Desperate Measures

Desperate measures. That's what I feel like I went to today. If only I would have known it would cause me have one of my worst days so far. So I guess I should tell you what this desperate measure was. I found out about a doc that owns the Hansa Wellness Center in Wisconsin. It sounds like an incredible place that uses all sorts of therapies to treat all sorts of issues, including Lyme. I was reading an article on detox yesterday and Dr. David's recommendation for a detox bath. It was certainly different than anything I had heard of before and I decided to give it a try. Here is a quick run down of the ingredients- goats milk, raw sugar, sea salt, two egg yolks, horsetail herb powder, and lemon. You mix it all with warm water and soak for 20 minutes. You don't rinse off just towel dry. He recommends doing it about once a week and doing it at night so you can sleep and let your body work on some repair. He also said it's really helpful for those with low body temperature, which would be me. My husband thought I was nuts. I thought it definitely sounds a little weird but one of the main issues with Lyme is not being able to remove all of the toxins from the dying bacteria quickly enough. So I dropped the kids off at school, got the ingredients together, and decided to do it first thing. A few minutes into the bath I started to feel a little sore. I have been feeling that way the last day or two so I wasn't necessarily surprised. After 20 minutes, I got out and felt like I could just go to sleep. I decided to eat something,take my morning meds and then lay down. I definitely started hurting more in both my muscles and joints/bones. I fell asleep for about an hour and half and work up super nauseous. It was about 20 to 30 minutes of trying not get sick. I didn't. I wasn't feeling sick to my stomach any more but still had the pain. I managed to just make it my daughters Thanksgiving celebration at school but felt bad and wanted to come right home. I have slept most of the rest of the day and have continued to be in probably the worst pain since I started my treatment. I guess the bath really stirred something up which is good but it sucks that it is has to feel so bad.

I guess a quick update from the doc is in order then I am done for the night. I had a phone appointment with my LLND yesterday. We discussed that there is nothing really new going on and the fact that I don't feel any better. She said she feels like I am sill on a good course of meds and supplements. I told her about my visit to the infectious disease doc and what she said, and the fact that in the next month or so we should be putting in the chest port and starting a minimum of a 6 month course of IV Rocephin. She said that sounded okay but that she was thinking maybe we are missing something because I haven't seen any improvement. So she would like me to do a 30 day course of Levaquin before the IV. The Levaquin could help if I have a co-infection of Bartonella that didn't show up on the blood work. The scary thing about Levaquin is that it can cause tendon damage. For some people they can end up with bad tendinitis and if you don't take care of it the tendon(s) can rupture. That sounds fun. I realize she wouldn't recommend it if the benefits didn't out way the risks but wow, that is a little crazy. She told me to run it by my pcp doc on my appointment next week and make sure he is on board. We also discussed the possibility of heavy metal toxicity. I was reading, from Dr. David again, that one of the major causes of low body temperature is heavy metal toxicity. (Mainly platinum and I forgot the other one) Either way, I knew we should look into this at some point anyway and the doc agreed. She said at some point we should do a test. We can do it whenever but it didn't have to be done before the IV. I guess we will wait until I figure out the money situation and go from there. We didn't discuss how much it would cost but I am sure it is not totally cheap. That was about all from the LLND. I will see my pcp this coming week and will know much more then.

In closing I did start reading "Primal Blueprint" that my pcp wanted me to read. It is a little much for me but in general the basic eating principals involve-lots protein, fruits and veggies. The author says fat content doesn't matter and a structured eating schedule doesn't matter. All of investigation and research have taught him that insulin is the major issue with body fat, weight loss, and all sort of health issues. He says fat and cholesterol aren't bad like we think. Even whole grains aren't great for us and cause problems and basically in my own words sugar is equal to the devil. I am going to give it a try as best I can. I am going to try and cut out a lot of the carbs from everything other than fruits and veggies. We will see if I feel any different. On another note, one of the meds I am on my LLND said was really expensive and if my insurance didn't cover it to forget taking it. I have been blessed that I have gotten 3 months of it without question. I found out the retail price the other day and oh my gosh...it is over $1700 a month. So crazy. So as I said, very blessed to have gotten this med for a few months. Nothing new about my appeal. Still in the process of being reviewed. Now I have to do the research and found out about my port and what insurance will or will not cover. Due to deductibles and out of pocket maxes that all reset in January I need to find out if it is better to try and do this before the first of the year or not. We will see. so unless something changes in the next few days, I will update after my doc appointment next week.

One last thing, God has continued to bless our family and get us through this tough time without my income. Thank you to all of my angels, who have been such a big help. You know who you are. Until next time...