Re: Lyme update, appt. with Dr. Metzger--Glomer

[Guest guest]

Hi Glomer,

I have many of the same symptoms you have been talking about and yet, since I

live in

South Florida the doctors hesitate to test me. I had a bulls-eye rash on my

belly area for

months last year and they said it was just inflamation. I did have one blood

test done at

Quest which came back negative, but heard that these tests are not always

accurate.

South Florida may not have deer ticks, but I researched the fact that other

ticks carry a

similar Lyme bacteria. And then I read that ticks can come to areas via

migrating birds.

So, it could be possible that I have Lyme and have not been diagnosed.

Anyway, I have enjoyed your posts and I will continue to search for a doctor

here that will

continue my quest. In one way, I hope it is not Lyme--but it's better to be

checked than

go about my days not knowing.

I also get the tingling in the limbs, joint pain, vulvar stinging and itching

that comes and

goes every couple of weeks (I literally feel sick when I get a flare--body

aches, nausea,

etc.), concentration problems and on and on.

Tania

>

> [long post--sorry for the formatting problems (any advice on how I can remedy

this?)]

>

> I saw Dr. Metzger yesterday to discuss my my positive lyme test with Igenex.

She said

90%

> of her endometriosis patients and 40% of her vulvar patients have lyme, and is

about to

> present a paper on the connection between lyme and pelvic pain. She has the

disease

> herself and appears to be VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE about every aspect of its

treatment,

both

> conventional (antibiotics) and integrative (herbal medicine, energy work,

etc.). She said

the

> diagnosis was in fact *very good news*, as we'd run up against a wall

addressing my

pain

> from other angles. (For others who may suspect lyme, she said the fact that I

constantly

> teeter on the edge of a flare-up and that my flares often coincide with my

period

suggest

> lyme, as does the vulvar tingling that always precedes my pain. My other clear

lyme

> symptoms are interstitial cystitis; fatigue; " brain fog " ; difficulty

concentrating, especially

> when reading and writing; tingling in the limbs; susceptibility to infection;

and joint

> inflammation.)

>

> In her view, lyme is but one part of the larger problem of immune dysfunction.

In light of

> my struggle with candida and mold allergies, she had no problem eschewing the

> antibiotic route in favor of cat's claw, artemesinin for coinfections, detox

measures, and

> weekly acupuncture/massage to help support the immune system. She also told me

to

> continue with my desensitization drops; stay on my low-glycemic, anti-allergy,

and

> gluten-free diet; get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night; make sure I'm

meeting a

> number of nutritional requirements; and follow my intuition, especially

pursuing

whatever

> practices and therapies " feel good. " She has had many patients improve rapidly

and

> dramatically on this protocol--one woman's vulvar pain disappeared after

working up to

> only two drops of cat's claw (out of an eventual 15), so I am very hopeful.

Because of the

> limitations of current testing methods, she gauges patients' progress

clinically, and will

> add other herbs and even intravenous colloidal silver and garlic later, if

symptoms

warrant.

> She said that in other states where lyme docs are more persecuted (and

prosecuted)

they

> often test again and again to legitimate their prescribed courses of

treatment, but with

> lyme at epidemic levels in California, she and other specialists have an

easier time and

can

> spare patients' pocketbooks.

>

> Overall, I felt I was in very good hands and am *praying* that this piece of

the puzzle is

a

> crucial--and tide-changing--one. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to stick to the

two

primary

> herbs she prescribed or if I'll add others from Buhner's protocol. I will

definitely let folks

> know my results!

>

> Wishing everyone pain-free days,

> Glomer

>