Tracking my efforts to beat Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka CFIDS, aka CFS

Tracking my efforts to beat Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka CFIDS, aka CFS

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

On a hot streak!

Like a lucky gambler at the craps table, I'm on a hot streak, baby!  I've been feeling pretty healthy for the past week, and even found myself dancing in the kitchen this morning. Now that I'm feeling a little better, I've returned to practicing a yoga-like stretching routine in the mornings, which I used to enjoy on and off before ME.  I haven't experienced any post exertional malaise from the routine, so I plan to continue with it, and maybe work some light weight training into the mix.

 I've also started taking the antiviral Famciclovir (generic for Famvir) and haven't experienced any start-up reactions.  Like most anti-virals, Famciclovir works by preventing the viruses (in my case, EBV and HHV-6) from replicating and infecting new cells.  It does not actually kill the viruses, so it's not likely one will see exprience short term results from Famciclovir. (See Dr. Lerner article, at Section II.)  The benefit from Famciclovir comes as the cells that are already infected with the virus die off and are replaced by uninfected cells.  I've read different reports on how long this takes: from a couple of months to a couple of years.  I plan to research this further.  

I haven't yet started taking the low dose Naltrexone (LDN) because I prefer not to start two new medications at once.  I'll probably begin taking LDN some time next week.  Meanwhile I'm still slowly titrating my dosages on the B12 protocol.  I started working Dibencozide into the protocol this week.  I'm hoping the cumulative effect of these treatments will, if not cure me, at least get me feeling close to normal again.

While all of these things are positive, I'm occasionally reminded that I'm still far from 100%.  For instance, on Sunday, my wife and I took our baby girl to meet with some of our friends at the Aquarium of the Pacific, in Long Beach.  We walked around the aquarium for several hours, rarely sitting. Prior to ME, this would not have been a problem, but this time, the flu-like feeling came creeping back.  The good news is, it was mostly gone by the mid-day the next day, but the whole experience was a good reminder of where I am on the road to healing, lest I get ahead of myself.

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