Month: March 2021

pot

Leave a comment

Since I have been on the subject of herbs, I might as well talk about my favorite herb. I have a long and complicated relationship with marijuana. Sometimes she’s my bitch, and sometimes I am hers. Mostly it’s a solid, happy union that makes us both happy.  Since legalization, I’ve been able to choose what strains I want, much like going to a liquor store and deciding if I want tequila, rum, or scotch.

I smoked for the first time when I was twelve, with my brother and his friends, on a Tuesday night in Covington LA when my parents were attending the symphony. We stood in a circle in the driveway, and I remember that sense of being included with the older kids. It did nothing. The second time, I was thirteen, at the base of the dam at Evergreen Lake. It was fucking freezing, and the snow was deep. That time, I felt something, and I liked it.

Later that year I also had my first paranoid moment while high. We had smoked while caroling in Hiwan Hills. We ended the night at someone’s house on Meadow Drive, near Hiwan Ranch. Their parents had an open house night, and there was a nice spread of food. I remember feeling overwhelmed with the colors, the people, and the food. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, but I really wanted one of the rum balls. One of the grownups came up as I was reaching for my third or fourth one and started talking to me. I’ve never forgotten that moment of utter panic as I tried to form coherent answers to his questions.

Once I moved to Kingwood, I found a group of kids who liked to smoke and drink. I never smoked before or during school, nor did I smoke on school nights. On the weekends, I smoked whatever I could whenever I could. Here’s a fun fact: I never bought pot until 2014.  Another fun fact: I’ve never rolled a joint. In the  ’70s and ’80s provenance of supplying and preparing pot was a mostly male one. I’m sure some of my girl friends bought and rolled because they wanted to have it for themselves when they wanted it, but I was content to let boyfriends and other guys do all the work for the pleasure of my company (Ha! Totally doubtful, but I guess it worked).

It was when I went off to UT Austin that I really started smoking in earnest. My freshman year, I was high every single day except Christmas Day. Back then, what I was seeking was…I’m still not sure. Pot relaxes me, and shuts down the constant chatter in my mind. Kind of what alcohol does for a lot of people, but without the calories or hangover. I get horrible hangovers from not much alcohol.  After that crazy year (it was so much more than smoking pot. Things were consumed. Risks were taken. Stupidity ruled.) I worked to find balance. I went months, even years without smoking. I slowly gave up drinking. I cleaned up my lifestyle. When I went off to Bennington, I was an occasional drinker, and had decided not to smoke at all while in school.

Katie and most of my friends who smoke consider me an absolute flyweight when it comes to smoking pot. I say I smoked everyday, but that is one or two hits off of a pipe that wouldn’t even get most stoners a mild buzz. I don’t know if there is a term for being a cheap stoner, but I am one.

Then came Lyme. Fortunately for me, I had gotten a medicinal license back in 2009 and kept it up, more to make a political statement than any urgent need, other than an achy knee. After I got sick, I couldn’t sleep, everything ached, and I was depressed as hell. Katie took me to the dispensary and I got a daytime strain and a nighttime strain. They worked so well I never needed painkillers or sleeping pills. Of course, I was stoned 90% of the time, but I was sick 100% of the time during that period.

Right now, I am in a nonsmoking phase. It was too much trouble to worry about bringing anything to Arizona and I was feeling good. I have times where I wish I had some, but then I look at the map and see that I have to drive half-way across Tucson, and they only have eight strains, and the prices are astronomical so I decide I can wait. I may never go back. I may become an occasional smoker. I may smoke every day again. Like I said, we have a complicated relationship.

 

Share

Herbs

Leave a comment

People are often amazed by how many herbs I use for Lyme treatment. Our medical community has done a fine job of discrediting the use of herbs to treat many illnesses effectively. I think people imagine me wandering down the aisles of Whole Foods or Natural Grocers, picking up things that will help me with little clue other than ‘I heard it might help’. I do buy herbs or supplements like this, especially for sleep, but not for Lyme. The fact is, any LLMD worth their salt will attack Lyme using many different methods, including herbs. Some herbs are better for one thing, and others are better for another. I buy the herbs I need through my LLMD. Usually, they are proven protocols cited by leading authorities in the field of Lyme, like Dr. Richard Horowitz, or Steven Buhner.

So when something flares up, we (this is not the royal we, Lyme patients have to be adept at describing what is happening) have to evaluate what strategy to use and why. It might be bartonella, or an opportunistic secondary infection, or a return of babesia. There are several possibilities and one medicine does not fit all.

Anyone who thinks herbs aren’t ‘real medicines’ needs to wake up. Aspirin, digoxin, quinine, and morphine are just a few drugs derived from herbs. It’s no wonder drug companies have an active interest in suppressing herbal medicine. I can see some people rolling their eyes, envisioning the very thought that herbs or supplements have any place in medical care. Fine. I don’t care. Trying to convince someone that this is not true is useless, as is trying to convince people who think all pharmaceuticals are bad, or ‘not natural’. To me, both positions show a profound unwillingness to place results over beliefs.

This is not new. It’s as old as the art of healing. With a complex disease like Lyme, the push and pull between science, traditional healing, and other factors like diet, exercise, and religion, leaves most Lyme sufferers with far too many options. The cost of treating Lyme means many patients don’t get proper treatment. Insurance usually doesn’t cover much more than 30-60 days of doxycycline.

This is compounded by the belief that illness and/or ill health is an option, that your lifestyle or lack of discipline is to blame for your illness. Not everyone believes this, but in wealthy countries like America, there are groups who frame illness and ill health as a failure to a) pray enough, or b) not exercise enough, or c) not take enough supplements, or d) not  have the right healthcare and/or not visit the doctor/get tested. There are probably a lot more subsets, but it is a strong system of ‘blaming the ill’.

But I digress. I am at a stage where I rely mostly on herbs. If I have a severe relapse, I’ll take whatever is recommended to get back to health. I’m not a snob. Nor am I a fool. Lyme support groups online are filled with ‘miracle cures’ and also with long, long sagas of literally dozens of tests, doctors, and medical treatments. I don’t have to go to the doctor every time I feel out of sorts, or have a new symptom. I won’t jump on the Rife machine bandwagon, or coffee enemas, or whatever someone has said worked for them. However, when dozens of other Lyme sufferers say there is something new that might work, I’ll ask my LLMD when I have an appointment. Dapsone is one such pharmaceutical that has made a huge different to some patients. Stevia is another one when it was found to be a biofilm buster.

It really is a lot of work staying current with treatments and protocols. I have biases. Maybe coffee enemas have helped some people. I’m just not a fan of any enemas, so I’m not going to try that one. You won’t ever find me praying to get better, but I don’t mind if people say they are praying for me. I actively avoid going to the doctor for the little things, and that a might come back and bite me in the butt someday. I’m willing to take some risks as a tradeoff, as are almost all ill people, because a life spent striving for perfect health might not be living at all.

It could be said I take a relaxed approach to my illness, if that makes sense. Obviously this isn’t always possible. One of the luxuries of Lyme (Haha, like there really are any) is that when it is controlled, it’s not likely to kill you, at least not for a long, long time. So I take my herbs, as I did this past week, when I had a flare up. The herbs caused a herx (Jarisch-Herxmeimer reaction, or ‘when the cure makes you feel like shit’) as I knew they would. They also made me feel better, as I hoped they would. When that happens, I wake up feeling better. The clouds part and the sun shines and all is right with the world once again.

I haven’t been hospitalized, nor have I used IV antibiotics. I feel well a good deal of the time. I have accepted that perhaps Lyme will be with me always. I use herbs and pharmaceuticals. Perhaps one day Western medicine will become more flexible about how to heal their patients. Until then, I’d say my choices have been right for me and I stand by them.

Share

vaccine

Leave a comment

I got the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine this week. Surprisingly easy, except for the questions. “Have you had any COVID symptoms in the past week?” “Have you had muscle aches, fever, or fatigue in the past 24 hours?” Ummmm…yes? I’ve learned to lie when asked these kinds of questions. It’s not technically a lie, but the explanation of Lyme is too lengthy to go into. It’s more of an omission. I easily separate Lyme from the rest of my health history. If someone asks me if I’m healthy, I say ‘yes’, because I am healthy, aside from Lyme.

Most people my age are on some kind of prescription for something. Blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, etc. Not that they aren’t healthy, but they need a little help. So far, I have none of those problems. The ol’ colon is clean as a whistle, the boobs lump free, and no weird moles or skin things (thank you, birth mom for my genes, and real mom, for making me wear sunscreen). My blood pressure is always 116/72, my pulse is in the 50s, and my weight is still teetering a few pounds shy of ‘mildly obese’. So yeah, I consider myself healthy.

And yet, almost every day there is something that hurts or doesn’t feel right. The brain doesn’t fire properly or my throat hurts, or my joints, or my eyes are blurry and irritated. I’m fatigued, or my body aches. There are a ton of other minor problems that come and go, like death from a thousand paper cuts, but none of it is a big deal to me anymore. It just is. Once, while at an appointment with my Lyme doctor, I mentioned some things that had been bothering me. He said, “Why didn’t you call or go to your primary care doctor?” I answered, “Why bother? Almost everything that goes wrong is Lyme-related and disappears or changes.” He agreed with that, and I’ve learned that I’m the one that has to separate how I’m feeling. I use two categories: “Lyme-related” and “getting old.”

I suppose there is a third category, the “Oh shit” one, but so far, I’ve been out of that column since I burned my right hand six years ago (I think it was six years ago, but I just got my daughter’s age wrong, so I can’t truly be trusted with anything time and date related). The thing is, through Lyme I’ve learned that people tend to freak out about their health far more than I do. I haven’t gone to a primary care doctor since that burn, because I haven’t needed to. Virtually everything wrong with me is Lyme related.

As far as COVID goes, many of us Lyme patients have had to play the really fun game of “COVID or Lyme?” After all, the early symptoms for COVID and ongoing Lyme symptoms are virtually the same. I usually allow myself about five minutes to assess how I feel and then I wait to see if anything changes. It usually does, either within hours or days. The pain migrates, disappears, or morphs into another symptom that has nothing to do with COVID.

There is another dimension, the question of how vulnerable Lyme patients are to COVID. My immune system is compromised, but how vulnerable am I really?  I chose to stay safe and isolate myself rather than find out the answer to that question. And I chose to answer the pharmacists’ question as it pertained to COVID, not Lyme. The week before the vaccine, I had been experiencing some old symptoms that I knew well. I had already contacted my LLMD and gotten the answers I needed to begin treatment. I had no fever and I wore a mask. I know my body very, very well and had no doubt that what I was experiencing was not COVID. So I went and got the vaccine.

And after the vaccine, I don’t know if I had a reaction to the vaccine or if it was Lyme. I guess that part doesn’t really matter, since it wasn’t going to change the fact that I had gotten the vaccine. Now I have some measure of comfort that if I were to get it,  I won’t die, or have to go to the hospital. Those are big things, especially for the chronically ill. We are always on the edge of a health care crisis. They always cost money. The last thing I need is one more.

I’ll continue to separate my general health from Lyme. This paradigm has, oddly enough, motivated me to take the best care of myself so that I can so I can continue to brag that aside from Lyme, that “I’m very healthy.” Diet, exercise, and positive thinking are the only controllable factors I have. If Lyme is the reason I am staying healthy, then that is one of the positive aspects of chronic illness, and that, my friends, is positive thinking.

 

Share

guardian

1 Comment

I watch over myself like the guardian of a high-powered executive. Although the pay sucks and I’m anything but high-powered, I like to think I’m a pretty good gatekeeper. So I hoard my energy, get my rest, take the various drugs/herbs/supplements that are working at the moment, take care of the everyday tasks to be comfortable, and inspect myself endlessly. How am I feeling? Good so far? I’d better do the laundry, take a walk and write while I can. Still good? Great! I can go grocery shopping or keep studying Spanish.

Most days I lie down in the afternoon. Sometimes I take a nap. Other times I lay on my back and think. Sometimes I just play FreeCell for twenty minutes. Some days I don’t get up for hours. It all depends. And when it comes to a social life, I’m more like the harried chaperone of a future princess who would rather screw the stable boy (I know this is sexist and old-fashioned, but I can’t come up with anything better at the moment). Literally the only two people I will drop everything for are Dad and Katie. Everyone else will have to wait. Don’t fret, I don’t make people wait for long, unless I’m really sick and have turned off my phone and turned out the lights. Otherwise, at the very least I will text: Not feeling well. Talk to you later.

Needless to say, this looks a little hinky if you don’t understand what living with a chronic illness is like. It strains old friendships and puts a damper on new ones. But I’m the guardian of this body and mind for as long as I’m alive, so I have to be vigilant. And the one thing that gets my hackles up is when anyone thinks this is a choice. If by “choice” you mean conscious decisions to not expend energy that you don’t have so you don’t feel terrible, then yeah, it’s a choice.

The difficult part is acknowledging that some people require more of your energy than others. That’s good and bad. Sometimes the person works with you and you dread interactions because it is exhausting. I know plenty of people who feel that way about their parents. I have friends I love to be with, but we have so much fun that again, it can be exhausting. I don’t like this new habit of weighing every single activity and social interaction in units of exhaustion. The very act of sifting through all of this takes energy.

That’s another thing that’s hard to explain. From an outsider’s perspective, it looks like I’m doing fine. “Well, you took a walk this morning and attended a Zoom class, and you don’t look sick” means that I am doing a great job managing my energy. What they don’t see is all the things I didn’t do so I could do those two things.

One of the many ways Lyme sucks the energy right out of you is through social interaction. Texting is great. Emails are great. Talking on the phone is problematic, depending on how I feel and who it is. Zoom calls and classes are stimulating and tiring. Seeing people is always exhausting and I have to weigh what else is going on in my life before I commit to anything. If I have to go grocery shopping and then see a friend for lunch, it is near impossible to see people later, unless I’m looking forward to doing nothing for a few days.

I fight with myself a lot, the guardian clashing constantly with the part of my brain that wants to do whatever it wants. ‘Go ahead,’ it says, ‘eat that gluten-filled pizza/swim another 500 yards/go see that friend/take another writing class/go out late with friends/quit being such a BABY’.  The guardian steps in and reminds me that this might not end well. Sometimes I simply don’t have a choice, it is something that I must do, like travel between Tucson and Denver, or go to the doctor. Then I make sure I have blocked off plenty of time before and after to rest.

This strategy means that currently I am more well than sick, the relapses farther apart and less severe, the recoveries, if not easier, more bearable. This is good, right? Mostly, except when well-meaning people comment that ‘now I can get back to normal.’ It used to vex me, too, this idea that I’m doing so well I can go back to how it was before. But that’s the whole fucking point! This is my normal now. I will always be forced to plug any activity into the energy formula. If I don’t mind anymore, why does it bother other people so much?

I would argue that it is precisely this energy output strategy that has led me to my current state. The tougher my guardian is and the more time I spend taking care of myself, the better I feel. Now that I have given my guardian full control, taking care of me first has become easier. I still argue with her. However, I know my guardian is the one I have to respect. She is one mean bitch, but she always has my best interests at heart.

 

 

Share