Lyme, Babesiosis Treatment
Donation protected
Hello, My name is Tyler Collins
I've been sick with Lyme Disease and Babesiosis since June 25th, 2009
atleast that was the day i remember my symptoms starting
I got sick ten days after i graduated High School
As a high school student i considered my self decent
took a few honors classes here and there
Varsity Swim team
played basketball everyday, as well as went to the gym everyday
and i really wanted to get into sports medicine as a career. As well as do some personal training as a part time job while i went to school for that.
So the week after graduating i went to Las Vegas (My uncle lived there)
and i know what your thinking, it was a party trip.... but it wasnt at all
i never even went to the strip.
It was all training focused, I got to train with Mark Philippi a couple times a week, which was an amazing experience.
As well we did a lot of hiking, of which mount charleston was my favorite, and absolutely beautiful!
But after all that was said and done i returned back to my home in Asheville NC.
3 days later I got hit with this massive fatigue. I was only able to go to the gym once back home before it hit me, and after that i couldnt work out or anything, my muscles just did not want to work. Which was an odd feeling for me
I expected is was just a virus and itd go away, but it didnt...It just got worse and worse, as well I started Getting massive sinus presure.
Well after a while I started trying to see some Drs.
first my family Doc, then a local infectious disease
he ran some tests, only thing off was my liver function was super high for some reason, but eventually tappered down.
We got an MRI for the sinus pressure and determined i had a deviated septum, and it was blocked, so maybe i had an infection that had built up
So next Doc was an ENT, we decided to get the septoplasti surgery
of which I got pnumonia right after and ended up in the ER
but of course the surgery didnt help at all
and i still kept getting worse
well about June 2010 my girlfriend at the time gave me mono.
after that things just seemed to downward spiral
my heart rate felt very fast from then on, as well my vision and mental state started to get blurry
i started forgetting things quicker, and losing focus easily
things started getting bad so fast i eventually lost the ability to drive. Which happened around december 2010
after i lost the ability to drive things got bad
i was pretty much bed ridden and in a massive amount of pain all the time
lights were crazy bright to me
and i felt like i never made any sense when i was talking.
I had lost a lot of friends at this point
to me i had become "the sick grandparent in a nursing home you go see maybe once every few months"
nothing seemed to help me at all
until one day a alternative care dr let me try Diflucan, and 3 weeks in i was able to drive again! well for about a week
I never knew why that was that it helped until more recently
but after that he took me off of it
I preceded to go to many more Drs and Duke Medical all with no answers at all
I tried Diflucan again in June 2011, it helped again, was able to drive again for a week, then it died down again like it did the first time, but this time i stayed on it
I eneded up ordering it myself from Alldaychemist
it wasnt a cure, but it was the only thing that made living bearable
The day after christmas that year I went up to the cleaveland clinic with my dad
he is a computer programmer and was able to get a job writing programs for them
which worked out great i thought
I think I saw almost every Dr there and at university hospitals
with no ideas or direction at all
no one could help
some had me try not taking the diflucan to see what happened, but every time i did i ended up in the ER with a heart rate of 160 or higher, and couldnt move
those were terrifing times
It was around April 2012 i got to go see a Dr in new york, he was the Dr that got me onto the no carb yeast diet, which even though he didnt suspect yeast, apparently carbs feed disease and its best to avoid them
So from then on i did, and though it did not cure me, it kept me out of the hospital and helped my symptoms out a lot.
So around my birthday. July 22nd, i was going to be 21 that year, I prayed hard. I was losing hope because i had been to so many Drs with no answer, and it had been over 3 years now that i had been sick.
Well around that time my mom txts me and says she still thinks I have Lyme, dispite being tested previously and being negative 3 times (but i did have the rash)
So i started thinking, "well maybe i should research more"
So i started didgging and found how innacurate those tests are, and that there are Drs that actually specialize in it
I preceded to call many of these Drs in Cleveland and back in NC, i figured either would work, all the ones close to cleveland were booked for months, but a dr in NC had an opening in a week
I jumped on that and had my friend drive me down there to be there that day
She ordered many tests, when i went to labcorp to get them all i felt like there was 40 tubes being filled atleast
I went back up to Cleveland for the time being, about two weeks later she calls me, and says the results are in
I tested positive for Lyme and 2 strains of babesiosis (Duncani and Microti)
I was shocked!
I had never tested positive for anything
She started me on Doxycycline
Azithromycin
and Malarone
she said id feel really crappy for a couple weeks then start to feel better after
which i did, and then i preceeded to come home to NC after those first few weeks
because i missed home life in NC
Well treatment went fairly regular for a while, i was told 4 months to be symptom free
which i really looked forward to
i had gotten to the point where i could do light work outs and activities around december 2012, still couldnt drive though
Treatment plans changed a lot as things seemed to stop working as they were
ive been on
Larium
rifampin
clarithromycin
cefdinir
ceftin
hydroxycloroquin
ivermectin
bacillin
Doxycyclin
Azithromycin
Mepron
Malarone
Alinia
Tinidazone
Metronidazole
Albenza
The list goes on and on and the list of supplements seems never ending
It seemed after she stopped babesia treatment for a little while that things got worse even after restarting it
things just never got back to that level of health, i havent been able to do light workouts again since then
I still cant drive
Right now what im on is
Bicillin
Clarithromycin
Hydroxycloroquine
Mepron
Nystatin
Artemisin
Ceftin
As well as many supplements
we found out recently i have a few gene defects from running the 23andme test
which showed i am cbs c699t positive
which explains why i dont tolerate ferminted food and many supplements that help most lyme patients
so now i am on a strict sulfur free diet as of a couple weeks ago
which is added to the low yeast diet
which as you can imagine is very limited
(im only eating zuchinni, artichokes and lettuce now, with olive oil and apple cider vinegar)
very tasteless but i can tell a difference
If your interested in the gene mutations Dr Yasko has a very amazing explaination of them and what they do as well as what to take to help them
but as far as what this money would go towards helping, it would all go towards medications as insurance doesnt cover all of them, the shots mostly
as well it would go towards supplements and food
as you can imagine eating fresh zucchinni all day everyday can get expensive, i wish i could eat cheapo food and grains, but they make me feel so horrible, and bring back so many symptoms
I would gladly take supplement donations
probiotics are always amazing,
lately ive been using the bifido probiotics from customs probiotics
i seem to tolerate it the best
But if you have any questions feel free to ask
I can answer any you have
My dads been helping me throughout this entire ordeal, and its been a strain on him, so id like to take off some of the pressure if its possible at all.
Thank you for your time and reading my story :)
I've been sick with Lyme Disease and Babesiosis since June 25th, 2009
atleast that was the day i remember my symptoms starting
I got sick ten days after i graduated High School
As a high school student i considered my self decent
took a few honors classes here and there
Varsity Swim team
played basketball everyday, as well as went to the gym everyday
and i really wanted to get into sports medicine as a career. As well as do some personal training as a part time job while i went to school for that.
So the week after graduating i went to Las Vegas (My uncle lived there)
and i know what your thinking, it was a party trip.... but it wasnt at all
i never even went to the strip.
It was all training focused, I got to train with Mark Philippi a couple times a week, which was an amazing experience.
As well we did a lot of hiking, of which mount charleston was my favorite, and absolutely beautiful!
But after all that was said and done i returned back to my home in Asheville NC.
3 days later I got hit with this massive fatigue. I was only able to go to the gym once back home before it hit me, and after that i couldnt work out or anything, my muscles just did not want to work. Which was an odd feeling for me
I expected is was just a virus and itd go away, but it didnt...It just got worse and worse, as well I started Getting massive sinus presure.
Well after a while I started trying to see some Drs.
first my family Doc, then a local infectious disease
he ran some tests, only thing off was my liver function was super high for some reason, but eventually tappered down.
We got an MRI for the sinus pressure and determined i had a deviated septum, and it was blocked, so maybe i had an infection that had built up
So next Doc was an ENT, we decided to get the septoplasti surgery
of which I got pnumonia right after and ended up in the ER
but of course the surgery didnt help at all
and i still kept getting worse
well about June 2010 my girlfriend at the time gave me mono.
after that things just seemed to downward spiral
my heart rate felt very fast from then on, as well my vision and mental state started to get blurry
i started forgetting things quicker, and losing focus easily
things started getting bad so fast i eventually lost the ability to drive. Which happened around december 2010
after i lost the ability to drive things got bad
i was pretty much bed ridden and in a massive amount of pain all the time
lights were crazy bright to me
and i felt like i never made any sense when i was talking.
I had lost a lot of friends at this point
to me i had become "the sick grandparent in a nursing home you go see maybe once every few months"
nothing seemed to help me at all
until one day a alternative care dr let me try Diflucan, and 3 weeks in i was able to drive again! well for about a week
I never knew why that was that it helped until more recently
but after that he took me off of it
I preceded to go to many more Drs and Duke Medical all with no answers at all
I tried Diflucan again in June 2011, it helped again, was able to drive again for a week, then it died down again like it did the first time, but this time i stayed on it
I eneded up ordering it myself from Alldaychemist
it wasnt a cure, but it was the only thing that made living bearable
The day after christmas that year I went up to the cleaveland clinic with my dad
he is a computer programmer and was able to get a job writing programs for them
which worked out great i thought
I think I saw almost every Dr there and at university hospitals
with no ideas or direction at all
no one could help
some had me try not taking the diflucan to see what happened, but every time i did i ended up in the ER with a heart rate of 160 or higher, and couldnt move
those were terrifing times
It was around April 2012 i got to go see a Dr in new york, he was the Dr that got me onto the no carb yeast diet, which even though he didnt suspect yeast, apparently carbs feed disease and its best to avoid them
So from then on i did, and though it did not cure me, it kept me out of the hospital and helped my symptoms out a lot.
So around my birthday. July 22nd, i was going to be 21 that year, I prayed hard. I was losing hope because i had been to so many Drs with no answer, and it had been over 3 years now that i had been sick.
Well around that time my mom txts me and says she still thinks I have Lyme, dispite being tested previously and being negative 3 times (but i did have the rash)
So i started thinking, "well maybe i should research more"
So i started didgging and found how innacurate those tests are, and that there are Drs that actually specialize in it
I preceded to call many of these Drs in Cleveland and back in NC, i figured either would work, all the ones close to cleveland were booked for months, but a dr in NC had an opening in a week
I jumped on that and had my friend drive me down there to be there that day
She ordered many tests, when i went to labcorp to get them all i felt like there was 40 tubes being filled atleast
I went back up to Cleveland for the time being, about two weeks later she calls me, and says the results are in
I tested positive for Lyme and 2 strains of babesiosis (Duncani and Microti)
I was shocked!
I had never tested positive for anything
She started me on Doxycycline
Azithromycin
and Malarone
she said id feel really crappy for a couple weeks then start to feel better after
which i did, and then i preceeded to come home to NC after those first few weeks
because i missed home life in NC
Well treatment went fairly regular for a while, i was told 4 months to be symptom free
which i really looked forward to
i had gotten to the point where i could do light work outs and activities around december 2012, still couldnt drive though
Treatment plans changed a lot as things seemed to stop working as they were
ive been on
Larium
rifampin
clarithromycin
cefdinir
ceftin
hydroxycloroquin
ivermectin
bacillin
Doxycyclin
Azithromycin
Mepron
Malarone
Alinia
Tinidazone
Metronidazole
Albenza
The list goes on and on and the list of supplements seems never ending
It seemed after she stopped babesia treatment for a little while that things got worse even after restarting it
things just never got back to that level of health, i havent been able to do light workouts again since then
I still cant drive
Right now what im on is
Bicillin
Clarithromycin
Hydroxycloroquine
Mepron
Nystatin
Artemisin
Ceftin
As well as many supplements
we found out recently i have a few gene defects from running the 23andme test
which showed i am cbs c699t positive
which explains why i dont tolerate ferminted food and many supplements that help most lyme patients
so now i am on a strict sulfur free diet as of a couple weeks ago
which is added to the low yeast diet
which as you can imagine is very limited
(im only eating zuchinni, artichokes and lettuce now, with olive oil and apple cider vinegar)
very tasteless but i can tell a difference
If your interested in the gene mutations Dr Yasko has a very amazing explaination of them and what they do as well as what to take to help them
but as far as what this money would go towards helping, it would all go towards medications as insurance doesnt cover all of them, the shots mostly
as well it would go towards supplements and food
as you can imagine eating fresh zucchinni all day everyday can get expensive, i wish i could eat cheapo food and grains, but they make me feel so horrible, and bring back so many symptoms
I would gladly take supplement donations
probiotics are always amazing,
lately ive been using the bifido probiotics from customs probiotics
i seem to tolerate it the best
But if you have any questions feel free to ask
I can answer any you have
My dads been helping me throughout this entire ordeal, and its been a strain on him, so id like to take off some of the pressure if its possible at all.
Thank you for your time and reading my story :)
Organizer
Tyler Collins
Organizer
Fletcher, NC