Health update from Day 5 without antibiotics, herbs, tinctures, or vitamins

I went for my ER follow up at my mom's medical facility yesterday and met a delightful doctor.  He explained that my potassium was low and liver enzymes high (not alarmingly, but I definitely need to follow up when I get home) and that my esophagus and stomach lining were very irritated from the Lyme drugs. He said if he took a peek, he'd expect to see a lot of irritation and possibly a lesion or two.  He reaffirmed my LD's advice to stop all meds immediately - 3 times!  He prescribed bland food and massive prescription antacids for the next 3 or 4 days and said that should do it (but don't start taking those drugs again no matter what!)

I haven't felt great, but my throat and stomach are gradually getting better.  The bad news is that the pain in my hands and hips has increased the last 2 days.  Plan modification time.  I stopped taking everything, including the natural, herbal and vitamin therapies, when I stopped taking the prescription drugs.  Now my plan is to re-introduce the herbs, tinctures and vitamins I was taking one at a time, with the hopes that they will do their healing mojo and at the very least, keep the infection from spreading and flaring up. 

I'm wildly curious about creating a false fever to go along with the teasel root tincture I'm taking.  I will definitely read Dr. Storl's book!  (Interestingly, he was driven to this research because he was infected with Lyme Disease and intolerant to the antibiotic therapies.)

This doctor is famous in Germany for his work and research on chronic Lyme Disease

He was also infected and cured himself.  A dear friend of mine in Berlin, sent me this link today on Facebook.  Dr. Storl's book has been translated and published in English, with the forward written by Matthew Wood, another famous herbalist with great contributions toward healing Lyme Disease.
  
Dr. Storl on "Healing Lyme Disease Naturally"

Quick update and alternative therapies, mainly Rife

For those of you interested in my current status after the hellish day in the ER, my doctor's office in Maryland called and told me to stop all of the medications I'm taking for TBDs until I get back to town and we can reassess my treatment protocol.  I'm grateful he feels comfortable taking me off the drugs but am still a little concerned about what my health will be like during this time on the road.  

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather and haven't had much appetite, so I'm still taking it easy and hydrating.  In the meantime, I'm considering trying out a RIFE machine when I return home.  According to the woman I connected with through a Virginia Lyme support group, a 10 second (or less) treatment would deliver noticeable results and likely after the first use.  The machines are pricey (I certainly can't afford one) but she has also offered to let me come to her place a couple of times a week to use hers.  Now that's a real dedication to helping people heal from Lyme.  (She had it herself, but is no longer symptomatic.)

I first learned about these machines from another person using one for their first successful experience in treating their TBD after lots of oral meds, IVs, etc.  I'm certainly curious and hopeful.  

RIFE machines

Well, Virginians, I hate to break it to you...

There is yet another TBD (tick-borne disease) recently identified in Virginia. Read on...

Tidewater Spotted Fever

Medication frustration takes another wicked turn

Yesterday was a pretty awful day largely spent writhing in pain in the emergency room of the same hospital my dad died in one month ago.  The various medications I take for these TBDs have chronically been hard and problematic on my body, but this experience was completely over the top.  I had massive abdominal pain, vomiting, sweating/freezing, numb extremities, plummeting blood pressure, couldn't walk, and thought I might be having a stroke or heart attack. I couldn't write and could barely speak. It was a very scary and wildly painful day that has seriously motivated me to start trying alternative therapies, and soon!  I haven't been able to take my meds for 2 days now and I wonder what the fallout of that will be, if any.  Messing around with infections and antibiotics is scary stuff.  After all, I don't want to be responsible for just killing off the weak ones, thereby strengthening the whole colony.  Eiu!!  

And just to keep things interesting, I'm on the road for another 3 weeks.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that yesterday's episode wasn't a harbinger of such things and that my ID doctor calls me back today with some advice about what to do.  I feel vulnerable, frustrated and a bit scared, wondering what's next.

Medication frustration - and at such a time as this.  My father died unexpectedly while I was in Germany.  I flew straight to my mom's house in California for the services instead of home to Virginia.  When it occurred to me that I would run out of my prescriptions, I began the phone calls to doctors offices and pharmacies to line everything up.  The good ole days of having a prescription with a chain of pharmacies that easily transferred them as needed, is gone.  I managed to get everything covered except pain management, which is disturbingly ironic in the midst of my powerful grief.  I am equally irritated and sad that not only can I not get my prescription without going to a doctor or urgent care center, everyone I talk to about it has had the element of suspicion in their voice that comes from their hyper-sensitivity to watch for drug abuse. This added layer of emotional stuff is tiring and unwelcome.  I have easily verifiable records about my protocol for all my medications.  My doctors' offices are just a phone call away.  How hard can it be?? I'm irritated with the system and the people who abused the system enough to make it so tough on the honest folks.  Urrrgghh. 

Healthcare in Germany? I'm impressed!

I'm sure it has it's problems, but this is the second time they've come through in a pinch.  Before I left home, I counted all of the various pills I'm taking to determine if I needed refills and vacation waivers before I left home.  (At this point, I should be using a spreadsheet to keep it all straight.)

I dutifully called my pharmacy and my doctor's office to line everything up.  One little snafu - one of the drugs was back ordered at my pharmacy and I forgot to pick it up on my way out of town.  Sadly, it was the antibiotic which is likely the most important one to take continuously.

After a few days in Germany, Cassandra (my friend and hostess) suggested we go to the pharmacy and ask if someone there could help us.  I only needed 6 pills to tide me over.  The pharmacist explained to us that this isn't legal, but he examined my prescription bottle and talked to her a bit, then looked us over.  After a moment, he got the pills and told us we looked trustworthy.  He even stuffed the bag with fruity bonbon samples.  

Last year, when Crow and I were here, he needed an outpatient procedure and prescriptions.  He had the same thing done at home a few months before and after our insurance kicked in, we still paid $700 plus prescription costs.  What did we pay in Germany, you ask?  Nothing.  Not a thing.  Not at the doctor's office.  Not at the pharmacy.  They conspired to take care of us in a way that was incredibly charming, efficient and free.  Wow.