I Got Unlucky Door Number Three.

I’ve been too sick to tell you how sick I’ve been. The above photo is how I spent most of the past week. It was not pleasant.

At my consult with my new doctor at Holtorf Medical Group he recommended a new treatment. He sent me home with the medicine, and told me one of three things would happen when I took it: 1) I would feel good, 2) I wouldn’t notice anything, 3) I would think he tried to kill me. 

You guessed it. I got number three.

When he mentioned the possibility of feeling like he tried to kill me, I didn’t take it too seriously or ask too many questions. I was unfazed by the idea of something making me feel sick because I’ve had so many bad reactions to medications and treatment over the years.  Been there, done that, I always get through it.

Well, this was different. My doctor was not exaggerating when he said I would think he tried to kill me. Within three hours of taking the medication, I was extremely nauseated, my eyes felt heavy as lead, and I felt awful. I literally could not function. The room was spinning, I couldn’t focus, and any motion whatsoever exacerbated the nausea. Looking at my phone or computer was out of the question. Any motion on either device made me feel as though I was about to vomit. 

I spent the day rotating between a comfy chair and the sofa. Even though I felt horrendously bad, I wasn’t too concerned, as I figured it would pass by morning. Oh, how wrong I was. The symptoms lasted for a week. Seven full days. Count ‘em. Seven days of doing nothing but trying to get through the day. Somewhere around Wednesday when I felt no better than when it all started on Saturday, despair began to set in. I was wondering if this was my new permanent condition.

Mercifully, I was wrong about that, and I eventually began to feel better. But it was rough. Holy cow. As I said, I’m used to feeling badly, but this was a whole different level.

The treatment in question is called Low Dose Immunotherapy, which has proven to be helpful in treating chronic lyme disease. It works off the same theory used in treating allergies. The premise is the immune system is overreacting to the allergen, or in the case of lyme disease, the lyme bacteria. 

The way LDI works is an extremely diluted dose of dead lyme bacteria is introduced to the patient, with the hopes of desensitizing the immune system to said bacteria. Said another way – the theory is that my immune system basically goes ballistic when it encounters the lyme bacteria. LDI is supposed to help my immune system and the lyme bacteria get along better. No more shouting.

My husband has done a great deal of research on LDI, which is one of the main reasons we decided to give Holtorf Medical a try, as they have been successfully using LDI for several years. You may read more about LDI here.

So, what does my severe reaction to my initial dose of LDI mean? We are not sure. My follow up with my doctor is next week, and he will explain everything. Based on my husband’s research, we believe my reaction is an indicator my immune system is definitely overreacting to the lyme bacteria. If that’s really the case, that gives us hope LDI may be helpful for me. But, we are not doctors, and we are guessing. 

Stay tuned.