luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
Drs never mention it, but I think it is the very first line of defense we must incorporate in recovery. It is the foundation that enables all other treatments to perform at optimim ability.
I was diagnosed with Lyme in Aug 05 and Rheumatoid Arthritis Jan 06. Studying the two diseases is so identical I sometimes have to double check as to which disease I am reading about.
Dr Thomas McPherson Brown spent 40 years researching a bacterial connection to RA. He suspected and focused treatment on Mycoplasmas. I wonder if it wasn't always Lyme.
Dr Brown preferred pulsing because the minocycline suppressed the activity of both the mycoplasmas and the immune system. By taking it every other day, the hope was the immune system would recover faster than the mycoplasma and it is actually the immune system that is killing the mycoplasmas. Minocycline does not kill (according to what I have read).
This theory would also explain why diet is so immportant. Some foods like sugar and refined starches such as breads, cakes, cookies, etc (anything processed) feed the bad bacterias and suppress the immune system. Other foods like whole foods (meaning they grew that way) feed the good bacterias and boost the immune system.
Obviously if you hope the immune system recovers first, there are dietary and supplementary things you can do to support and strengthen the immune system.
I am pulsing the minocin 100mg MWF and so far seem to be doing better. I have only been on the minocin 2 weeks so I think it is too soon to give it the credit, but I started a strict vegan diet on Jan. 24 because my stomach began to burn when I would eat. This is the same day I was diagnosed with RA and quick research on RA uncovered a connection to Leaky Gut Syndrome. It just seemed to fit my situation.
Little did I know at that time how crucial diet is to RA. I believe most of my current progress is diet driven and will hopefully be completed by the antibiotic protocol.
Since this low dose antibiotic is not thought to be strong enough for Lyme, I am looking at the "Healing Lyme" herbs to help battle Lyme. Dr Brown discovered that high doses of abx for RA just caused the body to react to the abx and did not further recovery from RA. Low dose abx avoided the side effects and in 70% of cases was successful in bringing about full remission of RA.
Since RA is not a disease nor a bacteria nor a virus, but rather the name of a condition brought about by unknown causes, I believe the low dose approach is effective in killing some kind of bacteria. Why not Lyme?
If you go on the lymenet equivalent for RA called www.roadback.org you find people chatting like we do but the difference is their chats are so positive.
Seems the ones chatting are mostly people who are in remission as a result of the antibiotic protocol. They are total believers in this method of treatment for RA and they believe because they have had success with the program.
I can't understand why a connection between bacteria and RA isn't pursued more vigorously. Rheumies don't even want to hear about it.
Diet is huge on that board too.
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
diet is massive. i went to a completely raw vegan organic diet and have made great improvements. i could go on and on about the amazing things it has done for me. it appears to me that we were not intended to eat animal products, or cooked food. my diet is one of the best things i have ever done for myself in my life. you are absolutely right that it makes a huge difference if you are feeding the mycoplasma or not. garth nickelson calls sugar "stimulatory molecues". it causes them to become move active and reproduce. this kind of diet will help heal all the organs and GI system which is a must, and plays a very large roll in health and recovery. the level of minocin you are taking is very low. i was on 600mg daily. anything below 400mg daily is bacteriostatic ( bacteria inhibiting ) you need to reach 400+ to become bacteriacidal ( kills the pahtogens) your immune system is what will really do the killing and cleaning up regaurdless though, the drugs are just a crutch.
check out this article from the #1 alt doc on the web on minocin, mycoplasma, diet and RA
Has anyone had success with lower dosages of abx? Tired of nuke dosages.
quai
-------------------- "In spite of the ever increasing cost of living, it remains quite popular" S. Shackel Posts: 87 | From walla walla wa | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
quai,
That question deserves its own post. I am curious about it myself.
Seems if it works for mycoplasma, it should work for lyme.
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
From what I've seen, the "nuke doses" were, for me, necessary, at least for awhile. If one has trouble with sensitivity, pulsing is probably a good idea. I think you need to be sure of a bacteriocidal concentration in the bloodstream. Diet is immensely important, too. Because of my increased awareness of diet, I think I'm on my way to being healthier than before I got sick with it! Lyme is so nasty that you need to optimize your chances in every little way you can-- its a SERIOUS BATTLE; if you don't take it totally seriously, it may go on and on- this is what was happening to me when I first had Lyme Etc! (it still took more than 2 years at the mega doses!) Optimal rest also matters, but isn't always so easy to snag. So rather than take additional pharm drugs to 'correct' that, get on the net and investigate yet more nutritional things to try. (teas like Yogi "Bedtime Tea" and Celestial Seasonings "Sleepyrime" or "Sleepytime extra" are places to start in addressing sleep difficulty). Be sure you get all the help your Lyme doc has to offer too- this may take some effort and advocacy--bring a friend in if you can- since good lyme docs are often overworked!
DaveS
Posts: 4567 | From ithaca, NY, usa | Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
>>From what I've seen, the "nuke doses" were, for me, necessary, at least for awhile.
==Me too. ABout 100 days of nuking and I backed off and nutrified. Eating only nutrient dense foods helps alot.
LLMD started me on large helpings of MSM to detox the last 100 days of toxic fallout, made me sick the first day. Sulphur seemed to motivate alot of toxins resulting in breathing and nerve issues. He kept on me about reaching "bowel intolerance" with MSM/vitC and I never thought it possible. Well, ole iron gut finally got worse and worse even eating right, until I reached "bowel intolerance" and gastric Hiroshima in the form of a "grand" BM actually made me a new guy.
Fiber rules. Pumpkin seeds, carrot juice, whole grapefruits, half a cup of psyllium/day, 15g vit in water day, 4tblsp MSM and I finally overcame a great buildup of toxins. Feelin mo betta now.
quai
-------------------- "In spite of the ever increasing cost of living, it remains quite popular" S. Shackel Posts: 87 | From walla walla wa | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
Wow quai
I'm a regular kind of a gal in the BM dept but even so, it sounds so good to just have a major BM and get all the bad stuff out.
I am working with an LLMD, Biological Dentist and one very resistant rheumy but no one is giving me that kind of coaching. I know they are all so busy and so far away that they can't focus on me but many times I feel kind of left out in the cold.
The LLMD seems so hesitate to prescribe any drugs.
I'm so intrigued by the fact the RA folks use low dose abx with great results and the Lymies use high dose abx with great results.
If, as thought by the RA folks, Mycoplasma causes RA, then the different dosing makes some sense. Two different bacterias. But in my case, I'm being told my RA is coming from the Lyme. I just don't know what is the right answer.
I am doing the low dose protocol and have been really better but today my left wrist is swollen again. Since I am just two weeks into the medicine, it could be a herx is finally beginning.
I don't know. Thanks for your input about the roughage. I may give that a try.
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I been plenty regular too, never have I had issues. But when nuking abx and toxin "moving on" takes on a whole new meaning. I am gonna start stocking prunes to ignite.
LLMD says we recycle 70% of what is causing our symptoms through the colon.
***Could we cut back on abx by half if we "moved more"????***
If I were healthy, it'd be espresso and a salad.
quai
-------------------- "In spite of the ever increasing cost of living, it remains quite popular" S. Shackel Posts: 87 | From walla walla wa | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic