In March 2009, I did something that made no logical sense for my health but was a wonderful experience. I went with my mother, my sister, and 3 cousins to Italy.
It was a nightmare for my body, but I just didn’t care. I decided up front to plan to spend every second day in bed (and stocked up on a bunch of Sicilian mysteries by Andrea Camilleri on my Kindle). On the in between days, I went out with them, asked them to move slowly, and loved every minute of Rome and Puglia, the region my family is from.
One of the things I did not so well was eating. Let’s be honest, the food was amazing. Freshly picked vegetables. Seafood pulled out of the Adriatic Sea only hours earlier. Everything yummy. Artichokes were in season. My mouth was in heaven. So what if I was allergic to half of what I was eating. I avoided eggs (the food that provokes an autoimmune attack on my nervous system), and ate everything else: tomatoes, gelato, eggplant, cheese, fresh baked bread and focaccia, marzipan.
My two favorite meals still linger clearly in my mind. First was artichokes a la romana. There is a variety of artichokes that grows just outside Rome. Traditionally it’s braised, with the stem peeled but kept on to eat and most of the outer leaves removed, in lemon, olive oil, salt and mint. Heaven. Nirvana. I was moaning with pleasure as I ate the one on my plate at Le Fate in Trastevere.
The second amazing meal was in Barletta, on the Adriatic Coast at Ristorante Osteria Al Duomo. Luciano, the waiter, told us to get mussels. I’ve never eaten so many mussels in one sitting. They were absolutely out of this world. I had three or four bowls of them. (And pasta and vegetables and a lemon ice.) Luciano wanted to know where I was putting it all.
I’m thinking of these meals today because I went to an Italian restaurant in Forest Hills, Dee’s, and ordered two appetizers for my meal: artichokes a la romana and mussels in white wine sauce. The food was great, but it lacked the freshness of the meals I ate in Italy. The artichokes are out of season, but they didn’t taste frozen. The mussels had a local taste, but were catapulted to greatness by the sauce.
Sometimes I get confused into thinking my life came to a standstill because of Lyme Disease. Too many days suffering on the couch will do that to me. I feel like I’ve been coming out of a fog this summer, even as I feel the fall flare starting up. Still, when I can remember the things I’ve managed to pull off, like the trip to Italy, even with its limitations and challenges, I can tell that Lyme never really beat me.
Coiling
- Babesia, ilium, 1 minute each side; knees/elbows, 1 minute; liver, 5 minutes; chest, 5 minutes
- Candida, abdomen, 10 minutes; chest, 2 minutes
Detox
I did well on eating yummy food, but not so well on detoxing. That is still a work in progress.
- skin brushing
- Biomat (1 hour, level 3)
- lemon water
- Welchol (1 pill)
As the night is progressing, my headache is getting much worse (see below for the beginnings of it). I’m not sure if it’s the Herx still working on me or the food sensitivities or the food stuff making the Herx worse. So I’m trying Welchol again to see if that helps with the possible Herx aspect of the headache.
Body
I slept pretty well last night, just over 8 hours with one night sweat. I woke up with strong pain in the bones of my middle and ring fingers on my left hand, strong enough pain to make me smart.
I’m having lots of back pain today. Most of the first half of the day it was across my lower back. It hurt enough that my walking slowed significantly. The rain is killing me. And I think the Lyme Herx is working its way out.
I’m a bit tired, more so than usual. I attribute it to the increased pain level. I’ve had migrating bone pain in my feet and hips, my hands and forearms. My shoulders and jaw are popping. I’ve got an itch over the painful muscles in my back.
When I ate out today, there was tomato (unexpectedly) in the white wine sauce. I’ve had a mild response to the food: intense headache in the front of my head, extending back on the right side, with eyeball pain, minor light sensitivity, my abdomen is harder and more swollen than this morning or yesterday. That rash on my sternum is more itchy than yesterday.
I’ve got floaters in my vision and ear pain in my right ear. My bowels are still disturbed. My bladder only hesitated once this morning.
I’ve got enough of a headache to not want to write more.
Categories: healing process, Herx reactions
Tags: babesia, candida, detox, food, food allergies, lyme, symptoms
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Coiling for Lyme 
We’re on the same wavelength. I finally got around to posting about my trip to Gaeta, Italy back in October.
A few nights ago, my neighbors invited me over to meet their relatives who were visiting from…Puglia. Had a great time conversing in half Italian/half English and trying to figure out the dialect.
Keep dry and safe this weekend.