Topic: anyone with psychiatric disorders from lyme?
Maya12
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posted
I am just wondering if anyone can tell me what psychiatric issues they have expeerienced from lyme and co infections. Also once lyme becomes chronic are some of these symptoms there all the time? I feel anxious and aggitated all the time and have constant obsessive anxious thoughts. This goes on day after day and no medication seems to help. I also get frequent panic attacks like 2 to 3 a day. Could this all. Be from lyme? If someone has psychiatric symptoms are they constant? Or daily for a long time or do they just come and go once in a while ? I am just wondering if symptoms being this constant for lyme are normal. Please tell me about your psychiatric symptoms and duration especially before treatment. I have had no treatment yet nore a diagnosis yet but wondering if this could be lyme as I never feel happy or calm or normaleven with antidepressants and ativan. Is it also common for psych drugs to not work that well for lyme patients?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Keebler
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- Maya,
Welcome to LymeNet but sorry for the reason you are here.
Many here cannot read large blocks of text. So, here's your post, broken up with some "breathing room" for they eyes - and so our brains can better grasp each new question or thought. --------------
Maya12 writes:
I am just wondering if anyone can tell me what psychiatric issues they have expeerienced from lyme and co infections.
Also once lyme becomes chronic are some of these symptoms there all the time?
I feel anxious and aggitated all the time and have constant obsessive anxious thoughts. This goes on day after day and no medication seems to help.
I also get frequent panic attacks like 2 to 3 a day.
Could this all. Be from lyme?
If someone has psychiatric symptoms are they constant? Or daily for a long time or do they just come and go once in a while ?
I am just wondering if symptoms being this constant for lyme are normal.
Please tell me about your psychiatric symptoms and duration especially before treatment.
** I have had not treatment yet nor a diagnosis yet **
but wondering if this could be lyme as I never feel happy or calm or normaleven with antidepressants and ativan.
Is it also common for psych drugs to not work that well for lyme patients?
(Maya12 from Canada) -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
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- Maya,
I really feel for you. Yes. Yes. Yes. To just about every question.
But, I do not consider panic attacks or anxiety to be psychiatric or even psychological. But, I'm alone here. The way our medical system is set up puts so much right into the psych arena.
I see them as physiological. It all makes sense as lyme is very toxic to the nerves, it affects rhythm of the heart and sends stress hormones to toxic levels.
And that certainly then has emotional ramifications. ANYONE would feel way out of sorts, and beyond. It just makes sense.
I see you have 33 posts in just a month and you are new here. That tells me you are looking hard for a way to address this.
FIRST: Can you get to an ILADS-educated LLMD for an evaluation?
From just your post here, it sure sounds like lyme (&/or Bartonella).
MAGNESIUM, FISH OIL, ADRENAL SUPPORT are things to help along the way.
Be sure all excitotoxins are out of your diet. Next post.
A good ILADS-educated psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor or therapist can help, too, but assessment first with a LLMD is the top order of business.
Good luck. -
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Maya12
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I also find some days symptoms are more bereable than others but always there. Some days are slightly livable others are absloutly horrible. I have had symptoms on and off for many years that after a while would go into remission but this time it has been 2 years with daily symptoms that are much worse and stranger than ever before and now they are daily. Is this pattern normal. Why would I have symptoms daily now?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Keebler
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- Maya,
When you post, if you could please break up your text, more will be able to read it. I have to break it up to do that as it's all just a sea of swirly grey bits otherwise. ----------------------
Maya adds:
I also find some days symptoms are more bereable than others but always there. Some days are slightly livable others are absloutly horrible.
I have had symptoms on and off for many years that after a while would go into remission but this time
** it has been 2 years with daily symptoms **
that are much worse and stranger than ever before and now they are daily.
Is this pattern normal. Why would I have symptoms daily now?
(Maya in Canada) -
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Keebler
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- Maya,
Sadly, yes, this pattern is very typical of undiagnosed / untreated chronic "stealth" infection. [Stealth means hidden from common tests, tricky, shifting, requiring complex treatment.]
Why daily symptoms now? Well, whatever is going on has not been identified and addressed.
Whatever it is, there is hope. I will post a few links as stepping stones. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
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- Did you EVER have a rash from a tick bite? If so, was it a bulls eye rash, circular or oval?
Not everyone gets a rash and of those who do, not all are round or oval. But, it's the first question to ask.
Deliberations of a psychiatrist who evaluates and possibly diagnoses Lyme and other tick-borne diseases of the mind, sharing . . . . -
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Keebler
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- "Excitotoxins" can cause many G.I., neurological & psychiatric symptoms. Be absolutely certain that even the traces of such are not clobbering you. ---------------
MOLD exposure is also an issue that needs to be assessed. -
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Maya12
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Hey keebler so are you saying that lyme presents as psychiatric with anxiety , obsessive thoughts etc but it is purly all due to the untreated lyme so it is purly physiological? If this is what you are saying than does that mean that with the proper treatment it will all go away? I really am trying to figure this out I have been so sick for 2 years now and was treated for other issues but nothing seems to have helped and I am still so sick and getting worse. I almost hope it is lyme so I have an answer and can someday be normal again. Can lyme make you feel you are going insane? Can you truly heal from it when it has been this bad for 2 years with no treatment and possibly has been going on off and on for like 15 years
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Keebler
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- I can't read your post and am so dizzy now that I cannot separate it out.
Others will be along to answer your questions. -
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Maya12
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Hi keebler thanks for the links and yes I have had smmall circular rashes sometimes it would come up in a rash with a blister. I also get little whitehead like spots on my face and body but they are not whiteheadas , no puss just a blind sore spot. I have never had the bulls eye rash though.
Aalso sounds like it is common to have bouts of symptoms that come and go over many years and can go into remission and you will be fine for a while but eventually you get very sick and these symptoms can be daily and no longer go away without treatment. Is this correct?
Is it common for many to get to such a point that it has been years of chronic issues before someone figures out its lymes?
So all these symptoms could be from toxins? Are these the toxins lymes gives off?
Is it normal to feel you are loosing your mind, memory, cognative function , iq ,personality and just feel crazy aggitated and not at feel like yourself or right in the head?
If I am this bad from late chronic lyme can I ever get back to being healthy and myself again?
I am making an appointment with am llmd tomorrow he is a member of ilads
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Keebler
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- Yes. To all your questions. I read in your other thread that you see a ND tomorrow.
That should help a lot with some of the symptoms.
I hope the ND is ILADS-educated but, even if not, it should help some. You would do best with a ND who is ILADS-educated and
I'm glad to see you have the name of a LLMD and will call their office tomorrow.
Right now, though, if you have MAGNESIUM, L-TAURINE, FISH OIL, B-6 on hand, those should help.
Melatonin, perhaps for sleep - the lowest dose possible at first.
Do NOT take any glutamine, glutamic acid or any formula that contains that in excess. It can cause panic attacks in those who have neurological conditions.
Do not take even trace of aspartame, soy sauce, MSG, etc.
Do not take anything that is supposed to "boost" any function or organ system. To "modulate" -"balance" - or "support" are better goals.
Even if you don't feel like it, lie down in a dark and quiet room and do some slow, deep, belly massaging breathing. Do this often.
NUTS - right now, even a few almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts can help (due to mold, avoid peanuts unless the Valencia type).
SARDINES, SALMON are your best friends right now but not farmed fish. Must be wild. Wild Planet sardines are safe and WILD salmon.
About sardines. Doesn't matter if you don't like 'em. I don't. But they are required, IMO. Best for breakfast.
Sardines have literally saved my brain, my mood, my life. The Wild Planet company ones are the best tasting. Add some lemon, garlic powder, parsley flakes and just "down" 'em.
Or mix with Quinoa and veggies, etc.
LEAFY GREENS, too. Lots of leafy greens with every meal.
Drink water. Dehydration can also intensify all this.
All this "directions" are not intended to sound like barking orders but are things just off the top of my head to help you get by till you see your ND tomorrow and get into the ILADS-educated LLMD as soon as possible (but they may be booked for some time).
Take care & good luck. -
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Keebler
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- If the ND you see tomorrow is also an acupuncturist, likely a session can help calm things down.
Ask the ND to show you a calming Qi Gong movement that you can do several times a day.
HOLY BASIL - see what they think. It's very calming and support the adrenals that cause so much of the anxiety from the lyme toxins.
LIVER SUPPORT is also vital.
Homeopathic "Gold" can help calm down intense emotional symptoms:
(if you forget the name, just ask about GOLD - it's a tiny, tiny bit of gold, actually. Or the ND may suggest some other homeopathic that might be appropriate for you at this time).
Homeopathic "Pellets" to put under the tongue worked best for me as the alcohol homeopathic drops can be too strong for someone whose body is in overdrive.
All these suggestions are likely to make you whirl. You might just copy & paste to your personal research desk top file.
You could print out and take to your ND tomorrow.
Again, good luck. Remember to breathe. Slowly. Deeply. -
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randibear
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i don't know if you consider lyme rage or total impatience psychiatric but yeah...
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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Dr. S is a Lyme-literate psychiatrist having firsthand experience with Lyme.
Click on the upper right-hand corner of her web page where it says "E-mail me". Perhaps she can help you or refer you to someone.
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Maya12
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Do most with lyme have thses types of symptoms or is this rare for lyme?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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I am just worried that this constant obsessing and anxiety isn't from lyme
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Maya12
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I did read dr s's webcite and she does say that lyme can mimic any psychiatric disorder so I guess this coyld be my problem and thanks for all the help guys
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Maya12
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I just feel so down and hopeless about what could be wrong with me I just want to cry. Every day I am in torment from my thoughts and feelings. And feeling so stupid and out of it I was just hoping that this could all be caused by lyme not to mention all the. Other crazy symptoms I have so that I would have a chance at getting better some day
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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posted
I used to panic all the time because I didn't know what was going on with my body. Deep down I knew something was wrong with me, but all the doctors tests were showing nothing was wrong. In fact, most of them wanted to put me on anti-depressants/ anti-anxiety pills.
After doing LOTS AND LOTS of research on my own, I found a local LLMD who officially diagnosed me Lyme Disease and a co infection of Babesia.
I also had SEVERE bouts of Lyme rage. My rage was worse as my pain got worse. I was in so much misery with pain that I took it out on others.
I would also have anxiety attacks, mostly because I never knew if I would ever feel better.
Throughout my treatment these symptoms have gotten much better. Although I still have these issues on occasion, they have subsided tremendously.
You really need to find a good LLMD in your area and go from there.
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Keebler
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- Maya,
What you are experiencing is not at all rare for those with tick-borne infections. It is very common.
How do you think I can rattle off all the things that can help in the meantime? I was like you. I learned the hard way.
I learned that it's very common - all too common. Sadly.
This can get better. In the meantime, you will have to use all your willpower to JUST BREATHE.
That slow, steady, belly massage kind of breathing can help lower the stress hormone, cortisol. That makes all this worse.
So, know that what you are experiencing likely has a bunch of very logical causes. Your body is just overwhelmed right now.
The ND tomorrow - and the LLMD soon - should be able to fashion some kind of bridge for you so that you don't have to hang on but can stroll across with a carefully thought-out plan.
You will still have to read a lot on your own, but with professional guidance, you can put most of your energy into your nutrition and self-care plans.
While you study - and while you rest - if you have the music of MOZART or either HAYDN, there is something very special about all 3 composers and how their music helps the brain.
Your local classical music radio station may be good - just turn it off if it starts to feel to busy, discordant or makes you feel uneasy.
"Ambient" music is also good such as Brian Eno's "Music for Airports" - very soothing.
FOLK ALLEY - a web music station - to lift your spirits.
- no driving bass beatings over the head. ACOUSTIC music for the most part. If drums are featured, they are always within reason and not electronically driven.
Other kinds of music can be found on web sites, too, but be aware that when you rest, you should be far away from computer and electronic gadgets of all kinds.
When up, try to focus on good stuff that will engage your mind and imagination, even if just browsing photography books (National Geographic magazine is excellent).
I hope you can create a sanctuary for healing. Nourish. Nurture. Feel light & love. -
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Keebler
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- Did not specifically answer this question yet:
Is it also common for psych drugs to not work that well for lyme patients?
Yes. Often they have the opposite effect of what was intended.
Partly due to the stress these can create on the liver when the liver is just overwhelmed dealing with lyme toxins.
Brain chemistry is also really tricky with all the neuro-toxins from lyme.
Some people manage certain psych meds but mostly in very tiny doses.
Some can't "do" them at all but find help with other methods. That's why I suggest asking your ND about Holy Basil, Fish Oil, Magnesium, etc.
Liver support is actually the best medicine for your brain. Without the liver working at its best, the brain will suffer. Gotta help the liver.
This is a ton of stuff to take in and yet it barely touches the surface. Again, envision that bridge that you will soon have so that you can feel more secure as you proceed.
Picture yourself strolling across a bridge in your favorite hiking areas. Feel a warm gentle breeze on your face and the sturdy support under your feet. This will get better.
If that image does not suit you, your mind would likely love to create other enjoyable sensory journeys for you to enjoy.
Even when unable to get out, my intense connection to nature has been a life safer for me. Where you live, I'm thinking it may be for you, too. It's a beautiful area, indeed. -
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Maya12
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Hi keebler thank you so much for all your help and support and suggestiong. I have been searching for so long to figure out what is wrong with me and I really think after what I have learned on here that though I have not been diagnosed yet that I may finally know what is wrong with me. I just have so many symptoms that fit. I know it is still early but thanks for your help
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Maya12
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Also wondering if lyme can cause personality changes and make them feel really flat and emotionally numb and loose interest in things they used to love doing?
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Keebler
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- Absolutely. I doubt really that interest is truly lost but when the body is ill, it just has to stop or slow down and change its course.
Feeling flat or numb can be the reaction to medical abuse and lack of diagnosis / treatment.
Again, the body has to go into survival mode. Can't expend energy on what it may see as frivolous when it's trying to keep up with basic needs.
And there are changes in our brains from infection, heavy metals, liver stress, etc.
But, even right now there are things that can help while you wait for the LLMD first appt.
MAGNESIUM, FISH OIL, Liver support, adrenal support, certain vitamins, good food. See other posts for those links.
Be sure to connect with www.canlyme.com - or ask the LLMD's office when you set up that appt. - for the names of LL counselors who might be able to help you sort through the emotional impact of all this.
Good luck. -
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manybites
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Maya you have had it for very long so did I. The first 2 years straight in treatment I thought I will never have a chance to feel normal.
I was loaded in Bartonella ( high neuro issues) lost my hearing and highly in babs as well.Fully blown lyme bart and babs.
I treated with antibiotics and as well herbs ( later I went to germany that is when I started turning the corner ) .Treating bart made me feel at least HUMAN and NOT Insane.
I went insane .I had already changes on personality since I started having bart comming out and make me sick 10 years ago even before that ( low grade fevers ).
The past 8 years I became Numb and had no feeling at all BLANK.
You gotta give time to treat all infections and long enough.It will take you months to treat each of them.
The first remision gave me months of Freedom in my brain -no pain in a year and calmness .
The car accident brought it out but never like before neurologicaly. Itreated bart more than anything else.So go for the killing of the bugs.
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Maya12
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Thank you so much to everyone. I have finally got an appointment with an llmd recommended through ilads and I know it will take a long time but I do have hope. I am also consulting with dr M in bc and that I think will help too
I am also getting on some good suppliments to help
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-------------------- aperture Posts: 551 | From Louisville, KY | Registered: Nov 2011
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Keebler
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- Richard, aperture,
thanks for the big LOL. I've not yet managed so shower today . . . waiting for dinner to heat up, feeling out of sorts so it was good to see your note.
I sure don't look or feel like a gem at the moment so the irony is just funny. Actually, I'm pretty amazed at the courage I see here everyday from all of us working so hard to figure out how to have lives.
Cheers to us all, eh? -
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Keebler
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- Maya,
Glad to see you get your footing on this from a couple good angles. Take care. -
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Maya12
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Hi guys so I am still waiting for the test results and still wishing I knew exactly what was wrong with me has anyone else with lyme ever had a chronically high white blood cell count?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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posted
Hello, I agree with pp, when your body is not well things just don't feel the same.
I have had to back out of a lot of hobbies that I really enjoyed. Mainly because my stamina is very low but to be honest my interest is focused on healing right now and my other interests have taken a back seat....even mentally. Someone told me that since the brain is working so hard on healing and fighting the bacteria that things that used to be important are not as important -
your body is in "Fight or Flight" mode.
Try meditation - Louise Hay has some great meditations on healing the body.
Posts: 98 | From Ontario | Registered: Feb 2012
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posted
I know a young man who had just bartonella. He went from being top-of-his-class to unable to open a door with a thumb latch. He had cognitive, psychotic, and emotional orders that completely wiped out his high school career. He was treated for four years with anti-psychotics.
I eventually helped figure out what was wrong, and he got better with a month of zith.
Bart can be a horribly neuro disease.
Posts: 146 | From Maine | Registered: Aug 2011
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Anxiety seems especially common with bartonella, so be sure to get proper testing for *all* coinfections.
A study found something like a third of patients in psychiatric hospitals in PA were positive for Lyme. I don't know the source off the top of my head but it was several years ago.
Yesterday I read an article about a study of minocycline (antibiotic) in schizophrenia -- many patients had relief in symptoms.
Bartonella has been linked in at least one study to AIDS dementia.
Babesia is a parasite like malaria, thus has potential to cause symptoms similar to cerebral malaria.
Lyme is a spirochete like syphilis, which caused centuries of psychiatric problems that are well-documented.
People with Lyme have developed new-onset psychiatric symptoms of such severity they committed acts of violence. It should be emphasized that most Lyme patients *don't* do this, but it speaks to the ability of Lyme to impact the brain.
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AuntyLynn
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Here is a GREAT video from Dr. Bransfield of NJ - a psychiatrist who has treated neuro-Lyme patients for 20 years, as given at last years ILADS conference in Toronto:
Robert Bransfield, MD, Psychiatrist - Can Infections and Immune Reactions to Them Cause Violent behavior?
@ 4:00 Homicidal patient with 100 childhood tick bites had ideations for murder of sister and nephew which were extremely diminished with one YEAR of IV antibiotics.
@ 8:00 Violence related to perception of "Lack of empathy" related to frontal and temporal lobes
@ 9:30 "Lyme Rage"
Here is the website of a psychiatrist in Pennsylvania, who says "PANIC ATTACKS" are often the FIRST SIGN of NEURO-LYME.
The most effective cure points to LONG TERM IV ANTIBIOTICS. My Mom had 28 days, it only helped for about 2 years, then she started to relapse quickly. I am fighting to get her re-treated now.
BTW "panic attacks" were her first symptom - no doctor could figure it out -
they gave her anti-depressants, and recommended psychological therapy, which only TICKED Her OFF
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Maya12
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Can lyme also make you feel very down or depressed. Have major mood swings, cause depersonalization and derealization, make you very spaced out and always feeling detached from self and life?
Can it make you feel so crappy mentally that every day of life is a torture?
Can it also make you feel so spaced out that you have trouble talking or knowing what you are doing most of the time?
I know it can take away your cognition but I always feel upset and anxious and depressed, have no interest in anything feel trapped in my own body and mind
It really makes me feel this way all the time I feel like my life is over.
Also even trying to perform a task is almost too much
Can lyme do all of this?
I know it can steal your cognition but can it make you feel upset and depressed and totally out of it all the time too? Like even the simplest tasks are too stressful is this normal for lyme?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Keebler
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- Q: Can lyme do all of this?
ABSOLUTELY.
And it can get better but, along the way, be kind to yourself.
Have you gotten on a good Magnesium & Fish Oil yet?
Excitotoxins; MSG; Aspartame; & "Natural" Flavors -
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Maya12
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With all these psych and neuro symptoms I just worry that this is all in my head and that I can't ever get better. Also have been waking up in a terrible sweat every morning with wild dreams
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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Can lyme or co also cause perceptual distortions?and minor hallucinations ?
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Keebler
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- You've shared repeatedly that you "just worry that this is all in my head"
If you want to stay on that track, feel free to do so but you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice.
I don't mean to be mean but the time has come to drop all that crap most doctors have shoved down our throats about this "all being in your head."
I know it's hard to read now and you may rather take those ignorant doctors' views over the strangers who post here for you -
but the links provided explain so much.
You do not need to feel alone. But you do have to stand up for yourself and realize that those who have told you "all in your head" are not lyme literate.
I hope you will feel some grounded power in standing up and claiming your right to have answers. You've scheduled a LLMD, right?
In the meantime, know that you are not crazy but whatever is going on is causing these symptoms - and that makes perfect sense.
Wild dreams are part of lyme & other toxic infections. Liver support can help.
So can facing the fear - knowing that you have made an appt. for an assessment with a LLMD - you ARE working on it so ask your subconscious to cut you some slack with those wild dreams, so to speak.
Nurture yourself, knowing that you have the power to get through this, with expert help.
You might call the LLMD whom you are to see and ask for the name of a LL therapist. It's important to get a professionals ideas on what can help along the way.
Take care. -
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Keebler
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- perceptual distortions . . . minor hallucinations . . . night sweats . .. wild dreams ?
ABSOLUTELY. All can go with lyme (you'd also want to be assessed for a range of other tick-borne infections, though).
Now, magnesium, fish oil and liver support can help you hold on until that LLMD assessment.
When is your appointment?
Sorry it's so rough. I've had all you describe (although for me, the minor hallucinations were actually common for many before or after sleep and called: hypnogogic hallucination).
Amy Tan, the author, has described hallucinations she had before diagnosis.
And, I don't want to be too hard on you for holding onto that question about "all in your mind" as that is actually a symptom, too, feeling all out of sorts in so many ways.
It's normal to feel that way, all things considered.
Sadly, all, yes ALL that you have described often goes with lyme & other tick-borne infections.
IT CAN GET BETTER. REALLY.
Keep grounded. It helps to appreciate irony and find what humor you can along the way. Hold on. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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....but I always feel upset and anxious and depressed, have no interest in anything feel trapped in my own body and mind
and:
Also have been waking up in a terrible sweat every morning with wild dreams
Anxiety/depression and night sweats are classic symptoms of babesia. Air hunger, mild dizziness, and a lack of physical stamina are as well. Read down the symptom list in Burrascano's treatment guide (see the stickies at the top of the medical questions page). See what else you may have and take it up with your LLMD.
Posts: 146 | From Maine | Registered: Aug 2011
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posted
Maya12: In recent months i`ve had some terrible neuropsych symptoms. I`ve never had mood swings like this in my life.
I have had lyme/fibromyalgia symptoms for many years and recently started on a magnessium malate/B-6/selenium protocol. I do it 6X per day Mag(200mg), B-6(12mgs), Selenium(12mcgs). It took 4 days to start working for me, but it did give me a lot more energy and has definitely relaxed me some. It might be something to consider.
Posts: 85 | From Northeast | Registered: Mar 2011
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Maya12
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Thanks so much for all your help keebler I have gotten some magnesium and fish oils. Started taking them last night. Thank you for all your reassurance I really do think this is from lyme and co but its the not knowing that's killing me. I am sending the paperwork to an llmd but don't know when my appointment will be.
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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lyme in Putnam
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hi. Jst read this entire post. Keebler, you have always helped and thank you. I've had psych issues especially, the flat, not feeling yourself, numb, no sense of self, just opposite of who I am. Im on iv today is a month. I had a break through and then salt drop, so there is hope.. Its so hard to function when you feel this way, just keep going. my mind was racing so much Sunday, so wrong, then realized my salt was down, something else lyme has done to me. I normally am depersonalized but those days, I was in my own skin I was just myself. It takes time, its sad and scary cause you wonder if you just cracked and if you'll be the same. Please go easy, I wish I could convince myself of this but you will be back. Its just the hardest thing to go through. God bless, its the hardest road to take with this disease. PM anytime, i live this, you'll be ok. God knows our hearts, even though minds aren't working the right way now.
-------------------- He took u to it, He'll you through Posts: 2837 | From NE. | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
Maya - you are getting great advice from Keebler and the rest of the "gang".
I have a few more tidbits to add:
Try to take powdered or liquid supplements - like powdered magnesium, probiotics (I take HMF Replete - it is excellent.)
Your gut is probably compromised. Liquid and powdered supplements will absorb faster and will be more effective.
I mention the allergie-immun drops. These are holistic drops from Germany that can be taken while you're on antibiotics.
I believe that the drops resolved all my anxiety issues. Go to www.allergie-immun.de for more information.
I don't know if your doctor believes in metal detox, but that is another factor in psychiatric disorders. (Big time!)
Do you have metal fillings in your mouth? If you do - Get Them Out! Try to find a dentist who can remove them properly so you don't inhale the toxic vapors (or swallow the metal pieces.)
My doctor found that my brain was loaded with mercury. He put me on an intestinal metal detox called IMD Intestinal Cleanse.
My doctor believes that some people are pre-disposed to mercury toxicity and can't eliminate it from their bodies. You may be one of them
The Lyme Syndrome is complicated.Be patient.
Layers and layers of chronic issues may take awhile to resolve. You need to be pro-active and don't give up!
Do something that makes you happy every day. Simplify your life.
Healer
[ 02-01-2013, 07:05 PM: Message edited by: faithful777 ]
Posts: 163 | From New Jersey | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
Hi Maya12, Psych issues have always been one of the worst parts of this illness for me. They always get worse when I try to detox and during a full moon. Killing off the yeast with Diflucan helped alot with the the depression and some with the anxiety.
I agree it comes from the toxins in our system. Enemas help too. The allergie immun drops discussed above have made mine worse but I believe it is because they are allowing me to detox and I need lots of binders. I have mercury issues and of course this has been linked to mental instability. Whenever I get too anxious I go after the yeast full force and use charcoal as a binder. I also drink Epson salt and take Epson salt baths. Look at the KPU information also. It can cause anxiety and the treatment can calm you down.
You are not alone. Many of us suffer this way and have found ways to calm it down. Last night was a full moon and I was bad again. That's when Ativan helps me.
Best Wishes
-------------------- Misdiagnosed for many years. Treated for many things besides the real issue. Lyme diagnosed April 2008. Parasites diagnosed recently. Past to both my sons. Trying to remain hopeful and thankful. Posts: 144 | From Ohio Valley | Registered: Mar 2009
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Maya12
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Can you ever get rid of heavy metals?
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lyme in Putnam
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I have my fillings. I m counting on my naturopath to help me detox. I know fillings are important, but can't afford that now have had remission before with them,but never more than 2 year remission. Someone will come along with suggestions on how to get rid of the load.
-------------------- He took u to it, He'll you through Posts: 2837 | From NE. | Registered: Apr 2007
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Maya12
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Just wondering to how severe can the memory probs be with lyme? I literally have trouble remembering things from one second to the next which drives me nutts and makes me feel so confused.
How bad can memory probs be?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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I will also forget what I am saying mid sentance , go from room to room forgetting what I went there for
Also can't remember thoughts from like a minute ago
Forget how to perform tasks etc
Is all this normal for lyme when it is this bad and can the memory also come back fully?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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posted
Well, I haven't officially been diagnosed. But, I forget a lot of things and have problems finding words. I think this is normal with lyme???
Posts: 98 | From Ontario | Registered: Feb 2012
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posted
Did you get an appt yet?
Posts: 98 | From Ontario | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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No not yet I am emailing the paperwork today. Is it only the patient questionnaire that needs to be emailed back?
Can lyme really obliterate the memory , I have trouble even remembering what I did earlier today is this normal?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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Also trouble remembering names dates what day it is just feel like I am suffering some form of amnesia uggg is this normal for lyme can mamory get better again
The poor memory makes me feel so stupid and confused
Keep feeling like I have no grip on day time etc
Just feel so out of it and confused
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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Days also seem to flow strangly like they are broken up into gaps of time
By the end of the day the morning feels like it was ddays ago
Has anyone felt so mixed up and out of it that they have trouble percieving time and days normally. It is like you just aren't quite with it and because memory is so bad you feel like you are stuck in the present
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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posted
The symptom sheet and the questionnaire has to be filled out. Fill it out soon so you can get an appt.
Posts: 98 | From Ontario | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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Anyone else felt like what I have described above with memory and perceptual problems?
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Keebler
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- Maya,
ALL that you describe is absolutely common with lyme, other tick-borne infections and certain nutritional deficiencies.
We have to learn how to operate our bodies differently.
PACE yourself.
PLAN each segment before you get up from a rest period.
PRIORITIZE
VISUALIZE what is to be done next and see yourself as if on a movie screen, smooth sailing, so to speak. That way, your brain and body have a clue as to what you are asking.
DIVIDE and CONQUER. Divide tasks into more manageable parts, rest &/or do gentle exercise between.
WILD Salmon, sardines, walnuts, can help. WATER. WATER. WATER. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Maya12
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I certainly don't feel normal but is it possible for the abx to make me feel ever so slightly better?
Just started taking clarithromyacin yesterday and seem to be having a slightly better day than I have had in a while , mood seems slightly more stable
Don't know if this is just coincidence or placebo just wondering if you could feel slight improvement after only 3 pills of abx or is this more than likely just placebo?
I am just wondering too if feeling slightly better on abx is further corobiration that it is likely lyme it just seems unbelievable that I would feel slightly better after only 3 doses
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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Hey keebler thanks again for the reassurance and also I have started on the magnesium , omegas and liver detox
These may be what are making me feel the slightest bit better
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Keebler
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- Q: Is it possible for the abx to make me feel ever so slightly better?
Yes. I felt much improvement the first two rounds of Biaxin for sinus infections (before I knew I had lyme).
Unfortunately, though, a candida infection took over my whole brain and body from that because then I had never been told how to help prevent or address candida. You have that knowledge now, so be on guard.
And remember, though, things can change. We are all sort of in a canoe on a river and the waters' flow, the wind, & all aspects of weather will shift. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Maya12
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Hey keebler how soon did you feel better on the biaxin for the sinus infection ?
Is it silly or more likely placebo that I would feel slightly better after 3 pills
I am really sorry about the candida I am making sure to stay on the nystatin and sporonox while on abx
How did you feel better from the biaxin ie what symptoms improved? Did mood improve
Thanks so much for all your help and wisdom keebler you are a wealth of knowledge and so very helpful
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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Sorry for all the questions keebler you just seem to know so much
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Keebler
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- Maya,
No need to be sorry for questions. If I keep replying that "all you describe is very common for lyme & co" it is to reassure you.
I probably have been replying too much but if I see something that strikes me, I pipe up. You also have other good replies here and we're all pretty much on the same page.
I also hope that others' experiences will help you spend less time than I did early on wondering and worrying and trying to connect all the dots -- and that can take time away from the task at hand.
I do tend to come down hard when I see anyone post about it "being all in their head" or
wondering if, after 3 doses, feeling better is also all in your head, wondering if it could be "placebo" effect, then.
No. No. No. No. It is NOT a placebo effect. Three doses of a strong antibiotic for a sinus infection can, indeed, bring improvement.
Why in the world would we think it placebo effect that medicine works.
I suspect that so many of us have been so verbally abused by doctors that we have come to think far, far too little of our own innate intelligence and instinct.
Especially for women, it seems. I think it's a programmed, societal thing sometimes. And we have to get over that.
MOOD. Pretty much just accept that it's going to be out of sorts and all over the place for awhile. But, there are things that can help, even today.
Wild Salmon, sardine, fish oil. Magnesium, etc.
As for mood and Biaxin, well, if you feel better, you'll feel better in many ways. But, as any Rx can be hard on the liver -- and a stressed liver can cause depression, etc. - you MUST have liver support.
Hey, I'm not so much a wealth of knowledge, really. It's just that I had the same questions as you and spent way too much time dazed.
Hope to help others avoid that.
Now, it occurs to me that in your questions may be a call for communication that can't be achieved through a computer screen.
Be sure to connect to your area lyme support group -- and please call that LLMD with whom you've scheduled an appointment to see if
they can suggest a good LL psychologist/therapist/counselor. Some insurance policies cover mental health services.
This would not be "for lyme" per se as far as insurance is concerned but it is absolutely vital to find a professional who is ILADS-aware and LL.
It will help to TALK with someone. And a professional can also help you reframe some key elements and build on self-communication.
Through cognitive therapy, I learned so many solid skills for how to "talk to myself."
But, if that therapist is not LL, they will not have the knowledge needed to help you figure out lyme-related anxiety, etc.
(Again, salmon, sardines, fish oil & magnesium are key to helping your body be able to settle down.)
Some LL NDs or LL acupuncturists can be marvelous in this area, too. Not necessary so much with formal talk therapy, still, many are great at serious conversations and can offer ways to balance mood.
And do nurture and nourish yourself. -
[ 03-09-2012, 04:21 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
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Maya12
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Thanks keebler for all your help I do assume though that with the right treatment symptoms will go away. If that is the case that will help me alot
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Keebler
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- It may take a while but, yes, with the right treatment, anxiety, depression, "wired but so very tired" stuff most often disappears.
Still, for now there are things that are nearly required along the way:
Magnesium, Fish Oil, Milk Thistle, various key nutrients, avoidance of food triggers, etc.
Talk therapy with LL therapist can be a wonderful help, too.
Refer to past posts on this topic. You can see your posting history by clicking on your posting name.
WHEN IS YOUR FIRST LLMD APPT? -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Maya12
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My first llmd aPpt may not be till june unless I can get a cancelation
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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They will probably call you sooner. They are very efficient about getting people in as soon as they can.
I got in earlier than scheduled.
Posts: 98 | From Ontario | Registered: Feb 2012
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Maya12
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Would this antibiotic be hitting the lyme too?
I don't know if I have noticeed any herxing as I feel crappy all thE time
Am really shakey today
How drastic can the herx be? Can it sometimes be hard to tell if you are herxing?
Posts: 1632 | From Canada | Registered: Feb 2012
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Catgirl
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quote:Originally posted by Truesun: Psych issues have always been one of the worst parts of this illness for me. They always get worse when I try to detox and during a full moon. Killing off the yeast with Diflucan helped alot with the the depression and some with the anxiety
Truesun hit the nail on the head. I felt so bad thursday night (3/8), I didn't realize it was a full moon. Insomnia all night. I just completed a week (previous week) of diflucan to kill the yeast but was not on it on the 8th.
Maya, yeast can mess with you too. Anxious, miserable feelings, like something is seriously wrong with you. We often overlook this in lymeland.
I'm no doctor, but girl, you have lyme and company. 99% of people here do too, so you're not alone. I am loaded with co infections.
It is a bit overwhelming, but it's also really important to stay positive.
Keebler (a gift from God), gave you fabulous advice. She mentioned American Indian drum music (Carlos Nakai). It really helps me. So does acupuncture.
I don't know how people with lyme get by without acupuncture. I actually get it almost every week, and my acupuncturist puts on my favorite Nakai song while I'm treated.
I suggest printing out all of the great info everyone has provided you above so you can refer to it daily (will help calm you down to have answers to your questions). The answers are there, you just have to let them in. :)
-------------------- --Keep an open mind about everything. Also, remember to visit ACTIVISM (we can change things together). Posts: 5418 | From earth | Registered: Mar 2011
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Maya12
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The only thing is I am treating the yeast with antifungal meds and I think I have lyme but don't have a diagnosis yet
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