Update on the relapse

Here I go again.  Sigh......

Obviously I've had a lot on my mind this week, and my thoughts have been swirling around, trying to make sense of this stupid relapse, and trying to access all of the methods and techniques I used during the worst days of my illness to keep myself sane!

My symptoms seem to be confined to two or three:  head/body vibrations (buzzing feeling) when I try to fall asleep (causing insomnia), a rumbling tinnitus in my ear, and tiredness (which may or may not have to do with the fact that I'm back ON sleep medication.)

On the medical end of things, here's the scoop.  My LLMD responded to my e-mail in a very timely manner (bless him!), and he told me to re-start my azithromycin and diflucan (for yeast).  Thankfully, I had some of these meds leftover, and I was hanging onto them for just such an occasion. LOL  (Perhaps I should have thrown them out when my treatment ended in November, then I wouldn't be in this mess!  Not that I'm superstitious or anything.) 

I also sought a second opinion from another LLMD, Dr. Marty Ross, who has a fabulous website and Facebook page called Treat Lyme and Associated Diseases.  Dr. Ross will answer brief questions on his Facebook page (same name as his website).  He told me that my symptoms are likely the result of a relapse, and that when the germ is not effectively killed off, then 6-8 weeks after stopping the antimicrobials, symptoms will return.  (Yep, I was at the 7 week mark.)  He suggested that it could also be from yeast overgrowth, which would cause an increase in cytokines, and would trigger the same sorts of symptoms as the Lyme bacteria would. 

Dr. Ross suggested that my next round of treatment include "cyst busters" to deal with biofilms, for 4 months.  OK...been there done that with Flagyl.  That wasn't so good, as the Flagyl caused elevated liver enzymes and I had to discontinue it after 2.5 months.  This time, I'm going to discuss the herbals Banderol and Samento with my LLMD, as apparently these herbals deal quite effectively with all three forms of the Lyme bacteria.  You can read all about Banderol and Samento on the Treat Lyme and Associated Diseases website.

I hope and pray that my LLMD will agree with the "other opinion", so that I can have peace of mind about how to proceed.  I really do feel that I need to tackle this again aggressively.  I don't want to do a patch job, and end up in the same place 6 months from now.

So, that's the physical side of things.  Next post, I'm going to discuss the mental/emotional side of what I'm going through.

Thinking of you all.......all of my cyber friends and strangers out there......hoping this post finds you well, or at least improving in your health.

Many blessings!

Relapse or just a bump in the road?

I must admit that I'm worried.  Here I am, on the tail end of my Christmas holidays, ready to return to work tomorrow, and I've got a little problem.  A couple of Lyme symptoms have returned.  As you may recall, I've been OFF antibiotics since November 21, 2012, 7 weeks now, and that was a day of great celebration.  I was DONE!!! 

Well, perhaps I'm not actually done.  I guess we'll see what my LLMD has to say.  I hope I'll be able to speak to him soon for a phone consult.

The two symptoms that have reared their ugly heads once again are the soft, low rumbling sound in my right ear, and the body vibrations that came on as I was drifting off to sleep last night.

As soon as I felt those all-too-familiar vibrations, I perked up and began to PANIC.  And then try to sleep when you're in THAT state!  My poor hubby had to listen to my anxieties at 2:00 a.m., but I'm so glad he was there.  Bless his heart; he was wonderful and comforting.  Out of desperation, I took 1/2 of an Imovane (zopiclone) at 3:00 a.m. to get some rest, and at least I squeeked out 6 hours.

My anxieties are numerous:
- I DON'T want to have sleep problems again just when I've nicely settled back into my job and family life!
- I DON'T want to have to start to use Imovane again when I've finally gotten OFF the stuff!
- I DON'T want to start having anxiety and panic attacks over this!
- I DON'T want to fill my body with antibiotics again!
- I DON'T want to have to deal with the naysayers in my life again who have pretty much stopped harrassing me since I finished up treatment in November!
- I DON'T want to have to deal with my family doctor again, and have to explain about this "relapse" and why I'm on antibiotics AGAIN, and have them think I'm absolutely CRAZY!
- I DON'T want to travel 3 hours to my LLMD anymore!
- I DON'T want the out-of-pocket expense anymore!

I'm just so D*O*N*E with ALL of that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I suppose that's enough to cause any sane person to have some anxiety.

But I'm resolving to keep my cool about this.  I MUST....lest I fall into a dark pit.  (Been there done that, and it's no fun.)

Yes, all those above thoughts raced through my brain in the middle of the night, but it's morning now, and I am going to have a new perspective:

- God got me through this the first time, and He will again.  He provided the support we needed, when we needed it.  He opened and closed doors at the perfect time, we managed financially, and I was eventually well again.  I need to trust Him.......He is the Great Physician.
- I'm dealing with the symptoms EARLY this time, which will mean a much shorter stint on antibiotics.
- If I need to take Imovane for sleep, I WILL be able to get off that drug at the appropriate time.  I did it before, so I can do it again.
- I have helpful counsellors that I can call on to help me through this.

Sigh.

If you are the praying type, I'd sure appreciate your prayers.

Thanks for listening to my little rant today.  Blessings to you all.