Report from the LLMD

Last Tuesday I saw my LLMD again. Not a lot of developments. I'm absolutely exhausted all of the time, which is rather distressing. Before I started treatment, I was running somewhere around 20% of my normal capacity. After a few months in treatment, it gradually increased to, oh, maybe 23%. Now I feel like I'm bottoming out. A good day is 15%...average is more like 10%. This, as you might imagine, is my main complaint. I'm too tired to complain about anything else.

Dr. R thinks that the fatigue is likely caused by die-off due to the Bicillin. Since Bicillin slowly enters the blood stream and takes a while to build up in the body, die-off can also take a gradual and ramping-up road. Burrascano says that the herx reaction can be "strong, prolonged" and last up to six weeks.

To combat the die-off reaction, Dr. R suggested that I start IV glutathione. Glutathione is manufactured by the body and helps the liver get rid of all the toxic nasties that make die-off so unpleasant. I'm already taking glutathione precursors--the building blocks--but it's possible that I just need more oomph to get through this time. And I'd have to take it in IV form because oral preparations are just destroyed in the gut.

I had my first IV on Tuesday and my second on Friday. Dr. R warned me that some people initially feel worse, as the glutathione gets the toxins moving through the body but the liver doesn't quite eliminate them. He also says that most people have great success with glutathione, and it could really help me feel better, have more energy, etc.

So far...no. I think I'm in the unfortunate "some people initially feel worse" camp. It doesn't help that I've not been getting good sleep. Too many factors in this experiment I call my body.

Anwyay, I'm to get two more IV treatments next week, and we'll see if they help. (I hope they do--it's 87 bucks each!) If they do, then we'll do four more over two more weeks. If they don't, we'll figure out something else.

In other news, I get to stop taking the Levaquin on April 21! And unless the bartonella symptoms re-appear, we'll consider that part of my treatment done. Yay!!!

Dr. R doesn't think I'm presenting symptoms of babesia (also very good), so we won't start another treatment course when I'm off the bartonella meds. At least, not yet. Hopefully I'm clear on babesia, but when this round of die-off eases, we'll look at other ways of attacking the Lyme (borrelia) and other possible problems.

For now, my hope is that the glutathione will make life a little more possible. I'm rather pathetic in my current state, and I'd like to be done with that, thank you. After all, I have a small veggie garden I want to create this summer.