"Do you remember the story of The Tortoise and the Hare?" my Lyme doctor said to me last week. "Well, I want you to be the tortoise, not the hare!"
So, what does this mean in terms of where I'm at with the Lyme treatment?
As you all know, the first round of antibiotics made me so sick that I ended up heading to the emergency room by ambulance for dehydration. I probably just increased the dosage of doxycycline too quickly, had too much 'die-off' of Lyme bacteria, and overloaded my 'sensitive' system.
After stabalizing me with some new meds--and the passage of time, we started antibiotic treatment again.
I am now at dose number 10 of minocycline. I started at the end of April. We started with ONE dose per WEEK, and I am gradually working to decrease the intervals between doses. Right now, I am taking one dose every five days.
The first day after I take a dose of the mino, I feel like a 'wet dishrag'--extreme exhaustion, weakness, tachycardia, achiness, joint pain, sweats, brain fog, etc. By the time I am ready for the next dose, things have settled down a bit. The goal is to be able to tolerate treatment, and not overload my system like I did last time...
My reaction to the antibiotics is consistent with what is called a 'herxheimer reaction', so we have hope that we are on the right track.
I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. During the period that I was off of the antibiotics (after my system had stabalized), I started to have some 'windows' of cognitive clarity where I could do more email or talk on the phone. I had a bit more energy and felt a bit more 'human', which was exciting.
The Swahili saying that my friend Ted taught me remains my motto: Slowly, slowly, that is the way. Quickly, quickly, it gets you nowhere.
Blessings,
Emily
Photo: Taken from our living room window the other day. This bunny didn't even notice me open the window and shoot several pictures of her!
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