Thank you to all of the people who have written to me over the seven weeks since my last post. Your words encourage me to keep writing about my experience with the Alfons Ven Lyme Package.
I started the fourth package of CHIM on May 25. I was nervous about this package because two of the people I spoke to about Alfons Ven remedies told me that the 4th package was the worst. They had psychiatric and neurological symptoms that were out of proportion to how they felt before they started the Ven remedies. (Both of them had previously used a coil machine to treat Lyme and other chronic tick-borne infections). I had a secondary concern. I started CHIM while I was away from home, providing child care to my nephew and niece for two weeks. I was concerned that I would be unable to care for them.
Since I have not yet relied exclusively on Alfons Ven products, I had several supplements and a pain killer with me. I took my usual supplements: milk thistle, chanca piedra, DIM, magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K. In addition, I took Advil (ibuprofen) every morning to help minimize the inflammation in my left foot that has been plaguing me for months. Two Advil in the morning also helped reduce my overall perception of pain. I wasn’t shy about taking a second dose during the day. I also had with me NAC (n-acetyl cysteine) in case my symptoms got to be debilitating. Beyond CHIM, I was taking 1-2 daily doses of FLUOX.
The First Two Weeks of CHIM
Since I had to travel by air to see my sister’s children, I ended up with hugely swollen ankles. This doesn’t happen every time I travel, but it has happened before. Unfortunately, I had to do quite a bit of walking in the first few days after I arrived, which is right when I started the CHIM package. My feet and ankles were in tremendous pain. I ended up needing foot/ankle support braces because my ankles were giving out on me. I had to keep my feet elevated (my back on the bed, my legs straight up the wall) for 30 minutes to an hour each night for four nights, to get the swelling down by 80%. It was pretty bad. I wore the ankle braces for a full month.
In the first two weeks on CHIM, I had a swollen abdomen, bronchial irritation, and insomnia. The first ten days, I had daily night sweats or waking up at odd hours completely overheated. Many days, my joints were popping and cracking every morning and got stiff by the evening.
The further complication was that I had crazy PMS that started two days before I began the CHIM package. I was warned that CHIM can “override” the DIM I’ve been taking for years. DIM, or diindolylmethane, affects the balance of estrogen-related hormones. I’ve used it successfully to regulate my menstrual cycle and minimize PMS. This time however, I had swollen, tender breasts for 2 weeks! I had mild abdominal cramping on and off during those weeks. I think the insomnia may also have been related to PMS. I suspect that the CHIM was doing something that helped kick out the infections from my endocrine glands or that it was rebooting them. Fortunately, I had a day off from child care when my menstrual cycle started. I stayed in bed until about 1pm, then I was able to go for a walk and do a few things. It could easily have been much worse.
I knitted the legs and claws in the evenings after the kids went to bed. Now my niece has a fiddler crab to play with.
On the positive side, despite my symptoms, I had more energy than usual. I was able to get up with the children in the morning. I took them somewhere to play until lunchtime. I rested or napped when they napped for two hours in the afternoon. Then I kept them occupied until dinnertime with something at home or by taking them out for another adventure. By dinner, I was done for the night. I didn’t have the attention to read, watch, or listen to anything. Instead, I put my feet up (literally) and knitted, my form of relaxation.
All that worked pretty well.
The Last Two Weeks of CHIM
After the time with my sister’s family, I went with my husband on vacation in Ireland. It was fabulous to have down time. I rested some, but I had energy. We took advantage of my energy to go for long walks and even a bicycle ride.
We walked around the Cliffs of Moher.
My symptoms started to change around Day 12 of the CHIM package. The night sweats stopped for about 10 days. Then after two nights of mild sweats, the night sweats disappeared until after the month was over. Also at night, starting on Day 15 and for the rest of the package, I slept well. No insomnia for two weeks.
The bronchial irritation calmed down for a week, until I started to catch a cold. The abdominal swelling went down from Day 12 to Day 16. For three days, I was bloated for a few hours after I ate, but it went away until the next meal. Then on Day 20, I had loose bowels. That continued for several days. At the same time, butt acne reappeared, which is one of my usual signs of a Bartonella herx. That’s also what I attributed the loose stools to.
The new symptom, one that started on Day 19, was a neurological feeling of being shocked. I would feel a spot get hot and painful on one of my legs or feet. As it became unbearable, my leg would twitch uncontrollably. It happened on all but four nights until the end of the package. On days I wasn’t dealing with twitching and electric shocks, I had tingling, numbness, and a buzzing sensation in my arms and legs. My nervous system was definitely a focal point of the treatment and the die-off symptoms.
I walked a lot despite continued foot pain. I continued to wear foot supports and consume a lot of Advil. Most days, my feet swelled up by evening. Usually the swelling was minimal by the time I got up the next morning.
On Days 22, 23, 26 & 27, I needed a rest. I spent the days either in the car or in my cousins’ house (in Scotland), puttering around and resting. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t go for a walk or engage in activities that required standing. I pushed myself on Days 24 & 25, but I reached my limit. It was on Day 22 that I started the NAC. I felt a cold coming on and I knew that I had pushed my body too far. Even though the cold never fully blossomed, I continued the NAC until the entire trip was over.
At the end of the CHIM, actually on the last day that I took it, I started having pain in the lower half of each leg when I went to bed at night. It was bad enough that it prevented me from sleeping. I started taking Advil at night to give me enough relief to go to sleep.
After the Fourth Package
After my husband went home from our vacation together, I stayed in Scotland for a few days to visit with my extended family, then headed to New York for my aunt’s 100th birthday party. I knew I had reached my limit by the time my husband left, but I had a few last things to do.
The amazing thing was that I still had energy. I still had attention to do things. The twitching in my legs and the pain in my lower legs at night was pretty bad. But during the day, I was mostly okay. My abdomen swelled up every morning and stayed that way for much of the day, but it went away overnight. I slept reasonably well with a painkiller, awakened each night only for a night sweat (and change of shirt). I was able to do a lot of walking, but I could tell that the energy expenditure from walking reduced my cognitive abilities. Fatigue made it difficult for me to participate in conversations. I couldn’t even knit in the evenings because I was so tired.
Over the Hump?
When I came home, I started on the fifth package of CHIM. After the fourth package, I felt assured that I was over the hump—the place in my treatment where Bartonella seems to drain my energy and never budge. Now, two weeks into it, I’ve changed my mind. But that story is for another day.
Categories: Alfons Ven Lyme Package, Herx reactions
Tags: bartonella, lyme
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Coiling for Lyme 