Health First, It worked!

In early June, I made the commitment to myself to spend the summer trying every single suggestion that a doctor gave to me. I want to get better. It isn't that I haven't wanted to get better in the past but right now I am willing to feel worse, or herx, and miss out on social events if it means that I can make some progress. Sometimes I stop taking a drug for a week before an event, like a wedding, so that I will not experience any die off reactions, or herxing as we call it, and therefore I will feel better and be able to attend the event. I try to balance my treatment with my quality of life. When you have been sick for 11 years, it changes how you view taking breaks from the treatment. I have been forced to figure out how to have a life, or as much of one as I can, while being sick. If I could just power through all of these drugs and treatments and get better, I would do that in a heartbeat. The problem is that with Lyme disease the treatments can be just as bad as the disease. I definitely feel worse when I take antibiotics and parasite medications. Sometimes I have to take a break and feel well enough to see my friends for a weekend. For this summer, I decided to take all of the medications, supplements, and suggestions that my doctor's prescribed no matter what I might miss because of feeling worse.
It is now mid-August and I am happy to report that after following all of my doctor's suggestions, I have more energy. I am thrilled but also kind of shocked. For years I have taken so many drugs and they only help me about 10%. For the past 8 to 10 weeks, I took high doses of Alinia and Malarone drugs for my Babesia infections. The first week on the drugs, I herxed so badly that I spent a week on the couch due to fatigue. Eventually, I could tolerate more and more of the drugs. I also hunted down every supplement that all three of my main doctor's recommended. I ended up calling some strange telephone numbers in different states to hunt down supplements. One woman on the other end of the phone asked me if I wanted the supplement for my garden. I had to tell her that I was supposed to ingest it. After taking so many supplements, medications, and herbs a day that my stomach constantly felt overly full, I decided to practice yoga, sit in hot tubs to raise my temperature to kill the bugs, and exercise (as much as I could). I even changed my diet. I made the yoga and exercise a high priority so that no social engagement would ever come before them. I felt empowered that I was finally using all of my resources to try to get better. I had no idea if it would work because of my slow progress in the past but it did!!! I have more energy now. I am not cured but I am more functional. I can do multiple things in each day. I still can't work or finish college but I am out of the house and exercising! The big question is: what is helping me? Is it a combination of medications, changing my diet, and doing yoga? I tried so many different ideas at once that it is hard to tell. My next task is to figure out what is finally helping me.