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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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Update!

Jacque

Senior Member
Messages
424
Location
USA - California
Sorry I haven't had much to report... Week 18 - after 3 infusions of Rituxan. No change in pain level :( still an 7-9 most days - maybe even worse). Flu like symptoms may have improved slightly but those would come and go prior to taking Rituxan. My energy levels are no better or worse. Cognitive seems WORSE... been pretty scarey lately, really feel like I am slipping. OI symtoms the same.

The only REAL change I can report is I have GAINED nearly 10 UNWANTED POUNDS!!! :aghhh: After my first infusion I reported INTENSE sugar cravings - and I am still having them. The Rituxan is obviously doing something to my glucose levels. I have never been much of a "sugar" type...and when the cravings did come - I could resist - knowing full well how it "feeds" all of my infections! These sugar cravings are out of my control at times... I have literally gone to the store to buy frozen yogurt, Starburst, or Peanut MnM's! That is unheard of for ME! Not an every day occurance but enuf to pack on 10 lbs I guess... sigh

Doin some serious "soul searchin"...as I am becoming a very impatient.. patient!!! I knew going in that this was all experimental but after 4 1/2 months I am exploring my options. At nearly 52 I guess I am getting a little "anxious"...

I got a 2 FULL MONTH REMISSION ... years ago with a multiwave Oscillator called a Bio Charger. www.biocharger.com I cannot get that 2 months of NO PAIN, NO FATIGUE, BLISSFUL SLEEP ... OUT OF MY HEAD! I contacted the owner of the company and we suspect we know why I lost my results. I was using the machine in my apt with a wood floor ... and was feeling so fantastic that all my friends told all of their sick friends and I had a zoo at my apt before you knew it. For sanity purposes I moved the machine down to my girlfriends wellness center and gradually lost all of my results... It was beyond DEPRESSING... At the time no one knew why...but Jim suspects it was because I moved it to a concrete floor and lost charge. Kind of a confusing story I know...but I HAVE TO GIVE IT ONE MORE TRY! I felt so great in that two months that I was ready to snow ski and maybe run for President! It was Pure BLISS! Maybe it was the floor? What If?? Or maybe my brain just became entrained with the energies. Either way I have to know. So my Bio Charger will be here in a few weeks.

When you read about multiwave oscillators they address all of our issues: BRAIN, IMMUNE, LYMPH, Mitochondrial function!!

I am not being a compliant patient waiting the 22 weeks...but I am damn close...and if the BC works again I will have a nice Christmas....... for once!

The other thing I remember VERY CLEARLY was that I started to feel a HUGE difference within 4 days with the Bio Charger and then it got better EVERY DAY!! No herxing, feeling horrid etc... Is there a CLUE here for all of us...or was that 2 months of BLISS a chance occurance?

Well ... I intend to find out and I will keep you posted!!

Hugs to all - Jac
 

Tammy

Senior Member
Messages
2,181
Location
New Mexico
Hi Jacque, I have forgotten...........how long are you supposed to stay with this therapy? If you decide to quit before the suggested time..............I wouldn't blame you one bit...............your body..........your choice. Sending hugs...........thanks for the update.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I am not being a compliant patient waiting the 22 weeks...but I am damn close...and if the BC works again I will have a nice Christmas....... for once!

Does Rituxmab usually work before 18 week point? If it commonly starts to help after that.. it may make it hard to tell what's helping if you start something new.

best luck with whatever u try to do.
 

Jacque

Senior Member
Messages
424
Location
USA - California
The jury is still out on that!! Usually around week 22 soooo it is said!! That is another month out of my life... If I start to miraculously feel better after getting the Bio Charger...then I will just be that patient who got better with a Bio Charger and 3 Rituxan infusions.... I am so the waiting and waiting and seeing what does what... I will leave the lab rat stuff up to everyone else if by chance the BC works as it did before. 35 years of this illness has worn out my last day of patience!!! ugh Possibly one month less on the couch is a risk I need to take as my life is spent month after month on the stinkin COUCH...
 

Jacque

Senior Member
Messages
424
Location
USA - California
Hi Jacque, I have forgotten...........how long are you supposed to stay with this therapy? If you decide to quit before the suggested time..............I wouldn't blame you one bit...............your body..........your choice. Sending hugs...........thanks for the update.

A WHOLE STINKIN YEAR in total!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Jacque

Senior Member
Messages
424
Location
USA - California
The jury is still out on that!! Usually around week 22 soooo it is said!! That is another month out of my life... If I start to miraculously feel better after getting the Bio Charger...then I will just be that patient who got better with a Bio Charger and 3 Rituxan infusions.... I am so the waiting and waiting and seeing what does what... I will leave the lab rat stuff up to everyone else if by chance the BC works as it did before. 35 years of this illness has worn out my last day of patience!!! ugh Possibly one month less on the couch is a risk I need to take as my life is spent month after month on the stinkin COUCH...
I also figured that when I get the Bio Charger and if I start feelin great again...and wondering if it is the BC or the Rituxan I will just stop using the BC for a few weeks and see what happens... that will probably tell me what I need to know I guess... I am just desperate to have a nice Christmas with my wonderful Grandsons!! So damn tired of clawing my way through them and not enjoying them really... Guess I will try anything to have a nice Christmas for once. sigh
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Jacque - i hear what you are saying and i understand. I managed to gain about two points over the last year from a 3 to a 5 on the scale. Now its all sliding back again. I dont know whay this is happening. I thought that if i carried on at this rate i could be working again next year and maybe almost fully better within another two. It really stinks to have improvement only to lose it again.
I guess i am lucky that i had a near remission for about 8 years - but being back down so low is depressing - especially with christmas coming up and my grandaughter coming for the first christmas with us.

Hang in there, and good luck with whatever you decide.
Justy x
 
Messages
16
Location
Seattle, WA
It is good to hear this honest appraisal. I am on Valcyte right now and preparing to going on Rituximab as well. Except I am flaring SO BAD in my first three weeks of Valcyte treatment that adding another harsh treatment sounds just impossible to me. Frightening even. I am actually seeing cognitive improvements with Valcyte and improvements in endurance on the days when I am not fluish and sleeping. These are desperate times! This week when I got cupping acupuncture treatment I too felt like I could run for president. It is possibly the best I have ever felt. I was so pain free I was high! But I'm really unsure about Rituximab. Thanks for posting. The biocharger sounds interesting, possibly as a treatment for my cat's back problems too --- I have really long wool carpet, so I'm not sure it would ever work for us, though.
 

Jacque

Senior Member
Messages
424
Location
USA - California
It is good to hear this honest appraisal. I am on Valcyte right now and preparing to going on Rituximab as well. Except I am flaring SO BAD in my first three weeks of Valcyte treatment that adding another harsh treatment sounds just impossible to me. Frightening even. I am actually seeing cognitive improvements with Valcyte and improvements in endurance on the days when I am not fluish and sleeping. These are desperate times! This week when I got cupping acupuncture treatment I too felt like I could run for president. It is possibly the best I have ever felt. I was so pain free I was high! But I'm really unsure about Rituximab. Thanks for posting. The biocharger sounds interesting, possibly as a treatment for my cat's back problems too --- I have really long wool carpet, so I'm not sure it would ever work for us, though.
I don't think your wool carpet would be an issue...you just can't be standing on concrete or you lose the "charge" into the ground... He said to stand on a milk crate or something... I will learn a lot more when I get it.

Ok...now about you and the Valcyte... hmmmm if I were you .... I would just proceed with the Valcyte as it sounds like it is really making some progress with you... The Flare is a sign it is stirrin something up and the better mental focus sounds VERY exciting. If it had it to do all over again I would have started with the Valcyte or Famvir and if no results then I would have gone the Rituxan route. But I was told I stood a better chance with the Rituxan. It is $$ expensive even tho the drug is covered ($1,050) per infusion... and with the way I am feeling lately over 4 months into it...I am not sure if I wen to continue. It is really messin with my glucose and I hope and pray I have not gotten organ damage or something... I am gonna ask for some testing here sooon as this sugar binging I am doing is not normal for me... it is BAD in so many ways. Yesterday I got very weak and clammy and ate a bowl of Sherbert (my new addiction) and I was fine within 10 min! Not a good sign. You didn't ask for my opinion - but it sounds to me like you are on a good track already!!

Please let me know how the cupping results last with you. Very interesting!!!

I think there is a lot to be said for "energy" medicine. Makes a lot of sense to cure yourself with energy instead of poision... since we are made of pure energy and not medicines... ugh But finding something that really works is the trick!!

Keep us posted on the Valcyte and the Cupping please...
 
Messages
16
Location
Seattle, WA
I am doing the cupping one to three times a week and, with Valcyte, it makes me feel amazing. I have incredible cognitive clearness, like pre-illness. Still have a lot of physical problems and spasticity in my legs is not gone. But this is a marathon, not a sprint. The cupping helps so much -- at first the marks where the suction was pulling toxins out of my skin were so dark and now they are really light. It seems like a really powerful modality. I'm able to sleep for ten and eleven hours at a time, too, which is unheard of. I'm also no longer flaring on the Valcyte, at the end of week three. I'm thinking about keeping going with the Valcyte and seeing if I keep progressing. I can reach for Rituxan if I plateu or if I stop tolerating Valcyte. It seems like adding something else right now would confound things!
 

RUkiddingME

Senior Member
Messages
220
Location
Canada
It is good to hear this honest appraisal. I am on Valcyte right now and preparing to going on Rituximab as well. Except I am flaring SO BAD in my first three weeks of Valcyte treatment that adding another harsh treatment sounds just impossible to me. Frightening even. I am actually seeing cognitive improvements with Valcyte and improvements in endurance on the days when I am not fluish and sleeping. These are desperate times! This week when I got cupping acupuncture treatment I too felt like I could run for president. It is possibly the best I have ever felt. I was so pain free I was high! But I'm really unsure about Rituximab. Thanks for posting. The biocharger sounds interesting, possibly as a treatment for my cat's back problems too --- I have really long wool carpet, so I'm not sure it would ever work for us, though.
Hi Minerva: I'm glad to see someone else trying Valcyte, sorry you are having a bad three weeks so far. I am starting after Christmas and can't wait. Would you say your symptoms are a worsening of your ME/CFS symptoms or just Valcyte side effects (as you know the list is huge!! lol) I will post my adventure as well and hopefully we both benefit and can tolerate the stuff ::thumbsup:
 

ukxmrv

Senior Member
Messages
4,413
Location
London
I've got a cupping device that a chinese friend has given to me. Yes, it does hurt if you have painful spots on your body but otherwise OK. I've not noticed any dramatic help. Tried it before Valtrex though. Gave up. The Valtrex helps me.
 

Hopeful2021

Senior Member
Messages
262
@
Hi Minerva: I'm glad to see someone else trying Valcyte, sorry you are having a bad three weeks so far. I am starting after Christmas and can't wait. Would you say your symptoms are a worsening of your ME/CFS symptoms or just Valcyte side effects (as you know the list is huge!! lol) I will post my adventure as well and hopefully we both benefit and can tolerate the stuff ::thumbsup:

@RUkiddingME

Did you get to try the Biocharger yet?
It's helping my dog and my cat sometimes likes it.
We did a throat menu and during the menu she came over to purr so loudly. She purrs a lot. And she used to her very loudly when she was younger. I haven't heard her purr this loudly in nine years probably.
My senior dog has bladder cancer and cataracts. He's had spinal issues for at least five years. I use other bio hacking devices on him and they have really helped him. But he loves the bio charger. And even our friend to come by have noticed how much better he is moving.
 

Hopeful2021

Senior Member
Messages
262
@Jacque

You wrote above about floors making a difference.
How did it all work out in the end?

I use my Biocharger on 3 floor types and just wear shoes or stand on rug. I can feel the charge through my brick porch. My dogs too also notice. It's great to use the charge though and lay down.

It's extremely helpful to getting well.

Have you seen the various posts of others with ME about frequency devices? Even @Cort shared a link from a dys something or another conference. Plus a woman on Medium about her frequency specific device.
If the device was easier to move around, I would love to drive to people in my area and let them experience it especially those who are bedridden.

I sure hope we can do another post hearing this form together @Jacque to share more specifics.