- Messages
- 59
- Location
- Southern USA
Starting a new thread today. Figured now would be a good time. I am ecstatic to report that I am half way to the finish line! It has been 3 months since I began my Valcyte treatment (Started on May 3). I've noticed quite a few differences since then.
I can actually function on 6 hours of sleep! Before treatment, It was a battle to simply stay awake. And an even more difficult battle to process information. I got 5 and 1/2 hours of sleep last night and yet even as I write this post I can think clearly and methodically, almost completely free of the overwhelming brain fog of the past 1 and 1/2 years! I am NOT struggling to stay awake. This is a gift from god, nothing short of it!
I still struggle with other symptoms however. I'm still dealing with tachycardia. But my doc put me on propranolol which is working wonders! It really does help to slow my heart rate down. I now can tolerate exercising. I am able to run a mild-paced mile on a treadmill without having the feeling that I can't breathe afterwards. Remarkable!
I still have more progress to make. But make no mistake, I am ABSOLUTELY noticing a difference! One key ingredient in my treatment is a high dose of milk thistle. It is critical that the liver functions extremely well during Valcyte treatment. My Liver enzymes have dropped dramatically since increasing my dose of MT to about 1500mg daily (give or take). I take it in both liquid and capsule form. At last check, my ALT was 28 and AST was 22 which is extremely good. I got into trouble last year prior to supplementing with MT. I was taking Valcyte and My ALT increased to 114 at one point!
Another med that helps me is Nortriptyline. I take about 50mg at night before bed. Helps tremendously with sleep. I am able to achieve a deep REM sleep which I think is a benefit to your immune system. Your immune system is more productive when you sleep deeply.
Also, I plan on getting my quantitative IgG titers checked for CMV to see if they've come down at all. Hopefully they have.
That's pretty much it! I will continue taking 1350mg Valcyte (2 in morning 1 at night) until further notice. If you have any questions please ask me! 3 months down, 3 more months to go. It's all downhill from here!!!
I can actually function on 6 hours of sleep! Before treatment, It was a battle to simply stay awake. And an even more difficult battle to process information. I got 5 and 1/2 hours of sleep last night and yet even as I write this post I can think clearly and methodically, almost completely free of the overwhelming brain fog of the past 1 and 1/2 years! I am NOT struggling to stay awake. This is a gift from god, nothing short of it!
I still struggle with other symptoms however. I'm still dealing with tachycardia. But my doc put me on propranolol which is working wonders! It really does help to slow my heart rate down. I now can tolerate exercising. I am able to run a mild-paced mile on a treadmill without having the feeling that I can't breathe afterwards. Remarkable!
I still have more progress to make. But make no mistake, I am ABSOLUTELY noticing a difference! One key ingredient in my treatment is a high dose of milk thistle. It is critical that the liver functions extremely well during Valcyte treatment. My Liver enzymes have dropped dramatically since increasing my dose of MT to about 1500mg daily (give or take). I take it in both liquid and capsule form. At last check, my ALT was 28 and AST was 22 which is extremely good. I got into trouble last year prior to supplementing with MT. I was taking Valcyte and My ALT increased to 114 at one point!
Another med that helps me is Nortriptyline. I take about 50mg at night before bed. Helps tremendously with sleep. I am able to achieve a deep REM sleep which I think is a benefit to your immune system. Your immune system is more productive when you sleep deeply.
Also, I plan on getting my quantitative IgG titers checked for CMV to see if they've come down at all. Hopefully they have.
That's pretty much it! I will continue taking 1350mg Valcyte (2 in morning 1 at night) until further notice. If you have any questions please ask me! 3 months down, 3 more months to go. It's all downhill from here!!!