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The Hammer - Vistide and Dr. Peterson

Jody

Senior Member
Messages
4,636
Location
Canada
Ross,

That's wonderful news that you're feeling better. I hope you just continue to improve. :)

hvs, you said you haven't had any bad effects. Any improvement for you?
 

KC22

Senior Member
Messages
161
Location
Ohio
Ross,

Wow!!! That is impressive. Your numbers have improved greatly... The best part is that you feel better!!!

I am positive for EBV, CMV, HHV6 and mycoplasma pneumoniae. I may mention this Vistide to Dr. Lerner and see what he thinks.

I am really excited to see your numbers. That must make you feel great!!

Thanks for sharing this with me. I really appreciate it... Cindy
 

hvs

Senior Member
Messages
292
Vistide

Ross,

That's wonderful news that you're feeling better. I hope you just continue to improve. :)

hvs, you said you haven't had any bad effects. Any improvement for you?

I just had the one treatment so far, Jody. The day after I received it I happened to feel better than I had for a few weeks (characterized by greater ability too endure being upright), but there's no way I can attribute that to the Vistide.

It's great to hear your good news, Ross!
 

Jody

Senior Member
Messages
4,636
Location
Canada
I just had the one treatment so far, Jody. The day after I received it I happened to feel better than I had for a few weeks (characterized by greater ability too endure being upright), but there's no way I can attribute that to the Vistide.

It's great to hear your good news, Ross!

hvs,

No matter the cause for it I'm still glad you're feeling better even if it's temporary. :)
 

hvs

Senior Member
Messages
292
Vistide

You will probably feel better for a few days after because of the fluids, not the Vistide. I always feel fantastic the first 2 days after the fluids. The same is true for the Amino Acids......did he put you on the IV Amino Acids as well?

No amino acids for me, Ross.

I'm guessing you're close enough to Incline Village that you didn't want to bother going through the rigamarole of getting set up to do infusion close to home? That's what I'll need to do, now. At least my doctor at home is open-minded and I don't expect any problem there. Fingers crossed.
 

hvs

Senior Member
Messages
292
Vistide peregrinations

Ha, Ross, I told Dr. Peterson just about the same thing: "if you tell me to setting my hair on fire will get me better I'll do it." The consequences of not recovering in the next six months would be losing a career about eight years in the making with NO prospect for other gainful employment to support my family.

You drove 9 hours? Killer to a guy with your health.

Yes, I can see why he really wants to administer the infusions himself...the protocol is complicated and the consequences of any mistake could be terrible. Doing a few of his specialized tests in my hometown has proven a huge fiasco with one major mistake that delayed us a long time.

I am coming from the other side of the country so it's not really a possibility to take my infusions in Incline. I've been keeping my home internist up to date this whole time and this week I will ask her if she is ready and willing to take charge of my vistide treatment. I am optimistic, but maybe she'll be hesitant to take the responsibility. I'll let you know...
 

mojoey

Senior Member
Messages
1,213
Hi everyone

I have my first appointment with Peterson next week, and I just wanted to check: is he still pretty much pushing ampligen and now vistide, the combination depending on the patient?? As in, does he believe CFS is strictly a viral & immuno-dysfunction disease?

best,
joey
 

mojoey

Senior Member
Messages
1,213
Hi ross

thank you for your response. So do you know if Peterson has a pretty uniform approach to treating CFS: that is, antivirals and/or immunomodulation? If not, what other pathways have you heard of him treating? I would just like to know because if he's only doing antivirals, I would reconsider seeing him.
 

hvs

Senior Member
Messages
292
I have my first appointment with Peterson next week, and I just wanted to check: is he still pretty much pushing ampligen and now vistide, the combination depending on the patient?? As in, does he believe CFS is strictly a viral & immuno-dysfunction disease?

best,
joey

--Excellent: no bad reaction to the medicine from kidneys or liver. We're off to the races.--

Joey, the great the thing about Peterson is that he assumes nothing about what is making you sick. I saw another doc who will remain nameless who's decided he "knows" what CFS is, and when I didn't fit his preconceived notion exactly, he...well...it just didn't go well.

Peterson runs 1000 tests because he assumes nothing. He collects tons of data so that he can try to figure out what's going on whether its cancer, malaria, dengue fever, or this crazy syndrome. --Be ready for weeks of tests!

But, yes, if you are one of the small percentage of people diagnosed with CFS who actually fit the Incline cohort (viral "driver," whatever the original cause), he's not going to recommend CBT...he has lots of experience in going after it aggressively.
 

mojoey

Senior Member
Messages
1,213
thanks hvs

I appreciate the input. I just needed to know that he didn't suffer from tunnel vision like so many other CFS doctor/researchers do. You just confirmed that for me.

best,
joey
 

hvs

Senior Member
Messages
292
Very well put hvs.....I was gonna say that if one is fortunate enough to even be accepted into his practice, then if for no other reason, go and at least do the diagnostics. If one doesn't agree with his treatment recommendation after that, at least you will have the best possible diagnostic work up done. He is an amazing diagnostician. He goes both barrels after the diagnosis leaving no stone unturned. He did more diagnostic work for me in 3 days than 15 doctors did in 15 years.

If you're lucky enough to get accepted, indeed, Ross. Man, is he busy. Between his practice, stuff at Whittemore-Peterson, and various appearances he keeps moving. Carole is almost literally running all the time, too.

I'm sorry to hear that it's been 15 years, Ross. But I'm glad even though this stuff has been resident in you so long the Vistide has really improved your mental clarity and viral loads.
 
D

D.L.

Guest
Hammer head shark

Am delighted to hear this success story & would love to hear about other experiences with Vistide.
Caveat, you never know until you try whether something will help and if Vistide can provide a big enough bang to cure ME/CFS, seems it's worth a trial.
A couple of months on Vistide may have slammed my viruses, but I couldn't tolerate the G.I. pain and feel more exhausted than ever. After much deliberation and equivocation, I've concluded I'm not a candidate.
Hopefully I am an anomaly.
Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone else! D.L.
 

hvs

Senior Member
Messages
292
Ah, too bad D.L.. Did you actually see lowered virus numbers? Which viruses were plaguing you? Hve you been sick a long time like Ross? Was the visitde bothering you or the probednicad? Can we assume that you are seeing Dr. P?

I'm sorry that you ended up more exhausted. Shoot.

Is it on to valcyte or valtrex, perhaps?
 

kolowesi

Senior Member
Messages
267
Location
Central Texas
Peterson workup

Hi, Joey,

Many congratulations on getting through all that!

I really appreciate your reporting of the small details, the differences in perception. I'm so glad you are better now, and I really appreciate the reminder to be grateful that colors are brighter for me now, too.

I can't wait to hear about your results. I can't believe they took blood, then had you do the stress test. The most blood I've had is 15 vials, you had almost twice that. I hope you are drinking some V8 today.

Thank you for the great report and best wishes.

Kelly
 

mojoey

Senior Member
Messages
1,213
Vistide

Wrote this on my blog, but Dr Peterson did make it sound like he only uses AVs in isolated cases these days. Leans toward immuno-modulators like IVGG and ampligen
 

shiso

Senior Member
Messages
159
Thanks Joey

For generously sharing your experience with your Dr. Peterson appointment.

I'm in Japan, where treatment options for CFS are paltry (as far as I can tell in the year I've been sick with post-infectious CFS) and am considering/weighing what doctor(s) I might want to try to see in the States, so this info is really helpful. Thanks!

shiso
 

jenbooks

Guest
Messages
1,270
Rather Concise :)

Joey for me that was the easiest blog post you've ever written and the bulleted points were particularly good. I can't believe that pic of all those vials of blood. When he reports back it will be fascinating to see what he measured and what he concludes.