As I was rounding up a big ol' order of supplements and such today from my various online sources it occurred to me that it's a good time to write up my current treatment plan & share with everybody just what & how much I'm doing. I've always been a health forwards person. I gave up on Allopathic medicine began seeing Naturopathic Dr.'s and juicing & such way back in the early 90's when I started studying alternative medicine in earnest. I was a Massage Therapist & Energy Worker for most of my life and Healer is still my true calling. I lost my path of care for myself after my divorce in '05 and just never really got it back together until last year when it all blew up in my face.
I am currently not doing treatment for Lyme specifically; ie killing bacteria. I started with my 1st Lyme Dr. last year in August. We did several months of testing & immune boosting before starting a 4 month plan of killing Lyme. It was all guess work...At this point ALL TREATMENT FOR CHRONIC LYME DISEASE IS EXPERIMENTAL. I tested negative for Lyme & co-infections (very common) so the standard approach is to throw anti-bacterials, anti-microbials, anti-parasitics & biofilm busters atcha & see what happens. Yay for being a helpless guinea pig!! Well what happened was WAY worse than expected. After dealing with this my whole life I had no clue what were reasonable reactions. I had read over & over how astoundingly ill people get while experiencing the die off reactions & figured hey the sicker the better! So I somehow survived 4 stretched out months of not being able to eat, vommiting all day everyday, not being able to walk, feed myself or get off the floor, unspeakable pain, seizures, brain inflammation off the charts, spinal cord inflammation, wild mood swings & so much more. Desperation, despair, anxiety and PANIC in every moment that equaled over 4 months of being massively suicidal EVERY minute of EVERY day. I was scared to death & not at all sure I could survive this, especially in my current situation of being away from my family & having no support or help around and a TOTALLY unprepared boyfriend. My Dr just wasn't hearing me when I tried to explain how BAD it was and that I felt like I wasn't detoxing anywhere near enough. He told me to just take it slow & keep taking detox baths ( I was taking the lowest possible dose already & I don't have a bathtub, just a giant gardening tub I can haul in the shower & soak 1/2 of me at a time.) I didn't know what to think except to take his word. Even though I spent every capable moment researching, because that is truly what it takes to understand this disease, it's complexities and all the options available, I was way too sick to think my way out of anything. Right at the end of my last round my gallbladder FREAKED out. I went to see him, scared that I was having serious issues there & with my liver, he asked if I was doing the baths and then basicly said it was my fault for pushing too hard. Excuse me??? Lol. I like this Dr, I really did, but I don't think he'd ever seen a case like mine and was just waaaay too basic in handling it all. We started a long gentle homeopathic cleanse to give my body a break.
I was so glad for this as I started getting better! Even though we had never talked about it I started doing coffee enemas regularly to get the toxic buildup OUT of my system, the clearer I got the easier it was to tell when I was overloading, the homepathic cleanse was great but still NOT enough! I started adding in all kinds of GREAT supplements I learned about through friends that were never brought up by clinic I was at. And the better I got the more I could think & research & figure out what happened & what to do about it. Since then I have figured out that I am definitley in the group of folks who have a genetic innablilty to detox biotoxins from both Lyme and mold, amongst other issues that need to be addressed in an order that is beneficial as opposed to harmful. After a lifetime of Lyme bacteria & co-infections running rampant through my whole system and my poor poor body so inflammed and working SO hard to detox what it just couldn't... blindly starting treatment like that was equivalent to throwing gasoline on the fire. WHOOOOOOSH...watch me burn!!! Dangerous to say the least.
Sooooooo. I finished that cleanse and dropped my Dr. I've had continuing issues with my gallbladder for months since, painful no fun stuff but it's getting better! I turned my attention towards health, getting my body what it needs and detoxing in a huge way. I've radically changed my views on treating Lyme over the months... I now belong to the camp that believes severe Herxing does more damage than good. So many of us cannot handle the huge amount of neurotoxins being dumped in our systems by killing the Lyme bacteria, and these toxins do a tremendous amount of damage to the body. They ate up every bit off body fat I had, I think I lost about 10 lbs and looked horribly anorexic. When I was so sick I wasn't able to focus on diet & particularly the low carb anti-inflammatory diet that is so needed, I couldn't eat at all! Now I've changed up everything...bye bye gluten, see ya sugar!! I juice at least 5 days a week.... green juice baby!! And as I've gotten that down I'm adding in more juices through the day like carrot & beet etc. I've started wheatgrass shots, finally, everyday & and I alternate coffee & wheatgrass enemas 5 days a week at least. I keep an eye on my PH everyday to make sure I'm not too acidic, what a great tool by the way.
It's a step by step process let me tell ya. Just getting used to taking so many supplements in the beginning is a challenge & takes awhile to get under hand. Step by step. Smarter detoxing, smarter food, better exercise, knowing what's happening and why. I have to give SOOO much credit here to my wonderful Facebook Lyme family & community for all their never ending help & support. I never could have gotten this far without losing my mind or killing myself if it weren't for the endless sharing of research and information and LOVE that happens on FB.
Now I am looking into a new Dr, but glad I haven't moved on it yet (these specialists are expensive & I have zero insurance or help from the Government). I continue to get clearer & learn more everyday I want the RIGHT one and I want to be 100% sure of what I'm gonna go after. I'm waiting, & getting healthier by the moment and feel like a completely different person in perspective of this whole picture, after less than a year of beginning this path. I still deal with plenty, lol. My entire life consists of taking care of myself 24/7!!! It really is a full time job. I rarely leave home still, social stuffs are too hard most of the time. I can't drive mostly still as I still have neurological issues. I have severely limited mental energy, though that is getting better. I can't remember anything unless it's right in front of my face. Symptoms come and go, some mild some brutal & I have flares sometimes that knock me on my ass. Too much rain makes me miserable and I can't tolerate cold temperatures. It truly is an hour by hour existence... do I wanna go out & do sumin? I dunno, ask me 15 min beforehand!
I feel good though... I know I am getting healthier & better by the moment, I can feel it... and am very positive about all the changes & the direction I'm heading.
So without further ado (like that wasn't long enough! I am incapable of writing a short story, lol It's taken me ALL day to write this) here's what I take & do everyday!
(And I just want to say here, that if you are looking at ALL this thinking "OMFG...you have got to be kidding me", that's about what I felt like a year ago. I had to do this on my own, no friends to call & a very busy boyfriend. No Wholefoods or equivalent nearby to easily grab anything I needed. I have never considered my self to excel in self discipline. I don't do well with routine, I can hardly bear to do the same thing every single day. But little by little I've made it work for me. I don't believe in denying your self to the point of suffering. You can't possibly tell me that's good for you. So I've figured out how to have chocolate and other things that make me happy. You can too!)
Protocol
- Gabapentin (the only pharmaceutical I take & it saved my butt! Helps hugely w/anxiety, sleep, mood regulation & pain, particularly nerve pain)
- High Potency Multi
- High Potency Multi + protien powder in shake form
- Vit C 4,000- 10,000 mgs
- Vit B complex
- Vit D
- Vit B12 Methycobalamin
- High Quality Fish Oil 4,000mg
- Gaba 750mg 3x
- R-Lipoic Acid
- Milk Thistle
- Co Q10 300-400 mg
- SAMe- 400mg or more
- Adrenal Support Complex
- Ginko
- Lithium Orotate (for brain inflmm & neuro issues)
- Avavpaxin (for inflammation)
- Piracetam (neurological support)
- 5HTP
- Enzymes
- Prtobiotics
- Chlorella
- Pau D'Arco
- Dr Jernnigan's Neuro Anitiox II
- Free & Easy Wanderer Chinese Herbal Formula
- Trace Mineral Drops
- Molybdenum
- Activated charcoal as needed
- Supergoodstuff Nasal spray
- 1oz wheatgrass
- Flor Essence Detox Tea ( I've been off this for months but am really excited to start up again, my
landlord gave it too me when I got diagnosed, as he has several friends recover fully from stage 4
cancer using this!!)
- Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar a couple splashes in water a day.
~ Everything I try to cram in on a daily basis~
Juicing, netti pot, detoxifying enema, yoga, Sunshine!! and fresh air, grounding or earthing~ either outside or with my Earthing kit, meditation,dry skin brushing, detox bath, raw foods, Dr J.'s foot soaks,
lemon water (try for a gallon a day), 1tsp baking soda in water to alkalize if needed, eye wash, green
smoothies, coconut oil, castor oil packs for pain & inflammation, oil pulling & probaly more I can't even think of right now lol! I'm still on hiatus from using my far infrared sauna until my detox pathways get clear enough to handle it.
The biggies: NO STRESS! REST. SLEEP. QUIET & PEACE TO HEAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. POSITIVE
ATTITUDE, as much as possible ;). Toss the fear!
Blessings to all~ much love, H.
