I finished my 10th pulse with Tindamax yesterday.  It was a 7 day pulse.  I would say that this pulse was not quite as easy as the previous.  Every month is different.  This time I don't wonder if Tindamax is really doing anything for me.  With my reaction I know it is.  I still didn't feel as badly as I did with Flagyli [2] but definitely knew I was doing a pulse this time.  As always, I do fine the first couple of days.  But by the 4th day I feel like it is hitting something.  On 4th day I had a headache all day (not as severe as in the past but still there).  On the 5th day I was so tired all I wanted to do was lay around-fortunately is was Saturday with lots of college football to watch!

I can't believe I am now finished with 9 pulses!  Antibiotics are just a part of my daily life now that it is just routine.  With this past pulse I experienced very little.  The third day I was a little more tired than other days but not so much that it was difficult.  Other than that it was uneventful.  Part of me is glad for that but part of me keeps hoping that the antibiotics are doing their job and that I am not at a standstill!  When I think of it intellectually I know that is not true and I am grateful that my side effects are so much less than they were when I started this.

I just continue to plug away at this!

Lori 

I finished my 8th pulse on Sunday.  The week was pretty uneventful.  I definitely have less difficulty with Tindamax versus flagyli [2].  I don't experience any nausea from it as I did with flagyl.  On day #3 of 7 I experienced extra tiredness.  Really wasn't motivated to do much that day.  So I took it easy, took glucose and Emergen C and was feeling better after that.  But I also got a B12 injection the next day and I believe that is what helps with being tired the most, at least for me.  I wake up every day with stiffness and aches, which go away for the most part after I get moving around.  Interestingly, the tremor in my right hand is present every day, some days worse than others.  It had gone away last year.

I finished my 7th pulse today but it is now changed from flagyli [2] to Tindamax.  What a difference this pulse was!  I had very little reaction to Tindamax compared to how I felt after the past flagyl pulse.  I had one day (4th out of 7) where I was more tired than usual.  But not wiped out like flagyl does to me.  Also no nausea like I experience before.  And it doesn't taste yucky!  If I tolerate this well the doctor wants me to go for 10 days, which I  would do after the next pulse or two if things go well.  The only thing that worries me is if Tindamax is actually doing anything.  At least with flagyl I believed the "feel worse before you feel better" mantra applied.  What would be awesome is if Tindamax works just as well without the side effects of flagyl!

I just completed my 6th flagyli [2] pulse yesterday.   It was supposed to be for 10 days but I struggled to get through 7 days.  I keep having recurrent UTIs and am on an additional antibiotic for that so the combination was a lot to take.  I suffered from body aches and nausea this time as well as another terrific headache yesterday.  Plus, I just don't feel well overall starting about the 3rd day of flagyl.  I feel toxic!  I will make sure I take anti-porphyriai [8] measures regularly next time to keep the bad feelings at bay. 

Interestingly, today (with no flagyl) I feel good.  So I know it is the flagyl, and maybe the combo, that does this to me.

I had my 6 month follow up appointment at Vanderbilt on June 23.  We have been traveling ever since so my internet access has been sporadic.  I tried to send this once and after typing it all in the connection failed.  So I am going to try again!

I completed my 4th flagyli [2] pulse on Wednesday May 21, 2008.  For those of you who don't know, I am following the Vanderbilt protocoli [12] after I went to see the neurologist who prescribes this plan at Vanderbilt.  I started the protocol in early January.  The protocol that I follow is rifampin 300 mg twice a day, azithromycin 300 mg MWF, flagyl 300 mg three times per day for 7 days out of a month.  The flagyl pulse is considered somewhat aggressive and the doctor said that if I found it difficult to tolerate we would make modifications.  However, he wanted me to try this plan first.  I also take 2400 mg NACi [13] daily, 4.5 mg LDNi [14] and Copaxone, as well as a few other supplementsi [15].