posted
I and my spouse are nervous wrecks post-lyme. Is there anything herbal / nutritional we can take daily to help alleviate anxiety without popping xanax all the time and becoming addicted to it?
Also, is bactrim hard on your kidneys?
Thank you!!!
Posts: 111 | From Nowhere | Registered: Jun 2008
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posted
All I know is inderal might be a better prescription for you than xanax. Since anxiety is a symptom of lyme, are you sure you guys have been treated long enough? Not sure what post-lyme really means--post-treatment, post-diagnosis, acute lyme or chronic lyme?
Posts: 702 | From North Eastern USA | Registered: Dec 2009
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posted
Thanks for the tips!
Posts: 111 | From Nowhere | Registered: Jun 2008
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Xanax can seem to help some - but also it can make anyone a nervous wreck. Reaction can vary widely. It's very toxic to the liver, as are many drugs to affect mood.
But, first, are you sure you are both post-lyme?
Were you treated by an ILADS-educated LLMD?
For how long?
Were you assessed for all the other tick-borne infections AND other chronic stealth infections, too?
What is your liver support now?
And your adrenal support?
If the liver and the adrenal system are stressed, anxiety will be a result. Nutrition, too, but I assume you're on fish oil and good B-vitamins, etc.
Even if the lyme infection is well under control and in a good remission, the adrenals and the liver can still suffer for a long time. Lyme can cause permanent damage, too, but there are still lots of thing to help the adrenals and liver to repair as best it can.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- From Timaca:
In addition to the usual coinfections from ticks (such as babesia, bartonella, ehrlichia, RMSF, etc.), there are some other chronic stealth infections that an excellent LLMD should know about:
I would encourage EVERY person who has received a lyme diagnosis to get the following tests. . . .
- at link.
=========
Also from Timaca:
The symptoms for a chronic coxsackie infection are the same as the symptoms for a chronic lyme infection. Basically, chronic viral infections look like chronic lyme symptom wise.
That is why you CANNOT go with a "clinical" diagnosis for lyme. You must run all the tests you can think of (including viral panels) to determine what the heck you are sick with.
Having said that, it is entirely possible to be sick with more than one pathogen, and it is possible to have both bacterial and viral pathogens be part of the problem.
Do a search here on lymenet using my member number and the words "viral testing" and you'll find some info.
It is best to use ARUP lab for testing. I had high antibody titres to a number of coxsackie B viruses and they have dropped remarkably with treatment (oxymatrine) and I have felt better.
Both ID doctors that I see (and they are wonderful ID doctors by the way) have been amazed by my lab results and how I responded to the medication. My story can be found here:
You will need to sign in to read the posts. For more info on enterovirus do a google search for "John Chia enterovirus" You can also watch a presentation here:
Scroll down until you see the "enterovirus session."
Get tested for lots of things...treat what is most obviously wrong. If you have off the charts antibodies for viruses and only one or two lyme bands, treat the viruses first and see what happens. If lyme is most obvious, treat that first.
Don't treat the maybes until you've tested for everything and treated what looks obviously wrong. Otherwise you could be barking up the wrong tree and you will never get well.
In my case we are addressing HHV-6, EBV, HSV1, VZV, Cpn and enteroviruses. Lyme may or may not have been part of my picture.
Most of you, based on my lyme testing would say I had/have lyme. Maybe, maybe not. I do have a bacterial infection, that is for sure. Whether it's lyme or Cpn would be the question. Since I have off the charts antibodies for Cpn that's what we are treating.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- You might also want to check out the article on "Secondary Porphyria" as anxiety is a main symptom of elevated porphryins in someone unable to metabolize them due to liver damage. Most drugs make that much worse.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Back to your original question. Herbal or nutritional supplements to ease anxiety.
As you read through some of stuff that will, no doubt, add to anxiety but still get to the bottom of it, I'll list a few things that help me as long ago I found any drug intended to help made anxiety worse, by far.
I don't have time to back up with links but I will be back later with some.
You can start at
www.vrp.com - search in their articles for "anxiety"
lymebytes
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11830
posted
Many questions to consider. Do you have other symptoms besides anxiety? How long were you treated and were you both treated until symptom-free + 2 months beyond that? Were co-infections treated?
Post-Lyme is really an IDSA term for what ILADS calls Chronic Lyme Disease.
You may have Chronic Lyme Disease and need more treatment.
To me, this doesn't ring right...sounds like your treatment ended too early.
I hope you have a good Lyme literate Md who can help you decipher if you need further treatment or not. If he/she says no further treatment, get a second opinion.
Valarian (opposite effect as stimulant in some people) St Johns wort ( don't combine with antidepressants) Lemon Balm Skullcap Lady's Slipper Passon Flower Milky Oats Wood Betony Motherwort HOPS Kava Kava (more of muscle relaxer)-I would leave this as last resort....... Some combo above- Tincture or make a pot of strong team and drink all day/every day to strengthen nervous system over time. Find a good herbalist to help.
Posts: 200 | From New England | Registered: Dec 2009
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