Of teeth and typhoons

Remember a couple of days ago when I was feeling paranoid about taking my new meds? Of course you don't, because I forgot to write about it here.

Background:
On January 20, I went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. Thanks to all the dental problems I have had since the Lyme first made its presence known, and the fact that no visit to the dentist ends well anymore, I now have major issues with going to the dentist. On 1/20, I saw my 4th new dentist since 2004.

After the hygienist had taken x-rays and cleaned my teeth, the dentist came in to look them over, and asked me what the story was with the two missing lower right molars. He even said that it looked like I took good care of my teeth and shouldn't have any missing, or something like that. I don't think I have mentioned the molar story here, so I will give you the high points: pain for months with no sign of decay whatsoever, followed by 2 root canals that didn’t help and 16 days of Cipro, followed by 4 years of intermittent pain, multiple night guards, and many many visits to the dentist with normal x-rays and lots of shoulder-shrugging, then suddenly WHAMMO -- abscess and extraction, followed by 3 rounds of clindamycin, followed by continued pain, degeneration of the roots of the second molar and another extraction 4 months later. I still have pain on that side of my jaw where the teeth used to be and also under the next tooth in line. I tried one last night guard after the second extraction to keep my upper molars from descending. Due to my latex allergy I can now only have hard night guards, and my new night guard made my jaw pain worse. I went back to using my old NTI-TSS device, which fits over my front teeth only.

Back to the present: when the dentist asked about the missing molars, I mentioned that I had recently been experiencing some pain in two teeth on the other side. He did a percussion test and discovered not two, but four molars on the left side that were affected -- two on the top and two on the bottom. He did a very careful visual exam of my teeth, tested them for cold sensitivity (normal) and then took extra x-rays so he could look at the roots. Once again, there was absolutely no sign of decay. I got a horrible feeling of déjà vu.

The new dentist agreed with the other dentists I had seen since my Lyme diagnosis that Lyme disease could be responsible for my recent dental problems. He also strongly agreed that I shouldn't have any implants placed until the infection was completely resolved. He was very concerned and wanted me to see a neurologist, but I had received no help from neurologists for my dental problems in the past. So, I took the problem to my Lyme doctor. I mentioned that the new left-sided dental pain had started after I stopped taking the Lyme antibiotics and switched to the Babesia treatment, and that at the same time, my right shoulder had frozen up again. Ergo, I seemed to have two different infections that don’t respond to the same drugs. She agreed, and prescribed amoxicillin and probenecid to see if they would help with the joint and tooth problems. Probenecid is used as an adjuvant to amoxicillin because it blocks metabolism of amoxicillin in the kidney. People who take probenecid with amoxicillin can thus take a lower dose of amoxicillin. Nifty, right?

Back to the present:
Not nifty. I had an adverse reaction to the probenecid in the amoxicillin/probenecid combo: severe nausea and dizziness (think “typhoon on the high seas”) with headache and hives on my jaw and abdomen. The reaction lasted 8 hours, so I spent Friday on the couch trying to lie as still as possible and wishing I could puke. I skipped my Friday evening dose, then did a control test yesterday by taking just the amoxicillin without the probenecid (they are in 2 separate capsules). I had no nausea, dizziness, or hives, so I think I have identified the culprit. Of course, the amoxicillin is not side-effect-free either -- on Friday night I woke up twice, but last night I woke up some crazy number of times -- 5 or 6. So I am tired, cranky and irascible. Bah! Effing meds! Effing bacteria! Grr!

I'm going to call my Lyme doc tomorrow to see if there are any other alternatives.