posted
As several of you may know hubby has been having pain issues, G.I. issues and debilitating muscle spasms.
LLMD suggested prolotherapy. Doc we found wanted hubby to try a muscle relaxant and a different pain med (couldn't combine his current pain med with the muscle relaxant). He had only been on pain meds since his ER visit on 12/3.
This new doc (an osteopath) was going to be doing spinal adjustments and body work to try to correct scoliosis and a tight psoas muscle which in theory is causing pain and tremors/myoclonus. Being out of alignment is putting pressure on the cranial nerves in the cervical area and contributing to the tremors/myoclonus.
Well, I messed up -- didn't do enough research on the new pain med. Talked to the pharmacist and even read the package insert. Asked about drug interactions, but forgot the most important piece of info. How does the drug work -- mechanism of action?
Almost ended up in the ER today. Enough is enough. Have an appointment with an herbalist tomorrow to get some advice and maybe an objective opinion. This herbalist is trained in both Western herbs and Chinese medicine.
Will post an update when we get back Friday.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Good luck with the herbalist! I'll be looking forward to an update.
Posts: 106 | From Michigan | Registered: Oct 2006
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Jill E.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9121
posted
Bea,
I am constantly in awe of your determination, perserverence and obviously love to help your hubby get the relief he needs without making anything worse.
I think we all feel like guinea pigs!!
I can't remember if your hubby has ever tried Bartonella treatment. But the onset of my myoclonus, increased twitching, tremoring, severe muscle spasms, etc., (all new symptoms after two years of other Lyme symptoms) seem to correlate to some degree with my beginning Bart treatment and my Bart tests going positive.
Unfortunately I had to stop Bart treatment due to medication issues and am getting much worse.
But whenever I see posts by you, I see so many similarities between your hubby's symptoms and mine, although mine started more with the burning neuropathy and other symptoms.
I know you've been leaving no stone unturned, and I recall some discussion about Babesia, but I was trying to remember if you had mentioned any Bartonella issues.
Best wishes with the herbalist. Please keep us posted. Let's hope this finally opens a door for improvement.
Take care, Jill
-------------------- If laughter is the best medicine, why hasn't stand-up comedy cured me? Posts: 1773 | From San Diego | Registered: Apr 2006
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northstar
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7911
posted
Bea, I pray this will bring some resolution to your husband's symptoms. Perhaps it is all a process, one thing building on another, and all previous actions were necessary, to get to the point where this may help.
That is what I have found out in my journeys...each was necessary, and every new step added something. None was a quick cure by itself.
Northstar
Posts: 1331 | From hither and yonder | Registered: Sep 2005
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AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
sorry your husband had such a bad reaction with the pain meds.
I hope the herbalist can find something that will alliviate his symptoms.
The herbalist got an ear full. Hubby was actually having a pretty good day and talked his head off.
I put the herbalist on the spot and asked him if intuitively he felt that hubby's symptoms were still from Lyme and other coinfections. He said that he felt the infections were gone and that maybe he just had some residual damage. I don't really believe that, but time will tell.
See my Eureka!! post to read some strange and startling things we discovered at hubby's bodywork appointment after we saw the herbalist.
Actually since the appointment lasted so long hubby became very symptomatic after the appointment -- movement (after sitting for 2 1/2 hours) and then a 15 minute car ride to the hotel activated all sorts of symptoms. As I said surprisingly the 4 1/2 car ride to get to the herbalist didn't upset him nearly as much as usual.
The herbalist is going to compound 2 formulas and mail them to us -- one is for G.I./liver support and the second is for muscle spasms/nervous system. Will report later on how these formulas work out.
Jill,
Hubby had a horrible response to Rifampin about 1 1/2 years ago. This was a clinical diagnosis. He only managed to take a total of 20 Rifampin pills in 20 or 30 days. Even so, that was the med that really woke up his brain. I actually mentioned this to his LLMD last week, but he didn't think retrying Rifampin was the way to go right now.
If we can physically make hubby's appointment in mid February I will bring this up again in person. LLMD can't prescribe meds right now as hubby has not seen him in person for over a year and PCP is reluctant to prescribe meds as well.
Hubby talked to the manufacturer of Rifampin and all the dyes that are added have no medical purpose. He found a lab -- Wellness Pharmacy in Alabama -- who said they could formulate this med without the dye.
We wanted to try that since it almost seemed like he had a toxic reaction to the Rifampin. Actually symptoms were somewhat similar to Vicodin experience -- tremors/myoclonus returned the worst they had been for a year or two. That time IV phosphatidylcholine is what finally reversed the drug reaction.
Hubby did follow the rifampin with one month of oral Cipro. Actually had had 2 months of Levaquin a year or so before -- only med he never herxed on. Really hard to say what the rifampin was doing.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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