Back from the doctor

This morning I had an appointment with my LLMD. I've been fretting about this for weeks now because my overall condition has been backsliding. I'd gotten a little better in May/June--up to 30% of pre-Lyme normal--but I've slid back down to about 20% of normal in terms of energy. Cognition and neuro symptoms have been really bad a few times, but overall I'd say that I'm still averaging about 30%.

Because the May/June improvement trend didn't continue, I wasn't sure what we'd be doing next. Plus there was the babesia test. Too much for my brain to handle at once. So I'll break down the appointment into little numbered bits:

1) Babesia FISH test came back negative. This is good. I don't have many of the classic babs symptoms, so this is pretty much affirmation that I don't have babesia.

2) Yeast. Pesky yeast. I don't have many of the typical yeast overgrowth symptoms, but I have had more sugar cravings than usual. And given the antibiotics I'm taking, it's possible that I've got yeast overgrowth...again. I'm currently taking Nystatin daily to prevent this, but it might not have been enough.

So to combat yeast, I'm going to start a round of Diflucan. At the same time, I'm going to stop the Flagyl. Diflucan goes after yeast, as well as attacking the cyst form of Lyme. (I had been taking Flagyl for the cyst form.) There is also a theory that Diflucan impairs the borrelia bacteria's detox system, making it more vulnerable to attack from other antibiotics.

To summarize, we're hoping that the Diflucan will help with yeast overgrowth, attack the cyst form of the Lyme bacteria, as well as weakening the bacteria's detox system so we can hit it with other stuff.

3) I am continuing on IM Bicillin to fight the spirochete form of the Lyme bacteria.

4) I am going to start a new antibiotic to fight the third form that the Lyme bacteria can take. (The three forms are spirochete, cyst, and intracellular or L-form or cell-wall-deficient, whatever name you want to use.) I'm going to start Biaxin (500 mg twice per day) to treat the intracellular Lyme.

5) Looking at longterm possibilities: If I don't start showing some improvment in the next one to two months, we'll look at using ceftriaxone (brand name: Rocephin). Dr. R said that you can use IM ceftriaxone (butt muscle injection, like the Bicillin), or you can go with the IV option. There are pros and cons for each--the injections hurt a lot, but the IV is more expensive and has better penetration in the brain. But I'm not going to worry about that right now, because I've got plenty of changes going on with my meds.

I'm going back to see Dr. R in a month, and that's when I can start fretting about IV antibiotics again.

6) Given that I'm still not sleeping particularly well, I'm going to consult with the psychiatrist (Dr. M) who handles my psych meds to see if adding in Ambien would be an OK idea. I've asked her about this in the past and she wasn't too keen on the idea. And then I started sleeping better, but now I'm not so it's time to reevaluate.

And that pretty much wraps it all up. I'll leave you, my dear reader, with the new Updated and Complete Medication List, because I know it's just so fascinating.

Early AM:
Levothyroxine

Breakfast:
Sertraline, 175 mg
Diflucan, 200 mg
Biaxin, 500 mg
Nystatin
Vitamin C
Multi-B
Fibroboost
Quercetin
Glutathione precursors
Ashwagandha
Acetyl-l-carnitine
Monolaurin (600 mg)

Mid-morning:
Lumbrokinaise
Multivitamin
Ashwagandha

Mid-afternoon:
Calcium
Vitamin D
Quercetin
Omega-3/DHA

Dinner:
Biaxin, 500 mg
Nystatin
Vitamin C
Fibroboost
Quercetin
Glutathione precursors
Acetyl-l-carnitine
Monolaurin (600 mg x2)

Bedtime:
Clonazapam
Lumbrokinaise
Sublingual B12

Additional:
1.2 MU IM Bicillin, 3 injections per week
Vicodin, as needed for pain, typically 1 pill before bed