It's been awhile

So, since I last posted I had my blood sent to Fry labs in Arizona. Doc had thought I had Bartonella this whole time, along with Lyme.

Positive antibodies for Anaplasma. Perhaps this explains my low WBC, anemia (low RBC) not iron-deficient, low platelets, which are apparently the usual findings in blood work for someone with Ehrlichia or Anaplasma.

Substantial biofilm communities were also found in my blood. Finally getting some answers or a direction on where to go with treatment is a great feeling.

No new bloodwork since June or July due to lack of insurance, etc.

Food allergy test results back show a ridiculous amount of allergies. Kind of surprised. However, not many of the allergies are from things that I frequently (or ever) eat. As suspected, I am VERY allergic to coffee and still showing high reactivity to YEAST. What was surprising are my allergies to things like cauliflower, watermelon, all citrus fruits, carrots, squash... 

Brief stint of Nystatin in December. Will continue to take Nystatin as needed for yeast/fungal issues. 

Introduced Doxycycline in December. I really cannot tolerate these antibiotics! In terms of nausea. Seriously. I don't vomit while on the abx but the nausea is so severe even at the low dose of 100mg. 

Next step is to introduce Malarone, an anti-protozoal/anti-malarial drug. I've been on Plaquenil for so long (about 4 years) and do believe it helped me. However, I would love to give something else a try seeing as how I'm still battling these bugs even after being on the Plaquenil for so long.

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I last saw the doctor in December. Through my own research I started Artemisinin and Lumbrokinase and Nattokinase (biofilm busters) in January. Cymbalta dosage has also been reduced to 40mg. I'm alternating the Lumbrokinase and Nattokinase every other day. Have yet to work my way up to my daily goal of 500mg of Artemisinin. I am rotating that out every 7 days to avoid resistance. I've been on pain meds the past few months, so as far as any herxing goes, it would be hard to tell. Though, lately, I have been having bouts of low-grade fevers and hot/cold flashes. Could be some herxing there. 

I don't think I gave Flagyl a fair trial this past fall, so I've restarted it. Starting at 250mg a day, would like to quickly work up to 500mg a day. Since my desire to take Flagyl was the reason for quitting the Plaquenil... I need to give it another go. 

As for clean-up agents, I've added chlorella tablets as well as vitamin C powder (1,000mg/day). Still continuing with D-Ribose powder for muscle pain. Switched multivitamin from New Chapter to Country Life.

Ended medrol pack - increased Minocin

Well the Medrol pack is now finished and I'm on 2.5mg prednisone, hopefully tapering to none by the end of next week. The rash on my shin is now gone, but I still have some small spots on my upper back.

Yesterday I increased my minocin dosage from 100mg to my normal 200mg per day. I was taking 200mg of the generic stuff from December 2011 until the beginning of April, then switched over to brand name and it seems to be stronger so I lowered the dose to 100mg. Not sure if I'm ready to handle the 200mg yet, especially since I'm still on a small amount of prednisone, but we'll see. I'm a bit anxious to try out the Zithromax to see if it has any effect, but I think it would be best to wait a little bit and give the brand name minocin a chance to do its thang.

As far as today goes, I've noticed a significant increase in muscle pain and sacroiliac joint soreness along with that damn left knee pain that is almost a constant nowadays (as it was in pre-plaquenil days). 200mg ibuprofen earlier in the day didn't do a whole lot for the pain.

In the midst of a flare

Updates on Antibiotic therapy - switched over to brand name Minocin

Since starting the brand name Minocin about 2 weeks ago, I haven't been feeling well. Don't know if I can attribute this to a Herxheimer reaction or what? Previously, I had been on the generic form of minocycline since December 2011. With the generic I didn't really feel a herxing at all, but I did end up getting sick (not sure if it was a cold, really) at the end of December. It was a complete mixed bag of symptoms, running the gamut from muscle pain to night sweats to sinus drainage to nausea. The whole shebang. I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical as to whether or not the Mycoplasma are playing a role in my autoimmunity/symptoms. I'm trying to be very careful with attributing my symptoms to flares, herxheimer reaction, or just plain old autoimmune bullshit. I'd love to be able to admit that I am 100% sure that what I'm feeling is a herx reaction, but I honestly don't know. What I do know is that since starting the antibiotic protocol in December, I've never felt worse. Which is a good sign, I suppose.

Unfortunately, I also ran out of Plaquenil (generic) a few days after starting the Minocin, and was off the plaquenil for almost 2 weeks. In these 2 weeks I've had a increase in muscle pain all throughout my body, but mainly some severe pain in my neck (cervical vertebrae) running up the muscles through the occipital bone at the base of the skull. My left knee pain has returned, and it usually doesn't bother me at all when I'm taking Plaquenil (which is good, though, because it shows that the Plaquenil is working to some degree). In addition, the bursitis in my right hip is giving me some trouble and ibuprofen barely touches it.

Tramadol helps to take the edge off the pain, but the pain and discomfort is still there. I really don't like taking tramadol considering it acts similar to an SSRI, gives me a small headache, and I'm already on a high dose of Cymbalta (an SSNRI). I don't like to mix the two drugs together.

I have some leftover prednisone from a horrible itchy rash that I developed in 2009, and have taken it upon myself to treat my current symptoms with a small burst of low-dose prednisone, 5mg a day. The rash has appeared again, making its debut about 2 months ago (as it seems to do every year now since 2009).  The rash is mainly confined to the groin region, lower abdominal area, saving the worst of it for one of my shins. The rash doesn't respond well to hydrocortisone cream (though I continue to use it), I usually end up using an ice pack over the rash for a few minutes to dull the itchy feeling. Typical antihistamines (benadryl, etc.) don't work on these rashes, either. At night, if the rash is so bad that I can't sleep, I end up taking Atarax (Hydroxyzine). I hate to take this medication as well, because it tends to make my hypothyroid symptoms worse, and seems to linger in my system for 1-2 days following the dose making me feel like a zombie.

The pharmacy also magically filled my plaquenil. I was under the impression that the script had expired, but shiiiit, I'm not going to complain! Either way, I have plaquenil for another 60 days and started taking it again 3 days ago.

Started doing veggie juices again about 4 days ago. I try to make one a day to help with detoxing. Last night's was super salty tasting and consisted of: celery, ginger root, lemon, spinach, golden beet, and carrots.