Today was the 6th dose of vasoactive intestinal peptide or VIP for short.  I’m taking it for lingering symptoms of mold illness, specifically neurotoxin complications.  Turns out that it may also help modulate my extremely elevated TGF beta-1 lab value that could be creating the chest compression symptoms I’ve been having since the end of March.   And to cover all of the possibilities, my LLMD ordered, and I completed, both a pulmonary function test this week to rule out asthma and a cardiac work-up three weeks ago to rule out a heart attack.   I guess you could say that my Doc is thorough!  He certainly is brilliant.  But you know at times, I just feel like a lab rat!

The immediate noxious after-effects of the VIP dose may be diminishing; today is day 10, dose #6.  Since we did not have time to talk about it in my medical appointment this past week, I’m on my own to titrate it properly.  So Doc Julie recommends continuing on a once per day, every other day dose at noon (to reduce the possibilities of nightmares that occurred with midnight dose #2).  It’s still early in the dosing so perhaps I’ll decide to increase it to a daily nasal spray when the subsequent nightly seizure attacks are reduced.  Did I mention that I feel like a lab rat in a lab coat?  A white coat, that is.  And no, they are not “coming to take me away to the funny farm, where life is free and wonderful all the time . . . ”  yet!

So with a little cynicism, I hereby report that I am continuing on this journey into a complicated course of treatment with prayer and caution.  Yeah, you thought I was going to write, “fear and trepidation” didn’t you?  Nope.  I’m too far gone on trusting the Lord with this to let my faith fail with some healthy skepticism that creeps in now and then.

Signing off for now,

J. Rat