posted 17 February 2004 04:11               

But...

please don't feel as if you need to make them brief...we enjoy reading all of the JUICY details, OK?

Thanks Betsy for adding Katydid’s story!

posted 17 February 2004 06:00               

I don't know if you were referring to me or who but.....in all fairness in what your are trying to accomplish....I do not want to ruin your thread.

My treatment brings about to much Controversy and arguments.

If anyone wants to read about my treatment they can go to search for Oct 7th 2002 or look it up by my name and read my post I did from Europe during my treatment.

I was one of under 10 I believe at that time to experience that treatment. To report it as I saw fit.

It get's overwhelming at times....and sometimes I feel guilty for what I got ( in my health) that others did not.

You are a sweetheart for what you are trying to do.

Just let it be that, Lyme can be overcome.

However you find it.

Thank you for caring, thank you for giving to others.

Kat

posted 17 February 2004 06:25               

I do know all about your story...and it has been a very long and very painful pursuit for health for you. It makes my heart happy to know now that you are well.

But, I think the measures that you incorporated, although controversial to some, were fascinating! And, I think it was incredibly brave of you to do what you did!!!

I won't ask you to repeat it here if you do not wish to do so, but, thank you for the reference dates, so that others who are curious can look it all up and learn from your hard fought battle.

posted 01 March 2004 07:43               

I say this humbly, realizing that perceptions are always in the eyes of the beholder. However, I feel that it is terribly important to pay attention to this aspect of Kathy's triumph over her very severe health crises. Her LLMD was the one who helped her with this part of her successful recovery. She is one lucky gal, and her story is very instructive.

Thanks to Kathy for pointing us to it in the manner in which she did, since the ICHT therapy is no longer available, due to safety issues regarding the death of another patient at the clinic in Italy where she was treated, so that the clinic was subsequently shut down. That's why I can't help but feel that the hypercoagulation issue which Kathy dealt with so successfully, thanks to her LLMD, was such an important part of her amazing recovery.

I hope I'm not infringing upon Kathy's story here, to interject this opinion, but for the sake of others who are seeking answers, I feel that it is very important Not to overlook this aspect of Kathy's wonderful recovery story.

PS to Kathy,
If you read this and disagree, please feel free to state your objections because afterall, this IS Your story. I sincerely hope I've not offended you by inserting my personal viewpoint here, regarding what I gleaned from your case history.

We're all in this together, you know, and I want as much as you do for others to have an equally good outcome as the one you have enjoyed. So, it won't hurt my feeling one little whit if you write an objection or counter my version of what I think was a major contributing factor in your successful recovery.

I sincerely hope I have not overstepped any boundaries to interject my thoughts about your case here, so please forgive me if I might have done so.

posted 01 March 2004 07:59            

Excellent idea to compile sucess stories:

Here's an addendum to mine:

For those of you who are new to the site:

There is hope. I was sick almost 30 years.

My initial presentation was in 1975.
I was diagnosed with Lupus in 1978, then it was retracted when I didn't die as expected -
(I have alwayd refused cortcoidsteroids).

Over the next 25 years I was suspected of having, Autoimmune heymolytic anemia, Fibromyliga, MS, Sarcoidosis, and finally Complex Auto-immune Disorder - culminating in severe neuro complications, most notably severe and chronic Uveitis and Optic nerve inflammation starting in 1996.

In 2002, after an argument with my Opthalmologist when he wanted another Syphilis test (I'd been negative on 4 previously) because late stage syphilis was the latested suspect of causing my eye probelms I tested positive for Lyme and Babesia.

The rest is history.. after a year and a half of several antibiotics, antibiotic combos, anti-Malaria therapy and many many supplements I am feeling 100% with absolutely no symptoms - and I had every Lyme symptom except seizures and palsy.

Medicine, with all it's diagnostic faluts is alot more open minded today than it was in the 70's and 80's when the patient had NO control, NO rights and medical records were the property of the Dr.

And for those of you using alternative therapies - keep using them with an educated mind.
I kept my self alive and functioning using alternative therapies prior to finding the real diagnosis, and adding antibiotics to my mix.

posted 29 March 2004 15:14               

I would love for you to add that here...I'll go digging now and see if I can find it...be right back...

OK...just emailed the link to you so you could post it yourself!!!

M

posted 30 March 2004 12:08            

Its been a very long journey, some of you know us well, others are new here. When we started our journey it was full of hope, and we felt refreshed. Somewhere along the way, we found that many of those we spoke with three years ago, have gone on. Either became frustrated and quit, or became well and dont visit the board too often.

Those who became well, we quickly have forgotten about, and the board is filled with others who are too, just beginning the journey.

Those who became frustrated, began jumping from treatment to treatment in hopes of finding a cure. In hopes of living their dreams of a fullfilled life, free of pain, free of random thoughts on top of random thoughts that come so fast you forget the "main thought" which was not random at all...

While our journey is still in progress, I have been in prayer regarding sharing, being careful not to take the credit our selves, but to Thank God every day for the special people who have interceded in our daily life, to make it a bit better for us.

Dr. Jones, Sabra and his full staff. Some are no longer there, but we love them all. TinCup, LDA, and so many more. Ultimately God brought them in to our lives, and have helped heal us.

Today, I think back when we first got bit...and got sick. My gut said Lyme. My docter said no.

8 years later after almost loosing our 12 yr old daughter to congestive heart failure due to her arrhithmya from lyme disease, watching her hobble like an old lady, and crying her to sleep at night, holding her up in the day to do basic tasks like eating, and wondering if she would live another year (according to her neurologist and cardiologist she would not!) and not even knowing if I should pray for life, death or healing (we had prayed for healing for so long we began to think it was not Gods will) for my daughter....we found she had lyme, erlichia and babesia.

Our daughter had brief periods of remission during her 8 year ordeal, which brought hope. It also brought frustration, because they would be followed by bouts of health much worse that what we had already experienced.

After tincup so lovingly referred us...(yes, with a rolling pin in her hand ready to pop me over the head if I said no!).... to Dr. Jones, we knew that life would be much better.

To our surprise, we were terribly terribly wrong. Our daughter began treatment, and she became unable to be on her feet very long. Her pain now was about 30 on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst. The next 12 months of our lives were spent with her in bed nearly 22 hours a day. She cried at night...she cried at day and she tore our hearts apart. So many times I wanted to stop treatment...so many times she begged to stop treatment. But we all would remember the path we had been on.

We began to justify that path wasnt so bad...was it??? Not nearly this bad...

But 8 months in, we literally woke up one day with a daughter who was like all the other teens.
It lasted a short while, and she drifted back into her body riddle with pain. But this brief glimpse, was enough to carry us on with more demand for a healthy life.

I researched more, we spend thousands of dollars to see the best...and Dr. Jones patiently waited. Documenting small positive changes that were difficult for us to realize..

The many trips to the ER, became one long fuzzy year...and I began to doubt again. Was this ever going to end? Was this a big lie? Should we quit antibiotics?

I went to our Internal med doc, and asked her to do a full body scan. I KNEW my daughter must have cancer. Leukemia had been a possibility before her lyme diagnosis. Please check her again. I know we are dealing with something else. The gracious doctor did every test she could. She began implementing new pain therapies. But she told us, that she had seen improvement, even if we didnt.

She had faith in Dr. Jones, and Gods answers through doctor Jones, for healing for our daughter.

She kept us on track with the therapy, herself curious to see if "this would really work".

Our final "tempation" to stop all therapy came with the most severe, debilitating headache one could imagine. Our daughter would writhe in pain, after 100 mg of IV demerol, her body would continue to spasm from the severe pain in the spine and head. For nearly 6 weeks, we made the local er our every other night travel. They finally decided to do a spinal tap, to see if she had intracranial pressure. The spinal tap, although showed no signs of increased pressure, immediatly removed the headache, and she felt a warm sensation at the base of her head. Since that day, her headaches may begin, but relieve easily with over the counter pain medication. She has not been in the hospital with debilitating headaches since then and her body started to show significant healing.

She began physical therapy two weeks later, and has continued building her tissues that connect muscles and bones. Her pain is under control.

Yes she still gets tired, ....but wouldnt you after rock climbing 15 hours a week, e skating once or twice and week, AND doing your school work? Oh yeah, she is retaining her school work too!

Our road to recovery is still in progress. We attribute the excellent recovery so far to answers from prayer from many of you and us on behalf of our daughter, excellent doctors who really care,good diets, and a young lady who never gave up or jumped from protocol to protocol, but followed the LLMDS advice, even when it seemed the rock wall we were climbing was too tall with too few holds.

I know this is long, but I really wanted to share, to give hope, and to help those debating if they should continue or stop treatment, to choose the advice of their LLMD. I hope and pray for all of you on this board, that you will continue to heal.

Love,
Theresa

PS. I am waiting for horse show photos from this past weekend. I will post an addition to her success here when I get those back!

posted 30 March 2004 20:48               

I don't have a problem with you bringing up things at all. And now that you have, yes I will clear them up. I have reasons for not saying somethings, especially where my LLMD is concerned. So let's start......

First off, I would NEVER say anything bad or against my LLMD's judgement because he did what he thought was best and truly cared.

#1. I will always thank my LLMD for giving me a DX that got me going in the direction to save my life. It got me going in the direction of Lyme and pursuing answer's.

#2. Hypercoagulation was there BEFORE ICHT treatment. And I did see a Hematologist that said I did not have it BEFORE I went to ICHT.

#3. Yes, it got worse a month after ICHT. I had a $7,000 DNA test to show I did not have thrombosis but yet the Doc's still figured because of my chest pains and all the stringy stuff on my Darkfields showed fibren everywhere I should have DOUBLE BLOOD THINNERS.

#4. Double Blood thinners did not CURE anything. They made the blood stream thinner which in turn made it easier for the CANDIA & YEAST to move around.

#5. I used these two drug's for 8 months that I did not need them. Based on what was viewed in my LLMD's office. Plus, from the over use of them I became anemic from my red blood cells being robbed by the thinners.

#6. A Bradford Microscopy by a different doctor is what showed the REAL problem. CANDIDA & YEAST. I was taken off both blood thinners that day and ABX. What was misinterpret on the DARKFIELD showed up clear as a bell on the BRADFORD.

#7. I have been taking ENZYMES since that day 8 months ago and have not relapsed yet.

#8. I had another viewing 2 weeks ago and the CANDIDA is 75% gone, MYCOPLASMA now needs to be treated.

#9. ICHT I will say over & over again saved my life. My husband, my family, my co-workers will tell you the same.

#10. What one doctor did or didn't do I do not blame at all for ANYTHING. NO ONE has the answer's. I knew this going into it. I do not elaborate on my LLMD and mistakes that were made out of fairness for him and anyone else trying to get well.

In order........

LLMD DX me & got me started.

ICHT......Got rid of the LYME.

Pathologist....Found the Candida and got me off all meds.

I have 3 doctors to thank. If you did them in a different order what would have happened?

Would the Pathologist have DX me with LYME?
No.

Would the LLMD recommend ICHT? NO

Would ICHT found the CANDIDA? NO

So I can not blame one or the other for what or wasn't done or noticed.

I am just lucky that it happened in that order and thank God everyday for the life I get to enjoy one more blessed year.

posted 15 April 2004 00:33               

I haven't been on this forum for many weeks, and feel badly about that. I always said that when I got better I would hang around here in case I could help others. But healthy living has a way of preoccupying you with other things -- such as the birth of my new daughter last week!

That's really a miracle to me. A year and a half ago, we couldn't have even thought about trying to have another baby. I was so sick that I was barely functioning as a father, and I feared I might never be well enough to risk having a child again.

Today, I'm virtually back to my old self. I still have constant ringing in my ears, and probably will always have (my ENT says permanent nerve damage). But I have said goodbye to about 25 other bizarre symptoms.

In a nutshell, I got sick in August of 2002. It was a sudden mystifying and terrifying deterioration. I was 35 and in great health -- active and busy. Then came ringing ears, bizarre neck stiffness, profound sleep disruption, late nigh panic attacks, strange rashes, extremely dry eyes and mouth, and sudden unexplained weight loss, crushing fatigue, etc. etc. -- all of which spiraled ever downward until I reached a point of desparation. At its worst, I would fade in and out of sleep with an overpowering sensation of heavy vibration deep inside my head. I felt my brain was under attack by some invisible enemy (as indeed it was).

I won't recount here the trauma of trying to get a diagnosis and doctors who would listen to me. Suffice it to say that I will be eternally grateful that a bulls-eye rash showed up on my leg to give me a clue (even though 4 doctors dismissed it before I found an LLMD).

I was on abx for 10 months with a rotating repertoire of regimens. I did great on amoxy for awhile, and then relapsed. I did weeks of doxy, flagyl, levaquin, and a few others I can't recall. I saw very marginal improvement (if any) and began to despair of a solution. Finally, my LLMD ordered IV Rocephin for me, and I eventually talked him into a 10 week dose. I finally saw some noticeable improvement. If there was such a thing as a turning point, it was this -- although the progress remained extremely slow. I followed up with some other orals for a couple of months, and finally felt right about going off of them.

That was 9 months ago. I now am off all prescription medications and am continuing to see improvements -- now to the point that I feel normal virtually all of the time. It's been about 3 months since I had any fatigue to speak of, and at least 2 months since I had that hallmark "buzzy" sensation that made me feel less than human.

Guess what! I feel human now!

The progress has been agonizingly slow, and there were countless days that I thought there WAS no progress, or that I was going backwards. I really have to look back many months to see the signs of the progress. Even after quitting abx, the improvement was almost imperceptibly gradual. But now, it is very clear.

I hope my experience can provide some encouragement for folks in the trenches of this terrible battle. Yes, I was very lucky to catch it soon enough that my recovery could happen within the span of a couple of years. I know others have much longer and more courageous battles ahead of them. But I'm convinced it's a battle worth fighting, and that hope is real and that victory is possible.

Please hang in there, everybody! The journey is long, but well worth it. I'm flooded with gratitude to be holding my new baby daughter. She's a testament to the rewards of the battle.

God bless! Life WILL BE good again!

Jeff
Pleasant Grove, UT

posted 15 April 2004 00:49               

Thank you so much for adding your wonderful story of success here!

Congratulations on BOTH accounts...the recovery from Lyme...and the re-birth of your new self...

All my best,
Melanie

posted 22 June 2004 10:32               

On a daily basis I suffered from extreme fatigue, loss of balance, deep muscle pain, numbness of my face, hands and feet, severe abdominal pain, lack of motivation, joint pain (including TMJ), creepy crawly feelings on my scalp, twitching under my left eye, etc. etc. etc. Just walking out to the mail box would require a 2 hour recovery on the couch. Nothing seemed to relieve my symptoms.

I was forever online trying to find answers to my health issues. A long list of possible illnesses started popping up, but nothing really covered everything that I was going through.

I was always an active and healthy person and was declining so fast and I didn’t even have the strength to do anything about it. I was so ill myself that I didn't even realize that the rest of my family was falling apart also. Infact, I was so ill that I didn't realize just how sick I was until I started to feel better.

But then, things changed. My youngest daughter had had 2 bulls eyes on her face 3 years earlier. She was treated with 30 days of high dose abx. We were told that she wouldn’t need any further treatment. Well, she was fine after the abx and we never gave it a second thought. She was smart, active and very social. Suddenly, all of that came to a screeching halt. 3 years after her treatment, she started getting tremors, couldn’t read 3 letter words, had no short term memory whatsoever and was waking in the middle of the night is dripping sweats.

I took her to the doctor and asked if this could be Lyme resurfacing. I was assured that it wasn’t Lyme. I wasn’t convinced. I came home and started doing research on Lyme symptoms and realized that not only did she have significant Lyme symptoms, but so did my older daughter, my husband and MYSELF!

Finally, an answer! I did some networking and found a “tick center” to take my family to. My oldest daughter and I tested positive via PCR on the first try. They found it in my urine, but not my blood. For her, they found it in her blood, but not her urine. My youngest daughter and husband repeatedly tested negative and they wouldn’t treat them until they got a positive. (we did eventually move onto another doctor and got them treatment – and by the way finally did test positive)

But back to me…..I cried when I got the results. Not because I was sad. I was so happy to finally have an answer to all of my problems. Then I cried again because I started learning how serious Lyme is and how difficult it is to treat.

The one and only tick that I had ever had was over 20 years ago. Could that have been when it really all started? I vaguely remember being sick back then, but then continued on with a relatively healthy life after that. I also recall about 6 years ago being bombarded on the beach by biting flies. I ended up sicker than a dog. Was that it? Or was that the straw that broke the camels back? Who knows.

I was so scared and anxious to start treatment that when the doctor at the tick center said I would need to go straight to a PICC line due to my neuro symptoms, I never even batted an eye. My older daughter and I had our PICC lines inserted on the same day.

We did 56 days of IV Rocephin and oral Zithromax during that time. I had a slow, but steady improvement. Many of my symptoms had subsided, but I still had the numbness in my hands and the fatigue was slowly starting to return. They assured me that these symptoms would subside over time. I waited a few weeks and moved onto another Lyme doctor and also brought the rest of my crew with me. That is when my husband and other daughter finally started treatment.

The new Lyme doctor drew blood (which did come back still positive via Igenex), but in the meantime put me on 3,000mg Amoxicillian, 1,000mg Probenecid (to keep the abx in my blood stream longer) and 500mg Dynabac. By now I had started the beginnings of my 1,000’s of hours of research and knew that I must start to rebuild and support my immune system. While on these abx, I started taking high doses of Garlic, B-100 Complex, Vitamin C, Astragalus Root, Maitake (mushroom), Flax Seed Oil, Milk Thistle, a quality multi-vitamin, Magnesium and a multi-probiotic.

We could no longer afford Dynabac for me, my husband and my youngest daughter, so I was switched to Tetra about 2 months into the treatment with the Amoxi and Probenecid. I stayed on orals for a total of 4 ½ months. By then I knew that my abx life span had run out and that the only way to really get back on my feet was to continue to strengthen my immune system and to start cleansing all of the toxins and other junk that my body had accumulated over the years.

It was very clear to me by this point that Lyme was just one of the layers to my problems. My immune system was run down by other “issues” that I wasn’t even aware of at the time and they needed to be addressed in order for my immune system to fully attack the Lyme.

We took everyone in my home off abx and continued to take immune boosting supplements. Then we started with a whole body cleanse. This clears out the colon, kidneys, bladder, lungs, etc. This gets the body ready for further cleanses by getting the route of departure cleared out.

Then we did a liver cleanse. Then we added in another colon cleanse because it became VERY obvious that we had more toxins being removed then our bodies could keep up with. Then we did a parasite cleanse, then back to the liver cleanse again and then parasite cleanse again.

We discovered during all of this time that Candida was playing a HUGE role in our illness. And I mean HUGE role. We cut out all garbage carbs and replaced them with good carbs, but in a low quantity.

We also started eating organic and whole foods. We thought we were relatively healthy eaters until we started breaking things down. We only eat organic, we avoid dairy and red meat and eat only organic boneless, skinless chicken breast. We don't eat anything that has been processed or preserved.

We also started using toothpaste WITHOUT fluoride. Fluoride is devastating on the immune system. We switched to just deodorant. No more antiperspirants for us. Why would we want to keep the toxins in? We only use organic shampoos, soaps, etc.

We are still getting our Candida under control and that will take a very long time. We are very aware of everything that we put in our mouths and notice a huge difference if we don’t follow a healthy diet. I am personally working on strengthening my adrenals which took a huge blow from the undiagnosed illness.

I still need to address the metals and cavitations in my mouth, but the biological dentist told me that the grand total would be $17,500. So, that must wait for now.

We have suffered financially during all of this too. We don’t have health insurance and as a result of all of the unnecessary tests, meds, etc., we had to file for bankruptcy. We are not letting that get us down. We are stronger as a family and as people individually. We feel better than we have in YEARS and are so much more aware of the little things around us.

We are about 98% better and have been abx free for 6 months now. My husband is back to his normal self, the little one is back in the Gifted and Talented Program, my oldest is a star Soccer player and I am just the happy mom/wife of my wonderful family.

I can’t stress enough that a positive attitude is probably the most important ingredient to recovery. I know how devastating this disease is mentally, physically and financially. And, it is very, very difficult to rise above it when it seems like the rest of the world is busy having a life and doesn’t have a clue what you are going through. But, you must know that deep down inside, you do have the strength and you will get your health back.

Stay Positive. Smile. People Care.

frenchbraid

posted 22 June 2004 10:34               

When we stopped abx, we were feeling better, but far from perfect. We had basically come to a standstill. We knew we had to take another direction or stay where we were for a very long time.

Most of the cleanses that we use are from RenewLife. Brenda Watson, PhD (www.RenewLife.com) is the developer of this fantastic, well rounded line. We use her CleanseMore (colon), CleanseSmart (whole body: lungs, liver, blood, colon, skin, kidneys, and lymphatic system) and Paragone (parasites). We will be using Candex for the Candida and we use our own liver cleanse. I've posted the recipe before, but I will cut and paste it here:

~~~~~~~

Liver cleanses can be pretty harsh. We have found one that works very well and it is very easy to handle.

Put the following in a blender:

~ One cup of fresh squeezed Citrus: use orange, grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, and/or lime. Make the combination as sour as possible. You can dilute this mixture with purified water.

~ One to two cloves of garlic.

~ One small piece of fresh ginger.

~ One tablespoon of organic olive oil.

~ Blend the above ingredients and drink immediately.

Follow with two cups of a cleansing teas, such as Jason Winters or dandelion tea.

It is preferable to do the liver flush drink in the morning on an empty stomach, and then wait an hour before eating.

It is suggested to do the liver flush four times a year (as the seasons change) or whenever you feel you need a boost. Five days in a row each time is recommended.

Also, a good quality Milk Thistle will help to keep your liver and gall bladder healthy.

A good tip is to put the fruit in the fridge the night before. It is much easier to tolerate the drink if it is chilled rather than room temperature.

~~~~~~~

I should also mention that I was diagnosed in late May of 2003. Our road has been a road with many bumps and 1000's of hours of research. I am very fortunate to have a ND locally who owns his own healthfood store. I am constantly in contact with him.

I also got involved with a homeopathic doctor. I also have a biological dentist.

My favorite expression to describe what we've been through is: "It's like an onion. You need to peel back each and every layer to get to the underlying dominant issue". Leave no stones unturned.

When I finally got real and realized that I wasn't the picture of health that I thought I was and that I could have parasites, Candida, etc., it was only then that the improvements became drastic.

Also, on a lighter note, after doing the liver cleanse, I will never be able to eat a gingerbread cookie again. But, that's OK. Too many of the wrong carbs anyway. LOL

frenchbraid

posted 22 June 2004 20:38               

----------- RESERVED! -----------------------

posted 15 July 2004 18:00            

Best of luck to all of you....hope your long slow recovery is met with the success of our long slow recoveries!

posted 05 August 2004 00:58               

Up to the top to print and read later, thanks!

posted 06 September 2004 22:29               

Logged on to lymenet and found a llmd. I went to him for almost two years. He initially increased my dosage of doxy, and had me do a three week round of Flagyl(750 mg per day), and also put me on his own herbal concoction of medicine which is essentially a modification of the Zhang protocol among other things. Even some of the products he sold me had the Zhang label on them. In addition he also had me do rounds of mgn3, transfer factor, olive leaf extract, and a lot of other natural stuff. He has a vitamin shop in his office.

Looking back I realized I was herxing on the doxy but after six weeks, he switched me to Amoxy due to my report that I still wasn’t feeling very well. After one week on the Amoxy my symptoms cleared up. I’m not sure if they cleared up because the herxing stopped or because of the Amoxy or maybe it was a combination of both .

Anyway, I continued on the Amoxy for two months and felt pretty good. I tried stopping the drug but relapsed after 10 days so I immediately got right back on it. I continued to take the natural stuff during this time but it seemed to have no effect one way or another. After another 4 months , the Amoxy just stopped working for me. He switched me back to doxy. The doxy worked pretty well over the next 16 months. I tried discontinuing the drug twice during that period but each time I relapsed- I was able to go 19 days and 7 days during those trial stoppages before I had to get back on the antibiotic.

At this point my first llmd began to suspect that I didn’t have lyme anymore and maybe these symptoms were just in my head or something else. He didn’t actually cut off antibiotics but would make statements like “You’ve had a lot of antibiotics.” and other hints so I made an appointment with another llmd. This llmd treated me with antibiotics only. He didn’t recommend or prescribe any natural stuff except acidophilus - God bless him. He put me on a combo of 400 mg cedax and 250 mg Zithromax once per day after dinner. In addition I continued with the 200 mg doxy per day and a one-week round of Flagyl per month which I still had left over from my first llmd. I continued to feel well on this new combination. In fact I had always responded well to antibiotics and hadn’t been sick for more than a few days since I started treatment, except in the beginning. The problem was I was unable to discontinue the darn things.

I did this combination for 4 straight months and for the two months after that I pulsed this combo using the protocol of one-week-on, one-week-off.

On the weeks off I took the following:

1 capsule of Samento (600 mg) - twice a day
2 capsules (750 mg) Immutol (Beta Glucan) - twice a day
1 capsule PYCNOGENOL (75 mg) with 1 ounce of aloe vera juice - twice a day

Of all the herbal stuff I tried , and I tried just about all of them, I found these to be the most effective .

I purchased the Samento from http://www.herbalremedies.com/ ; the Immutol from http://www.immunocorp.com/ ; and the PYCNOGENOL from http://www.vitaminlab.com/ .

The Probiotics I use is called Flora Source which I purchase from: http://www.goldenhealthproducts.com/. It’s important to get a good brand IMO because I believe that 75% of the stuff you find at health food stores is dead and worthless. I mix the Flora Source in soy Yogurt and still eat it every day.

Anyway , I haven’t relapsed since, knock-on-wood and it’s been over a year since I have had any antibiotics. I am completely recovered in every way and even able to enjoy a few glasses of wine without a bad reaction that I used to get during my treatment. I’m not mad at my first llmd and would recommend him highly. He claims that he has an 80% success rate and I have no reason to disbelieve him.

I continued with the herbal protocol for two months . Then for another three months after that , I did two out of three each day (i.e. Samento-Immutol or Samento-Pycnogenol or Immutol – Pycnogenol ) . I no longer take any of these but I have continued with the Flora Source to this day.

Even though I was on antibiotics for almost 2 and a half years, I do not have any yeast problems. I feel my breakfast might have something to do with this which consists of 4 ounces of soy yogurt with one capsule Flora source mixed in. A couple of ounces of aloe vera gel. 1 tablespoon of flax powder. 1 tablespoon of Dr Schulze’s Superfood, or 1 tablespoon of brewer’s yeast. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or two tablespoons of tahini butter. Blueberries, papaya, and ½ apple. I’ve pretty much eaten the same breakfast for two years.

Looking back, I should have dropped my first llmd after a year. The rule of thumb is that one should be symptom-free for two months before attempting to quit antibiotics. I had done this several times yet still relapsed. I should have added in the Zithromax-Cedax combo after the second relapse. If you just go back to the same drugs at the same strength, you’re just going to relapse again. It’s important to be more aggressive IMO. On the other hand, maybe it just takes a long time for some people. Who knows, every case is different.

posted 03 October 2004 22:37               

http://hometown.aol.com/theskyking/myhomepage/listings.html

To learn more about rife machines (this is a non-profit website):

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lyme-and-rife