Surgery Recovery and Response to Clindamycin (First month)

It's four days after surgery and I'm on zero pain killers. My head hurts and my stomach is aching with sharp radiating pains, but it's not any worse than other pains and being on narcotics is bad for your stomach and causes additional problems so I'd rather tough it out from here. I had a rough nights sleep last night on no medicine but part of that was due to being stressed out because of a relationship upset. Yes, I'm a regular teenager with average relationship struggles that come and go and sometimes can't be overcome and can end a great thing at a not so great time. On the day of the surgery I came home before 3 pm and was on Tylenol Codine and ibuprofen and whatever else they gave me through IV. I got to lay in my comfy bed and be in great pain. The next day I rested and spent time with Mike. I was in so much pain that he had to do pretty much everything for me including sitting me up since my abs hurt so bad, and feeding me. I couldn't cough, standing up caused me to be in so much pain while my stomach adjusted that I couldn't breath, and my abdomen was full of carbon dioxide from the laparoscopic surgery. There is four incision and one big one along the bottom of my belly button which makes five (there are two in my belly button I believe). Today I am feeling much better, my head is killing me and my stomach hurts worse when I move but in general I am much better than the past few days and I am happy for that. I see my Lyme doctor on Wednesday to discuss how the clindamycin is working through IV. I believe it has reduced headaches and brain fog and maybe even generalized pain, but I need more time to figure it out. Hopefully he won't change it for another month. Next post, on the new car!
Surgery:

Drug Holiday

I went to my Lyme Specialist a week ago, which was thankfully only a thirty minute drive I had to embrace by myself. We spoke of the idea of a drug holiday since I'm feeling so terrible. When a Lyme sufferer makes such a drastic change to his/her medicines, there is a lot of danger involved with the reaction the body can have from the release of the bacteria and harmed immune system. When there is no medicine in the bloodstream the bacteria of Lyme of the coinfections that come with it can come out of hiding and run free in the body. In a months time this theoretically will let the Lyme come out, filter out side effects from prescriptions and herbals, and of course some further concussion symptoms so that we can reassess where my body is unmasked. This way we can see what is plaguing me the most right now, and what symptoms we need to concentrate on. Also the break from the medicine can give my stomach some time to heal. I take antacids, Carafate for ulcers, magnesium for detoxing, and Liver life to clean my liver and keep it working smoothly while I'm on this holiday. My main concentrations while off the antibiotics is to watch my blood counts, flush my IV regularly with saline to keep it working, detox the medicine out of my system as much as possible, keep my face clean of acne, journal how I'm feeling on here, and straighten out my stomach. We are going to limit my activity to just one event, like working towards the mini horse show on May 12th. Rest is a huge lesson I need to concentrate on right now. If I don't rest I'll stress and get worse than I already feel.

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.

Concussion with Lyme Disease

On March 1, 2012 I decided to go skiing in a snow storm with my brother and boyfriend. The trails were not groomed and filled with moguls, bumps, patches of ice, and slow traveling people and my weak knees couldn't hold me up. I fell on my first and second run down the mountain, and the second fall did me in as I landed right on the back of my neck. I made it for one more run because I felt that I had to keep up with my brother and I don't even remember it but I did the pizza all the way down the mountain and collapsed in front of ski check where they carried me to first aid. I don't remember the time where they strapped me to the backboard and loaded me in the ambulance but I remember bits and pieces from the ride. It was a traumatic experience as the neurological blow brought back my symptoms from last summer. I started with whole body convulsions that appeared to be seizure activity and heart palpitations. My scar tissue from the tailbone surgery ached and my throat tightened and slurred into an abnormal sounding voice. The last thing I remembered before losing memory and being brought into the hospital was the AED machine reading 'Extreme Tachycardia, prepare for arrest' and the thought crossed my mind that I was probably about to die from skiing, just like my mom always warned. No matter how ironic, I'm doing okay now. I am attending concussion rehabilitation with Concord Physical Therapy and they are working on post concussion symptoms like reaction time, memory, balance, and neck pain. Over the course of the almost two weeks since the accident, I am doing much better. I get dizzy when focusing on an object to the side of my field of vision or turning my head too fast, and I don't have the concentration or clearness to drive yet. I can't stand for more then five or ten minutes because I get nauseas and light headed. Through all the symptoms I still managed to participate in volunteering at the Lakes Region Home Show in Lakeport, NH last weekend where we spent time talking to people and handing out information about Lyme and the upcoming tick season. It's always a great experience to see people walking away with a new understanding of their body and the environment they live and work in daily. I'm honored to be of help to others with awareness.

Candida Overgrowth, Intestinal Yeast

Over the past few weeks I've suffered with severe stomach pain. The emergency room proved uneventful and we just found some small ovarian cysts but nothing to really explain my pain in full. Through talking with a friend and research I started looking into intestinal yeast overgrowth or infection. Its more likely to occur from too much good bacteria dying off due to antibiotics or birth control. I've been on antibiotics for 2 1/2 years and always have stomach issues. Candida can cause stomach pain, indigestion, nausea, acid reflux, headaches, fatigue, dandruff, thrush of the tongue, sore throats and nasal swelling, sleep issues, and ovarian cysts or dysfunctions. Wow, doesn't that cover a lot. :P I thought this made sense, so I looked into it further and my mother and I found a spit test that you do first thing in the AM, which was a great signifier for me, and even a symptoms point based test where I blew positive out of the park. Treatment is lots of magnesium calcium, which i tripled my herbal amounts and added garlic, and started magnesium drinks, also high amounts of pro biotics like yogurt, refrigerated pro biotic drinks, pills before bed, and on top of everything a diet restricting the amount of yeast and sugars, even natural fruity sugars, from diet. The diet is tough, no dairy, light amounts of nuts, reduced yeast, and very small amounts of fruit. Allowed: meat, and vegetables like salad and beans, small amounts of nuts, olive oil, and malto dextrins that are in sugar free flavorings. Whew, this is going to be a fun next few months trying to get my body back on track. google this if you think you may have a Candida issue, its dangerous and quite important to discover for yourself.

New Med.s

Hey everybody, stopping in to give a new update! Started the beginning of this year with a new protocol for my Lyme treatment, and I actually for the first time in 2 1/2 years either feel some side effects or herxing from these three new Antibiotics. I am on Plaquenil, Biaxin, and Amoxycillin. I have been on Biaxin and Amoxy in the past by themselves, and then was on Bactrim and Biaxin together for a little while, but Plaquenil is new, and together with the other two! I've been dealing with lots of nausea, stomach pain, sleepless nights, headaches, neck tension, some tingling and numbness in my fingers and feet, and some surface tingling on my stomach. I've also been edgy and have no concentration at all! This is all new stuff, one night I was up vomiting all night, another night I was up nauseas all night, and many nights I've gone to bed nauseas, or woke in the middle of the night nauseas for a bit. I have experienced some vertigo and dizziness. I'm still taking Carafate for the Gastric ulcer, going to see my GI MD next week.... She is not going to be happy now that i'm on THREE abx.... oh well, got to do what you have to do in order to treat this crumby Lyme Disease.

Herx reaction.

So I just started treatment of Lyme disease (Borrelia Burgdorferi) and a co-infection, either Babesia or Bartonella. Stay on the look-out for what protocols or treatments I am on....

The scoop behind the Herxeimer (Herx) reaction all began when Dr. Herxeimer discovered that Lyme, when subjected to something that harms them like Antibiotics (ABX) or the herbs that FIGHT the bacteria (spirochetes), produce a protective film. Basically its a toxin to strengthen themselves and fight the enemies. This toxin soon makes the body feel like crap, to simply put it. Like all other chemical waste, it gets filtered through the Kidneys and Liver where the bile is suppose to join up with it, and then be sort of a tour guide on its journey to the toilet. When Lyme backs up ones intestines, the bile and toxin are reabsorbed and put back on a trip to upset your symptoms, and less bile is produced because of the old stuff hanging around. This is when you are very sick, all because of the Lyme Treatment. Some peoples are worse than others, mine happens to be annoying!

For future reference to those who are curious, my Herx so far has just been a flu-like attack. I get flushed and hot (without a fever), my headache boosts into migraine mode, lights attack my pupils so I stay pretty dark, and sound provokes my extreme nausea. I get dizzy (vertigo) and extremely weak, with a bucket by my side just in case. I do not end up puking though, thank go0dness!

To help with this absolutely crumby feeling, I take a couple different substances. First I take a pill called Welchol. It is supposed to absorb any medicine or toxin, so it must be taken 1 hour away from other pills (hard to plan the day out with 5 different sets of pills and a specific spacing between). The Welchol is a cholesterol pill, so thankfully it stops the re-absorbency of Bile and Toxins. Another herbal substance is Calcium C powder. Mix it 2 tsp. to some water, chug it down, and naturally you have yourself using the bathroom and increasing Bile production (very good since more bile absorbs more Toxins). Its nasty though! I also started taking Charcoal pills since they are natural and bind to the chemicals too. I haven't determined whether they help or not yet, but I'm pretty sure they will. An M.D. usually uses it if a kid is intoxicated by a harmful substance, and they need to get it out of the body.

Well, hope you liked this and the explanations I pulled from my little brain. I have this information based on 'Under our Skin'
the film production that sums up all scientific and political battles with Lyme, and the books that my mother reads to me sometimes. Oh yeah, and the LLMD.