I am trying to get some information on mycoplasmas. I have Fibromyalgia and have had it since I was 17 yrs. of age. I am now 30 and feel that there is something causing this pain. I believe it to be those stupid mycoplasmas that are hanging out in my body. I can't get one single doctor to believe me. I want to be put on long term antibiotics. I know they work. Out of the 12 - 13 years I've had Fibro, twice I was on long term antibiotics for severe chronic sinus infections. After two month of being on antibiotics, my body went into remission from pain. The first time it lasted a year and a half, the second time it lasted a year.

Last week I rushed myself to the emergency center due to a severe bladder infection. I was put on 1000mg/day of CIPRO. On the second day of taking the antibiotic, I went into the Herxheimer Effect. There is no question in my mind that I don't have bad bacteria all over my body causing me this pain.

If you have any information on mycoplasmas, or a good doctor in the Chicago area, please post.

I know I am on to something here...

Thanks,
Trooper

Hi, Trooper. I am a 52 year old GA woman who has many health problems....fibro/CFS, a history of Epstein Barr Virus, Cytomegalovirus and other intestinal/bacterial viruses and skin problems, plus more. I have hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism as well.

I have a rheumatologist, dermatologist, internist, therapist, and more. However, the one more likely to help me and you get to the bottom of mycoplasma is a doctor of homeopathy. I have seen a doctor of osteopathy who also has further training in this area. I saw him this past Monday and my throat/ear was hurting every time I swallowed. He took a look and said, "you have something possibly big going on here". He mentioned something about "red crescents" and then gave me some web sites to look up on mycoplasmma fermentans. He also mentioned something about CFS having the exact same symptoms as Gulf War Syndrome.

Anyway, he drew some blood to try to confirm my diagnosis. I have done a little research and know that it takes a sophisticated lab to run the particular blood work and a doctor knowledgeable and willing to treat the whole person because this doctor will listen to you.

My Dr. said this "will kick your butt". Good luck. I hope to hear from you and I will try to share what is going on with me.

[This message has been edited by moderator3 (edited 02-22-2002).]

Hi Blessedtwice2001,

I have also heard that CFS / FM have the same symptoms of GWS. That is why I started looking into the mycoplasmas. Dr. Nicholson is the one who's theory this really is. Unfortunatley I cannot find a doctor that will listen to me. I know I am on to something here. There is too much of a coincidence with me being on long term antibiotics and releif from my FM symptoms. I always feel like there is something going on in my body - like bateria overhaul. I have one small 'lump' on the back of my butt. It feels like a small puss sac. My doctor said that it is just a part of getting old. Hello, I'm only 30 yrs! I also have a very small one underneath the skin under my eye. This comes and goes from being a little bigger to smaller. My nose constantly drips. I just feel 'sick' all the time and my doctor doesn't believe me. I have been thru so many doctors that I am starting to give up. I am looking into getting with an infectious disease doctor with my local hospital.

The only thing I take for my FM is guaifenesin, which is supposed to release all the excess phosphates that are in my muscles. I just think that there is more to it than phosphates.

I will check the web sites that you provided me. Thanks for that info. I would be very interested to see your progress and what you have found out. Have you ever tried long term antibiotics? How do you think you got sick in the first place?

Hugs,
Trooper

Trooper, an Infectious disease doc should be of help. I saw one of those in 1995 but at that time CFS diagnosis was debated and controversial so in spite of my having all the symptoms, even the blood work, she didn't think I had it. She said if I had depression, then that was may diagnosis....or if I had hypoglycemia, that was diagnosis. That CFS was a "diagnosis of exclusion". The book I had on CFS written by doctors who happen to have it, a nutritionist anmd others had the symptoms listed and I followed it to the letter... Including my allergies, depression, hypoglycemia, blood work and now my
hypothyroidism. Maybe now that things have been put into perspective, people will get more accurate diagnosis.

In 1982 I had silicone gel breast augmentation. In 1988 I had lazer surgery for cysts and endometreosis. In 1989 I had three hour glucose tolerance test...I was hypoglycemia. In 1990 I had a total hysterectomy and oophorectomy. All this while I was having sick headaches, fatigue, depression and then skin rashes. I saw an endocrinologist in 1993 due to all the information I was getting about possible leaking from silicone implants. That is when I learned I had a positive ANA which indicates your body is fighting against itself. I also had an elevated Sedimentation rate and a positive Rheumatoid Factor. Along with all my symptoms and this blood work, in 1994 I had my implants out...the right one ruptured. So....this has been a very controversial subject but I was determined by a court appointed team of doctors to have Atypical Connective Tissue Disease due to all the compilation of signs, symptoms, complaints, and diagnoses.

In 1994 I had 4 viruses which took me to the ER. I also had carpal tunnel release surgery. My body went through alot of trama because also in 1994 we were flood victims and my blood pressure reached 164/104.
I had a positive or elevated Epstein BArr Virus titer in 1995.
We raised two sons who in 1994 were 18 and 20. I had worked all my life and was very active in church. school and community. I think it is an accumulation of things which caused my immune system to become suppressed.

In 2000 I had a positive Cytomegalovirus. Now with this possible mycoplasma fermentans....Lord only knows.

Stay in touch.....you can call this "everything I ever wanted to know about someone I don't even know?" LOL

Hi Blessedtwice2001,

Wow, you certainly have been through a lot! I guess we don't realize what we have put our bodies through until much later.

It's hard to tell where I developed my FM. A lot of people say that we have the pre-disposition for it and a 'trigger' sets it off. With me, I have more than one 'trigger', so it's hard to say. At the age of 17, I had contracted a severe case of mono. This lasted a good 9 months were I was so sick and had puss sacks all over my body. I would wake up in the morning with my eyes sealed shut from all the mucus that was secreting from my tear ducts. My neck had puss sacks all up and down that you could feel with you naked hand. I slept all the time, never had energy. Then I was in a car accident. Rear-ended by a semi going 55mph and I was at a complete stop. Then my father had a bad accident that left him in the hospital for 2 months. At the age of 18, I was running a business in downtown Chicago (my father owned) and taking care of my two older sisters, my mom, my younger brother and our house. Then my grandmother passed away, whom I was very close to. All this happened within 11 months. All triggers for FM. I feel that my mycoplasmas came from the mono. I still feel that there are bacteria hanging out in my body. I went through blood tests for 6 months to find out what was wrong with me. That was at the age of 19 when the pain was so bad that I couldn't even sleep. The doctors were stumped. My ANA test came back negative, so did lupus, lyme disease, arthritis. After 6 months, they shrugged their shoulders and basically said there was nothing they could do for me.

Finally this past January I got the dx of Fibro. Doesn't help me out other than there is now a name for what is wrong with me. I cope with aqua therapy and my guaifenesin.

I'm still on the search for a new doctor. I know there are tests that can be run for the mycoplasmas, but heard that they are very expensive and have to be done just right in order to be accurate. I can only pray that I find a doctor that will run that test on me. I know the result would be positive.

I have heard that these mycoplasmas can be given to people that are close to us - i.e. family members, pets, etc. Have you heard that to be true? If you have more tests run for the mycoplasmas, how do you plan on handling it? I mean, will you accept a long term antibiotic treatment?

I know this is a board for GWS, but the symptoms seem so close. And I know that there is a correlation of the mycoplasmas.

I just wish I could find someone to believe me. It's one thing to do research on your own and figure out a treatment plan, it's another to get a doctor to believe you and write that prescription. Geez, all I want are long term antibiotics, not major pain killing drugs!

I'm still doing more research and am rummaging through some old web sites that I found mycoplasma info on. I will post once I gather that info.

Take care,
Trooper

Trooper
I have been dx for fibro too,I also had my blood tested for microplasma,It came back neg.My whole case depended on those test,I even had my hope up too saying to myself "yea this will be the proof"when It came back neg,I was sad.I have the dx of fibromyalgia.I am taking nortripyline and sertraline for the day time.For my pain I take darvecet when the pain really hits.Just stay nuetral.If it comes back neg do not worry,this does not help us.Well take care.
Mark A
USN

Hi Mark,

Is your FM related to the GWS? Did you have the mycoplasma test done more than once? I know that if the blood is not handled properly and the test isn't run in a prompt manner, the test will come back negative.

Do you have other information on the mycoplasmas? I would be interested to hear your take on these little guys. Do you think they are the cause of your FM pain? How long have you had FM? Etc, etc, etc.

Once I find a doctor that will perform the test, and if it does come back negative, I will have it done again. In my research, I have read that one mycoplasma test may come back positive and when it was done again, it came back negative.

I'm trying not to put all my eggs in one basket as I have been let down with my medical testing that has been going on since last October. I just think that I am on to something here.

Again, I would love to hear your input on this subject as I have found no one else other than Blessedtwice2001 to talk to about it.

Thanks,
Trooper

Trooper
I had my test done in may.I packed my blood my self and mailed to Doctor Nicolsin.My symtoms began In 90.I have been dealing with my illness for ten years.I just got dx for fibro around April.I had all kinda things going wrong with me.My illness started with flu like symptoms at first,I would be sick for about a week and it would go away.It came back two months later same thing flu like symtoms.It my doctor at the va seven years to come up with a dx for fibro.Plus my illness is progressing with other stuff going wrong with me.Like my legs and arms give out every so offten,I get really tired just doingb a simple task.It has been rough and my illness is not letting go.Well I hope this helps..
Mark A
USN

Mark,

I am sorry that you are in such poor health. How did all this start for you? Were you in the Gulf? Is your fibro related to the GWS? Sorry for the stupid questions, I am just looking to understand things better. And I have major fibro fog, which doesn't help my cause either.

It took me 10 years to get the Fibro dx. And that was after 4 months of weekly testing and 3 doctors. Fortunately for me, my only problem is the fibro. But it's still very crippling. I have managed to continue to work full time. I spend every night after work in aqua therapy. If it wasn't for that, I don't think that I would be able to walk.

That web site you posted came up weird and I cannot get to the information. Can you please try again? I want to get as much information on mycoplasmas before I go to an Internal Medicine doctor.

In your personal opinion, do you think your fibro has to do with mycoplasmas even though your test came back negative?

I want to say that I hope you feel better, but I know that you probably don't.

I am interested in learning about more of where your problems began.

Kind regards,
Trooper

Hi....I have been gone for a while. When I got back, my mycoplasma fermentans test study results were in and my doc sent me a letter to inform me that I tested positive. He says there is a high probability that this could be an underlying mechanism for the majority of my pathology. He states next visit (which is
10-10-01) we need to address this for long-term treatment to see if we can improve my quality of life. I know for a fact he will be certain before he starts me on long-term antibiotics because he is a doctor of osteopathic medicine and homeopathy and will consider all options for improving my overall health.

I am going to continue to check out info on the web to try to educate myself further. Be in touch.

Blessedtwice2001, would it be really wrong of me to say that I am very happy that your test came back positive???? That's good news honey! Now your doctor can actively seek treatment for you!

Let me know what happens after your visit on the 10th. I am going to be out of town for work (don't really want to go with everything going on) and then I am moving into my house I just had built, so I'll be off until the 22nd. But post and let me know!!

Good luck,
Trooper

Trooper
My whole illness realy stinks.I wish I could be the guy I was before I joined the Navy.Oh well,I'll live.
This great that you are working 40hrs per week,I wish I could do that.The most I can work is maybe three hours per day,sometimes one or none.It depends how the weather is I could have good days and bad days but mostly bad.Well I have to stop typing with one finger my hands get numb real bad.Well have to go.God Bless
Mark A
USN

My doc felt very strongly that my results were not a false positive. I did learn on net that the other tests too triple check for accuracy would include: PCR, Molecular probe and Gammaglogulin panel....I think that is right. Hope this helps.

I started on Zithromax for 6 weeks, off two, and back on 6..along with some really good immune system support nutritional vit/mins.

Mycoplasmas related to Gulf War Illness are highly communicable microbes that can be transmitted through the air. I am a veteran, but my husband was not, and certainly my dog was not. But both got sick from me. I armed myself and my husband with Dr. Nicolson's tests and information on how to treat and cure the horrible stuff. First I visited my veterinarian, who treated my dog for the infection.

Then, I took all that information, along with my veterinarian's course of treatment, to a very young internal medicine specialist. I took antibiotics for 3-1/2 years. My dog took them for 1-1/2 years. And my husband took them for 4-1/2 years.

We all had the same symptoms: Fibromyalgia, frequent urinary tract and kidney infections, chronic sinus infections, debilitating weakness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, blisters in our ears and all along our tongues, weird rashes, weird allergies we'd never had before.

After the first 1-1/2 years of treatment, I looked for a gastrointerologist who could stop my explosive diarrhea and continuous weight loss. He found I had Giardia, a waterborne parasite that afflicts people with compromised immune systems.

Then, I gathered all of my information from Nicolson, my veterinarian, and my other two doctors, and I found an Infectious Diseases specialist. He found that I had recurring cytomegalovirus (similar to mononucleosis). My husband's doctor found that he had chronic Epstein-Barr virus. I was able to take antivirals to help stop the frequent cycles of cytomegalovirus. My husband had elevated liver function, and is unable to take antivirals.

I went back to my internist with a list of biological weapons sold to the Iraqis. I researched each of them until I could find the most troublesome pathogen that sapped my energy and made me ache. I wish I had, but I never did test my blood or throat cultures for Candida Albicans (or the other two types of Candida). I took various medications for Candida, and stayed on a very strict diet for about 6 months. Medicines were Mycelex troches, Diflucan, and Sporanox. After three courses, my systemic fungus was gone, and so was most of the pain I had closely associated with Fibromyalgia, for which I also tested positive.

I've told you all of this to help you understand that Mycoplasma is a dreadful disease that slowly tears down your immune system, so that you have a whole plethora of diseases to fight by the time you've whipped the mycoplasma. I also want you to understand that it's not only veterans who test positive for mycoplasma. Anyone who's been around a soldier, sailor, Marine or Texas prisoner anytime since 1985 has been exposed. And the symptoms may not appear for years after initial exposure. Symptoms like depression, fuzzy thinking or inability to focus are the first signs I recall. Those infections that land you in the hospital are the next symptoms I recall. Menstrual problems were next. Then, the very worst: paralysis and loss of feeling in my right arm that was relieved by nothing but antibiotics: Doxycycline to be exact.

Just like me, a lot of time has passed between the time you noticed you were sick and now. You can beat the illness. But you need to have blood tests and Nicolson's research in hand before you visit a doctor. And an infectious diseases doctor will listen to you before an internist will.

Just like all the other illnesses associated with Gulf War Illness, mycoplasmas are peek-a-boo diseases. You can be infected with it and test negative if you are not exhibiting symptoms when the blood is drawn. You should have your blood drawn on the day or on the day after you feel your very worst. If you've been on antibiotics during the previous six weeks, your blood will show a false negative.

The same is true for the recurring cytomegalovirus and chronic Epstein-Barr virus. They are called "stealth" viruses because they attack, and by the time you realize you're sick, your bloodwork will show that you are in recovery phase, which doctors easily confuse with "exposure sometime in your life". If you feel you have the virus on top of having the mycoplasma, you should find a doctor who specializes in treating AIDS patients. The two illnesses combined remarkably resemble AIDS. You can read about the similarities in Dr. Nicolson's website.

Good luck to you. It's a long, hard road ahead of you.

Beckie, thank you so much for the information. In 1996 my Epstein Barr Virus titer was elevated/positive. It has the accompanying message "exposed sometime in my life".

In 1999, I was taken off my thyroid medication for two months. I have never felt worse or more tired and lethargic. When I saw my endocrinologist he was satisfied that I definitely had Hasimoto's thyroiditis and put me back on meds. When I was tested by a rheumatologist in June 2000...guess what showed up....Cytomegalovirus of a recent time.

This is just two of the things I deal with. I guess I am lucky... I decided to go a Doctor of Ostheopathy who has further training in homeopathy/alternative medicine. He is the one who noticed the red crescents in my throat after I complained of an ear ache that hurt when I swallowed. He drew the blood and sent it to a specialty lab in NJ.
He actually learned about mycyplasma fermentans by a patient who discovered it on the internet...she is sick with CFIDS/Firbomyalgia like me and is always seeking answers and came across Dr. Nichols information...to it to this doctor...He says he was talked with Dr. Garth Nicholson.

I just can get over what you shared though. The D.O. I am referring to says "it can kick your butt". When he looked at my throat, he said, this could be something big. He brought me a booklet from Dr. Nicholson and let me look at how CFIDS, Fibromyagia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Aids and Gulf War Illness all overlap or compare in symptoms. Amazing.

Please share again when you feel like it. Thanks loads.

My dear friend, I always feel like sharing because my life was spared for the fourth time last year. And in exchange for that I have always vowed to spare such agony to others.

Plus, I want you to understand that I have moved from my bed to a sitting position. Then, I have moved from sitting position to a "walking on the beach" position. I have moved from a really toxic city that was killing both me and my husband to a small city that offers an ocean breeze and an opportunity to live again.

Nicolson's website devotes his entire life-time of knowledge to you and me. You see, Dr. Nicolson acquired his illness from his Gulf War Army-Airborne step-daughter. His wife, the mother of the sick Army Airborne, established a foundation to find a cure for the experimental vaccines that turned the germ into a biological weapon.

My personal mission is to arm people with the information they need to be able to live again. Please ask away, so that I can be of more help to you.

Beckie99,

Today I had a frustrating time. I drove my mom to her rheumatologist and internist's appointments. Since I was diagnosed through blood work with m.fermentans, I wanted to see if they would check her. The rheumatologist spouted off alot of stuff and something about "mainstream medicine" and said she would not order the blood work. She did say she would read the material on it if I left it for her and would be in touch to let me know if she changed her way fo thinking.

The internist questioned me about how they diagnosed me, through a swab....what were my symptoms and mentioned only that mycoplasmas cause pneumonia. Last night I found a website that even talked about it causing Vasculitis which is what has nearly killed my mom this past year...on immuno suppressive drugs to bring vasculitis in remission. She has rheumatoid like pain (along with osteoarthritis), she has had pnemonia and/or bronchitis and a strange staph infection in lung that normally grows on skin....The vasculitis has caused neuropathy (foot drop) in both her feet....that was after her eight week episode in 2000 of what appeared to be full-blown rheumatoid arthritis. She went into the hospital with artrial fibrillation and went into Congestive heart failure and more...came out what this horrific and debilitating joint/muscle pain.

The rheumatologist today said she was exibiting fibromyalgia symptoms.

My question: How do you talk to mainstream physicians..they both said this was controversial information?

The rheumy did say that she thought the best thing would be for us to see an infectious disease specialist. They both made me feel inadequate. My doctor did blood work and is treating me and she talked about the repercussions from taking antibiotics long term and I understand that can be bad...but I am so confused.

I've tried to reach you two times previously. Now, I'm sending a test. If it works this time, I will try to answer your questions. But you must understand that this is a Gulf War Illness website. The answers you seek are far removed from soldiers, sailors and Marines who have been injected with vaccines that might not necessarily work, and who have breathed the toxins and airborne contamination of a war field, and who have been exposed to environmental conditions you can't imagine.

I have finally figured out why I have been unable to reach you. All my previous messages with e-mail addresses, including my own, have been omitted by the website monitor.

I have two major suggestions for you:
Research the internet exhaustively for all medications you and your mother are taking. ALWAYS look for RARE side-effects and adverse effects over LONG-TERM use. Even if you don't think your research will do you any good with the doctors you have now, you'll be happy you kept hard copies when you find the specialist who can help you.

Research the Internet exhaustively for all illnesses and diagnoses you and your mother have received. Compile a library full of notebooks where you can file your research. Put tabs, post-it notes, handwritten notes, highlights, anything that helps you remember what you've read. As you continue on with your research, you will -- just as I did -- see the same medical phrases over and over again. Start noting each time you see identical phrases.

For example, debilitating fatigue and myalgias are repeated throughout descriptions of all rheumatological and infectious diseases literature. If you can put a few more key phrases together, you'll see how often they repeat each other. If you come across words you don't understand, look them up in the medical dictionaries on the Internet.

I say all of this, because once you've come up with a common link and a suggestion to present to your internist, he or she can better direct you to a specialist.

Some specialists I strongly suggest you investigate carefully to determine which can most quickly resolve you and your mother's health puzzles are, in this order: endocrinologist, allergist and immunologist, toxicologist, oncologist, gastroenterologist (for liver function tests).

I highly recommend you present copies of your research notebooks and all lab reports to an Infectious Diseases doctor, independent of any recommendation from all other doctors you have seen. Infectious Diseases doctors have a hard time thinking outside that AIDS box. But once you present them with paper, they'll usually come around because they love a challenge.

Good luck to you, dear! I am so sorry I haven't been able to get through to answer your cry for help.

Beckie, I haven't checked in for a while. Mom has been in excruiating pain, swelling and hot to touch at some joints, running fever, and we were both about ready to throw in the towel. (I have been posting on back problems Chiropractor in the House) and they closed one thread, then I started posting there under a new subject (Pain Management Clinic). My youngest brother wanted to come get mom and do a massage, system cleanse and have a chiropractor do an adjustment and she could hardly get out of bed. Since she has osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, I was worried about them damaging her further, but we were desperate for someone to help....in spite of hydrocodone, oxycontin and neurontin increased, she was still having break-through pain. Finally, doctor upped her prednisone and she at least can walk and move. She couldn't even hold her glass, or telephone or use her walker.

Anyway, thanks for caring. I have seen an endocrinologist this year, a gastroenterologist last year, an allergist, and infectious disease doc several years ago (before the latest viruses, etc.) Mom is seeing a gastro doc, critical care/pulmonary doc, rheumy, neurologist (now) and more. We will get around to seeing others as we are able. My e-mail address is rkitchen@surfsouth.net. Thanks again. I am really tired tonight and stuffed. Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.

I'm so sorry I've been caught up in my own problems since October that I haven't replied. But WHY, oh WHY do you have the illnesses you describe sound like Gulf War Illness? Health-care workers' vaccines (Hepatitus A, B, C, or the rest of the experimental liver-vaccine soup)?

Are you living in an area where you could acquire auto-immune disease because of your water contamination?

I've discovered that altitude and "bad ozone" days affect us all.

Please, enlighten me. I'm a mere paralegal, but hope to be an RN paralegal some bright, polished and shiny day in the near future.

Hi Beckie,

I don't know if I mentioned it before or not, but I also had silicone breast implants in 1982...had them removed in 1994 after being found to have a positive rheumatoid factor, elevated sedimentation rate and a elevated/positive ANA test.All the symptoms I was having made me a candidate to have the implants removed. The right one was ruptured. Since 1989 I have been diagnosed with one thing or another. My mother also has positive RF, Elevated sed rate, vasculitis, hypothyroidism, low blood sugar,COPD and more, so I inherited some of it perhaps. Lord only knows.

I have completed we 12 weeks of antibiotics and other supplements geared to help me. REcently I had an elemental toxicity test and doc said I have an overload of lead, mercury, aluminum. copper, selenium and zinc and a deficiency of magnesium, molybdenum and potassium. He has some plans for tryign to help me with this next week when I return for blood work and recheck. Sorry I haven't checked in for a while. I have had a virus, then a cold and am still running a low grade fever.

I'm truly sorry I haven't checked in awhile. I've had stomach bugs all winter, and I've got shortness of breath with respiratory illness back-to-back. I am so glad you mentioned silicone. I have worked with several people who have the very same illness: breast implants and cheek and chin upgrades. Their blood shows high white blood count and off-the-scale neutrophyls and lymphocites.

All of us have had had something introduced into our bodies that produces "bad" results.

My introduction into "bad" blood results were (excuse my spelling) the prescription drugs Buspar, Zoloft, Pacsil, Elavil, Ambien, Claritin D. Once I removed these prescription drugs from my daily doseage, I immediately felt better and my blood results came back "healthy".

Did you know that one or more prescription drugs affecting your central nervous system can make you totally bedfast? You should try a physician's recommended program for tapering off all of those drugs, just to find out how you feel when you are drug free. All of my breast implant co-workers have found that they feel much better with balanced meals, clear drinking water, and laughter. It's the best medicine. I'm sending this website to an entire cluster of Gulf War vets who do not know that this website exists.

I'm feeling particularly ambitious. And I DO want to help. Your most expedient feedback would be most appreciated: Gulf War Vets need to know that other people suffer the same as they, particularly where silicon gel made from Desert sand is concerned. The source is different, but the poison is just the same.

Beckie, I just checked into health board after three weeks. It is interesting that you mention getting off medications. I have tried to come off Zoloft on more than one occasion and I become a emotional, angry, cry, moody and more. I am just out of control without it. I want to come off it.

The doc who is treating me for mycoplasmas had me on so many other things....I am so sick of swallowing all these pills. I have been doing the Zithromax plus regimen since October....on 6 and off 2 weeks. He just sent me to a dentist to discuss removing amalgams, crowns, root canal and replacing partial. I paid that doc $195 for the appt. I am supposed to send off a "compatibility blood specimen" ($225 more) to be sure I wouldn't be jumping out of the fire into the frying pan. I was checked with a bio-feedback type mechanism several years ago and was told I had metal toxicity. Recently my doc did the "elemental toxicity analysis" and I am loaded.

However, re-doing my who mouth will be a high expense and I can be 100% certain that this is the solution. Even with my insurance helping it will be several thousand dollars out of pocket.

With a cholesteroland triglycerides of over 300 I am afraid to come off Welchol and Lipitrol. I am spending around $400 a month on prescriptions....I truly don't feel better yet. I have actually been able to focus on reading a few novels (Dean KLoontz) and really enjoyed losing myself for a few nights.

Later.

I don't recall having that difficult a time coming off the Zoloft. I DO know that I was on it for about 1-1/2 years. I also was taking Ambien (half a tab at 5 mg) by then. I also was mega-dosing on supplements (Shaklee brand, the very worst kind for Gulf War Illness patients because the supplements and shakes contain so many things we're not supposed to have: metals [zinc and copper], brewer's yeast, sugar, ginseng).

I felt that I had to get off of antidepressants because I could no longer feel emotions on them, and my mathematical abilities (critical to my work at that time) had slowed to that of a remedial math student.

I do recall that my doctor, who also was treating my husband with Paxcil, told me to taper off slowly. I was told to cut my tablets in half at two week increments. I don't remember if I was taking 10 mg or not, but that sounds about right. Then, he had me take half tabs every-other-day for two weeks. Then, he had me take half tabs every-two-days for two weeks. Then, half tabs twice a week for two weeks. I believe I quit altogether after two months.

I felt great relief in that I regained my sense of humor. My mind seemed to snap back to its usual quickness with math and everything else. I was even able to compete on running a calculator with someone who had an MBA in finance from Harvard. I won! Six weeks before, that would not have been the case.

I was mega-dosing on B-complex without any other supplements than perhaps calcium. I took B throughout the day, anytime I felt my energy lagging or anytime I started to feel down or tearful. I was also on a diet rich with fresh vegetables I cooked myself or ate raw.

Hang in there my friend. If this method of tapering off the mood altering drug does not work, I strongly recommend you ask your doctor to switch you to something else temporarily: Wellbutrin, Paxcil. I did O.K. on Wellbutrin, but my husband spent his entire course of Wellbutrin, and then Paxcil, contemplating suicide. That is SO unlike him. He's in love with life!

My husband, who is not the veteran but the victim who married a very sick veteran, got off his antidepressants cold-turkey. He said he never felt better than setting down the drugs, saying "Get thee hence!"

I hope the best for you. Once you get your mouth redone, you'll probably feel better. I did. And it cost me $2,000 I didn't have. I still have two metal fillings to go. But the two that were really deep into my dentine (and were chipping and cracking my teeth anyway) are gone, replaced with a plastic bond colored the same color as my teeth. My insurance refused to pay for anything but metal fillings. So I "ate" the cost, literally.

Let us all know how it goes! You'd be amazed how many of your problems -- including the high cholesterol -- sound just like us vets. I'm a small woman, with hardly any body fat at all. And I don't eat that much meat or cholesterol-filled foods. When I first became ill with Gulf War Illness, my internist told me my heart would kill me before the Gulf War Illness (virus with bacterial infection combos) would.

He put me on a "cave man" diet of fish, chicken, vegetables and fruits with no breads, no dairy products and no red meats or pork for six months. I lost another 10 pound to about 92 pounds, almost 20 pounds below normal.

My cholesterol finally returned to normal, and my virus cycled out of the infectious phase for the very first time. But infections continued for another four years. And the virus cycles back in every 6 weeks to three months.

It's been a rough road, but one drug at a time, one medical regimen at a time, and I'm at least able to function in a chronic state of fatigue and not much restful sleep.
Take care!

Mia culpa!
I failed to mention in the last monologue that the increased B-complex supplement intake should diminish rather quickly after withdrawing from anti-depressants or sleep-aids. The body can expel only so much Vitamin B, and a toxic dose of the stuff can cause long-term kidney pain (like I did) or it can cause permanent kidney damage.

Because Gulf War veterans already have so many problems with their internal organs, they may not be able to distinguish kidney pain caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and manmade toxins leaving their bodies and kidney dysfunction caused by too much Vitamin B complex.

Another item I failed to mention: I sent it to your personal e-mail address in the form of two attachments. The makers of Zoloft, Pfizer, have circulated an oral survey to doctors determining whether or not a patient is depressed and needs anti-depressants.

The information details how doctors fail to adequately screen each patient's blood chemistry and prescription medication history before dispensing antidepressants so freely.

Many times because of their medications, heart patients, diabetics, thyroid patients, women who have entered menopause because of surgical sterilization or because of severe, debilitating illnesses, doctors overlook medical reasons for "depression". In some instances, a prescription for Zoloft can mean the death sentence to a patient, Gulf War vet or otherwise.

The best two examples I can think of are heart medications and antibiotics. Both put an incredible strain on the liver. Zoloft adds to the strain and can cause liver damage or kidney failure: both are fatal. Zoloft is also known to cause gastrointestinal distress, muscular pain, and it aggravates Multiple Chemical Sensitivity symptoms. Sleep aids such as Ambien cause the same symptoms. The only thing worse than anti-depressant pain is the pain and internal bleeding throughout the vitals organs that Ambien causes. I know because is happened to me.

Another reason I think Gulf War vets, or anyone else who suffers from auto-immune system diseases or hepatical diseases, should avoid antidepressants is because their blood chemical tests almost always clearly reveal off-the-scale results in neutrophyls and lymphocytes. Even slight elevations of those two blood chemicals, plus white blood count, should be a queue to the doctor to abstain from prescribing drugs that overload the liver: anti-depressants, anti-anxiety aids, sleep-aids, anti-virals, anti-depressants.

I hope this has been helpful to you and to all others who are reading this website. Enjoy reading your new e-mail, and responding to the authors of each segment of the Zoloft/Pfizer information!