Dianas Story. (12/2/07)
I had been extremely fatigued since my late teens...
I had been extremely fatigued since my late teens...I had fibromyalgia, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (which is now gone) at age 26, I had IBS, acne rosacea, adrenal burnout, extreme hypoglycemia, a very weak immune system, continual tonsil, sinus and bladder infections, and was hypothyroid...I was on thyroid replacement from age 17 (after the birth of my oldest son) to age 24, when my doctor died and I could no longer find a doctor who would agree to prescribe for me the 3 grains Armour Thyroid I had been taking - or anyone who would even agree that I was hypothyroid.
I had been diagnosed hypothyroid at age 17, on the basis of my always low temp (usually 96.5) and hypo symptoms - thyroid hormones changed my life and I felt healthy, happy and well...but TSH testing which became widely used in the early 70's was the basis that doctors used to tell me I did not need thyroid replacement.
So for many years, I went from doctor to doctor or endocrinologist to find another doc who would put me back on thyroid...it took many years, and meanwhile my health went downhill.
So for many years, I went from doctor to doctor or endocrinologist to find another doc who would put me back on thyroid...it took many years, and meanwhile my health went downhill. I saw an average of three doctors yearly. I thought it was because I needed thyroid hormones. Looking back, I think I was hypothyroid as a child, because I was always cold, had very little energy and got worn out easily, always constipated, and a good intellect, but mentally dull and unable to think clearly for any length of time. I was always freezing cold by 5:00PM, summer and winter, and I was always very tired by about 8:00 PM and even as a teenager, couldn't seem to stay up past 10:00PM.
In my early twenties, I dated a doctor between my two marriages...he told me that my adrenals were "shot" based on symptoms I had (low b/p, postural hypotension, always dizzy, hypoglycemia) but never told me what I could do about it! But, two months into my second marriage at age 24 and finding myself pregnant and not feeling very well, I learned all I could about the adrenals and began mega-dosing vitamins good for strengthening the adrenals and taking adrenal glandular products...I learned about low blood sugar and learned to eat high protein/fats, low carbs and to cut out sugar and fruit juices, so that my energy would stay up, my weight would stay down and my spirits would stay high enough that I could cope with life.
If I would stay busy one day, cleaning, running errands, etc and not get a two hour afternoon nap, I would pay for it the next day, by being totally unable to do anything but lay in bed or on the couch...if I had to go out or attend a party or function, it would take me two days of being a zombie to recover enough strength to carry on with my daily life as a wife and mother. I flunked a 5 hour glucose tolerance test shortly before the second hour blood draw, passed out and had a blood glucose level of 34.
Years went by, and as each year passed, I felt more and more easily fatigued and unable to do much without my muscles aching and cold sweats pouring out of me. It was about 1982 (I was 33) that I remember having a flu-like few days, where I ached so badly I cried, had chills and nausea, sore throat, stiff neck and achy glands - I never again had a full day where I felt well after this episode. After that, I had even less energy than before, and had a severe ear, throat or bladder infection at least once a month...I seemed to have a chronic bladder infection. I was on antibiotics more often than I was off of them, from about 1985-88.
I remember having a flu-like few days, where I ached so badly I cried, had chills and nausea, sore throat, stiff neck and achy glands - I never again had a full day where I felt well after this episode.
I always found that I felt better, although only temporarily, when I could get some antibiotics from the doctor...with a constantly low temp of under 96, it was not easy to convince anyone to give me antibiotics. Penicillin was great, Erythromycin was even better! I would get a good week of energy whenever I got some abx into me. Occasionally, I would break out with one or more painful boils around my lymph areas, bra-line, groin or armpits. These things would swell up huge and last a couple of weeks until they would finally break and drain. My doctor tested me for a staph infection a few times during the break outs, but I didn't show one on blood tests.By 1988, I was sleeping all but 2-3 hours a day...I would get up with my husband and sons in the AM, get them out the door to school and work, go back to sleep and wake up about 4:00 PM in time to greet the guys coming home from school and figure out what to do for dinner for all of us. After dinner, I had to get back into bed...once I would get tired, my muscles would become incredibly painful until I could get into the bed again and lie there for about 1/2 hour after taking Advil. I needed a hot bath by about 5:00 PM every evening so that I could warm up (I was told later that this is when the body's thyroid hormone level begins to drop and of course I had a low temp to begin with)...
...it seemed that with each year that passed, I became allergic and sensitive to more foods, substances, meds, etc.
I had always had a tree pollen allergy which began in adolescence, but it seemed that with each year that passed, I became allergic and sensitive to more foods, substances, meds, etc. In 1990, I began going to a Chinese doctor/herbalist who practiced TCM.....he would listen to three pulses in each wrist, look at my tongue and my eyes and give me various herbal preparations....I took the herbs and they helped my immune system get a little stronger and I got a small amount of energy while taking them...A year later, I began going to another Chinese doctor who gave me the herbs but also did acupressure and he actually seemed to help my thyroid to function well again...I warmed up and got more energy.....I would say with Dr. Lee's help I could stay awake for maybe 5 hours a day instead of two or three hours and I had a little strength back. ...Dr. Lee was costing me so much money, after a few of years of seeing him once or twice a week, I finally could no longer afford to keep going. When I stopped going to Dr. Lee, my energy plummeted and so did my immune system. If I could see him once a month, it helped my energy minimally. I went to Dr. Lee until 1995.
In 1995, I finally found an holistic MD who agreed that I was hypothyroid and put me on Armour thyroid once again. The thyroid hormones helped my energy level and got rid of the mild depression I felt as a result of not having enough energy to get me past 10:00 AM. I would describe the "depression" I felt as being overwhelmed with life, rather than an emotional depression. It was directly related to how much energy I had upon waking and how quickly it would leave me.
He put me on several high quality supplements, including Intrinsi B12/folate and adrenal glandular support, and all helped me feel stronger. This doctor also put me on DHEA - (I was on 50mgs. for 8 years) and told me about a new concept (then) of taking minocycline for RA - It was The Road Back Foundation - Dr. F. said I needed to take 100mg minocycline once daily for at least 48 weeks and I should see some improvement or even remission of the arthritis. (Back then, I don't think they realized it was due to mycoplasma infections).
"In a year, I had been cured of the rheumatoid arthritis...no more pain - no more rheumatoid factor in my blood, no more rheumatoid nodules on my ankles - I was cured and still have no arthritis to this day."
In a year, I had been cured of the rheumatoid arthritis...no more pain - no more rheumatoid factor in my blood, no more rheumatoid nodules on my ankles - I was cured and still have no arthritis to this day. The doctor had me on GLA from borage oil and that and the DHEA seemed to help my arthritis pain improve and eventually leave me. The doctor said I did indeed have chronic fatigue and so he had me on hydrogen peroxide IV's to cleanse my blood - I have to say, they helped my energy...I think I went once or twice a week for those for 6 weeks...the doc also had me taking the Meyer's cocktail IV's for energy - he said they helped with chronic fatigue, and they did help my energy somewhat.Of course, I was found to have mercury toxicity (does anyone tested for it NOT have it???) but I said I simply could not afford to get all my silver fillings removed and new ones put into my teeth..I tried a homeopathic detox for heavy metals and it made me feel so bad, headachy and exhausted that even my crummy three or four hours waking hours a day were too long for me to stay awake..plus I had to use the bathroom several times a day while detoxing..I was told that this is exactly what to expect when undergoing a detox, so I decided after a month I could no longer deal with trying to detox the mercury and it would just have to stay in me, knowing that, as long as I had remaining silver fillings in my teeth no detox could be complete...
At this time, (2007) I have two mercury fillings left in my mouth...once they are gone, I will get the mercury chelated out of my body, probably with IV's although there is now a chelator which is transdermal and allows a person to absorb phosphatidyl choline into the body thru the skin.
I would say that my heavy sleeping was more like a coma than regular sleep. It took great effort to wake myself or for anyone to awaken me...
Suffice to say that everything I did to help my energy level, all the supplements, glandulars, IV's, herbs, etc but especially the thyroid hormones, helped to give me more energy, better mental clarity and more strength during my few daily waking hours. During the 90's I was able to have a day or two each week, where I could stay up from 7AM - 7PM, with a two hour nap in the afternoon, but most days I was still sleeping most of the day and all night long.My fibromyalgia stayed with me though, and would get worse the longer I was awake or if my day involved a lot of physical exertion. I ached day and night, but was such a sound sleeper that I didn't feel anything when I slept. I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat and always felt exhausted. I took ibuprofen every day, several times a day because everything always hurt. In the 70's I had a lot of problems sleeping and would only get an hour or two each night, and be exhausted all day, which I attribute now to my adrenals being so stressed, but in later years, I would say that my heavy sleeping was more like a coma than regular sleep. It took great effort to wake myself or for anyone to awaken me, and I was asleep within a minute after my head hit the pillow. (this is STILL true of me!)
I am an astrologer, but wasn't able to sit and do many readings for people because the little energy I had was used to do the absolute necessities for my family around the house. But I did an occasional reading and one of my clients also had chronic fatigue. She had struggled with it since her first year in college and when I met her, she seemed very weak and pale and had no strength to even shake hands..it was like shaking a feather. I sent her to all of the people who had helped me and she also got a little help from the herbs and the holistic doctor, but no cure.
Dr. Stratton.
...just as Dr. Stratton was dismantling his research lab because his funding dried up..
In 1998, just as Dr. Stratton was dismantling his research lab because his funding dried up, the client of mine told me about him. I simply didn't have the strength to even consider it, but she had been on the protocol for almost a year, and was feeling great. She looked and sounded like a new person..and she arranged it all for me and got Dr. Stratton to agree to test my blood....I went to my doctor and got the blood draw and had it Fed-ex'd to Dr. Stratton's lab...three weeks later, I got my results:
PCR of Chlamydia Pneumoniae - positive / Antibody titers IGM 1:400 IGG 1:3200
Below is what I have written about it over the years:
Chlamydiae pneumoniae. The organism is Chlamydia pneumoniae, not to be confused with the sexually transmitted chlamydia...I was told that it is a bacterium that acts as a retro virus...it is estimated that most (if not all) of the population has contracted this bug by the time they reach 80 - some as early as age 6 months, some when they are older. For the most part, it does little or nothing to a person...kind of like the herpes virus present on all of our skin, but only giving a cold sore to people whose immune system allows it in.....
For the most part, it does little or nothing to a person...kind of like the herpes virus present on all of our skin, but only giving a cold sore to people whose immune system allows it in..
Dr. Stratton's research included I think about 2500 people with CFS - about half of all the people he tested for CFS had the CPn DNA in their blood, cells and organs from what I understand (PCR) ....they had to do a titres test, IGM, IGG...unfortunately, his research lab closed down due to his research funding on this drying up.
I was one of the last ones, in fall of '98 to be able to send my blood to him to be tested. I believe that after his lab closed down, there were a couple of other labs in the country that did a PARTIAL test for this, but the tests did not show the whole story...they showed if the organism is in your blood, but not if it's still active and replicating in your organs at a lower amount. Sometimes with stealth infections, PCR doesn't show up if a person is on antibiotics anyway, so taking IGG, IGM and IGA is how one would find the organism. This organism has no cell walls of its own and therefore invades your cells and takes them over.
Now, there are labs that do the complete blood work which Dr. Stratton did at his lab. And there are support groups now with people on the various protocols to get rid of cPn, Lyme and mycoplasma infections..in addition, slightly different protocols are being used for cPn, some of them are adapted to the various meds people can or cannot tolerate.
Hormone Therapy. I find it very interesting that most of the people being treated for stealth infections with one or another antibiotic protocol, are also being given hormones...from thyroid, to adrenal hormones such as cortisol, pregnenolone, DHEA, to sex hormones, such as progesterone, estrogen, testosterone. Some have been tested and found to be low on the hormones, and others just have found that they benefit from additional hormones, although their levels fall within "normal" levels. Many doctors have told their patients that once the stealth infections are resolved, so may the need for additional hormones resolve itself.
By 1988, I was sleeping all but 2-3 hours a day...I would get up with my husband and sons in the AM, get them out the door to school and work, go back to sleep and wake up about 4:00 PM
I have a theory, that when a hormone is present in sufficient quantities, but a person with stealth infections displays symptoms of low levels of the various hormones, it may be because the diseased cells are unable to use the hormones properly. It might take additional amounts of say, thyroid hormones, to make enough available so that at least SOME can enter the cells as it should.In my extensive reading and talking with others who have cPn, Lyme, and/or mycoplasma infections, I have also found that when a patient has uncharacteristically high or low amounts of the sex hormones for his or her age, or high or low thyroid or adrenal hormones, or even high or low iron or B12 or folate levels, it may be a tip-off that a stealth infection is present.
Many have found that their problems were originally thought to be low levels of one or another hormone, or high DHEA or progesterone were found, but working to bring up or down hormone levels didn't solve the health problems. Only when they were tested for stealth infections, did they find out the source of their problems. Once the stealth infections have been addressed, hormone levels often return to normal. It is also worth looking into stealth infections when your iron level is high or low...CPn interferes with the heme pathways of the blood and iron doesn't get used properly.
Mercury. Another variable in all of this is mercury toxicity, which can interfere with the pituitary and cause abnormalities in the hormones. LOTS of people with CFS have mercury toxicity from their silver fillings which are actually 60% mercury...and it's been found that a stealth infection by itself or mercury toxicity by itself may not affect a person in a really adverse way, but once a person has both, and if that is also combined with toxins in the air and water, food, etc. negative affects can more readily be experienced. In other words, the healthy body is capable of "throwing off" a certain amount of toxin, pollution or infection, but with so many assaults on the health happening at once most people get to a point where they can no longer deal with it without it taking a toll on their health, mind or energy.
I had two MD's in Chicago who conferred with Dr. Stratton to be able to prescribe his protocol to me rather than me having to travel down to Kentucky to see him at his office. The girl who told me about Dr. Stratton, a former client of mine, whose father is a doctor and sent her from place to place for a cure for her CFS (for many years) now lives in Boston and was prescribed her protocol by the head of infectious disease at Boston University Hospital.
As it turns out, I am learning that most of the doctors who use the protocols of antibiotics to help people get rid of the CFS want to keep themselves anonymous...the AMA and mainstream medicine is very much against them treating CFS and related illnesses with antibiotics
Everyone that my friend knows who has done the protocol has been cured of the chronic fatigue and all of its symptoms. Dr. Stratton gladly e-mailed or spoke with any doctor who wanted to prescribe the Stratton Protocol for their patient. In any event, my client/friend got a doctor here in Chicago to agree to prescribing the protocol for me - she had originally gotten it from this same doctor, Dr. K, and his wife and daughter were also about to begin the protocol.
After about a year on the protocol, Dr. K said his wife and daughter were no longer taking the antibiotics because they could not tolerate them and so he wanted me off the protocol for a while and to cycle the antibiotics, on six weeks and then off six or twelve weeks..when I talked with Dr. Stratton about this, he said that the meds should not be cycled on and off, because the organism had to be continually bombarded with meds until it was eradicated, otherwise it could gain a foothold and be more difficult to get rid of. So - just as I was about to travel down to Kentucky to see Dr.
...it seems they are waiting until pharmaceutical companies come out with meds to eradicate the organisms - until then, it is usual for mainstream medicine to deny the existence of CFS and of protocols which can help get rid of it..
Stratton and have the protocol prescribed to me by him, my current doctor offered to prescribe it for me.Dr. Stratton said that from cases he has seen, I may have been born with Cpn and another doctor told me it sits in the ovaries and can be passed on to unborn children...As it turns out, I am learning that most of the doctors who use the protocols of antibiotics to help people get rid of the CFS want to keep themselves anonymous...the AMA and mainstream medicine is very much against them treating CFS and related illnesses with antibiotics and it seems they are waiting until pharmaceutical companies come out with meds to eradicate the organisms - until then, it is usual for mainstream medicine to deny the existence of CFS and of protocols which can help get rid of it.. In the past few years, the existence of CFS has been acknowledged more and more by mainstream medicine and meds to treat the symptoms are prescribed, such as anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds for mood, Lyrica for fibromyalgia/nerve pain, other meds for joint pain, meds for IBS, meds for sleep, and other allopathic remedies.
Antibiotics
The protocol I was on is a "cocktail" of several antibiotics - over the years Dr. Stratton and others who have developed protocols, have tweaked the meds to see what would be more effective - they have also come up with alternates for anyone who is allergic to specific antibiotics. The various meds are meant to combat the different stages of growth of the bacteria.Dr. Stratton found during his initial research, that people with the CPn organism feel better while they are on antibiotics...that is only anecdotal, though. It was VERY true of me, to the point that early in my CFS history, I discovered if I could just get some antibiotics from my doctor I could get a little energy and relief while on them... several doctors now have similar protocols to the one I was on for cPn, and other stealth infections and co-infections. Oft times, a person has more than one co-infection or cfs virus and rarely does anyone have just one organism affecting him or her.
Some protocols include anti-viral meds. N-acetyl cysteine or NAC has been found to do much the same as amoxicillin in killing the elementary bodies of
...as time goes on, the good weeks happen less often, and become only a few good days here and there, while the bad days turn into bad months and years.
CPn and some prefer taking this amino acid derivative (which also feeds the mitochondria) to taking yet another antibiotic. I am now taking 1200 mgs of NAC twice daily to keep from getting a re-infection of the cPn. Dr. S has also said I should get retested for cPn if symptoms ever return.
Dr. Stratton explained to me that the chronic fatigue was cyclical....at first, some bad days or weeks followed by good days weeks or months, where the person sometimes even thinks they are over whatever had been making them sick...but as time goes on, the good weeks happen less often, and become only a few good days here and there, while the bad days turn into bad months and years.When a person has C. pneumoniae replicating in them and taking over all of their cells (by scooping out your mitochondria and setting up little reproductive factories in them and your organs), Dr. Stratton said that eventually it leads to death. He told me that at my numbers, he was very surprised I was functioning as well as I seemed to be.
Allergies and Sensitivities. Dr. Stratton also told me that he was quite certain that once I was cured of the cpn, my allergies and sensitivities would disappear - including an allergy to sulfa drugs I had developed around age 14. I am no longer allergic or sensitive to anything. I was experiencing a lot of pain and exhaustion by the time (autumn 1998) I found out that I had CPn and forced myself to do at least the minimum of activity I needed to help my family to function every day, but I don't know how much longer I could have gone on. Although my body was not functioning well, luckily, my brain fog was nowhere as bad as most people I have encountered, and so this may have helped me to think well enough to look at all I needed to accomplish and plan my days efficiently and to pace myself with my low energy in mind.
Dr. Stratton also told me that he was quite certain that once I was cured of the cpn, my allergies and sensitivities would disappear
The ideal is if you have a doc who you already know who is willing to treat you according to Dr. Stratton's protocol. My friend was not on thyroid or any hormone and has had a remarkable recovery. I am hypothyroid, had weak adrenals and multiple allergies and sensitivities - my hypothyroid has stayed, but I am fine as long as I take the thyroid hormone - all of my other problems, allergies, symptoms, etc have disappeared.....my friend has had to stop the protocol three times to become pregnant and give birth, but got remarkably better on it - now I believe she is dealing with it a different way, strengthening the adrenals and also watching her children for the illness and trying to do whatever pre-emptive things she can for their health before they come down with anything.Dr. Stratton seemed to be helping people with MS regain function, and he found CPn implicated in lupus. CPn is now being found to be implicated in many other diseases. Other research has found that when a person has a heart attack, CPn could be released into the bloodstream and cause another one within 2 months ...they can counteract this by giving Zithromax for 5 days after the heart attack.....
Antibiotic Protocol. So - here's what I took:
500 mg. Amoxicillin 2xdaily
500 mg. Probenecid 2xdaily
300 mg. INH - Isoniazid once daily
500 mg. Zithromax Mon-Wed -Fri
(I reduced the Azith dose from 500mgs to 250 mgs the fifth year)
I began with the Zithromax and added another drug every month
He wanted us on a no red meat diet, with a lot of simple carbs, as I remember it, but I didn't find that worked well for me.
He wanted us on a no red meat diet, with a lot of simple carbs, as I remember it, but I didn't find that worked well for me. I had been doing my best on a high protein diet for low blood sugar since the 70's. He wanted us to take 500mg glutamine, which I took for two years and then stopped and saw no difference with or without it (as it turns out, I would not have "seen" a difference, even if it was helping), although it was meant to "feed" the mitochondria in cells as they were being rid of the organisms.The chlamydia pneumoniae has been found to scoop out all of the good mitochondria from the cells, set up little replicating plants to make more of themselves in the cells and organs, and also releases something which prevents apoptosis, or natural cell death, so that the cells reproducing the cPn organism are not able to die. More and more grow and take over every system and every organ. He recommended glucose for energy while the germ was being killed...I didn't eat much sugar or carbs, because I never did well on them, but it seems it really does give people energy at a critical time when they need it.
Vitamin B-12. B12 shots 3x weekly - while I did this, I thought it was to help with the die off pains - actually, I believe the B12 was meant to help relieve the depression and pain that occurs as a result of secondary porphyria which occurs with the CPn... - Dr. Stratton has since found the sublingual B12 works just as well...
Activated Charcoal. The cPn organism also releases a toxin as it dies...it is HORRIBLE, EXTREME pains in the arms and leg muscles - or any place you have a weak spot - mine was ankles and neck - it seems that the die off can be most troublesome at night when you are trying to sleep or in a lying position...he recommends activated charcoal, 4 grams 3x daily - two hours before or after meds, so that it doesn't interrupt absorption...it keeps the toxins released into your system from being reabsorbed thru the gut and gets it out of the body...my friend wouldn't take this...I did for nearly five years,. because it does cut down very much on the horrible die off pain. And yet the pain is bearable, because you know the little bugger is dying!
Flagyl. He also wanted me to take metronidazole (flagyl), but my face and eyes swelled up from it, so he told me not to chance it - the reaction I had was allergic, as opposed to a die-off reaction caused by the flagyl..it happened within a 1/2 hour of taking the flagyl, I became covered with hives and an itchy rash and benedryl relieved it... I gave myself the B12shots intramuscularly usually a couple of times a week and they helped me enormously.
The cPn organism also releases a toxin as it dies...it is HORRIBLE, EXTREME pains in the arms and leg muscles..
I have never had leaky gut, or a problem with yeast or parasites, but some of the girls on flagyl said it gave them energy and helped them a great deal with yeast infections they had. As it turns out, flagyl doesn't work for yeast infections, but it can get rid of gram negative infections which can give symptoms similar to candidiasis.People on the protocols take most of their meds daily but usually take pulses of flagyl, because this is the med which most often causes lots of rough reactions...some begin with only one flagyl a month..others take it for five days each month..some take it for longer and longer periods of time each month and stop only when die-off reactions become too difficult to continue.
There is also a mental component involved with taking flagyl and dark moods and feeling of disconnect from one's body have been reported. The flagyl/metronidazole is believed to kill the cryptic phase of cPn....some take a "lighter" version or metroniazole, called tini for short..not sure of the whole name of the drug or its spelling, but it's effects are not as hard on people...they later "graduate" to flagyl...there is at least one doctor who has his patients who have gotten rid of the stealth infections taking flagyl once a month and he says they do not suffer any ill effects from it. This doctor believes that a bad reaction to flagyl may indicate a person who has some type of stealth infection and that healthy people do not react badly to flagyl.
Dr.'s Stratton and David Wheldon in the UK have found that if a person takes NAC and has a bad reaction to it, this serves as a preliminary test to see if the person has CPn. What would happen with CPn present is a sinus headache and symptoms of a cold or sinus infection.
Dr. Stratton recommended that I switch to Rifampin instead of the INH (he was having better results with Rifampin) - also a drug for TB and other bacilli - but it is stronger and I was frankly afraid - so I stayed on INH and have been satisfied that it did the job. I know all of those with MS were on rifampin and took carnitine.
He wants you to drink 6 quarts of water daily - let's say I did what I could in this regard! Some days, I came pretty close! The water is necessary to help the organs of elimination not to get bogged down with toxins when diseased cells are finally allowed to die, and toxins are released by dying cells in mass quantities.
Side Effects and the Gut. I had NO bad reactions to the long term antibiotics, but Dr. S would answer your e-mails or calls if you were having a problem and always seems to have some kind of suggestion or solution. The Zithromax can cause some pretty awful diarrhea at first - first month or so. Dr. S told me to take 3 pepto bismal tablets before each meal to help this problem...I did this at dinner time on the days I took the zithromax and it helped a great deal to relieve distress in my digestive tract.
It is advisable to take a probiotic daily to keep your intestines healthy, but I rarely did - I can only think I had so much of this bacteria in me to kill, the antibiotics did nothing but good for me. I know that where candida is present the probiotics are especially important. I now make sure I take a probiotic at least once a week. I have never had candidiasis or yeast overgrowth, but most patients with CFS or stealth infections treated have had this. It is possible that the charcoal helped my intestines deal with the toxins also.
A Remarkable Recovery.
The first thing to leave me was the chronic cough I had developed..
The first thing to leave me was the chronic cough I had developed...this disappeared after about 6 weeks on the Stratton protocol. You will find that the periods of time when you feel well get longer and the exacerbations get shorter and further between....I went from what I would call 2% total energy and no days where I could lift my head for more than one at a time, hour to probably 99% energy now - I have a life!
The first year on the protocol, I found my good days with a little energy happening more often and my stretches of really bad days were shorter in length...each year I got more and more weeks and months where I felt pretty good, but still energy only until about noon - maybe a nap and then a couple more hours of staying up until I was tired or had done something strenuous.
Probably the fourth year on the protocol my fibro was gone and only appeared about once every couple of months when I had done something extraordinarily active.
I stopped taking the meds in Jan, 2004....In 2005, I had a couple of colds, but my immune system is quite strong now. The colds were not as severe as the others in my family had them either and I was not "laid up" with them. When I get sick now, it isn't like before, when it would put me in bed for a week unable to function at all.
I began the protocol on Dec 1, 1998 and in Jan, 2004 my doctor and I felt the organism was gone. So, I was on it for five full years. My energy was back.
I can wake up at 7 AM and have a full day, no naps, and get into bed by 10 or 11:00 PM without an ache, pain of any kind, sore throat or sore glands. I feel fantastic. My muscles have strength again. I can do strenuous things and walk for miles without a problem.During his initial research, Dr. Stratton said that in his opinion, you have a 50% chance that this is your problem if you have CFS. If the PCR of the organism is found in your blood, the protocol will almost certainly get rid of it for you. so the test would be the starting point for you.
Before I began the protocol, I was tested for leaky gut syndrome and did not have it, but my doc told me that most people who have the cpn also have that..he attributed me having a healthy gut to all the antioxidants I have taken for so many years.
I can wake up at 7 AM and have a full day, no naps, and get into bed by 10 or 11:00 PM without an ache, pain of any kind, sore throat or sore glands. I feel fantastic. My muscles have strength again. I can do strenuous things and walk for miles without a problem.
was common, but I had the highest amount of Cpn DNA he had seen, so I guess it took longer - now, they are finding that it is rarely gone in 18 months, but those on the protocols do see great improvement as time goes on.....I was tested for liver function during the 3rd, 6th, and 9th months after I began the isonaizid - my doc, being very intuitive, didn't test me more than twice to see if I still had the organism in me, but just worked with me on this and prescribed more when we felt I still I needed it.I began the protocol on Dec 1, 1998 and in Jan, 2004 my doctor and I felt the organism was gone. So, I was on it for five full years. My energy was back...my fibromyalgia is gone, my immune system is strong and all of my allergies and sensitivities are gone , except the tree pollen allergy I have had since I was a child (and even that isn't very severe any more, nor do I need allergy meds for it) and the allergy to flagyl.
Dr. Stratton is a wonderful and very humanitarian man...but very busy - he was available by phone years ago, and the best way to reach him was by e-mail and I have recently heard that nobody has been able to contact him, but he occasionally makes an appearance of the cpnhelp.org group.
I stopped taking the protocol in January 2004...and am rid of the CPn. I feel great! More labs across the country such as Quest, are testing for CPn, as well as the arthritis foundation, which also has very good tests for mycoplasma infections. I know the arthritis research foundation (www.TARCI.net) confers with people and suggests a much lesser antibiotic regimen for Cpn. I wonder if it works? and if it gets rid of the organism for good?
I have had many doctors tell me that the protocol I was on is overkill - much more than needed..but I am not sure I could have gotten rid of the cpn any other way.
I know that both my sons who were dx'd with mycoplasma infections have done well with doxycycline only, but we still don't have a cure on either one of them, since it has only been a couple of years for them. I have had many doctors tell me that the protocol I was on is overkill - much more than needed..but I am not sure I could have gotten rid of the cpn any other way.Many doctors are now developing similar protocols, and treating CPn, mycoplasma infections, MS, Lyme and other stealth infections. The Vanderbilt and Stratton protocols as well as the Powell protocol are being used presently for cPn and Lyme, and also other co-infections.
After I finished with the protocol, I would say that it took about 18 months to fine tune my hormones and really feel like I was totally healthy and over the CFS completely. I have been asked if I have ever felt it was coming back and my answer to that is NO - but I have worried from time to time that it might come back.
I probably feel better today and have more energy even than when I was a teenager. My immune system is strong, my strength and stamina is fantastic. In April, 2007, I was tested with the full chlamydia panel at Quest labs, and found to have completely normal IGM, IGG, IGA titres...the cPn is completely gone.
I probably feel better today and have more energy even than when I was a teenager. My immune system is strong, my strength and stamina is fantastic.
Diana (astrodiana@comcast.net (12/07)