I’m 2 weeks into treatment as of yesterday.
The Results
Today, I received a phone call from the doctor’s office about my test results for coinfections. The new test showed that the Lyme disease appears to be more chronic in nature rather than acute (bands 41 and 66). But because it was done while already taking antibiotics, it may not be as accurate. She couldn’t explain why the test was so different from the one from earlier in the month other than the fact that I was already on antibiotics and it was a different lab.
She said she wasn’t so much concerned about the Lyme bands because we knew I was positive from my first test. It was more about the other possible infections. Luckily, I was negative for all coinfections, which was a relief but at the same time, a little unnerving. It seems everyone has at least one coinfection. I’m typically not the one to defy the odds! But at this point, I was ready to take any positive news!
But good grief at the expense…..those blood tests were over $2,000! SO glad my insurance covered them.
First Herx
The week of Thanksgiving, when I took off from work, kicked my butt in a big way. I pretty much did nothing other than lay on the couch. I quickly learned that I can NOT take Doxy without eating first and I can NOT lay down within 30 minutes of taking it. I also got to experience the herxheimer reaction (or herx for short) for the first time. It’s not fun, let me tell you. Take all of my symptoms and multiply by 100 and then add on a few more – that’s basically what a herx is.
And the nausea, oh my gosh. It was horrible. I feel like my body is starting to adjust to the medication now and the herx symptoms have definitely improved. But wow, for that week, I basically couldn’t even look at food.
A Little Sign
I also got confirmation that I made the right decision to switch doctors. On Saturday, the nausea was so bad, I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to keep my antibiotics down. I actually called the pharmacy to ask how long I have to keep from throwing up without losing the benefits of the medication (two hours, if you’re wondering).
I tried to call the integrative doctor since she was the one who actually prescribed the doxy to me to get something for the nausea. Her answering service informed me that I had to give them a credit card number before they would pass along the information and the call back would be $45-$90. Um, no thank you. I called the infectious disease doctor’s answering service and within an hour, she had called in Zofran for me (for free!).
Medication Overview
Along with the Doxy and the probiotics, I’m also taking quite a few supplements. I also finally gave in and started taking the Cortef for my adrenals. Because I switched from the integrative medicine doctor to the infectious disease doctor for my Lyme treatment, I also have to wait for that January appointment to roll around to follow up on my thyroid and adrenals treatment (the appointment I made back in September with a doctor who is covered by my insurance).
Have I mentioned that I despise taking pills? My gag reflex is incredibly strong and it doesn’t take much at all. Now that I’m taking 24 pills a day, you can imagine how much fun that is for me.
I had to take a list of all of my medications and supplements to the pharmacist so he could help me work out a schedule. Some have to be taken on an empty stomach, some with food, some twice a day, some away from others….I was going crazy trying to figure it all out. So I went to the counter and begged for help. He graciously obliged and I bought multiple pill containers to help me keep it all straight for what should be taken when.
Next Check-Up
I go back to the doctor on the 7th for a check-up. She’s expecting to see major improvement or we’re going to discuss moving to IV antibiotics. Now that I’ve had time to think about that, I want to stay as far away from it as I can. At the very least, I want to be able to make it until after the second week of January because I have to go to a conference in Vegas on January 6th and I don’t want to look like a medical freak with luggage full of medical supplies if I have a PICC line. So that’s my goal now – delay until after the 9th of January.
The Tally…
Oh and just for “fun”, I thought I’d start keeping up with my medical expenses. This doesn’t include pharmacy charges or supplements and goes back to the first doctor’s visit when I started trying to get diagnosed in August.
As of today, the total billed is $6,767.80. My insurance has covered all but $1,257.