Lyme treatment

Raw Food: Ignored advice to go slow!!!

2012-01-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

Prior to becoming ill, I ate a TON of raw food! I tried to shoot for 50% or more. I juiced often. Then, when I got sick, I couldn't digest raw food at all. :( I could only eat vegetables if they were overcooked, so soups became a favorite because who likes overcooked side dishes?

Recently, I FINALLY can eat as much raw food as I want, so as I usually do, I went overboard. I read Norman Walker's book on Weight Control .... I didn't buy it, it came with my Norwalk Juicer .... but it has good information in it about eating raw. He warns, GO SLOW, don't change over all at once. Did I listen? Of course not!!! I'm too healthy for it to have been more than a little issue!

WRONG!!!

A day in, as usual, I had a little headache. Nothing big. Hardly noticeable. Three days in, my hips started hurting so badly that the pain woke me up in the middle of the night. The pain in the morning was severe. I did okay, but not great that day. That night, the pain reminded me of when I broke my leg!! OUCH! Two and a half hours after I went to bed and couldn't sleep because I was crying over the pain, I finally got up and ate an Udi's gluten-free bagel with butter and raw almond butter on it. I took a Vicodin, and went back to bed. I played on my iPhone until the Vicodin kicked in then went to sleep.

The next morning, they hurt again, but not so bad. After my evening juice, YOWEE!!! I wasn't messing around with it a second night, so took two Advil and a Norco. I ate some organic blue corn chips and had some wild rice with my dinner salad.

Today I got up and ate my new normal raw breakfast (a glass of fresh apple juice and a couple celery stalks with raw almond butter). I had leftover salad with wild rice for lunch. Multiple raw snacks. I feel much better today, no pain.

I was worried about not having enough food, not about an intense healing reaction. I've been eating raw seed bars, raw soaked almonds, avocados, and nut butters to be sure I'm getting enough fat and calories with all the pilates I've been doing. But I hadn't taken into account that going to fast might cause a healing reaction. Wow. I learned my lesson.

Here's a good site that talks about going raw and what can happen if you go too fast -link

I don't plan on eating all raw all the time, but I am happy to get back to eating a significant amount of raw fruits and veggies full of enzymes. Interestingly, last time I started juicing, a friend who only sees me once a week was so surprised how much younger I looked after only a week of it that she went out and bought a juicer that day. This time, hubby was out of town for four days, and when he got home he said the same thing. Why do I ever stop juicing?!?! LOL

"You're eating a raw food dinner? You better not, it will make you feel like $#!T!!! Yup, my body is weird. There is really no way to know why the detox reaction is in the hips. It started soon after starting raw food, and ended soon after adding cooked back in, so it was clearly related.

Being able to eat this way again tells me that I'm significantly healed. I've been finished with treatment of infection for a couple years now, but as you know I've been working on total healing since then. I want to change my body so that it's not the same as the body that got so gravely ill. I think I'm close to the last layer .... though you never know how many there are .... but this step is significant.

My plans are to eat raw all the way until dinner .... except for today, of course.

Iodine

2011-12-29T08:08:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a lot about iodine supplementation lately and it's fascinating. Apparently, most of the population is iodine deficient. There is less iodine in salt and over 50% of people don't use iodized salt. Junk food that is loaded with salt, is loaded with plain salt, not iodized. People in trying to be healthy, cut out salt, which, by the way, is a macronutrient and important to our health.

Recent studies show that perhaps a much higher than RDA amount of iodine is needed. This is big in cancer prevention, specifically breast and prostate cancers.

It's also big in fighting everything from fungus, candida, bacteria, parasites, heavy metals, etc. It's needed for health.

So, I did the test, that has debatable accuracy, but I did it anyway. I painted a patch of my skin with iodine. It dissappeared in less than an hour. I bought Lugol's, the iodine used for many years by doctors.

Do you know anything about bromine? Yes, the stuff used in hot tubs instead of chlorine, that's what I'm talking about. Well, do you know you eat A LOT of bromine? Bread makers used to use iodine in bread. At some point they decided to switch to bromine. it's also in brominated vegetable oil. You say you don't eat brominated vegetable oil? Well, it's in Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Dr. Pepper, Fresca, and other soft drinks. Yuck.

What's the big deal about bromine? It's in the same family of elements as iodine. Your body will use it as iodine, but it can't do all the things for you that iodine does, it just takes up iodine's place in your body. Could this be why we have an epidemic of low thyroid (and even obesity?)? Could this be my answer in getting off thryoid meds once and for all?

I started supplementing a few weeks ago. In the beginning, I did salt loading (I'll provide links so you can read more about the details of this). The salt provides chloride for the kidneys so the bromide doesn't get stuck there. You guessed it. Chloride is also in the iodine family of elements. So is flouride. How can flouridation and chlorination of our water be a good idea?

Many people have bromide detoxification reactions. My husband did. He felt like he had a bad cold and fatigue for the first couple weeks. I had a worse reaction, with over half of the symptoms they say you can have. My hips ached soooo bad. I also had the "cold" and fatigue. Now my left kidney is aching, so I started back with the salt. I'm taking a couple days off the iodine to give my kidneys a rest. I've also bought supplements that are supposed to give kidney support.

Here are some links -

Bromide and salt loading

Bromide dominance

Iodine deficiency

Update and shameless advertising

2011-11-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well, since I'm doing so well, I really have no HEALTH updates for you at this point. YAY!!! Nice to have nothing to say about my health, right? :)

But, I finished my first 100 hours of pilates training with my new certification program (I'm already "certified", just adding to it). It was 25 hours per week, as I told you in my last post. I took the test, both written and teaching a client, and passed!! Onto the next stage!! The next stage starts this weekend with 18 hours of training over 3 days .... over half that will be doing pilates, so I'll be exhausted by Monday when I have a 90 minute massage scheduled!

I also wanted to tell you that my daughter started blogging. It's a more fun read than this one because it's all about fun topics and has pictures. Please check it out and let me know what you think! Her Halloween post has pictures of me with the goofy husband and goofy kids.

http://luvvleighb.wordpress.com/

Update- new bloodwork

2011-10-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

I hadn't been to a gyno since my previous one ridiculed me right out of his office. That *could* be the subject of this post, but if you have Lyme, you can imagine the story and you'd be right ... and it included saying anyone who specializes in Lyme is probably a scam ... and he was speechless when I said I had all the symptoms, a positive test, and was doing better with treatment.

Anyway, this time I went to a female gyno for the first time. It wasn't weird, LOL. She specializes in women my age (not having babies). She did a lot of blood tests and I was impressed. She actually tested for vitamin D! I asked her for a ferritin test since mine was only 24 last spring, and she did one for me. Five vials of blood.

Seems I'm NORMAL!!! Not a big accomplishment for most people, but you know what I've been through.

My ferritin is up to 66. She mentioned it was still on the low side, but that low was pretty normal for someone with periods like mine. No wonder I have more energy!!! That's a BIG jump!!! I am still taking double Blood Builder. I muscle test every day, and around my period I can test for two or three twice per day, but normal days, two only once per day.

My vitamin D is up to 64 from 35 last spring. She mentioned that I must supplement because no one is ever in range. I told her I did. She asked how much .... it's 4000-8000 IU daily.

Since I'm taking so much vitamin D and so much iron, both of which "they" say you can take too much of, I was glad to get the confirmation that my body is doing well on it. And I like this new doc. The only thing I don't like is the AIR FRESHENER!!! I could hardly breath in the waiting room. I found it odd a doctor who knows this much about health would have such toxic poison in the waiting room. I would think maybe essential oils .... but not this toxic stuff. I was wheezing at night when I lied down to go to sleep. I couldn't figure out why because that is not normal for me .... then I remembered ... had to be the air freshener. I haven't had that problem since.

I'm feeling great! I'm in a pilates training program that is 25 hours per week. I'm having to memorize tons of stuff and doing fine with it. My brain has come a long way. I'm also on average doing about two hours of pilates a day five days a week, and that's going well, too.

I am photoning monthly again for about the last four months or so. I like to use blood this time of year because so many bugs are going around. I had taken a few months off and did fine.

So, there's your update. Right now I'm taking very little:

Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Iron
Armour Thyroid (one grain)
5HTP at night
Turmeric (with all this pilates, LOL)

My friend Shandy

2011-09-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Please visit this site - Shandy's auction - to see all the great things that are being sold to raise money for Shandy's Lyme treatment. There are some wonderful handcrafted products that you need to take a look at. Christmas is around the corner, maybe you can get some of your shopping done early with these one of a kind gifts!!

Shandy really could use the help.

TWO YEARS!!!

2011-09-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

August marked two years of being free of Lyme and coinfections!!!!

As I look back, I see how many health issues I had and how many I overcame. When I was bedridden a few years back, on an all liquid diet and in a lot of pain, I never dreamt I would be living normally in the future. I never dreamt I'd be off all medications except thyroid. I never dreamt I'd feel this good. I thought I would be on a maintenance program for the rest of my life.

Even though the Lyme and coinfections were gone two years ago, my body had a lot of other healing to do. I still had the mold toxicity because I wasn't strong enough to take the medications my doctor had prescribed. I still had muscular imbalances. My skeleton was twisted. I was toxic from the infections, mold, and treatment. My digestion was still bad.

For two years I have had chiropractic work and massages along with working out on the pilates reformer. This has rebalanced my musculature. Pilates was such a huge help for me, I got certified to teach it and now share my passion for it with others. I've been teaching for over a year and a half and am getting ready to start another rigorous certification program that will take 9 months.

I believe Pilates also helped me to reach toxins and infection that were stored deeply in muscle.

I've done many detoxification programs, and recently one for mold.

I have done things to heal my gut.

I realize that my blog sounds crazy at times with the muscle testing and working by intuition, but if you knew me when I was sick, knew me two years ago when I was infection-free, and knew me today, you'd know that though it might sound crazy, what I did worked.

Two health issues that still bother me are 1) that I still rely on thyroid supplementation, and 2) that I am deathly allergic to shellfish.

So recently I started eating grain-free. I am interested in the various so-called caveman diets, but going into teacher training again, I can't start such a strict diet at this point. I'll see how things go and maybe fully go into one of them after the first of the year. These diets are supposed to heal the gut, which helps allergies. I've also read how it can help with hormones and even iron, which I still have to supplement. I'm willing to give it a try. Maybe by this time next year my gut will be even healthier and my allergies will be lessened. The shellfish allergy will likely always be here, but maybe I can eat in a restaurant without worrying that one of the cooks *touched* a shrimp that day. I believe I should be able to get rid of food intolerances, like to peaches.

The grain-free diet has been interesting. I'm glad I didn't start out with the strict introductory phase. It's lower carb than I'm used to, so it's a challenge. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. At some point I'll have to get back into the fermented foods, but right now I'm taking it one step at a time.

I think I'll always sound a little bit crazy, but at this point, I'm working to keep getting healthier ..... I've already reached good health. And I'll always be doing some kind of detox program .... right now, I'm on my yearly Dr. Natura but added Toxinout this time. So far, so good.

Mold update

2011-07-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

The second round is going well. A few days ago I was still fatigued, but functional. I was ready to quit. Now I'm feeling pretty normal, but still muscle testing well for the Natura and oregano oil, so I'm continuing. I didn't have the organ pain this time, probably either due to a lower load or the Dr. Natura, which has herbs for organ support.

The Dr. Natura isn't as, um, interesting, as the first time, but it does seem to be cleaning things. It's probably good to use once a year, I think.

I used the Bionic the other day, and that is what made me not quit. It gave me some energy back. I *think* that since I was releasing mold, that it may have been in the blood I used so may be helping me to get rid of it more easily.

Addressing mold .... finally

2011-07-16T12:33:00.001-07:00

I'm still taking a break from the AI drops. I just don't feel that I need them right now and muscle testing confirms that I should wait.

One day when I was getting out my vitamins, I saw the oregano oil. I had someone muscle test me and got a strong yes. I took four drops, three times daily for two weeks, then stopped testing well for it. At the time I hadn't thought about why I might have been feeling the need for it. In the past it's been wicked stuff and made me feel horrible. This time I felt great the whole time on it and my breathing got better. I have had a shortness of breath (different than babesia air hunger) pretty constantly for years. I was thinking it was normal.

After the two weeks, I had what felt like a UTI. It hurt bad, so I tried to wash it out by drinking a lot of water, and that would keep it from hurting. This went on for a week, and during that time my spleen started hurting and I was fatigued. My spleen hasn't hurt since I did a spleen detox by Pekana a couple years ago. What I think happened was that the oregano killed off the mold and then my detoxification organs were overworked trying to get the dead mold out. Slowly, with some herbal support (Pekana mainly) and some binding with bentonite clay, it worked is way out and I felt good.

The last time I was ART tested over a year ago, the last two things remaining as primary blockages were heavy metals and fungi, which almost always go hand-in-hand. Mold is a fungi. A few weeks before I went to Germany I had discovered a mold I was exposed to in my Select Comfort bed. The older beds have a mold problem (there was no recall, so if you have this kind of bed, please look under the foam next to the bladder). My LLMD tried to detox this mold from my system with chlolestyramine and Diflucan. The problem was, I was too weak for the treatment, so all this time I ignored the mold issue. I just simply didn't know how to address it.

Now I am in the process of going through round two of the oregano oil. This time I am only testing for two drops twice daily. I am also taking the Dr. Natura cleanse at the same time. Dr. Natura has several of the herbs recommended for mold detox, plus it keeps the bowels moving a little better than normal so will hopefully prevent my detox organs from getting overworked this time.

At this point I don't know how many rounds I'll need. I'm excited that my body was finally ready to address the mold, especially since it, along with heavy metals, was the last "primary blockage."

Supplement list -

Oregano oil 2 drops twice daily
Dr. Natura cleanse
Armour Thyroid
5 HTP for sleep
Thorne Bio-gest for digestion

Iron (no longer every day)
Multiple vitamin (not consistently)
B vitamins (not consistently)
Vitamin C (not consistently)

Sometimes I take resveratrol, ALA, bentonite clay, cilantro

Round 3

2011-05-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Nothing. I only have three days left in round 3 and have felt nothing. Nothing has gotten worse. Nothing has gotten better. The funny thing is, I muscle test well for it. My friend even muscle tested me (she's very good at it) and she thought I tested well and that it's doing nothing.

Why could it be I test well but it's doing nothing? I have no idea, but here's a guess. AI is supposed to make the body work better. Like on the freeway, if there was a bottleneck due to an accident, even after the accident is cleared, it will take time for the traffic to clear out and become normal. So, if the AI is making my body work better, it may take time before I notice the changes. That's the theory based on what their website says. We'll see.

I went to New Orleans the week before I started this round. NOT a good place for someone with a severe allergy to shellfish!!! Especially since every night there were business dinners so I did not get to chose a safe place to eat. One night I ordered a lettuce wedge salad. You get three small wedges all with different dressings. One was supposed to have a shrimp, so I ordered my salad with two of one of the other dressings. Well, apparently whoever was making the salad was uneducated on shellfish allergies, because I got sick .... that person must not have washed their hands after touching shellfish before handling my food. The only other things I ate were a beet salad and a mushroom rissoto side dish.

I woke up the next morning with a little trouble breathing due to swelling in the throat. I also got hives. The throat swelling went down with Benadryl, but the hives lasted ten days!!! Yikes! Almost drove me CRAZY!! (Crazier? LOL). I started the AI when I was still broken out in the hives.

AI tells you to not avoid foods you're allergic to during the drops. I know they don't mean foods you have an anaphylactic reaction to, rather foods that you have more of an intolerance to. I don't think it's a bad thing that I had an exposure to shellfish during the AI, it has to be a good thing based on them feeling that you need to eat the foods you're allergic to during treatment.

There's your update. Basically, very little to report. I'll be sending off another sample Friday or Saturday.

Sent away for round 3

2011-04-14T18:38:00.001-07:00

I have been feeling good since round 2 once that healing reaction passed. I'm still having some mucus in my head from allergies, but seems to be less than most of the others in our family, maybe because I use the neti pot? There's really nothing much to report, which I consider to be a good thing!

I'm skin brushing a couple times per week. I'm juicing at least once per day, most of the time twice. Interestingly, I'm muscle testing well for triphala and resveratrol. I haven't taken triphala for many months. It's a good aryuvedic combo that has many good uses, detoxification being one of them. Resveratrol is also a detox herb. Other than that, just my usual supps of a multiple, iron, magnesium, vitamin D, thyroid.

The scurf rim in my iris is still clearing, so much so that my husband said, "Wow!!" when he saw it. The theory is that the scurf rim is related to how many toxins are in your skin.

I'll check in when I get into round 3.

Round 1 - digestive healing reaction and improved digestion.

Round 2 - respiratory healing reaction. I have noticed that my lungs feel clearer, like I can take a fuller breath.

We'll see what round three brings! I just hope it's not as bad as round 2!!

What is a healing crisis?

2011-04-06T07:01:00.001-07:00

I was reading about healing crises and came across this article I thought I'd share. I wanted to share it because something about it struck me. So often Lyme patients talk about a "herx" or "herxheimer reaction" which happens from a die off of bacteria when herbs or antibiotics are started. This is not the same as a healing reaction.

A healing reaction is reached when the body has achieved enough energy to heal itself. It might be from a change in diet, from homeopathics, or some other treatment that increases the body's energy and vitality. I knew this. I was reading up on it for reassurance because when I feel bad, sometimes I need it. I needed to be reminded that what I'm feeling is a good thing because it sure feels bad.

What I found particularly interesting in this article is that they talk about how difficult it is in our current, polluted environment to actually reach a healing reaction. So, I guess I should be even happier than I am that I found a way to reach these crises. First round, I had the diarrhea and proceeded to have my gut healed so that I can eat raw veggies and fruits again. This round I'm having a very bad respiratory crisis. It will be interesting to see what comes next .... I just hope it doesn't hit me quite as hard as this round did .....

Healing reaction

2011-04-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

It seems I'm having a wicked healing reaction with round two. I felt fine the first week. I started feeling like I had allergies or a cold yesterday. Last night I woke up with a 100.1 degree fever, achey, headache, clogged nose and sore throat. I took a Benadryl because I don't want it to turn into a sinus infection and neither my Sinol (pepper spray) nor the neti pot were working.

I was awake most of the night. This morning I had to take 2 Advil because I felt like my head was going to explode. This is much, much worse than the flu I had last winter. My husband stayed home from work most of the day to be here with me. He hasn't done that since I got better from Lyme. I have spent most of the day in bed, not watching TV or reading, just lying there with my eyes closed. I had fruit juice this morning that hubby made fresh. I had two cups of chicken soup. Now I'm eating some overcooked rice (in chicken broth) with chopped up heavily cooked veggies in it .... it's a soothing food.

My body is definitely doing something. This is not just a virus. I am actually quite surprised that a healing crisis is able to take me down like this. I knew they could, but I didn't think they did once you were doing as well as I've been doing. I guess I was wrong. I'll check in again in a couple days.

*update*

Today I am doing much better. I was up most of the night again, typical when detoxing. Once I got back to sleep about 5 AM, I slept in till 10, got up, juiced, showered, got dressed and have been up ever since, though just sitting, not active at all. I'm glad I understand the concept of "healing reactions" or "healing crises" or I would be nervous about how bad this made me feel.

2nd round

2011-03-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

I received my second round of AI and the more limited report that comes with it. It said that all areas mentioned in the first report are cleared and only one toxin remains. I started the second round last Thursday and so far nothing. I'll keep you posted if there's anything to report.

I've been feeling good and living life.

Gut update

2011-03-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

I just realized when I was eating a big salad for lunch that I haven't talked about my gut much on here lately. Last I did I still couldn't eat salad as a main course, but was starting to be able to eat it as a side dish.

My gut has healed more since then and now I can enjoy salads for main dishes as well as fresh juices. I've been juicing lately and enjoying a lot of raw veggies with no problem. I do need HCL when I eat the raw veggies just as I do with any other meal I eat.

Also interesting is that I've been "properly combining" foods according to natural hygeine principals since I can eat veggies again, though a little looser than recommended in The Body Ecology Diet. My diet goes along more with Fit for Life, that diet book from the 80's. I eat fruit until noon, then don't eat an animal protein with a starchy carb for the other meals. I wait about three hours between meals.

What's interesting about it is that when I eat this way, I require less HCL than when I don't. Also, when I eat this way I have a TON more energy than when I don't. I ate this way for about ten years prior to getting sick, but had to stop because I had lost so much weight when I was ill (it's hard to keep weight on when you properly combine) and because I couldn't eat raw veggies, which is a big part of this way of eating.

I mentioned my surge of energy to my 22 year old daughter. She said that she was always the same way when she food combined. It was a tough time to get the motivation to start this "diet", but after only one week, I was SOLD on it again!!! It's worth the trouble.

Quick AI update

2011-03-02T06:26:00.001-08:00

Sorry, really nothing to report. Still taking the supplements noted below. No changes. Still feel good. I'll let you know what the report says when I get it in a couple weeks. I have three days left in this round. I still muscle test as needing the AI drops.

Started AI, day four

2011-02-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

I started Allergie Immun drops last Sunday. The past few days I have felt tired and a little out of sorts, but I can't blame the drops. I also stopped drinking coffee, started juicing and combining foods better, and returned from Las Vegas with a time change of 3 hours, so I don't think it's unusual to feel out of sorts with those three things alone.

Today, I'm finally feeling back in my time zone. I finally got a good night sleep during "normal" sleep hours. I'm feeling really good, normal energy, no pain.

The second day on AI I woke up with left knee pain. I had it for a few hours, then it left. Other than that, I don't have anything really to say about AI so far.

An interesting thing is, I'm muscle testing for very few supplements, and only nutrients, no herbs/antioxidants. This is all I'm taking now:

multiple vitamin
vitamin B
vitamin C
vitamin D
thyroid
iron
magnesium
oil of evening primrose
5 HTP at night
occasionally copper

Normally, I like to take CoQ10, resveratrol, and ALA, and sometimes other antioxidants, but they all are coming up as not needed.

That's all ..... I'll keep you posted.

AI Results!!

2011-02-08T06:30:00.001-08:00

I got my results from Allergie Immun today!!

Pretty much everything is in the "yellow zone". There are a lot of different areas they test regarding the energy in the body, and all those areas except 4 were in the "yellow zone". That means I have "partial impairment" in various areas, things like excretory system, cardio-vascular system, fluid balance, etc. This is no surprise. This is why I'm constantly working on optimizing my health .... because even though the Lyme and other infections are gone, I don't feel I'm always at my best. I feel sluggish at times, particularly when I'm on a detox protocol.

In the red - secondary energy supply (intestines), information flow at synaptic gap, and toxic burden by recirculating heavy metals.
In the green - complementary energy supply (sexuality).

It says my pineal gland, thyroid and pancreas are blocked. No surprise there.

No milk allergy. Again, no surprise.

It does say that I'm sensitive to wheat, gluten, corn, and soy. I've felt the need to limit these even though ART showed no sensitivity to them, so not really surprised, but I none of them give me noticeable problems.

I also had fungi/mold, metals, and chemical toxins show up. Again, no surprise.

One interesting thing I read on the report is that when the excretory system is not working properly, the toxins are not getting out. As a result, if you do a detoxification program, you end up with recirculating toxins. This must be why I can only skin brush once a week. I get the toxins circulating but I'm limited to how much I can eliminate, so I have to go at it more slowly.

Overall, the report didn't tell me anything surprising. I should get the drops in a week or two and will keep you posted.

Hopefully, they'll help me enough that I never have an anaphylactic reaction to my non-shellfish dinner that was prepared near shellfish ever again!!!

Anemia and HCL

2011-02-01T06:20:00.001-08:00

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago because I had an anaphylactic reaction to shellfish. When I was there, I asked for him to test my iron. He only tested ferritin, but that gave me good information. I had been having shortness of breath, fatigue, restless legs, and hair shedding. All anemia symptoms. Since only my ferritin was tested, I don't know whether I'm actually anemic.

I knew from the restless legs that my iron was low, so I had taken double of my iron supplement for a while before testing. My ferritin was 27. It was within range, but the range is HUGE!!! From what I've read on the internet, over 50 and preferably near 70 is preferable. I also read that below 30 can cause symptoms. Since I was on more iron and eating lots of red meat for a few months, mine was probably on its way up when the level was taken.

My daughter and I have practiced muscle testing on each other and we've actually gotten good at it. I've been testing for more iron than I had been taking. For a while, I tested well for Floradix, but now I'm only testing well for Blood Builder, usually 2 or 3 twice daily.

After a few weeks of this, I am feeling much better! I'm no longer shedding hair. I no longer have restless legs. My shortness of breath is much less frequent, in fact, I seldom have it. My fatigue is also improving a lot, and in fact, my husband and 22 year old daughter tell me the fatigue I get is normal, ie, after teaching pilates for three hours.

I have always suffered from anemia. I've supplemented iron for as long as I can remember .... back to high school or college. I thought it was logical to look at *why* I might have anemia. Here's what I found.

One cause is blood loss, even from heavy periods. Because the length of my periods are normal, I thought that I was in the normal range there. I've read the definition of heavy, and according to the definition, I'm VERY heavy and always have been. So, there's one cause. I read that vitamin A can sometimes help with this. I already use progesterone cream. I'll let you know if the vitamin A helps.

Another cause is lack of absorption of nutrients. I've been muscle testing at every meal for HCL, and I need more than I've been taking. At least 2, sometimes as many as 5 if I'm eating a large meal at a restaurant. This has not only made me feel like I've been digesting better, it's also made me gain a few (unwanted) pounds. I'm hoping the weight gain evens out as my body gets used to regularly digesting food. I have started eating less, to no avail. Since I teach pilates, it's all muscle .... but I don't like my clothes being tight ......

I think another contributor in my case, aside from using a different brand of iron for a month, I believe I wrote about that in a previous blog post, is the high zinc intake with KPU. I am no longer muscle testing well for Depyrrol, as long as I take a multiple vitamin with 15 mg. of elemental zinc. If I skip the multiple, I need the Depyrrol, so I've been taking the multiple.

I think taking this more well-balanced blend of nutrients has benefitted me, too. I have also stopped catching everything that's going around.

I ordered Allergie-Immun and have sent in my first saliva sample. The first round should be here in a couple weeks. I'll write about it, of course.

Right now I'm taking:

Multiple vitamin
B complex
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
CoQ10
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Resveratrol
Copper
Oil of Evening Primrose
Blood Builder
Magnesium

HCl at meals
5 HTP at bedtime (not sure whether I still need it)

Young adult Lyme group

2011-01-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

My friend Joey has started a Lyme support group for young adults with Lyme. I thought many of you would be interested in knowing about it. Please check out this article by CALDA - article - and check out the page "Healkick" on Facebook!! Joey is one of the most knowledgeable people I know on the topic of Lyme Disease and health ..... I consider him to know waaayyy more than I do about the topic. If you decide to join the group, you will need to get a Google account, which isn't too hard to do.

I hope you are all well. I have a lot to blog about, I'm still waiting for another week or so to write because I want to see continuing changes in myself before I tell you about it. I've also just ordered Allergie Immun drops, so I'll be blogging about that soon, too.

2011-01-05T08:02:00.001-08:00

Reviewing last year

2010-12-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

I was just on my way home from Whole Foods and was thinking about how I feel this year vs. last year. It's really amazing to me that I have even progressed farther from where I was a year ago!!

Last year, I was well. I was infection-free and living normally. I had just gotten certified as a pilates instructor and finished a demanding training. It was difficult for me from many perspectives. One, it was physically demanding. We had to put in a lot of hours working out so we learned the material in our own bodies. You can't very well teach pilates when you can't do pilates! Two, it was demanding, given all the memory problems I had, to learn the material for the written test. I had so much trouble with word recall and with my short term memory, that learning the new terms was quite challenging.

I remember at my test out, I didn't even know the names of the 7 other people who went through training with me for four months. I remember looking at one of them at test out and thinking, "Who is that, have I ever seen her before?" So, even though I was feeling better, my brain still had a lot of healing to do.

A year later, I still feel great! It's my brain that has healed over the past year. I knew I needed to work on some kind of puzzles or something to work my brain, to exercise it. Teaching pilates has been a huge help in this regard on many levels. When someone has to come to class, I have to recognize their face and remember their name. When I was sick, I didn't even recognize my own neighbor!!! At my test out, I didn't even recognize all my classmates!!! Now, if person comes to one class or sometimes it takes two classes, I can remember who they are! HUGE improvement!! In the beginning it would take two months to remember their name!

Another challenging aspect of teaching is remembering the choreography of the class. There is a basic structure, but when you teach, you have to remember the order of that structure, what exercises you've selected, all while you're counting how many repetitions they've done in your head while you're verbally giving them cues and physically adjusting them when needed. There is a LOT going on at one time. For someone who had trouble taking a thought and putting it into words, this was a huge challenge for me. I had to write down my choreography for a couple months. Now I do it all in my head. I can teach the same class for a week with no notes. An amazing change for me.

I started playing Scrabble (actually, "Words for Friends") on my iPhone recently. My mom is one of those Scrabble buffs who does crossword puzzles in pen because she could write a dictionary she knows so many words. Great idea playing her, LOL!! The first time she beat me by about a hundred points. Then only by 40 points. Last game, SIX points!!! I was ahead at one point, but she had a "Q" as one of her last letters. Yes, "qi" is a word, so she got ahead with that. Anyway, that is how fast I notice my brain healing, going from being happy to find words to play to being a formidable opponent.

Yesterday, we watched a movie that I swear I have never even heard of before. All my family tells me I have watched it before. Obviously it was when I was sick because I have no recollection of it whatsoever. Back when I was sick, I'd have to have my family pause movies every 15 minutes or so to tell me what was happening because I'd keep forgetting. Now I can remember what a movie is about after it's over. I watched that movie yesterday, followed it, and still remember it today. That's progress.

I also find that I want to visit with people. I used to tend to be a little to myself, but now I'm back to the social person I used to be. I really need to work on meeting people over the next year. We moved here when I was sick, and I've only been well for a year, so even though I've lived here five years now, I don't really know that many people. I need, and finally want, to work on building friendships.

Physically the changes aren't so noticeable from last year. I have been working on detox, detox, and detox!!!! Recently, I've been working on skin brushing, as I mentioned in my last post. I'm still working on it and probably always will. It's been amazing. One of my clients even said today she could see a difference around my eyes. I said the same thing yesterday. I have a face brush, so have been brushing my face. My eyes are less puffy and noticeably tighter.

Today is my monthly Bionic 880 day, and I plan on using homeopathics to detoxify heavy metals and chemicals. The first time I did that one it threw me for a loop, but I'm not quite that toxic anymore.

I always know when I hit toxins I haven't hit before because I get a bit tired. Right now I'm having some really annoying shortness of breath. It's been driving me crazy. Other than the shortness of breath, I am feeling great and feeling better all the time ... still. Since healing reactions always occur in reverse order of the way the symptoms came on, I'm starting to think this shortness of breath might be a healing reaction. It was my first symptom I went to the doctor for. I must finally be healing enough to heal that last thing.

If it's not, I'll have to look for other causes. It was my first symptom and is the only one still lingering even though I am negative now for babesia. It's not dramatic like the air hunger for babesia was. Could be bathroom mold .... we're having our bathroom redone this spring, so I'll find out soon enough.

That's my review of my last year. I am actually quite shocked that it is possible to feel better than I did a year ago, but I do!!! For those of you with Lyme, KEEP FIGHTING!!!

Skin brushing

2010-12-14T12:21:00.001-08:00

I haven't focused on any new methods of detoxification lately. In the past I've used many forms of detox - parasites, liver cleanses, saunas, heavy metal detox, coffee enemas, herbs, etc.

I have owned a skin brush for many years. I have seldom used it. I have never been drawn to it.

The most recent detoxification I have used has been chemtox and metox with the Bionic 880. I really feel these two helped me let go of chemicals left over from all the drugs I had to take during treatment. I don't necessarily think I'm finished with these, but I'm ready to move on.

I've detoxed my liver, kidneys, and GI tract. What I haven't detoxed is my skin. I began using my skin brush about a week ago. At first it felt prickly, but the second or third day it felt good. I have a good quality brush made from natural materials. You don't just want to get any old brush out there. It needs to be natural.

There are also many ways to do it. I start with either my hands or my feet. I try to go over each area 7 times with long strokes moving towards my heart. I start away from my heart, and move closer. There are many sites out there with detailed instructions, what I really want to share is my experience with it.

My skin is feeling much softer already. I am relatively thin and am in good shape from doing pilates. However, I have a layer of cellulite that I have read can be from toxins. This makes sense because it got so much worse when I was sick even though I remained thin. Exercise and diet doesn't touch this.

The skin is one of the major detoxification organs, so needs to be kept working well. Mine never really has worked well. It's dry and scaly. There are areas that are thicker/rougher than others. The skin brushing is helping. My skin is already feeling softer.

I have been skin brushing, then taking an hour sauna (I get in when it's cool), then showering.

I am having the biggest healing healing crisis I've had in a long time!! I'm feeling achey and tired. I'm not liking it at all. I had a reaction to the chemtox and metox, but it was short-lived. I just felt like my body dumped the toxins into my system, I felt like I had taken a few Vicodin or something. Then it went away. This is lingering. I feel "puffy" in the morning when I wake up. My sinuses are filling up, but washing out easily with the neti pot. And I feel very toxic.

I didn't expect this reaction at all. I guess I should have. I have known for a long time that my skin is holding a lot of toxins. In iridology, the study of the iris, a scurf rim, or a dark rim around the outside of the iris, is indicative of the skin holding toxins. I have always had this rim. It became somewhat smaller with all my previous detoxification, but has never gone away and is still rather thick. So, I knew the toxins were there. Now I'm going after them.

What's interesting to me is that after I skin brush, I can hear my stomach make squirting noises like it does with a lymphatic massage. My massage therapist has told me that noise is the lymph dumping into the intestines. I also had diarrhea type stools the first few days into this, not like when you're sick, but sort of "ashey". I have started the Dr. Natura cleanse to help keep my bowels clear through this treatment. I'll stop the Dr. Natura when I'm through this little healing crisis.

I have reached new toxins with the skin brushing and saunas. I am hoping this helps me to reach a new level of health. I have been feeling really well prior to now, but still catch every bug my kids bring home. I am hoping that this makes my immune system even stronger. I'll keep you posted.

** update ** I am starting to feel better and my skin is getting even softer. It was just a couple days that it was making me feel bad, I'm a little fatigued, but not as bad as before. I'm sure the Dr. Natura cleanse is helping move toxins out.

My Lyme Disease is not the IDSA Lyme Disease - sixgoofykids

2010-12-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

Recently the Chicago Tribune published a disappointing article titled "Chronic Lyme disease: A dubious diagnosis." From the beginning of the article you can tell that the writer is biased. It is not a balanced piece of investigative reporting at all. Not only that, many facts are entirely wrong, or irrelevant. Here's the article: Tribune article

For example, what relevance does an obscure treatment for ALS using deer antler therapy have to Lyme Disease?

Also, the article brings up the point that the number of reported cases in Illinois shows Lyme Disease is rare in that state. However, the article doesn't mention that the CDC itself says that Lyme Disease is grossly under-reported. The article doesn't mention that many doctors refuse to report the disease. I personally met the CDC criteria for reporting with 8 positive bands on my IgG Western Blot, yet my case was not reported in Ohio. When I called the CDC to tell them my case wasn't reported, they told me that if I wasn't happy with my doctor, to get a new doctor. They had no concern whatsoever that my case wasn't reported.

The article continues its inaccuracy and biased reporting when mentioning the settlement between the CT attorney general Richard Blumenthal and the IDSA. The article mentions that the IDSA determined that the treatment guidelines for Lyme Disease did not need to be rewritten. What the article leaves out is that Richard Blumenthal notified the IDSA in Feb. 2010 that he was "concerned" that they were using "improper voting procedures" in regards to the agreement. For a detailed outline of what really happened go to this link: timeline

The point of my post here is not to refute the article point by point. I hope I have shed some light on the fact that the article is both biased and inaccurate. Not only that, it brings up the ridiculous. Hardly professional journalism.

The point of my post is to tell my Lyme story again, to tell you my personal experience from a different angle than before.

My Lyme story begins back in the early 1970's, but doesn't get really interesting until a new bite in approximately 2003, so I'll start there, though there are some good stories from earlier, like the doctor who told me I drank too much. Huh? Or the doctor who said I still felt bad from the flu I had had 6 months earlier. Huh? Or then there's the one who just considered me to be a hypochondriac even though I always refused pharmaceutical drugs. How exactly can you be a hypochondriac that doesn't want medicine? Or there's the one who said it was a rare but normal reaction to have very severe joint pain after having been treated for bronchitis with antibiotics. Okay, you get the idea.

Basically, I learned to live with it. I got lots of rest. I exercised. I got sunshine and fresh air. I was the health nut of the family and knew all about herbs. I maintained my health with much effort.

In 2003 my husband pulled a tick off me that I had picked up in the woods in Spencer, IN a few hours earlier. I did not have a bullseye rash that I know of. The tick was behind my ear in my hair, so I most likely wouldn't have seen it if I did have one. I did not get the fever or the flu-like symptoms frequently mentioned with contracting Lyme Disease. Lyme wasn't even a thought that crossed my mind.

I don't remember what year each of these symptoms cropped up, but I remember the first one I went to the doctor for was a severe shortness of breath. My sister has asthma, so the docs wanted to rule that out. I went through extensive testing and the doctor finally told me, "You are just hyperventilating."

You've seen in the movies where someone has to breath into a bag? Oh yes, this happened to me several times. I eventually learned how to simulate the bag without having the bag so I could quit embarrassing myself in public. As far as my "regular" breathing, you know how when you breathe in at some point you stop breathing in and start breathing out? Well, for me, I never reached that point where I started breathing out. I just wanted to breathe in. Of course, at some point you can no longer breathe in anymore but have to breathe out, so I would, but I never had what felt like a full breath of air. This was constant.

I also remember my first sweat. It was winter and I was standing there in the kitchen and all of a sudden felt like I was 120 degrees. I took my sweater off, I had a t-shirt on underneath. I opened the window, it was about 10 degrees outside, and sat next to the window. I could not cool off. I also started waking up at night absolutely drenched. When I say drenched, I mean my nightshirt would be completely wet, as would the bed and the pillow. My hair would be completely wet. Again, to compare to the movies, have you ever seen a malaria patient in the movies? That's what I would be like at least one time per night, usually more. My ob/gyn said this was a normal premenopausal symptom. I was 39.

The next symptoms I remember were the GI symptoms. I had a lot of stomach pain after I ate. I dropped from 137 to 123 pounds in three months (I'm 5'8"). I began eating what my friend on Weight Watchers estimated to be at least 3500-4000 calories per day. At this point I started having severe fatigue and weakness. I could hardly hold my head up.

I remember going to the GI doctor and sitting there in the examination room talking to him with my head resting on the wall behind me because I was too weak to hold it up. I told him my GI symptoms - constant watery diarrhea 7-10 times per day, weight loss, muscle weakness, some joint pain, hair loss, but I left out the sweating and breathing difficulties, because, remember, I was told they were normal.

We both thought it might be celiac disease. I had both an upper endoscopy with a biopsy and a colonoscopy. Nothing was wrong except I had a bit of acid reflux. He said, "Maybe it's your gallbladder." Huh? Based on what symptoms? I ran, never went back.

I went gluten-free anyway. I temporarily felt somewhat better on a gluten-free diet. This was the first of my food intolerances. Eventually, I could only eat a few food items without severe, lying-on-the-couch-crying stomach pain. At that later time, I mostly lived on smoothies. I could also eat Vans gluten-free waffles and fried eggs. The only other item I could eat was a fudge I'd make from almond butter, coconut oil, and cocoa nibs.

To summarize my symptoms at this point: air hunger, night sweats, fatigue, muscle aches, joint pain, hair loss, diarrhea, weight loss, food intolerances, stomach pain, and weakness.

I had other symptoms start up at various times that I haven't yet mentioned: heart palpitations, lack of appetite, disorientation, mental confusion, getting lost driving, trouble reading, trouble writing, trouble talking, word recall problems, trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, rashes, bruising, TMJ disorder, ringing in the ears, floaters in eyes, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, touch sensitivity, mood swings, rage, rib pain, allergies, alcohol intolerance, etc.

Three years after my tick bite I started seeing a holistic MD to see if she could help me. She seemed very promising. She looked over my charts, said she could do thousands of dollars worth of blood tests, but that it would be a waste. She diagnosed me with Somatization Disorder. I said, "So, you're saying this is all in my head?" She said, "No. You've had severe emotional trauma that you haven't let go of and it's causing your physical symptoms."

I started researching on my own. I knew I was not a psychological mess. I discovered Lyme Disease and thought back to that tick bite. It was an "aha" moment for me. I was too sick to call IGeneX Labs, so my husband did and they mailed me a test kit. I took it to my doctor and asked her to run the blood test. She said, "I will run the test because you have Somatization Disorder and I need to get it out of your head that you're sick, so to prove to you that you do not have Lyme Disease, I will run the test."

She ran the test, it came back with 8 positive IgG bands on the Western Blot!!!!! She still stood by her Somatization Disorder diagnosis saying the test shows that at one time I used to have Lyme Disease, but I don't anymore.

January 2007 I had my first appointment with an ILADS (www.ilads.org) LLMD (Lyme-literate medical doctor). His nurse spent two hours with me talking about my symptoms and writing them down. He came in and spent 30 minutes with me, at least. He looked over all the information the nurse had gathered, looked over the Western Blot test results, and diagnosed me with Lyme Disease and babesia. He was shocked at how poor the previous doctor's diagnostic skills were.

He treated me for 20 months with antibiotics and antimalarials. By the time I had gotten to him three years after my bite, I was bedridden and barely opened my eyes. My husband took me to New York, and I'm not sure how he did it. He made me open my eyes to look at New York City as we were driving through. That's how bad it had gotten. I could not walk without my husband's help. I cried a lot from the pain. I never wanted to eat.

I became more functional on the antibiotics and antimalarials. I had severe ups and downs, but never as bad as I had been when I was first diagnosed. At first I got worse, then improved from there. Anytime we tried to lower the number of drugs I was on or switch over to herbs, I would backslide significantly.

Eventually, I realized that even with ILADS care, we still don't know how to cure Lyme Disease once it gets chronic, we only know how to manage it. I also realized that there is much more to Lyme Disease than just borrelia. I also had babesia, which I was diagnosed with at the beginning. Later I got a bartonella diagnosis. I also got bacterial dysbiosis, fibromyalgia, and hypothyroid diagnoses.

An interesting thing happened with the bacteria dysbiosis that is worth mentioning. My LLMD put me on Cipro because I tested positive for both klebsiella and citrobacter bacteria overgrowths in the gut. I felt GREAT on the Cipro!! Not only did it help with the gut infections, but it also was hitting my as of yet undiagnosed bartonella. After Cipro, when the diarrhea was still there, the PA wanted me to try herbs rather than stay on the Cipro. She had me on several different herbs. I found an herbal combination for parasites that also hit those particular bacteria, so I took that brand. I SAW a 7 + FOOT long tapeworm that had died in my gut and come out in the toilet. I don't know its full length as I refused to go digging to see what was there, that 7 ft. is just what I saw. I also passed later, on other herbs, over 30 roundworms that were 10-15 inches long!!!! It's distressing to think the GI doctor missed this HUGE problem in my gut!! As soon as the worms passed, I gained 10 pounds and started eating half as much food. My stomach cramps and diarrhea also went away. My hair started growing back. I stopped having weird movement in my abdomen.

After 20 months of the ILADS treatment, I read about an alternative treatment using light and homeopathics in Germany performed by an MD over there. I decided I had nothing to lose because it looked like I was most likely a case that would need maintenance antibiotics until a cure was developed. I also discovered at this point that my Select Comfort bed was full of mold.

We immediately got rid of the bed (eventually got our money back). I started detoxing the mold and felt the worst I had felt in a long time. I was unable to take any medications at all. This went on for a couple weeks and was right before I was due to go to Germany. Between crashing from coming off the medication and from detoxing the mold, I didn't even know if I'd be strong enough to make the trip.

I did muster the strength, but spent the first two days over there in bed except to go to the doctor. I came home three weeks later 50% improved and continued to improve over the next year. I worked on detoxification, rebuilding minerals I was deficient in, killing parasites, rebuilding my gut, and continuing the light treatment at home. Nine months later, I was completely symptom-free. Ends up, it wasn't all in my head. I was sick with bacterial, malarial, and parasitical infections.

Today I am one year and four months healthy. I only take one prescription - Armour Thyroid. I also take iron, minerals, vitamins, and a few herbs - resveratrol, CoQ10, and ALA. A year ago I got certified to teach pilates, and when one of my clients or one of the other teachers finds out that I was very sick just two years ago, they are shocked.

Remember that I mentioned that I had Lyme Disease since the early 1970's? Well, all the little things I lived with for over 30 years - fibromyalgia, fatigue - are now gone, too.

My Lyme Disease was not IDSA Lyme Disease, check it out for yourself - IDSA Lyme Disease. Do YOU think that is what I had? My disease is better described as Multiple Chronic Infectious Disease Syndrome, the term that my LLMD prefers to use.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, the Chicago Tribune article is poorly researched and biased. It is an inaccurate representation of chronic Lyme patients and the doctors who treat us.

Nettles and pictures

2010-11-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

Last August I had terrible hay fever and a friend told me about nettles. I dragged my feet with ordering them and eventually the hay fever was gone, so I didn't.

This last bout with anemia that I've written about before really was causing fatigue and shortness of breath. I was only supplementing with my regular dosage of iron and trying to eat iron-rich foods, but I was progressing very slowly. My friend reminded me of nettles again and told me it was full of minerals including iron.

I finally bought some. I've been making nettle infusions by taking a handful of nettles, putting them into a one quart french press, then filling it with hot water. I leave it sit overnight, then press in the morning.

It doesn't taste that great, so I add just a little honey. I find that they are really helping!! I'm feeling a lot better. I am seldom breathless and I have a bit more energy. I have also started taking two iron tablets, so that probably has something to do with it, but I know that the nettles are helping because shortly after I drink it, I have more energy. It's a great pick-me-up!

Google "nettle infusion benefits" ..... there are so many conditions this herb will help.

The other thing I've been meaning to write about is my reaction to pictures. As you know I used EFT/tapping, which has a free manual you can download, to overcome some emotional trauma.

Recently my mom has posted pictures of my childhood. Some of these pictures reminded me of things I had forgotten. I have tapped and tapped to overcome trauma that has to do with the people in the pictures, but not for these specific incidents. I'm going to be incorporating tapping again now that I have been reminded. As it is now, there are pictures I can't bear to look at.

Dr. H in NY believes emotional trauma is important to treat in healing, and I've found that to be true in my case. As you know, I'm healthy and living normally, but you also know I still am working on detox and I obviously still have imbalances since I'm still supplementing iron, KPU, and thyroid. Maybe I'll always have to supplement those, but maybe someday my body will function better on its own. :)

I'll keep you posted on how it goes with the nettles and tapping.

2010-10-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

iron

2010-10-10T16:44:00.001-07:00

I have supplemented iron for over 25 years now. Even on the iron, my hemoglobin will range from 11-13. I've always needed it.

When I went to Whole Foods (not the best place for supps, but the most convenient) they were out of my Blood Builder, so I bought Raw Iron by Garden of Life, a company I really like. I took it for about six weeks.

During this time I started getting short of breath and fatigued. Normally my first anemic symptom is restless legs, but I have been good about supplementing my other minerals, so maybe this has changed. Plus, I typically get restless legs when I'm traveling or over-tired and I've had neither of those problems. Since I didn't get restless legs, I didn't think of anemia as possibly causing my symptoms.

Back when I had babesia, drinking some tonic water would help with the air hunger and fatigue. So, worried my shortness of breath and fatigue might be babesia coming back out, I bought tonic water. No help whatsoever.

I want to say, I was not worried about it being babesia. I know I have the tools to get rid of it if it was .... but I am glad it wasn't.

The other day I had a revelation, ANEMIA!!! I bought my Blood Builder yesterday. I am craving it like it's chocolate or something! LOL! I feel better a good part of the day, but by this time of night (8 PM), I'm getting short of breath again. I'll keep you posted, but this seems to be the fix. I'm already less fatigued.

I believe that the anemia is probably from the KPU (tendency toward iron-deficiency anemia is on some of the screening questionnaires) . From what I can tell from my reading about KPU, we don't know the underlying cause, so all I can do is manage it by taking the minerals.

I'd still like to fix the underlying cause of the low thyroid ..... but as it is, I'm really happy that the only script I'm on is my Armour Thyroid. My adrenal fatigue symptoms have really improved tremendously, so perhaps over time my thyroid gland will, too.

From now on, I must work on being sure I buy a new bottle of Blood Builder well before I'm out so that I have time to order it online!!

Bugs going around .... ALREADY!!!!

2010-10-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Two days ago I had to pick up my daughter from band practice because she came down with the stomach "flu". She stayed home from school yesterday and lied around all day (except for band practice because there's a contest this weekend, and if she missed practice, she wouldn't be able to march).

I had signs of an upset stomach that night, but felt good enough to go to a pilates class the next day. As the day progressed, my stomach became more upset. By the time I was spending a little too much time in the bathroom, it was too late to get a sub for my pilates classes so I taught them. Today, I feel sluggish, but I'm sitting upright blogging, so not bad. I'm getting my haircut later.

So, I'm pretty excited that my immune system is able to handle this bug and that I breezed through it more easily than my "healthiest" daughter!!! I *used* to be the one who caught everything ten times worse than everyone else!!! All signs that I'm truly getting healthier all the time.

I did load up on the vitamin D and used my Mercola tanning bed the day she came home sick .... and I took extra vitamin C as well.

I just hope I don't continue to catch EVERYTHING my kids catch. This is the second time they've been sick and the second time I've caught it from them. Ugh.

And .... two years

2010-09-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

I just had my one year anniversary of wellness, and this month is my two year anniversary off antibiotics!!! In fact, the only prescription I'm still on is Armour Thyroid. I am hoping that my hormones continue to heal, I have seen signs that my adrenals are stronger, so I hope to be able to be off Armour some day. That is my goal.

This is the first year hayfever season has bothered me since my health declined 7 years ago. That may or may not be significant ..... it's bothering a lot of people this year, seems to be a bad year, probably due to the lack of rain.

I have been treating with the Bionic for this. So has one of my daughters (not the one who had Lyme). I set a bowl of water outside for 24 hours to gather pollen. I put the water in the vial and treated. I went right into full strength because I've not had any adverse affects from treatment for so long. It hit both of us hard!!!

We were both very tired and she had a headache. Neither of us had the runny noses and sneezing. I'm still using my neti pot twice a day, but it's not as bad as it was. I have two more treatments to go. Yesterday I even sat outside for a half hour and didn't sneeze once .... a week ago, I sneezed about 50 times in 20 minutes (continual sneezing) .... I had to have my husband drive me home and I missed my son's football game.

Years lost?

2010-08-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say what made me think of writing about this, but it's very personal to a friend of mine. Nonetheless, it got me thinking about my own loss of years. It's easy for me to think, "Wow, six years, a significant portion of that time significantly disabled, fighting the fight of my life" and think it's not fair and that it was time lost.

I missed so much of my kids' lives because my time was spent in bed, or if it was a good day, on the couch. The kids would come in to me and with my limited attention and limited understanding of what was being said to me, I would hear about how everyone else was living their lives. I was not seeing football games my son played in, not seeing softball games, not going to school events ..... it even got to the point that my youngest wouldn't even tell me about the events at her school because she didn't want me to feel bad for missing them. I finally convinced her to tell me because sometimes I could push myself to get up and go.

Not only was I missing out, but I also felt horrible. So much pain. It's indescribable. If you've ever had the flu, multiply that by 10. Then add all the other symptoms on top of that. This kind of ongoing pain makes your mind crazy. It makes you think you'll take any way out, which is likely why the suicide rate is so high with Lyme patients.

It's easy to think "Why me?" and "It's not fair." The answer to the first question is, "Why not you?" And it isn't fair, who says it's supposed to be?

Back to my first point, that it would be easy for me to think it was time lost. It wasn't time lost. Not at all. Yes, it was spent differently than I would have chosen, for sure. Yes, it was miserable, and yes, I told God more than once, "Take me or make me better."

However, we each have our own paths in life. We each have our own obstacles. The person I become is the person who has lived through these experiences and has learned from them. I am a different person than I was before I was ill. I understand better the meaning of life and the meaning of death in a way that a healthy person never can. This is my experience and unique to me. If I hadn't gone through this experience, I wouldn't be the person I am today and I happen to *like* the person I am today.

My kids got through my illness just fine. They are also better people for it. They had to run the household with the help of their dad when I was sick. They all have practical lessons they've learned .... they can all get themselves off to school in the morning on time, wash their clothes, clean the house, cook dinner, and do the dishes. They have learned to be independent little people, very capable of handling what comes their way.

My husband was way too busy for one person, but what goes for me goes for him, too. He would be a different person today without what we experienced together.

I am very, very happy that I am well today, but I do not look back over my illness with regret. The experiences of those six years may not have been the experiences I would have chosen to have, but they are experiences in their own right, and these experiences make me who I am. I have more humility, patience, compassion, and love for others than I would have had otherwise.

Not years lost.

ONE YEAR!!!!

2010-08-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hi again! This month marks one year that I have been well!! An exciting milestone for me!

One year ago I started fermenting and went into training to teach pilates.

Today I am feeling better than ever, still ferment though not as much, and have been teaching lots of pilates. Just yesterday I taught a pilates mat class to a man half my age. I was talking through all the exercises, got up to help him a couple times, and he was the one who couldn't keep up with ME!!

I am living a normal life again with no signs of ever having been sick.

I am eating well. I don't even like processed food, so I do eat what I make from scratch, but not because I was sick, rather because I like it better and I like how I feel when I eat well. Even my hubby and kids now prefer good food. We went to a pitch-in and the kids couldn't believe what others ate .... they thought it was disgusting!! Eating well is not a sacrifice. :)

I do enjoy lattes, but make them at home with non-homogenized, lightly pasteurized (170 degrees, 20 seconds) milk. I also enjoy chips, salsa and guacamole, but eat good, organic, chips with a good organic garlic cilantro salsa and guacamole made with real ingredients and no fillers. So, I do eat "fun" foods, but eat them in a healthy way.

I am teaching 10-15 hours per week. Just yesterday I taught 6 hours. When teaching reformer, I don't do the workout, but it is still a lot of exercise because I constantly demo the work and am moving around the whole time. My biggest problem is I don't drink enough when I teach and end up with a bladder infection which is easily reversed by flushing it out by drinking a lot of water.

My husband and I just bought a Norwalk Juicer. WOW!!! It's SO much better than our old juicer. I LOVE the juice! The best juice I've ever had. I feel that it's helping me with detox as I had somewhat of a detox reaction when I started drinking it. Also, it's nice to be able to eat some raw veggies, which I still have a bit of a problem digesting (small side salads are fine).

As for supplements, I change things around once in a while. I always take Depyrrol, copper, and oil of evening primrose for KPU. I also always take iron, magnesium, and Armour Thyroid. Others I like and take often are alpha lipoic acid, resveratrol, CoQ10, multiple vitamin with plenty of B vitamins, and Kyolic garlic.

Sometimes turmeric for inflammation, but that's usually when I've overdone the Pilates. Sometimes cilantro. I go in spurts with the cilantro. It's good for heavy metals. I also put cilantro in our juice.

Currently I'm doing a follow up round of Humaworm. It's good to do a parasite cleanse once or twice per year and it was time. Last time, about a year ago I think, I felt horrible and had to stop a week early likely due to the detox herbs as I was still toxic despite being better from Lyme. This year I feel just like my husband does on it, no problem at all. I felt a little sluggish on day 3, 4 and 5, but otherwise have been fine.

I still take 5 HTP. I fall asleep easily at night now and stay asleep all night. I get very tired in the evening, which is weird for me because I have never been one to get tired at night. I guess my adrenals have always been affected by Lyme as that's a symptom of sluggish adrenals. I get up easily in the morning and feel refreshed. I'm also using a progesterone cream from day 14 of my cycle until the end. I think this has been a help in restoring my ability to sleep well.

I think that's about it! Thanks for reading and I hope all of you are doing well!!

May

2010-05-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't updated lately. I've been really busy!! I'm teaching pilates 7-15 times per week! I'm also taking 4-5 classes per week. I've started riding my new bike! Yesterday we went on a 25 mile bike ride and I was less tired than hubby afterward!! Boy, I slept well last night!!

Supplements - Depyrrol, magnesium, iron, copper, resveratrol, garlic, B Complex and oil of evening primrose. I am also still on 1 grain Armour thyroid and take Xymogen Adrenal Essence. I take DIMension 3 by Xymogen for estrogen dominance because both parents have had cancer (it's anti-cancer). I use progesterone cream the second half of my cycle at night to see if it will help with sleep, and it seems to.

Currently using Dr. Natura cleanse again. It was just time for a refresher of it.

Reading The Body Ecology Diet. Interesting book. I don't have candida, but I'm going to try to incorporate some of the concepts to try to continue healing my gut.

I'm sauna-ing several days per week (4-5) and using coffee enemas to help detox what's stirred up by the saunas (2-3 times per week).

So, feeling great! Working on detox and gut healing. Eating lots of fermented foods (kefir and kombucha).

Back update

2010-03-18T08:16:00.001-07:00

My chiropractor says I have more mobility and only has me coming in 2 times per week instead of 3. I am in less pain than I was, too. Sometimes the pain is completely gone. When I get up in the morning is still the most difficult, but I used to hardly be able to get out of bed, then had to lean on the bathroom counter to brush my teeth or wash my hands, now I do not.

I'm really able to tell in Pilates on the reformer that my hips are back to where the should be. It's really amazing!

One other thing, it seems that I also have a UTI. When my back started hurting, I started putting off using the bathroom because it hurt my back. I'm treating the UTI with colloidal silver and some kidney support. After a few days, my back pain is totally gone. I don't *think* this is the original origin of the pain, though it's possible. It would be highly coincidental that I had such drastic changes in my body at the exact time of the UTI.

My back hurts!

2010-03-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

Good news and bad news .... my lower back is killing me! Has been for two weeks. Here's what happened ....

I went to the chiropractor like usual. My lower back really moved, he even commented on how well it moved. I left and found I had more mobility in my hips than I had before. It felt so different .... good different.

When I was sick, my pain was left-sided. I am left-handed, but my left side had become significantly weaker than my right. Pilates really showed me that when I did the arm work with the pulleys we use. The work on my right side was easy, but it felt like my left side had two or three times the weight yet both arms were working from the same resistance.

Pilates on the reformer (pilates apparatus) does not allow you to compensate for one side being weaker because the focus is on form and wrong form is really accentuated by the reformer. The only answer was fewer reps or less weight to allow the left side to catch up.

When I would lie down on the reformer my right hip was higher than my left. Because we work the body out evenly with pilates, I had to think about holding my right hip down, which would make it feel like my left butt cheek wasn't even on the carriage bed.

This focus on evening out the body has, well, evened out my body! My left is as strong as my right.

My massage therapist and chiropractor had told me when I first came in my body was twisted. That right hip came forward, so lying on my back, my right hip came up, or lying on my stomach, the left side of my back was higher than the right.

So, back to the chiro appt. I came home amazed at my mobility and how much better it felt. Then, wham! A couple hours later, PAIN!

I noticed that my right hip no longer comes up on the reformer, it's even with the left. I went for a massage and he said it was the first time my left back was not raised. The massage therapist's theory is that the adjustment finally made my lumbar spine and hips move to the right place. My muscles are now not happy about this movement .... they are stretched in different ways and work in different ways, thus pain.

I told my chiropractor the massage therapist's theory and he agreed that it sounded like a possibility. He said that if that were true, then the movement caused strain on my back muscles and we are treating my back as if I had strained it in injury. I'm getting adjusted three times per week. He's using ultrasound on it and I'm using my Bionic 880 on it as well.

The really funny thing is ..... I can still do pilates!! It is an exercise so protective of the lower back that it's no problem and I actually feel BETTER after having done it. I can also during this time FEEL the exercises that are hard on the lower back. Knowing this information will help me be a better instructor because I will never include those movements in my classes.

The really, really funny thing is, when I do pilates, I do the exercises with great form and look strong, however, when I am finished and need to get off the reformer, I look like a cripple!!

update, stopped neurotransmitters

2010-02-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

I never adjusted to the full dose of neurotransmitters. I felt tired all the time, and who wouldn't on 900 mg of 5 HTP daily?! I looked at the benefits - no more spotting and steady basal temps, and wondered what was causing those changes. Tired all the time and no improvement at all in sleep seems hardly worth it.

Then I started thinking .... when I changed to natural thyroid he put me on a whole grain. That is more than I was getting previously, I believe. Perhaps the improvement in the hormones were more due to thyroid changes than neurotransmitters? Could be.

I stopped taking them yesterday, except for the nighttime dose because I was taking that dosage of 5 HTP previously to help with sleep and it was working as well as these pricey neurotransmitters. I was dizzy and tired all day yesterday. I'm somewhat improved today and have more energy today than I've had in a while.

I also started reading about thyroid and spotting. I found something interesting. Estrogen and thyroid can counteract each other. In estrogen dominance or low progesterone states, it's common to spot several days prior to menstruation. I guess it's more likely that it was the increased thyroid dosage that helped my hormonal problems than that it was the neurotransmitters.

I dug out an old book called "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause." It said that low progesterone/estrogen dominance can cause insomnia! It also said that it can mimic hypothyroid, that thyroid patients who test borderline (like me) can be helped by using progesterone cream because in reality it's too much estrogen causing the problem rather than too little thyroid. The book says that many of their patients have been able to stop thyroid meds after using the cream for several months.

I ordered some cream to see if it helps. I also started taking DIM for estrogen dominance. I'll keep you posted. But for the record, the neurotransmitters weren't a help for me. Considering my age (almost 47), it makes more sense that it's low progesterone the more I read.

I know it's crazy to be trying things on my own, but at least the things I've tried on my own haven't set me back like these neurotransmitters did, in fact. most of them have helped. I'd rather do the research and go with what I feel works rather than using something that my doctor feels works and makes him lots of money .... it's not like he tested me, he did the same thing I did, went on a hunch .... not that I'm encouraging you to ignore your doctor ..... I'm not, rather I'm encouraging you to research what your doctor recommends.

Jan. update

2010-01-23T11:43:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! Just a quick update ....

I have ramped up to the full dosage of Neuroreplete. I have seen a few good results from it. For one, my basal temperatures are more consistent. They used to jump around a lot, now they are more consistent from day to day. Secondly, I used to spot several days before menstruation, that has stopped completely. I thought it was due to age (I'm 46), apparently it was not. I believe I'm sleeping more soundly, but that's hard to tell, I'll let you know once I'm on the full dosage a couple weeks.

I also got muscle tested again, last time was last April and I was still testing positive for babs and bart .... and oddly enough lice?? Remember that?! Well, all three of those are clear now! For the first time I tested clear of all Lyme and coinfections!! Woohoo!!

My organs also tested as clear, but still had some heavy metal toxicity. Also tested positive for a fungal infection. I have a rash on my forehead that I had figured out was fungal, so I am guessing the rash is what showed up.

It seems I have regained my health!! I am currently taking KPU, iron, magnesium, Neuroreplete, and thyroid. I also take resveratrol, a good antioxidant.

To work on toxicity as it's an ongoing problem for everyone, I am taking saunas twice per week and doing coffee enemas the next morning. I notice when I wake up the morning after a sauna, my lymph system feels a bit sluggish. My massage therapist also noticed this during my last massage. I believe the saunas are pulling out a lot of toxins. I only go in for 30 min, any longer and I don't feel good. I plan on doing this protocol for a while .... until I feel I am no longer getting a benefit.

I hope this finds all of you well. Thanks for reading.

Changed thyroid meds

2009-12-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

My doctor has had me make the change to Nature Thyroid. I was taking a half grain NT with the Synthroid/Cytomel I was on already. He had me stop the Synthroid and go up to a whole grain of NT. I am taking my basal temperatures to monitor the change.

I also increased the dosage of the Neuroreplete. I tried increasing it last week, but the full, new dosage made me dizzy like I had been drinking or on drugs. I stopped immediately because my Pilates test out to become a teacher was last weekend and I needed my wits for it. Neuroreplete says if you are severely depleted in the amino acids, you will possibly feel dizzy, so that's apparently what happened with me.

I immediately bounced back to normal the next day after stopping the higher dosage, thankfully. I took 9 pilates classes (if you've ever done pilates, you know that is very difficult!!!) and taught 2 this weekend. Not only did I have the stress of doing all that exercise, I also had the stress of stage fright for teaching classes. I got certified, though I won't know what I'm cleared to teach until tomorrow when I find out the ongoing training plan. I'm already scheduled to teach a private lesson, so apparently I'm cleared to teach that!

Instead of jumping up four more pills of Replete Extra, I took one additional pill. I will ramp up over a few days or a week.

Question for my smart readers

2009-12-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I had my follow-up appt. with the doctor today. He moved me onto the second stage of the Neuroreplete program, but that's not what I want to talk about.

It ends up IgG band 41 on a Quest Western Blot came back positive. My understanding has been that the Western Blot only shows antibodies, thus only shows exposure to Lyme but cannot determine whether the infection is gone or not .... just like I would test positive for chicken pox since I had it as a child even though I don't have it now.

I am feeling really good lately, as I have posted. I think my body is still healing and detoxing, but no real symptoms of anything. In fact, I think I actually am healthier and more energetic than my healthy husband. I can certainly keep up with my children.

My doctor, however, thinks that I should further treat the Lyme to get rid of it entirely because then I will feel better than I do. He says that because I need maintenance with the light, it shows that it's still not all gone or I would not need maintenance (I see it more as "relapse prevention"). He believes that any positive band shows you have Lyme (because band 41 could otherwise signify gingivitis or syphilis, which I don't have).

I also understand that Dr W in Germany says that the Lyme blood tests may still come up positive after his treatment even though the energetic tests are negative.

I'm kind of in a unique situation with this doctor ..... he thinks I'm sicker than I think I do .... it's the opposite of other doctors I've had! He also has lots of "gadgets" - glutathione IV, hyperbaric oxygen, rife, etc. - and he is in business ..... soooo ....

If you're a Facebook friend, please comment there, if not, I'd love to hear what you have to say here.

So, what are your thoughts? Does a positive Western Blot mean the Lyme is still active? Will the antibodies ever really clear out of the blood?

Feel GREAT!!!

2009-12-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Oh my! I don't know if it's the amino acid program or the extra thyroid, but I feel GREAT! Very energetic and happy! I slept like a ROCK last night!

I woke up feeling a little stiff like I do when I'm toxic and I taste metals in my mouth, so I'm going to take some binders. Toxicity is an ongoing issue, so perhaps this will help.

Just thought I'd give you a quick update!

www.neuroreplete.com - amino acids

New doctor!!!

2009-11-30T16:49:00.001-08:00

Today I had my first visit with my new doctor. I think this will work out, but partly because I don't really need much at this point.

He's an MD and also has a naturopath he works with at his office. He has lots of different tools - hyperbaric oxygen, neural therapy, ART, rife, etc. He prefers alternative modalities to conventional medical treatment. The conventional stuff, like thyroid, is covered by insurance.

I filled out the typical information about my history. I spoke to the nurse first, then he came in, read through it all and we talked. I told him my two issues were needing thyroid meds and needing 5HTP to sleep, which makes me believe there's some kind of residual hormonal problem. When I don't take the 5HTP, I don't sleep.

He is starting me on Nature's Thyroid. He was going to start me on Armour, but I asked for the other since the two people I know who take Armour BOTH have trouble with the new formulation. He wants me to start on it and as it builds up in my system to wean off my other thyroid meds starting with Cytomel, which shouldn't be too hard since I only take 5 mcg of it.

He also doesn't like supplementing with 5HTP alone, which is what I currently take for sleep. He says it makes it so the body gets used to having it from an external source and stops making it on its own. He has an amino acid program he uses to get the body back in balance. You start it in three stages, so I'm starting the first stage tonight, then it lasts for six months. Interestingly, it does have 5HTP, so I guess I don't need to take mine. It's very similar to what I was taking, but has two other amino acids in it. www.neuroreplete.com

I go back in a week for a follow-up on the amino acids.

He took blood to test my thyroid for antibodies since I've never been tested for that as far as I know. He also did a LYME TEST!!! He used Quest, but we'll see, this should be interesting. I'm not going to pay for IGeneX, which is what he uses if Quest comes back negative because I don't see the point in retesting. The Western Blot proves exposure, but not level of illness. We know from my 8 + bands on my previous WB that I've been exposed. Since I'm symptom-free, I don't need treatment. But, it was no out of pocket for me for Quest, so I had no problem agreeing to it since they were taking blood anyway .... except I don't really want to know if Lyme is still there. Dr. W in Germany says it can still be there, it's just no longer stressing the body so it doesn't matter that it's there, much in the same way we still carry the chicken pox virus or some other illness with no symptoms.

Normally, he has patients set up an appt. with the naturopath to go over all his recommendations and possible treatments. He gave me a booklet with the ones he recommends for me. I know what all these treatments are, so I'm going to see if next time I can just find out what his ideas are as far as prioritizing. I can't say I'm going to do them all or any of them aside from taking basal temps for thyroid. I'm just feeling too well to shell out the dough for unnecessary treatment.

He says he pretty much does what the patient wants .... the patient meets with the naturopath to go over his recommendations and get any questions answered, then the patient decides what to have done. This is really exactly what I need for a PCP - one who understands a bit about Lyme (he does have a Lyme protocol), one who accepts that I treat with the Bionic 880 (he asked if it was biophotons, so he's even a bit familiar with it), and one who isn't ridiculing me like the last doctor I fired.

If I think of more, I'll add it later .... going to go watch House now. :) Have a great evening! Thanks for reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-22T15:56:00.003-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time! I haven't really had much to say. Things are still going well.

I liked the Dr. Natura cleanse and think I had a lot of benefits from it. I felt good consistently the whole time on it. Since I had ups and downs before, I think that it really helped with the toxins. I don't really have ups and downs anymore, I feel good pretty consistently now.

I'm still making kefir and kombucha regularly. I still have jars from my last batch of sauerkraut, so have not had to make it recently. I haven't had to even think about my digestion, so I believe these products have been a help. Pyroluria also causes digestive problems, so I'm sure being on the KPU protocol has helped with my GI issues, too.

I have an appt. with my new doctor Nov. 30, so I will update you again after that.

Pilates training is going very well. I've consistently worked out 5-9 hours per week since I started back in Sept. I did take a couple days off one week and was concerned that I might have been fatigued because of the Lyme coming back, but then I mentioned it to the other teacher trainees (who are also much YOUNGER than me!) and the ones working out as much as me also had to take a break that week.

My non-Lymie daughter and I are fighting a cold, but other than that, I've been feeling really well.

Thanks for checking in! I'll write again after my doctor's appt. Have a very blessed Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-22T15:56:00.001-08:00

I knew this day would come

2009-10-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well, today my LLMD told me I need to be seeing a local doctor for my thyroid meds. He is a Lyme specialist, so I knew this day would come, but nonetheless, moving on is always hard. I knew who I would see when the day came - www.colecenter.com - so in a way I'm excited, in another way, nervous.

All in all, it will be a good move. This new doctor is covered by insurance and is a natural, holistic wacko just like I like. He does energetic testing and treatments. He uses natural thyroid, which I was thinking I'd be able to switch to anyway. My TSH was 0.60, so I'm right at a good point with it and I'm on very low doses of Synthroid and Cytomel.

I had to can my gyno during Lyme treatment because he more or less made fun of me for thinking I had Lyme and for going to a Lyme doctor. I'm sure I wrote about it previously, so I won't rehash it here. Fortunately, this doctor does pap smears, treats Lyme, and treats thyroid, so I'm covered on all fronts. He will also refer me to someone who does thermal imaging for my breast exam instead of a mammogram, which is just what I was looking for.

Remember back to school days when you recovered from an illness and on the one hand were excited to go back to school, but on the other were hesitant to leave the sick bed? Remember that feeling that you know you should be happy to be well, but weren't quite sure how you felt moving on, getting back into "normal" life? That's how I feel right now.

I know I still have toxicity issues, and I've been addressing them somewhat on my own, so I guess it will be good to have guidance with detox. His energetic and muscle testing will be able to point the way. I also know my adrenal glands need more recovery. Even though I'm feeling really well, I don't want to quit trying to resolve all issues, no matter how minor, because I don't want to have the terrain that allowed me to get so sick to begin with.

I was into natural health care, good diet, and exercise when I got sick, so there are other underlying issues I want to be sure to address so this doesn't happen again.

Massage

2009-10-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Since I have been getting chiropractic adjustments so often recently, I stopped getting my bimonthly massages. I belong to one of those places where you pay a monthly fee and one massage comes with it, then your other massages are at a deep discount. It's really a great deal and the therapist is wonderful and well-trained.

Since the month is almost over (well, for massage purposes the month starts on the 11th), I went. He used to feel all kinds of "crunchy" stuff in my shoulder muscles. He also, if you remember from previous posts, told me I was twisted starting at my right foot.

Yesterday, he didn't feel any crunchies and my lymph nodes were as small as they've ever been since I've been seeing him. He said he felt threatened. I said, "Threatened by my chiropractor." He said no, that he told me from the beginning that if I needed bone moved that I needed to see a chiropractor, but that he felt threatened by the Pilates! He feels that I hardly need him anymore. He was very excited to see me doing so well, but at the same time felt like I might not need to rely on the massages like I did before.

I assured him that I've been sore every minute since starting daily Pilates for this teacher training, so I would definitely need him, but maybe more for a relaxation massage. I won't need them twice per month though just to keep functioning.

I knew I felt better, but it's great to know that I objectively AM better!

Some of the lymph clearing may also have to do with the Dr. Natura cleanse. As usual, no way to tell what improvement comes from what treatment.

Chiropractic care helps!

2009-09-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten around to my promised post on chiropractic care. As you know, I had been struggling with shoulder pain and had been thinking it was fibromyalgia caused by Lyme. Originally, I guess it probably was.

I had two things going against me structurally - Lyme toxins and weakness on my left side due to Lyme. My chiropractor (http://www.drmurphydc.com/) told me that toxins can cause subluxation, or places where the bone is not in the proper place. The subluxation causes a stagnation, which in turn gives toxins and pathogens a place to hide out.

Think of a pond. If the pond doesn't get a breeze or have a fountain to keep the water moving, it gets a nice coat of slime. The stagnant water gives a nice growing place for all kinds of unwelcome gunk.

Same thing with a subluxation.

So, back to my shoulder. Because I was so full of toxins, I had several subluxations in my neck and lower back. When Dr. M adjusted my neck, I felt a pull all the way to the exact spot in my shoulder that hurt. Remember, all the nerves go through the spine, so this is not surprising.

At first Dr. M had me coming in twice weekly (for four weeks), then we switched to once weekly. In the beginning the adjustments would only hold until the next day. Well, he doesn't like the term "hold" because the spine is supposed to move .... so the more proper way to say it would be to say my spine would remain free for the rest of the day but would be locked up again by the next day.

The first time that my spine didn't lock up for several days in a row, my shoulder started killing me worse than it had in months! He was surprised that it hurt so bad since I wasn't all locked up. I consider it to be a healing reaction due to the toxins finally being released from the area. My shoulder has not hurt at all since then. My back has mostly remained free to move, not locked up.

Dr. W in Germany is an MD, but he also is a trained chiropractor. He was of the opinion that you had to be adjusted for the photons to work. It makes perfect sense now. How could the energy move through the body if there are stagnant areas? I am fortunate to have Dr. M because much like Dr. W, he adjusts the entire body, not just the spine.

In other news, I'm still doing great! I'm doing pilates for 7+ hours per week and seeing amazing changes in my body even though I worked out for almost the same amount of time before. For one thing, Pilates focuses on alignment, so my bone structure looks better. I'm not holding my shoulders up so high anymore. My deeper muscles are getting worked, so I feel strong.

The bad news is I have a bad cold. I know where I caught it .... chaperoning the band for two nights till midnight when it was chilly and damp .... plus being around someone with a cold. I've been doctoring it with Vitamin D (both from Mercola's tanning bed and D3 pills), kombucha, rest, chicken soup, neti pot, and colloidal silver (the past two days). So, it's day 4 and I'm feeling like I have the upper hand. It has not disabled me like colds previously did. I have been active and haven't even missed a Pilates class. I am sitting around a little more, but still get everything done. And the great news - no Lyme symptoms at all (Lyme used to always flare with other illness).

But, if it weren't for my cold, I might not have gotten around to blogging. :)

I hope you're all feeling well. Leave me a note, I love comments!

Kombucha and Pilates

2009-09-12T17:47:00.001-07:00

Things are going great! I've been so busy I haven't had much time to write.

The sauerkraut with carrot, garlic, and onions was phenomenal! My 11 year old eats it all the time, tons of it! My 21 year old was even putting it on her english muffins! We really use it on everything. I just bottled 7 quarts that I made last week. Maybe some of it will last so we can taste what it's like after continuing to ferment for a few more weeks.

It took me about a week to make the scoby from a bottle of store bought kombucha. Now I've made my own batch with green tea. It's great!! I love it! My 11 year old loves it, too, and my husband told me to put his name on a bottle so when he wants some it's still there. With six people living in our house right now, things don't always last long in the refrigerator .... you think you will get to eat some of something and then it's gone.

Kombucha is supposed to be wonderful for you. It's a strong detoxer, so it helps with general health and all kinds of illness. I read that Ronald Reagan took it to help his battle with cancer back in the 80's, and if you remember, cancer was not what he ended up dying of many years later. Also, the man who makes Synergy Kombucha has it printed right on the bottle that he started bottling it because of the role it played in helping his mother heal of breast cancer. I am happy to be adding it to my health regimen.

I notice if I drink kombucha early in the day it makes me a little tired. I'm thinking it must be the heavy detox abilities. Simple solution .... my sleep is light anyway, so I drink it later in the day, so if it makes me tired, that's just a bonus.

My digestion has been great! Food has been digesting. Amazing. The Dr. Natura cleanse has really been doing its job, too. I won't go into the stuff I've seen .... let's just say, it's about time to be getting rid of it.

So, onto the really fun stuff .... pilates!! I started my first teacher training class today!! After the administrative stuff, we talked about who we were and why we were there .... also, a little about our bodies. I told about my Lyme and how my left side was more affected and weaker. The teacher and her #2 were really excited to see how I moved because of the noticeable difference in strength that I mentioned I had. I wasn't sure what that meant .... till later.

Later they chose two of us to walk across the room a few times while the rest watched. Then I stood there and they showed where I was out of alignment. They found the same twisted body my massage therapist and my chiropractor have found (stay tuned for the next blog on what chiropractic has done for me the past few weeks).

Because of the way pilates is done lying down, the focus can be on proper spinal alignment. Because of this, you work out with your bone structure in the right place, which strengthens and stretches the muscles properly as opposed to when you work out standing up and with your improper alignment, which just reinforces the problems.

I have been taking pilates twice weekly because it's so much more expensive than just going to the gym. With the teacher training series, you are expected to work out as much as possible and it's all included in the price, so now I get to do it every day! I am really, really excited about this.

Dr. W in Germany really stressed how the body needed to be aligned properly for the energy to flow. Since the light treatment is energy, it's essential to Bionic treatment. He even is a licensed chiropractor in addition to being an MD so he can do these adjustments. Pilates is all about restoring proper functioning and alignment of the body. This will certainly be good for me.

More to come later on how much chiropractic adjustments have helped me.

Quick update

2009-08-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Adding fermented foods is going very well. I am surprised that the taste of all of them is growing on me .... I am starting to like the Komubucha, and I'm loving the homemade sauerkraut .... a totally different beast than store-bought, pasteurized stuff. I eat it with things you wouldn't think of, like in a veggie burrito, or topped on a homemade pizza made with a pizza crust from the health food store, olive oil, organic cheese, chopped up bratwurst (be sure to put the sauerkraut on after the pizza comes out of the oven). I think I might make reubens this weekend if the new batch is ready by then.

I tried a batch with green cabbage, onion, garlic, and carrot .... can't wait to taste it! A second batch with red and green cabbage, which is turning a pretty fuschia color as it ferments.

My bottles just came in today that I ordered for my homemade kombucha, so I'll be making it soon!!! I'll keep you posted on the progress.

I started the Dr. Natura cleanse three days ago. It's going well, and I'm feeling GREAT lately!!! All I'm taking is - KPU protocol, iron, magnesium, Dr. Natura, and sleeping herbs. I started a multiple vitamin, but I don't really seem to want it ... I know how weird that sounds, but I just don't want it when I go to get it out of the jar.

I'm really excited about what I have decided to do with my time now that I'm feeling better. The problem with chronic illness is you are out of touch with the world for so long that when you get better, you are really in the habit of doing nothing. I am going to be training to teach pilates!!! I'm so excited! I've spent enough time laying around and I find it astounding that I am even able to think about taking a pilates class much less training to teach classes myself! I will be in 10 hours of training per week .... I'm excited.

Fermented foods

2009-08-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

Since I'm going to be working on my digestive system with the Dr. Natura cleanse, I thought I'd do more for it so I'm going to try fermented foods. I've read how good they are for us, so I thought I'd give them a try.

I went to Whole Foods and bought four bottles of Kombucha. The guy checking me out asked me if I liked it. I told him no, it was vile stuff!! He seemed relieved and said when he first started working there a couple weeks ago he bought some, took a sip, and threw the bottle out. It is vile, but honestly, you get used to it. Also, if you need it, then you will find the taste easier to swallow. :) I drank a bottle yesterday and one today. It's actually refreshing after a workout.

Today I made sauerkraut and fermented beets .... well, I prepared them and now I'm waiting for them to ferment. We'll see how it goes. The sauerkraut in the store is pastuerized, which defeats the purpose of eating it entirely!

I chopped up a head of cabbage, I salted it, then I squeezed it with my hands until water was coming out of it .... I did this in a big bowl so I didn't lose the water. Then I packed it into a jar and pushed it down tightly ... by the time I got it all in the jar, the liquid covered all the cabbage. Now I just leave it sit out on the kitchen counter for a few days so the bacteria can grow. Ewww.

For the beets, I sliced three of them, put them in a jar, then covered them with brine made from four cups of water and one teaspoon of salt.

As usual, I will keep you posted with my progress. Mentally I'm done trying different herbs for killing bugs. I'm just ready to move on to better health!

My shoulder has been absolutely killing me the past few days. It's been sore for a couple weeks, but the pain has been so intense that it keeps me up at night .... so I took a painkiller for it. The last one I took was at 9:30 this morning and now it's 5:30 and I have little pain, so I think it's letting up. I'm thinking this is a healing reaction. My shoulder pain dates back to high school, so it was bound to be something my body had to go back and fix .... it was bound to have pockets of bacteria, or be lacking minerals, or be loaded with toxins/heavy metals, or whatever it was that caused the pain.

My massage therapist could feel the swelling yesterday, but could feel no reason for it other than a series of muscle issues starting at my right foot. He suggested maybe I walked with my foot turned out and that it may be causing the shoulder pain. Interesting because the pain started in High School, after I broke my leg and have walked with that foot turned out ever since. Since bacteria and toxins are opportunistic, perhaps they took up residence in my shoulder. I'm going to work on walking correctly now.

Well, I'm off to have some apple cider vinegar in water .... another source of fermented food rich with probiotics.

ONE YEAR OFF ANTIBIOTICS!!!

2009-08-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I missed it! I was off antibiotics for one year August 12th! I was thinking it was August 18th, but it was the 12th.

I am doing better, still improving, still a ways to go. I'm not tolerating the Triphala or Red Root. I have been a bit sluggish since starting both of those .... seems to be both of them that bother me. So, I eliminated them .... I'll start the Dr. Natura cleanse when school starts the end of next week. It's time to do Humaworm again, but I thought I'd give the Dr. Natura one a try.

I'm thinking maybe my immune system is still a little hyper-active? Perhaps it's a cytokine response any time I use herbs that increase the immune system? Here's an interesting article that talks about this - http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?id=3748&t=CFIDS_FM

Nevertheless, I'm still overall improving. I have these delusions in my head that I felt perfect when I returned from Germany, but I looked over the beginning of the blog and realized that I only felt 70% during my last days over there. That was such a huge improvement for my "bad days" that I felt at the time that I was doing great .... and I was. Now a bad, bad day is about 80%, but typically I'm closer to 90% .... except on these herbs I've been trying to force on myself. I'll have a rest from the herbs this week and next, then I'll probably feel bad as I adjust to another cleanse .... but I know I need the parasite cleanses ... I still have a die off when I start them and I still have a few digestive issues.

Liver cleanse #5

2009-08-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

I did my fifth liver cleanse yesterday. Only about 50 stones. No sludge. So, it appears my liver is clean. :) I won't do another for six months .... the Hulda Clark site recommends twice per year after the initial cleanses if I remember correctly.

I didn't get any relief from pain from the cleanse this time and it was time to do the photons again. I got a fresh vial of blood, this time more than just a few drops. I treated at 11.77, same times/places as in Germany. I started getting relief during treatment. I felt weird during treatment like I did in Germany, though not to that extent.

About 1PM, I rode my bike 3.5 miles to my pilates class, then rode back after an iced green tea at Starbucks (without sugar syrup) and after sitting out in the sun at the pool for 45 minutes. I got a little dizzy in Pilates when I was standing on the reformer and bent over to change my springs ... and a couple other times. Maybe not such a good idea being quite so active afterward when I still hadn't gotten a lot of food or fluids in my system, but I felt great otherwise and feel even better today.

Because of my response to the blood treatment and because of the long time away from photons, I will treat once per week for three weeks to try to really work on whatever infections are bringing me down. I suspect babesia because my air hunger flared a little tiny bit yesterday. I started taking quina since I can't get any good tonic water here anymore (should have kept my big mouth shut on Lymenet, LOL). Quina is probably better anyway since it's the herb without the sugar.

Overall, HUGE improvement since I came back from Germany last Nov. I'm really a different person. I still am having trouble getting involved in any commitments because it's just hard to trust I'll feel better day after day. This leaves me with a lot of "down time" with not much to do, but I don't want to fall into my old ways of getting over-extended. My good days are better than ever and my bad days are, too.

Almost a year off abx!

2009-08-04T13:15:00.001-07:00

It was a year ago this month that I stopped antibiotics! I stopped antimalarials one month later. After stopping my health crashed, but I went to Germany in October for three weeks of Bionic 880 therapy .... the rest of the story starts in October on this blog.

Currently, the only symptoms I have are fibromyalgia and fatigue when the fibro is flaring. It seems to clear up completely after liver cleanses and stays away for a couple weeks afterward. It also helps to have lymphatic drainage massages. I am guessing it's mostly toxin related. The length of time the fibro and fatigue stays away after the liver cleanses is increasing.

I am sleeping better and continue to improve in this area. I take "I Sleep Soundly" by Banyan Herbs and 5HTP.

I continue to exercise four days per week. Forty minutes of cardio three or four days .... two days of advanced pilates .... and two days of lifting weights.

I am juicing twice daily if I have the time .... fruit in the morning and veggie in the afternoon .... along with eating right.

I treat once monthly with the Bionic 880 using blood as a nosode.

Here's a list of all that I take:

Synthroid/Cytomel
Depyrrol (a zinc, manganese, B6 formula)
iron
magnesium
Oil of Evening Primrose
Triphala

Detox:

Heel Detox homeopathics daily
Red Root tinture for lymphatics daily
parsley/burbur when I feel toxic
coffee enemas when I feel toxic

Sleep:

I Sleep Soundly (Banyan)
5HTP

I am trying to take as little as possible. The photon treatment stands alone for treating the "illness", so the rest of what I do is to build up vitamins/minerals that have been affected by illness or to detox. I need to find a multiple vitamin that I like and tolerate. I have been having trouble because I like the ones from food sources, but most of them have chlorella, which I am allergic to. I also have gut problems which run in my family, so I can't blame it on the Lyme ... and that causes trouble with some multiples for me. Hopefully, juicing picks up the slack.

Liver cleanse #4

2009-07-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

Today I am starting my fourth liver cleanse.

I had been feeling 100% well for several weeks. The only time I had any symptoms were when I changed herbs - Haritaki to Humaworm, then back to Haritaki, then to Triphala (Haritaki is an ingredient, but works synergistically with the other two herbs).

Last week my fibromyalgia started coming back gradually. In the car ride home from Florida I started feeling pain. Then I switched to the Triphala and it got worse. I just haven't quite been myself the past week or so. I have little motivation, though I am capable of getting around and doing things, I'd just rather not. I have had consistent pain, probably about a level 4.

So, I'm starting the cleanse today. Hopefully, it will do for me what it's done in the past. The last one held a long time before the symptoms returned. :)

Update - Not as many stones as the first time, but they were stones, not sludge and they were much, much larger than previously, about 3/4 in diameter .... probably 6-8 that size .... hundreds of small ones. I haven't eaten since yesterday, but feel soooo much better already ... no pain. Off to go make some fresh fruit juice .....

Doing great!

2009-06-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

I finished the Humaworm two weeks ago. There were no visible parasites, but I felt bad the first week and a half on it, so I know it did something. After that, I felt GREAT!

Still on the KPU protocol and still think it was a big issue for me. It's going very well.

When I stopped the Humaworm I switched to Triphala and Resveratrol. I also found a multiple vitamin I like and started taking it. I have had severe diarrhea since stopping the Humaworm (or starting the new stuff). It doesn't appear that I'm digesting anything at all and the transit time is only a few hours. I'm stopping all supps today except for iron and KPU. I'm also trying to be easy on my gut with what I eat. I have a couple chickens to make some fresh broth.

I started VSL#3 because previously it has helped my gut. It is a probiotic designed for ulcerative colitis and has 450 billion bacteria. I'm taking it twice daily right now.

Since I'm getting better, feeling great, and seem to be on an upswing, I'm wondering if this is retracing. I have had gut problems since childhood, and when I got sick a few years ago, the gut issues were the first symptom. I know that once a body is getting what it needs, it goes back and heals past problems. There is nothing painful. For having had diarrhea severely for two weeks, I still feel fine. It just seems like it must be more of a healing reaction than an Illness. Nevertheless, I'm doing what I can to support the gut.

The rash on my forehead came back when I stopped Humaworm. I am going to do a bug bite protocol on the Bionic in a couple weeks. I hope it helps. I'm thinking it may be the lice issues I posted about previously.

It seems none of my issues are related to Lyme anymore, but I still have some lingering problems. I'm trying to stick with the less-is-more philosophy on my protocols so that I don't stir anything up .... why wake a sleeping giant?

Just thought I'd check in, have a great 4th of July weekend!

I predicted it

2009-06-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

The sweat last night, I predicted it! I was having some air hunger and it had been about a month since my last photon treatment, so I treated yesterday (blood, 9.88, 100%, 320 sec.). I drank water with parsley, burbur, and Himalayan Salt, then had a glass of carrot/apple/beet juice. I feel fine now treating with blood.

I hope the sweat last night means it's working against the babesia. My air hunger seems to be improved today.

I always had a 24 day herx cycle when I was on meds, so it could be that the babs was flaring since I've been on Humaworm for 24 days and that coincided with a full-moon, which traditionally makes parasites more active.

Only a few more days left of Humaworm.

Well, off to a busy day!! I hope all of you are well.

Update June 9 - I had another sweat last night.

Liver cleanse #3

2009-06-05T06:18:00.000-07:00

This has just gone so smoothly! I didn't feel really bad like I did last time. I didn't even get the low blood sugar feelings like first time, which I'm thinking must have to do with the KPU protocol (just assuming since hypoglycemia can be a symptom of that).

Early in the day instead of just finding low-fat ways to stay full, I juiced. For lunch, right before I stopped eating, I had carrot/apple/lemon juice. I think the packed nutrition in the juice helped keep me feeling well. I felt good up to an hour after I took the first dose of epsom salts. Previously, during a cleanse, I would have to take a nap in the afternoon because the fasting would make me feel so bad. Instead, I cleaned my closet and the pantry! Last night I slept through the night ... both other times I only would sleep a couple hours at a time and then would spend a couple hours awake and would be uncomfortable all night.

This morning I have seen some stones and some sludge. Still in the middle of it so I don't know how it compares to the other times. I'm hoping it takes away the fibro pain like it has in the past. I can't wait to start juicing!!

edit to add - significantly less gunk this time. After the first one, I felt better for a couple days. After the second, for a week and a half, then started having minor fibromyalgia pain (might not be minor to some, but in comparison to Lyme/bart pain, it was minor), so hoping since so little came out this time that maybe the cleanse will hold.

My husband, my 21 year old daughter and I have all noticed that I have less fat than I used to. I've always worked out with weights and cardio ... recently I cut down on weights and added pilates .... but I think the lowered fat is more likely from detoxing better. I'm not talking about being thinner, and I don't have more muscle.

Just feeling good

2009-06-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't really have much to blog about .... I'm just feeling good!! I have some very slight air hunger, but only enough to remind me to keep working out, keep eating right, keep getting enough sleep, and keep building up the immune system. I also am having some shoulder pain and hip pain. Dr. W thought it was a structural problem and not Lyme related. He adjusted it and it was better. I think it's time to see a chiropractor. I play the flute, so this is likely what's causing it ... my awkward twisting while I stand and play.

Oh, which reminds me, I found a chiropractor who will work with me on the KPU protocol!! Woohoo! He will even test my kids. I was thrilled because I hate to do such a strong protocol without someone overseeing it.

I'm a couple weeks into Humaworm, and after the first week or so, I started feeling better.

I also happened across some great tonic water! I always feel better when I drink tonic (remember my trip to Italy? The tonic got me through it). This tonic has only natural ingredients, including high-quality, natural quinine from the bark it is traditionally made from, unlike most of our quinine which is a chemical concoction. The tonic is Fever-Tree .. I'd like to find Q Tonic, which uses agave as a sweetner, but in the meantime, I'm drinking two little bottles per day. The first three days, I felt better .... then I did have a slight herx for a couple days, now I feel better again.

So, I know some bugs are still there. I plan to keep taking it easy .... it seems this is working for me .... I keep improving with this system. I am beginning to think that simplicity is the key to treating with photons. I've read that Dr. W told a patient that stress can bring the Lyme back ..... I am beginning to think doing a lot of stuff aside from detox and photons will cause a stress enough to bring the Lyme back. Taking it easy allows the photons to do the work.

I know only time will tell, but this is just my observation .... that simplicity is the key with photons.

Current protocol -

Humaworm (will replace with triphala and resveratrol when finished with 30 days)
Photons - once per month, blood, 100% power, 320 seconds, 10 points
KPU
iron and magnesium
thyroid meds
Juice Plus
NT Factor (till I run out)

I got back my thryoid test .... my TSH is up to .25 ... that is a significant improvement from the .03 it was last time. My thryoid meds are reduced since I returned from Germany. It would be nice if I could eliminate them altogether at some point.

I am still getting massages every other week from the guy trained in lymphatic drainage and cranio sacral techniques. At this point, I am no longer feeling horrible after these massages. I drink a lot of water afterward to wash out the toxins, but I don't feel wiped out like I did before. He is noticing the difference too, I just don't have all the problem areas I did. I still am sluggish, but it's all working better than it did in the beginning.

I am no longer doing regular coffee enemas for the first time in a couple years. After the liver cleanses, I don't feel drawn to them anymore. I guess I just don't need them ..... I could always tell before when I needed them. I do feel like I need to do another liver cleanse. Maybe next week.

I am still juicing, still working out four times per week, still getting plenty of sleep, getting some natural sunshine ..... and feeling great! Thanks for reading.

Second liver cleanse

2009-05-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

TMI warning :)

For me, this was more difficult than the first. I don't know why, maybe because I'm on Humaworm. I stopped the Humaworm for the day I did the cleanse.

The fasting still killed me just like last time. In the morning, I felt weak and like I was fighting the flu. I didn't see the "peas" like last time (some very small green things, but not as big as last time), but had an unbelievable amount of sludge (looked like sawdust or cornmeal and some was bound together in balls the size of a large marble). If all this stuff from the first time and this time is really from my liver, I can't believe it was functioning at all. No wonder ART testing and muscle testing shows my liver is stressed!

Once I could start drinking juice, I made some fresh pineapple/apple juice and felt better within an hour. Not great, but better. By evening, I felt horrible again and my stomach hurt. I don't know if it was my liver or my pilates class or a combination of the two. Yes, I went to pilates the afternoon of my cleanse after having two glasses of juice and a smoothie.

Today I am feeling a lot better. I am still weak, but I am also still on Humaworm. And, weak is relative. I got up at 8:30, went to the gym and did cardio and weights. I got cleaned up and went to the country club with my husband and daughter for a nice lunch on the patio. Now I'm getting ready to go to Old Navy, Starbucks, the dry cleaners, and the office. Tonight we're going to see a movie. So, weak is relative. I'm probably feeling better than most "healthy" people ..... I actually don't think too many people are truly healthy these days, which may be why it's so hard for them to realize Lyme patients are so sick.

I've started taking a liver support product with milk thistle and dandelion. I won't take it forever, but I thought it was a nice follow up to the two liver cleanses. Honestly, it was too much with the Humaworm. I would recommend not cleansing the liver till after the round of Humaworm ... it just felt like too much. I also don't think I will feel good till I'm done with the Humaworm. It always makes me feel horrible. I'm wondering if one of the ingredients is bad for me or if it's just killing off a lot. I muscle test great for it.

I hope you are all healthy enough to enjoy the pretty weather we've been having!

Onto the next thing!

2009-05-19T13:32:00.001-07:00

My various symptoms from the immune system kicking in only lasted a matter of days, thankfully. So, since I seem to prefer to torture myself than take breaks, as soon as it lifted for a couple days, I started Humaworm to work on the parasites.

Protocol right now - Humaworm, Depyrro/oil of evening primrose, NAC, ALA, Zeolite, iron and mag.

The Humaworm is knocking me on my butt. I'm feeling better now than I did a year ago on a GOOD day, BUT it's bad compared to "normal." I feel weak, tired, I'm sleeping at least 10 hours per night (probably more like 11), I have diarrhea (suh-weeet), and I'm ready to feel better. I know I need the Humaworm. I know it wouldn't be hitting me like this if it weren't killing something off.

You'll notice a very limited protocol. At this point, I'm just done pushing it. I'm doing really well and am taking care of the last of the infections, but I'm not going to do mega-protocols anymore. I'm not severe like I was, so I don't think it warrants an aggressive protocol.

I plan on doing my second liver cleanse tomorrow. Can't wait .... it boosted my health so much the first time and many of the aches are back (which is what the Hulda Clark website says will happen till you get enough stones out, then you will maintain).

I plan on continuing to photon as needed, which has been once per month lately.

When this is done, I'm going to take it a little easier this summer. Plans are - Depyrrol/oil of evening primrose, iron, mag .... which will be an all the time protocol ..... should look for a good multiple vitamin for basic health, too. Also, NAC, ALA, Zeolite for toxins/heavy metals. Resveratrol (I like it) and Triphala (like it, too). I'm hoping that this summer protocol turns into my maintenance plan with photons as needed.

Off to a softball game tonight. If you're a facebook friend, there will be more pics up. :)

immune system

2009-05-12T16:47:00.001-07:00

I was feeling really great after the liver cleanse. I am so calm .... I never realized I had anxiety, but now that it's lifted, I feel so calm. It was really a good weekend. :) My OCD tendencies have let up a lot, too.

I did have a glitch after the liver cleanse. The first night I was fine. The second night ... oh, I should mention I had three and a half margaritas at dinner (previously would have sent me to my grave) .... I woke up in the middle of the night in intense pain. Where I think my liver to be, it felt like someone was pouring acid on it. I sat up in bed, leaned forward and rocked. After time went by, I had some, uh, gas? A couple belches later, and I felt better, some more time passed, and I could lay down and go back to sleep. In the morning, I woke up feeling great. I swore off all alcohol that night and hubby said he'd never let me drink again.

The same exact thing happened the next night. Both nights the whole process took about an hour. I would have resorted to narcotics the second night, but knew that by the time they kicked in the pain would be gone anyway. I would have gone to the hospital, but I've been through that routine so many times I know it would have been useless. Hubby now realizes that the pain was not connected to the alcohol and reneges on his promise to keep me from alcohol since I had no hangover whatsoever from the three and a half margaritas.

The third night I decided to take some epsom salts. If it was stones moving around in my liver and the epsom salts were what kept it from hurting the first night, I was taking them again. No pain last night. I did wake up at 5:30 with a need to rush to the bathroom, no doubt because of the epsom salts, LOL, and when I woke up I was drenched with sweat. I thought maybe the sweat was connected to the salts, too, but my air hunger today showed it was the babs.

I felt okay this morning. I went to Pilates and was strong. The teacher had been mentioning how weak I've been the past few times (since I started the KPU treatment), but this week she said I looked strong again. She did notice my air hunger and thought I was short of breath.

I started feeling bad afterward, went to the grocery, and by the time I got home felt fluish. I treated with photons .... I try to catch the babs during flares. Still felt horrible ... usually feel good after photons. I'm achey, tired, throat hurts, have diarrhea (not from espom salts now), and want to lie down.

I think I'm to the point with the KPU where the immune system is kicking back in, thus the babs flare and the various virus symptoms. Everything I've read on "healing reactions" says that they happen when your body gets strong enough to heal, typically after you've felt "the best you've ever felt". That is true for me. So, I'm taking this down time to mean I'm getting better. I think I'm going to get some tea, some water, and go roll up on the couch and watch a movie. :) Enjoy your evening and thanks for reading.

Liver cleanse

2009-05-08T16:10:00.001-07:00

I have read about liver cleansing but have never tried it. Honestly, the fasting part sounded horrible to me, I just don't do well when I don't eat! But I was feeling so poorly on this new pyroluria protocol that I thought I'd give it a try.

To backtrack, I started the Depyrrol and Oil of Evening Primrose like I said in my last post. Taking herbs with it seemed like too much, so I kept up with zeolite, NAC and ALA to help with toxins and metals being released with the KPU/pyroluria protocol, but dropped the herbs. I still felt tired and achey. I was getting nothing done but some reading.

Yesterday I fasted as directed in the Hulda Clark liver cleanse. I didn't even drink water except for the 6PM and 8PM doses of epsom salts. I took a long nap in the afternoon .... with only eating carbs with no fat all morning, the fasting in the afternoon wasn't going too well. My blood sugar drops and I end up with no energy at all. At 10PM I drank the grapefruit juice, black walnut tincture, and olive oil mixture and went straight to bed as directed. I could have drank a gallon of that stuff I was so hungry and thirsty!

I felt horrible by the time I went to bed. I took the orthinine as directed and still couldn't sleep as the instructions promised. When I got up in the morning, I had diarrhea as the directions promised .... and with that, the promised stones.

I had to go to 10:30 till I could start eating .... I started out with fresh juices. Then later I had a smoothie. The rest of the day, I felt really good! I'm not feeling 100% perfect, but I'm feeling great compared to how I was feeling. I passed hundreds of stones. I plan on doing the cleanse again in two weeks. I guess the best way is to do it every two weeks until no stones are passed.

I was hoping it would help, but never dreamt that it would have helped this much.

Sick of it

2009-04-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm in a bad, grumpy, I'm sick of all this mood, so I thought it might be a good time to blog. I'm sure all of you want to hear my rant.

I am still getting over my 5th virus since Christmas. Each one hits me harder than anyone else in the house and for longer. I just have a really hard time fighting them off with my still-compromised immune system.

I want to be getting back into life, but every third week or so I end up sick again and unable to do much but lie around. I hate it. I feel so useless. I get the Lyme under control just to be disabled by stupid colds and other viruses.

I am discouraged. I know I have come a LONG way. I know the progress I have made in the past few months has been remarkable. It's just discouraging that there is still such a long way to go.

I started a new treatment this week. It's treatment for KPU (kryptopyroles) with Depyrrol, a product from Amsterdam that is basically zinc, b6 and a few other things. I also am taking Oil of Evening Primrose at night. This treatment replenishes some of the minerals that many (but not all) Lyme patients have lost. This Depyrrol is a product I muscle tested well for, which is why I decided to try it. The treatment can be harsh and should be overseen by a health care practitioner.

The thing is, once you get into taking it, your body can and will release a lot of heavy metals. I test low for metals. I have chelated the ones that were easy to get to. Now, I only have the more hidden in the tissue metals, which are now flowing out like crazy. My mouth tastes like it is full of coins. I'm sure this metal and toxin release is part of my bad attitude. I am taking binders right now to help the metals exit - zeolite, charcoal, NAC, whey protein, and fiber.

I also have noticed a parasite die-off. I don't know why it unnerves me every time I see a parasite ..... uh, I take that back, I DO know why it's so unnerving, it's just that after having seen so many, I would think I would be used to it by now! So, I can only assume I have a parasite die-off going on, which can only be contributing further to my BAD mood.

I guess I'm writing this today for a couple reasons .... one, I'm in a bad mood and need to blow off steam somewhere, better here where people are reading about my mood voluntarily than at home where they're just stuck with it ...... two, for those of you battling Lyme, you need to know that I get upset about it, too, that my battle is nearing the end, but has not ended yet .... and, three, because I wanted to tell you about the new treatment. I cut the Bionic round I was doing short to start on this earlier than I had planned. I figured that with the new virus/cold, I didn't want to keep working on killing pathogens. I wanted to work on building my immune system instead.

I am taking andrographis and resveratrol along with this new protocol to keep working on killing the bugs. I'm also drinking water with Himalayan Salt in it, which might be contributing to the parasite die-off. The idea of the Depyrrol is that after treating for several weeks, your body will be able to better release parasites, so at that time, I will do another round of Humaworm.

On a positive note, my air hunger has been minimal since my single photon treatment a couple weeks ago.

Feel free to commiserate in the comments. :)

My fault?

2009-04-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have had a horrible cold that I caught from my kids. When we were in Chicago last week, my 13 year old caught it the day we were leaving. She was miserable .... we went across the street to buy her Advil and had to argue with some under-paid Bozo who worked at the Starbucks in the grocery just to get her a cup of water to take them with. I mean, I have a crying kid who wants to take an Advil, and he wants me to walk across the store to the deli to get a cup of water when he has water right there.

Isn't the "rule" there to keep the bums off the street who aren't buying anything from coming in and getting nothing but water. Oh well, some people just don't get why rules are in place. Anyway, we got the water from the lady who worked at the Starbucks, while I had to argue with Bozo the whole time.

A couple days later, my 15 year old stayed home from school for a day with the same bug. Both had raspy voices and sore throats, along with muscle aches/ headaches.

So, yes, of course, I got it to. My poor immune system is so bad at this stuff! I've had a low grade fever off and on for three days and have had no voice at all for two days now. I don't know who likes it better, hubby or kids! Anyway, I'm taking some herbal expectorant to help with the sore throat because I think it's from drainage. Also, the expectorant might keep me from choking to death on the phlegm that doesn't quite want to be coughed up. If this plays out like normal, I should end up with bronchitis .... if it's a head cold, I get sinus infections, if it's a chest cold, I get bronchitis.

I guess it's nice not dealing with Lyme too much anymore ...... but seriously? How many times have I fought viruses since I got back from Germany????

Oh, I just looked at the title again and saw I forgot to tell you that it's all my fault it's cloudy today. I thought I'd go get some natural photons and bask in the sun on what was this beautiful, cloud free day in the lower 80's. About five min. after I got outside and sat down with my book, the clouds rolled in and now it's overcast. I told my daughter about it and she said, "Thanks, Mom" like it was my fault. LOL

Photons again!

2009-04-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

I've had a few weeks off, so started up with photons again. I'm using blood (got some new blood in the vial, more this time, so didn't add the vodka), 9.88 frequency, once per week. Those are the instructions those now coming back from Germany got from Dr. W, so I thought I'd give it a try.

The photons felt really good! I enjoyed the treatment this time. I guess I needed them.

I'm off all herbs, only taking iron and thyroid during the treatment, plus the herbs I need for sleep.

I felt really good yesterday after the treatment but today am a little sluggish. I did go to the gym to workout and noticed that my heart rate got higher than it normally does. I did a full workout, went to the grocery, came home and juiced, and fixed dinner, so I was able to do all my normal routine, I'm just a little fatigued.

I also had terrible insomnia last night. It was my fourth night off Ambien, and the first night I had any trouble sleeping. It was a couple hours before I fell asleep, but once asleep, I was okay. I woke up a few times, but fell right back to sleep.

insomnia and herbs

2009-04-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

Good news and bad news. The bad news is, this insomnia is driving me nuts! It is flaring very badly right now. Too bad I'm not still in college, I could be making use of this being awake in the middle of the night (studying, not partying, of course!).

I woke up after 1 1/2 hours of sleep last night at 1:11 AM. It was a wide-awake insomnia, not one of those nights where you keep drifting in and out of consciousness and go nuts because you're not sound asleep .... this was a wide-awake night. It was the longest few hours in my life! About 4 AM I finally picked up a book. I read for an hour, then turned the light back off. Fell asleep about a half hour later, then woke up at 10:30. So, I got six hours of sleep.

Considering it all, I'm feeling well today! I don't feel tired and I've finally adjusted to the herbs. That's the good news.

I was worried that these new herbs would keep me feeling bad as long as I was on them, but I'm feeling closer to how I was feeling before I started them. The shortness of breath that I have had for so long has lifted some. The fatigue the herbs were causing is lifting. The GI distress is getting a little better.

I've been taking Zeolite every third night to absorb some of the toxins being released with the parasite die-off. Also, a funny thing happened tonight ..... I hate sauerkraut. We had brats for dinner, and had sauerkraut because my husband loves the stuff. Well, I was craving it. I put some on my brat and it didn't taste offensive at all. Sauerkraut is a fermented product, so has good probiotics in it. I figure I was craving what I needed, good probiotics to take place of all these bacteria and parasites I'm killing off.

If you listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs .... yeah, you're saying, "What if I crave a chocolate bar?", well that means you need magnesium ..... "What if I crave sugar?", well, you probably ate high carb, low protein, low fat a few hours ago and now have a blood sugar crash, eat more balanced. It's a matter of understanding what your body needs with a specific craving, and there is almost always an answer. I think I'll say goodnight and go get some probiotics.

Starting herbs

2009-04-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick update.

The terminalia chebula made me feel HORRIBLE! Yesterday, I just rolled out of bed and put sweats on, barely did anything all day. I even had hubby go to the grocery, but I was able to cook dinner (minestrone from scratch). I started declining on Sunday, and by yesterday was having stomach pain and diarrhea. I was also terribly fatigued and weak.

Today, all is good. Took some Zeolite last night, slept in a little this morning, and even managed to work out for an hour and twenty min. this afternoon.

Yesterday my spirits were down a bit. I was hoping this battle was closer to being over than it is, but really, I am doing so much better. I need to keep focusing on regaining health ...... I've mostly beat down the infections .... just a little more to go.

I'm thinking about jumping on the Progurt bandwagon. Seems everyone is getting good results from it, and it fits my current philosophy of focusing on making my body an unwelcoming host to pathogens.

Head lice???

2009-04-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

I finally, recently got muscle tested!! Not an easy accomplishment in Ohio!

It seems borrelia and erlichia are gone! Woohoo!

I still have four infections - babesia, bartonella, fish roundworms (too much sushi I guess), and lice! OMGOSH!

We used to live out in the country and the rural school system my kids attended had a huge lice problem. They would have lice checks regularly. Well, about four years ago, my daughter ended up with lice. It was a very bad case and in only a couple days I spent 20 hours combing the nits out of her hair after repeatedly washing it with an herbal rinse .... after she sat around with a shower cap on holding the herbal rinse in place for hours. It was quite a project. Her lice infestation lasted for months .... it kept coming back .... Was she re-exposed? ... Or did we not get it all? I'll never know!

My husband would comb my hair out after I was done with hers to be sure any lice that got on me were taken care of before they laid eggs/nits. It's the nits that are difficult to get out .... thus 'nitpicking'.

Today I washed and straightened my hair, then Mr. Sixgoofy looked at it out in the sunlight under a magnifying glass, after all, we became lice experts four years ago, he knew what he was looking for. No lice! So, what gives?

What I'm thinking is that I must have been bitten by the lice and still carry something to do with the bites. It shows as a major stress to my system, so it needs to be taken care of. But how, if there are no lice? Humaworm (www.humaworm.com) tested well for fixing both the lice and the roundworms. I ordered some today. I am a little concerned since I have taken it twice before, but I was not in this good of health last two times, so maybe I just need a couple more rounds of it.

I'm taking some other herbs (mostly Buhner) to treat the babesia and bartonella during my month off photons. I started Resveratrol and Andrographis today, and started an herb recommended by a friend for GI symptoms, biofilms, and breathing symptoms - Haritaki. I also thought I'd take some Enula for parasites while I wait for the Humaworm since I previously had good results from that. I'm feeling a little fatigued and a little light-headed from these herbs, but not bad. Still functional.

I'm going to be taking some minerals to replenish all that is lost with being heavy metal toxic and sick for so long. Also, some good fatty acids.

My focus is still on rebuilding health, and I've made a lot of progress in the past several months .... down to four stressors .... not bad. :) I think I really just do not know what 100% is .... my pain receptors don't work very well (according to my massage therapist and my dentist) .... so I don't really know how much pain I'm actually in. I've never been better, but that's all relative .... I've been sick for 35 years, how will I know what perfect is? I guess when I test free of all infections. ;) Still, I can tell you, once the borrelia is gone, it's not so bad .... I would pass for "normal for my age" now if this were all I had.

Palm Springs

2009-04-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm just traveling everywhere this year ... Germany, Italy, Vegas .... now Palm Springs! No, I don't "normally" travel this much, it's just worked out this way. Our trip to Palm Springs was for a convention that hubby has every year.

The weekend before last was Mom's weekend at my daughter's sorority at Indiana University .... I was there Friday and Saturday night, and had a great time with her. We met a fellow Lymie who lives in Indiana .... it was great to meet her, but sad to see this disease hit someone so young, so hard. We met with my daughter's friend who is a boy (as opposed to a boy friend). :) Also, met with some old friends. We were busy every minute and I was no more tired than she was. :) (She does not have Lyme).

I left from there out of the beautiful, new Indianapolis airport, to go to Palm Springs. This trip was four nights and almost every night is the "business" dinner at 9PM (midnight my time). I did fine again. I had no symptoms in Bloomington or Palm Springs.

It was great being in the nice weather for a few days. I was sure to get some natural Vitamin D out by the pool every day :-D

There were two things to note there regarding my Lyme Disease.

One, I went on the spouse tour. It was a fun day where we went to take the Palm Springs tram up the side of a snow-capped mountain. http://www.pstramway.com/ Last year when I drove my grandmother home to NC, as I was driving up the mountains in Knoxville, I got sicker and sicker as we went higher and higher. I was sick the whole night and next day till I drove back down the mountain to a lower elevation. However, I had no symptoms at all when I took the tram up to 8500 ft.

The other is, after the tram ride, my husband met me downtown and we walked all over town .... in the heat. Then we ate at a little outdoor restaurant and I drank a full margarita by myself. I had another one that night. Also, no symptoms after that.

Both of those are worth noting because alcohol and altitude has affected my health for quite a few years now. So, it appears that I might be in remission? The only symptoms I've had in the past three months were when I had a cold .... but they were all cold symptoms (aches, runny nose, etc.).

Oh, I forgot about the shortness of breath. Ends up, I didn't have it in Las Vegas as I wrote previously and I didn't have it in Palm Springs either. I didn't take my supplements with me either place .... and I have not been short of breath since I got back to the Midwest yesterday. I'm going to ease back into them to see if one of them might be behind that annoying symptom.

Yesterday we flew back to Indy, got there late, so spent the night. Our luggage stayed back in Palm Springs ... can't say I blame the bags, the weather was much nicer there! Today we drove home, and I'm exhausted. My iron is in my suitcase, and I do feel somewhat better after driving to Whole Foods to get more. I also took a B12. I think I'll sleep well tonight. ;)

Las Vegas

2009-03-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

I managed to wear my 20 year old out in Las Vegas! I felt 100% the whole four days I was gone! I kept up with a 20 year old, and even woke up before her every morning. We walked miles, and miles, and miles .... if you've ever been there, we walked through many casinos working our way from the MGM Grande, stopping for some mac and cheese and creamed spinach at Smith and Wollensky's (we had steak there the night before, came back to try the mac and cheese the waiter was trying to get us to order as a side dish .... didn't want to take our appetite away from the steak), and ended at the Wynn. LONG walk. We had some carrot cake, a latte, and split a bellini at the Wynn. I bought a cute hat. :-D

I didn't have any breathing difficulty at all while we were gone ..... or any other symptoms, but had shortness of breath within a couple hours of returning. I'm hoping this slight fatigue and shortness of breath is caused by the mold in our bathroom ..... I'd hate to have to move. We have been planning on remodeling the bathroom, but I really think we need to move it up .... immediately. It's really bothering me that I know that away from my house I am symptom-free.

I haven't used the Bionic in a week now. I don't seem to have any other symptoms than the shortness of breath and fatigue. I plan on continuing juicing, eating healthy, my dark chocolate habit, my latte habit, and some good supplements. I also plan on continuing my biweekly lymphatic drainage massages.

I hope all of you are well. I have a question to throw out there ..... since many of you have Lyme, what is the number one thing that you need (aside from medical care) that is not provided for Lyme patients? I'm just curious ....

duh

2009-03-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

I figured out where this fatigue is coming from .... remember when I said I cut back on thyroid meds because I thought it might still be too high? Well, I think I cut back too far on them. I started taking 5 mcg of Cytomel (was on 10 recently, and 20 before Germany) and the energy level is right where it should be. In fact, today, I don't have any symptoms at all. Woohoo!

Too much?

2009-03-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

As you know, I have been fatigued from treating with the blood. It's not tiredness like from lack of sleep, it's different. It's more like a lack of motivation to get out of the chair. That is a far cry from where I was when I was sick when I couldn't even hold my head up, much less get out of the chair without substantial effort .... now I CAN get out of the chair, I just am not motivated enough to.

I have been keeping up with working out - 30 min. cardio and 30 min. weights and stretching. I have been cooking, cleaning, etc. .... all the things that moms do ... driving .....

But this fatigue permeates everything. I'd rather just sit around. That is so unlike the real me!

So I was talking to a well-informed fellow-Lymie-who-went-to-Germany yesterday. When I told him I was treating with blood, he said, "Only once per week, right?" I said, "Uh, no, twice per week, like the Lyme treatment we did in Germany." He said, "Nope, you're only supposed to treat with blood once per week."

I've treated five times with blood ... first one at 25%, the other four at 100% ....

Now I will take a week and a half break from photons, except for the photons I will be absorbing out in Las Vegas next week with my daughter .... it's supposed to be in the 80's.

Hopefully, this rest in the middle of treatment will help me catch up with myself. I'm running a race, and instead of taking days of rest, I'm running full force day after day. As the dear doctor in Germany says, this is a marathon, you don't run marathon races every day, you rest ... well, that's sort of what he said .... you get the idea. So, I'll be resting out by the pool beginning on Sunday. :-D

Quick update

2009-03-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

I did treatment #3 at 100% power with blood last night. I didn't sleep longer than normal like I normally do after photon treatment. I didn't have left-sided pain, and my shortness of breath is minimal with no chest tightness.

I have been fatigued for the past few days, since Saturday. I have two sick kids, so perhaps that's why. If you're a poster on Lymenet, you know that has been a source of stress for me lately, and in fact, I'm on a hiatus from there till I'm feeling better again, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Stress is not good for the adrenals, and I'm building mine back up after a prolonged illness. I've also forgotten to take my iron supplement for the past few days. It's hard to remember everything is not Lyme, but it appears that I have several options of where this fatigue might be coming from aside from Lyme.

I did end up stopping Cytomel completely. My basal temperatures were higher than 98.6, and basal temps are a good indicator of thyroid function. Some docs say even better than blood tests. My shortness of breath, chest tightness, and insomnia are all improving. Of course, some of this could be from treatment as well.

During my month off, I actually forgot how difficult treatment with photons is. My body is working on these lingering infections/symptoms, and I feel it. I am anxious to take my next break!!! I believe 3 more treatments and I'll be taking time off again ... that's six treatments with blood, not including the one at 25% .... Dr. W uses six treatments for Lyme.

Treating again

2009-03-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

My almost four weeks off treatment went really well. I took the supplements I mentioned previously, though I cut out the kelp. I continued to juice, eat healthy, and exercise.

I still am not sleeping great, but am getting by on a half an Ambien. I seem to wake up at the slightest noise (I sleep with earplugs, so that helps). I sleep straight through when hubby is out of town .... maybe it's HIS fault I wake up, LOL! Even with wakeups, I'm getting nine hours total per night.

All my pain is gone, even the left shoulder pain and I've been practicing my flute more than I used to. The fatigue is gone, too.

My doctor wouldn't send me a thyroid test because the testing is not due till next month .... so I didn't get that test taken. I reduced my thyroid meds myself (bad to do, but I called twice about getting the test done early, grrr) and cut out the kelp.

The shortness of breath has still been bothering me along with some chest tightness. Not enough to make me feel bad, but enough to be very annoying. I remembered that I got psittacosis around the time I started declining with the Lyme. Psittacosis is a respiratory disease caused by chlamydia psittaci .... it causes the two symptoms I'm still having. Of course, it's as hard to get diagnosed with Psittacosis as it is with Lyme (never got a diagnosis, but got treated anyway). Since so many with Lyme get chlamydia pneumonia infections in a chronic form, I'm thinking that perhaps the chlamydia psittaci is still lingering. Just a theory.

I don't think I'll be able to find nosodes of that illness, besides, I'm ready to treat with blood to mop up all the remaining pathogens I might have. I started this new protocol on Friday. It was a JOKE trying to get a few drops of blood out of my fingers! I had a safety pin, some rubbing alcohol and fear of pricking myself. Hubby said he'd be happy to do it ... yeah, right, not in a million years! So, instead of getting one good prick and getting enough blood, I pricked about four fingers to get a few drops. I mixed the blood with potato vodka as the doc in Germany said was okay to do.

The breathing problems have let up slightly. I have more energy. I really don't feel sick at all!!! :)

I did have flare ups after the treatment. The left side of my abdomen was bothering me a lot. It was like there was something there that didn't fit .... spleen? I have a rib that is detached on that side ... Dr. W asked if I was in an accident when I showed it to him (he's also a chiropractor) .... I've had a lot of left-sided pain throughout the illness, sometimes severe ... and guess what? I've seen spleen pain on lists of Psittacosis symptoms! Anyway, that flared up after treatment with the blood. When I was really symptomatic, this pain was almost enough to get me to go to the ER ... severe pain that needed painkillers. The flare up was not that bad at all, but terribly uncomfortable.

So, I'm a couple days past the first treatment at 25% power and feeling great! GREAT! I will increase the power to 50% tomorrow.

I went another month without a flare up. I am not symptom-free so I don't consider that to mean I'm in remission, but I think I'm really, really close.

I'm also looking forward to the thyroid tests which I guess will be next month.

I tried to put a counter on this blog to see if people are still reading .... I'd love to know (let me know either here or wherever else you see me). I hope this finds all of you well. Take care.

Off abx 6 months!

2009-02-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

It was six months ago today that I had my last in-person LLMD visit prior to going to Germany. I stopped abx after that visit, but continued antimalarials another month. I declined once I stopped the abx, and even more after stopping the antimalarials. After the Germany treatment, I felt good and have begun to feel even better since I've been back.

I've been continuing with the juicing, exercise, getting enough sleep, etc. I have really seen improvement in the past couple weeks in how I feel. Mentally the paradigm shift of focusing on health rather than the illness has been good for me. You have to be careful with Lyme, it can become a hobby .... at some point in the recovery, you just have to say, "I'm just a health freak who USED to be sick."

I have one concern and that is shortness of breath. It is different than the air hunger I used to get with babesia, so I am thinking it is not the babesia relapsing. I used to be able to do breathing exercises I learned years ago in band and the air hunger would diminish, it does not work for this.

I tested hyper-thyroid last time my thyroid was checked (Jan.), so perhaps it is still hyper even after reducing my thyroid medication. I will get it tested again, hopefully this week.

Also, I was using some drops in my water (Cell Food). My husband got shortness of breath bad enough to wake him up when he used the drops, so it could be as simple as that. I stopped using the drops yesterday.

If it's not the thyroid and if stopping the drops does not help, then I will have to assume it's the babesia still hanging around. No problem, I plan on starting back on the Bionic in a couple weeks using blood for a nosode anyway, so it will get taken care of then. I had many tick bites, the nosodes I used were for babesia microti, so perhaps I have another babesia strain besides that one.

Even with the shortness of breath, I am still on the upswing.

I had a massage today and the therapist said I seem to be responding better than I did when I first started going to him a couple months ago. He said my lymph nodes feel full, but not clogged .... they are doing their job .... obviously I still have some toxins to deal with. I am feeling a bit fatigued after my massage just as I normally do .... nothing like Lyme fatigue, just some general "I'd rather sit down" fatigue.

Well, I just wanted to share my good news! I hope this finds all of you well!

No flare up!

2009-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

I just realized after I posted yesterday that I did not have a symptom-flare this month!! Woohoo!

Feb. update

2009-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I've been maintaining where I am for several weeks now. I have been off of antibiotics since August, anti-malarials since September, and herbs since October. Overall I have seen great improvement, but I'm still not 100%, so I thought I'd update you on where I am and how I've changed both my outlook and my protocol recently.

Except for the two weeks I had the flu I have consistently been able to go grocery shopping, cook dinner, etc. since I have been back from Germany. This is HUGE. Even when I was doing "well" on antibiotics I never had the consistency from day to day like this ... I generally feel the same every day. This is "huge" because I can now make plans, whereas before I just had to take things day by day and didn't even know if I'd be able to feed the kids myself.

I also do not have Lyme or coinfection symptoms any longer. Here's my "gone" list - air hunger, night sweats, heart palpitations, malaise, muscle aches, joint pain, hair loss, hair breakage, constant diarrhea, food intolerances, stomach pain, weakness, balance issues, getting lost while driving, disorientation, inability to read more than a couple sentences at a time, trouble talking, most short-term memory problems, difficulty counting in music, needing help walking, etc.

Here's what I still have - minor fatigue, some left-shoulder pain (more likely related to playing flute), some insomnia (weaned off Lyrica and working on Ambien, down to one-half pill per night), rash on forehead not completely cleared, some breakouts on face (due to toxins?).

I've treated Lyme, babesia, erlichia, and bartonella with the photons ... average of 7 times for each pathogen. I treated twice per week every week since I've been back except for a two week break over Christmas.

Now I'm changing my focus. Instead of focusing on getting rid of infections and coming from the perspective of eliminating illness, now I'm going to focus on regaining health. I feel that the pathogens are gone and most of what I have remaining is my body trying to heal after being sick for so long. I just don't have the symptoms of the infections any longer.

I think the fatigue could come from a couple different things .... one- constant treatment with the photons since I've been back leaving a bunch of toxins in its wake (could also be reason for rashes and breakouts), two- healing and rebuilding (Lyme and co. affected nearly every bodily system in me), or, possibly, still healing from the severe flu I had (got over it just two weeks ago and haven't been quite as energetic since).

I was sick for years ... spent the past 4 months getting rid of infection with photons (20 months previously with pharmaceuticals and herbs) .... so it's bound to take time to be healthy rather than where I am now, which is "not sick."

So, here's what I'm doing. I'm on a break from photon treatment. Dr. W treats once per month after the main treatment, so I might start doing that ..... depends on when I feel I need another treatment, it will be at least one month ... so far it's been one week.

I'm juicing ..... in the morning I have a smoothie with undenatured whey protein, super seed from Garden of Life, sometimes fresh orange juice (if not, water), and frozen fruit. In the afternoon I have veggie juice - usually includes carrots and beets (including greens), but may also include celery, apples, or whatever else I feel like.

I'm eating mostly healthy. I think everyone needs treats once in a while. Usually mine is organic dark chocolate (almost daily) and a latte (daily), but sometimes it's a real treat like ice cream (made with ingredients I can read, like cream, sugar, etc.). I cook fresh foods from scratch at home. I include raw veggies in almost every meal.

Exercise three or four times per week - cardio 30 min, weights/stretching 30 min.

Sleep - usually 9 hours per night. Generally don't set an alarm so I get what sleep I need. Kids get themselves off to school in the morning.

I'm taking some supplements now, but no "killing" herbs. A vitamin, iron, magnesium, vitamin C, resveratrol, EFA's, kelp (because I don't use iodized salt), NT Factor, and a liver blend of dandelion/milk thistle.

Everything I'm doing is about building health. I am not working on detox. I am not working on killing pathogens. I am working on getting stronger. I think this is also an important mental shift for me.

I find I have a problem with attributing everything to Lyme ..... every slight symptom I ever get I think is a sign the Lyme is coming back. I think that this mindset will just take a while to go away. For example, today I had some bad fatigue after an appointment and playing flute at a funeral .... I had gone three hours with no food or drink .... I went out to lunch, got something to drink, and within an hour felt a lot better. I had been busy and away all morning, so had neglected to eat and drink ..... sounds like a "duh" I know, but those of you who have Lyme know what I'm talking about.

Bartonella treatment

2009-01-22T13:30:00.001-08:00

Once I returned from Rome I treated babesia/erlichia a couple more times. I also treated Lyme just to try to help with some of the symptoms I was having that may have simply been the flu. That flu was a bugger! It was a solid two weeks of relentless illness. Finally, it let up and I steadily got better with no apparent Lyme flare. This was a respiratory flu, so I am certain that it was not the Lyme Disease acting up.

But, I give myself no rest .... as soon as it started clearing and before I was 100% over it, I began treating bartonella. It knocked my socks off! I did not do what I had been doing .... starting at 25% and working up. I figured I had felt so well in Rome that I would jump right into treating at 100%. Whoa!

I believe bart to be a very old infection for me. I was bitten many times as a child and have Lyme and bart symptoms that I can trace back to my childhood. The three times I was very ill from Lyme prior to getting sick again five years ago, I had Lyme and bart symptoms. The babesia symptoms did not start until I was bitten again five years ago.

The babesia really seemed to make the Lyme more difficult to manage as the other three times I was disabled by it, I was able to overcome it without medical intervention in only a matter of a few months each time. The babesia was the one I couldn't stop treating for a moment without it coming roaring back. Mepron and I were close friends, and as soon as I got off it to prepare for Germany, I crashed.

However, the babs treatment with the photons went well. I eased into it and kept on it. I went to Rome in the middle of treatment, which is why I needed the tonic to hold me over until I got back.

The bart on the other hand, I seem to have been able to live with it long term more easily. My body adapted to having it. My oldest symptoms are fatigue, but not the same as with Lyme .... this fatigue comes and goes and is worse in the morning .... and fibromyalgia pain in my upper back ... also sore throat. These symptoms all flared badly when I began treating the bart.

Another unexpected flare was various emotions that I had back in Middle School and High School. It was like the bart and the feelings went together. This is not the first time this has happened to me, but for some reason this time it caught me by surprise.

I will have my 5th bart treatment today. I hope it's not as tough as the 4th. :)

I've started doing two other things along with the photon treatment. One is a better diet. I'm eating more raw fruits and vegetables with every meal and am juicing at least once per day. This seemed to cause some discomfort in the beginning, so I was sure to take some Zeolite and do other detox rituals that have helped me in the past during this adventure.

The other thing I've added is massage. I've found a guy who is trained in all kinds of massage including cranio-sacral and lymphatic drainage. The first time I went to him was when I was just feeling a little relief from the flu. He said my lymph was slightly clogged. The next day I was very sore where he had done most of his work.

The second time I went in he said that area felt much better and that my body didn't seem to be begging for his help to drain the lymph. He worked more on my back/neck/shoulders where I have gotten pain dating back to high school. I have memories in high school and college of feeling like my sweaters and coats were too heavy .... this has flared again with bart treatment.

The massage therapist said there were a lot of toxins in there that the muscles didn't know what to do with. He could feel these pockets, and so could I when he found one. That was yesterday ..... today, I felt tired and unmotivated all morning, and the area he worked on is sore. He said there is a lot more work to do in that area, one time is not going to get it like it did the lymph (not that the lymph is drained, but it's moving .... the exercise helps that tremendously).

Even though the bart treatment has been difficult, I have been functional, though I rest more. Today I took it easy this morning, then went to the gym, met hubby at Starbucks (okay, diet isn't perfect!), went to the grocery, and am getting ready to cook dinner before I drive kids around.

I feel like I have reached a different point in my treatment. I feel like now I'm helping my body to "decompensate" .... it has been compensating for being ill for years and now needs to find ways to function normally. I am sleeping about 9 hours per night (cutting back on sleep meds), I take time to relax every day, I work out, I eat right, I photon twice per week, I use my Mercola tanning lights (I can't really say I'm tanning as I don't look tan since I'm only using it for vitamin D and don't actually get dark), and I am still saying "no" to adding new things to my schedule. Overall, I am seeing improvement as time goes on.

The photon treatment is not an overnight cure, but in my book, it's been a miracle cure for me.

Wishing you all a healthy New Year

2009-01-01T12:39:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we took the six goofy kids to Rome for 12 days for a friend's ordination. It was wonderful. It was a beautiful thing to see 49 young men give their lives to serving God. It was also a treat to be at a priest's first Mass.

We had an intimate Christmas Eve Mass with the Pope and 60,000 other people .... the lights to make St. Peter's bright enough for TV made it all that much more intimate.

It was an opportunity of a lifetime and I enjoyed in immensely, even with the rock concert atmosphere with people pushing to try to touch the Holy Father as he walked down the aisle.

We also got to go to see St. Peter's tomb under the main altar in St. Peter's. Wow, if you ever have the chance to take the Scavi tour, do it. It was a highlight of the trip. You will need to get tickets for it months in advance.

It was kind of a tomb tour, come to think of it, LOL. We also saw St. Paul's tomb under St. Paul's. St. Agnes, Raphael, St. John XXIII's incorrupt body (means it did not rot), and all the tombs of the popes under St. Peter's at the Vatican. In fact, we had Mass by St. Peter's tomb surrounded by all the other popes including Pope John Paul II. We visited the Catacombs where the early Christians were buried and used to have Mass before Christianity was legal in Rome.

We went to St. Benedict's Cave and had the unique opportunity to have Mass in the cave. We went to Assisi, beautiful, but two sick kids on the bus, both of them mine, yikes. In Assisi, we saw two more tombs, that of St. Francis and that of St. Clare. St. Clare is incorrupt and you can see her body in a glass coffin.

Of course, in seeing all these tombs, we also saw beautiful Cathedrals, Basilicas and Churches. It's quite spectacular to be standing in a building where you are as tall as the baseboards (St. Peter's). The artwork in all these churches is breathtaking. They didn't put churches up in a couple years like they do now, it took decades to finish the works of beauty.

There's one thing you do a lot of in Rome (besides eating) - walking! I had two days of symptom flare coinciding with menstruation, so that was relatively normal. I still went on the tours those days, but had to take more rests than normal. I started drinking tonic water thinking it was most likely the babesia flaring, and that seemed to help.

The rest of the trip you would have thought I had never been sick ... no pain .... no trouble keeping up.

Our kids were not the only ones to get the stomach virus .... about half the group ended up with it, including me. I woke up the day we were leaving at 3AM. It made for a fun trip home and way more time in the airplane bathroom than I'd have liked. When we were waiting to board our plane, I lied down on the floor at the Rome airport .... a floor that apparently never gets cleaned .... but I was too weak to sit in the metal chairs. A lady offered my some Tylenol and mentioned that she and her family had come down with the flu the day before ... not the stomach virus, but the flu. I was not too excited to find out that we were seated directly behind them on the way home .... of course, she was probably not too excited to see she was directly in front of me. So, as I was getting over the stomach thing, I got the flu.

On the bright side, at least my body is recognizing when these invaders are present and is fighting them. But right now these two bugs back to back have sapped my energy. I'm fortunate that I didn't catch them while touring Rome or I would have missed an incredible trip. I look forward to getting back to treating coinfections with the Bionic once I get done fighting these viruses.

Overall, I'm still seeing improvement. I had a message from my doctor when I returned that my thyroid numbers indicated I needed less T3, so I got to cut back on one of my thyroid meds.

I hope all of you have a blessed, healthy New Year.

Still doing better all the time!

2008-12-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

This treatment is amazing! The longer I'm back from Germany and treating with the photons, the better I feel!

Currently I'm using nosodes that have a combination of borrelia, babesia and erlichia. I have treated twice. During the first treatment I felt some left-sided abdominal pain like I used to get before Germany, but it went away after the treatment. As the days went by in between treatment I started feeling like I really needed recharging just like I used to in the beginning of treating the borrelia with photons.

After the second treatment, I felt great! I'm due to treat again tomorrow and I'm not feeling dragged down like I did after the first babesia/erlichia treatment.

My sinus infection/head cold is clearing up and as it does, I have more energy. One of my kids was just complaining yesterday that she STILL has this cold, so I'm not the only one around here suffering from it. I'm using the neti pot twice a day to keep my head clear.

The most dramatic change to those who see me was the treatment in Germany for three weeks, but to me, the change since I have been home has been equally as dramatic. I am feeling better and better every day.

I'm still working on detoxification and getting a lot of rest. I have been sick for years now, it's going to at least take months for me to get my body healthy. I'm well on my way.

Dr. Oz/Under Our Skin

2008-12-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Please check this out.

http://underourskin.com/blog/?p=83

Adjusting ....

2008-11-21T05:27:00.000-08:00

You would think that getting well would be like getting over a cold ... you just move on, back to what you've always done. But what about when you've been sick for years? What about when you've dropped out of life just to have the energy to breath?

When I was losing my mental capacity, it was frustrating. I knew I was forgetting things. I knew I didn't understand what people were saying. I knew I couldn't read anything longer than a couple lines. I knew I had trouble speaking. I knew I didn't recognize people .... got lost driving ..... etc. Eventually though, it became the norm.

The family adjusted by calling me ten minutes before I had to go somewhere or leaving me notes in the morning of what was happening in the afternoon. I adjusted by taking someone in the car with me to remind me where we were going and to help if I got disoriented away from home. The kids learned to cook, clean and do laundry.

I also adjusted to the pain and fatigue of being ill. I knew what it felt like to hurt .... to not have the strength to function.

I adjusted to being on up to 72 pills per day.

I adjusted to the fact that this disease is chronic. With a combination of conventional and alternative medicine, I got to the point where I had good days, days where I could function somewhat normally.

Now, all of a sudden, I am well. For those who know me, you won't be surprised that for the time being I'm cleaning and organizing, LOL! We moved into this house when I was sick, so what's out in the open looks organized, but behind closed doors, in cabinets, in rooms in the basement I hardly know exist, it's not quite up to par.

This task will keep me busy for a couple weeks .... maybe a month ..... then what? I am in a unique position as an adult - the only thing I haven't dropped out of is the church choir (I play flute, don't sing).

What have I learned?

I have learned that being is more important than doing. I didn't see the use in my life when I was sick and couldn't do, but came to understand that God needed me to be. My family needed me to be. Anyone can do ..... most forget to be. Most become a sum of their tasks.

I've learned how lonely people who are sick become. It's a world where no one understands your pain or your fatigue. It's not that people don't care, it's that people don't understand. Everyone is so busy, that they don't realize you are not. Our world has become so busy that people don't take the time to visit with each other. Despite Starbucks, sitting around over a cup of coffee has gotten lost. People think being busy and doing all these tasks takes priority over sitting and visiting with a friend.

I have learned that more than anything, the best thing you can do for your kids is be available. I used to not be able to help my 10 year old with math, but she got what she needed just by sitting with me. I moved to the couch most days to be downstairs with the family. I tried to sit at the table for dinner with them. On good days I cooked. But the most important thing was, I was there. Now I can help my 15 year old with math, which, yeah, is a help, but the best part is, I'm available for her.

I've learned a lot about my husband. He's a strong, devoted man to have been able to bring us through the past few years. I've learned that, like the kids, his needs are simple. He needs me.

So, what will I do with my time now that I'm well? For the next several months, I'm just going to be a Mom. No other hats for me for a long time. Well, a mom who plays flute in the choir at church. ;)

PS For those who are wondering about my monthly flare up, it was very minor this month. I got a little tired, but not that crushing fatigue that comes from Lyme. No air hunger at all. No night sweats. No pain. No crushing fatigue. I bought some coinfection vials, so hopefully as I use those, I won't flare at all.

Update

2008-11-19T13:04:00.001-08:00

Hi again! It's been a while, so I wanted to check in. :)

I'm still doing great! I've caught the dreaded cold that everyone seems to have around here ..... but did miss that stomach bug, thank goodness! In the past, colds completely disabled me. I couldn't figure out how others could just push through and go on with their same daily tasks while considering the cold a mere inconvenience when for me a cold meant so much fatigue I never wanted to leave bed, and in fact, didn't have the energy to leave if I wanted to. So, right now, I'm inconvenienced by a runny nose and sore throat.

Dr. W had recommended a homeopathic remedy for a runny nose, which I purchased at the apothecary in Germany, and it helps sooo much. Too bad we rely on chemicals so much in this country as this natural stuff works.

I've been treating every few days with the Lyme vials and a saliva vial. I don't know why I'm still using the Lyme vials .... I guess because the saliva vial alone seems like so little when at Dr. W's office I had 12 vials taped to my solar plexus. I still haven't gotten the nerve to try blood ...... but am about to give in .... but then I'll have to get the nerve to prick my finger! You would think that after all the blood work I've had done over the past few years that I wouldn't even think of the finger prick ..... I also haven't gotten into purchasing nosodes for all the various coinfections. Since I'm feeling so good I just can't justify them.

I know those of us who have gone to Germany keep saying this is not a miracle cure. Well, that's not the truth. It has been a miracle cure for me! However, all of us who have gone have needed ongoing treatment with photons once we get back. I almost feel like I'm a cell phone and the photons are my charger ..... every few days I use the photons.

My air hunger is gone for the most part. I'm still on sleep meds but am weaning off. I'm still focusing on detoxification as my body is still working to get back to where it should be. But all in all, I have gotten my life back.

My regular flare up of symptoms is due in the next couple days ..... it will be interesting to see how much is still there to flare ..... last month it happened when I was in Germany and it was much less severe than it used to be.

This has been truly amazing for me. I was doing well a little less than a year ago on the heavy antibiotic regimen I was on, so my LLMD weaned me off meds onto herbs. Within a couple months, I crashed .... I went from about 95% way back down to 50-70%. Same thing happened when I went off meds prior to the Germany trip. I have now been off antibiotics since August, and antimalarials since Sept. I have been off herbs since October. I only take magnesium, iron, thyroid meds, and am weaning off sleep meds. Amazing.

I was not in the group who received ozone treatments ..... it floors me that all this is the result of light. Who would have thought that it would be this easy?

Take care, I'll try to take the time to post again soon ..... in between all the family activities and catching up with all that's needed to be done for quite some time .... like cleaning and organizing, woohoo!

One week at home

2008-11-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

Hi, just wanted to check in and let you know I'm still feeling great! I went to Las Vegas with Mr. Sixgoofy for four days for a business trip. I slept 8 hours per night, sipped on a tiny bit of wine at dinner, and kept up with everyone else with no naps!!! So, I'm truly doing great!

My air hunger has lessened in the past week. I'm planning on treating with blood if I'm still feeling well four weeks after my last treatment. It will be interesting to see what happens during my regular monthly flare up.

My daughter is doing well ... definitely responding to treatment ... not yet in a good way. She's up to 50% power for her third treatment and this week will jump to 75% power.

I have two down with a stomach virus .... it will be interesting to see how strong my immune system really is ......

I frequently get asked if I think the Bionic 880 cures Lyme. My short answer is "yes." However, most of us have a very complex illness and I think it's unrealistic to think we'll all get cured in three weeks' time. If you go, it is definitely worth it, no question about it ..... but I think to use it as a cure, you will need access to a machine once you get back. For most, there are viruses or coinfections involved.

So far, I don't know whether my coinfections will require more than just getting rid of the Lyme so that the immune system can work, that remains to be seen. I do not have a virus problem. I have treated metals and parasites already .... though I know I've released even more metals as I've gotten rid of the Lyme.

This is a great treatment .... I'm well on my way to being 100%!! I'd say I'm 90-95% now ..... what symptoms do I still have? I'm not really sure, I do not lack energy. :) Once in a while I have air hunger .... and my brain seems to remember the pain as I don't really feel pain, but an awareness that it's gone, so it's not quite normal yet. I also still need to wean off sleep medications.

I'll keep you updated of my continuing progress.

Settling in

2008-11-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

It's so good to be home! Yesterday was busy all day .... previously I would not have been able to keep up with it all! Today I worked out for an hour and a half and still feel great!

I just wanted to check in and let you know that my 10 year old and my husband both treated yesterday.

My daughter treated at 25% for 200 seconds. Dr. W said 200 seconds for her age, and I picked the 25% in case she had a reaction. She did great! She had a bad tummy ache a little while afterward, and that has been the symptom that made me suspect Lyme to begin with. I did not suggest what she would feel, but told her to let me know if she felt anything at all. I'll jump up to 50% power with her next treatment.

Hubby treated at 100%, felt nothing during treatment and nothing today. So, apparently, in 24 years of marriage, he's not caught it from me .... perhaps he carries it and is not sick from it? He will finish the five treatments more for my sake, so if he carries it he does not give it back to me. :)

My 15 year old who has been formally diagnosed with Lyme and has finished abx treatment will start her Photon therapy after finals and marching band are over.

Made it!

2008-11-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I'm home!

It was rough .... I was up for 24 hours straight! On the plane next to me was sitting a large man who took up more than his share of space .... very nice guy, but I finally had to tell him I needed room .... He wasn't overflowing from his seat, he just took up some of my space with his arms if he had them at his side as he did 95% of the trip. So, it was a very long 11 hour flight.

US Customs was EASY! I waited to have my stuff checked and the guy asked me what the private medical device was .... when I told him he asked if it was used and I said yes as I had used it once while there .... he said that next time I shouldn't even put that type of thing down, he crossed it off, and I went on my way.

When I got off the plane in Atlanta, I felt very dizzy. I started feeling dizzy during the descent, which seemed rather fast ... it wasn't like it normally is, a little at a time, it seemed way too fast. I got light headed and even told the guy who checked the passports that I thought I was going to faint .... he just ignored me.

I checked my pulse, and sitting down it was about 125 beats per minute and was skipping beats as well. I sat down for 20 min., then went and got a bowl of soup, sat for some more time, and by the time I was to board the next plane, it was more normal. If it wasn't, I don't think I would have gotten on the second plane.

I got home and was in bed by 10, then slept 10 hours till Mr. Sixgoofy woke me up for Mass. I'll look forward to sleeping tonight, that's for sure!

Everyone says I have so much more energy, which is good considering how tired I am.

I thought I had lost weight in Germany, but I didn't .... I did, however, lose 5% body fat, woohoo!

Going home!!

2008-11-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

What a morning!

Steel and Willow's flight was three hours earlier than mine. Since we hired a driver to bring us here, I had no choice but to sit and wait. Finally, the Delta check in counter opened so I could ask them about getting a custom stamp for the Bionic 880. I need a stamp because I paid the German tax on the machine. The tax is 20% and is refundable with a custom stamp on the receipt.

Sounds easy, right? Well, if it weren't a German holiday today it might have been. So, I was in terminal 3 to check in, they said to go to customs and use the phone since no one is there. The person on the phone said I must go back to terminal 1 ..... so I did, and got the stamp. Then I went back to terminal 3 to check into my flight.

I was told by the company that makes the Bionic 880 to go to the duty-free shop and they would give me the tax refund minus a fee. When I went to the duty-free shop, they said they didn't refund tax money to go to customs. So, back to security ..... they didn't know what to do .... to the police, he said go to the bank ..... back to terminal 1 to the bank ..... closed .... back to customs ..... they said to mail it back to the company, and I did have a pre-addressed stamped envelope, so I put it in the envelope with a note asking for a refund to my Visa ..... since they don't take Visa, I don't know what will happen, but I don't have my banking information here ..... so, then, if only I knew where the mailbox was!!! I found it and and hour and a half later, with my way to expensive and way too puny cappuccino, here I sit waiting for my flight.

I hope it goes a little more smoothly with US customs in Atlanta, but I must say, I'm nervous. My machine is checked in my luggage and I hate being parted from it.

Thankfully, the machine has worked well and I had the energy to do all this walking around .... but I pity the person sitting next to me as I feel I ran a marathon and may smell like it, LOL!

So, for those of you coming here for treatment ...... go to customs in terminal 1, then to the bank .... if the bank is closed, then mail the form in the envelope (mailbox by information desk in terminal 1). Then go check in at your airline.

I got ART testing last night (thanks, Better Health Guy!!!) and tested free of Lyme, but positive for Babesia, Erlichia, and Bartonella. We really don't know if these will clear with time because the Lyme is gone or if they will also need treatment. Nosodes are not available for these infections, but Dr. W said to use my blood and they will clear.

I also tested positive by ART for black mold. Fortunately, I still have my bed, so I can put samples of it in a vial for treatment with the photons.

ART was very interesting and I found it went along with my intuition regarding what is working and what is not. There were no real surprises, except that I tested fine for gluten!! Woohoo!

All in all, I am very, very glad I came. Dr W is very caring, and so is his staff. I feel much better and think that further treatment will take care of the other infections. I hope this is available soon in the US so that everyone can benefit from it.

Final test!

2008-10-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

This morning was our test to see how we have progressed through Lyme treatment with the photons.

Today was the day that my Lyme was due to flare, and it did .... but only slightly. Instead of wanting to lie in bed all day, I woke up before my alarm at 7 and got right up. I felt some slight pain in my shoulders and back along with some fatigue, but none of it was disabling as it had been prior to the photon treatment. I'd say I was about 75% today .... though Willow says I was 70 because of all my complaining (do I really complain that much when I feel bad?).

So, I know you're waiting to hear .... I'm not Lyme-free .... I still test for the lowest level of Lyme ... much, much different from the first test where the machine sounded like it died, LOL! The machine showed that I had gotten rid of most of it, so the photons are definitely working, it will just take a little more time.

I am bringing a machine home, so I will be able to continue treating. Dr. W said about 3 more treatments should clear it. Amazing since I've had this for so long and was so sick! This machine is truly a miracle!

I know many of you are reading because you are trying to decide whether or not to come here for treatment. This works. However, if you have other issues, like viruses, coinfections, etc., it will require more treatment as this three week protocol is only for Lyme. Some of the coinfections may clear, but you also may be like me and need a little more time. Please take that into account.

If something like Epstein Barr is a big problem, you may need to treat that after the Lyme is cleared. Same with other coinfections, viruses, metal toxicities, etc.

This is a fantastic, unbelievable treatment, but it's not a miracle. My progress seems miraculous, but it has been work and will still take some time when I get home. Please plan for that.

Dr. W suggested that I use my blood in a vial instead of the nosodes once I get rid of the Lyme. Apparently, it's hard to find a good babesia nosode, but since it's carried in the blood, I can use that. The only problem is that the blood carries the information for all the pathogens in the body, so treatment can be difficult .... he said to use 25% power to start out.

Well, the three weeks has gone by quickly. It has been really fun exploring Germany and a little of France, healing, and getting to know fellow Lyme patients. Tomorrow I pack to go home. Woohoo!

To sum it all up, I feel SO much better and I'm very glad I took the chance that this might be the answer.

Strasbourg

2008-10-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

We went to France! Better Health Guy, his friend who is here for treatment, and I went to Strasbourg. It was a blast!

We drove right up to the beautiful, Gothic Cathedral and some French guy told us we could illegally park for 3 euro. We thought he was the parking lot attendant, and maybe he was .... or maybe not, we'll never know, but we got a parking place right up front! We went up the 300 steps to the top of the Cathedral, looked at the views, and signed the guestbook. For those of you who follow us here for treatment, you now have a mission .... find sixgoofykids and Better Health Guy in the guestbook and sign there with us!

We got a coffee in a cafe, bought candies at the fanciest candy store I've ever seen, bought girly stuff for me in the fanciest drug store I've ever seen, then headed out to a concentration camp. Wooo, what a contrast!

It was a cold, dreary, misty day .... you couldn't ask for more perfect weather to travel to a concentration camp to learn about the barbaric treatment of Nazi prisoners. After we purchased our tickets and walked up to the entrance, I could feel the fear that the prisoners must have felt. I felt nauseous the whole time and feel nauseous even now in writing this.

When we got to the gate, the man there gave us instructions in French. I asked if he spoke English, and he said no, so I asked if he spoke Spanish. A man behind us started talking to us in Spanish and telling us where everything was and what we needed to see. When I turned to the others to tell them in English what the man said, the man asked where we were from. When I told him the US, he asked why were we talking to him in Spanish .... I said because we didn't know he spoke English, LOL!

Ends up this guy was a concentration camp survivor. He and a few other survivors were meeting there with some other members of their families. He showed us around and told us all about life at a work camp. He was a tall man and likely weighed about 200 pounds, but told us that when he was released at age 20 at the end of the war, he was only 70 pounds. He said they were given about 900 calories a day and expected to work. The life expectancy at the work camps was about 9 months and most of the prisoners were political resistance.

The objective of the particular work camp we saw was to quarry red stone to sell for profit .... they even made a profit by selling the ashes of the deceased back to their families.

There were many medical tests on typhoid done at this camp. It was very eerie being there.

I asked the man if it was difficult to be back at a camp and he said no. He had no hatred whatsoever and made it a point to pass on what happened to the younger generations so that it wasn't lost.

I truly felt connected to him when he said that upon his release when he went back to Paris to his friends and family that they didn't believe him ..... they didn't believe what had happened to him. I have been fortunate that nearly everyone close to me has believed me that I have Lyme Disease, but certainly I have had my share of doubts from people I know .... even doctors .... one doctor practically made fun of me and another diagnosed me with Somatization Disorder in the face of a positive Lyme test.

It seems that it's merely human nature to not believe suffering that is not easily understood.

After the tour and talking with our patient, informative guide, we drove back to Strasbourg for dinner ..... so I ate at a real French restaurant in France!! What a contrast to where we had just been. Where the camp was grey, dingy, and cold, the restaurant was bright, warm, and cheerful.

We ordered "cottage cheese and roasted potatoes" as an appetizer, mostly to see what it was .... ends up it was roasted potatoes and sour cream .... just a poor translation, LOL. I also had lamb .... cooked carrots ... yeah, I know, gross, but these were the best cooked carrots I've ever tasted! They must have been cooked in chicken broth with sliced celery ... great flavor! Then there was some kind of garlicky pasta dish ... or was it potatoes? I don't really know, but it was delicious. And as if it wasn't enough food already, I topped it off with some carmel custard. Yum!

We came back to Germany afterward and got home 12 hours after we had left. Willow and Steel were concerned and told us we missed our curfew, so I think we were grounded today. As we drove up the mountain, the rain turned to snow ... this morning when we got up, there was about 3 inches on the ground. It was so beautiful in all the spruce trees.

It amazed me how much different the architecture of France is from that of Germany. It's no farther than the drive from Ohio to Kentucky, but when driving state to state, everything looks basically the same, but when driving from country to country in Europe, the entire culture and language is different .... of course, I knew that, but it's still something to experience.

Fifth treatment

2008-10-29T00:36:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to get this written .... well, not really, I'm feeling good so have been too busy to write! Woohoo!

The fifth treatment was the same as the others. I felt good beforehand, and felt good afterward. I am not 100%, but am improving, probably about 85-90%.

My monthly flare up of symptoms is due. Normally it starts with air hunger, then in the next day or two I'm spending in bed about all day. My air hunger came two nights ago and I'm still feeling fine, so we'll see if the full herx comes or not. I will also look into mold nosodes and babesia nosodes when I get home to use with my machine to get rid of the air hunger.

The only other symptoms I'm having are very small, random pains, nothing major at all.

I am still taking my sleep medications and have been the whole trip. I didn't think that this was the time to wean off them and did not tell Dr. Woitzel about them. Was that the right thing to do? I have no idea, but I wanted to sleep while I'm here ..... no sleep would make the trip twice as long, LOL. I plan on using the insomnia protocol when I get home and get settled with the time change.

Today I'm going to Strasburg, France with Scott and Russ. I can't wait to see the Cathedral there. The churches here are rather plain .... I don't know why, but I'm guessing it's the Lutheran influence in Germany. We are also going to a concentration camp near there. Unfortunately, it's a rainy day here, but it's my last chance for sight-seeing as tomorrow we have our appointment to see if we still have Lyme, then Friday we need to pack and clean the apartment. Saturday we go home, YAY!

Yesterday Steel and I went to the spa in Baden-Baden ... the dressed spa, LOL. It was really nice. It had a steam room with aromatherapy which was beautiful! All tiled, columns .... very pretty. Everything was marble in the rest of the spa. There was a hot pool, with a cold dip next to it ..... a waterfall coming over stones felt very good on the back and shoulders. There was a very large pool with various layers. Then there were two outdoor pools ... one was 90 degrees and swirled like a lazy river .... the other was 95 degrees and had a waterfall and a couple spigots for water to fall on your shoulders and had places to sit. One place to sit had tons of bubbles coming from the bottom ... the flow was so great coming out of there I had to hold on! In fact, there were jets everywhere and if I walked past them, I would get caught in the stream like a falling leaf catches in the wind.

I believe I've lost a little weight here. My jeans are a little loose ... but that could be because they don't dry clothes here, they just lay outside to dry. I thought I looked thinner in a bathing suit.

Steel and I went to the Lowenbrau restaurant after the spa. We both had a great filet with bernaise sauce, roasted potatoes, and a glass of wine. I had apple streudel for dessert, he had ice cream with hot raspberries. It was delicious. www.loewenbraeu-baden-baden.com

I think you're all caught up now. ;) Have a great day!

Fourth treatment

2008-10-25T23:39:00.001-07:00

I felt great after the fourth treatment and today as well. I really feel like this Bionic 880 is helping tremendously. Prior to this, when I would stop antibiotics, I would decline, in fact, I was declining leading up to my trip to Germany. Now I am feeling as well as I do on antibiotics.

Before my fourth treatment, I finally got my chiropractic adjustment (in my shorts, LOL). It was great! He is very thorough, working his way up from the toes all the way to the head.

Today Willow and I went to Heidelberg. What a beautiful city! We walked, and walked, and walked! We walked up to the top of a hill to the castle there. The castle was built from 1294 through the 1500's, so much of it is in ruins. We had a wonderful time.

I am feeling really good. I put myself at about 90%, but Willow says I'm more likely 80% from her observations .... but that's me always overestimating how I feel, likely because I have had Lyme for most of my life.

Willow has not seen much change. Her Lyme load was the lowest of the three of us and she knew before she came that she has extremely high Epstein Barr numbers. She plans on buying Epstein Barr nosodes and treating it when she gets back with her Bionic 880.

Scott, the Better Health Guy arrived today and it was good to meet him and a friend of his who is also here to be treated.

Our fifth treatment is Monday, and we get tested again on Thursday .... go home on Saturday!!!

Ponderings

2008-10-23T02:58:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a nice walk all by myself. I am happy to find that the bakery right here in Dobel has the best soft pretzel I've had yet. For those of you coming here, it's the second bakery. It's also nice that food is less expensive here. My pretzel and cappuccino were only 2 euro.

When I got up this morning my mind was moving a mile a minute. I was thinking about the fact that my "healthy" over the years has not been healthy at all. I didn't know any different since I've had this for the majority of my life. All along I thought I had a tendency to be lazy, that I had to push myself to overcome my inherent sloth. As a result, I was the opposite. I worked hard at everything I did and was successful right up until I could no longer push myself to overcome the illness.

I look back at the four times I was overcome by the Lyme and see that there were several factors that made me ill. All four times I believe mold exposure was part of the last straw (3 out of 4 times I had known mold exposure), but also I was pushing myself all four times. Perhaps it was as my immune system got stressed from both the mold and the Lyme that I had to push harder.

Back when I was in high school I went to bed earlier than my friends and went through the day in almost a daze I was so fatigued all the time. I remember looking at my friends and thinking, "Why aren't they tired like I am?"

I remember in college that so many of my friends could party all weekend and I had to be careful to drink a lot of water and take vitamins when I drank, and typically I felt bad for a couple days afterward even though I drank half what everyone else did. In my 20's I remember having two glasses of wine .... 2! .... then I was sick for at least three days.

My "healthy" .... my 90% well is probably different than a person who does not have Lyme. I have been told by a friend on Lyme chat that I consistently underestimate how poorly I'm doing. Perhaps that's because I've lived with this for so long. I get back to having simply some fatigue or some aches and consider myself "healthy."

Today I'm out of bed .... dressed, hair done, makeup on ... went for a walk .... am sitting up at my computer .... this is a good day for me. I have pain in my left shoulder and down the left side of my back ... I am slightly fatigued ..... I have a little air hunger .... this is as good as it gets for me .... well, that's not true, for three days after I got rid of my moldy mattress I felt what I would consider totally normal.

I have been off antibiotics since August .... I have been off anti-malarials since September .... and I'm on an upswing. Does this silly light work? Could it be this simple? What will it feel like when the Lyme is gone? It will be a whole new paradigm for me. Will it be gone when I leave? Will I have more to work on? I know this light is working at least as well as any treatment I've been on yet .... but does it work better?

In the past five years I have dropped out of everything. Some days I care for my family, other days they care for me. That's it other than playing my flute at Mass and funerals. If I'm cured, life will certainly change.

On the one hand, life has been taken away from me. It has been incredibly boring. But you can't just look at the obvious. When I really ponder my illness I see that it has had so many good effects on me and my family.

For my family, they have learned compassion and patience. They have had to help me to the bathroom. They have had to discern when to let me stay in bed all day and when to push me to get up and get out of the house. They have had to clean, cook, and do laundry. All six of my kids have become self-sufficient. One day my two youngest were steaming carrots and browning bratwurst for dinner. Our family is a whole ... we are together and have experienced this together. We are not just 8 separate people. We are a unit. Hardship does this to a family. I wouldn't trade what Lyme has done for us for anything.

For me, I have learned about suffering. I have learned there is more to life than accomplishments. We, as Americans, tend to a "more, more" lifestyle. We put value on what we have done or what we have rather than who we are. I have learned that being is more important than doing.

So, here I am all the way in Germany, thousands of miles away from home, with two others that I had never met before to shine a light on me while vials are taped to my abdomen. Strange indeed. What is stranger are my emotions this morning. I think I'm letting go ..... or am I holding on? .... it's hard to tell. I've always lived with Lyme, so I don't know any different. I do feel I've reached a turning point, if not physically, at least emotionally and spiritually.

Third treatment

2008-10-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

We had our third photon treatment yesterday with the same protocol as the previous treatments. We were all three starting to feel a little puny since our previous treatment was five days earlier .... with the weekend and having a Tues/Fri schedule of treatments this week, it just happened to work out that way.

I felt great as soon as we did the treatment and felt good the rest of the day. This morning I woke up a little sore ... a toxic sore .... so I took an epsom salt bath. Right now I feel good, but have a little air hunger, which I hear can be from toxins (your cells need more oxygen). I'm taking chlorella to try to move some of these toxins out.

I don't have any of my other Lyme symptoms.

Steel has some organ pain in his right side this morning, and Willow's back is sore ... Willow had chiropractic yesterday so the sore back is probably a result of the adjustment.

It's a yucky, rainy day, so other than going to the grocery, we will probably just stick around here. I believe we meet Joey today. :)

Sunday

2008-10-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to Mass at a Church in Bad Herrenalb. It was a pretty church, but the churches here seem to be understated, possibly because of the Lutheran influence. It also wasn't heated. Brrr. Mass was very nice, but I didn't understand it, LOL.

For a small church (maybe 50 people), they had 11 altar servers! I was surprised that they receive Communion in the hand as well as directly on the tongue as I had heard that in Europe it was on the tongue only. I had also heard that they kneel and stand at different parts than we do, but that was not true either. In fact, it didn't seem important to them if someone was kneeling, standing or sitting, though if someone kneeled it was the same time as we do in the US.

They did no read a psalm, there was an instrumental interlude. The priest is the one to sing alleluia ... he went up to read the Gospel and sang alleluia first then the congregation followed. I have no idea what the homily was about, LOL. The altar servers read the intentions and they did no seem to say a creed.

Afterward we went to lunch, then to Stuttgart for the day, so obviously I'm getting around well. I'm feeling really good except my fibromyalgia started coming back this evening .... it has been gone ever since the first treatment. I wish we had treatments tomorrow, but we don't until Tuesday.

I'm enjoying the German food, so I should put on some weight while I'm here. :)

Take care, I'll write Tuesday unless I do something interesting tomorrow.

Baden Baden

2008-10-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Baden Baden for the afternoon. It is a town about 45 minutes from here famous for its spas. There are natural hot water mineral springs and royalty has gone there for generations for healing. It would be fun to go back and visit a spa. We saw them, they are very beautiful. There is a naked spa and a dressed spa .... I think I'll opt for the dressed. :)

The three of us went with a mother and daughter who are here for treatment. It was a wonderful day and all of us seemed to feel quite well.

I am feeling really good. Very few Lyme symptoms .... the one I miss the least is the crushing fatigue.

Second treatment

2008-10-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

I have felt really good, but not great, since last evening. For a couple days after the first photon treatment I felt really bad in the morning and better in the afternoon and evening, but today I woke up feeling good.

The air is clean in Dobel. It's a small town about 25 min. outside Pforzheim in the Black Forest. The tap water is great .... I hear it comes straight from the mountains. I'm a total water snob, so it's unusual for me to drink right out of the faucet, but this is good.

We are just a short walk from downtown where there are several restaurants. The food so far has been great. I'm not a big fried food person, or a big pork person, but my favorite meal so far has to be this fried pork we got at the restaurant closest to our guest house. The pork was as tender as veal and was served with roasted potatoes and salad. Yum.

The forest is beautiful, absolutely beautiful! It looks different than the forest in the US because of the gigantic spruce trees. It's the perfect time to be here because the weather is cool and the leaves are changing color. If you cross country ski, I'd come later in the year as there are many paths through the forest where you can ski to the other towns.

So, today we went for our photon treatment. It is the same every time ... tape the nosodes to the solar plexus, then 320 seconds of photons on 10 places. Afterward a mineral/water IV.

Today I didn't feel as much as I did the first time. I still felt it, but significantly less .... I didn't have that electrical feeling as much and my eyes didn't bother me at all. Afterward, I felt fine and we all went to the Mall to get something to eat. We stopped at the grocery on the way back to the guest house and have the rest of the day to relax. I'm a little tired, but not that overwhelming Lyme fatigue.

Yesterday Steelbone and I went for a long walk all over town. I found a small Catholic Church and went inside to be sure it was Catholic and see if I could find out Mass times. There was a lady standing in there praying the rosary and she nearly jumped out of her skin when I walked in. She spoke no English, so I asked her what time the Eucharist is in German. I forgot that though I know how to ask the question, I don't know the German to understand the answer, LOL!

Mrs. Klein looked up the Mass time for me. Steel and Willow will drive me to the next town to the prettier Church on Sunday for Mass. There is a beautiful old Lutheran Church right in Pforzheim, but the Catholic Church is ugly ... probably built in the 60's. It's really just a chapel.

There are other people staying in the guest house who are seeing Dr. Woitzel. It's becoming a Lyme hospital, LOL! The Kleins are very hospitable and try very hard to speak English. They are learning and we've been able to communicate pretty well. Mr. Klein is putting an internet connection on the stair landing for the Americans.

Well, that's about all. I still haven't had my chiropractic adjustment, but I'm looking forward to it.

First Treatment

2008-10-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it to Germany and have had my first appointment with Dr. Woitzel. He is a very nice man and really seems to care about his patients. He speaks English well, though the nurses are more limited. One of them asked if we knew any other languages and I said Spanish, so she spoke to me in Spanish! She was very please to not have to speak English. Then today, Dr. Woitzel and the other nurse asked if I spoke Spanish to her and he started speaking Spanish to me, too, but only for a couple minutes.

I was tested with the Biocom machine and tested to have a heavy load of Lyme. What a shocker, LOL!

After the testing, we went to the pharmacy and bought the nosodes for Lyme and the minerals, etc. for the IV after treatment. Then we came back and they taped the nosodes and two live vials of borrelia to our solar plexus, then we used the Bionic on the designated points. One person in our group is hyperthyroid, so she wasn't supposed to use it on her thyroid. Next we got the infusions.

The photon treatment (Bionic 880) felt really weird. It felt like you had an electrical current, not like a shock, but like a current. I also had various things flare, like shoulder pain. I used it on four spots on my head and almost couldn't take it any longer, my eyeballs felt weird, but I think that was the Lyme flaring .... nothing else has seemed to reach my eyes, which have gotten worse with Lyme. Afterward for a few hours I felt very strange. Not like a herx, but definitely different, almost strange.

This morning I felt horrible, absolutely horrible. Steelbone felt better this morning, but also strange last night where it was almost scary. It only lasted a couple hours for him. Willow Way felt toxic this morning, but felt better later. Steel has a heavy load like I do, but Willow has a lighter load. She has heavy symptoms, tests low for Lyme, but high at home for Epstein Barr.

As the day went on, I felt better. We all seemed to do pretty well this afternoon and got out for a while.

There are two other apartments here with Lyme patients. They all are seeing improvement.

Dr. Woitzel also does chiropractic. I lived a sitcom-like situation today with that ROFL! The nurse took me into his office, which is a large room and opens to the reception area. She told me to strip to my bra and panties. I asked if she had a gown for me, and she didn't, she expected me to just be in the room in my bra and panties. Well, I wasn't wearing the most conservative of panties, so said no. She thought I didn't understand, so went to get the other nurse. I still said no. Then Dr. W came in. He explained why he needed me to, and it made sense, but I said no, that it was a cultural thing. He understood then what the problem was. Here nudity is not an issue like it can be at home. It was rather hysterical later, but when it was happening it was uncomfortable for both of us.

If I had done it, Steel could have had some good pics of me to post on the internet since they open and close the door, LOL! I'll go back tomorrow and take some shorts that I sleep in ... so it will be a bra and shorts. Steel was fortunate to be wearing boxers.

Overall, it's going well. We've been finding good restaurants and getting good food. There's a little communication withdrawal, LOL.

flying over

2008-10-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm at the airport waiting for my flight to Atlanta. I'm a bundle of emotions .....

It's the longest I've been away from hubby in 24 years. The goofy kids were sad to see me go. I was sad to leave them all.

Yet at the same time I'm so anxious for the possibility of getting well. Anxious in a good way about the idea of not feeling this pain all the time. Anxious in a mixed way about getting back to living life fully ..... what will I do? How will I get involved again? In what? I've been sick for years now and the prospect of a cure makes me anxious.

I'm nervous to be going to a foreign country where I don't speak the language and to see a doctor who speaks mine in a limited fashion.

I'm really excited about getting to spend time in Europe, see another country, and live in their culture for a time. What an opportunity!

My head is spinning .... I'm overwhelmed. We left to go to Starbucks with the kids on the way to the airport ... I forgot my scarf and sweater so hubby had to drive home to get them while I sat at Starbucks enjoying the kids for a while.

Then I got to the airport and forgot my driver's license .... yeah, only those with Lyme would understand how that would happen! At least I have my passport. Unless Steelbone is reading this, he won't know until we get to Germany that he's going to have to be the one to drive ... ooops! LOL

I'll keep you all posted ... I know you're all reading for different reasons .... family is reading to see how I'm doing .... Lymie friends are reading to see the same, but also whether it works. I'll try to give you all the info you are all looking for. :) Just skim over the stuff you're not interested in. I think I'll enjoy being on my soap box uninterrupted!

Leaving tomorrow!!

2008-10-10T18:24:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! I am so excited!

My goofy kids are not looking forward to my being gone for three whole weeks .... neither is Mr. Sixgoofy! It's not that I'm looking forward to going or am excited to leave, it's that I'm excited to be well ... okay, I'll be honest, I'm excited to spend three weeks in another country, too.

I have most likely had Lyme for 35 years. I have a great immune system so was healthy most of the time though I had random symptoms for as long as I can remember. I was disabled by the illness in 1982, 1986, and 1991.

Through my healthy years I would have weird issues .... like in the fall my shoulders would ache. I thought I was just in bad shape and the heavy sweaters caused pain. I would have terrible fatigue and wondered why everyone else wasn't as tired as me. They were all problems that could be considered somewhat normal.

Then in 1982 when I was in college, I was so tired all the time that I just got up for class. My roommate was very worried and took me to the emergency room where the doctor told me not to drink so much alcohol. This lasted several months, then self-resolved with a lot of rest, exercise and sunshine. Ironically, I had terrible insomnia despite the debilitating fatigue.

A repeat happened in 1986.

In 1991, all of a sudden one day I had severe abdominal pain. My sister and her husband were visiting during spring break (they were college students) and we were at the Children's Museum. I had to go sit down for a while ... then I told them I needed to go home. The pains were so severe I couldn't even drive. By that night I was at the emergency room, but the doctors could find no problem with me. They gave me IV fluids to help my low blood pressure, then released me.

Six months later I was still experiencing extreme fatigue, but my doctor could find nothing wrong. I was seeing a mercury free dentist (www.mercuryfreedentists.com) and he told me about the possibility of mercury being at the root of my health problems. I had my amalgam fillings removed and replaced with white fillings. I had flu-like symptoms after the removal and took many supplements to help remove the metals from my system. After this my symptoms resolved for 12 years.

I would have flare ups during pregnancy but other than that was very healthy and energetic. People would ask how I did all that I did. I ate a good diet, exercised, and took supplements.

About five years ago, I became very ill with what we suspect may have been psittacosis (I had all the symptoms, and the bird that died did, too). I took 21 days worth of doxycycline at 300 mg. per day. I had severe breathing issues, pain across my back, extreme fatigue, extreme weakness, fever, etc. After the 21 days, I still felt bad, though the respiratory part of the illness had gone except for shortness of breath. The shortness of breath would get so bad I would hyperventilate.

I slowly started working out again, got a lot of rest, ate right, and tried to get better. We moved, and when we were moving our bed, we discovered it was full of mold. We got a new bed, and I started getting better. A short time later my knee started hurting so badly I had trouble bending it. Stairs were difficult, and when I sat I had to keep it out straight.

I eventually went to the doctor for the air hunger and tested negative for asthma. The doctor said I was just hyperventilating like it was no big deal.

More symptoms started coming up, symptoms that all seemed unrelated. One of the more severe were GI problems. I all of a sudden dropped 15 pounds in three months. I had constant, severe diarrhea ... also stomach pains when I ate. I eventually became weak and fatigued.

I had testing done for celiac disease. The tests were negative, but I found that I felt better on the gluten-free diet so ate 100% gluten free for two years. I continued to have symptoms and continued to get worse .... I eventually cut out other foods, but it didn't help.

My doctor diagnosed me with Somatization Disorder, so I started researching on my own to figure out what I really had. I can't really blame her entirely for the psych diagnosis .... the symptoms are even incredible to me!

Here's the list - fatigue, night sweats, air hunger, heart palpitations, diarrhea, lack of appetite, weight loss, disorientation, mental confusion, getting lost driving, trouble reading, trouble writing, trouble talking, word recall problems, trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, rashes, hair loss, bruising, TMJ disorder, weakness, joint pain, muscle aches, ringing in the ears, food intolerances, floaters in eyes, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, touch sensitivity, mood swings, rage, rib pain, allergies, alcohol intolerance, etc.

Eventually through my research I discovered Lyme Disease. I sent away for a test kit from IGeneX labs (www.igenex.com) and took the kit to my doctor so she could run the test. The test came back with 8 positive IgG bands. She told me that I previously had Lyme but that now it was Somatization Disorder.

I went to an LLMD (lyme-literate MD) in NY for treatment. He's a wonderful doctor and has gotten me on my feet again. I have good days and bad days, but many of my symptoms have resolved. What remains is fatigue, air hunger, insomnia, fibromyalgia pain, and GI distress.

Recently, I heard about a treatment by a doctor in Germany with an instrument called the Bionic 880. Its a new technology using infrared light. There have been promising studies done on it's use with cancer and Parkinson's patients. The doctor who treats Lyme claims higher than a 90% success rate, so I thought that I'd rather spend the money to give it a try and find out that it does not work rather than wait and find out it does.

ILADS treatment (www.ilads.org) is the best we have right now, but it's not a cure, the most we can hope for is remission. I am hoping for better and am willing to give something new a try.

Recently I discovered our new (now five year old) bed also has mold. It seems that the mold exposure has been a big trigger for my Lyme symptoms and I have had trouble with the mold detoxification since we got rid of the bed. I am hoping that the Bionic 880 treatment will help with the mold detox as well as with the Lyme.

Thanks for reading, I can't wait to tell you about my experience in Germany!