Hello Richard, Jim and Laura,
Thank you very much for your reply.
My current plan is to try Vitamin D first (Calcitriol). This doctor told me it will take at least 3 months, if not 6 months, to get my Vitamin D level to 30, the minimum level he wants me to be at.
At the same time, I am also very interested in exploring the possibility of chronic infections, be it Lyme Disease or others. So I will be visiting a doctor specialising in infection. (My mother told me a tick jumped to my body when I was a kid and she quickly removed it... She said it didn't bite me and I didn't develop any rash or any symptom after that..)
As for surgery, even though I was desperate enough to ask all the doctors I saw to operate on me, they all unanimously declined.... They all said there is nothing to operate... They told me from the MRI, there is nothing they can see that would result in my symptoms. And they do not think any surgery would provide any relief.. So I think this route is gone for me...
And they all point to muscles... They think my muscles are too stiff and they wanted me to go to their physiotherapy department... And it didn't help.
Another possibility they pointed out is Sacroiliac joint inflammation. Then again, this is very hard to diagnose and this can be caused by infection too.
Regarding infections - I had tried Minocycline for 100 days. And then I tried Maxifloxacin for 100 days too. I don't think there was great improvement. I think later this year I may try Augmentin and then Doxycycline. (A friend of mine is a medical doctor and he is supervising this for me)
By the way, I am a non smoker. Well, I have been free from smoking for 5 years. (I smoked for 3 years)
I am very curious to have the heavy metal checked out.... I just called a test centre and they can test for me. But they need me to tick 6 items. I wonder if you know which 6 metals are more likely to be accumulated in the body. They also offer blood test or urine test for heavy metal. I assume the blood test would be more accurate?
Oh bone scan. I went to a clinic and they asked me to put my ankle into something to test my bone density. It was normal....
So except Vitamin D and ANA +, the other blood tests are pretty much normal...
Richard, is there anyway to find out which bacteria is present in the chronic infection?
My current situation isn't too bad... With the twice weekly gentle massage, I am able to do most thing with some bearable discomfort. And I don't need to take any medications right now. And once a week or so when the muscle is very stiff or when the pain is quite intense, I would take Lyrica or Ultracet (Tramadol+Acetaminophen). They work very well. Especially Lyrica, the stiff muscles instantly relieve and the symptoms are mostly gone. I am able to walk about 20 minutes. And if I just move around, without remaining on one posture of sitting or standing, I can pretty much function for 6 hours. But if I sit or stand for more than 20 minutes, the pain would definitely increase.
Best wishes,
Andrew
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