My Neurological Lyme Disease Treatment Regimen

I just thought I would share with you all my current Neurological Lyme Disease treatment regimen. It changes quite frequently, so here is a verbal snapshot of my medicine bag presently, and an explanation for why I feel it to be necessary.My primary symptoms are chronic fatigue, severe severe severe short-term and working memory impairments, derealization, brain fog, and I cannot remember the others right now. Did I mention memory issues? Anyways, here's this:

I start my day off with a typical food-based Multi-Vitamin that is Gluten and Soy-free. Additionally at this time I take 2 grams of N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) with 500 milligrams of Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) as they are the building blocks for our body's master anti-oxidant agent Glutathione (Gloo-Tuh-Thigh-On), and taking Glutathione orally is about as (in)effective as not taking anything at all from my understanding- So it is best to just provide your body with the building blocks for it's production, such as NAC, ALA, and methylated vitamins such as methylcobalamin (A methylated form of B12) are good for the production of Glutathione as well. The importance of Glutathione cannot be emphasized enough- Just know that there are more peer-reviewed articles on it's crucial role in the body than there are for Vitamin C. I also take Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR) to aid in maintaining mitochondrial function, choline levels, and energy production. I buy the NAC, ALA, and ALCAR in bulk and capsule them myself.

Around 1pm every day I take Namenda XR 28 mg. It is a medication used to treat Dementia/Alzheimer's for my memory impairments. It acts as an NMDA antagonist I believe- so you can sort of think of it as the preserver of your cells/memories so the Lyme spirochetes do a bit less damage to your brain.As for my current antibiotics, I take 200 milligrams of Minocycline and 250 milligrams of Tindamax. Tindamax is supposed to be known to target the L-form and biofilms that the Lyme spirochetes hide dormant beneath when they detect the presence of harmful antibiotics. The Minocycline targets the active lyme spirochetes so I should be hitting the Lyme from all directions, I hope. I am prescribed Clonazepam daily as well, I take 1-2 mg depending on the day and what I have going on for the derealization symptom- though it can inhibit the formation of new memories and memory recall. I am trying to get off of it, but it's a process. As anyone with a chronic illness that calls for long-term antibiotics knows, a good probiotic is crucial. I had my Lyme Literate MD prescribe me a probiotic (VSL#3 DS) that has a 900 billion bacteria count to restore the good bacteria in my gut. After all, our second brain is in the gut.

Dr. David Jernigan speaks about how as you kill off the Lyme spirochetes they release Ammonia, which is a potent neurotoxin that will only make issues for those with Neuro Lyme much worse- Especially memory issues. This is why I take 1 gram of L-Ornithine HCL with some Magnesium/Potassium Aspartate. It helps remove ammonia from the brain and convert it so it enters the urea cycle and can be excreted from the body. Be sure to drink a lot of water for maximum ammonia elimination. (Though you should be drinking a lot of water anyways if you have chronic Lyme. ) I buy these in bulk and capsule them myself as well. As you kill off the Lyme bacteria, inflammatory cytokines are released and these can lead to memory issues, depression and other psychology manifestations that are treated with a potent and highly bio-available form of Curcumin. I would recommend Longvida or Meriva-500 brands for potency. I take 1 gram a day of this and it is also good for plaques and lesions. Lastly, for better cognition and overall brain functioning I take Lithium Orotate for clearing of neurofibrillary tangles, 5 milligrams, and Ginkgo Biloba at 120 milligrams a day as it is great for memory and acts as a vasodialator.Lastly, every person in general shouldn't go a day without their essential fatty acids/Omega 3's. I eat fish almost daily, and though getting your omega 3's from whole food is ideal- you cannot always have fish to eat. I take the Nutrigold brand Fish Oil as well as incorporating flax seeds into my daily shakes. Nutrigold is the best bang for your buck when it comes to fish oil, and it is offered through Amazon Prime. You can tell the purity is top notch just from the way it looks. More on diet restrictions, exercise, and spiritual practices later

NOTE: I will be traveling to Indiana by bus to visit a good friend for the week before my trip to Bonnaroo and then Iquitos, Peru. On the bus ride to Indiana I will come back  through and add in the diet, exercise, and spiritual components of my treatment regimen as well as more extensive explanations of why I take the supplements that I do. My brain is not having a great day today. Everything mentioned here I take on account of my own research and knowledge of the supplements, in addition to how they make me feel. I have experimented with hundreds of supplements in my two years with chronic neurological lyme disease, and these are the ones that I find to be most helpful for me. This is a guide for some direction on alleviating symptoms and aiding the body as you kill off the lyme, not an instruction manual on how to cure your illness.
If you have any questions feel free to ask, and thank you for reading!

A Brief Introduction

Greetings
My name is John Bradley Holloway and two years ago from the date of this post I was bitten by a tick in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee on a hiking/camping endeavor that changed the course of my life in ways once unfathomable. The background image is a photo I took near our campsite about a 10 mile hike in. I have chronic neurological Lyme Disease, but I am not defined by this. I am here now to tell you about my journey- this is a blog with a multitude of intentions. For optimizing the body, the mind and soul to step into the light of love that embodies the very essence of our life force- As well as for finding the present, and developing a balance, a harmony with the light and dark of our world. I will share with you my treatment regimens, including spiritual, holistic and traditional medicine and practices in the utmost clarity for anyone going through a chronic illness, state of dis-ease or disconnection from one's habitual center of personal energy- as William James would call it.

Brother body is poor . . . that means we must be rich for him.
He was often the rich one; so may he be forgiven
for the meanness of his wretched moments.
Then, when he acts as though he barely knows us,
may he be gently reminded of all that has been shared.

Of course, we are not one but two solitaries:
our consciousness and he.
But how much we have to thank each other for,
as friends do! And illness reminds us:
friendship demands a lot.

– Rilke, Uncollected Poems

This is my first blog post, and is not meant to be long in nature. I just want to introduce myself and welcome anyone who is drawn to this blog, for whatever reason, to stick around and take a step into the light of life and the depths of your own soul. This blog will be a collection of my personal treatment strategies, healing mantras, entries of my daily endeavors towards growth and optimal health, poetry (both my own and by others that resonate with me), brain information and whatever else strikes me in the moment of my typestate. I hope if you are reading this that you will accept my invitation to grow alongside me and share your stories with me just as much as mine with you. I can be easily contacted here, through my email: FreelyFlourish@yahoo.com, my facebook page the Nashville Think Tank, or any other avenues that come to you. Welcome, and cheers to you and our separate but shared journeys.

Let us find the balance between unearthing the depths and entering the dark realm of our individual souls and moving upwards into the glimmering, transcendental and universal spirit moving through all.

Love and Light,
John