Healing Bartonella - Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of my journey to beat Bartonella - my most recent co-infection diagnosis. (If you missed how I got here, check out Part 1 & Part 2 for alllll the updates you’ll need!)

(Or, if you prefer to listen to my story, you can find all 3 parts on my YouTube Channel, found HERE)

I recently had my latest follow up appointment with my Lyme Literate Nurse Practitioner (LLNP), and this post will cover the latest updates from that meeting, including:

1. How I've been feeling

2. Labwork updates

3. New supplements we're adding on

4. What’s next for me

First, I’ve been feeling ok! All things considered, and considering especially that we are hitting this Bart HARD, I’ve been doing pretty well! I did have a little herxing in the beginning, which isn’t common for me, but I was able to work with my LLNP and my body to minimize and get through it without it being TOO disruptive. My main Bart symptom is DEFINITELY burning and pain in the bottoms of my feet. But here are some other symptoms I’m having pretty consistently now that I *think* may be Bart-related too: headaches (the frontal type is often associated with Bartonella), numbness/falling asleep in my arms and hands (mostly at night), mood swings that are uncharacteristic of my typical emotional variations, some fullness/pain in my one ear in particular (allergies? Sinuses? Bart? We may never know!). 

As far as some recent lab work goes, I had basic panels checked - nothing major and no tick borne illness checks or anything. My CD57 dropped a BUNCH, but neither I nor my LLNP are surprised. It’s a sign my immune system is FIGHTING hard. It’s depleted, to a degree. But I am ALWAYS working on boosting my immune system anyway, so this too I will work through! (I share some immune support basics we do in our house right HERE). Plus I will add in Transfer Factor Multi Immune supplement to give me even more of a boost for a little while. (This supp has worked WONDERS for my girls’ CD57s, so I’m all too excited to see my results next!) Thankfully, I feel pretty good despite my immune system taking a hit. 

Additionally my vitamin D level has also dropped. I HAD gotten it up to the low-normal range after lots of hard work and supplementing (I take 10,000IUs a day). My LLNP and I are thinking that the winter months played a part in it dropping a bit, and we will be continuing with my supplement regimen as well as rechecking my vit D further into or after the summer. 

Besides adding in Transfer Factor Multi Immune, I also just added CryptoPlus tincture to my Bart regimen (which already includes antibiotics, Artimisinin, Andrographis, Japanese Knotweed, Cats Claw, and A-Bart tincture). So far I’m not having any herxing or issues increasing my dose with this new addition. I’m also titrating up to my LLNP’s desired dosing of Japanese Knotweed and Cats Claw, but that’s going fine as well, and honestly by the time you’re reading this, I’m probably up to my ideal/recommended dose! 

 So what's next for me in addition to the supplement adjustments/additions? Here’s the plan for my treatment in general moving forward until my next appointment later this summer:

1. Fry Smear lab work pending for Babesia results. I’ve been negative by other testing and believe I’m symptom-free, but we are trying to ensure with BEST possible testing that I am indeed healed from Babs (so that we know it’s not still interfering with what else my body has going on, or confusing any symptoms I’m having).

2. I may opt to get an MDL lab check soon to double check Lyme and other cos and see where we’re at there as well. Again, to try to weed out some symptom stuff too. I do continue to treat my Lyme, and so far, my other cos besides Bart annnnd pesky Epstien Barr virus have been negative.

3. I’ll continue the above supplement regimen and also continue to address adrenal health, because while I’m not in full-blown adrenal fatigue, I KNOW my hormones and adrenal response is being tested through all that I have going on currently. I do a number of things and take some supplements to help with this, and so far, I think it’s going really well. 

What questions do you have for me about my journey with Bart (or anything else!) thus far?