I was googling CYP substrates bc a recent addition (Chinese skullcap) is an inhibitor of a specific CYP enzyme, and I wanted to check for interactions with rx drugs that may be problematic if metabolized more slowly The good news is --

This actually worked pretty well! I was able to stay at 3 total daily drops, then increased to 4 for a few days, and today I'm cranking it up to 5 😎 (As: 2 drops in the morning, 1 drop mid-day, 2 drops in the evening)

What's particularly interesting is some parts of my body are starting to feel better but my knees and especially feet are still ridiculously achey and sore One of the things that Buhner emphasizes in his books is that lyme and related fuckers like bartonella use the body's inflammatory processes--

Recent adding food back in wins: - eggs (!!!), I think I talked about this on my main acct a few weeks back bc I was so excited about it and evidently as of yesterday: - avocado oil is actually ok, turns out - wild rice is ok too

I expected my body to throw MCAS tantrums when treating bartonella but what I did not expect was how full-body sore and achey I am 😮‍💨 owww

I've decided what I'm going to try today is the following: I've been working up from a very tiny starter dose to what the "cruising altitude" dose should be. I'm only up to 5-10% of the full dose. I'm also working from once per day to three times per day. (1/few)

tomorrow's plan: - pause Phase 2 supports (like Glucuronidation Assist), and add milk thistle to slow Phase 2 - psyllium husk to open the lil valve so my bile can go where it's supposed to (to my gallbladder not blood) - binder to help with all the nasty stuff I'm about to dump into my intestines

Been two months since my last update, probably time for another one! (As I'm able, I'd like to post more here so that I later have an at-the-time account of my illness/recovery process, so I don't forget the uncertainty and context of the moment in favor of post-hoc bolting a tidy narrative on it.)

First walk for fun since 2023 🫡 (other than a short jaunt literally just across the street to a cute shop in September)

I know there are plenty of people who have been sick longer than me. I've only been "big sick" for about 5 years. But it is very weird to be (possibly, likely) experiencing some sort of recovery. It's wild to me that more doctors don't care about proper diagnosis. (small thread)

The provider I saw today (who I'll be sticking with, she was super great) told me she also gets a lot of Lyme patients coming to see her. (She also knew of the provider I'm seeing and said she's seen a lot of people get good results from her so that was great to hear.) I think I'm now a colonic fan

just two days away from my second colonic, and my doctor was absolutely correct about me likely needing them weekly for a while 😬 the train station is uh, slowing down again

Increasing to 2 caps seems to have gone well today 🕵️

(Posting this a day late but) New med Monday! I'm still cruising on the alinia (nitazoxanide) for my babesia (and a bit against my bartonella), and while we're waiting to see how long that keeps helping me get better before I plateau on it, I'm working my way through other to-be-trialed things.

oh my goodness my personal long national nightmare of getting my subdomain handle working is over 🥹 this also means my main handle will stop cyclically showing "invalid handle", yay 🎉 (it really wasn't that hard, I just needed a few minutes of free brainpower to do it)

I need to make time to share some anecdotes from the past few weeks!, but just hopping right into today's adventure for now: Starting an l-arginine + l-citrulline combo today to see if we can boost nitric oxide (NO) that way. I've done a bit of reading as to how NO interplays with MCAS--

I'm waiting on another Biomesight result (I'm gonna start doing them monthly), I'll be curious to see if there's been any significant changes since my last one in Oct or Nov (I forget which).

Reposting from this account because this is something I want to talk more about at a later date! :) Construction and testing of mental model hypotheses in treating complex illnesses.

Opening up my Lumia device!! Aaaaaaaa I'm so excited

Sorry to tease this then not get around to it yet! I've been prepping for my trip to Michigan, which has had my focus. I'll return to this nerdery once I've settled in!

Who wants to look at some Organic Acids Tests? 😆 Since I'm doing so much worse since my last OAT earlier this year, and a new specialist relies heavily on it, I wanted to do an updated one so we're working with current data. I'll upload the current and prior one in a bit along with thoughts!

So I think I've honed in on a company to work with for this! It's going to be fucking expensive. But I'm going to do it anyway bc I think being in a shared space with friends and homecare is necessary for me to make real progress (Also I am extremely excited to fly over the Rockies in a smol plane)

you know what is not fun is increasing a supplement you've been told to increase and also told it may give you a gnarly headache (but that's ultimately a good sign) increasing the supplement and indeed having the gnarly headache 😣

walgreens: there is a problem processing your prescription me: what prescription Walgreens: sildenafil me: what's sildenafil the internet: kate that's viagra

why am I fucking short of breath again ARGH (I mean, we are winnowing down the possibilities, and about Mon-Thu this week was pretty solidly free of shortness of breath. But still. FUCK. I want to be rid of this fucking symptom that's just been new in the past couple months, like come on)

Up yet again with a grouchy gut + probs grouchy vagus nerve bc of it. Gonna try the new exercise I learned from the book today in case it may help at all?

Since we're gonna be doing a lot of gut work in coming weeks, and my vagus nerve is hella touchy when it comes to anything gut related for me, I'm starting this book on the vagus nerve. Thanks to my buddy @liapas.bsky.social for the recommendation! Hopefully some daily exercises will help 🙏

Up with another middle of the night wake-up, but!, no big MCAS symptoms or vagus nerve aggravation. Just awake in a neutral sense. This is progress. 🥹 (I previously had four nights in a row with really awful symptomatic wake-ups...maybe tomorrow I'll actually sleep through the night. 🙏)

I used a term here that I should probably define for folks unfamiliar with it! And that's "mechanism of action". That's the medical term for "how does this drug do the thing it does?", emphasis on the "how" part. I'll illustrate with an example--a class of drugs you know as antacids, like Pepcid 🧵

Not sure how widely-known this resource is, but as someone who is game to engage in alternative therapies--responsibly, the Memorial Sloan Kettering database is an incredibly solid resource. They have both a pharmacist and "botanicals expert" (maybe some sort of herbalist?) who manage it:

I think I actually have a bit of brain budget to listen to some music this morning. fuck yes (I am deeply a musician at heart, and have been all my life, from sitting on the piano bench with my Memère when I was a tiny tot, to starting to learn piano at 7 and studying composition in college.--