I’m glad you’ve been reading about the MP and are considering using it to treat your symptoms. You sound somewhat like me back in the day. Towards the end of high school I began to develop the beginning of the aches and pains that later turned into a much, much more serious illness. Finally, after college I used the MP to recover.

I don’t mean to scare you, but if you leave your symptoms untreated there is definitely a great chance that you will get worse and you don’t want that to happen. That’s why it’s so good you have found the MP now! I definitely think you should start the treatment as soon as possible. I cannot tell you how much I personally wish I had started the MP much earlier. The symptoms you describe are symptoms that a great many of our subjects have and are almost certainly caused by the chronic bacterial forms that the MP is able to kill.

Generally, the sooner a person starts the MP, the easier the treatment is. That’s because bacterial load the sooner one starts the MP. If you leave your symptoms alone now, your bacteria will continue to spread. Then, if you start the MP at a later date, you will have more bacteria to kill. Since you probably know that killing these bacteria requires a die-off reaction that can cause temporary rises in disease symptoms, you want to minimize such die-off symptoms so that you can have the best quality of life while on the MP.

So I definitely hope that at this point you start to talk with your doctor/doctors about the MP. If your current doctor won’t put you on the treatment then you should consider switching to one who will.

In the meantime, read as much as you can about the MP. Have you watched the “Overview of the MP” video? Most people tell me that the video really helps them “get” the treatment and exactly how the meds work etc. Here’s the link.

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

If you have more questions about the MP, another good place to post them is at the following website:

http://www.curemyth1.org (Th1 refers to diseases caused by bacteria, hence the name) The patient advocates on the site, who are volunteers, will answer your questions free of charge.

Good luck!

Amy

Thanks for your comment. As you know, fibrosis can allow immunopathology to sneak up on you. Be careful and try to work closely with your MP doctor!

Good luck,
Paul

Indeed. Patients who have seen their symptoms resolve on the MP stop their antibiotics and Benicar without ill effect. I have been on the MP for multiple years and have seen my symptoms resolve, and I no longer experience a reaction to any of the antibiotics.

I should add that for more severe forms of illness, it takes several years to complete the MP, so it may be a while before you discontinue your medications. That said, I think it is the best decision a person can make.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Paul

When you say you are not herxing does that mean that you don’t have any symptoms of scleroderma? What combinations of antibiotics are you taking? Have you ramped them to the highest dose possible? Have you tried switching Phase III antibiotic combinations to see if one combination of antibiotics is better at targeting the bacteria causing your scleroderma?

Those are just some suggestions on my part to make sure you can’t generate herx (immunopathology).

Many people also find that taking hot baths or sauna’s increases their herx. The hot bath or sauna will better perfuse blood around your body and perhaps better carry the antibiotic and Benicar into the blood vessels of your skin where they can better target bacteria associated with your scleroderma.

Often a deep tissue massage has the same effect. The massage better perfuses the tissues with blood and often exposes new tissues to the bloodstream that were previously not getting much blood. You may want to try that as well.

Of course I assume you are avoiding all vitamin D. How much light exposure do you get? Do you find that your scleroderma symptoms get worse if you get a lot of light or sunlight (if you are able to tolerate light?)

Sorry to ask so many questions! I just am curious to see if there might be some adjustments you could make to generate more herx.

As for the Dr. in Texas that Bonnie mentions, I will have to see if Bonnie reads and responds to this post. She probably doesn’t read this site regularly in which case I can try sending her an email if she doesn’t respond.

Best,

Amy