Going over the hill for a new Dr.

On the first of the month I went over the hill all the way up to San Francisco to meet with a brand new Dr. This Dr. is a naturopatic Dr. that was recommended to me by a friend who is almost done with Lyme treatment. There is another Dr that she sees whom I'd also like to work with, but he has a waiting list a mile long. I'm on it, but it'll be a while.

So anyway, I really like this new guy. He knows what he's talking about, totally understands Lyme Disease, is down with both so-called western and alternative medicine as well as some European perspectives on health and meds. But mostly he's a really nice person. He asks great questions, takes great notes, and really listens to everything we Lymies have to say. He's simply a good person and I could tell that right from the start.

After asking me lots of questions and reviewing all of my tests from labs and my naturopath in Sonoma County he was able to determine some things I had already been told before or suspected about my current health state. This was good because he wasn't coming out of left field with his evaluation.

So...he says that I've for sure god Lyme, but it's only a piece of what's going on. It's hard to say what comes first other issues and then Lyme can invade easier or Lyme and possibly leading to or causing other issues. Either way, he says I have a lot of things out of whack, but for now we're gonna focus on the main issues which are my digestion being totally messed up, my liver not working fully and the Lyme and co-infections.

He said that having my guts so out of whack plays a big role in why I feel so crummy. I didn't fully realize that 70% of our immune system is in our guts. Unless I get that under control I'm not going to get better. I've got candida, bacteria, and he suspects some sort of parasite(s) as well. Not surprising at all. I have to do a stool analysis so he can confirm and get details about it all. As part of this I'm not properly digesting and absorbing food or meds. which is why I'm so thin and feel the need to eat ALL THE TIME. Essentially, I'm malnourished because I'm not getting the nutrients out of the food I'm eating. It wouldn't matter how well I ate because I'm not digesting it. This is also why he's not putting me on traditional antibiotics. I am way too imbalanced and I know candida is a big problem for me because I seem to always be fighting off an oral thrush infection. All this yeast can cause leaky gut syndrome and IBS among other problems, so at least for a long while, we're not going to use prescription antibiotics because my gut can't handle them.

To help with this, I'm sticking to my list of foods not to eat, taking new probiotics as well as rotating them, and my new meds are tinctures instead of pills so I have a better chance of absorbing them. I also have to take all my meds on an empty stomach, which is by far the hardest part because I'm always hungry and not eating for at least 2 hours is hard for me.

In addition he suggests that I do a series of nutritional IVs to get some essentials in my system. I have to do these in SF every week for 4 weeks starting this coming week. Not really sure how I'm going to get there, but I guess I'll figure it out.

The rest of my current plan includes some additional testing including some tests I haven't done yet. I'm starting the modified Cowden protocol for Lyme with tinctures of Enula, Cumanda, and Samento. Therabiotic, VSL 3, and florastor are for my tummy. Naicin I think was also for the guts. Nutritional IVs to feed me and reboot my system. I'm so looking forward to those. I think they're gonna make me feel better. I'm also adding in Apo Hepat for liver functioning. He removed a few things from my current list of meds and so I'm not really taking much more then I was before. Already in a week, I can tell they're working cause my gut is reacting to the probiotics, and I think I could be having a mini herx from the tinctures. I know I've been run down and feeling feverish these last few days.

So..in summary, I like the new Dr. I think his assessment is right on, he called for appropriate testing, and his recommendations make sense to me. I think I've found a winner. YES!!!