An entire year since I posted a recovery update?

Yep… it’s true. It’s been a year since I posted and update in this category. Shit. I just reread the previous post from February 2010. Things are somewhat the same… somewhat.

What happened in 2010?

Nothing significant has changed as far as treatment or symptoms. I would say that I do feel better than when I last wrote, but I can’t measurably say what’s improved. I no longer keep the symptom charts anymore. My hope was that the charts would show some sort of “change”, but they simply reminded me that not much was happening so I dropped them.

Interesting Igenex results

One interesting thing that turned up is a trend in my Igenex results. I’ve never been CDC positive for Lyme, but I’ve always been Igenex positive… until my last test.

The chart below shows the three Igenex tests that I’ve had since getting sick. The first from 04.19.08 is when I found out that I had Lyme. It’s Igenex positive for both IGM (current infection) and IGG (past infection). The second from 07.30.09 shows an even more positive IGM and IGG result. This was right after I switched from Dr. R to Dr. M and basically took myself off antibiotics after a year and a half of getting nowhere.

The third and most recent test done on 10.13.10 is Igenex negative for IGM and essentially back to where I was on the first test for IGG.

My current LLMD, Dr. M, took this as affirmation of his theory on my condition — that I do indeed have Lyme Disease, and that I’ve been treated appropriately, but that there’s something blocking my complete recovery. What that is, we’re not really sure, but he suspects neurotoxins or heavy metals.

Regardless of what the actual cause is, it was interesting to see these results. I don’t put a lot of faith in test results, but it did make me feel like maybe something is improving.

Addressing heavy metals

Another thing that turned up is that I’ve tested high for a variety of heavy metals. I posted about it briefly here. To describe the testing process, result findings and details on treatment for this deserves its own post so I’ll skip over all that for now.

The main thing to know is that I’m currently undergoing a series of chelation treatments to bring the levels down. My LLMD wants me to do a string of CA EDTA IVs – one per week for five weeks – and then retest to see if my levels are any different. From there we’ll decide if I need more… which I probably will since five treatments is a drop in the bucket for chelation therapy. The norm seems to be around 25-35 treatments.

What about exercise?

The exercise thing is going pretty well. The last race I did was the 2010 Falmouth Road Race way back in August. It didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, but I still beat my time from the previous year. I mistimed my training and peaked too early.

I should have backed off and taken a break, but instead, driven by my less than perfect performance at Falmouth, I pushed ahead determined to crush Grete’s Gallop in Central Park in October. This lead to blowing out my left Achilles and irritating the right. The winter has all been about rehabbing and recovering from that.

Rehab has me back on the bike — I bought a new Kuota Kult to soften the blow of not being able to run — and that’s been going well. This weekend I crushed some hills up in Harriman State Park by myself on Saturday and then did a hard Computrainer ride with my team on Sunday. The Computrainer ride had my average heart rate up in the 75-80% of max range with a couple of 95-100% spikes. This combined with the 60% average from the previous day’s ride forced me to take a nap in the afternoon.

It’s worth noting the nap because I never, ever get to the point where I have to nap. Except perhaps post running race where my heart rate is continually up in that 75%+ zone do I ever need to completely rest like that. There may be days where I would like to nap, but I never have to.

So, the upcoming season is looking good and I’m hoping that I can do the two half marathons that I signed up for in May. I don’t see myself shooting for any PRs, but just being able to participate on the new Achilles would be great.

That’s the gist of it

With the new format of this blog I hope to be able to post more often. Stay tuned for details on the chelation.