My LLMD and friend who have had successful treatment for LD have told me Sleep! But up til now...9 weeks of treatment , I have still not been able to sleep consistantly well.

Is it ok to take benedryl regularly...Except for a wonderful exhaustion, and no itching, I think it was wonderful. I was in a bit of a foggy funk today, but then just got more exhausted after swiiming and the funk left.

I used to take it after drinking (whew)
back when I could drink my pain away.

I would take 1-2 with melatonin and kava and valerian. Knocked me out cold.

Next morning I would jump start my day with ephedrine and coffee, lots of it, and piracetam too!!

My body didnt last 2 years of this abuse.
Eventually I became suicidally depressed and cried all the time.

The benadryll I learned, slowlly depletes your neuro-transmitters.

Too much drugs are bad,,, I know first hand from trying to supress my symptoms and make me happy with them.

I also know people who have done much more of much worse. Stuff that I wouldnt touch.

Here's a short paragraph from a document I have from Mid-Atlantic Lyme Disease Resource Center, which I find quite useful.
" 17. Antihistamines. Not when on one of the tetracycline family of antibiotics (e.g., Doxycycline). Your immune system is one of the biggest factors in your recovery; one of the big superpowers in the war against the disease. The antibiotics will kill some percentage of the bacteria each cycle while your immune system kills off the ones that were weakened. Together, the antibiotics and your body create a team to defeat the bacteria. Antihistamines, like Benadryl, turn off your immune system. The tetracycline family of antibiotics does not actually kill the bacteria, but rather just stops them from growing and relies on your immune system to kill them. That being said, however, some antihistamines (used briefly) can help moderate pain and burning sensations during symptom flares and Herx reactions."

By all means, if you need occasional Benadryl for sleep, you need it, but I'd really be careful....

took the benedryl one day and a half dose at night. it let me sleep like a baby, but there was something that didn't feel like I was doing the right thing for my body.

Flet like something was shutting down besides my itching..

The component of your immune system that is affected by benadryl, in the case of lyme disease, may actually help fight the bacteria. Histamines are given off by your cells to fight virus's, but can be used by bacteria to gain entrance to the cells.

Some studies have shown that some bacteria can collect the histamines and use them to dissolve the cell walls. It is part of their cloaking mechanism.

I have been taking benadryl for about 25 years. The doctors first put me on it for a "ringworm" like rash. It appeared to help the rash go away, but now I know the rash comes and goes whenever it wants.