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Doing So Well On Modified Cowden Protocol

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
I wanted to post a really positive experience of doing the Cowden Protocol since last September having had a positive Infectolab Elispot +5, +4 and +3 last July, positive Western Blot band 41 only and probable Ehirlichia Ellispot at +2.

Have had 15 days in a row of feeling very well, just a few blips with things like mild headaches and one minor migraine which I managed to get rid of with meds.

To my amazement I have really good energy in my legs virtually all the time, they are so much lighter than they used to be. They used to feel so heavy and like lead and that has gone completely. I have worn a Garmin Viofit since last September when I used to do around 5200 steps daily, sometimes it was more around 3000. Now my average is up to 8990 with several days up to 9500 without any ill effects. Two days ago I even swum 10 lengths of the local pool without any ill effects after, the first time since getting sick this has happened. Everytime I have attempted a short gentle swim my legs have ended up like lead and I have had very bad POTS after so I gave up.

I don't take Samento because it is a potent vasodilator and because of the POTS in the past it isn't good for me. It also gave me very bad migraines so I have used mainly Banderol or Cumanda. I also take 4 Andrographis daily and did do about 3 months of Japanese Knotweed at 12 daily till I found out that was also a vasodilator. It also gave me migraines so I stopped it last December.

I have just ordered teasel root to add in just in case there are still bugs lurking and I am going to continue with the protocol till I have been on it a year and then will take some sort of maintenance dose but will check with Dr Cowden first. (Nutramedix are very good at answering any questions).

With regard to the protocol I have never taken the night time dose and often didn't do the lunchtime one either but I have been more careful about that this year. I think I got up to the maximum doses quite quickly I haven't actually checked my notes.

I am pretty sure I was bitten in October 1996 in the New Forest, England, UK because only 10 days later I had an inflammatory illness that affected my knees, wrists and other muscles and I felt very ill. After a couple of weeks I thought I had RA but my GP said it was a virus that mimicked RA. If only I had known about Lyme disease then! I would then pick up a bit and then out of the blue I would go down with this "virus" again and then the next year I got bouts where I could hardly walk my dog and would get panic attacks when out walking as I ran out of energy. My blood sugar became impossible to regulate, always going too low both day and night.

These attacks became more and more frequent and by 2000 I was so bad I had to give up teaching but thinking it was only a temporary thing. It wasn't it was permanent, I was never well enough to teach again though I did do a bit of private tuition the following year. What finished me off was the menopause, in 2001 I was just about coping by not working but the severe running out of energy was always just around the corner. Looking back at my diary the following year was horrendous. Everything was so much worse, it was like my endocrine system was out of control and my adrenals and thyroid were hit the most. Lucky for me I saw a private Endo in Nov 2002 and after tests (not NHS ones) he said I needed hydrocortisone and dessicated thyroid. Both these helped a lot of my symptoms but not the ability to do physical stuff, I could never walk for longer than 20 minutes and sometimes only 10. I still suffered with frequent viruses/infections that especially hit my throat and make me feel very ill.

In 2003 a doctor here in the UK looked at my blood through a microscope and told me I had borrelia and also co-infections and gave me various antibiotics especially Doxycycline. To be honest I was sceptical but I did do well on the Doxy but after 6 months the doctor changed me on to different abx plus Tinidazole which always made me ill. After about 10 months my gut was so bad I didn't want to continue and I lost faith and gave up until last year when I decided I would pay to have proper testing and find out for once and for all if I did have Lyme. And the rest is history as they say!

I am now 67 and feel a new person and cannot quite believe it. I did have one very mild throat infection in December and one very bad one in March which went on way too long because my GP only gave me Penicillin which doesn't do anything for me. Luckily I had some Azithromycin which I had ordered online from a reputable pharmacy and started on that for 5 days as I was feeling desperate to feel better. I responded within hours to it and once I finished the course 15 days ago, everyday I have felt well with my energy getting better and better.

I have also tested positive for many Herpes type viruses and very high to Coxackie too but it would seem the herbs can deal with this too.

The only downside to the Cowden stuff is the price but I am very thankful that I can order it at trade price because of my diploma in nutrition and if I can help anybody else in the UK regarding the Cowden herbs, I would be happy to do so.

Pam
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
@bertiedog - I'm really glad to hear you are doing so well! My sister was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a little over a year ago I think and now the doctor is thinking she might have lyme instead. He's ordering more tests. I know he wants to start her on IV antibiotics (I don't know which one) and she is now starting to learn all about lyme. It is so confusing, there is so much information out there about so many different protocols and herbs etc.

She just saw a video about teasel root which she finds very interesting - did it help you before?

But you think the main cause of your progress is the Cowden protocol?

Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thank you -
 

anniekim

Senior Member
Messages
779
Location
U.K
@bertiedog so pleased you have found a treatment that is helping you so much. When you say your elispot from infectolab was +5 +4 +3, do you mean you did the eli spot test on 3 different occasions I thought the elispot gave only one figure? Many thanks
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
@bertiedog - I'm really glad to hear you are doing so well! My sister was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a little over a year ago I think and now the doctor is thinking she might have lyme instead. He's ordering more tests. I know he wants to start her on IV antibiotics (I don't know which one) and she is now starting to learn all about lyme. It is so confusing, there is so much information out there about so many different protocols and herbs etc.

She just saw a video about teasel root which she finds very interesting - did it help you before?

But you think the main cause of your progress is the Cowden protocol?

Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thank you -

Hi Mary

I haven't yet tried teasel root, I just thought it would be a good herb to add in just to see as it is supposed to bring the spirochettes out of hiding.

Yes, its definitely the Cowden protocol with maybe a bit of help from the Samento and Cats Claw I took last year plus the Japanese Knotweed I took for about 3 months before stopping cos of the side effects of messing up my electrolytes and also constant migraines.

I hope that your sister also gets some help, I guess IV antibiotics are a good route to start with because they are far less likely to mess up one's gut I believe but if she finds she improves and then doesn't quite get to where she would like to be, maybe your sister would want to try herbals. There are many on Facebook who have got their life back due to Cowden herbs.

I have been taking lots of supplements since 2007 and continue to do so. Its all the basics that help with methylation plus fish oil, carnitine fumerate, coq10 but my improvements cannot be due to those cos I have been taking them for so long.

Pam
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
When you say your elispot from infectolab was +5 +4 +3, do you mean you did the eli spot test on 3 different occasions I thought the elispot gave only one figure? Many thanks
Hi Anniekim

It was just one test which looked at 3 different aspects of the borrelia - will try and include a screen shot of my results.
 

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cigana

Senior Member
Messages
1,095
Location
UK
Hi bertiedog, I am very happy for you.
I was just a little confused about how much of your overall improvement in energy you would attribute to the azithromycin?
I too have made some improvements, but I'm not sure why. I did take herbs for Lyme for quite a long time (more than a year), so perhaps that has been helping me but because I never noticed anything immediately I kind of assumed they were not particularly helping. So I would also be interested to know if you have only noticed improvements long term?
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
@cigan I don't really think that just 5 days of Azithro did anything more than kill off the bacteria that was causing the throat and sinus infection because I had started to improve by the beginning of the year. It has been gradual culminating in this ability to exercise without ill effects during this April.

I attribute my improvement to the Cowden herbs plus the couple of Buhner herbs too. I forgot to say I have also been taking Oregano for a couple of months at quite a low dose because I did have some mild gut issues after a 6 week period of intense stress (which actually caused the bad throat infection in March).

Over the years I have addressed many issues, medication for the thyroid and adrenals in 2002 which I continue with now, methylation support from 2007 and amalgam removal and chelation in 2001/02 so it would appear the only thing I hadn't addressed properly was the immune system.

I still have problems if I have to stand for more than 10 minutes, it begins to stir up my central nervous system and I really don't like it but as long as I have at least a short sit down after I can then carry on and do whatever I need to (as long as it isn't more standing)!

Pam
 

anniekim

Senior Member
Messages
779
Location
U.K
Thanks Bertiedog, looking at my infectolab lab test result I see now there are three figures, somehow I thought was one. My elispot from infectolab was negative and I have just one borderline western blot ospc band, so really not sure Lyme is a problem for me. May your improvement continue, fantastic
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Hey Pam, such fantastically brilliant news! so so happy to hear of your progress, long may it continue!

I am off to start some treatment soon - 6 weeks of iv Glutathione, plus KDM has prescribed some other supporting anti-inflammatory herbs etc. - but no killing off just yet. Hopefully that will come for me soon. As I couldn't tolerate antibiotics I asked KDM about herbals and he said I was too ill and even a tiny amount could tip me over into a very bad place.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
I asked KDM about herbals and he said I was too ill and even a tiny amount could tip me over into a very bad place.
That has been true for me...that is that the herbals were harder to take than the abx. I had to start them with 1/8 drop and the climb to a reasonable dose has been very slow.

Sushi
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
OK so I have got to be honest. Overnight everything changed and I ended up with a migraine, pain in my muscles, sneezing and a sore throat. This has happened many times in the past, it comes out of the blue with no warning but as it happened after 10,500 steps I think there has to be a connection!

All my old symptoms are back but I did still manage go to work yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours after painkillers.

This morning I have woken with my heart racing and dizziness and leaden legs. Haven't sneezed for 24 hours and throat isn't so bad but it is red and a bit sore and as the morning is progressing there seems to be a bit better energy but I am sure it will run out pretty quickly.

I am going for acupuncture later as that always helps me but I now know I have got to be more careful and ignore my body's energy which seems almost impossibe and I must tell myself to STOP when I get to around 9000 steps.

Its so difficult because I had no warning signs that I was overdoing it and I suppose there is a possibility that it is a virus after all?

Pam
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Hi Pam, I hope you get over this slump quickly. It could just be a virus that's doing the rounds and unrelated, but you may have overdone it a bit.

I find it absolutely impossible to stop when I am having a good day and regularly push myself over the edge in my determination to have some sort of life!

I am sure that progress is still possible for you and you need to keep going, but remember your body has been ill for a long time and will need ot be looked after gently as it recovers 9not advice I ever take myself mind!)
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
I wouldn't call it a reversal, I had another throat infection which soon improved on Azithromycin again. My immune system is going to take a lot longer to become strong I think, its only 9 months of herbals that I have had after being sick for almost 20 years and for another 20 years prior to that I had severe adrenal issues that weren't treated.

Have been back to around 8200 steps daily for over a week now but yet again last Saturday I was able to do 10500 so although I am not back to having excellent energy all the time I am still doing well.

Hopefully as the summer comes along there will be less bugs to challenge me!

Pam
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Great Pam - good to hear you still feel stronger. Yes 20 years o damage will take a bit of undoing - but I have a lot of hope for you. Fingers crossed for me now.....
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
@justy Definitely keeping my fingers crossed for you but I know you have to go very carefully because of your extreme sensitivities but with Dr DeM you are in very knowledgeable hands.

I follow your progress with great interest and hope.

Pamx
 
Messages
26
Location
UK
Pam - great to read your updates. So encouraging! I'm slowly starting to add Cowden herbs to my abx, so you are inspiring me. Wishing you well.
 

bertiedog

Senior Member
Messages
1,738
Location
South East England, UK
I am really pleased and somewhat surprised to be able to say that I have been on a 5 day break in the New Forest with my partner and Beagle called Snoopy. We stayed right in the forest in a fab lodge at a park called Sandy Balls.

Although I got very sweaty on arrival as it was very warm in the lodge and it started to feel like my CNS was overreacting, after a bit of steroid and a walk with the dog in the fresh air I felt a lot better and everything settled down well. So much so I have been doing over 10450 steps EVERY DAY even getting to over 11000 yesterday.

I haven't suffered any lasting ill effects of doing all this walking apart from feeling a bit ill and exhausted around 3 pm on a couple of afternoons and needing to go back to lie down and sleep for around 45 minutes during which I used my oxygen concentrator to revive me which it did . This is in spite of having eaten some food on the first evening that was not right. Three hours after eating it I developed stomach cramps and had exploding bowels bordering on diahorrea. I was very worried I was going to be ill all night and though it did affect my sleep because of the pains that kept going for several hours I got over it by the morning suffering the following days with nothing more than constipated!

There are several symptoms that haven't gone. Still I don't feel great every morning between 9am and 10.30 but its the same when at home and most days I need a paracetemol with caffeine to get me over the building headache which turns into a migraine if I don't take anything for it.

I still feel this is connected to my blood sugar issues. Things have changed quite radically during the herbal treatment with my blood sugar. Now it has a tendency to be a little on the high side around 6.7 two hours after eating even though I don't eat any sugar, gluten, potatoes or rice. Actually one lunchtime I had to eat out and all that was suitable was half a jacket potato with some green leaves and tuna. I was very hungry before and needed it but within 20 minutes I felt so dizzy (like I used to be prior to going low carb) and then the tiredness came over me followed by a bad head. My blood sugar was horrendous showing 9.8 one hour after eating this and then 6.8 two hours later but I was fighting massive fatigue and pain in my head.

This rather proves I have a big blood sugar issue bordering on diabetes and I am going to see my GP in just over a week's time. I will show him my by readings. I feel the morning headaches/migraines could be related to the blood sugar issue and fasting overnight triggering it.

I always knew that many of my symptoms were related to uncontrolled blood sugar drops (before the steroid) but I am still delighted that I can regularly do so much more walking. This was the first time in more than 20 years that I was able to sleep normally away from home, something else I am very grateful fo.

Pam