I drive myself crazy when I’m not feeling well. Half the time, I’m happy, excited even, that all the coiling is causing an increase in symptoms. I’m sure that it’s working, killing off tons of bacteria and getting me closer to the end of the period of my life when Lyme is a debilitating limitation. In those moments, I want to reach out to friends and family. I can focus on a task for a little while (like writing birthday cards to my friends who were born in October).
Then I let myself really feel what’s going on in my body. As I go for another consecutive day with a swollen abdomen, I’m reminded of the first 18-24 months from the time I got really sick. Back then, I had lots of abdominal discomfort, intestinal inflammation, daily diarrhea, and that was only one part of my body. I can’t stand that I’m going back to that time in any way.
By the end of 2 years, I had been off all my food allergens for a while and on antibiotics for a year. Between the two, my abdomen finally started to go down, swelling up only intermittently. As I try to figure out what to do this time to get the swelling to go down, I find myself thinking about food and about coiling for Bartonella. My guess is that as long as I’m working on Bartonella, I’ll have to deal with the big belly and intestinal upset. But my second guess is that I’ve developed a sensitivity to something else I’m eating. These are not mutually exclusive. So I’m taking a look at my diet and considering stopping buffalo milk products for a week or two. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try eliminating soy products for a while.
Intestinal Kindness
The other thing I’m dealing with is the very slow digestion and elimination. That’s the opposite of the problem I’d been facing for years. Going back over some of my earlier tricks, I’m again not totally sure how to proceed, but I have some ideas.
First I have to decide what to do about the things I take to get rid of bile associated toxins. Diatomaceous earth can cause or increase constipation. But it’s my most effective and quick way of getting rid of a Lyme Herx. I took some last night mixed with some psyllium and lots of water to make sure that it kept moving through my system. Psyllium itself can help absorb toxins. I take it with lots of water so it doesn’t dehydrate my colon. I’m not sure what happens if my intestines are too slow and it stays inside for longer than overnight. Will it cause dehydration?
The next thing that has me wondering is whether all the sweating is causing mild dehydration, but enough to get my colon off-kilter. I’ve been making more of an effort to drink plenty of water and electrolytes. Maybe it isn’t enough. I’ll see what I can do.
I’ve been drinking kombucha on and off for the past few weeks. In the past, it has helped diminish intestinal symptoms, so I need to start drinking it daily again. Beyond kombucha, I may try increasing my probiotic intake as extra support for my digestive tract. (This also opens the question of whether candida is flaring, which I don’t want to consider just yet!)
Then we get to the big gun: cabbage. Cabbage very thoroughly cleans out my intestines, especially since I tend to eat a whole head over the course of a day or two. The only problem is that I found out last summer that it’s on my list of food sensitivities ( because it contains malvin). Thus, I risk increasing my intestinal inflammation by consuming it. My inclination is to try it once and see if it makes things better or worse.
Finally, I think it’s time I found an acupuncturist around here. That was the only way I got relief in the past when I had temporary/intermittent flares of abdominal swelling.
I’ll report on what happens as I try the things I’ve listed.
Coiling
Today I coiled twice for Babesia, morning and evening. I also coiled my upper body for Lyme.
Detox
Normally, I would have gone to the sauna today. But it was 100 degrees Fahrenheit where I live and I couldn’t bear the thought of getting hotter than that only to come back out into an oven.
- antioxidants
- skin brushing
- rest
- sunshine
- lemon water
- psyllium
Body
As angst ridden as I sound above, I actually feel better, specifically less restless, than I’d been feeling since Saturday. (I think it was the diatomaceous earth last night.)
I’m still having all the joint pain I usually do and some residual muscle pain from the first day of exercise. I’ve had a headache on and off all day, as well as light sensitivity. My vision seems off in some way, both keeping things in focus and reduced peripheral vision. I’m itchier than usual, and not just where my tinea rash is. I’ve been forgetting to write down that I’ve been having tingling in my arms and legs for several days…which continued to happen today.
Categories: detoxification support, healing process, Herx reactions, using the coil machine
Tags: babesia, bartonella, food allergies, probiotics, symptoms
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Coiling for Lyme 