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It has been a rough week, but what I know for sure is that I did not shit my pants. 🤣 👍
Here is the latest update . . .
Physical Health:
As a reminder, I am currently at 50% of the full dosage of this current Lyme treatment protocol. The current side effects include stomach pain, intestinal pain, back pain, fatigue, tooth pain, headaches, face rash, and brain fog. I am currently on the rest day between Day 18 and Day 19 of treatment, and I am hoping that I can complete the full 21 days of treatment with only 1 day off between treatment days. If there are no additional detours, there will be 3 more treatment days with 1 day off between for a total of 6 more days (including today). I have an appointment next week with my doctor to determine next steps. I am currently on the weakest treatment option for Lyme, and my body would only allow for 50% of the full dosage, so we will see what he decides to do next.
Something else we have been dealing with, and are continuing to deal with, on this health journey is erratic menstrual cycles. I have heavy menstrual bleeding in general for a variety of reasons that I won’t go into right now. (By the way, I have tried a variety of ways over the years to curb this issue, and the normal methods don’t work for me because they don’t tackle the root cause(s).) And, when my body is fighting really hard, my menstrual cycles are even more erratic than usual. As my doctor says, my body is not worried about reproduction right now; it is solely focused on survival. Because of this, the levels of my reproductive hormones are constantly out of balance and will be the last thing to heal on this journey. And, when my liver is struggling due to treatment and detoxification, it also doesn’t do a great job of processing excess hormones.
The end result for me of erratic menstrual cycles and heavy menstrual bleeding is blood loss at a level that is difficult to describe. And, along with blood loss, some of the pathogens in my body feed off of the iron in my blood. Therefore, my iron levels struggle to stay where they need to be anyway. I used to be able to keep my iron levels at acceptable levels through diet and supplementation, but I can no longer take iron supplements due to my other health issues. (This is part of the reason why I need to regularly get IV iron infusions.)
So, on top of the current side effects from Lyme treatment, I started my period this week with only 6 days of a break since my last period. My body did not have enough of a break to recover from the iron lost, so I feel very lethargic. (I was supposed to get my iron levels checked this week, but I try to get them checked when I am not on my period. So, I postponed the blood test.)
The only way to try to combat the loss of iron between IV iron infusions is to try to eat as much iron as my stomach will allow. My husband roasted some bone marrow from a cow this week for me to eat to try to help replace some of the iron I have lost. We have never tried bone marrow before, but I am willing to try (almost) anything. I am doing my best to function while feeling like a sloth.
Emotional Health:
As usual, the Lyme treatment has been causing my nervous system to be dysregulated at times. Therefore, I have been using all of my tools to try to regulate my nervous system whenever possible. I have been continuing my walks outside, focusing on self-compassion, contacting friends for support, co-regulating with my husband, doing breathing exercises, laughing, singing, reading for fun, etc.
This week, a family member said to me, “I am not sure how to support you right now. I will need your guidance.” I am guessing that this is how many of my family members and friends feel, so I wanted to remind you that I have a Support page on my blog site dedicated to posts I have previously written on this topic. Feel free to review the posts for guidance and a refresher on what is most helpful to us on this journey.
What I know for sure is that toxic positivity is not the answer. It denies the reality of our situation. What we really need is support through all the vibrations.
If you want to be supportive, but you are afraid that you will make a mistake or get it wrong, please don’t worry about being perfect in your support. Trying to be supportive is better than not trying at all.
Brutal. Side effects from Lyme treatment. Feeling like a sloth from a combination of Lyme treatment and low iron.
Beautiful. My husband’s willingness to do anything to help. Using my tools for nervous system regulation. Not shitting my pants.
Just another day of . . . This Brutiful Life: The Brutal & Beautiful Moments of My Life.
This Brutiful Life 