The Parasite Problem

I'm now just about at the nine month mark of my battle with Lyme and all the problems that come along with it. My plan was to, more or less, be back to normal by July, which would be one full year since when I became sick.

I'm not sure if that's going to happen.

I have certainly made some progress. I've been a little more active, exercising a tad more and going out and about a bit more. I have even been able to do some video gigs, which requires a decent amount of physical activity and standing on my two feet in awkward positions for longer periods of time. Granted, I have to rest for about 24 hours afterwards and there are periods throughout the gig where I feel like I may not make it. Nevertheless, it feels good doing things that the "old Matt" used to do.

But I'm still miles away from the person I used to be. I can still only walk about 15 minutes or so at a time (where I used to run miles every other day). If the old Matt operated at 100%, I would say that the current Matt still operates at a 40%, maybe even less.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't admit that, of late, I've been going downhill a little bit. I've been a tad less stable. I've been walking a little less. I wake up feeling pretty gross and it takes a while for my body to get going.

I have attributed some of this downhill progress to the start of spring and the new pollens being present outdoors. People with Lyme or people who are recovering from Lyme have heightened allergy sensitivities. I do take allergy-neutralizing drops for these issues, but I've been having difficulty coming up with the proper dose.

Allergies, however, are probably only partially responsible for my recent downhill regression. Throughout this whole experience ('war' is a better term than 'experience') I've felt that there's been a bigger piece to the puzzle. I've felt that I was missing something, something BIG, something that, if I pinpointed it, would make a radical difference in my recovery. But what?!

My theory as to what this "puzzle piece" was changed by the day. One day I would think I had liver damage. The next day I would think I had a glutathione deficiency. The day after that I would think I had babesia or some other Lyme coinfection. The next day, I would get my mind thinking I had adrenal and/or chronic fatigue. Then, the next day, I would stumble upon an article that convinced me that my problem was neurotoxins from Lyme die-off. And, then, the day after that, my mind would obsess over the Levaquin (see my blog "Levaquin with a twist of Lyme") all over again and I would convince myself that all my problems were not even Lyme-related anymore, but were longterm after-effects of fluoroquinolone poisoning.

My mind kept racing with what I should do and which direction I should go. Should I spend hundreds of dollars to get tested for coinfections? Should I go see another LLMD (i.e. Lyme-literate doctor) somewhere and start a two year program of IV antibiotics and other drugs? Should I go to a place like the Envita Medical Center in Scottsdale, Arizona and spend tens of thousands of dollars getting Lyme-free from their program? But, then again, was Lyme even my problem anymore? If the Levaquin was the source of all my issues, then I would spend thousands of dollars for nothing.

Many people I knew suggested doctors to me but none of these doctors felt like the right fit. My gut didn't pull me in any of those directions. In fact, my gut didn't really feel right about anything.

In the past, when I've found myself trying too hard to find an answer to something, what usually happened is that the answer was practically right under my nose the whole time.

This may have been one of those cases. 

Allow me to explain. Well, I don't need your allowance, though I appreciate it if you did just allow me. All I'm saying is I'm going to explain regardless of you allowing me. Here's the explanation:

See, at the end of January, my LLMD doctor had "prescribed" the anti-parasitic herb Artemisia to me. He said I needed this herb because I likely had a parasite issue. Whether this parasite was something like Babesia was undetermined but it didn't really matter what it was for; according to my doctor, I needed Artemesia and it would help whatever parasite problem I may have had. At the time, I didn't think this parasite problem was a huge deal and/or that addressing the problem would make a big difference. I had my mind set on Lyme and how to get rid of Lyme. Parasites? Okay, I didn't want those in my precious body but I thought they would be the least of my problems.

Nevertheless, I tried the Artemisia soon after I saw my doctor. I started with only one capsule, 500mg. All seemed okay until later that night when I experienced a muscle-cramp-like feeling in my lower abdomen every time I peed. It was almost like a spasm and it was not comfortable in the least. In fact, it was darn-right frightening!

At the time, I didn't even link the peeing issues with the Artemisia. I actually thought the problem was more likely from me recently upping the dose of my Vitamin C (I was supposed to be taking a whopping 5,400mg a day of Ascorbyl Palmitate Vitamin C). Overdosing on Vitamin C can cause abdominal cramps and even kidney stones, so I thought that was why I had trouble peeing.

I consequently cut back on the Vitamin C (I took a modest 4,050mg a day) and my peeing problems subsided. But, then, one day later, the problems started to come back! This was when I made the link to the Artemisia. I made this link because I had taken another capsule of the herb earlier that night. The pee-pee problems weren't as intense, but it was the same kind of feeling as before. I didn't know if I could chalk these feelings up to some sort of herx (i.e. die-off reaction) or maybe it was an allergic reaction to the herb. Either way, I decided to hold off on the Artemisia until further notice. There were some other herbs and vitamins I was supposed to be working into my regimen (milk thistle and glutathione). I figured I would first try to get used to those, then maybe try the Artemisia again down the road.

Two months went by. Like I said before, by March, I felt like I was starting to go downhill again. My head spun in a zillion different directions, trying like hell to zero in on what my problem could be. What was I missing here? What was the missing piece of the puzzle?! 

And that's when it hit me: hmmm...maybe there was something bigger to this "parasite problem" after all. Maybe the parasite problem was a bigger puzzle piece than I originally thought.

I decided to do some research about Lyme and parasites. I eventually came upon an extremely interesting article by a Dr. Jay Davidson entitled "Removing Parasites to Fix Lyme and Chronic Illnesses".

In the article, Davidson essentially says that the parasitic problem is a huge--but most often overlooked--piece of the Lyme puzzle. He says Lyme and parasites go hand in hand. The human immune system gets so compromised while fighting Lyme, and also while taking antibiotics for the Lyme, that parasites seize opportunity, slip right by your immune system and have a big party.

Antibiotics (like Doxycycyline) kill Lyme microbes but they have no effect on parasites whatsoever. This means that, if Lyme spirochetes are inside the actual parasites, the body of the parasite protects the Lyme from antibiotics, thus keeping Lyme in your body where it can come back out to play at an opportune time down the road.

Is this why Lyme is so difficult to get rid of? Is this why Lyme patients end up with "chronic Lyme"? Because people aren't addressing the parasite problem, which, according to Davidson, affects most people who have Lyme?

Yes, according to Davidson, this may be one of the main reasons why Lyme is so damn difficult to get rid of. He says if you want to get rid of Lyme, you must first address the parasite problem. With no parasites, Lyme has less protection from anti-bacterial medicines and herbs.

Heck, even if you definitely no longer have Lyme, you must still address the parasite problem. Because parasites alone are nothing to sneeze at. They cause all sorts of nasty symptoms that can be just as bad as Lyme itself, including but not limited to:

• Insomnia, consistent fatigue, poor sleeping habits (I had all of these)
• Lowered immune systems, new/heightened allergies and constant illness (yes, I'm more allergy sensitive than I ever was!)
• Rashes, itching, and skin problems such as sores, or eczema/psoriasis (I had nasty sores on my inner thy after taking the Levaquin, sorry for the TMI)
• Mental problems like brain fog, anxiety, depression (Boom, boom and boom; I have all three of these and at times they are very intense!)
• Food cravings (I crave sweets now more than I ever have and now I know this is what feeds parasites)
• Joint and muscle pains (Towards the beginning of my illness I experienced crazy joint and muscle pain, though they are better now)
• Eye spots or difficulties with sight (Um, have you read my previous blog about all the eye issues I have had?!)
• anemia or low blood sugar/adrenal fatigue (I feel terrible after even minimal exercise and, if I am hungry and don't have enough food, I am dead to the world...so much that my doctor tested me for diabetes, which, by the way, was negative)

Now, Davidson goes on to explain that you can address much of the parasite problem by a simple change in diet. Eat LESS sugar, wheat, grain, pork, and dairy. In fact, you may want to eat none of these foods during the parasitic cleanse. Instead, eat MORE foods like pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, garlic, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar and fermented foods like sauerkraut, as these all have anti-parasitic properties.

Davidson also recommends a product called Mimosa Pudica, which paralyzes parasites and removes them from intestinal walls, so they can more easily be removed from the body. Hmmm...that sounded familiar to me. That's exactly what Artemisia was supposed to do. Or at least one of the things it was supposed to do.

The writing was on the wall. My gut finally felt 'drawn' in a certain direction. Perhaps the "bigger piece of the puzzle" finally revealed itself and was, indeed, under my nose the entire time. Maybe it was time I give Artemisia another try.

So I gave it another try and I prayed like h-e-with-a-coupla-hockey-sticks that I'd be able to tolerate it. I thought Artemisia was my last hope! And...

Surprisingly, I seemed to tolerate it. I expected I may have some slight abdominal issues again but I figured I would try and battle through them and hopefully it would all be a herx that would eventually subside over time.

The expected abdominal issues, however, never came. I kept on anticipating their arrival but, no, they never came.

So I took Artemisia again and again. And again and again.

By about day four or five, I started to get some weird symptoms. One morning, I woke up with the worst anxiety ever, like something was literally pressing an anxiety button inside me. Then, later that night, my stomach started giving me all sorts of digestion issues. It literally felt like there was slush in my stomach that wouldn't go anywhere. I thought for sure I would hurl major chunks, but I never did. It was just a slush feeling that never manifested into a ralph.

Oh, and then came the creepy crawlies. Oh, yes, the creepy crawlies! Basically, this is a phantom bug sensation. In other words, it feels like bugs are crawling on your skin. On several occasions I was almost one-hundred-percent positive that I had ants or spiders or worms or--dare I say--ticks crawling on my skin! But nothing was ever there. Weird!

I referred back to my Dr. Davidson article and this was when I noticed the "managing parasitic die-off" section of the article. All the weird symptoms I was experiencing were very typical parasitic die-off symptoms. Anxiety, digestive issues and, yes, the creepy-crawlies -- all typical symptoms. In fact the creepy-crawlies are supposedly NOT phantom bugs whatsoever but they're the parasites themselves, on the run, on the move, trying to scatter and hide from the Artemisia herb and the unlivable conditions it creates. "O Terrible!" they scream. "Hideous herb!"

As gross as it all sounds, I figure it's a good sign that I'm experiencing these classic parasitic die-off symptoms because it likely means a) I have a parasite problem and b) the Artemisia is addressing this problem.

So we shall see. I will continue to take the Artemisia, little by little, maybe up the dose as my comfort with the herb grows, and then I will pray, PRAY, that I am finally addressing a big piece of the puzzle here.

I must say, though, that, as I write this, I already feel a little better. I feel like my body is in less a state of struggle. I also feel less gross and I feel more peppy, even giddy at times (maybe this is a slight high from the herb). As for major changes, however, it's too early to tell. I'm only on my second week of taking the herb, after all. Time will tell whether this is a big puzzle piece. I will be sure to keep you posted with my progress, whether it be little or humongoid!