I am psyched!!! I wasn't sure my health team could get any better, but I think it just did. I am cautiously optimistic. I had a phone appointment with my ND on Saturday morning and had her new treatment plan in hand when I saw the new Lyme doctor closer to home on Monday. I liked her the moment I walked into her office, which was more like a lovely, inviting living room, and she hopped up on her treadmill at her stand-up desk and began to walk in slow motion which she continued for most of the consultation while making notes on her computer and being amazingly engaged, knowledgeable and aware. She put me instantly at ease. I felt understood and seen without trying and let me tell you, that was super cool and had such a delightful lack of energy expenditure involved, that I felt cared for and able to relax almost immediately instead of being on the defensive, which is often the case.
I've probably forgotten some things and the treatment plan is in the mail, but here's what I can remember so far:
Here's what my ND prescribed:
At first, she felt very strongly that I get back on, and stay on for the foreseeable future, the A-Bart tincture. Even if it was just in very small doses. She changed her mind later on and said to wait until we had my digestive system calmed down and for now, to stay on the homeopathic New Tick Bites Balance II as my only TBD (tick-borne disease) drug.
She is sending a probiotic that I can take orally and not in pill form since pills and I are not getting along these days. She said it's just 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon and it tastes good. Right on. That will be helpful.
She suggested castor oil and heat compresses over my liver.
She wanted me to start sessions with the rife machine ASAP and work up to using it once daily. She was adamant about this therapy and certain it would help me tremendously. She's rarely wrong.
She is creating a gemmo therapy for me that includes oak and I can't remember the other 2 plants. I love those things! I told her it's like drinking a green blood infusion and she said she's using that description now.
She highly recommended someone grocery shop and prepare food for me so that I can eat 3 healthy meals daily. I have far less nausea, vomiting and appetite loss when I am away from home (indicating perhaps an environmental allergy) and when I have 3 healthy meals a day (which also only occurs when I'm away from home and others cook for me.) She said she feels very strongly that the stress of shopping and preparing meals is not conducive to healing and she wanted that stress removed from me. As soon as she said it, I realized how right she was. My partner doesn't cook much and I'm not usually up to the task, so I've been living off of apples and peanut butter for the main staples in my diet. Knowing that I'm limited in this regard and can't afford a personal chef, I decided to invest in a decent smoothie maker and picked one up along with some frozen and fresh organic fruits, seeds, coconut milk, sunflower seed butter, and other goodies to blend. That feels pretty good. I feel a sense of liberation and freedom that I can easily prepare something healthy for myself besides my beloved apples and peanut butter that have sustained me for so long.
Here's what my MD prescribed:
At first, she wanted to start me on Buhner's protocol which I have heard of, but am not familiar with. I looked it up after I got home and it's sort of funny going back to where I started initially using teasel and cat's claw along with some other herbs. She would likely add antibiotic injections.
She
ordered scores of blood tests that included something about looking at
my genetics and immune system since two of my siblings also have
autoimmune diseases.
She gave me the name and number of a man in my town
who is a "certified indoor environmental consultant" and told me to
make an appointment with him ASAP and to get out of my house
until he can check it out.
She recommended I take 8 capsules of activated charcoal at night before I go to sleep to draw out toxins. Of course it negates all my medications, too which is why she suggested it at night. I'm reluctant to do this because I feel like I might neutralize drugs with a cumulative effect that I'll have to rebuild and I'm not sure I can sleep through the physical pain and restlessness, but I think I'll give it a try.
She ordered what she called a "poop test,"
and mostly agreed with my ND on her protocol - and here's where it got
really great - my MD prescribes and carries the same holistic remedies as my ND!
How cool is that? Interestingly, my new MD said to restart the A-Bart even if it's
just 1/2 a drop a day, or whatever the minimum amount is for me to avoid
a herx. She felt my ND was right the first time and we need to be killing some bugs, so back on the A-Bart I go.
She also has the philosophy that a herx means you're killing too many bugs at once and that it isn't good for your body to have that level of toxic overload. It can be dangerous and even life-threatening to overdo it. She said she also understands the feeling of satisfaction one gets from having a herx because they know the bacteria is dying. It's a strange thing.
And I kind of fell in love with her when I saw and heard her response to me telling her I felt like I was in total treatment failure and was considering getting a rife machine. She grinned and knowingly shook her head, obviously biting her tongue. She continued with my intake questions and did her educational talk and came around to alternative treatments. She said the rife machine is not FDA approved so as a doctor she would never, EVER tell me to get one or use one. She would NEVER recommend that I buy a machine...like the one she has in her basement. Never. I cracked up! Much later in the conversation she said she herself herxed from using a Doug Coil machine (thanks for the name that she can't recommend! she's good!) and said she totally understands using whatever kills the bugs.
When I explained that I felt like I needed to try a PICC line again if the rife machine isn't enough, which is her philosophy as well as the doctor's from the youtube video I posted recently, she said she agrees they can be really effective but she can't do them or manage them and they are a bit scary and dangerous. She said it might be worthwhile to do IM injections of antibiotics twice weekly but again, agreed with my ND that we needed to get my gut cleaned up and give my liver some support while we await this next round of test results and figure out our next strategy.
The last thing I'll say about her for now is that she acknowledged the healing strategies of chemical warfare and that it was also clearly not working for me. She has another strategy and for that, I am deeply grateful. I don't feel like I'm at the end of the road or without hope. She is shining a light for me and I am deeply grateful.
I look forward to seeing what the indoor environmental consultant has to say. I swear, this stuff is like living in a detective novel only the bad guys live inside me. There are so many mysteries, puzzling things and threads to chase. It's all pretty fascinating from an observational perspective.
The good news of the day is that hope has been restored, some of my beloveds are bringing me food, others are helping me organize fundraising for a rife machine and treatment costs, I have clear next steps to take, and it's firefly season in Virginia and beautiful beyond words.
Check her out! I think she's very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAYstUm1NI8
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