Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Sherry,

I am so glad you found us! We all are dealing with a lot. H. Pylori is something I was treated for a while back. The Helidac therapy nearly killed me! That is what made the yeast really bad. I had been on antibiotics at least twice a year since birth, plus birth control for ovarian cysts, as well as steroids for asthma. I am a walking fungus, I am sure!

Lyme symptoms tend to vary a lot from one person to another. However, one thing all seem to have in common is the body aches and fatigue. I definitely have those. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia several years back. There are times pain shoots down my legs from my hips.

I appreciate the information you provided on the Cat's Claw. I was wondering if there was an herbal approach. I am not thrilled with antibiotics. Not many set well with me. I usually get bad gastrointestinal symptoms from them. There are only a select few I tolerate.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[mftnchn]

I appreciate the information you provided on the Cat's Claw. I was wondering if there was an herbal approach. I am not thrilled with antibiotics. Not many set well with me. I usually get bad gastrointestinal symptoms from them. There are only a select few I tolerate.

Have you see this book? My doctor recommended it to me a couple of years ago. The author explains in detail an herbal protocol, which includes cat's claw. The Cat's Claw I used was the Allergy Research product which is also the same as Nutricology. The explanation of why Cat's Claw works really fit how I responded to using it.

This book gave me a huge appreciation for why it has been such a fight to get over Lyme. I felt like I was reading a science fiction novel when I read how Lyme attacks the body.

I didn't use this approach other than the Cat's Claw because I couldn't get the other herbs in China in a form that I was confident I could get the right dose.

Healing Lyme: Natural Healing And Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis And Its Coinfections (Paperback)

by Stephen Harrod Buhner (Author)

Hope this helps!

Sherry

[rinne]

I have the Buhner book, it is excellent.

It seems to me that getting rid of the mercury is critical to healing, I really question whether or not it is Lyme that is so dreadful or whether or not it is just Lyme's very bad friends. And after reading that Klinghardt thinks the candida may develop to protect the body from mercury.....

Sherry, I don't know whether you saw my first welcome, so welcome again. It is great to have another person on who has these challenges, not that I'd wish it on anyone.

I found this thread about page 75, at that point we were just all really sick and struggling with what seemed more than celiac, I don't think we made the Lyme connection until much later, does anyone remember around what page we started to figure it out?

We need an index.

[mftnchn]

[quote name='rinne' date='May 11 2007, 06:34 PM' post='301602'

Sherry, I don't know whether you saw my first welcome, so welcome again. It is great to have another person on who has these challenges, not that I'd wish it on anyone.

I found this thread about page 75, at that point we were just all really sick and struggling with what seemed more than celiac, I don't think we made the Lyme connection until much later, does anyone remember around what page we started to figure it out?

We need an index.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Sherry,

I do not have any books on Lyme, actually. I have a ton of them on Candida. My parents are sure I do not have Celiac or Lyme. They do not take the Celiac very seriously. It is annoying. These are the people who believed those idiot doctors who said I was crazy, doped me up on drugs, and missed the gallbladder! My instincts have never steered me wrong, but listening to others around me has repeatedly done so. I know I need to trust what my body tells me, and not anything else.

Right now, I am suffering the ill effects of racheling some peanut butter. I took my anti-nausea medication, and I am doing a little better now. I am just so tired of being exhausted and feeling like I am going to pass out half the time. I just don't feel right. It is difficult to explain. One thing Lyme patients always have is the fatigue and muscular pain. Other symptoms tend to vary widely.

Dear Rinne,

I agree an index would be great. I am computer literate enough I could probably type one up. However, it would take quite some time. There is so much we have talked about! The trouble is, it would be terribly difficult to put all of this thread into a single document. If it is able to be done, it would take up a lot of space, and it would be very long! We would have to end up writing a big book! We will have to call it "The Rachelville Chronicles".

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[rinne]

Dear Rinne,

I agree an index would be great. I am computer literate enough I could probably type one up. However, it would take quite some time. There is so much we have talked about! The trouble is, it would be terribly difficult to put all of this thread into a single document. If it is able to be done, it would take up a lot of space, and it would be very long! We would have to end up writing a big book! We will have to call it "The Rachelville Chronicles".

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

I like the sound of "The Rachelville Chronicles". And I checked out your web site, I was totally impressed by the variety of items you are selling. Did you put the web page up by yourself?

Sherry, I think that Lyme is part of a tangle and each piece must be addressed. I'm glad to know you are feeling better, what a long time to be on ABX! I'm not entirely awake and can't remember if candida is an issue for you or not?

I started getting ill four years ago when I was bitten by a tick in Colorado. I went from joint pain to neurological symptoms to complete gastric distress and when I sought help from conventional doctors here I got very little help, all of my tests came back normal and yet I melted and lost 40 pounds. I haven't let them do anything to me for the past year, ever since I felt I was over-radiated with the CT scan they performed.

I saw an Integrative doctor next who gave me a clinical diagnosis of Lyme but when the test from Igenix came back negative decided I didn't have Lyme and wanted to do different tests. He did this without reading the Igenix test clearly, it said that I should be retested because there was a consistent pattern of Indeterminates that related to Lyme. I was paying $75.00 for fifteen minutes to discuss this test and he did not even have the test in from of him. Where's the emoticon for "what kind of idiot is this?" Not only that but when I wanted to talk about the indeterminates he got angry that I would challenge him.

After that I just said to hell with them and have been devising my own treatment plan as I go along. I really feel that the salt/c helped in the beginning. It was obvious to me that it did, my energy increased, digestion improved, and that I herxed from it but at a certain point I felt that it was enough and I should stop, lately though I have been thinking it may be time to do some more.

I've taken an herbal approach and in the past couple of months have truly started to feel I may be well again but it has left me feeling like nearly all health care professionals, conventional and alternative, are idiots that I am better off without.

I don't think we ever get rid of Lyme but I do think we can tame it so that it is just a small part of our lives and I also think that we will be helalthier for doing so.

I think it is wonderful that Rachel and Carla and Laura and Donna and ....have found doctors they like and I do have a conventional doctor that I like but the testing and the system I do not trust.

[CarlaB]

The GI doc I had up at IU said it was impossible to poop food out whole!

Apparently he's never eaten CORN!

Sherry, I do have that book and it's great. My LLMD has an herbal protocol that he uses, but he says the bacterial load must be lowered first.

Lyme is complicated and has many facets -- mercury, candida, etc. -- so it does take a different approach than other diseases. I'm just happy to FINALLY know what's wrong.

This should be the last day of my herx ...

[Rachel--24]

It seems to me that getting rid of the mercury is critical to healing, I really question whether or not it is Lyme that is so dreadful or whether or not it is just Lyme's very bad friends. And after reading that Klinghardt thinks the candida may develop to protect the body from mercury.....

I dont think that in most cases Lyme by itself is enough to bring someone down....I agree with you on that. Many people co-exsist with Lyme and never become ill. Its not the bacteria itself that makes us sick...its the toxins it produces.

Combine those toxins with the toxins from heavy metals, environmental, chemicals in foods, molds, toxins produced by candida and co-infections (always present with mercury toxicity) and you've got a recipe for disaster.

I'm off to work...hope everyone has a good day.

I'm not sure about what the Klinghardt/Dirkson approach is, is there a website for it?

Sherry...I'm glad you joined us. Dr. Klinghardt is one of the worlds leading experts on mercury detoxification. He's an M.D. but uses mainly alternative methods for healing. He's equally knowledgable in the treatment of Lyme and Autism. Dr. Derksen is an ND who worked with Klinghardt and got her training form him. She's one of my Dr.'s.

I can post some links regarding Klinghardt later if you would like.

Bev....GOOD LUCK today!!!!

[mftnchn]

Apparently he's never eaten CORN!

Sherry, I do have that book and it's great. My LLMD has an herbal protocol that he uses, but he says the bacterial load must be lowered first.

Lyme is complicated and has many facets -- mercury, candida, etc. -- so it does take a different approach than other diseases. I'm just happy to FINALLY know what's wrong.

This should be the last day of my herx ...

Carla hope you are better soon!

Rinne, yes I have to deal with Candida. I seem to be strong enough now though that it doesn't cause such systemic issues. I still take one antifungal though. No yogurt now as I have to be off milk.

Also I know how frustrating doctors can be. I saw a rheumie right around the time I found out I had lyme. He showed me some information that the test I had was not reliable and that I didn't have lyme, that he was an expert who taught about it at the med school. (scary thought). The only thing that made him wonder was I had started having herxes (between 2 appointments with him, I saw the doc that diagnosed and treated me). I left there very angry and frustrated, because he basically said he didn't know what I had (multiple joint arthritis was the dx) and said he had nothing further to offer me. What he had offered didn't work of course.

But I have had two wonderful docs, my allergist and the MD who treats me for lyme. The allergist once said to me, "anything that helps one person is worth taking a look at." Now that is the kind of doctor I can trust!! Yet both of these men are really up on the science end of things.

Yes my doctor agrees about not totally eradicating lyme; he said it is a matter of getting it to the point where our body can take over fighting it. Mine could come back, though I hope it won't!

So yes, like you said Carla, there are many pieces to address and many different symptoms. Also there seem to be different strains of Bb and the others. I figure I have the Asian strain so treatment may be a bit different. Who knows though? With the world becoming smaller the bugs all intermingle anyway!

[dlp252]

Sorry you're herxing Carla, hope it clears soon!

Oh sorry....yucky. If what I'm experiencing is a herx, it is nasty. I passed out so hard yesterday after noon and I feel like every CELL in my body aches. How long do these things last, if indeed that is what it is? I want to cry but I'm literally too tired and miserable.

...

Tomorrow is my endocopy- I think my biggest fear is that they will find refractory sprue (or just that my villi ain't looking so hot) or Crohn's and want to put me on steroids. Steroids suppress your immune system and if I do have Lyme, I DON"T want to be on steroids. I'm just hoping that I don't have two things that conflict with each other. I am scared about this more than anything else.

If the herx is from candida...well, my first one lasted almost two weeks...but thereafter it went away in just a few days. I'm not feeling any from that now, but I'm also not taking any harsh anticandida stuff.

Keeping good thoughts for your endoscopy today! Another word of encouragement...most of my major symptoms are in my sinuses and in my digestive tract...for all the diarrhea and such that I have my colon was perfectly clean...not signs of anything, lol.

It turned out that you need to be back at work for 3 months straight in order to start a "new" claim and then get a full year. I only worked two months in between the last claims and so my "year" was up sooner than I'd thought it would be. All of a sudden I got no more checks and I had no insurance.

This is good to know...my insurance is rapidly running out of benefits.

Its just normal "wet runny nose" that you get when you cry but its in massive amounts.

After the crying episodes would subside I would feel a 1000 x better. I think I've learned that crying eliminates toxins and makes me feel alot better. There have been many times that I've felt really toxic but my body wasnt making me cry....so I would sit down and try to think of the saddest stuff ever...and try to get the tears flowing.

Huh, I sometimes just have the urge to cry too...my tears aren't usually thick or sticky like you've described sometimes but I definitely get the excess nasal mucus thing!

just got home...and i think i'm in a flare (started last night...slowly)

but, wanted to offer my words of encouragement to

BEV for her endoscopy tomorrow...i'll be thinking of you

CARLA for her herx

PATTI for the glutening....

love to you all...off to bed. xoxo

Aw Laura, so sorry you're having a flare!

Ditto for the words of encouragmenet to all!

Hey Donna.....Are you taking the same Transfer Factor that I'm on??

Is it the Transfer Factor LymPlus??

Yep, it's the same one. Anna hasn't tested me for it though...it tested well in ART. I've taken it for 3 nights now. Yah, the food thing is a pain, but I take it right before bed...that's about the only time I DON'T eat.

Whole Foods was out of organic potatoes...so instead I bought two yams.

OMGosh, not YAMS! Yikes!

I think the most important thing though is that I have really begun to have some feeling of confidence that I will be well again

This is just so wonderful to hear!!!! Yay!

I've been asking myself whether this whole thing is like the question, what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Like what came first, allergies, candida, lyme, celiac, etc. etc.?

Okay, I welcomed you a couple of pages ago, but now I've read your posts so I can say:

Welcome and thanks so much for sharing your story.

I struggle with a lot of the same symptoms as Rachel, but not as severe. I'm trying to keep it from getting that way, and feel that if I hadn't started searching for the reasons NOW it would have eventually gotten just as bad. I am more and more chemically sensitive, I can't wear gold earrings anymore or be around strong odors, etc. My adrenal glands are just shot, I have extreme exhaustion, but am still able to work. I'm down to eating just a handful of foods that are pretty safe. My digestive issues are too numerous to mention, lol.

I've just had all my amalgams removed (had 11, with 6 of those being covered by gold crowns), and am getting the results of my lyme testing on Tuesday. My LLMD is also checking for mold exposure, metals toxicity, candida and a host of other things.

I've been struggling with the same question...which came first, and then which is causing the most problems, lol. I'm doing some of the same alternative treatments that Rachel is...we live in the same area, so we see the same practitioners, lol. I also see a team of doctors that including a chiropractor, a nutritionist, an internist and physical therapist...they work together as a team to discover what the problem is and then work to fix it. They also have a more integrated approach to medicine rather than traditional.

I found this thread about page 75, at that point we were just all really sick and struggling with what seemed more than celiac, I don't think we made the Lyme connection until much later, does anyone remember around what page we started to figure it out?

We need an index.

Nope, I can't remember what page, but I think it was after the summer last year...I don't think Lyme was a factor yet when all the crazyness of the summer hit.

[CarlaB]

Sorry you're herxing Carla, hope it clears soon!

Nope, I can't remember what page, but I think it was after the summer last year...I don't think Lyme was a factor yet when all the crazyness of the summer hit.

Thank you ... but I'm not actually sorry to be herxing, I always see some improvement afterward. I just have to be sure to sauna today to take off some of this load of toxins ... sometimes that's hard when I'm herxing ... but I discovered yesterday that getting out for 5 or 10 minutes allows me to get back in again. I'll also have to sit in the sun for a little while if I can drag myself downstairs.

I don't think we were talking about Lyme last summer either. I had been yo-yo-ing with my health, and towards the end of last summer I stopped yo-yo-ing and started feeling bad constantly and declined steadily. It wasn't until November that I considered Lyme as a factor, but Rachel and Rinne were talking about it for quite a while before then. I didn't relate at all to all the Lyme talk back then . Eventually it started sounding more and more like what was wrong with me.

Adam tells me that right now I'm the healthiest I've been since he's known me. I find that hard to believe because I'm so much more limited in what I can do compared to before, but at least now we know why I'm limited at all. We know what's causing these symptoms.

[AndreaB]

I found this thread about page 75, at that point we were just all really sick and struggling with what seemed more than celiac, I don't think we made the Lyme connection until much later, does anyone remember around what page we started to figure it out?

We need an index.

I'm not going back to look but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say between pages 500-700.

Andrea, I probably drive by where you live often when I am in the USA...my son is in the south Sound area, daughter in Portland.

I was raised in the Olympia area and born in Portland so I've got both of those covered.

We are between Vancouver and Longview.

[dlp252]

Aaack, I feel like I have bugs crawling on me. This happens from time to time, but fortunatley not often...It's been happening a lot in the last 3 days or so.

And,

I just ate a banana.

And,

I have purple toe nails. Not a pretty purple either...must find a pretty purple.

And,

Is anyone as happy as I am that it's Friday...this has been a really rough week at work and I'm so happy it's nearly done. My co-worker has called in sick every day this week, and it's just added that much more stress.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[AndreaB]

This should be the last day of my herx ...

Yay on getting almost through another herx.

Nope, I can't remember what page, but I think it was after the summer last year...I don't think Lyme was a factor yet when all the crazyness of the summer hit.

Yep, it was after the crazyness. If I remember correctly Rinne was the first one to head for a lyme diagnosis, but Rachel was right behind her. I want to say September. Was that when you went to the clinic Rinne?

[AndreaB]

Aaack, I feel like I have bugs crawling on me. This happens from time to time, but fortunatley not often...It's been happening a lot in the last 3 days or so.

Is anyone as happy as I am that it's Friday...this has been a really rough week at work and I'm so happy it's nearly done. My co-worker has called in sick every day this week, and it's just added that much more stress.

Would that be lyme buggies not happy with what your taking?

I'm happy it's Friday! We love Friday because it's Mitch's last day of the work week and that Sabbath is approaching.

If I remember correctly I think you said your coworker was pretty sick as well. Is she/he willing to look into things and does he/she know what you're battling. I would hope that would make said coworker think about things........of course coworker could be like one of Rachel's friends......in Egypt.

[dlp252]

Would that be lyme buggies not happy with what your taking?

I'm happy it's Friday! We love Friday because it's Mitch's last day of the work week and that Sabbath is approaching.

If I remember correctly I think you said your coworker was pretty sick as well. Is she/he willing to look into things and does he/she know what you're battling. I would hope that would make said coworker think about things........of course coworker could be like one of Rachel's friends......in Egypt.

Hum, maybe so...Scott really thought the Transfer Factor was important for the lyme!

Yes, my co-worker is pretty bad off. She had a kidney transplant last year and has diabetes, TMJ, carpel tunnel...etc, etc. I was talking to her about all the testing I'm having done and we started talking about lyme...get this...she said she had a tick (or was it two) on her once. I think she has a lot of the symptoms. Her husband is also pretty bad off...she's been out all week due to one or the other of them being in the hospital, sick, blood sugar, etc. He is going on dialysis soon.

She may be interested in some alternative stuff, but I'm not sure she would believe it unless her mainstream doctor said it was okay. She did ask me about the HN doctors though, so that was encouraging.

She knows a little of what I'm going through, but not much because I really don't talk a lot about it here. Not even my office manager knows much about it...just what she needs to in order to let me have time off, lol. I plan to tell HER more when I know for sure exactly what I've got, lol.

I don't talk a lot with her...we only overlap in shifts by an hour and a half.

[AndreaB]

Yes, my co-worker is pretty bad off. She had a kidney transplant last year and has diabetes, TMJ, carpel tunnel...etc, etc. I was talking to her about all the testing I'm having done and we started talking about lyme...get this...she said she had a tick (or was it two) on her once. I think she has a lot of the symptoms. Her husband is also pretty bad off...she's been out all week due to one or the other of them being in the hospital, sick, blood sugar, etc. He is going on dialysis soon.

Yikes! She probably has lyme contributing a great deal to her problems.

Dialysis......I don't like that word very well anymore.......but it's better than not having it at all.

[Rachel--24]

Huh, I sometimes just have the urge to cry too...my tears aren't usually thick or sticky like you've described sometimes but I definitely get the excess nasal mucus thing!

Donna...remember when you said you were geting a massage and suddenly felt like crying?? I was thinking it was because toxins were being mobilized and your reaction was due to that.....a detox reaction.

Aaack, I feel like I have bugs crawling on me. This happens from time to time, but fortunatley not often...It's been happening a lot in the last 3 days or so.

Didnt you say you've been taking the Transfer Factor 3 nights now?? For me the crawling thing seems to be caused by yeast/mold. I'm having it alot today for some reason.

Now I'm even more scared of the TF..cuz of the brewers yeast.

Yep, it was after the crazyness. If I remember correctly Rinne was the first one to head for a lyme diagnosis, but Rachel was right behind her. I want to say September. Was that when you went to the clinic Rinne?

The craziness ended in September...the same time that I was anxiously waiting for my Lyme testing. I saw Dr. S for the first time in Sept. and he did the Lyme test that same day. I had my second appt. with him about 3-4 weeks later.....and I found out I had positive IFA....thats when he said he wanted me to see Anna. It was the beginning of October.

I talked about Lyme alot while I waited for my results and then I got under the impression that my tests were negative...even though the nurse told me the Dr. would have to explain things to me. I then pretty much announced to the world that I did NOT have Lyme.

I remember finding my Igenix results in the mail and once I got an understanding of them I realized that it wasnt ruled out.

Then I found out the rest at my follow-up with Dr. S.

So yeah...then I went research crazy and me and Rinne went into a Lyme frenzy.

The thread got "Lymecentric"

Rinne had already mentioned some things about Lyme shortly before I got tested...I remember her and Robbin talking about it.....I think they were talking about Salt/C??

Rinne got tested one or 2 months later. For a short time I was the only Lyme Lady...but now there's a whole lunching club (and I dont wear fancy hats...just baseball caps ).

What page # you ask???

Heck....I find it amazing that I remembered all that.

I dunno about page #'s.

Oh...I remember it was the end of the summer Rachelville fest when I got my Lyme results in the mail. I remember being on "vacation" from the thread due to high stress levels and anxiety waiting for the results. I pm'd Rinne, Robbin and Lymetoo my results....I was stressed out to the max and crying alot cuz I was scared of my results and also upset that they werent conclusive.

She knows a little of what I'm going through, but not much because I really don't talk a lot about it here.

OMG....my boss probably knows almost every detail of yeast, mercury, Lyme, etc. If I'm even the tinitest bit not happy or if I'm tired everyones asking me "Did you take too many drops??" "What did you eat??"

So yeah...I guess I talk about it at work.

I dont talk to everyone though cuz there are people that I just dont speak to very often. Those are the people that offer me food in the breakroom and everyone turns and looks at them like "What the heck are you thinking??"

My boss had really bad chemical sensitivities during her pregnancies. It was so bad that she had to go on maternity leave early because of the chemicals in the store. They went away as soon as she had the babies...like that very day things went back to normal.

I've heard of this with pregnant women. I'm thinking it must be higher levels of yeast but the immune system gets in under control after the birth.

[Rachel--24]

of course coworker could be like one of Rachel's friends......in Egypt.

Do I have a friend in Egypt??

[Rachel--24]

It wasn't until November that I considered Lyme as a factor, but Rachel and Rinne were talking about it for quite a while before then. I didn't relate at all to all the Lyme talk back then .

Yeah...Carla was in Lyme denial back then.

and she's the one who said she had tons of ticks on her all the time!!

They were "Lyme-free" ticks though.

[AndreaB]

So yeah...I guess I talk about it at work.

I dont talk to everyone though cuz there are people that I just dont speak to very often. Those are the people that offer me food in the breakroom and everyone turns and looks at them like "What the heck are you thinking??"

Do I have a friend in Egypt??

Nope. It's De Nile, otherwise known as denial.

[Rachel--24]

Is anyone as happy as I am that it's Friday...this has been a really rough week at work and I'm so happy it's nearly done. My co-worker has called in sick every day this week, and it's just added that much more stress.

I'm happy cuz its Friday!! WOO-HOO!!

I'm happy cuz its goonna be hot again.

I'm happy that I'll get to work in the yard again.

I'm happy that the bourganvilla bush is dealt with so the job will be far less heinous.

I'm happy that I get to go to the movies tonight.

I'm happy that I get to PICK the movie tonight.

So yeah...I'm SUPER HAPPY.

Only thing I'm not happy about is that my work days not over yet...a co-worker called in sick and that means I'll be in the checkstand!!!

Checkstand = heinosity

Oh...and I'm not happy that I can pick any movie EXCEPT "Disturbia".....which is the movie I MOST wanna see.

[Rachel--24]

Nope. It's De Nile, otherwise known as denial.

OHHHH...

(I get it now )

[AndreaB]

Only thing I'm not happy about is that my work days not over yet...a co-worker called in sick and that means I'll be in the checkstand!!!

Checkstand = heinosity

I hope all goes well and that you have nice customers that don't reak of various scents.

[CarlaB]

Yep, guess I was in denial! I actually just never even considered it ... it never registered that it may be my problem.

I seem to be coming out of my herx! That's good because Friday is date night and I think I may be able to go to the movies. I'll have to see what's out ... I haven't even looked lately.

Donna, you are sounding better. I think it's more than just the fact that it's Friday ... maybe you're feeling better? Or have you been flirting again?