My LLMD Appt

I saw my Dr on February 7, 2009. This is the appointment in which my PICC line was pulled. I found out lots of things that are disheartening, but also left with hope as always.

The reason I have not wanted to post exactly what I am getting on this blog or any other public forum is for political reasons. Some doctors do not believe that Chronic Lyme exists. Some doctors do. Some doctors that do believe in Chronic Lyme believe in strictly Antibiotic treatments and others believe that there are some alternate methods of treatment. I have a doctor that believes in BOTH methods. The more he learns about Lyme & treatment the more he believes in an alternative path of treatment.

In September, I had a live blood analysis done. I have never asked about other patients that have had this done. However in my appointment on Saturday, my doctor mentioned that the doctor that does this Live Blood Cell Microscope now comes to his office every other month. He now clears his day for these appointments so he can see exactly what is going on with his patient's blood cells.

He said in January there were 5 patients that had this Live Cell done. Three of those patients used the treatment like I used. This Experimental Alternative treatment. Two of the patients used regular antibiotics. Apparently two months prior, they both had about the same amount of borrelia in all three forms of bacterial (L shape, spiral shape & cyst shape). Well in January (IF I am understand correctly) .. the 3 patients that did the alternative method ... there were VERY FEW Cyst forms and their spiral loads had decreased dramatically. The two patients that had done antibiotic therapy .... had LOTS OF CYSTS and lots of the other types too.

What does this have to do with MY appointment you ask? Well, I just found out that my doctor is having difficulty getting the alternative therapy. The doctor that invented this along with another physician in Texas are in trouble with the medical board in Texas because they have been using this treatment. The doctor that invented this & the doctor in Texas have had very high success rates with this treatment. I do not know the whole break down of the situation, but either way it is making it difficult for doctors to get this treatment.

As it was, the compouding pharmacy that made this drug wouldn't send it to North Carolina. So my doctor had to order it through another doctor who would sent it to the few patients he had on this protocol. Well now that doctor has closed his office making it impossible for my doctor to get his hands on these treatments.

THIS TREATMENT HAS SAVED MY LIFE!!!!! I am so upset that not only will I not be able to finish this treatment, but that others that have just begun this treatment won't have access to it either. This is why I was so not wanting to talk about it b/c it's so controversial that if anyone got wind of it .. it would be unavailable. I'm frustrated b/c it's gotten me so far.

So what is in my future? For now, we will stop (obviously we have to b/c he has no more of this drug in his office) and will look at an alternative to use. First in a couple of weeks, I will do the MSA test. This is the test that looks at my "energy" and decides which supplements balance in my body and which things I do not need. It has also correctly identified that I had heavy metals, bartonella, babesia, parasites, candida, and borrelia before any tests picked up on it.

I will not be on any Antibiotics. We are going to be working on getting rid of the damage that was caused by Lyme Disease. I will also start on some fiber to get some of this mess out of my colon (how loverly).

As long as things go as planned, I will not have another IV for 6 months. Our plan for now is for me to start on this stuff called OSR. I don't really quite understand it, but from what I do gather it helps the body make Glutathione. With that, it will help my body detox from Heavy Metals and maybe other things (my guess). Then in 6 months, I will have another IV Chelation Challenge. By that time, my veins should have healed from the PICC line and it will have been well over a year since my veins were accessed by IV other than the PICC.

If my metals have decreased, we know that what we're doing is working. IF my metals have increased or stayed the same, we will know that what we're doing is not working. It will be determined at that point whether more IV Chelations are needed. Of course at that time I am guessing if it is determined that I *do* need more of those ... OR I'm backsliding and am needing IV treatments and my vein access is not great ... another PICC will be discussed, but we're both hopeful that will not be needed.

Also I am going to get another Western Blot test just to see how my bands line up (I really want a CDC positive to SHOVE in my regular physician's face).

So that's all for now.

Elevated Aluminum

So my Heavy Metal tests came back. They also tested some other "minerals" and metals that aren't considered to be "heavy metals" but that can cause some health issues if they aren't removed from the body properly.

They test for 11 things. Of the 11 things they tested, only 3 things came back out of the reference range. Two of the three things were just barely off the reference range, but the third thing was almost in the very elevated levels.

First things first: Lead was one of the ones in just slightly elevated levels. Most of the times you don't get symptoms until your Lead levels are very high. Lead poisoning can cause Central Nervous problems, Digestive Issues and Renal System problems.

The second thing that was slightly elevated was Nickel. I really couldn't find much data on Nickel poisoning, but it can cause Headaches, Dizziness, Vomiting, Nausea, Irritability, Dry Cough, Sweating and others. Considering my levels aren't that high, I doubt that Nickel poisoning is the cause of my symptoms. It's more than likely: Lyme, Bartonella, Candida or the other metal that was elevated.

The one that concerns my doctor is Aluminum Poisoning. Aluminum Poisoning can cause SEIZURES. This is the one that jumped out at me. What if back when I was having Seizure ... whether it was caused by Aluminum Poisoning. Interesting to think about? I think so. Forgetfulness, Chronic Sinus Problems, Dry Mouth, Muscle Weakness, Bone Pain, Altered Mental Status, Bone easily fractured, Anemia, Immunity impairment, Growth Retardation in Children, headaches, and others.

I bolded the ones that I've had. And who knows about the Growth Retardation .. I am only 61 inches tall. Maybe I could have been taller ...

What causes this?

Tough to say what caused it in my case, but Aluminum is one of those that just builds up with every use. Antiperspirants can cause Aluminum poisoning. So can other home products that contain Aluminum (like pots & pans, anti-dandruff shampoo, toothpaste, city water, utensils that contain aluminum). Some Vaccines have Aluminum and what's worse ... for me ... Cheese! Some Cheeses contain Aluminum.

Can ya'll hear me screaming from your computer? You should.

What will I do about this?

I'm not really sure yet. I've had two chelations now. I will find out more on Saturday at my Appointment.

Chelation Challenge.

Tomorrow I have the Chelation Challenge.

I'm sure everything will come out just fine, but please pray that it goes quickly and that all my test results come back in normal range. I try to be strong and patient, but I am tired of this PICC Line and am ready for some normalcy (whatever that is).

I know it's all in God's time and I will be patient should I need to keep the PICC Line in for longer. However, it would be nice to know that the end of this PICC Line is in sight (like February maybe) and not have another kind of treatment on top of the maintenance part of Lyme Therapy.

5 months ago

I've had my PICC line for five months today. I thought my PICC and I would only be together for a month or two. I've been to the hospital with it once and had several prescriptions written for it to be x-rayed. Fortunately I only had to go back to Rex the one time and they "fixed" the problem.

I am hoping to be able to end this PICC by my birthday, but who knows what God has in store. It's in January that I go for the Chelation Challenge. If my Chelation challenge shows that I have a lot of heavy metals, then I will need vein access more often than a regular IV can give. If my Chelation Challenge shows that I only have a little bit or no heavy metal toxicity, then I can give up my PICC.

I am content with either option as long as Priscilla the PICC stays happy. :)

*lost track of time* said 4 months originally, but DUH July 17 to December 17th is 5 months. (You might be a lymie if)

*tomorrow begins my 3 day post on Love.

Chelation Challenge

Essentially what I will have done in January is a test and a treatment at the same time. I will sit down in the same chairs that I have my other treatments done. They will attach two specific drugs to my PICC line (should I still have it ... if I don't have it, then they'll do a regular IV). The first one will run in and then they'll switch out the medications and the 2nd one will run.

Then I will have to pee in a huge jug for the next 6 hours. Essentially what the medication does is bind to heavy metals. Then when I go to the bathroom, it will go out with my urine. Then I will shake this huge jug and pour a little bit out in a specimen cup for sending out for testing. Upon receiving the results to this test will determine my treatment plan from there.

I can't have this chelation challenge until I increase my minerals. This drug will bind to minerals as well so I will need to increase my minerals before so that I won't be deficient after the challenge. I will also likely have to have an IV of minerals a week or two before the challenge though I wasn't quite clear with that information.