The sign that I have the right health practitioner is that I can leave our appointments feeling encouraged. I am not confused or doubting our treatment strategy. She answers my questions and I can see that there is a plan with lots of good options. Having options is so important to remaining hopeful along this extensive road to recovery.
Yesterday, I had a follow-up consultation with my nurse practitioner to discuss my treatment plan over the next two months. I would like to enjoy this holiday season as much as possible. As of now, the detox and die-off reactions are manageable. Thankfully, Nurse P. agreed with me and we decided we would only make some minor adjustments.
These are the areas that need attention over the next two months.
1. Currently, I have an elevated liver enzyme.
I have been taking Rifampin for almost four months. The national website, LiverTox, reports that 10% to 20% of patients can experience a short-term elevation in liver enzymes while taking this medication. In my case, my ALT enzyme (Alanine Aminotransferase) is mildly elevated. The exact mechanism is not well-understood as to why this occurs in some people. At this time, I do not need to discontinue the medication, but I need to carefully monitor my liver enzymes while taking it. I have begun to take a liver support supplement called Hepa Plus to help my liver metabolize this medication better. I will also be having blood work done every 3 weeks to see if my level has remained buy soma online cheap stable or perhaps even lowered.
2. I am still exhibiting signs of hypothyroidism.
Although I am taking Nature-Throid, my previous dose increase did not seem to bring my thyroid levels into the normal range. In fact, there was no change.
Enter Rifampin again.
Rifampin has been shown to induce cases of hypothyroidism in some patients. This is very likely why I did not see an improvement in my numbers despite increasing my thyroid medication. I will be raising my dose again and will also have to keep close tabs on my thyroid levels. Hopefully, getting my thyroid into the normal range will improve my energy. This has been difficult to achieve.
3. I am currently in the midst of doing a second cycle of Alinia.
Alinia is a medication that has activity against parasites, bacteria and some viruses. With one pill, we have been able to target multiple organisms. When I finish this course of the medication, I will be switching to treatment using colloidal silver. I have some limited experience with colloidal silver in the past, so I am interested to see how it combines with the rest of my treatment.
© NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
We will revisit my treatment plan again at end of January. At that point, I anticipate some significant changes.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear how you prepare for the holidays. Will you be changing treatment strategies or keeping things the same?
I had elevated ALT and did a homeopathic liver thing called Hepatik. The next month, it was normal. Keep up the good fight with the Nature-throid … my TSH is OK now and my T3 was once high and once low on tests. Weird. Thanks for that info about Rifampin.
I am so glad to hear it was so easy to get your ALT in the normal range. That’s encouraging. Yes, I will keep working on the thyroid issues. It’s a slow moving process, but at least I now know some of the difficulty is due to the Rifampin.
Hi Jenny, I’ve been wanting to send comments to several past posts and haven’t had a chance. So at least I’ll reply to this one! I wanted to say that I decided not to change my treatment plan for Thanksgiving. Along with other meds, I’m doing a treatment for Babesia, and sometimes it is good to just stay steady with it — rather than to increase the dosages and then possibly have die-off symptoms. I was glad I made that decision because my 20-year old daughter came home from university for five days and promptly fell ill with a really bad cold, cough, sinus infection and temp of almost 102. She was on the couch several days, and I needed to play nurse. I was glad I didn’t take a chance of having die-off, which would have sent my husband into overwhelm; besides, we only have ONE couch! Generally I think it’s helpful to be cautious during times of more activity and potential stress. Talk to you again later. Thanks for all your posts!!
Thank you Katherine for your comment! I completely agree with you. Sometimes it is best to stay steady. I hope your daughter has recovered from her cold. Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season!