Detoxing Madness

I've found that detoxing is as important as treating with this disease. I do a few things recently:

In the morning I make a drink and combine a few different steps by putting magnesium/calcium powder which fizzes and dissolves, flavored (to flavor of choice) Vitamin C 1,000 to 5,000 (1-5 packets) mg powder packet, 13 drops of Liver Life, 10 Drops of Burbur for kidneys, and drink it with a straw.

After lunch I prepare a cold Green Tea drink, one to two tea bags to a small amount of hot water, add some honey, let steep for 2 or 3 minutes. Then add cold water and ice cubes and make sure to drink at least 32 oz. a day. I drink this while I soak my feet in a hot 'lavender' Epsom salt foot bath for 30 minutes. You only need about a cup of salt to a 2 or 3 Gallon foot bath.

In the late afternoon I add 10 more drops of Burbur, 13 drops of liver life, and every 3 days I add 10 drops of Algas for metal detoxing to regular water. I'm about to start Pinelli for brain cleansing, which will be added with Burbur and Liver life. Also Red Root is for Lymphatic drainage, I will be drinking that with the other tinctures soon, but I'm starting one at a time slowly because I'm aware that some people respond differently to detoxing and can herx pretty bad.

With all this detoxing I'm laying on the biomat half pad a few times a week too. That is a heat and amethyst pad that works great for Lyme and relaxation. I lay on it for about an hour in the peace and quiet.

I have a good schedule going and I'm glad for it.

Switch of Infusion Antibiotic

My last Lyme appointment went really well, we decided there was notable improvement but we also decided, thanks to insurance coverage reasons, that I should start an every day infusion of the next level up. It's in the same family as Rocephin but it's a bit more powerful and expensive. The Insurance company approved this with the thought that I would get better with this final punch but we are unsure how the approval of the next month of med.s will go. I believe its called Invanz. Since switching, which I believe its been less than a week, I have been super tired. I've had headaches, I'm just really under the weather. I was told I need to keep on the diet 100% and I haven't been able to yet but I need to. I've been doing major detoxing which I will talk about in another post, and hoping that would help with the switch. Currently I'm trying to be patient and see if we can get me back to running and skiing.

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.

Remembering my Memory

I just realized today for the first time in months that I remember what I did for my 16th birthday. I remember going out the Sunday before my sweet 16, and seeing Pirates of the Carribean 4, the plot of the movie with how shockingly good it was, even getting Jordans ice cream sometime in there, and eating at Friendlys. Tyler was away on senior trip, and the Lakes Region Health Fair was the day before (when Jake, Elisabeth, Ian, and Kaity showed up to see me). All the memories are falling into place where they belong, and the wall in front of them is slowly breaking down. On the third week of Rocephin, I already see miracles happening. I'm walking and talking normally, thinking fairly clearly, sleeping a bit better, and remembering again! Praise God, and hopes that I will only get better from here on out.

Trying a New Oral Contraceptive

The last birth control I was on was for the ovarian cysts. This time around we are trying a contraceptive called Seasonique which stops the cycle and would treat the symptoms and pain of endometriosis. Hopefully this will work better than the last one. My ultrasounds have all been clear and not found any evidence of cysts since the initial cyst and surgery. We just are at the last rope and thinking maybe some endometrio cells escaped from the surgery or maybe the Lyme has caused my womanly parts to form endometriosis from all the inflammation and cysts. Therefor I would have pain all the time like I do, and some cysts like I have had, and a contraceptive that stops the cycle for 3 months should help. Now its just a waiting game to see if it works.

Picc Pain Passed

Its the third week of Rocephin treatments now. I notice no improvement other than the pain I had shooting down my elbow from the Picc procedure has diminished. It started getting better after 5 days of heat packs and ibuprofen. I'm much more comfortable with moving and using the arm now, and even sleeping on it. Though it took me 2 weeks to get a real shower and the wrapping it up process was not fun, I have adjusted. My mom does the IV treatments every 12 hours for 4 days a week. Shes comfortable with keeping it clean and we are careful not to get the tip dirty. We have a fold up light weight side table or TV tray that we cover with the medical sheet and use for our treatment area. When the weekly VNA (visiting Nurse) comes to change the bandage she likes to have an area to set up shop. We noticed problems with the little blue line kinking because the butterfly was not up high enough to keep it straight, and therefor I had troubles with the IV treatment for a week, but she fixed it so it doesn't kink and I can do things while getting my treatment. Having the Picc in is not the end of the world, its a challenge to not get it wet in the middle of the summer but it is manageable. Now I'm just trying to do visualizations and rest enough to let the medicine do its job.

Picc Line

I have been waiting for IV Rocephin for a long time, with that gut feeling that it would be the magical treatment. My Lyme literate doctor in the state finally started the Picc process and the Lyme Specialist in Vermont sped everything up.

Last Saturday I had my horse show, which was great until I got so tired that I don't even remember the end of the show, going home, or the whole battle with my eyes rolling back in my head and yet again being unable to talk or breath.

Monday I showed up at 9am at Concord Hospital for my Picc Line procedure. It started by wheeling me into the room (I couldn't walk again), changing into a johnny and preparing for the procedure. The whole procedure went like this: Sterilize ten times over, numbing shot which stung quite a bit and didn't even seem to work, going into a vein and stretching it out to find out that one wasn't going to work, going in for a second time and stretching it out which was the worst part of the whole procedure and I was lucky enough to get it twice in one arm, getting it in but it being coiled and not going down towards the heart, first exray: not in far enough, second exray: in too far, pull out 3 cm, third exray: PERFECT! Well it took long enough. 3 Hours and a sore jaw later I relaxed my tight muscles to feel the swelling and aching pain in my arm. I went straight home to put a heat pack on it and take ibuprofen and Tylenol which worked great. Then I was off to the Occupational Therapist who informed me I couldn't be treated until we had clearance from my doctor. The rest of the day I spent thinking about the painful procedure. It did not go as planned or expected and I would hate for someone else to not be aware that the 'little pinch' most people describe might not be the glorious silver lining you receive. What a tiring procedure.

I will receive 2 gm of IV Rocephin for about 30 minutes twice a day, for four days a week. This means every 12 hours (8 am and 8 pm) my mom will alcohol swab, flush with saline, swab again, attach antibiotics, swab again, flush again, and then we are done. Also once a week I will have to get blood drawn and have a nurse change the dressing to keep it clean and dry. That will probably be the one day I wrap it with saran wrap and tape to take a very delicate shower.

So hopefully this works, because if not this is quite the process and struggle. Off to try to upload videos on my you tube account from the horse show and my experiences with the tremors. Hope all other Lymies are getting well and resting up.