rowingmom

Foamy urine in males can also be associated with the presence of semen in the urine. Your son is getting to be the age where this is a possibility. Especially in the mornings.

I would suggest you investigate the coinfections, especially bartonella. It is notorious for causing psychiatric issues. My own suicidal ideation came to an end when I started treating myself with the same herbs I am giving DD13 for bartonella. Bartonella, babesia, ehrlichia etc. are all stand alone infections and are highly immune suppressive. Lyme need not be present. http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/Breitschwerdt%20J%20Neuroparasitol%20Review%202012.pdf

Yay, the methylation guru is back! Good to see you LLM, and glad to read about your son's improvements!

mmiglio - keep up the good work. You will find an answer.

I would ask your doctor if it would be possible to decrease dosage or even discontinue for a while to see if she can detox for a bit. If she improves then you will know that the symptom intensification is due to die-off. If you find no improvement with removal of abx then you know the abx she is taking are not addressing her particular infection. She will need to take probiotics as well. Much of the body's immune system is housed in the gut and the symbionts need to function at full capacity. Antibiotics (and glyphosate as well) will preferentially target beneficial bacteria, leaving only pathogenic forms.

The brain inflammation and autoimmune-type reactions of PANS/PANDAS can be caused by infections other than strep. DD13's was caused by a combination of bartonella and babesia which are generally arthropod-borne infections. A negative antidnase does not rule out other types of infection. On the positive side more doctors and specialists are starting to recognise PANDAS, on the negative side few realize the reaction can be produced by other infections.

We are. DD13's pain and psych symptoms ( as well as her PANS symptoms) are all gone. We continue on a low continuous dose of Buhner's herbal bartonella protocol in addition to a combination Cryptolepis/Sida/Alchornea tincture.

DD13 herxed badly with A-Bart. 1 drop of an increase was enough to cause shin pain, ice-pick headache and motor ticcing. I managed to get it up to 25 drops 2x daily and did this for 8 months while on various abx. Her bartonella and PANS symptoms declined but did not resolve until: 1) I started using Buhner's bartonella herbs which kept her at a better baseline than the A-Bart and abx had, and 2) I added in the additional babesia herbs. Everyone is different and I hope A-Bart works for you. It wasn't enough to cure bartonella for DD, but perhaps that was because she was dealing with babesia as well. We never did trial A-Babs.

Lyme isn't the only infection to cause PANS reactions. Bartonella, babesia and mycoplasma are common and rarely tested for if lyme returns negative. These can be stand alone infections. Lyme does not need to be involved.

And how our health and the health of our children is deteriorating.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/09/livestock-antibiotics.aspx Use of antibiotics in healthy livestock account for about 80 percent of all antibiotic use in the US, so in order to halt the growth of antibiotic resistance, we really must address this source. According to a 2009 report by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on this subject, factory farms used a whopping 29 million pounds of antibiotics that year alone. Besides promoting growth in livestock, antibiotics are also used to compensate for the crowded, unsanitary living conditions associated with large-scale confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Since the animals are routinely fed low doses of antibiotics, the bacteria become resistant far more easily than they do when you’re aggressively treating an active infection until all the bacteria are eradicated. As a result of this agricultural practice, you end up ingesting these drug remnants through the animal products you consume. And, since you’re now getting very low doses of antibiotics through your food on a regular basis, the promotion of resistance continues in the human population as well. Even vegetables may be contaminated with antibiotics if the farmer uses manure from treated cows as crop fertilizer... The only way to avoid it is to make sure you’re eating organically-raised, grass-fed or pastured meats and animal products, as organic standards do not permit hormones and antibiotics to be used in livestock for growth promotion purposes. Use of glyphosate is also implicated in the development of antibiotic resistance: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/05/05/glyphosate-residue-testing.aspx The chemical technology industry, led by Monsanto, is responsible for a crisis in both human and environmental health, and they're fighting tooth and nail to keep up appearances that all is well. This is understandable when you consider that they stand to lose just about everything. They can't stay in business unless toxic chemicals remain the norm and the hazards minimized. But the fact is that if you're eating foods contaminated with glyphosate, you're compromising your health in a number of ways, as this chemical: Acts as an antibiotic (glyphosate is in fact patented as an antibiotic); preferentially affecting beneficial bacteria, allowing pathogens to overgrow Inhibits enzymes that detoxify chemical compounds. This appears to be one of the previously hidden mechanisms of harm, because by inhibiting these enzymes, glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of chemicals and environmental toxins you may be exposed to Readily promotes antibiotic resistance by activating certain genes in the bacteria, as demonstrated in the study mentioned earlier Decimates your microflora and its ability to produce essential amino acids like tryptophan that converts to serotonin, an important neurotransmitter, 90 percent of which is produced in your gut

DD13 was treated with biaxin/rifampin for one year and then the LLMD added other abx to the mix because DD couldn't get past 80% improvement (malarone, tindamax, azithromycin, minocycline, plaquinel). When we weaned DD was still at 80%. The only significant improvement we saw with the additional abx was an improvement in cognition with malarone. Frankly, Buhner's herbal bartonella protocol has worked better than abx ever did. Especially houttuynia which is pretty specific for that infection. Buhner says that the protocol can be used along with antibiotic treatment, and will in fact decrease the likelihood of abx resistance developing. http://buhnerhealinglyme.com/ BARTONELLA Research is ongoing, this is the most up to date protocol: • Sida acuta tincture (from Woodland Essence or julie@gaianstudies.org) ¼ tsp 3x day for 30 days • Hawthorn tincture, same • Japanese knotweed, (tincture, same dose (from same sources as Sida acuta, above), or capsules from Green Dragon Botanicals 2 capsules 3x daily) • EGCG 400mg +- daily • Houttuynia (Yu Xing Cao – 1st Chinese Herbs, powder – use “LYME” code at checkout for 10% off) 1 tbl daily • L-arginine 5000 mg daily in divided doses • Milk Thistle seed, standardized, 1200 mg daily All for 30 days. PLEASE NOTE: If you have active herpes, chicken pox, or shingles DO NOT USE L-arginine. These recommended dosages are pretty high; we are only using 1/4 of what is suggested, except for Japanese knotweed which we use at full dosage. We omit l-arginine entirely. We did eventually discover that an negative-testing (through Igenex), asymptomatic babesia/protozoan infection was holding back DD's complete recovery from her bartonella/PANS symptoms. On a whim I trialled a combination cryptolepis/sida/alchornea herbal tincture which produced immediate babesia herx symptoms (air hunger, chest pressure, sighing, dry cough, thigh pain), at which point DD was clinically diagnosed with babesia as well. The addition of babesia herbs to the bartonella protocol has recovered her completely, although we remain on continuous low dose.

Thank you Kim. DD13 has a TDap coming up, and although I have taken out an exemption, I know the ped will give me flack. Nice to go in with information.

Nice to know. Thanks.

I was wondering about the flushing as well. I have tried niacin myself (250 mg) and found it almost unbearable. Be sure to mention the sighing to your LLMD. This symptom was one of the babesia herx symptoms that DD developed when first started on Buhner's babesia protocol. Malarone didn't produce the same reaction. Glad your niacinamide trial is going well. Experimentation can reveal valuable information.

I have heard that it is related to adrenal fatigue which many chronically ill/stressed people have. http://blog.adrenalfatigue.org/adrenal-fatigue/eating-right-for-your-adrenal-glands-part-4-salt-aldosterone-and-adrenal-fatigue/

Keep in mind that the common coinfections can be stand alone illnesses. Lyme doesn't need to be present for babesia, bartonella, ehrlichia, anaplasma or the others to be the cause of infection and PANS symptoms. They all need to be either tested for or clinically assessed for symptoms.

I would agree with SSS. You need to investigate lyme as well as the common co-infections of bartonella, babesia, mycoplasma etc. Lyme and especially bart and babs can be immune suppressive, so you end up with a child that gets recurrent infections. Does your doctor know to look for the lyme-specific bands on the WB? If the bands are present (even at the IND level), there is only one bacteria that can cause the reaction - lyme. Be aware that if the immune system is being supressed, antibody tests may not be the best tests to use, and may return weakly or negative. If you are fairly sure your child doesn't have strep, it's time to look elsewhere.

Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases III: Manganese, neurological diseases, and associated pathologies Anthony Samsel1, Stephanie Seneff2 http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/article.asp?issn=2152-7806;year=2015;volume=6;issue=1;spage=45;epage=45;aulast=Samsel Manganese (Mn) is an often overlooked but important nutrient, required in small amounts for multiple essential functions in the body. A recent study on cows fed genetically modified Roundup ® -Ready feed revealed a severe depletion of serum Mn. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup ® , has also been shown to severely deplete Mn levels in plants. Here, we investigate the impact of Mn on physiology, and its association with gut dysbiosis as well as neuropathologies such as autism, Alzheimer's disease (AD), depression, anxiety syndrome, Parkinson's disease (PD), and prion diseases. Glutamate overexpression in the brain in association with autism, AD, and other neurological diseases can be explained by Mn deficiency. Mn superoxide dismutase protects mitochondria from oxidative damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction is a key feature of autism and Alzheimer's. Chondroitin sulfate synthesis depends on Mn, and its deficiency leads to osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Lactobacillus, depleted in autism, depend critically on Mn for antioxidant protection. Lactobacillus probiotics can treat anxiety, which is a comorbidity of autism and chronic fatigue syndrome. Reduced gut Lactobacillus leads to overgrowth of the pathogen, Salmonella, which is resistant to glyphosate toxicity, and Mn plays a role here as well. Sperm motility depends on Mn, and this may partially explain increased rates of infertility and birth defects. We further reason that, under conditions of adequate Mn in the diet, glyphosate, through its disruption of bile acid homeostasis, ironically promotes toxic accumulation of Mn in the brainstem, leading to conditions such as PD and prion diseases. Keywords: Autism, cholestasis, glyphosate, manganese, Parkinson′s disease From: Troubling Revelations: Roundup Herbicide Worsens Antibiotic-Resistance Already Fueled by Factory Farming http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/04/07/cafos-gmos-antibiotics.aspx “The way Roundup causes this effect is likely by causing the bacteria to turn on a set of genes that are normally off, [study author] Heinemann says. ‘These genes are for 'pumps' or 'porins,' proteins that pump out toxic compounds or reduce the rate at which they get inside of the bacteria... Once these genes are turned on by the herbicide, then the bacteria can also resist antibiotics. If bacteria were to encounter only the antibiotic, they would instead have been killed. In a sense, the herbicide is 'immunizing' the bacteria to the antibiotic:...This change occurs at levels commonly used on farm field crops, lawns, gardens, and parks.’” [Emphasis mine] Other herbicides scrutinized in the study include dicamba and 2,4-D, which is particularly relevant in light of the recent approval of a new generation of GE crops resistant not only to glyphosate, but also to dicamba and/or 2,4-D (an ingredient in the devastating defoliant Agent Orange). This important research implies that combating the weed and pest resistance caused by Roundup Ready GE crops by introducing dicamba- and 2,4-D-resistant varieties is probably only going to speed up the process of creating multi-drug resistant pathogens.

If your daughter has tested positive for lyme I would investigate the possibility of coinfections. DD13's PANS was caused by bartonella / babesia - the treatment of which resolved her PANS/PANDAS symptoms. Only a LLMD or LLND will realize that lyme/coinfections can result in PANS. Ours did and told me right away that if we were successful in clearing bartonella her tics, raging etc. would improve. Most PANDAS treating doctors continue to focus on strep antibodies as the cause. Our LLMD initially treated bartonella with abx for 2 years and recovered her to approximately 80%. I continue to treat bartonella and an underlying, negatively testing babesia with Buhner's herbal antimicrobials. It has taken 4 long years but she is now totally asymptomatic. Don't be averse to treating with abx but keep in mind that: 1) you will need to supplement REALLY GOOD probiotics and fermented vegetables to keep the gut functioning properly, A significant portion of the immune system is housed in the gut and abx will impact immune function. This includes the antibiotic action of pesticides/glyphosate in food. Stop eating antibiotics in food, and that includes conventional grains and legumes which are dessicated with glyphosate to aid harvest, and the meat of animals that are fed conventional grains. http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416 http://nhrighttoknowgmo.org/BreakingNews/Glyphosate_II_Samsel-Seneff.pdf 2) if you are not finding improvement with the abx your doctor choses, your daughter may have other underlying infections that are not showing up on tests. This may be because: a) the doctor hasn't tested for the infection (ie your daughter may have bartonella, babesia etc. because they are known to be significant coinfections but your doctor didn't test for them. Because he has found lyme (or strep in the case of PANDAS) to be positive he will assume that lyme (or strep) is the culprit and treat only that. Lyme (or strep) treatment will not address bartonella or the other coinfections.) or because the tests that are run are not specific for the species of organism that your child is infected with. DD13 tested negative for both Babesia duncani and B microti, the 2 standard babesia tests. She was also asymptomatic for it - all of her symptoms were bartonella. It was only when I trialled Buhner's babesia herbs that she had a herx (die-off reaction caused by endotoxins released from dying bacteria which cause specific cytokine (inflammation) cascades) which involved the well known babesia symptoms of air hunger, chest pressure, dry cough, large muscle (thigh) pain. It was at that point that our LLMD clinically diagnosed her with babesia and gave me the go ahead to treat with babesia herbs. You will spend a lot of time researching in the next couple of years. Please don't leave the fact-finding only to your chosen doctor. It is important that you educate yourself on your daughter's illness and the reasons why her immune system was incapable of handling it in the first place. Here I go - our children are compromised (and not only our children, but the many, many adults who are developing diseases like MS, ALS, Parkinsons, cancer - all with no visible underlying cause because doctors don't associate those diseases with infective organisms), not because they happened across an unlikely/improbable bacterial infection. These infections are everywhere and carried by many arthropods, not just ticks. There is a reason why some people succumb; their immune function has been compromised in some way and they are incapable of keeping bacterial numbers from overwhelming the body, and why other don't. In my mind our children are compromised by: 1) their aggressive vaccination schedule (the metal adjuvants and other constituents result in immune-overactivation/dysregulation), http://www.ageofautism.com/ http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/ 2) the antibiotic action of pesticides in food which kills beneficial probiotic bacteria in the gut resulting in overgrowth of pathogenic species which are not conducive to proper immune function/regulation, http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/blog http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/09/monsanto-roundup-herbicide.aspx 3) insufficient nutrition. https://www.facebook.com/Dr.Terry.Wahls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc It is a long, paradigm changing road; keep an open mind.

The development of antibiotic resistance may not simply be due to the overuse of antibiotics. http://naturalsociety.com/new-study-monsantos-herbicides-are-breeding-super-bugs/ “Increasingly common chemicals…can induce a multiple-antibiotic resistance phenotype in potential pathogens. The effect occurs upon simultaneous exposure to antibiotics and is faster than the lethal effect of antibiotics. The magnitude of the induced response may undermine antibiotic therapy and substantially increase the probability of spontaneous mutation to higher levels of resistance. The combination of high use of both herbicides and antibiotics in proximity to farm animals and important insects, such as honeybees, might also compromise their therapeutic effects and drive greater use of antibiotics. To address the crisis of antibiotic resistance requires broadening our view of environmental contributors to the evolution of resistance.” http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/03/28/monsanto-sustainable-agriculture-company.aspx Right on the heels of the IARC’s reclassification of glyphosate as a Class 2 carcinogen, another breakthrough study published in the peer-reviewed journal mBio on March 24 ties Monsanto’s weedkiller to antibiotic resistance. According to this study, sublethal doses of Roundup (the actual formulation of Roundup, not just glyphosate in isolation) alter disease-causing bacteria's response to commonly used antibiotics, including tetracycline and ciprofloxacin, thereby raising resistance to drugs used in medicine. As reported by Rodale News: “The way Roundup causes this effect is likely by causing the bacteria to turn on a set of genes that are normally off, [study author] Heinemann says. "These genes are for 'pumps' or 'porins,' proteins that pump out toxic compounds or reduce the rate at which they get inside of the bacteria... Once these genes are turned on by the herbicide, then the bacteria can also resist antibiotics. If bacteria were to encounter only the antibiotic, they would instead have been killed.

Oh my goodness mayzoo, that is unbelievable!

Thank you.

You've treated bartonella, right? With all those psych symptoms I would suggest that bart may be involved.

Treating bartonella and Igenex IND lyme with abx improved neuro/psych symptoms to a large degree. But it wasn't until I discovered underlying, asymptomatic babesia (DD had tested negative for both microti and duncani through Igenex) while trialling babesia herbs, and treating that as well that DD has had healing. We have never used steroids to suppress immune function. According to herbalist Stephen Buhner the immune suppressive tendencies of lyme/co need to be counteracted with immune supporting/modulating (not immune stimulating) herbs. For this we use cordyceps, low dose American ginseng and very low dose astragalus.