Recovery from Concussion

It has been over two months since my unfortunate concussion occurred while trying to enjoy some fresh powder on the ski slopes. Sitting here today, I don't even know what to type to explain to my followers and even strangers how the recovery process has been going. In simple terms my brain is gone. We thought it would take two or three months for me to be 100% but with average Lyme Disease neurological symptoms irritated, it's going to take a lot longer. I attended five weeks of a concussion rehabilitation center to strengthen my balance, eye sight, and reaction time again. Needless to say the concussion cleared up quite a bit with that and the help of solid rest, but the Lyme didn't. My symptoms of fatigue, joint pain, swelling, muscle twitching, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, depression, anxiety, huge mood swings, brain fog, memory loss, and lack of concentration and motivation have increased significantly. I took what is called an Impact test for athletes that gauges reaction time and processing speed and failed miserably. Some mornings I awake in such a state of pain I can't move from mid-torso down. It takes me multiple hours to wake up in the morning and be able to put on a smile or get dressed. Showering has become a worsened chore as I'm still dizzy and just so weak and miserable. Can you imagine not even being able to get yourself clean because you would have to choose between clean clothes or a clean body, showering or getting dressed, getting dressed or leaving the house for a doctor's appointment in your pj's? Most people inflicted with Chronic Lyme can relate, but others have no idea of that thought process and how discouraging it is. I can't do any schoolwork because my brain is not clear enough and that makes it impossible to graduate on time, so a high honor student now has to take an extra year to complete high school's basic courses. This whole disease is such a burden, such a humbling experience.

Probiotic Protection

It is really important as a Lyme person or anyone else have stomach changes or irregular pain to know that Probiotics make a big difference. Every brand, every type, every dose can be different. I took a Probiotic called PB8 that was 8 billion units and still I needed to take 3 or 4 every night at least an hour away from antibiotics. We switched that brand to another one of a higher unit from Puritan's Pride and they did not work for me.

I started having symptoms of Candida Overgrowth AKA Internal Yeast Infection. It was a mess. This was back in April. More recently I have been taking a refrigerated 85 billion unit one called Raw Probiotic. This has helped my stomach tremendously, especially since I have irregular bowel movements thanks to the IV antibiotics, which are tough on the stomach. My pain level in my stomach has minimized and I have reduced nausea most of the time.

I went for a week where I hadn't taken Probiotics because I was out of them and they needed to be ordered (expensive little boogers). My stomach got so mad and the pain was incredible. Lets just say the pain was unique and there was so much nausea and vomiting, even more burping.

I now have been told to take more then one type of Probiotic and switch it up to keep the body's resistance down and keep the stomach healthy. I take both RawProbiotics and PB8 back and forth and at the same time. Probiotics definitely protect and its important to invest in them and keep on top of them.  If you forget them, then forget your stomach ever being normal again.

Protocols

For me, I believe it is more than just the antibiotics to treat an illness like this. More than the herbs, the vitamins, anything. But for now let me talk a little about the medicines I have tried so far.

To start with, my LLMD recommended I start on herbal treatments before I even got the test results back. Here is a list of the herbs that were meant to fight the Lyme and co-infections over the past 1/2 year: Andrographis, Artemesia, and Cat's Claw. All of these and dosages can be found in the Healing Lyme book I recommend for reading. The necessary herbs were Milk Thistle for liver function, Probiotics for multiple reasons, a daily Vitamin, Vitamin B-complex, Magnesium, Vitamin D, Co Q-10, Fish Oil (Omega 3), and for sleep Valerian Root and time release Melatonin work the best. in total right now I take about 38 pills a day, and it is really tough on my stomach so I drink Aloe Vera Juice to coat the Upper GI track (throat and stomach).

In the beginning when the results were finally back as positive and it was time to treat, the LLMD put me on the above 'cocktail' of herbs and Biaxin. When that proved very little effective we switched onto Biaxin and Bactrim. Neither quite helped so after time we switched both of those to high doses of Amoxicillin. That was ineffective as well. Now I am on high doses of the above herbs and aiming for a herx, anything to show that the medicines are working. If you would like to look into any treatment like I have done, just remember that the side effects may differ. I have been effected minor and also have had increasing fatigue from time to time. it is said that Lyme makes cycles and gets worse for an allotted amount of time every 3/4 weeks.


Elaina