posted
Hi everyone...I caught the flu at the end of last week from my fiance and while the worst of it appears to be over, it has set me back with my health. I am down to 83 pounds, I feel really dizzy and weaker than usual, and oddly my neuropathy feels more intense since this flu hit.
Is it possible that this flu has caused me potentially months more of treatment? It is so frustrating. Even though I only lost a few pounds, I am so thin and in such a fragile state healthwise that I can really feel the impact. Any thoughts about how to bounce back from this quickly? Thanks. Jess
Posts: 870 | From ct | Registered: Nov 2012
| IP: Logged |
Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
I don't think you can "bounce back" from influenza very quickly. The dry cough can hang on for weeks...mine turned into bronchitis and pneumonia. Get a salt pipe/inhaler to help clear up the cough.
The awful fatigue will also take several weeks to improve.
For the neuropathy, I suggest a good B multiple vitamin, and additional B12, methylcobolamine.
You can take B12 sublingually, and it is available as a patch. Look up B12 patch at Amazon.com and read the reviews of the different brands.
Even people who are getting B12 injections are saying that wearing the patch is helpful.
Posts: 6947 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
Ellen101
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 35432
posted
Go back on TPN??? Please don't take this the wrong way but you have posted a few times about how concerned you are about your weight and how it has dropped. I'm confused as to why you would not want to give yourself the benefit of having the Tpn to help you main and maintain some weight while you fight this illness.
With illnesses, stress, hrxung etc you are giving to drop some pounds. If you the St a low weight to begin with, then you are already behind the eight ball.
Posts: 1748 | From United States | Registered: Dec 2011
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ellen, I am just doing everything I can to avoid the TPN. The TPN sent me into a depression like almost nothing else. It made me feel hopeless...it is hard to explain.
I want to do all I can to avoid it again. Thanks Carol so much for the info, btw! Jess
Posts: 870 | From ct | Registered: Nov 2012
| IP: Logged |
posted
Jessica, I understand your desire not to go back on TPN, but if it is the only thing that helps you gain weight, why would you not do it until you can heal a bit. I understand not eating is not easy, but the alternative is worse especially to your boyfriend. You need to do what it takes so you can get well and make plans for your future. None of us like what has happened to us, this is a vicious disease and pray for a cure for all of us.
Posts: 620 | From Ks | Registered: Oct 2011
| IP: Logged |
beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Jess, pls go back on the TPN for a few hours a day/few days a week.
If you found yourself experiencing depression while on it, there are good natural things to take for that as well as pharmaceuticals.
In fact, some of the drugs could put weight on your bones. I got relief from Lexapro years ago, along with 30 unwanted lbs!
Please, please listen to us!
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
| IP: Logged |
posted
Cozy-I just hate the idea of being on the TPN..it makes me feel like I am terminally ill or something. And it is impossible to feel anything close to normal when you are being tubefed.
I will talk to my fiance about it. Beaches, its funny you mention that...I HAAATE antidepressants but I am almost tempted to go on a tricyclic to see if it puts lbs on me.
I would do ANYTHING to avoid the TPN.. Thanks everyone. Jess
Posts: 870 | From ct | Registered: Nov 2012
| IP: Logged |
beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Jess, you really need to disassociate your ideas/feeling/thoughts re: TPN from the reality that it could be extremely beneficial to your health in the long run.
You know my history with it, along with others here. If "we" didn't think this was beneficial for you, we all wouldn't be recommending that you go back on it.
As for the antidepressants, I hate them too. But sometimes they can really help people. Talk to your doc about it and see what his opinion is.
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
| IP: Logged |
posted
Beaches-thanks so much. I will definitely consider the TPN if I cannot put weight back on ASAP. I appreciate it so much. Jess.
Posts: 870 | From ct | Registered: Nov 2012
| IP: Logged |
Razzle
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 30398
posted
This is exactly what I was concerned about happening if you stopped the TPN too early...
Don't look at TPN as a symbol of how sick you are - look at the TPN as a helper...as a form of medicine to get you well again. It is a good thing, not a bad thing.
I mean, if you had a broken leg, would you look at the cast as a bad thing? It is a necessary treatment for where you are healthwise, and it will help you much like a cast helps a broken leg to mend.
TPN does not mean you are terminally ill. It means you are fighting to get well, to improve your situation.
And you don't have to run TPN every day - only a few times a week should be enough in combination with the diet you found that helps you to be able to keep food down.
So the TPN becomes more like a supplement than anything else.
Besides, isn't it better to spend a few weeks on TPN getting your strength up, rather then constantly stressing about whether or not you are eating enough or gaining enough weight...when you know you have a hard time gaining without the TPN?
You don't need the extra stress of fighting your body on the food aspect.
I assume you had a portable pump in a backpack with your TPN, so you weren't "tied to a pole" ?
My first experience with TPN was with a pole pump, not a portable backpack pump...that was a pain the #$$... But the portable pump in a backpack is no big deal by comparison.
And if you only run the TPN while you are sleeping...that would make it even easier, I would think... 8 hours of TPN several nights a week would go a long way to helping you I would think...
Please think about this seriously and please don't look at the TPN as a bad thing, it is not a bad thing - it is medicine for your depleted body.
-------------------- -Razzle Lyme IgM IGeneX Pos. 18+++, 23-25+, 30++, 31+, 34++, 39 IND, 83-93 IND; IgG IGeneX Neg. 30+, 39 IND; Mayo/CDC Pos. IgM 23+, 39+; IgG Mayo/CDC Neg. band 41+; Bart. (clinical dx; Fry Labs neg. for all coinfections), sx >30 yrs. Posts: 4166 | From WA | Registered: Feb 2011
| IP: Logged |
Kudzuslipper
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 31915
posted
Jess you know I adore you... and sorry if this spunds harsh...But you are terribly ill, and could become terminally ill if you don't do every single thing you can to take care of your self now! And it is unlikely a few months, but many,many months. If you can wrap your head around this it may not be such a struggle.
For neuropathy... Alpha lipoic. I like jarrow formula sustain.
Posts: 1728 | From USA | Registered: May 2011
| IP: Logged |
Kudzuslipper
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 31915
posted
quote:Originally posted by Kudzuslipper: Jess you know I adore you... and sorry if this sounds harsh...But you are terribly ill, and could become terminally ill if you don't do every single thing you can to take care of your self now! And it is unlikely a few months, but many,many months. If you can wrap your head around this it may not be such a struggle.
For neuropathy... Alpha lipoic. I like jarrow formula sustain.
posted
I agree that if you are not eating then probably you are deficient in the B vitamins. See the info I posted on nutrition and the immune system.
I also think you need to change your mindset about the TPN. Hubby hated having a PICC line for 8 years but his attitude was that it was just one of the tools in his toolkit that helped him be more functional.
Don't know if you have ever tried any of the meal replacement drinks, but there are some that might be easier to tolerate than actual food until your G.I. is healed and functioning more normally.
Do you have a nutritionist or dietician? I would think in your situation that your insurance would pay for that and it might be beneficial.
Good luck.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Seems this thread is now merging into this one that updates:
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic