not. Burning sensations, nerve pain, panic and anxiety, and many other symptoms can be MCAS flares. Pasta with meat sauce is generally a very high-histamine meal. A strict low-histamine diet might help to reduce symptoms enough to tell whether MCAS is part of the picture for you. Turmeric (or the extract curcumin) can help a lot with MCAS and any form of inflammation, so it's good that you are seeing improvement with that. I would increase that dose and any immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory supplements you take right now, rather than gabapentin. (But do what feels right for you!)

Have you noticed any other patterns related to what you ingest? Like maybe flares coming after a morning cup of coffee, or after fermented foods, vinegar, tomato products, cured meats, citrus...? Or after certain supplements or activities?

For me, MCAS caused burning sensations in my head, chest pain, intense brain fog, anxiety, fatigue, nerve pain, buzzing, and other things. I didn't realize that the high-histamine foods I ate most days were causing my symptoms. For me, a low-histamine diet was a huge step forward in my healing. Curcumin and quercetin are great for helping my immune system stop over-reacting and causing these symptoms.

I was stuck in the mindset of thinking that the battle I was fighting was just kill microbes and detox, kill microbes and detox, over and over. Reading Toxic by Neil Nathan helped me move out of that paradigm and get better. For others, maybe killing microbes and detoxing is enough, but for those of us who are more reactive, often some other process or dysfunction is occurring that needs to be addressed before we can make progress.

I hope your find relief soon!

I just ordered some curcumin , I'll have to try a low histamin diet.

The ER will almost immediately dismiss you if Lyme is mentioned. I found that out years ago. Much more so than at a doctor visit.

The question of autoimmune, as mentioned by dcd, is something I consider more and more. This is not to say it has become full-blown autoimmune, but the Lyme has caused autoimmune type issues. That is a tough one to figure out.

Just hope it all settles for you quickly, Medical nerd.

Traveler said...
A quick question, MedicalNerd, if you don't mind. I don't know your history, but is it possible you have RMSF? If so, you could be experiencing the alpha gal allergy.

If this is not possible, you have my deepest sympathies for having to endure that episode!

I noticed your post says herb only treatment for lyme, bart, babesia? You never went the antibiotic route? I prefer to do herbs only and sida acuta is the strongest bt I nearly killed me if of 1 drop! I'm kind of refusing to try it ever again as it kind of traumatized me u know? What herbs in combination did you use please ?

dcd2103 said...
Small fiber neuropathy is awful, trust me I know its controlled my life for the past several years.

My advice:

1.) You need IVIG. Regardless if bart is causing it or not, it's immune mediated. The bugs are NOT attacking your nerves, they are up-regulating your immune system which causes inflammation and burning. This will help you treat it w/ antibiotics as the immune system will be calmer. IVIG is a miracle cure for some w/ this burning. I'm on the ivig, it helps but isnt the miracle for me that it is for a lot of people. You need to find a neuro willing to do this, however. First, youll need a proper diagnosis of SFN, which requires a punch biopsy.

2.) You need to recognize that this is immune mediated. Blaming everything on the bugs will only dig you deeper as you try to treat and treat w/o recognizing the immune aspect. This means that everything you put in your body you have to consider how it will affect the immune system. That means you need to take a look at what antimicrobial herbs you are on. They flare neuropathy badly. Berberine, oil of oregano, GSE, monolaurin, they all flare my neuropathy like crazy.

3.) Building on number 2, you need to fix your diet. Even if the bugs are what triggered your immune system, the food we eat IS inflammatory, and is like pouring gas on a fire. I didnt realize it until i went strict ketogenic, but I have a very severe gluten and dairy intolerance. Point being, if you are eating inflammatory foods, and especially if you are having digestion issues, you are likely putting things in your body that are stimulating your immune system. Whole food, gluten free, potentially ketogenic diet is the way to go. I'm having great results w/ my burning by going on a fast, as I've detailed in my other posts. Stopped the burning in its tracks.

I strictly went low histamine as of yesterday and also decided to start up a few drops of japanese knotweed since it's good for inflammation as well, the burn isnt all the way gone by its slighter you know? I also have cryptolepis which is used as an antimalarial to treat babesia, so if I dont want to take ant meds like mepron I can gentle natural herb route, maybe it'll stop the burning once the babs clears . I was prescribed albenza (antiparasitic/antimalarial) for stomach parasites and oh boy my stomach and chest got that fire burning sensations while on it, so who knows what it was killing off, and I didnt expelled any parasites rather I think it must have killed of some babs.