Dave’s Blog
No News is Good News
Chris is doing fine. He takes the Byron White formula A-L Complex, psych drugs and a number of supplements including EMPowerplus. He has been on an aggressive antibiotic regimen for about two months now. We waited to start it until we got an EKG to get some baseline data since both Haldol and these antibiotics are known to increase risk for heart attacks. The antibiotics he is taking include Azithromycin, Cefdinir, and Tinidazole, the latter for two weeks on two weeks off. As Dr. Z explains, one kills the spirochetes, one kills the cyst form and one kills the cell wall deficient form. (Borrelia burgdorferi is pleomorphic. It morphs into different forms depending on the...
Read MoreBetter Late than Never
May 15 2012. Maybe today we will start on the elephant in the room that has been ignored by his health care providers for years, neuroborreliosis (Lyme disease) and C. pneumonia. Chris and I gave Dr Z the rundown on the interventions he had suggested. Chris has sequentially taken each. The Byron White formula for Babesia had no effect. Same with the Bartonella formula. The Amatadine 100 mg twice a day was associated with poor sleep for a few days and may have been associated with his post Odyssey House hypomania. We told him about the additional Depakote and that I was giving Chris carnitine again. He agreed with that. I told Dr Z that while Borna Disease virus is linked...
Read MoreMore of the Same
After Chris left the halfway house called Odyssey House following his hospitalization, he began getting manic again. He had been taking his medicines but not the EMPowerplus which he had taken while at Odyssey House. The Amantadine may also have been a factor. We saw his psychiatrist whom we will call Dr P along with his case manager on 3 May. They expressed surprise that in spite of taking his medications he was still hypomanic. I suggested that he take the supplements before trying more medications, pointing out that excessive free radicals are associated with manic episodes, suggesting antioxidants for his excessive oxidative stress. Dr P said free radicals only...
Read MoreWhere do We Go from Here?
Earlier in our odyssey, we learned that testing “proved” that he had Bartonella Henselae and that he didn’t have Babesia. In 2002 his Bartonella was treated with Cipro and supposedly cured, but later the testing indicated the infection had returned. He was successfully treated a second time. Chris’ doc at that time—we can call him Dr S—said he didn’t have Babesia. I figured we could leave that all behind. Not so. At our 5 March appointment with Dr Z he said he wanted Chris to sequentially take two homeopathic drops from the Byron White Formulas, A Bart and A BAB, starting with five drops twice a day and increasing to 15 twice a day unless he has a Herx....
Read MoreOne Step Forward, Two Steps Back
The one step forward came on 9 February when we shared the lab results with Chris’ psychiatrist. She agreed in principle to reduce the medications if and when we had successfully treated his Lyme disease. Chris was confidently exclaiming, as he has in the past, that he didn’t need the meds now because of the length of time since his last episode. I cautioned him that him that spring is always a high risk time of year. He denied it. That night, he did not take his medication nor did he get it at the pharmacy in spite of my calling him three times to remind him. The next day I put the last of the medications in his pill container and told him I would return to do the...
Read MorePioneering test proves existence of chronic Lyme disease.
On January 25, 2012, I received word that Chris definitely has Lyme disease. The results from the new test for Borrelia burgdorferi by Advanced Laboratory Services came back positive. No more equivocating! The test grew live spirochetes from my son’s blood. After six days there was some Immuno staining suggestive of Borrelia burgdorferi, but the scientists could not find a spirochete and thus did not make a positive diagnosis. After two months the spirochetes were observed and confirmed by PCR. The epidemiological data is supported by the biological data. We already know about the six fold increased risk of psychosis with C. pneumonia. We already know about the almost...
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