Uneducated

Lyme disease is an epidemic.  Let me say that again.  Lyme disease is an epidemic.

It blows my mind that so many people in my life know how much I have suffered with lyme disease, but most people have never taken the time to read about what lyme disease is.  I guess it isn't fair that I expect people to do that, but it sure would be nice.  Not only would it show that they care and support me, but it would also show that they wanted to educate themselves simply so they would be able to better protect themselves from this nightmare of a disease. 

Tonight I was asked about my symptoms.  When I answered, I didn't feel like I was being heard.  I'm sure that most people with lyme have experienced this at least once.  I think I expect people to somehow understand how difficult living with lyme diesease is and how important it is that they learn as much as they can about the disease.

Tonight I mentioned that I am approaching seven months of treatment.  I was looked at as if I should be cured by now.  It's almost as if I could read their mind.  "How can she still be sick after seven months of treatment?"  Well, if they took the time to educate themselves, they could have reacted much different when I mentioned it had been seven months.  

I often post educational pieces on Facebook. I often feel that people are a little annoyed with the posts, or just don't feel it's important.  It's rare I even get a single "like" when I post lyme info on facebook.  However, if I posted something about the flu virus, I'm certain I would get many "likes".

If lyme disease was an STD, I guarantee my friends would take the time to read about it.  Why?  Because they would believe they had a chance of catching it.  Why do people think they are safe from lyme?  I guess the answer is easy. According to the CDC, lyme isn't really an issue. 

Babesia Treatment

My LLMD decided that we need to focus on treating Babesia for the next three months - unless something else decides to act up in the meantime.

My treatment will look like this:

Week 1 (7-10 days)
Artemisinin- 2 pills twice daily
A-BAB 5 drops per day on an empty stomach
Babesia Tincture (LLMD mixed) - 10 drops 3x per day
Lumbrokinase - 2x daily


Week 2 (3 days)
Coartem 2 pills twice daily for 3 days
Lumbrokinase - 2x daily

Then restart Artemisinin protocol

For Herx:
Charcoal 2 pills 2x daily and/or coffee enema (oh the joy of lyme disease!)

Resources

Here are a few resources that I have found helpful.

Here is a link to Inanna house.  I'm under the impression that they will be opening two treatment centers for people with lyme in the near future.  How awesome is that!?  I am definitely excited.  You will also find many helpful resources on their site.

A couple of recommend books:
Cure Unknown
Healing Lyme

Informational sites:

General Lyme Info

Panic and Lyme

ILADS

Late and Chronic Lyme

Babesia

My fight with Babesia

I started the Byron White A-BAB formula in October - it is now February.  My LLMD wasn't kidding when she told me that it is extremely potent. While we didn't necessarily need an additional confirmation of my diagnosis, we got it anyway simply by my dramatic increase in symptoms.  The most prominent symptoms are noted below.

Headaches
Severe upper neck pain
Brain Fog (which I also describe as not feeling "normal".  The "brain fog" term is just what most doctors use since it is difficult to gauge what "normal" means)
Extreme Fatigue
Wrist pain
Anxiety
Depression

From what I have read, the A-BAB formula kicks your own immune system into high gear to work at fighting off the Babesia infection.   Babesia is treated very differently than other lyme and co-infections.

My herx reaction on A-BAB have been a complete increase in all symptoms.  However, I have also noticed that it doesn't seem to lift as quickly as it did while on antibiotics.  Instead, it seems the symptoms just increase and stay that way.  It could also have something to do with the lumbrokinase.  If you want to read more about this, I recommend the article found on this page.

I just started the lumbrokinase last month and have my monthly visit with my LLMD tomorrow.  I am going to be sure to ask her if the increase in symptoms without relief is normal or if we need to back off a bit as we move forward.

If I've learned anything over the past 8 months, it's that lyme treatment is definitely not a fast treatment.  It's a slow, steady yet aggressive treatment.