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Autoimmune Disorders  (Expert Forum)
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Opinion on what plan to follow to make body strong enough to withstand viral kill off
Answered by
Garth L Nicolson, PhD - internal medicine, molecular biology, infectious disease
The Institute for Molecular Medicine Huntington Beach - CA
Welcome to the Autoimmune Disorders forum. Questions in this forum are being answered by Dr. Garth Nicholson. This forum is for questions and discussions relating to Autoimmune Disorders. Topics include, but are not limited to: Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Gulf War Syndrome, Lupus, Lyme Disease, MS, Rheumatoid Arthritis

Please note, Dr. Nicholson is a part-time expert at MedHelp, so this forum will only be open to new questions during pre-arranged dates.

Opinion on what plan to follow to make body strong enough to withstand viral kill off

by Eucalypta, Aug 10, 2009 01:38PM
Dear dr. Nicolson,

I have had ME/CFIDS for 30 years, it started with Severe Chronic Epstein Barr Virus that was later placed under different umbrella's by the medical society. 1 1/2 year ago I did a blood test to check for viral and bacterial infections. up till than I never had a physician willing to look any further. It showed a great variety of bacterial and viral infection in my system. By now my body had become so weak that it needed to gain strength first before a treatment with anti-virals and antibiotics could be considered. The die off from the viruses and bacteria would be more than my body could handle and probably kill me my physician explained to me.

We have worked very hard trying different methods to improve immune functions, we used injections to restore Mitochondrial function(Glutathione, B12, B6, Folinic Acid), every other day Growth Hormone Injections, and daily Heparin injection because  I have hyper coagulation. I take a wide variety of supplements but still we have made little to no progress. My immune function is till non-existent(I take Hydrocortisone), exhaustion is overwhelming and my cardiomyopathy is also still the same. Instead of moving forward I'm now 95% bed bound.

Do you have any suggestions on how to improve my body strength so I will be able to cope with the viral and bacterial treatment?

Thanks in advance

by Garth L Nicolson, PhD, Aug 10, 2009 04:05PM
To: Eucalypta
Practically every CFS/ME/CFIDS patient that we ever tested had at least one identifiable viral or bacterial infection and most had multiple infections along with hypercoagulation and the other problems.  During successful treatment of these infections Herxheimer Reactions (or microbe die-off reactions) occur due to release of inflammatory cytokines or chemical messengers that stress the system and cause a temporary worsening of symptoms (along with causing additional symptoms).  On our website, www.immed.org, under Treatment Considerations you can find some information on diet, supplements and other natural products to increase your strength so that you can withstand more aggressive treatments that cause Herxheimer reactions.  There is also some information on how to minimize Herxheimer reactions when undergoing antibiotic or antiviral treatments.
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