Past Treatments and a lot of Pills!

As you know, I have been treating my Lyme disease and co-infections for a few years. In my last post I said I was going to list all of my past, today is the day!
Most of the bottles I saved are herbs/supplements, but I have a few prescriptions like nystatin and doxycycline. Here it goes, its long...

For chelation-
3 bottles of Total Chelate by nutriwest, Started March 2015, 1 pill 3x daily, worked up to 2 pills 2x daily
2 bottles of DMSA Synergy from GS nutrients, 100mg 1 pill once daily, 3 days on 11 off(Doctors protocol)
2 bottles of King Chlorella from Nutricology, 10 pills spread throughout the day
2 bottles of DMSA from living supplements, followed the Cutler protocol, first bottle was 12.5mg, 1 pill every 4 hours, 3 days on, 4 off. I started this June 12, 2015, finished midnight September 5, 2015
A total of 560 pills

Probiotics-
Culturelle while I was taking Doxy, 1-2 daily, 180 pills
3 bottles of Body Biotics SBO's, I started at 1 two times a day, ended with 2-3 twice a day, started early 2015, finished May 24
Bowtrol Probiotics, 1 bottles, 2 daily, September 2015
2 Bottles Innate Flora 20-14, 2 per day(IIRC)
1 bottle NOW Probiotic-10,1 3x daily
1 bottle Biotics research S.Boulardii 2 daily
1 bottle Colon Plus also biotics 1tsp daily
=710 pills, not counting powder
I know a few of these are missing, I took more culturelle, another probiotic from Natures Sunshine, and at least 1 other. Plus I consume goat kefir and yogurt often(not pasteurized), but those don't count here

Vitamins-
Vitamin K2 from NOW, 4 bottles(from memory, only saved two), 600mcg daily, started early 2015, finished in June.
B-Complex, 1 daily, Metabolic Maintenance 1 Bottle, Started around August 2015, ended October 2015
5-MTHF Metabolic Maintenance, 1 bottle, 1 pill a day. Started with B-Complex, 2 bottles
Active B12 Folate, Prothera 1 pill a day, 3 bottles, started with Doxycycline
2 Bottles of Esther C, doses varied the ND had me doing 10g at one point, end of 2014/beginning of 2015
Active MTHF Complementary Prescriptions, 3 bottles, 1 pill a day.
1 bottle of Liposomal vitamin C, 3 pills a day, started in Oct.2015
1 bottle of CoQ10 from Metabolic Maintenance, 1 pill a day, Started with B-Comp.
2 bottles of Lithium Orotate. 1 bottle from Swanson and 1 from Advanced Research, 1 5mg pill a day, started after 1st hair test.
Custom Multivitamin Powder from Metabolic Maintenance, 1.5 tsp per day, 1 bottle, Started end of January 2015
3 bottles of NOW vitamin D-3, 10,000 IU per day, Started with K2
Calm Magnesium powder, 2 tsp per day, started with doxy, I only saved 2 bottles but I have continuously taken it since Aug.2013. I am going to estimate 6 bottles.
1 bottle of Green pastures Blue Ice Cod liver/butter oil, 8 per day, same as K2
There is definitely more, this is just what I coudld remember plus what I saved.
=2,350 pills not counting magnesium and vitamin powder!

Herbs(another big category!)
Grapefruit seed extract, nutribiotics, 3 per day(IIRC), 2 bottles
1 bottle of Swanson Grapefruit seed extract liquid, both of these were spring 2015
4 bottles of Swanson Milk thistle, 2 pills 3x daily, Started June 5, stopped end of Oct 2015
3 bottles of NOW Eleuthero capsules, 3 pills 3x daily, same as grapefruit seed extract
13 bottles of Swanson Andrographis Paniculata, 3 pills 3x daily, I started this early 2015
1 bottle of NOW Andrographis, same dose
2 bottles of Natures Sunshine Black Walnut, bottle one Aug., b.2 October 2015
2 bottles Artemisia Combinations, started 8/20 ended 9/5, 2015 B. 2 same as b2 black walnut
3 bottles of NOW Cats Claw, 3 pills 3 times a day, same as andrographis
2 bottles POA Phytolens, 2 pills 2x daily, 2015

2 bottles NOW black walnut/wormwood complex tincture, Feb. 2014
10bottles cryptolepis tincture from Montana Farmacy, first dose 15 drops, ended at 1/2 tsp 3x daily, started May , ended August. 2015
3 bottles Alchornea Cordifolia, 1/4 tsp, June-July 2015
1 bottles Sida Acuta 1/4 tsp, August-Sept.1
1 bottle Houttuynia tincture, Montana Farmacy, 1/4 tsp, June-July 2015
1 bottle Nutramedix Cumanda, started June 5
1 bottle Nutramedix Quina, started June 5
1 bottle Nutramedix Pinella started May 15
1 bottle Nutramedix Burbur started May 15

3 bottles of Biocidin from Bio Botanical Research, started around December 2014
2 bottles of Humaworm, bottle 1 January 2015, b.2 May 2015
1 bag of Houttuynia powder, I started at 1/4tsp and worked up to 1 tsp 3x daily, finished in Sept.15'

=2,270 pills, not counting liquids
This isn't counting the herbs I took first round with the ND for candida.

Other Misc. from the ND

Nutriwest-
1 bottle L-Glutamine
2 bottles methyl renew
2 bottles Total Cort
4 bottles DSF herbal
=630 pills

Metabolic Maintenance-
3 bottles Melatonin 9mg at night
3 bottles of L-Theanine
= 780

NOW-
2 bottles L-Ornithine 6 pills daily
1 bottle L-Theanine
2 bottles L-Arginine/Ornithine combo, 6 pills daily, 1 bottle 2014, 1 2015
=860 pills

Wellbrain-
2 bottles Adrestore
2 bottles Dopalift
=480 pills
1 bottle of Immuno gG from biotics research(idk when I took this, it was 2012)
2 bottles Sleep Deep from Dancing Willows, 2014
1 bottle Adrena Calm by Apex Energetics
= 100 pills

Other Misc.
4 bottles of Nystatin pills, 2 pills 2x per day
2-3 bottles Argentyn 23, 1 tsp 5x, 2014
Odorless garlic, 1,000 mg, 2014
4-5 Bottles Doxycycline, 4 liquid 1 pills, 100mg 2 times daily
= 580 pills

Homeopathics
4 bottles Ledum Palustre 30C. 5 pills 3x daily
1 bottle Boiron Silicea 30C
1 bottle Arnica Montana 30C
1 Bottle Calc.Phos. 6x
1 bottle Ruta Graveolens
1 bottle Calc.Phos 30X
2 bottles Mediral Rocky Mountain Spotted fever
1 bottle Physica Relax Milieu
=880 pills

This comes to a total of 9,160 pills!!! Except for 3 bottles(Artemisia, 5MTHF, and Dopalift), I didn't count anything I am taking currently. I didn't even count the liquids which includes the doxy and cryptolepis.
Almost 10,000 pills and I am still sick! This is just wrong. Most of these were in the last 1.5 years. What the heck.

 

I know some things aren't even included, like Dr.L had me take 3 rounds of mebendazole, 2 weeks each, and 2 rounds biltricide. IV drugs aren't counted. Essential oils weren't counted. And a few other miscellaneous things weren't counted. All of these have also been significant in my treatments.

Looking back, only a few of these were helpful. The cryptolepis tincture, DMSA, Ledum, and IV drugs made anything lasting. Houttuynia was also helpful, it was definitely killing something, I started at 1/4 tsp once a day and it made me feel horrible. I felt like I was going crazy. I would get this spacey feeling, I would become depressed at night, and I couldn't focus. It was one of the worst herxes I have ever had. The sad part is, idk if it gave me any lasting effects. It is traditionally used for Bartonella, which I have never been positive for. I decided to try it to see if bart would start showing up positive at the ND. Babesia never showed up until I started taking cryptolepis, I started taking it and I started testing positive on the bio machine. I thought the houttuynia would do the same for bart if I have it.


The ND has tried to push several of these products on me, especially several of the vitamins and Nutriwest. They are fine products, but they aren't what I need. What I need is to strengthen my body and get my body to kill the bacteria.
The probiotics definitely helped my stomach and candida. Before I tried the modified GAPS diet I had extremely high serotonin, which is made in the gut. After the diet and probiotics, its now too low actually. All of my neurotransmitters are low now. I will be making a post about this in the future. I just have to figure out....where did I put those test results...

In my next post I am going to highlight my current protocol and possible changes.

I wanted to right more...but it took about two hours to type all of this out.
 I.am.toast.

Why Diet is Important

     A few posts ago I wrote about my views on Lyme treatment, and some things that can be done to boost the immune system. In that post I spoke a lot on what should be eliminated from our diets. Today I want to talk about what we should add to our diet!
     What we eat is just as important as what we avoid eating. We can avoid all of the chemicals we want, but if empty calories are what replaces the chemicals its really not much of a difference.
Bread, pasta, cereal, jam, jelly, grits, cornbread, and potatoes are examples of foods most of us eat on a frequent basis.

    All of these foods can be prepared with minimal chemicals. The catch is, they have very little nutrient value. Then on top of these nutrient empty staples, we have the calorie counting/no fat bandwagon. Our bodies do not count calories, or even use them. The calorie is a unit of measure. The small calorie is the amount of energy it takes to heat one gram of water, one degree Celsius. The large calorie is the amount of energy needed to heat one kilogram of water by one degree, Celsius.
 
    Our brains are about 60% fat. Brain tissue is created from essential fatty acids. How is brain tissue supposed to be created without its building blocks? I don't know. Hard to make something without the correct ingredients in my opinion...

   Our bodies are built from minerals, protein, and vitamins. Calories have their time and place, they aren't useless. If building your immune system is a goal, look at the nutritional information instead.
Our bones are built from calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, plus trace minerals. In fact our bones are the stores for minerals. They can be weakened as a result of a mineral deficient diet.
Calcium and phosphorus are found in dairy products like milk, yogurt, and kefir. People drink milk all the time, great right? Not if its pasteurized. The pasteurization process destroys nutrients according to Dr.Weston Price, A dentist from the 1920's. Dr. Price discovered something in the native groups of Alaska, Switzerland, and Australia. The people would never get cavities. Their bodies are capable of rebuilding their teeth, because they consume the building blocks to do so!
Dr. Price went looking for support of a vegan, plant based diet. He couldn't find it. He found that the diet of these people was primarily meat products.
The people of these native tribes typically never connected with the outside, modern world. They were completely self sustaining. These people were not influenced by the no fat, low calorie, plant based diet fad.
     
     Whenever I search for the internet for advice to improve my diet, vegan and vegetarianism are some of the first hits. A diet must be better without meat by what the research shows, right? Dr. Price found the opposite. The natives, who ate primarily meat, had a very low instance of disease, birth defects were few and far between,  cavities were rare (especially in the Australians), and had non-existent crime. I've never heard anyone say any of this about potatoes or cabbage. You?

    What was different about their meat and dairy from ours is this. They didn't pasteurize anything, the animals were farm raised on their natural diet, and to preserve food they fermented it. If milk needed to be preserved it was turned into cheese or yogurt. Both of these food products in their natural state (no dyes, preservatives, etc.. ) are high in the nutrients we need to survive. Vitamin K2, for example, is something that is diminishing from our diet. Cultured dairy products contain K2 in beneficial amounts, no longer found in their processed cousins...

    The natives also ate organ meats, and knew which organs were beneficial for certain ailments.  Organ meats are loaded with nutrients. The adrenals are high in vit.C, and the liver in vit.A, for examples. The vitamin A from meat is also a different form than from fruits/vegetables, retinol instead of beta carotene. Beta carotene has to be converted into retinol to be used by the body. The animal has already done that! Here's an example-
Imagine the a cow. The cow eats grass, its body breaks the nutrients down, then uses them to build  their tissues. We are capable of the same process, but we can also eat the animal, who has already broken apart the nutrients. There is always more than one method to accomplish a goal.

    The above is just the beginning of creating a well balanced diet. I didn't even talk about the benefits of bone broth, soups/stews, kefir, or eggs.
As a society we definitely need to consume more plants than we do, but I think we discount the health benefits of meat. Plant foods are invaluable to our health, I will make a post about them in the future. One example of fruit/vegetable benefits I like is this found here.

There is just so much to be said about diet! I could have gone on forever but decided this was enough for today :)