Wednesday, June 13, 2012

News from the six and a half year mark

I haven't wanted to deal with Lyme Disease for awhile.  Mostly because it's an identity I don't want but also because I have been steadily improving and spending time doing other things.

Hope is something that helped me through the very dark days.  I used to search for those people who got well and went back to their lives-- maybe not entirely but enough to make it worth living.

So at my six and a half year mark, I want other fellow lymies to know that my life is so much better.  I have a few days every other month or so when symptoms put me in bed but it usually is due to my own bad decisions about consuming sugar, white flour or caffeine.  Or if I don't sleep for a couple nights due to stress.

The science is getting better.  Since I began treatment, Dr. Eva Sapi and Dr. Alan MacDonald have discovered the presence of biofilm made by the Borrellia burgdorferi.  http://www.canlyme.com/Sapi_et_al_2011.pdf
This means that antibiotics alone may not get rid of all the forms of the organism.  By including enzymes which destroy biofilms in treatment protocols, outcomes may be better.

I believe my own healing took a dramatic leap forward when I began taking the supplement Nattokinase.  Actually, I took a supplement called Endovan for endometriosis which contains nattokinase.   I suffered from severe endometriosis and was about to undergo surgery when an online search revealed this enzyme that could dissolve fibrin.

After only a month taking 5 pills a day, my endometriosis pain was significantly less and now, a year into the supplement, I have no pelvic pain whatsoever and my lyme symptoms dramatically improved.  Could it be that the biofilms were broken down and my immune system better able to kill the infection?

Dealing with this illness has changed me.  The greatest change being my views about alternative medicine.  If not for my trail and error with many supplements, natural doctors and alternative modes of healing and detoxification, I would not be doing as well as I am.  I am a firm believer in the mind body connection and the fact that antibiotics are not a cure, food and lifestyle are the best medicine for this disease.