Bartonella treatment & Dysautonomia...both are the DEVIL!

I haven't blogged in some time! A lot going on lately though. I have been attempting to home school Brandon because we are all currently treating Bartonella. I have decided today that the co-infection Bartonella is the DEVIL!! Screw Lyme..this one takes the cake! So we are all attempting to treat this nasty infection. It tends to cause a lot of psychological/neurological symptoms. (Moody, irritability, depression, etc)

So I am taking Flagyl and Clindamycin. Flagyl is a cyst buster so it kills the bugs that hide in cyst form. The boys are taking Cefdinir and Rifampin (the evil med!) When I tried to take that one it caused me to be severely moody!

Brandon is still having troubles with insomnia. Most of his symptoms come out at night time also. Then we deal with fatigue during the day. So we do school work in the late afternoon/early evening. Both of us are up all night and sleep all day. Yes this is the fun that our life has become!

Adam on the other hand sleeps too much. He has a lot of fatigue and leg weakness. Some days he will go to school; come home and go right to sleep again from 3pm to 9pm; get up and eat, take meds and shower; then go back to bed until 7am to go to school again. He can do this at any time and for days at a time. Sometimes all week!

Adam seems to tolerate the meds pretty well. Brandon has a lot of troubles with his stomach and can't tolerate meds as well.

So how am I? Well most days I don't know how I am because I am too busy taking care of sick kids to worry about me. I am on the back burner. Then it catches up with me and I fall apart.

Today was a bad day. Seems to be many lately where I am a mess. Moody, mean, irritable, and severely depressed! I think it's from the Bartonella treatment. Happens every time I try to treat this bacteria. I already normally have mood swings and severe anxiety. So when I try to treat this it gets 100 time worse. Sometimes even feeling like taking a whole bottle of sleeping pills and going to sleep! (don't worry I most likely won't do that...since taking care of the kids is my main priority that would be horribly selfish of me!) Though these feelings of not being able to control your moods are so horrible! You know you feel so bad and can not do anything about it. Then you treat others badly too :( I try all day to "cheer myself up"...as if it were that easy...sigh...

Anyways, I am rambling on this blog. Usually I post more info for everyone but just not feeling up to it lately. Though I do want to share a few links to a problem that I have with lyme that causes me to be severely fatigued. It is also why I have a severe heat intolerance and stay in the AC all summer instead of outside!

Many people with lyme (and some without) have what's called Dysautonomia or POTS (postural tachycardia syndrome).

The below information explains a lot of the problems that I have with heat intolerance, fatigue and anxiety. Brandon also has these same problems. Adam has some of them.

Check this site out...(just copy and paste it into your web browser)
http://www.potsplace.com/

(Below is a paragraph from the site above)
Dysautonomia literally means dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the master regulator of organ function throughout the body. It is involved in the control of heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, respiration, digestion and other vital functions. Dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system can produce the apparent malfunction of the organs it regulates. For this reason, dysautonomia patients often present with numerous, seemingly unrelated maladies.


Here is another link...(just copy and paste it into your web browser)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postural_orthostatic_tachycardia_syndrome#Symptoms

Here is a list of the symptoms that I have (more are listed in the links above)
(These symptoms can be random but note that heat, exercise and eating can exacerbate symptoms)
~ lightheadedness, sometimes called pre-syncope (pre-fainting)
~ dizziness (but not vertigo, which is also called dizziness)
~ exercise intolerance
~ extreme fatigue
~ generalized weakness
~ excessive thirst (polydipsia)
~ cold extremities
~ disorientation
~ dyspnea (shortness of breath)
~ headache
~ muscle weakness & tremors
~ visual disturbances
~ heart palpitations
~ excessive sweating
~ intolerance to heat
~ numbness or tingling sensations
~ noise & light sensitivity

Autonomic dysfunction is thought to cause additional gastrointestinal symptoms:
~ abdominal pain or discomfort
~ bloating after meals
~ feeling full quickly
~ constipation & diarrhea
~ nausea
~ bladder dysfunction (excessive urination)

Can also cause cognitive difficulties like:
~ brain fog
~ decreased mental stamina
~ depression
~ difficulty finding the right word
~ impaired concentration
~ sleep disorders

Inappropriate levels of epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (stress hormone) lead to anxiety-like symptoms:
~ chills
~ feelings of fear
~ flushing
~ overheating
~ nervousness
~ over-stimulation

~ Chemical sensitivities (May have multiple chemical sensitivity and can be very sensitive to medications - may only need small doses) This is a big one for me! I have a low or zero tolerance for the following: alcohol, caffiene, many prescription medications, 2nd hand smoke (yes it's a chemical, actually many!), strong perfumes or other strong smells (again chemicals). I am sure I am missing some but you get the point...

Symptoms of POTS overlap considerably with those of generalized anxiety disorder, and a misdiagnosis of an anxiety disorder is not uncommon.

This link actually lists Lyme disease as a cause of Dysautonomia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysautonomia#Causes