Re: Symptoms worse - The Hitchhiker's Guide to Lyme Disease

[Guest guest]

I will not stop trying to use the antifungals, as I do not stop

trying, in general. It is a matter of listening closely to the body,

recognizing subtle changes in its capacities.

The quantity of pain and skewed perception in a single hour of my

waking lifed is typically at or beyond my current (and ofen revised)

understanding of " my limit. "

So when I say I must try something another time, I usually mean

the " must " in a fairly absolute sense, but that doesn't stop me from

revisiting the drug or treatment at the next opportune moment.

I could reduce more pain at some cost to my lucidity. It might be a

relief, but I'm basically giving lucidity the edge here. Needing an

edge to be able to give one, it seems like a " no-brainer, " which is

of course the kind of thinking a scha in distress is drawn to.

If there were a " Hitchhikers Guide to Lyme Disease, " [which I shall

refer to, in future posts, as HGLD], this type of ongoing weighing

of costs and benefits would merit its own chapter.

There IS, in fact, a Hitchhikers Guide to Lyme Disease. The HGLD is

being written all the time, on sites like this one.

But the book itself as I imagine it has a charmed quality, that

nothing that isn't more true than false ever makes it into it's

pages.

Thus, each of us has some of the HGLD in our minds, because each of

us sorts through the truth or falseness of these same propositions

about anti-infective and therapeutic strategies.

Beyond that, we navigate the subjective terrain of the disease

itself. some of us report on the outer limits of neuro-Lyme, it's

more severe presentations. Others describe the insidious tendrils of

Lyme's chronic manifestations.

At any moment I am in touch with at least two dozen other patients,

who know how I am faring, just as I know how they are faring. This

is like a team with walkie-talkies exploring the fringe of a new

territory.

The HGLD contains many half-truths, but no lies. It is an imaginary

compendium of all that is known about Lyme disease, and because we

are capable of imagining it our discussions here contribute to its

pages.

It is part of my authorial duty to report that for some of us this

disease carries a charge of unstable destructive energy that

inflicts ongoing torment and threatens progression toward an

absolute maximum of infirmity.

This is of course not true of all or necessarily most Lyme cases,

but we really have no idea what the percentages are, given the

vagueries of diagnosis.

I still don't know what the HDLD will ultimately have to say about

the antifungals. I would say those chapters are very much works in

progress and subject to further revisions.

S.

> > I did a little research and found that ABX do survive under

> certain

> > circumstances. An animal must not be slaughtered for a certain

> > amount of days after they are given ABX. It depends on who you

> talk

> > to, some say that 99.3% of poultry is ABX free. Others believe

> that

> > the incidence of residual ABX may be 2000x higher.

> >

> > Here is a short aritcle:

> >

> > Q & A: Drugs in poultry

> >

> >

> >

> > The Soil Association has raised concerns about the level of

drug

> > residues in chicken and eggs.

> > BBC News Online looks at what the drugs are used for and how

they

> > might get into our food.

> >

> > What drugs are used in poultry farming?

> >

> > A range of drugs - mainly antibiotics and anti-parasitic

> treatments -

> > are used routinely in intensive poultry farming. They are

given

> to

> > the birds in their feed or water.

> >

> > The Soil Association says it is most concerned about drugs

used to

> > control intestinal parasites in poultry and game birds.

> >

> > These include nicarbazin, lasalocid and dimetridazole.

Nicarbazin

> > and lasalocid, both used to treat a parasitic infection known

as

> > coccidiosis, are given in feed.

> >

> > Dimetridazole is another anti-parasitic drug, given to birds in

> > their water.

> >

> > How might these drugs get into human food?

> >

> > The drugs are given to poultry in the first three weeks of life

> but

> > must be withdrawn before the birds are sent to slaughter or

before

> > they lay eggs.

> >

> > Most drugs must be stopped for eight days before the animal's

meat

> > or eggs enter the human food chain.

> >

> > This should stop any traces of medicine, which might remain in

the

> > animal's body, from getting into human food.

> >

> > The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (MVD), an executive

agency of

> > Maff, is responsible for monitoring for the presence of

residues

> in

> > meat and eggs.

> >

> > According to the VMD, in 1999, 8,063 poultry samples were

tested

> for

> > all likely contaminants. Of these 99.3% were " free of

detectable

> > residues " .

> >

> >

> >

> > Eggs are monitored for traces of medicines

> >

> > But the Soil Association disputes these figures.

> >

> > " Government regulators have routinely provided misleading

> > information in their public statements about the incidence of

drug

> > residues in chicken meat and eggs, " says a new Soil Association

> > report.

> >

> > " They maintain that 99% of poultry meat and 97% of eggs are

free

> of

> > detectable residues. However, detailed analysis of the data on

> which

> > their summaries are based suggests the actual levels could be

up

> to

> > 2,000% higher. "

> >

> > But Alastair ston of the British Veterinary Poultry

> Association

> > (BVPA) says the UK is doing its best to minimise the use of

anti-

> > parasitic and antibiotic drugs.

> >

> > He told BBC News Online: " As long as we aim to obey the

withdrawal

> > periods and maintain the standard of regulation concerning

poultry

> > drugs and antibiotics in the UK, then I think the poultry and

eggs

> > in the UK are the safest in the world. "

> >

> > Why are the drugs needed?

> >

> > The Soil Association says that the use of such drugs " has its

> roots

> > in intensive farming methods " .

> >

> > The report continues: " In this case, the specific problems are

the

> > unnatural feeding practices and unsanitary, overcrowded, moist,

> > dark, confined conditions in which large numbers of chickens

are

> > kept - conditions under which most would undoubtedly perish

> without

> > drugs to keep them alive until slaughter. "

> >

> > But Alastair ston, of the BVPA, says the health and

welfare of

> > birds would deteriorate if anti-parasitic and antibiotic

products

> > were not used, even in free-range conditions.

> >

> > " You would use less of these products with free range

chickens, "

> he

> > told BBC News Online. " But you would still need to use them to

> > control disease. "

> >

> > " And would the public accept the consequence in terms of cost

in

> the

> > supermarket? " he adds.

>

>

>

>

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