" Please note that when a person starts a Lyme Disease treatment it is common to have some worsening. This is usually due to a Herxheimer die-off reaction. You can read more on this site about this reaction and steps you can take to treat it.
1. Sleep: (Use either a natural medicine or prescription medicine. Do not mix natural medicines and prescription medicines together at the first treatment but you can do so later.)
Natural medicines:
(You can mix these two together or use in combination with the prescriptions medicines if needed.)
L-Theanine/GABA. 200mg of Zen (Allergy Research) 1 to 3 pills a night 1 hour before bed. Do not exceed 1200mg a day if using for nerve pain or anxiety during the day too. Excessive amounts in the day are very sedating,
AND/OR
Herbal Combination Product. End Fatigue Revitalizing Sleep Formula (Integrative Therapeutics) 1 to 4 pills 1 hour before bed.
Prescription medicines:
Zolpidem (Ambien) 10mg 1 pill 30 min before bed (Use if your primary problem is getting to sleep. It is short acting.) AND/OR Clonazepam (Klonipin) 1mg .5 to 2 pills 30min to 1 hour before bed. (Use if your primary problem is staying asleep. If you have both a falling and staying asleep problem try the Ambien first.)
Rationale:
Sleep is often disturbed in chronic Lyme disease. Lack of adequate sleep worsens pain, increases fatigue, and suppresses the immune system.
It appears that in response to infection, the excesses inflammatory cytokines produced by the immune system decrease the output of sleep inducing hormones to the sleep centers of the brain. A restorative amount of sleep is 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Sleep in the few hours before midnight is most restorative.
2. AntiInflamatory
Curcumin. Meriva 500 (Thorne) 500mg, 1 to pill 3 times a day. Read more about curcumin on this site.
Prescription medicine: (There are no effective and safe options.)
Rationale:
Cytokines are inflammation chemicals made by the immune system in chronic Lyme Disease. They cause most of the Lyme Disease symptoms.
At the beginning of treatment when killing lyme germs with antimicrobials or yeast with antifungals, the cytokines are made in even greater amounts causing a person to feel much worse. This is called a Herxheimer die-off reaction. You can read more about cytokines and Herxheimer Die-Off Reactions here on this site.
3. Hormones:
Adrenal Insufficiency (Start with either the natural medicine or prescription medicine. Do not use both together in the first treatment.)
Natural medicine:
Ashwagandha. Ashwagandha (Ayush) 1-2 pills in am and 1-2 pills between 1-2 pm or Ashwagandha 1:1 Standardized Extract (Medi Herb) 1/2 to 1 tsp in am and 1/2 to 1 tsp between 1-2 pm. Taking late in the day may disturb sleep. Read more about Ashwagandha on this site.
Prescription medicines:
(I rarely use this because there is a very small risk of immune suppression using prescription hydrocortisone. On the other hand, ashwaganda is a supportive herb that does not suppress the immune system, but helps the adrenals work better.)
Cortef 5mg 1 to 2 pills in am and 1-2 pills between 1-2pm. Taking late in the day may disturb sleep.
Low Thyroid:
Natural medicines:
(None that are safe and effective. Some recommend iodine but too much can make thyroid conditions worse.)
Prescription medicine:
Dessicated Thyroid 30mg or Armour Thyroid 30mg 1 pill in the morning 30min before anything else and on an empty stomach with water only.
Rationale:
Low hormones occur often in chronic Lyme disease. Inflammatory cytokines made by white blood cells to fight Lyme decrease the effective functioning of an area of the brain called the hypothalamus and pituitary. This part of the brain produces chemicals that induce sleep and that regulate hormonal systems.
Normally this part of the brain releases messengers such as thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to stimulate the thyroid, adrenal glands, and sex hormone organs respectively.
Because of the dysfunction caused by the cytokines, these regulatory messengers are released based on an incorrect interpretation by the brain of the hormone environment. Thus measurements of these messengers is an unreliable way to determine the hormone status.
Another way to check hormone status is to measure the actual hormone levels like T4/T3 (thyroid), or cortisol/dhea (adrenals), or estrogen/progesterone/testosterone (sex hormones). These tests give a broad range of normal however. A person could have normal range testing for each of the hormones but still have clinically low hormones.
Because of the unreliability of testing, treatment for low hormones should occur if there are clinical symptoms of low hormones as long as treatment does not increase hormone levels above the upper end of normal. Hormones provide many functions in the body. Proper levels improve energy and help the immune system to work more effectively.
Symptoms:
Adrenal Insufficiency: fatigue, recurrent infections, poor recovery from infections, low blood sugar with shakiness and irritability relieved by eating, low blood pressure and dizziness on standing, afternoon crashing, and sugar cravings.
Low thyroid: fatigue, achiness, low body temperatures, cold intolerance, weight gain, constipation, changes in menstrual periods.
4. Essential Micronutrients
Natural medicine:
Multi-vitamin. End Fatigue Daily Energy Enfusion (Integrative Therapeutics). Take one scoop daily. If sensitive then Mediclear (Thorne) is an alternative. Take one scoop 2 times a day.
Rationale:
To heal and feel better requires a multi-vitamin with an essential set of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. A good multi-vitamin improves functioning of the immune system, muscles, brain and nerves, hormones, organs including the kidney and liver, detoxification, and decreases inflammation. It also protects the body from the toxic effect of prescriptive antibiotics.
5. Yeast Treatment and Prevention
A. Probiotics: Required for Yeast Prevention and Treatment
Natural medicine:
Probiotic. HMF Forte (Seroyal/Genestra) is one of the few probiotics on the market shown to repopulate the intestines in scientific studies. Take at least 2 pills daily at least 1 hour away from antibiotics. During an active yeast infection consider increasing to 4 pills daily either one time a day or divided in to two doses.
B. Yeast Prevention Antifungals:
(Use either the natural medicine or prescription medicine. Do not use both together.)
Natural medicine:
Herbal Combination Product. Phytostan (Integrative Therapeutics) 2 pills 2 times a day.
Prescription medicine:
Nystatin 500,000IU 2 pills 2 times a day
C. Yeast Treatment Antifungals:
(For people with a yeast screening score of 140 or higher (see below). When complete treatment, then start yeast prevention antifungals as above. Use the natural medicine or prescription medicine option but not both together.)
Natural medicine:
Herbal Combination Product. Phytostan (Integrative Therapeutics) 2 pills 2 times a day. This will take 3-4 months to get yeast overgrowth under control.
Prescription medicine:
Nystatin 500,000IU 2 pills 2 times a day, and Fluconazole (Diflucan) 200mg 1 time daily for 30 days. Use in combination with nystatin to prevent drug resistance. This combination will take 30 days to get yeast under control.)
Rationale:
Too many yeast in the intestines (yeast overgrowth) is a common problem that occurs in those with chronic Lyme disease either during treatment or prior to beginning treatment. Antibiotics used to treat Lyme can lead to too many yeast. Immune suppression prior to starting antibiotics can also cause yeast overgrowth.
Yeast overgrowth can result in an ongoing systemic allergic reaction to the yeast that can suppress the immune system. It may also lead to inflammatory cytokine and oxidizing agent excess that lead to many of the Lyme disease symptoms and pain. Food allergies and sensitivities can be the result of yeast overgrowth too.
There is not a useful diagnostic blood test or stool test for yeast overgrowth. While some may test for antibodies in the blood to intestinal yeast, antibodies are common even when yeast are in balance. In addition it is normal to have stool cultures grow yeast, and so a culture does not indicate if yeast are in excess.
For that reason, yeast are diagnosed using a screening questionnaire. This questionnaire evaluates for the possibility of yeast overgrowth based on yeast overgrowth risk factors and intensity of symptoms. In general, people benefit from treatment if the score is 140 or higher.
At the beginning of a Lyme disease treatment, often before antibiotics are started it is essential to treat yeast. Doing so can limit the severity of die-off reactions from treating Lyme because removing yeast removes one source of inflammatory cytokine excess.
6. Lyme Infection Treatment
(Take either the natural medicines or the prescription medicines. Do not take both together.)
Natural medicines:
Banderol and Cats Claw. Banderol and Samento (Nutramedix) 5 drops 2 times a day of each herb and increase the dosing every 2 days by 1 drop per dose till taking 20 drops 2 times a day.
Based on the manufacturers recommendations, take the herbs at least 15 minutes from each other. Take on an empty stomach.
Do not take beginning 30 minutes before through 2 hours after having food, medicines, or supplements. Read more about Banderol and Samento on this site including when to increase the dose up to 30 drops 2 times a day and what to do if you have a die-off reaction while increasing the dose.
Prescription medicines:
Doxycycline 100mg 2pills 2 times a day or 4 pills 1 time a day. Take with food to prevent nausea. Do not take with calcium supplements or calcium fortified milk or milk substitutes like rice milk OR
Clarithromycin (Biaxin) 500mg 1 pill 2 times a day.
7. Detoxification
Reduce the total load of negative influences on your health: - eat organic foods, - avoid gluten, scents, alcohol and tobacco, and - decrease emotional stress.
8. Coinfection Treatments for Bartonella or Babesia
If you have one of them do not start treatments for the coinfections at the first visit. Wait one month to adjust to Herxheimer reaction from treating the Lyme infection and to stabilize on the supportive supplements.
9. Additional Natural Medicines and Prescription Medicines
Many other natural medicines to manage symptoms and problems exist. Wait one month to start these. Often using the recommended natural medicines and prescription medicines in this first treatment regimen will correct existing problems. Thus you may not require other medicines.
10. Herxherimer Die-off Reactions:
If you worsen as you start treatment, it is likely due to a Herxherimer Die-off Reaction. Read this article to find out more and to see what herbal medicines and nutritional medicines you can take to manage this."
Posts: 161 | From vancouver island | Registered: Feb 2012
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Thanks for that article link.
I can't read the post, but the link is very helpful and for those with eye issues, very easy to read.
LIVER SUPPORT LINKS & and several HERXHEIMER support links, too.
==================================
It's helpful to read such articles. Still, when considering herbal / nutritional / adjunct methods:
if at all possible - because each person & each case is different - it's best to consult with an ILADS-educated LL (lyme literate) doctor who has completed four years of post-graduate medical education in the field of herbal and nutritional medicine -
- and someone who is current with ILADS' research & presentations, past and present.
Many LL NDs incorporate antibiotics (depending upon the licensing laws in their state). Some LLMDs and LL NDs have good working relationships.
When possible, it's great to have both a LLMD and LL ND and even better when they have a long-standing professional relationship.
Integrative / Holistic M.D., etc. (Be aware that those in this category can have various levels of formal herbal &/or nutritional education, perhaps even just a short course. Do ask first.)
Links to many articles and books by holistic-minded LL doctors of various degrees who all have this basic approach in common:
Understanding of the importance of addressing the infection(s) fully head-on with specific measures from all corners of medicine;
knowing which supplements have direct impact, which are only support and which are both.
You can compare and contrast many approaches.
BASIC HERBAL EDUCATIONAL & SAFETY links,
BODY WORK links with safety tailored to lyme patients,
LOW HEAT INFRARED SAUNA detail,
BIONIC 880 (& PE-1) links, and
RIFE links. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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