Here's the new protocol...
Start taking Solodyn 80mg (long-acting Minocycline) once a day.
Add in Dapsone.
First week of Dapsone is 25mg daily.
Second week of Dapsone will alternate between 25mg one day and 50mg the following day and continue with this alteration.
Stop Itraconazole (Sporanox) and switch to Terbinafine (Lamisil) before adding back in the Mycobutin.
Third week of alternation will add in the Mycobutin, will start with one Mycobutin at bedtime.
Continue Low-Dose Naltrexone
Add in DAOsin (histamine-reducing supplement). Start with one a day and work up to 2-4 per day.
Start Leucovorin.
Start Thermedix Immune Plus - 1 pill three times/day.
I'm trying to get Myer's cocktail infusions compounded and shipped, but that's turning out to be something crazy to coordinate. I, however, am not one to give up.
Let's talk about one of the new meds...Dapsone.
Dapsone is actually a drug that is used to treat leprosy (also called Hansen's disease) which you can read about here. It is also used to treat dermatitis herpetiformis and severe acne, but let's get back to the leprosy. Yes, leprosy does still exist. When we lived on Okinawa, one of our Asian trips was a 9-day trip to 3 cities in Thailand. While we were there, we went to a night market. It was so crowded we had to walk single file. A lady with a head covering passed us on our left. When I glanced at her I immediately knew she had leprosy. My husband noticed it right away, too. It's hard to miss. Even if you've never seen it before, you would probably recognize it. So, while leprosy isn't as common as the common cold...it's still out there.
My holistic practitioner had just attended the ILADS conference in Philly the week before my appointment in DC in November. Dr. Richard Horowitz was one of the speakers. He is one of the most renowned LLMDs (Lyme literate medical doctors) in the country. The first protocol I started on followed his suggestions very closely. At the conference, he recommended Dapsone taken with Rifampin or Mycobutin for Lyme patients with persistent symptoms. I must be the poster child for persistent symptoms. I feel like I am. Baby steps, though. I'm not as bad as I was a year ago at this time, but I'm still not where I need to be. You can read about ILADS here. It stands for the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. They are the ones who work to help patients with Lyme and recognize that there is a late-stage or chronic form of the disease.
I was advised that the new protocol could cause quite a bit of herxing. We'll see if it affects me and in what ways. There's always something new that seems to pop up when I least expect it. From the beginning, I knew about herxing and how sick I would get before I started to get better. Is it worth it? Yes. Do I like it? Of course not. Is it necessary? Absolutely. I'm glad I sought help on my own. Once I found out that Lyme was my problem I wasn't about to let someone tell me that I couldn't find someone to treat it. I practically demanded it. I wanted it and I went for it.