The liquid version of LDN arrived on Friday. Eager to start I took a full 3 ml (which equals 3 mg) at about 9:30 Friday night. That was a mistake because I was up the entire night finally falling into a fitful sleep at about 6:30 Saturday morning for 2.5 hours. I started doing some research although it was hard to take in with after a week of poor sleep followed by a night of no sleep.
Here's what happened though. I was starting in on a big crash again on Friday feeling very "viral" (beyond exhausted, chills, sweating, etc). Saturday even though I didn't sleep there was no trace of the symptoms I felt the previous day. I also felt a shift in my mood. I felt like I had a bit of energy too in spite of the poor sleep. And it seemed like it helped my cognitive functioning a bit.
I decided to take 3 mg again on Saturday but this time I took it at 3 pm. I had difficulty sleeping Saturday but for a different reason. Saturday night I woke up with a lot of pain around an ingrown toenail. I was bummed because I knew it was infected. The previous 5-6 months I've had a very low grade infection and only in a small spot. It would go away once I soaked in it epsom salts a couple times per day.
But just like what occurred when I started the simplified methylation protocol it seems the LDN might have shifted my immune system which brought the smouldering infection to a full blown one which is a good thing in terms of maybe my body will finally get rid of it now. By Sunday my toe was an angry red and swollen along the side of the nail. It was also very painful. Sunday night the entire toe was red which raised my anxiety level.
Today I was able to get in to see the podiatrist thank goodness. This morning the toe had some pus and blood. The podiatrist couldn't even touch one part of the toe because it was too painful so he shot me up with a local anesthetic and trimmed aboutu 50% of the toenail away. I happened to glance at my toe and was surprised at the amount of blood there was. Not the best moment to have glanced at it but I didn't faint. He put me on Cipro which I'm not a fan of because it can cause permanent tendon damage. I'm also a little worried about my gallbladder. Going through lyme treatments last year caused my gallbladder to become inflamed. It hasn't been the same since so I'm hoping it will survive a couple weeks on Cipro.
Getting back to LDN-I took 2.5mg yesterday afternoon and slept a tiny bit better last night but was awakened early this morning with bad anxiety and a wired feeling. Clearly starting out at a dose of 3mg is too much for me. I think for anyone who is sensitive to medications its best to start at a low dose and work up to it. So far, I've not had huge sensitivity issues with meds so I was surprised.
Today I'll take 1.5 mg and see how that goes tonight.
What I've been reading about LDN has been encouraging. Based on my response so far I think this is going to bring me more improvements so I'm feeling encouraged.
I don't know if this is related but I noticed yesterday that I have swollen and painful lymph nodes right near my armpit. I'm a little concerned about this because its a new thing and I've lost about 15 pounds in the past 7 weeks. I'm struggling with my appetite again and I don't like it so I'm trying to eat small meals throughout the day.
I haven't really noticed anything from the Artemisinin. I'm now on a 7 day break from it. It's kind of funny to me that I'm back on lyme treatments (Cipro is used to treat Bartonella and Artemisinin for Babesia) but I'm not treating lyme or its co-infections. It will be interesting to see what happens while on these two lyme treatments that aren't for lyme.
Here's what happened though. I was starting in on a big crash again on Friday feeling very "viral" (beyond exhausted, chills, sweating, etc). Saturday even though I didn't sleep there was no trace of the symptoms I felt the previous day. I also felt a shift in my mood. I felt like I had a bit of energy too in spite of the poor sleep. And it seemed like it helped my cognitive functioning a bit.
I decided to take 3 mg again on Saturday but this time I took it at 3 pm. I had difficulty sleeping Saturday but for a different reason. Saturday night I woke up with a lot of pain around an ingrown toenail. I was bummed because I knew it was infected. The previous 5-6 months I've had a very low grade infection and only in a small spot. It would go away once I soaked in it epsom salts a couple times per day.
But just like what occurred when I started the simplified methylation protocol it seems the LDN might have shifted my immune system which brought the smouldering infection to a full blown one which is a good thing in terms of maybe my body will finally get rid of it now. By Sunday my toe was an angry red and swollen along the side of the nail. It was also very painful. Sunday night the entire toe was red which raised my anxiety level.
Today I was able to get in to see the podiatrist thank goodness. This morning the toe had some pus and blood. The podiatrist couldn't even touch one part of the toe because it was too painful so he shot me up with a local anesthetic and trimmed aboutu 50% of the toenail away. I happened to glance at my toe and was surprised at the amount of blood there was. Not the best moment to have glanced at it but I didn't faint. He put me on Cipro which I'm not a fan of because it can cause permanent tendon damage. I'm also a little worried about my gallbladder. Going through lyme treatments last year caused my gallbladder to become inflamed. It hasn't been the same since so I'm hoping it will survive a couple weeks on Cipro.
Getting back to LDN-I took 2.5mg yesterday afternoon and slept a tiny bit better last night but was awakened early this morning with bad anxiety and a wired feeling. Clearly starting out at a dose of 3mg is too much for me. I think for anyone who is sensitive to medications its best to start at a low dose and work up to it. So far, I've not had huge sensitivity issues with meds so I was surprised.
Today I'll take 1.5 mg and see how that goes tonight.
What I've been reading about LDN has been encouraging. Based on my response so far I think this is going to bring me more improvements so I'm feeling encouraged.
I don't know if this is related but I noticed yesterday that I have swollen and painful lymph nodes right near my armpit. I'm a little concerned about this because its a new thing and I've lost about 15 pounds in the past 7 weeks. I'm struggling with my appetite again and I don't like it so I'm trying to eat small meals throughout the day.
I haven't really noticed anything from the Artemisinin. I'm now on a 7 day break from it. It's kind of funny to me that I'm back on lyme treatments (Cipro is used to treat Bartonella and Artemisinin for Babesia) but I'm not treating lyme or its co-infections. It will be interesting to see what happens while on these two lyme treatments that aren't for lyme.