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Lyme Treatment Update

By swollenmystery On May 24, 2012 · 1 Comment

During the past six months, things here on the blog have been a bit dry. For those of you who have been asking questions about my treatments, I’d like to provide a list of what treatments I’ve been working with for last year and give an update on my progress since my Lyme diagnosis just over one year ago. First, I want to thank the guys over at Life Fitness Academy in Nashville for their persistence, prayers and encouragement as I’ve dealt with this frustrating disease over the past few years. I highly recommend their services for anyone looking to improve their health or wellness. They definitely know nutrition and they definitely know fitness. Even though I’m in Iowa, I’ve been able to consult with them remotely and learn so much about how my body works and why nutrition is so important when it comes to chronic disease. A nice side effect of using nutrition to treat the cause of my disease is that I’ve been able to stay off prednisone now for over a year and haven’t taken any prescription or over-the-counter painkillers for just as long. In fact, I’ve felt so much better just from eating healthier that I decided to go back to school this past winter and am now working to get a Masters of Science degree in Holistic Nutrition from Hawthorn University. That also explains the lack of posting over the last few months, as I’ve [...]

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On The Right Path, But Not Out Of The Woods Yet

By swollenmystery On June 21, 2011 · 8 Comments

This weekend I completed (celebrated) finishing three months of a detox protocol for healing my gut naturally. While I’m not completely going back to the way I used to eat, I am going to start re-introducing more foods besides raw vegetables and bone broths. I feel like it’s graduation day. Welcome to life in post detox! Yes, it’s affected me that much. It’s so exciting to see the progress, even though it’s slower than I hoped at times. But I consider this detox protocol successful because it was designed to heal my gut, eliminate built-up antibiotics and other medicines I’ve taken over the years, and therefore allow my immune system to start to function properly again. I truly believe I’ve seen that happen over these last 12 weeks. The first signs were changes in bowel movements as my stools became more frequent, softer, and normal. Then after two months I finally began to see changes in my knee inflammation. For the last year both of my knees have always been swollen (a lot), even while on Prednisone for so long. This was the first time my knee effusions have shrunk to almost to normal size. Now from week to week I’m noticing my knees still flare up but usually one at a time and the swelling tends to be isolated to only one knee instead of both. Overall, walking, getting up and down from a seated position, and walking stairs have been so much easier, too. Even though [...]

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What Does Inflammatory Arthritis Look Like?

By swollenmystery On April 9, 2011 · Add Comment

I just realized after describing my inflammatory arthritis symptoms for years with words, I’ve never posted a picture of how much swelling is really going on down there around my knees. All joint swelling has been isolated to both of my knees over the past few years and still remains today. As you can see in this video, my knees are quite disproportionate to the rest of my legs. So far cortisone injections and high doses of prednisone have been the only medications to reduce swelling, although only for a week or so at a time. All other medications such as naproxen, mobic, methotrexate, sulfasalazine, plaquenil and long-term, low-dose prednisone have not had much affect. I’ve lost most of the muscle in my quadriceps and hamstrings due to the inability to exercise. Three years ago at a height of 6′ 1″ I weighed 185. Today I’m closer to 150. And at 185 I’d estimate body fat was under 10%. It’s sad to see what’s lost from muscle atrophy but I believe that is why I’m so determined to find answers and to hopefully help others who are also suffering with similar issues to find those answers before losing too much ground. My goal is to recover fully from this painful condition, to send this disease into complete remission, and to live life to the fullest. With God’s healing, support from family and friends, and perseverance, I know it’s possible.

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Going After Lyme This Time

By swollenmystery On April 6, 2011 · Add Comment

Loss of sleep each night due to new symptoms: 7 out of 10. Pain and inflammation levels last month: 8 out of 10. Frustration with taking Plaquenil and Sulfasalazine for a year with no results: 10 out of 10. It’s been a year since finding a new rheumatologist. Last week was my latest 3 month appointment and I was dreading it. It’s been a month since I tapered completely off Prednisone and a few weeks after having a tongue biopsy due to ulcers I believe were side effects from the medications. While the biopsy results came back negative I closed the door on another dead end. Meanwhile, my symptoms grew worse. I started experiencing things I hadn’t felt during the entire time I’ve been stickered with inflammatory arthritis. Every night I began waking up every hour or two, finding my knees and my entire back in so much pain it was hard to roll over. Sleeping on my side wasn’t even an option anymore. Mild fevers each night and chills all day became the norm. Headaches behind my eyes, neck stiffness, flu-like aches all over, night sweats, constipation, muscle twitches, extreme fatigue, muscle weakness and jaw pain also became a regular occurrence. I was at a crossroads. I was about to set up an appointment with my primary care doctor but had an upcoming visit with the rheumatologist in only a week so it seemed logical to wait and see what he had to say. That same week, [...]

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Book Review: The New Arthritis Breakthrough

By swollenmystery On March 5, 2011 · 3 Comments

I wish I had read this book 3 years ago. It’s been 3-4 years since my inflammatory pain began, both in my upper back, left shoulder and knees. This is the first time I’ve been able to get a good grasp on what rheumatoid arthritis is, when it originated and what treatments have been successful in treating the disease. I should explain that the book mostly focuses on RA, but also delves into scleroderma, lupus, spondylitis and other rheumatic diseases. The author, Henry Scammell, includes many patient testimonials over recent years as a supplement to The Road Back, which is also included inside this book in it’s entirety. One thing that impressed me while reading is the number of times Scammell gives perspective from both the patient and the doctor. I knew there were a lot of politics involved with antibiotic therapy, but what I didn’t know was the history behind the controversy. Each chapter is brief and to the point. I believe that is why I found it so engaging and hard to put down. In addition, the history behind medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis helped give me a better understanding of why certain drugs are used to this day. From the origins of cortisone over half a century ago to the introduction of methotrexate, I can now understand where these treatments began and the seriousness of their effects on the body. Many instances throughout the book describe how dangerous corticosteroids and other DMARD’s can be [...]

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About Me

I'm a freelance web designer with a background in graphic design. I'm also a part-time nutrition student. When I'm not creating or designing, I'm studying nutrition. When I'm not doing either of those I'm usually eating or talking about food. I've been interested in health and fitness for a long time but it wasn't until I became seriously ill with a mysterious chronic autoimmune condition in my early 30s that I realized how intricate and complex the human body is.

Along my journey to healing from chronic illness and Lyme disease, I discovered that eating healthier has improved my life the most. This blog is not just a journal of my progress but is also intended to help anyone that might be suffering from an autoimmune illness. My goal is to learn how to support the body's natural healing process holistically so that it has the resources to fight off illness the way it was designed. As I learn more every day, I write about my journey here at Diagnosis Unsolved. Read more about how all this started and my story here.
-Brad Linberg-
Now Reading
Planned books:
- The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food by Kaayla T. Daniel
- Recipes for Repair: A Lyme Disease Cookbook by Gail Piazza, Laura Piazza
Current books:
- Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price
- Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin
- The Salt/C Plus Protocol for Lyme Infection by M. Fett
- Seamus Mullen’s Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better by Seamus Mullen
- The Candida Cure: Yeast, Fungus by Ann Boroch
Recent books:
- The World’s Healthiest Foods, Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating by George Mateljan
- Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dict by Sally Fallon, Mary Enig
- Accidental Cure: Extraordinary Medicine for Extraordinary Patients by Simon Yu
- Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pamela Weintraub
- The Top 10 Lyme Disease Treatments: Defeat Lyme Disease with the Best of Conventional and Alternativ by Bryan Rosner
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Lyme Treatment Update

On The Right Path, But Not Out Of The Woods Yet

What Does Inflammatory Arthritis Look Like?

Going After Lyme This Time

Book Review: The New Arthritis Breakthrough

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About Me

Now Reading

Planned books:

Current books:

Recent books:

Lime Disease – Story of Recovery

Lyme Treatment Update

On The Right Path, But Not Out Of The Woods Yet

What Does Inflammatory Arthritis Look Like?

Going After Lyme This Time

Book Review: The New Arthritis Breakthrough

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Categories

Archives

Good Sites about Health, Lyme and Living

About Me

Now Reading

Planned books:

Current books:

Recent books:

Lime Disease – Story of Recovery