u/lbarry1993

I take Adderall -- I've been taking it for ADHD since I was in the 2nd grade. I am now 33 years old. If I don't take my medication, I'm faced with a very difficult life and career.

It hasn't ever caused problems in my life before.

Please take note of the above sentence. I also believe I have Morgellons Disease, and after I made that discovery, it came to my attention that I may have first been infected about 10 years ago with more of the minor symptoms (For me, it was a very strange, unordinary post-nasal drip). Then three years ago, I developed a very bad abscess on my tailbone that caused bad infection but was subsequently healed after plugging it and then removing it. Now, three months ago, everything kicked into full gear including more lesions, plus additional symptoms (everything else associated with Morgellons). I feel like I'm 80 years old, showers make me feel like I ran a marathon, Goat Milk soap is the only thing I've personally tried that has helped.

It's effecting every system in my body I think. Brain fog is horrible, why does it cause brain fog? Do I have swelling around my brain? It's in my lungs, my sinuses feel like they are filled with dried-up super glue attached to the surface of my sinuses, as well as my ears! Yes I've tried Megan's Protocol. I shaved behind my ears. They bleed profusively whenever I do -- but black stuff did come out and my ears do feel like they are little less feeling they are being held hostage by the invisible shrink wrap that is encasing me inside of my own body.

I'm talking blue fibers, increased hair loss (yes they waved around on my head like I had no control of it, and yes, I know going bald is real, but I have uncanny feeling that some of the more increased periods of me losing my hair were exasperated by this thing, urinary retention/hesitancy without prostate issues present, libido issues, my skin is either radio-activated or electrically charged or maybe even magnetized, because when I chip away at the fake skin suffocating my thumb with fingernail clippers, the dead skin that I clip shoots straight up in the air and moves depending on where I hold the finger nail clippers (it could just be that there's so much fake skin compacted in there that when you clip it, the tension is so strong that it makes it fly upwards like that.

And the consensus for non-believers is that my Adderall is causing this? OK, I'll play along for a minute. Can the use of stimulants actually cause these physical anomalies/phenomena to manifest as a result of their use, or is the consensus that the Adderall causes the perception of these things manifesting. There's a big difference, and if the consensus is the latter, then that is upsetting because it is essentially concluding that I am either A.) Delusional, B.) Hallucinating, or C.) Lying, and if that is the consensus, then that is both terrifying (for me) and very unfortunate.

I would love to talk with people who are currently going through this. All are welcome though.

why do you have so many scientific-micro-managed rules about this disease that hasn't been scientifically proven yet? You have no right to claim that fibers of this disease have to be microspoctic when, in actuality and reality, you have no basis for making those rules in the first place.

You can't create a Sub about an unknown disease and yet, require strict rules about what that disease looks like. Why? Because it is in uninformed, uneducated bias.

Please take a look at this exchange between me and another Morgellons sufferer Redditor, followed by a copy-and-pasted transcript of a virtual appointment that I had today with a Lyme Disease-literate Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. I know this experience has been hell for me, and I am determined to get to the bottom of this because I refuse to live out the rest of my days with this shit. I know that I would want to see someone else's appointment transcript if they think have something that I also think I have and which is not commonly recognized by the mainstream medical community.

This is my take at providing transparency at its finest, delivered from a former investigative journalist, to hopefully provide some clarity and direction to consider, to all those who are also suffering:

Today
12:53 PM
What are you hoping to get out of it. She diagnoses you with MD and then what?

lbarry19935:46 PM
I'm hoping, then, she can also treat me for Lyme Disease since the theory would be that if I have Morgellons, I also have Lyme, and then take her information and either relay it to my doctor's or continue seeing her each month. I'm still thinking about it honestly, but I guess what I was hoping for was to actually speak with a medical professional who can give me some kind of direction to go in, what their evaluation of techniques like Megans Miracle are, and how all of it plays into what i’ve been experiencing.

**TRANSCRIPT**

Patient:
Yeah, I'm from Virginia, so it may have auto filled the wrong address.

Doctor:
Okay, because I'm in Lafayette. I don't know if you know that

Patient:
Yeah, I did. That's why I

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
Yeah

Doctor:
Okay, not that it matters, really, because, you know, like, I see people from coast to coast. It's just funny when I finally get somebody here, you know, in my own state, because first of all, you

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
There is a lot more tick-borne illness here than is given credit for But You know, there's no Lyme clinics, at least anymore like You know, so it's still seen as kind of rare around here. So

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
I can kind of just give you some background on myself, and then you can ask questions

Patient:
All right.

Doctor:
And I also wanted to say, while I was asking if you're at work too, is that We don't have to keep it to 15 minutes If you have more time We can… we can go longer because I want You to feel like you're confident about your decision one way or another

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
You know, and so, like, if you don't have… I want you to have ample time to ask… ask questions

Action Item
So, I know a big concern of yours is Morgellan's 

Patient:
All right.

Doctor:
I hear people say it both ways and I have yet to find out what is the actual correct pronunciation I have treated Three Patients with Morgellons In the past 12 years that I've been working in line, because we have in the clinic where I worked, I still work with Dr. Green in San Francisco It's a big patient population, but because Morgellan's is more rare, we just… it was a small percentage What I have seen what it takes for somebody with Lyme and Morgellon's to recover is, and I'm not saying it would be for you, just what I've seen, and they've all three been women And so with them, some of it was hormonally driven Not that that was the underlying cause, but that it kind of just complicated things for them. So, you know, maybe their course of recovery was longer, but that it takes Long-term antibiotics And, you know, not just one. And it's like Sefton and Flagyl and azith And… and then I've seen, and that's not the only ones, but, you know, some combination of that, and with having to have either flagl, also called metronidazole, or Tindamax, also called tinidazole. That was a mainstay of the treatment The other thing that I've seen That has helped or different creams, dapsone cream for where the sores are, metronidazole cream and I'm blanking on the third one.
But different creams or gels, you know, like, on the actual lesion And Two… so there was one out of these three. One was a long time ago, and I'm not sure what happened with her, because I took a break from working, and so I don't know The other two had really bad cases And from like 2021, I'm thinking when the… I'm trying to remember there's one patient who came to Dr. Green, it was like 2021 or 22.
And then I had surgery and was out for a while and when I came back Both of those ladies, because both of them had come back to… one of them was a very new patient with Dr. Green, one was a return patient And when I came back, they were both So much better. And Didn't have lesions, didn't have all the symptoms that they had, and it was like, you know, I'm asking them because I, you know One of them, you know, was just so highly affected. Like, she was all of our appointments were her crying from the beginning of the appointment to the end of the appointment. You know, like, the whole we're still doing the appointment, but she's crying through it, because she's just so highly affected
And And had to give up her work, and, you know, so many things. And You know, she's like, her skin is clear now, she's, and it's like, well, what part of this do you think really did it? And she was like, just having to stay on the antibiotics, which is… it's a hard sell You know, because there's no guarantee. For her, it was that, and the other one was, she was like, you know, it was just, like, one thing, and then the next thing. And she's like, it's hard to tell, like, what tipped it over, you know, like, when did she start recovering and she was just like it was not one thing, it was just all the things together over time that led to her remission.
And You know, this is just… it's it's a really tough one to navigate because it's like You've got both Lyme and a skin condition And And it's a, you know, it's a skin condition that's It's not just like a little rash. I mean, I don't know what you've got, but you know it's like it's disfiguring, you know, and for these two ladies, a lot of it was on their face

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
And so, you know

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
And they're beautiful women, and it was like You know, it's hard. Neither of them wanted to ever leave their house Because, you know, they were pretty women. They were used to being pretty women all their lives, and then they get this disfiguring skin condition along with all of the Lyme symptoms, and it's just like they're just done you know like they just had a really And, you know, it's like It's not like a pick yourself up by your bootstraps kind of moment It's like, yeah, any one of us would get you know sidelined by that just You know, how many things do I have to deal with just to get up in the morning? Or, you know, for the two of them, they would spend hours every day on their skincare

Patient:
Yeah, yeah

Doctor:
And so then it's like, okay, it's time consuming as well So, that's my experience with that. And I'm learning more I've made some connections in that world this past year I don't know if you've heard of, like, the Charles Holman Foundation

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
You have, and the lady that… Charles Holman was Cindy Casey's husband who passed away. He was like her huge advocate And I want, you know, I want to learn more about what they do. I'm not exactly sure and learn more about what 

Cindy does, and, you know, what they offer. There's also been some Recent research

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
If you've seen that came out of, I think it was Oklahoma State

Patient:
Was it April? I think it was

Doctor:
Yeah, I saw the the abstract was presented at ILADS last year in October, and then I think it was, like, officially presented this past year. So there's

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
There's a lot more for me to learn for sure.

Patient:
All right

Doctor:
But That's my background. I've also been treating Lyme tick-borne illness for 12 years With Dr. Green, and then now with Ravel for almost a year And What I also, you know, you can come to me with a diagnosis With multiple diagnoses, but what I'm also going to do is like figure out what else is going on

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
You know, we're going in the first appointment, it's two hours long and that is going to take you from like birth till now, you know all of how you're feeling now, how your symptoms began and started to evolve. And then like childhood and then everywhere you've traveled, occupational exposures, environmental exposures, you know. What else could be At play here, and what is possibly fueling the issues. You know, there could be an underlying immune disorder, autoimmune Other infections, there's a lot that and that's how I was trained by Dr. Green from the beginning, taking the thorough history and

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
Going into the first appointment with as few preconceived notions as possible Just, like, keeping it open and broad to not, like, oh yeah, I know what's going on with this guy. This guy's got this, this, and this, let's do this. And that is valuable in… that kind of thinking And action-oriented you know, behaviors Is helpful in some situations And even with the chronic patient, you have to be able to make some snap judgments like that But More important is from the beginning, keeping your mind open to what else could be going on

Callout
And figuring that out

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
So I am… another thing to tell you is like This is all private. I work from home, nobody's here And I work from forest greens

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
So, you're here, and then I turn to type or whatever, but, like, there's nothing else that has my attention.

Patient:
All right.

Doctor:
So Tell me What's on your mind? Or ask any questions.

Patient:
Yeah, I guess what's on my mind in the pressing questions I have right now are I don't know, I've seen so many things about this that it sounds like nobody really, you know, has a concrete idea as to what exactly It's inside of me right now, but I want to know why I saw advice to shave the back of my ears why I… when I did that, it seemed to provide Relief that I've never felt before. As well as You know, all the other things she said would happen, which was stuff started coming out of my skin And Megan's miracle Yeah, it'll come up if you search it.

Doctor:
Who is she Megan's miracle Okay. I'll look for it yeah

Patient:
And then the

Doctor:
I've never heard that one shave the back of the ears

Patient:
Yeah, and, like, so my ears have felt like they've been infected recently. I've gone to the doctor, they've told me it doesn't look infected to me. And I said, well, what does it look like? And they said, well, I guess it looks like there's a lot of fluid maybe behind in your ears And I said, you know, okay, so I tried to do the Flonase, that didn't work I've tried Sudafed and that did not work.
And it just… there's something legitimately in my ear that I can't get to And when I shaved my ears Lots of things started happening and it almost felt like while I was getting relief Right It's like I was experiencing a detox as well and I almost felt like I was going to pass out. You know, I went to the ER the other day when When I get out of the shower, I feel like I'm going to pass out. I feel like I just ran a marathon And when I went there for urinary retention, my heart rate was 165. It's never been that high.
it went down to, like, 120 when they let… when they put a catheter in me

Doctor:
When did you go to the ER?

Patient:
It was probably like But a week and a half ago

Doctor:
Okay

Patient:
More like a week, sorry.

Doctor:
So your pulse was 165.

Patient:
Yeah

Doctor:
And only got down to 120 by the end of that ER visit

Patient:
Yeah, and

Doctor:
So you were discharged with a pulse of 120?

Patient:
Yeah Or

Doctor:
Where'd you go? Where do you go, like, at Ochsner in Baton Rouge

Patient:
This time I went to Baton Rouge General, but usually I go to Our Lady of the League

Doctor:
Okay. Okay. So

Patient:
And go to Milkerson

Doctor:
So have you been referred to psych? Is that what they were saying? Like, I'm
looking at your

Patient:
Yeah, I've been referred to psych, and I have an appointment today.

Doctor:
Okay. What do you think their psych is going to tell you

Patient:
They're going to say that I either have delusional parasitosis or that I'm simply picking my skin and lying

Doctor:
That seems to be the thing that people get told that more Morgallons I don't know. I think about, like, okay, if I was in this situation, what would I tell the psychiatrist? I'd be like, okay. I'll play along with you for a minute

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
Let's say I have delusional parasitosis What else could I have in addition to that Like this could be Or Like, what else could it be? What else would you be willing to entertain as a possibility here that's not in that realm? You know, and asking the psychiatrist that, or the doctor that. What else could this be And… why are you so sure That it's what you're saying.
You know, like And it's a tough position for a patient to be in to like challenge the doctor You know, it's often seen as, like, you're challenging them, or that you're being difficult, or sometimes When patients like push up against a doctor or diagnosis, it's actually seen as confirmation of that diagnosis.

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
Unfortunately, you can just from being… like, I've been on both sides. I've been a patient, you know, for a long time. I've had a lot of interactions with doctors that, like, just don't go well And I've been the provider and I've been where I'm just in that world watching how doctors interact with patients and what they think You know, like what what's going on in their mind? It's like, yeah, he don't want to hear that, that, you know, that's just confirmation for what they're… what I've already told them You know, there this guy's crazy or whatever you

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
So I'm just saying, like, I've thought about like What would I say in this situation? And it would be, what else could this be, and can we rule that out Instead of… because what am I going to do with a diagnosis of delusional parasitosis if I don't have it

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
If I am not delusional about having parasites, then whatever that treatment is that they're going to recommend is not going to clear… it's not going to clear up the lesions And Like, you know, like, follow that like What am I going to do with that? You're going to give me antipsychotics Like that's crazy. You know, and unless they're gonna follow you around for days on end to see what's happening with your skin, you know, and this is what I hear from other Morgellons patients is, yes, I was picking my skin because it itches like crazy And there's, like, no way to satisfy that itch. Or these fibers are coming out, and I'm trying to coax them out to, like, get it to its end point, you know, because it's like, they don't always Just… Keep throwing off their fibers over and over and over like they come to, like, some sort of conclusion before they like go quiet, and then they might flare up again, but it's like, okay, and you know they're like, okay, I'm gonna rub coconut oil, get all of that out, so that it's out And then So that's leading to skin is damaging the skin But it's like, what else are you gonna do? Like, in the pursuit of removing these fibers You're going to damage the skin, but you've got to remove… like, what else are you going to do? So It's like, yes, I am scratching and there's no antihistamine That can take away that itch. That's not also going to, like, make me comatose. That's not going to just, like, sedate me, and that's not the point. You want to be living and working and doing your thing. You don't want to be sedated because you don't want to scratch your lesions like and so then, like, you end up in this cycle and there's like nothing to help you out of that I'm sorry. Now I'm getting upset. It's upsetting!

Patient:
It's okay. It's alright. I really it's helping me a lot. I appreciate just having someone that's talking to me about this

Doctor:
Yeah, so You know, and it's like, what do you have to do? Do you have to, like, go armed with papers? You know, and say, hey, look at this new research that just came out of Oklahoma You know, and then they're gonna be like, oh, he's one of those You know, it's like you end up in these situations where, like, you just can't win

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
And And it's like, not winning equals not getting better And so then you're like, how do I get better? I just want to get better. I don't want to do all this. I didn't

Patient:
Yes.

Doctor:
just fabricate some sort of Dermatological condition for what like what So you can ask them like, what would be my payoff for this?

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
You know, like, what would I possibly get out of this? And so like there's nothing for you to gain from this Attention You know, like, no, it's not even

Patient:
it's draining my bank account.

Doctor:
Money? Yeah, it's like, it's only it's expensive and it's disruptive And it's like Okay, and then it's like, well, it's a delusion, and so then, like, you're not gonna have sane thought about a delusion, so then, like, you, as the person experiencing this Like in their mind, because you are delusional, you can't have a sane, rational thought about it So then you're stuck.

Patient:
Okay

Doctor:
You know what I mean? Like, you get stuck, because that's how they're seeing it, is like, well, you know, it's not like parasitosis Or It's not… they're not seeing it as real And so then you see it as real, so you're delusional And in their mind, then you can't be anything but delusional as long as you continue to complain about these lesions. And the only time you'll come out of that delusion is when the lesions disappear, and you stop talking about it. That's the only way out of that, in that paradigm.
Because then they're… what are they… are they going to take that back and say No, or sometimes It would be better for you to hear from somebody I don't know I don't know what that is That would be much better than somebody saying, yes, I know what that is And it's… it's not what you think it is, and you can never have a sane thought about it now that I've thought you're delusional.
That's like the thinking going on in the doctor's minds Because then for them to now say something else makes them wrong as well. And if you That is not something most doctors are willing to admit is when they're wrong. Or that they could have been mistaken even you know like and everybody, every provider Misdiagnoses people We all do, unfortunately But the difference is When someone… when a doctor, nurse practitioner, or nurse is willing to hold themselves accountable, like, oh, I was wrong I was mistaken.
Let me take a look at that again, and like that. That's rare

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
Sorry, I just get upset about these things because I see people being mistreated all the time

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
And, you know, I think there's probably some there are cases of delusional parasitosis out there.

Patient:
Very upsetting

Doctor:
There are And you know You have to differentiate between those and a true infectious process Because If you treat a person with actual delusional parasitosis with antibiotics, then you're not doing them any good either.

Patient:
Exactly.

Doctor:
So you've got to know who's who. You know, and I think it's just been Too easy for that diagnosis to fly You know, that's a big diagnosis

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
That's big and like I would ask, like, what is the diagnostic criteria for that diagnosis? Because you've got to meet certain criteria. It's not just Seize lesions on patient, can't explain it Patient must be picking at it. He thinks he's full of parasites, but he's not Like, that's not enough Like, what… what is the criteria, and how do you meet that? What are they saying Are you either saying or presenting to them that says This is the diagnosis And this is why.
That's what I would ask. I would ask, how do I meet the diagnostic criteria for delusional parasitosis? I'm a right foot down

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
So, how did you come to this diagnosis?

Patient:
the… the delusional one

Doctor:
No, of more gallons, or suspected Morgellons

Patient:
So I came to it It was the last thing that I came to. The first thing that I You know, first of all, I don't know how long I've had this, but

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
The more severe symptoms started three months ago, but The less severe symptoms could have started a long time ago In the less severe symptoms were a very strange sinus and nasal infection Or yes, it seemed like an infection. But nobody could ever You know, tell me anything more than that. And it was more and it was a very strange post nasal drip And I still have that. It's been going on for probably a decade now.
Now When I was in rehab Which started August 2024

Doctor:
What were you in rehab for?

Patient:
Benzodiazepine addiction and alcoholism

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
And They had, you know put me on new antidepressants. Effexor was one is one. I'm still on it I'm on Remran. They had me on an antipsychotic at that point, olanzapine And a few other stuff And it was probably causing a lot of the urinary tension when, because that's when the urinary retention started But I mean It had been going on for years, but that's when it got to the point where I actually had to go get a catheter.

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
And then since then, over the past, I guess, year and a half two years. It's just been frequent, happening a lot. I've been to the ER many, many times for this

Doctor:
For the urinary retention

Patient:
Yeah. And then three months ago I got a finger infection Like, I was… it was a ingrown fingernail on my thumb and I tried to fix it With my fingernail clippers and I accidentally punctured the corner of my finger and it became infected And It was just a strange infection. It felt like At first I thought the clear stuff that comes out of the cut, like that Kind of wraps your wound in like a liquid Band-Aid. I thought that was

Doctor:
Yeah.

Patient:
what was happening, and it was, like, covering my entire thumb. It felt… it felt like like a kind of like my thumb was covered in saran wrap

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
So I was trying to get that off To release the pressure on my thumb And when I did that, it would… it would make Very crazy sensations in my hand like Like I had just released some much needed pressure

Doctor:
So, like, your thumb was swollen And covered in a liquid? Am I following this?

Patient:
It was swollen and it appeared like it was covered in some kind of film that was that was on top of the skin's surface And to anybody else, it didn't look like it was there. It just felt like that And when I would use the Clippers I I can take it off, like, the skin would come off like it was dead skin And then there was a whole other layer of skin under there that was perfectly, you know, normal I guess it was, like, my whole thumb turned into a callus

Doctor:
Okay

Patient:
Okay, and then that's when it all started. I started Scenes and blue things

Doctor:
Coming out of your thumb, or where

Patient:
Yeah, coming out of my thumb

Doctor:
Okay

Patient:
And they weren't long fibers like I've seen, they were just kind of small little pieces. And then I start, and then I got a lesion on my tailbone I've had a lesion there before. Happened About three years ago So it was the same thing, essentially, but also

Doctor:
What is that called?

Patient:
It's like

Doctor:
There's a certain name for it

Patient:
Yeah, I forgot what it is.

Doctor:
Yeah, I'm gonna make a note. Okay Okay

Patient:
And then the skin around my buttocks was became disfigured. I was you know, trying to figure out what in the world was going on I mean, it was almost like I could push my skin down, like I was pushing my underwear down And I, you know, I was searching this and trying to see anything that looked like it. The only thing I could find was tethered cord syndrome. So that month

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
I did fall. I fell out of my bed one night. It flipped over because it was too Small for me and I hit my head really hard
Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
It was more I hit my head, but it was more… the pain was more in my neck I didn't go to the doctor, I just went back to bed. And So I started thinking, oh my god, I think I have tethered cord syndrome. And so I went to the doctor. He did not think I had it. So I told him, you know, I did fall, I'd like to get an MRI. MRI showed I was fine The lesion is healed, I guess, but it… I mean, it doesn't I mean, you should just, I mean, if you saw my back, it doesn't look normal. It's still there It's just covered in something Then another lesion appeared in my groin. It's also still there. It also looked this one on my groin, when you like kind of shine a light on it Underneath the skin in the lesion, it looks like it literally looks like a beehive The pattern in the holes that are in this lesion look exactly like a beehive.
And then there was another lesion on my penis Even it was creating… it was difficulty Like it was cutting the circulation off of my penis.

Doctor:
A lesion was

Patient:
Yeah

Doctor:
And did it have blue fibers too

Patient:
it didn't That I saw The fibers that I've seen have been I'd either have to be doing what I was doing with my thumb to see them and they would come out maybe in just little pieces, or there's been other times when so I've got these other spots on my groin that kind of look like pimples blackheads or whiteheads, but they're protruding from the skin, and at a certain point, I had just gotten to, you know my wits end with this, and I pulled one out with tweezers, took a picture of it, sent it to my dermatologist She actually, you know, said Do you want to bring that in and get that tested? I haven't… I haven't brought it… I never brought it to her, because I didn't get the message until… I'd already thrown it away. I can get more

Doctor:
Okay. You're like, where there's more where that came from

Patient:
Yeah, but I didn't want to, you know, bring it to her until I speak with someone else Because I don't know what she's gonna do if… when I when I do that

Doctor:
Yeah. So like right now you have three, how many lesions do you have right now that have fibers

Patient:
The lesions right now don't have fiber sticking out of them

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
it's like they've healed partially, and then something is Causing them to not heal the rest of the way And maybe if you were to go in there, maybe you probably would find some you probably find a lot of fibers.

Doctor:
You're like, if somebody went in, like, did surgery, did it

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
Like, there… you feel like there's more inside there

Patient:
Yeah It feels like something was trying to you know

Doctor:
So

Patient:
get out for a while, but that sensation has kind of died down

Doctor:
And this might be in some of your intake paper, you know the other paperwork that you did, but Where does tick-borne or vector-borne illness come in for you? If… if at all.

Patient:
Oh, it's a highly high possibility because I've been bitten by so many ticks

Doctor:
Okay. Okay.

Patient:
I grew up playing in the woods Hot in I was doing construction earlier this year, so, you know. I know I've been bitten by ticks since being down here.

Doctor:
So, you've been down in Louisiana since August 2024, when you went to rehab

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
And then you stay

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
Okay, but your originally from where?

Patient:
Richmond, Virginia

Doctor:
Okay. Do you have any GI issues?

Patient:
Oh yeah

Doctor:
Okay. Just, you say Virginia, I think about alpha-gal syndrome as well. So this is what I would do With you, Patient: We would do Full intake We're going to talk about a lot more things There would be labs, some of them Some of the labs that I order are covered by insurance, some aren't There are also other ways that I can go about testing To try to save money on the non-covered labs, and I don't know if you've got insurance through your job

Patient:
Yeah, I have insurance not through my job, but depending

Doctor:
Just through the marketplace

Patient:
Yeah, and… but depending on, you know, the the direction of this and it's looking not good for me right now in terms of job you know, I might be getting back on Medicaid

Doctor:
Yeah

Patient:
So

Doctor:
Okay. So is the issue with urinary retention is and how it's affecting your job, it's that you have to go to the ER a lot?

Action Item
Are you having to self-cath during the day?

Patient:
I have to What do you mean self

Doctor:
Are you having to do a catheter on yourself during the day? Like how is it interfering with the job

Patient:
Okay. It will… yeah, I'll either need to go to the ER or I'll go in the bathroom for a very long time.

Doctor:
Oh, yeah, because you're like, okay, I know I need to go, and I'm not gonna leave here until I've actually gone

Patient:
Yeah, and

Doctor:
So then it's taking up time during the day.

Patient:
Yeah, and then

Doctor:
And they're like, where were you, man?

Patient:
Yes

Doctor:
Sorry.

Patient:
And then the brain fog

Doctor:
It's Okay, yeah.

Patient:
It was a… it was a call center job, but… which, you know, I wasn't a fan of anyways, but I couldn't do anything. I couldn't concentrate on the calls. I would zone out

Doctor:
Yeah. So, what kind of work are you doing now?

Patient:
Public relations

Doctor:
Okay.

Patient:
It's what I graduated, you know went to school for and I do it. I've got a few clients that I work with and I'm trying to get more.

Doctor:
So then Okay. Okay. So, that is what I would do. We would start off with And it also depends on places that you've been and there's a lot more information that goes into, like, what I test for But we don't stop at Lyme

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
You know, it's everything is included in the… from the beginning, Babesia, Bartonella Lyme, anaplasma, Ehrlichia Brucella, you know, like, looking at all of the big tick-borne, vector-borne illnesses, and then some others Some others, like viruses you could have been exposed to during your life that stayed dormant and come out when you're sick like Epstein-Barr, that's one And some of those, you know, contribute to brain fog, fatigue So then we're looking at all of that and then If you're positive on those And even in some cases, if you're not positive, but the suspicion is high enough, then we start antibiotics, and it's not always starting with Lyme

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
You know, Lime gets the most PR. It gets the most press

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
But It's not even… I mean, it's bad. Lime's bad, but like you know Babesia is just as bad as lime. And it's harder to treat in many ways. So, we look at all of that

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
And And then if you do have a tick-borne infective-borne illness, then it's, it's, it can be a slow process.

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
Because, you know, you could be really sensitive to the medications, you could Perks, I don't know if you've heard that word before. You know, your symptoms could get worse before they get better. They usually do with treatment

Patient:
Yeah. Yeah.

Doctor:
You know, so it's it's a delegate process

Patient:
Okay

Doctor:
And We meet, you know, appointments are once a month, which I like, because that Builds momentum and Sometimes… You know, like, in other practices, and Dr. Green's practice like, appointments are 2 to 3 months And It's hard to maintain momentum sometimes or to just, you know, stay on track with each other about how you're feeling, what's going on, what are we doing next, what worked, what didn't The other thing in talking about treatment order, a lot of times We got to look at Depending on the severity of the conditions, but looking at gut issues Because if you've got big-time gut issues It's going to be hard to take antibiotics and then that leads to treatment failure and then you got to go back and fix the gut. So that's something that we talk about in detail in the first appointment, so that if I've got

Patient:
And I think that

Doctor:
Ideas or a clue about what could be the issue, then we start looking at that

Action Item
While the labs are being drawn and run, you know, during that first month And sometimes The gut treatment continues

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
Beyond that, and then you have to, you know continue to, okay, let's get the gut in a better place to be able to handle the antibiotics

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
And Do you… you have a urologist

Patient:
Yeah, I

Doctor:
In Baton Rouge

Patient:
I do. I had an appointment yesterday. So The pattern has been I go to the ER, I get the catheter, they send me home with a Foley, and then I get a urologist appointment, but it's not until weeks later And I just can't, I can't do it So I go to the urgent care, I have it removed, I'm able to pee fun I start following all the advice from, you know, the last visits, which is drink lots of water, because I start getting scared, and I start, you know, drinking less water

Doctor:
Yeah, yeah, next

Patient:
I stopped taking things like Benadryl And That's it. Oh, and then I make sure to take fiber, because what they've kind of concluded is that I may have a large prostate, not an enlarged prostate, but a large one that When I become constipated It causes urinary retention

Doctor:
So it could be as structural A physical blockage from a different organ entirely They're saying if you're constipated, then

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
The stool in your colon is Blocking the ureters or something, that's what it sounds like they're They're saying So they're saying, don't let yourself get constipated, don't let there be a lot of buildup in your gut, either from stool or gas or whatever. So that there's not that physical obstruction

Patient:
Yeah. Okay.

Doctor:
So, okay I want to just kind of look through your papers to see if there's something else I wanted to talk about I didn't see these this morning

Patient:
Oh, and another, like, symptom that's been going on for years, but is getting Worse has been A persistent clearing of the throat in airways, and it feels like it's just tightening and tightening Yes, I do vape And yes, I'm working on quitting.
.
Doctor:
Are you sober still?

Patient:
Yeah, I am sober.

Doctor:
Okay. You know, and, you know I know some people do the California sober to be sober. You know, smoking marijuana, but you're saying you vape nicotine or cannabis?

Patient:
Both

Doctor:
Okay. And I was thinking about mold, and I see you're saying there's potentially mold. This like throat clearing, the weird post-nasal drip, the feeling of the fullness in your ears, and, like, it doesn't follow a typical sinus infection pattern That's where my thought was going was Mold the… yeah, heavy concentration of petrochemical facilities along the Mississippi The other thing about all of that Just as a native Louisian is that We don't get the For all of the damage that's done to our environment, Louisianians don't get that money. It's not like it's making us richer.
You know, like you see these other countries, like, you know, like Middle Eastern countries that are like, they've got all this oil and all these refineries, and they're rich. I mean, I know we're a rich country, but, like, Louisiana is

Patient:
Yeah.

Doctor:
And like we don't benefit to the extent That we are harmed by all that My grandson was living on the West Bank of New Orleans and Harvey And Just moving from Harvey, where there's a lot of industry and all of that, to Kenner, his lung problems, his breathing, his asthma, all of that resolved

Patient:
Wow

Doctor:
And now they're living on the North Shore in Mandeville and no breathing problems

Patient:
Yeah

Doctor:
Anyway

Patient:
It's definitely something that I've considered.

Doctor:
Yeah. Okay So Do you have any more questions before we go? I'm gonna… I have a patient coming up here, but

Patient:
No, that I think we covered everything. I'm really looking forward to the next appointment.

Doctor:
Okay. So ask, I would say ask the psychiatrist How do I meet the diagnostic criteria for delusional parasitosis?

Patient:
Okay.

Doctor:
Like Hold them to that firm… like, if you are gonna put that diagnosis on me Tell me exactly why. What… you know, and there's… that's how we make diagnoses, is through diagnostic criteria. And, of course, there's some latitude, you know, here and there with making a diagnosis based on clinical judgment, observation, information available at the time But You know, it's even like, you know, if you're going to get a diagnosis of diabetes, it's like you've got to meet those criteria for that It's got to be this A1C or this blood sugar, you know, this many times So that's what I would ask. Sorry, I could talk about this all day. Sorry. Maybe I do. That's why I do this.

Patient:
Okay. So, do I just go into the website and schedule another appointment?

Doctor:
Yeah, you go in and I have… let me look at my schedule for next week.

Decision
I have a lot of availability on Tuesday and Thursday. What happens is my schedule fills up At the last minute So, if you go in there, then you'll have more choices right now than later

Patient:
All right, yeah, Tuesday would be great.

Doctor:
Okay, so I don't schedule it, but you go back in to where you, Into your portal and you'll see the options and my schedule

Patient:
All right. Okay.

Doctor:
Okay? And I don't know if I can just leave you with some sort of

Patient:
Yep.

Doctor:
you know, message of Like, you're on the right track You know, you're doing… you're doing the right thing, you're doing what you need to do to get yourself better And you're asking questions, and you're not You know, you're not just accepting and like, oh, okay, I'll believe that I'm delusional So just to say that you're on the right track and we'll work through it

[removed]

If I wanted to provide someone with information regarding two books, where would I go, that is considered credible, to learn about those books?

I recently had an experience that left me quite dumbfounded -- it was something that I have trouble putting into words, so I'm going to try and do my best. The revelation I came to later is equally crazy.

I'm a recovering addict. I as living in a sober living home recently and did what many addicts do to try and find a workaround of the system, and I went to the local vape shop to see if they had anything legal that would provide me with some relief and wouldn't get me into trouble with a urine test. I came across some mushroom gummies. I found it odd obviously, as psilocybin is not legal in my state. But I'm an addict so I went ahead bought them anyways and instantly ate all of them. Bad decision.

I went home and soon began the effects after around an hour or so. The first effects I noticed were visual, not like I was used too. I noticed like kind of a magnifying glass effect where what ever I was looking at may be closely magnified. Then it was sort of like a waking dream state with some body heaviness/impaired motor function/etc.

Then it was Hell. Literally.

The next thing I remember is waking up in my bed to a constant, audible (yet inaudible) chattering sensation, and this chattering sensation was being produced by what I can only describe as what appeared to me to be an entity -- and this entity appeared to be feminine. At this point, the lights are off and I'm laying on my back, so I'm not experiencing any open-eye visual hallucinations like I had been earlier, instead, now I am experiencing closed-eye visions, where I am interacting with this feminine entity.

The two words that immediately come to mind when I think of this entity are "feminine" and "impish". Why? I have not a clue in the world -- I can't explain why that is -- only that's what I perceived, and it was a very real-feeling perception.

This entity grilled me on every aspect of the reality of my life -- it proceeded to run, not walk, run me through my entire life from the perspective of death. It literally hammered me with every uncomfortable aspect of my life. But it also gave me the impression that it was telling me, "you knew what the consequences were, and you did it anyways -- here's what you to have live with now as a result. It's over. You used up all your chances."

The best way I can describe what I was experiencing, was me and this thing where on a walking/running (except we were definitely running) track together, and every couple feet or so, it would stop and make an adjustment to this memory file. Then, it would shift lanes, and go a few more feet up and stop again, make another adjustment. Move on. This loop played on for 8 hours.

It was horrible. It was the most horrible experience I've ever gone through, but one thing that was good that came from it is I'm more grateful for the things I should be grateful for in my life. Then, I was watching the news one day and President Trump signed an executive order legalizing medical research and clinical trials for Ibogaine in the United States. I had never heard of Ibogaine so I naturally was curious so I searched for some Youtube videos of people's experiences.

I was stunned. What I was hearing sounded pretty similar to what I experienced. However, I noted some key differences. I wouldn't say I'm "recovered". I don't use drugs anymore like I was using them, but I do smoke marijuana as a result of my underlying addiction to try and find some relief (and yes, I find that it helps me). So the addiction-interruption mechanism that Ibogaine is known for, didn't produce those results in me -- but what I took did produce some results like I had pointed out earlier, such as the gratitude for example. The next thing I noticed a lot of Ibogaine experiencers report was a connection to the "divine feminine". I found this interesting. I was certainly connected with a feminine entity, however it was an undevine one. The overall message I feel like people take away from the Ibogaine experience is a positive one, promoting the tools needed to face life having gained the courage to face your fears through the experience. This didn't seem to be the takeaway I received. Mine seemed more like: your time is up, dude, and here's exactly why (by the way).

Do why do you think I made contact with the undevine feminine vs the devine feminine? Obviously I think these gummies were amanita muscaria, not ibogaine, but still. Interested in your thoughts. Lastly, how far-fetched would it be to wonder if the Trump administration is engaged in an underground public health initiative to address nationwide issues with addiction by flooding smoke shops across the country with entheogen gummies marketed towards addicts trying to beat the system?

DISCLAIMER: I don't love Trump, I don't hate Trump, I'm not a republican, I'm not a democrat.