Hi Everyone, here is my current situation. I have been diagnosed with Lyme (Igenex WB and Labcorp WB confirmed). I am functioning pretty well at the moment.
I will safely guess that I was probably infected in May or June of last year (so I'm still under 1 year). I have done a lot of research on Lyme ... various treatment protocols, articles, and Stephen Buhner's "Healing Lyme".
I have been on Buhner's core protocol for about 10 days. I am feeling better already. My LLMD and I are waiting for my CD57 test ... we will speak soon about beginning Doxy (200 mg twice a day orally).
She is an ND and said she would support me if I want to go 100 % natural, but she does feel that antibiotics with the herbs might be the best approach (as Buhner states).
What would you all do in my shoes ? I wanted "real" opinions from people who have been down the "treatment road" before.
Are herbs, vitamins, minerals and other natural approaches enough ? Or is combining natural with abx a better choice ? Is Doxy the best choice for ABX ? Is 400 mg a day aggressive enough ? How long should I be on Doxy ?
I am leaning towards the dual approach but just don't want to make any stupid mistakes like undertreating. Please let me know what you all think.
For an added bit of info, I seem to have more neuro type symptoms, brain fog, anxiety and the like ... no joint pain, muscle pain or fever.
Posted by 5dana8 (Member # 7935) on :
hi lightwise
Treatments a personal choice...that being said if it where up to me I would up to me I would go for the 400 mg of doxy a day.
It takes a minimum 300 of doxy a day to cross the blood brain barrier. Doxy is a good abx to start on. It may hit some of the co's as well. As for mixing-I haven't mixed herbs & abx but heard others have.
I would not want to take a chance with flying solo on just herbs. You can become chronic in a matter of weeks with no treatment. Don't want to say this to alarm you. Lyme disease is one nasty beast to have-when it becomes entrenched. Very hard to beat-not to mention the co-infections as well.
My peronsonal choice would be doxy And then play it by ear. See how you do. If the dose is too high & you herx too strongly your doc can always back you down & then ramp you up more slowly-if your germ count is too high.
After a while you may want to ask yor doc about a cyst buster like flagel or tinnei or if you want to go all natural maybe GSE. Even with herbs & and or limited abx bb can feel threatened & go into cytic form.
Good luck in whatever path you choose. And remember..."never give up & never give in"
Blessings Dana
Posted by Annxyz (Member # 9097) on :
There is NO perfect ansewer , just well intentioned opinions.
YOU ARE LUCKY to have received a diagnosis so early !! It is also GREAT That you are feeling better quickly with herbs. They are effective for many people.
IMO , I would be aggressive at the outset and do ABX and herbs . ABX tend to work well in the early infections .
I STRONGLY suggest that you take the ABX at least six months , and preferably for two months past the point that you feel well. You can spare yourself a life of HELL by being aggressive while the infection is not entrenched by years of replication.
You have a great shot of not losing a chance of a normal life . I wish the rest of us were so fortunate . Blessings to you !!!
Posted by 5dana8 (Member # 7935) on :
Annxyz Quote:
"You have a great shot of not losing a chance of a normal life . I wish the rest of us were so fortunate." -------------------------------------------------
Ditto
good luck & hope your up to feeling beter soon Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
yes, each of us is so UNIQUE; no 2 of us are alike w/symptoms and advancement of chetes in our bodies.
i agree w/ann; you don't want to end up like me; 37 yrs. into this; 34 yrs. misdiangnosed.
aggressive treatment is best to kill off the chetes. print off the info i gave you about EYE SENSITIVITIES AND ORDERING NOIR SUNGLASSESS, ETC....your eyes you need to protect and all SKIN to DRIVING, OUTSIDE, ETC. take this as very SERIOUS; it is! good luck. Posted by lightwise (Member # 10661) on :
Thanks for all your "well intentiomed opinions" : ) I would appreciate any more from anyone else out there.
are antibitics immunosuppressive ? Will they cause own immune system to not work properly ... or will they aid my immune system ?
Posted by Annxyz (Member # 9097) on :
Given the fact that you are probably not achronic case yet, and you feel better already , I would be aggressive on ABX ( doxy ) for several months at least . Then if the doc would no longer give me ABX , I would switch to Buhner's protocol.
If you have to take a break from the ABX from time to time, you can take andrographis as a back up, the principal herb in his protocol.
There is no perfect answer or approach for ANY of us, but you are wise to be aggressive at least for a year because this bacteria is insidious .
It is a good sign that you are feeling better this soon .
Posted by tdtid (Member # 10276) on :
Lightwise,
I was in your situation of trying to figure out the best course of action only a few months ago. We all want to do what is best and yet it gets complicated when that's a different answer for each person.
I too see a Naturopathic doctor and in my case, I'm doing going the antibiotic route WITH the herbs. I happen to be using Zhang vs Buhner but I've heard that on either of the herb directions, that getting that boost with the antibiotic is still going to help the most.
Since I'm new, compared to the others that have given advice, I can't vouch for any "experience" since I'm still in starter mode, but did want to let you know that my decision was to hedge both bets and use them both.
Lyme is definitely too serious to not grab every option our lyme doctors offer but my LLND was in agreement with yours and wanted me doing both, even though he's a N.D. and usually steers clear of abx. Just not in the case of lyme.
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