As I mentioned in my last post, I had a two week planned break from coiling (Jan 13-25). I did my best guess of when to take a break based on a few factors:
- I was expecting to be done coiling for Babesia by the beginning of January.
- The Lyme coiling season is usually August to December, and for my first coiling season it might go to the beginning of January. The next season should begin in mid-February.
I bought the tickets in October and crossed my fingers that these two ideas would turn out alright. I also wanted to go on a trip for my birthday to be out of the city on an adventure. My last 5 birthdays were a bit agonizing, even when I went out with my parents to dinner. Those were during the very stuck, very difficult years. And since the coiling has started to show signs of working, I’ve been more interested in living again.
Lyme Coiling
By the end of December, I was feeling much, much better. The improvement the last few days of 2011 were startling. I walked a lot. I wore myself out and overdid it, but I got to do a lot before reaching that point. I still needed a fair amount of rest, but there was still time left over each day for living it up (which to me meant playing with my nephew, going for walks, playing scrabble, hanging out with my family and similar low key activities).
I kept coiling for Lyme until I no longer had any signs of herxing. My last Lyme coiling session was January 5. The Lyme symptoms: joint, heart and neurological did not return during my trip. This part of the plan worked out right.
Babesia Coiling
In the meantime, I ramped it up on the Babesia treatments. I heard that I should coil for 2-3 weeks past the last symptoms/herx. That turned out to be tricky. I took a 1-day break to drive to my sister’s house in VA. When I got there and started coiling again, I had symptoms for 2-3 days. Then I coiled religiously for the time I was there. I took a two day break on the way back. Once again, I had symptoms for a few days, mostly headaches. But I had less than three weeks before my big trip & coiling break.
From January 5-11, I coiled for Babesia 3 times per day, hoping to fully knock it out. On January 12, before I left for the airport, I coiled for 32 minutes, getting full body coverage.
If I could have finagled it differently, I would have liked to have no breaks between December 1, when I think most of the Babesia symptoms were over, and when I left for San Francisco. But I did okay.
The main symptoms I had that might have been Babesia were two nightmares, a severe headache the day I took the plane, and several bouts of fatigue. That being said, I’m not sure they are attributable to Babesia. The nightmares might easily have been a response to being back in the city where I first felt the definitive signs of illness. The headache reappeared when I got off the return flight, but I didn’t have severe headaches in between. And the fatigue could be from overdoing it, despite my sister’s admonitions not to.
This part of the plan went off okay.
Candida Coiling
I was only doing maintenance coiling of candida, just enough to prevent it from causing symptoms, but not enough to eradicate it. (I like to tackle one thing at a time, and I was already doing 2!) In addition, I’ve been taking 5LAC, one packet a day with breakfast, hoping to both keep the candida at bay and to rebuild my gut flora.
While I was on my trip, I goofed up in a few ways. First, I had grains (brown rice, mostly) too frequently. Then I forgot to take the 5LAC for three consecutive days.
The consequences were minor, if embarrassing: a few huge, deep pimples, minor constipation, and a whole lotta gas.
All in all, I did okay with the candida.
Bartonella Coiling
This is the illness that got me nervous. I’ve been doing maintenance coiling of Bartonella for a long time. In the past, if I missed it, I could feel it the next day in my feet. My only consolation is that I survived for many years not treating it, and I took a several month break from antibiotics (in the pre-coiling era). I was able to recover from no treatment both times. So I rationalized that two weeks away from Bartonella coiling would be okay.
Mostly it has been okay. I got several symptoms that I attribute to Bartonella while I was on the trip, some of which have continued. First, the abdominal distress that I partly blamed on candida could also be Bartonella. Then there is the abdominal bloating, mild abdominal cramping (felt like PMS at a very wrong time of the month), breast pain, and some pain in my hands and feet.
I started coiling for Bartonella on January 27. The plan heading forward is to ramp it up as soon as I decide that I don’t have to worry about Babesia for a while.
Detoxing
I didn’t do much by way of intentional detoxing activities during the coiling break. Partly I wasn’t generating tons of toxins, partly it’s hard to do on the road. I took all my antioxidant supplements. I brushed my skin most days. I spent time walking outside in the fresh air of Monterey Bay. I got some sunshine and exercise. I drank plenty of water (but less than my peak amount). I had a massage and took an epsom salt bath that night. I did the best I could figure out to do.
Food
Food was tricky. I decided to be flexible and avoid the foods I’m sensitive/allergic to as much as possible. I tried to eat out only once per day. I brought my breakfast shake ingredients with me. My friends bought goat and sheep cheese and yogurt for me. I had plenty of veggies. I had more fish than normal, but was careful about picking fish that are low mercury. I was super careful avoiding eggs, the one food I can’t have because it triggers an autoimmune response against my nervous system.
I messed up a bunch of times. I ingested some foods that have malvin in them, though I avoided foods with high malvin content. Twice, I accidentally had nightshades in very small quantities. My reactions were much milder than previously. Moderate, short term headaches. Tooth pain one day. Increased light sensitivity on the mornings after a meal out with this stuff in it. Abdominal distension. Some mucus in my stool. But it all passed quickly, not knocking me out for days.
As mentioned above, I had too much in the way of grains. That set off the candida.
And at the very end, I had wheat. I knew it might cause a problem. Since then, I’ve had an even more bloated stomach. Plus, my left leg has been in a lot of pain. Could be from the wheat triggering the old problems again and contributing to some kind of neurological inflammation in my back.
…
All in all, I survived. I’m glad to be coiling again. I’m glad to be eating right again. And I’m glad I can handle a little more variety and stress than my body could take even 2 months ago.
Categories: healing process, Herx reactions, using the coil machine
Tags: babesia, bartonella, candida, food allergies, lyme, symptoms
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Coiling for Lyme 