awkwardlymodern
Forcing the past to blend with the future
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- 52
Hello (new member here),
I want to report a partial success with therapies intended to eradicate Streptococcus colonization.
For some background, read the following and check out my illness onset story, which is in my signature:
I was shocked to find out that Dr. Kenny de Meirleir shares my own theory about D-lactate encephalopathy. D-lactate encephalopathy shares a lot of similarities with ME/CFS. He and others have also observed that D-lactic acid-producing bacteria constitute an abnormally high proportion of intestinal flora in ME/CFS patients. Coincidence?
Well, my illness started with a strep throat infection...
And my most recent progression, which took away over half of the limited function I had left, coincided strangely with a weird vaginal infection. It started with itching, irritation and discharge, similar to an ordinary case of bacterial vaginosis. But this was different.
The vaginal culture they took showed only one organism: Group B Streptococcus. GBS is a strange little bug, because although it is a leading cause of illness and death in neonates, it is considered a harmless "colonizer" in adult women, even though it is recognized to cause illness in the elderly and immunocompromised adults.
The doctor who did the culture insisted that the GBS they found in my vagina is not an infection, cannot be causing my symptoms, and does not require antibiotics, because up to 30% of healthy adult women carry it in their vagina and gut without symptoms.
Oddly, symptomatic GBS vaginal infection is not recognized by the medical community, even though GBS infection is recognized in just about all other tissues. This probably has to do more with distraction and the medical economy of attention than anything else.
Because
1) most vaginal GBS testing is done on pregnant women,
2) most vaginal GBS carriers healthy and asymptomatic, and
3) the bacteria pose a risk to their newborns,
the very real possibility of vaginal GBS infection is overlooked. And I clearly had a symptomatic GBS vaginal infection. It was the only factor I know of that was associated with my relapse.
So here's something to think about: if
a) GBS is known to cause illness and infection in immunocompromised adults,
b) 30% of adult females carry it, and
c) ME/CFS patients are generally immunocompromised,
I'd say that suggests GBS may be an overlooked contributing factor in ME/CFS, and that fits in with the D-lactic acid/Streptococcus/Enterococcus hypothesis. (Does anyone know which species of Streptococcus were found to colonize ME/CFS patients' intestines)?
Here's the problem, both for healthy pregnant women and for ME/CFS patients trying to get strep out of their gut: it's almost impossible to do. GBS colonization in healthy pregnant women is generally not eradicated with antibiotics--it's too hard.
That's where non-lactic acid producing probiotics should come in.
I started on a 2-month course of ampicillin (1.5 g/day), AlliBiotic (an allicin/herbal supplement) and Prescript Assist, a soil-based probiotic containing non-lactic acid intestinal flora, and baking soda.
After about a week, my vaginal symptoms are gone. My constipation and GERD are gone. My cardiovascular symptoms (POTS, blue fingernails, shortness of breath, heartbeat that is very hard and easy to feel) are vastly improved.
Neuro symptoms not so much--I'm guessing that requires time and/or meds to stop the inflammation which may have initially resulted from the intestinal and vaginal "colonization," plus my pituitary may be permanently damaged from the inflammation (I have growth hormone deficiency, and correcting it will be my next treatment step).
But what if having this strep stuff in our guts (and perhaps D-lactic acid-producing bacteria in general) is like someone with celiac disease loading up on pasta? And the D-lactic acid may not be the only problem. Streptococcus is one of the most immune-dysregulating pathogens known to mankind. Oddly this fact is underappreciated because the vast array of post-streptococcal syndromes, which affect practically every tissue, organ and system in the body in every way imaginable, has not been thoroughly catalogued or recognized.
So the celiac analogy (gluten as the direct cause of an autoimmune disorder::streptococcus as the direct cause of a neuroinflammatory disorder) may be more apt than we realize. (The mechanism may or may not be autoimmune, but if not, it is likely something very similar.)
It's at least worth considering.
As a final observation, when I first got sick, I noticed a very odd smell on my palms. It smelled like soy sauce laced with copper and magnesium. The smell never completely went away, and I always smelled it more strongly during relapses. Shortly after starting my strep-eradication regimen, the smell completely vanished. My palms now smell just like any other part of my body. Weird.
I want to report a partial success with therapies intended to eradicate Streptococcus colonization.
For some background, read the following and check out my illness onset story, which is in my signature:
I was shocked to find out that Dr. Kenny de Meirleir shares my own theory about D-lactate encephalopathy. D-lactate encephalopathy shares a lot of similarities with ME/CFS. He and others have also observed that D-lactic acid-producing bacteria constitute an abnormally high proportion of intestinal flora in ME/CFS patients. Coincidence?
Well, my illness started with a strep throat infection...
And my most recent progression, which took away over half of the limited function I had left, coincided strangely with a weird vaginal infection. It started with itching, irritation and discharge, similar to an ordinary case of bacterial vaginosis. But this was different.
The vaginal culture they took showed only one organism: Group B Streptococcus. GBS is a strange little bug, because although it is a leading cause of illness and death in neonates, it is considered a harmless "colonizer" in adult women, even though it is recognized to cause illness in the elderly and immunocompromised adults.
The doctor who did the culture insisted that the GBS they found in my vagina is not an infection, cannot be causing my symptoms, and does not require antibiotics, because up to 30% of healthy adult women carry it in their vagina and gut without symptoms.
Oddly, symptomatic GBS vaginal infection is not recognized by the medical community, even though GBS infection is recognized in just about all other tissues. This probably has to do more with distraction and the medical economy of attention than anything else.
Because
1) most vaginal GBS testing is done on pregnant women,
2) most vaginal GBS carriers healthy and asymptomatic, and
3) the bacteria pose a risk to their newborns,
the very real possibility of vaginal GBS infection is overlooked. And I clearly had a symptomatic GBS vaginal infection. It was the only factor I know of that was associated with my relapse.
So here's something to think about: if
a) GBS is known to cause illness and infection in immunocompromised adults,
b) 30% of adult females carry it, and
c) ME/CFS patients are generally immunocompromised,
I'd say that suggests GBS may be an overlooked contributing factor in ME/CFS, and that fits in with the D-lactic acid/Streptococcus/Enterococcus hypothesis. (Does anyone know which species of Streptococcus were found to colonize ME/CFS patients' intestines)?
Here's the problem, both for healthy pregnant women and for ME/CFS patients trying to get strep out of their gut: it's almost impossible to do. GBS colonization in healthy pregnant women is generally not eradicated with antibiotics--it's too hard.
That's where non-lactic acid producing probiotics should come in.
I started on a 2-month course of ampicillin (1.5 g/day), AlliBiotic (an allicin/herbal supplement) and Prescript Assist, a soil-based probiotic containing non-lactic acid intestinal flora, and baking soda.
After about a week, my vaginal symptoms are gone. My constipation and GERD are gone. My cardiovascular symptoms (POTS, blue fingernails, shortness of breath, heartbeat that is very hard and easy to feel) are vastly improved.
Neuro symptoms not so much--I'm guessing that requires time and/or meds to stop the inflammation which may have initially resulted from the intestinal and vaginal "colonization," plus my pituitary may be permanently damaged from the inflammation (I have growth hormone deficiency, and correcting it will be my next treatment step).
But what if having this strep stuff in our guts (and perhaps D-lactic acid-producing bacteria in general) is like someone with celiac disease loading up on pasta? And the D-lactic acid may not be the only problem. Streptococcus is one of the most immune-dysregulating pathogens known to mankind. Oddly this fact is underappreciated because the vast array of post-streptococcal syndromes, which affect practically every tissue, organ and system in the body in every way imaginable, has not been thoroughly catalogued or recognized.
So the celiac analogy (gluten as the direct cause of an autoimmune disorder::streptococcus as the direct cause of a neuroinflammatory disorder) may be more apt than we realize. (The mechanism may or may not be autoimmune, but if not, it is likely something very similar.)
It's at least worth considering.
As a final observation, when I first got sick, I noticed a very odd smell on my palms. It smelled like soy sauce laced with copper and magnesium. The smell never completely went away, and I always smelled it more strongly during relapses. Shortly after starting my strep-eradication regimen, the smell completely vanished. My palms now smell just like any other part of my body. Weird.
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