Sorry for the delay in responding. It sounds like you have several issues. I agree with your insights that your different conditions are connected in some way.

First of all, you may want to run your vitamin D results through the vitamin D metabolite calculator:
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:tests:vitdinterpretation

If your 1,25-D is in pg/ml, that is a very high level. I don’t know why you would want to use far infrared sauna to give your body even more 1,25-D. Given your symptom presentation and the level of your vitamin D metabolites, the only thing far infrared sauna is likely doing is suppressing your immune response… which might explain why you feel better. If you agree that microbes are causing your disease state, then you would also have to agree that suppressing your immune response would be the last thing you would want to do – no matter how much better it makes you feel.
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:othertreatments:saunas

If you read our post on the IOM workshop, you’ll see that even the pro-vitamin D crowd concedes that sarcies should not take vitamin D:
http://bacteriality.com/2009/08/10/iom/

I never was positive for antibodies, but I too had to live on a very limited diet. If you read my interview, you will see that that resolved on the MP.
http://bacteriality.com/2007/11/10/interview10/

Based on some of your other comments, here are some additional Knowledge Base articles that you might find useful:
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:pathogenesis:th1spectrum
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:starting
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:starting:physician:finding
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:patients
http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:special:tissue_donation

By the way, Amy is actually not *that* local. She is currently based in New York.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Paul

You might be interested to know that the molecular basis of L-form bacteria has recently been published by Dr. Zhang’s group at Johns Hopkins in PLoS ONE. See link: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007316

This is first comprehensive genetic study that defines the molecular basis of L-form bacteria, which has been elusive for decades.

Now I have little sarcoidosis bumps all over my trunk, ribs, back area. It went away with a trial of 20mg/day for 10 days.

Up to now I have found a far-infrared sauna has helped a lot but not completely.

I gave up Prednisone in 2005 due to it causing high blood sugar and affecting my vision. This was my first taking of prednisone in years and I know it only masks the problems.

I also have Adies Tonic Pupils – I always believed all these things were related but docs kept saying no and alluding that it is in my head.

I see that you are local, I am in Tysons Corner/McLean VA. Which doctor did you use locally that will do the Marshall Protocol?

The other question I had is where does the Marshall Protocol stand on Blood Transfusions? If UV is unknown to destroy these parasitic invaders, then years down the road there could be many problems developing? no?

I’m glad you are looking into the science related to the MP. As for your question – we are presenting a model for “autoimmune” disease in which the inflammation seen in such diseases states in not due to the immune system attacking itself but is instead the result of the immune system continually attacking chronic bacteria.

This article describes how the current model of autoimmune disease that you are used to hearing about may be running its course and also gives you a better idea of research into “autoimmune” models that involve bacteria, such as ours:

http://mpkb.org/doku.php/home:pathogenesis:alternate_models:autoimmunity

However, antibodies are still produced in most people with autoimmune disease. We have hypothesized that once again these antibodies are not created in response to self (autoantibodies) but are instead a downstream result of antibodies being generated in response to cellular debri created by bacterial death. This speech, which I gave at the International Congress of the Antibody in China goes into the topic in further detail:

http://bacteriality.com/2009/06/11/ica/

This paper in Autoimmunity Reviews also discusses our research on autoimmune disease and antibodies:

http://AutoimmunityResearch.org/transcripts/AR-Proal-Metagenome.pdf

Hope this helps and I encourage you to continue reading more about the MP to get the full picture. If I had to start learning about the MP and the science related to the treatment I would begin by watching the following video:

http://bacteriality.com/2008/05/07/mpintro/

Take care,

Amy

PS I am not a doctor – I am a microbiology/molecular biology PhD graduate student.

I suffer from SLE, my grandmother has Parkinson’s Disease, my cousins and aunt have been diagnosed with FM, so we share information as often as possible. One of my cousins has a neurologist who suggested she read up on the Marshall Protocol. I must admit, I have not read much, beyond this article, so you’ll have to bear with my ignorance.

It all made good sense till I came to the following:

“However antibodies only form in response to bacteria that have died. Since L-form bacteria are able to persist for such long periods of time inside the cells, very few antibodies are created in response to their presence.”

QUESTION:

If the above is true, why would the body develop an autoimmune response to the invasion? Or am I not understanding this correctly?

If you can help me understand a bit better, perhaps I would be able to more thoroughly discuss the Marshall Protocol with my practitioners. Thank you.

I feel strongly that the MP will help someone with your symptom presentation. If you’re interested, you can always get going by trying a therapeutic probe.

Best,
Paul

Amy is indisposed, so you’re stuck with me.

I don’t know if you got a chance to read my interview where I talk about my experience with some of the symptoms we share, namely being overly sensitive to negative life events and being intolerant to exercise. You’ll see in my interview that, unlike you, I was depressed.

On the other hand, your problem is that even though you aren’t depressed, you share a few of the characteristics of people who happen to be depressed. Amy is (or was) a good example of that.

One could argue that many diagnoses for patients with ill-defined chronic diseases are made out of cognitive convenience. It has been my observation that what a clinician thinks causes a disease is shaped by available treatment options for that disease.

Look at dentists. If you ask them if bacteria cause plaque or tooth decay, >99% will say absolutely. The fact that a DDS can employ a therapy against plaque (in this case, manually removing plaque with Inquisition-era instruments) clearly shapes their opinion about the etiology of the disease. That the intervention is at least temporarily effective also has something to do with it.

When it comes to lethargy or exercise intolerance, the mainstream treatment option, however unsuccessful it may be, is the anti-depressant. And you wouldn’t need anti-depressants if you weren’t depressed?

Best,
Paul

Kind regards,
Sam

I’m not sure “violent” is the word for Amy or her comment. I think “strident” would be more appropriate. In reference to Amy, I would also accept “firecracker.” Up until recently, I called Amy a “whippersnapper,” but that was only until I actually looked up the word. (It’s not flattering.)

In your response, you list a series of lifestyle factors that you claim have been implicated in chronic disease: “smoking, drinking, drugs, horrific diets, fast-paced lifestyles, lack of sleep, and poor choice of location (polluted cities).”

I’m not so sure. What about a fast-paced lifestyle allows bacteria to proliferate? Sick patients have tried for the longest time to manage, even micro-manage their lifestyle and they remain sick. When my Mom got pre-cancerous lesions, she was crestfallen. “How can I be sick when I’ve done everything right?” she asked.

I think Amy’s point is that if there’s anything which is unhealthy it is blaming these types of choices. If you need to, look at the studies. The best epidemiological evidence does not support the conclusion that these types of factors are largely responsible for bacterial proliferation and/or disease.

On Bacteriality, Amy does her best to stick with scientific evidence. For example, there is evidence that chronic pathogens grow when exposed to beta-Lactam antibiotics such as penicillin. Corticosteroids, which you mention avoiding (good!), are another drug which does not help patients sick with chronic disease.

Forgive me if I’m misinterpreting your words, but I think it’s wrong to assume bacteria are defending themselves. Bacteria are driven by a biological imperative, and that is to survive and pass on their genes. If it helped them survive, why wouldn’t they interfere with proper functioning of the body’s systems and in the process cause symptoms of chronic disease?

By the way, if you heard doxycycline was a good idea, I’m confident you did not hear it from Amy. It has been the experience of the Autoimmunity Research Foundation team that even though tetracyclines tend to have a strong track record, doxycycline leads to strange neurological symptoms that we think are unrelated to immunopathology.

Best,
Paul (not Amy)

p.s. “Dogtor J” is an awesome name.