Can't believe how awful I feel since quit smoking 2 weeks ago.Dizzy almost all the time,migrating joint pains,tingling in hands and feet,chills on and off,lousy balance.Have been off ABX since early Sept. and doing fine until this hit me like a ton of bricks.Can't imagine quitting smoking would cause relapse but I feel as bad, if not worse,than when I was bitten in May.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Yes. I descended into illness and disability when I stopped smoking. My health slowly declined for about a year at which point I was very sick. Both my mother and sister have had the same experience when they stopped smoking. I think there are some posts about others who have experienced the same thing here in the archives.
I don't know for sure what causes it but I know that borrelia affects acetylcholine in a negative way. Smoking keeps it at the synapse. I use acetylcholine to control some of my symptoms. It is circumstantial but I do believe there is a relationship. It could be oher things as well.
Terry I'm not a doctor
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
A plasmid-encoded nicotinamidase (PncA) is essential for infectivity of Borrelia burgdorferi in a mammalian host."
PMID: 12694619
Both NAD+ and NADH absorb strongly in the ultraviolet due to the adenine base.
UV light exposure to mice with lyme makes lyme worse.
I thought because UV light (UVA and UVB, not UVC which is destroyed by our protective ozone layer) triggers inflammation to "pave the way" -> MMPs, but perhaps it is due to the increased NAD and NADH.
Not, notice, NADP.
Bb inhibits phosphate transfers. That is what a PKC inhibitor does.
Among its uses...NAD can:
"acting as a substrate for bacterial DNA ligases and a group of enzymes called
***sirtuins that use NAD+ to remove acetyl groups from proteins.***"
BTW...NAD can come from Tryptophan too. The same enzyme is used to convert it to serotonin and then melatonin and the other pathway leading to toxic quin acid, but eventually to NAD.
Apparently, you are not alone, Mrs. Lyme. There was a whole discussion about this over in the General forum a few months back.... I had to do a search to find it:
Thanks for all feedback.Guess I was not "cured" as I thought.Will get back on ABX ASAP,take supplements to increase acetylcholine,and,if all else fails,get some nicotine gum (although I only quit ciggies for monetary reasons and that gum is NO BARGAIN !!!!!)
Posted by Snailhead (Member # 18091) on :
From one ex smoker to another, congratulations. Hardest thing I have EVER done. I too, had all my symptoms come crashing in on me three months after I quit. That was about five years ago.
I still chew the nicotine gum, and stubbornly refuse to give it up. Don't know if you have seen it, but there is something called the "electronic cigarette", which gives you a puff of nicotine (only) and it vaporizes into a water type thing. No smoke.
If it had been around five years ago when I quit, I would have used it! God bless you.
Posted by Mrs.Lyme (Member # 17297) on :
Snailhead,did the gum help relieve the symptoms?I don't think I can take this CONSTANT dizziness much longer. I'm afraid to drive.The joints,tingling,chills,etc. are tolerable but this head stuff is AWFUL.I've had it before but never this bad.If the nicotine in another form won't relieve this,I'll save my money.Those e-cigs do look interesting, but I don't think they're available in stores yet,only online.
Posted by Snailhead (Member # 18091) on :
Hi, I cannot really say if the gum helped the symptoms, because I have been chewing the gum since I quit, and it was AFTER I quit (about three months) that all heck broke loose.
So I do not know how my body would have reacted w/o the gum. Would I have been worse? Don't know.
I guess your only option with that would be chew it and see if you get to feeling a little better.
Keep up the great work; I know how hard it is.
Posted by Snailhead (Member # 18091) on :
P.S. remember there are 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes. Your body is not happy right now, being "deprived" of all the crud it was used to.
My whole first month was nasty. I used Xanax and chugged water when the urge was the worst. Helped.