It's been a long time since I've posted.  My energy has been focused on what I CAN do and not what I can't.  It's also been focused on NOT focusing on being sick.  I have essentially become a hermit.  Okay, not really, but I just try to be as normal and as happy as possible even though I've been sick for 9+ years.  I try to make the best of it.  I was recovering and I did improve a lot until they implanted a pacemaker into me in 2012.  My body just doesn't seem to like foreign objects that shouldn't be there.  But I need the pacemaker so...  Anyway!  I found a great pill box or supplement holder and I've been looking for a while so I thought I should probably share!  I made a video.  It's not so easy for me to write these days.  My comprehension, vocabulary, focus, and word recall isn't the greatest. 

Here is a link to the item on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2ysL8BC  As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases.

My Reading with Anthony William, Medical Medium

I had a reading with Anthony William, the medical medium that was featured in the GOOP article (Gwenyth Paltrow's website).  I had a family friend mention him to me and suggest I get a reading.  I put myself on his waiting list for a $500 reading.  Right before I got the call for the reading (maybe a month or two to wait), someone sent me the GOOP article.  There was another person that posted something else about him in another group on Facebook.  Then I started to see a lot of the Lyme groups posting things about him and how several people had purchased his book.  I get the call for the appointment and ordered the book.  I was going to go through with spending $500 on a 30 minute reading.  Anyway, my friend Linda who had already read his book offered to come over to take notes for me (you cannot record your session), so we saddled up to two desks in our home office with my husband sitting in the background and the phone rang.  Having read the entire Goop article (it's an entire chapter from the book), I had already said to myself, "Wow, this is me!"  I do have very high EBV titers (along with HHV-6, and at one point CMV).  My LLMD had stopped treating a lot of his patients with antibiotics and started using antiviral treatments.  I didn't go that route and decided to take a step away from my Dr.  I may revisit this at a later time.   So, here are my notes that Linda took for me.  Comment if you have any questions and I will answer them as best as I can.  Enjoy.

Oh and P.S. I have NO IDEA what is up with the font sizes here.  I have tried over and over again to fix it and it's just going to be crazy.

General Scan Notes

• Problems started with Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), which triggers Lyme disease symptoms.
• Need to re-stabilize nervous system and knock down the EBV.
• EBV releases neurotoxins.  Neurotoxins cause neuro fatigue.
• Need to repair the nerves.
• EBV is inside my liver & thyroid.
• EBV came in through my vaccines.
• My heart symptoms are not dangerous. The symptoms I experience are from the nerves miscommunicating, not from my heart muscle, valves or arteries. This makes perfect sense to me since my heart is healthy. I wish I didn’t require a pacemaker for the rest of my life.
• Digestion problems are neurological.
• He says I have “Group 2 EBV”. 
• No other diseases or illnesses. I am otherwise healthy.
• He says that he KNOWS that I will fully recover and be well again.  There are no other obstacles.
• No brain inflammation found.  What I experience symptomatically in my brain are the neurotoxins caused from the EBV.

Supplements for EBV that are critical

(He stressed the importance of never having alcohol in your tinctures)

1. Eidon Zinc liquid concentrate  According to reading, I am severely zinc deficient.  Goal dose is 2 droppers full, twice daily.  http://tinyurl.com/EidonZinc
2. Bioactive B12 from Global Healing Center  This will restore nerves.  He said, “if the Lyme community knew about this B12 blend, it would be a big deal.” Goal dose is 2 droppers full, twice daily.  http://amzn.to/1IGCr3s
3. Nature’s Answer Cat’s Claw  For viral loads in the herpetic families. Cleans up the viruses in a nice, safe & gentle manner. Goal dose is 2 droppers full, twice daily.  If I can only work up to 10 individual drops per day, he is happy.   http://amzn.to/1IGCKv5
4. *Nature’s Answer Hawthorne Berry  Not standard protocol or for EBV; but for my own personal issues, since I mentioned to him that I take it for heart palpitations and racing heart, the brand I currently use has alcohol in it.  *Personal note: this is a natural beta blocker and has saved me from undergoing ablation & taking prescription beta blockers.  Good stuff here if you have heart issues.  http://amzn.to/1IGD3G9
5. Nature’s Answer Licorice Root  He asked me if I can tolerate it.  I said, “I have taken it before in adrenal supplements with no problems.”  Goal dose is 1 dropper full, twice daily.  http://amzn.to/1TnLrQE
6. Sovereign Silver It is a positively charged, bioactive silver hydrosol.  It will not put a load on the body’s system; but start slow  *Personal note: I reported die off from ingesting 1 teaspoon twice daily of a different type in the past.  This brand, according to him, is the best. Goal dose is 2 teaspoons, twice daily.  I will start with 1/4 teaspoon twice daily and slowly increase. Large bottle:  http://amzn.to/1IGF9G7  Small bottle:  http://amzn.to/1IGFnNm
7. Thorne 5-MTHF, 5 mg  EBV screws up the mutation through its byproducts.  Goal dose is 1 capsule, twice daily.  *Personal note:  It takes a while to work up to the dose of methylfolate he recommended; I know from experience.  I have a bottle of the brand I currently use and will stick with that.  I would not start with 5mg of methylfolate; but I have already been on it a while, so perhaps he sensed that and suggested a higher dose.  I suggest beginning with 1mg capsules and as a trial ingest 1/2 of 1mg to see how it is tolerated, then slowly increase the dose.  5 mg bottle:  http://amzn.to/1TnKt6N  1 mg bottle:  http://amzn.to/1TnKQ1b
8. L-lysine Intake as much as possible. If you could only take one supplement for EBV it is  this one! Goal dose is 3000mg, twice daily.  http://amzn.to/1TnLpbz
9. Hawaiian Spirulina MUST be Hawaiian.  Begin very slowly. 1/4 teaspoon daily or 1 tablet daily.  Goal dose is 6-8 tablets or up to 2 teaspoons daily. He seemed to prefer the powder for some reason.  Powder: http://amzn.to/1TnLDiQ  Tablets:  http://amzn.to/1TnLKLg
10. Lipo Naturals Liposomal Vitamin C He asked me how I tolerated vitamin C.  I told him, “I am taking liposomal vitamin C currently.”  He thought it was great that I can tolerate it and said, “he prefers this brand because the lecithin is made from sunflower seeds.” I am assuming he wants me to stay away from soy based liposomals. I will finish what I have (I take both the c and the glutathione) then switch to this brand.  Goal dose is 1 teaspoon, twice daily.   http://amzn.to/1TnMjos

Diet

(The specific foods listed are just examples of things he feels are great to eat.  Not the only things to eat.)

• EBV requires a plant based diet.  
• Grain free. 
• No animal products.
• Fats block nerves and stop sugars from getting into the blood stream (I believe he was referring to animal fats here).
• If eating cooked foods for dinner, keep fruits separate from dinner.
• Be cautious with dried fruits (don’t over eat).
• Dates are ok.
• Spices are ok.
• NO bell peppers.
• Fruits, such as, Avocado, Bananas, & Papayas, for example, will get glucose into the nervous system.
• No dairy (use coconut milk in my morning green tea latte).
• I cannot tolerate green juices well. He said, “cucumber juice is all I need.”
• Tomatoes are great, just not green tomatoes. Don’t eat anything that isn’t ripe yet.
• Olive oil & coconut oil is ok.
• Almond butter is ok.
• Butternut Squash is ok.
• Occasional salmon is ok, if needed.
• POTATOES, POTATOES, POTATOES - Most bioavailable source for lysine. Russets, Yukon golds & reds.  Sweet potatoes are ok but not as good as the prior mentioned.
• Hummus is ok.
• EBV can’t feed on these foods and will starve it out.

To purchase a copy of Anthony William’s book Medical Medium: Secrets Behind Chronic and Mystery Illness and How to Finally Heal on Amazon http://amzn.to/1NsTU4L

Thank you Linda for taking notes for me during the call!  I really appreciate you coming out to help me.  

**There are affiliate links in these notes.  I am an Amazon Affiliate and a member of iHerb Rewards program.

DISCLAIMER: The medical information on this site and in this document are provided from my experience and as an information resource only and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please contact your healthcare provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. Sonya Nelson expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no lability whatsoever as a result of your reliance on the information contained on this site.

Information on LDI for Lyme Disease, Candida, Interstitial Cystitis, AS, and more.

I couldn't find much information on LDI (low dose immunotherapy) treatment for Lyme disease online. However, here is a recent radio interview with Dr. Ty Vincent explaining LDI treatment for Lyme disease.

Low Dose Immunotherapy: A New Healing Tool
August 28, 2015 

http://www.mat-suim.com

Hosted by Neil Nathan MD

Guest Information 

Ty Vincent, MD  

Episode Description
Today, I am delighted to be joined by Dr. Ty Vincent who has developed the new healing protocols for Low Dose Immunotherapy. As a veteran integrative family physician working in Alaska and Hawaii, Dr. Vincent realized that the Low Dose Antigen (LDA) program developed by Dr. Schrader could be expanded to include a wider range of healing possibilities. In addition to its long and excellent track record with allergies of every type, this new tool can be useful for treating Lyme disease and co-infections, and Candida, Interstitial Cystitis and a lot more. Please join us to explore this exciting field of healing! Click here to open the radio interview

First LDI Dose for Lyme

This is me taking my first dose of LDI for Lyme disease. LDI stands for Low Dose Immunotherapy. For more information on this treatment for Lyme disease see the link below the video.

http://www.specialtynaturalmedicine.com/lyme-disease-ldi This is not my Dr but it gives a brief rundown of what LDI is. I will probably post more info to the blog here at a later time. UPDATE: Monday, September 14, 2015 I am supposed to contact the nurse today to let her know if I had any reaction to the first dose. The problem is that I DON'T KNOW! I can't tell if I flared or if it was my normal symptoms. I have been sick in bed for the past two days but that is fairly typical for me when returning from two days at Campland (it's glamping in your motorhome). I will contact them today and see what they say.

Sick and Homeless

UPDATE:  Sadly Heather took her own life shortly after this video was made.  She threw herself in front of a train.  It was HORRENDOUS!

Can ANYONE help this young woman?? It seems to be life or death here. She is sick and homeless. Please, if you cannot help at least share far and wide.

Are You Exhausted? You May Have Adrenal Fatigue.

Adrenal fatigue is not generally tested for and treated in standard medical practice.  There are saliva tests that can be done to test cortisol levels accurately.  Most doctors do an AM cortisol, but I don't feel that the blood draw is accurate enough.  At the end of this post I will post a link to a quiz I found online that you can take yourself to see if you have symptoms of adrenal fatigue.  For now I'll describe what I've managed to store in my brain about the subject.

From my understanding, our adrenal glands sit right above our kidneys.  The adrenal hormone they produce is cortisol.  Cortisol is  essential to living.  Cortisol regulates all of our other hormones including the thyroid  and the sex hormones (testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, etc).  If you have adrenal insufficiency, you most likely cannot stabilize your thyroid or sex hormone levels.  You feel exhausted and can't fight infections.  The list is enormous!

Here is another great explanation of adrenal fatigue:

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue:

• Morning fatigue -- You don't really seem to "wake up" until 10 a.m., even if you've been awake since 7 a.m.
• Afternoon "low" (feelings of sleepiness or clouded thinking) from 2 to 4 p.m.
• Burst of energy at 6 p.m. -- You finally feel better from your afternoon lull.
• Sleepiness at 9 to 10 p.m. -- However, you resist going to sleep.
• "Second wind" at 11 p.m. that lasts until about 1 a.m., when you finally go to sleep.
• Cravings for foods high in salt and fat
• Increased PMS or menopausal symptoms
• Mild depression
• Lack of energy
• Decreased ability to handle stress
• Muscular weakness
• Increased allergies
• Lightheadedness when getting up from a sitting or laying down position
• Decreased sex drive
• Frequent sighing
• Inability to handle foods high in potassium or carbohydrates unless they're combined with fats and protein

It's important to find a doctor or practitioner that A. believes in adrenal fatigue (they may only be slightly familiar with Addison's Disease) and B. is familiar with and knows how to treat adrenal fatigue.

I have confirmed hypoadrenalism via an extensive 30 day saliva test done by Genova Labs called Rhythm Plus.  I feel so lucky (and unbelievably grateful) that this $1000 test was covered by Medicare. It also tested my sex hormones and my melatonin levels.  Maybe I'll speak more on that later.  I am about to embark on Bioidentical Hormones starting in a few days.  Anyway, I knew it!  I suspected adrenal fatigue before Lyme, Mycoplasma, HHV-6, etc ever even came into my life.  I even hired Dr. Lam as my health coach to help me get past adrenal fatigue but the situation did not work out for me and it was costly and I didn't feel very helpful, so I gave up.

My primary care doctor (such a blessing to find down the street from my house) ran the saliva tests.  He does not find treating adrenal fatigue with cortisone to work out well for his patients.  He just wants me to stick with using herbs and glandulars.  Herbs such as licorice root, eleuthero root, and the glandular would come from bovine (cow).  It is basically the cow's adrenals.  Similar to people that take natural thyroid instead of synthetic.  It actually comes from the porcine's (pig) thyroid gland.  I was previously seeing a holistic practitioner who diagnosed my adrenal fatigue by using the tests mentioned on the Natural News website I have linked below.  He said my adrenals were "shot".

This is what my primary care suggested I take.

This is what I have taken in the past and had energy immediate improvement.  I took it with the other one below.

You can click on these pictures and it will take you to Amazon site.

**You should always consult a practitioner before you take supplements or herbs.

Here is the link to the quiz that I promised you.  You can print it, and then take the quiz yourself and score yourself.  Bring the quiz in with you to your doctor or practitioner.

Here is a site that has great info that I got the other symptom list from: http://www.naturalnews.com/019339_adrenal_fatigue_chronic_stress.html

Good luck. To better health!!

xoxo Sonya

A Little Inspiration

I saw this video and it inspired me to do a little yoga back in the Spring.  It's been making its rounds around Facebook lately, and I thought I too should share.  True inspiration.  For anyone.  Enjoy. Don't forget the tissues.

I Know I Need to Post an Update

I know I need to post an update. My laptop has took a final nose dive and is now in laptop heaven.  I have my handy iPad but its not great for typing.  I'll update soon and reply to comments at some point.  

I have not been doing so well since my surgery in June and in September I posted an update and I've been the same since.  Up until the past few weeks!  I'm starting to feel better again, more like pre-surgery. I even have a killer cold right now that has me up tonight with a fever of 101.2 and a racing heartbeat. I feel like death warmed over, but at least I know my immune system is working!  Right?

I'll post an update soon and now that I'm feeling better overall (well,once this cold is gone) I'll post the update, tell you about my new doctor.  I also want to tell you about a great nutritionist that has helped me a lot. She is on the other side of the US but we Skyped.  Check her out if you like www.supernaturalnutrition.net I'll give details later. Good stuffs. 

I didn't bail on you!

 Xoxo

-Sonya