Lyme Disease: Causes, Testing, Diagnosis & Treatments

[4myhoonie]

so if it is a gut problem, then would regular gut cleansing be effective, such as Detox +?  like HB did, 10 days at a time, followed up with probiotics & L Glutamine, etc.

[Pastorswife2B]

Lyme's is a systematic disease that likes to actively infect different parts of your body.  It lives in the brain (and central nervous system), joints, heart, kidneys, and gut; however not all people will have active infections at all these different points.  Due to it's nature as a spirochete it is not very susceptible to many anti-microbials pharmaceutical or herbal so doing something like detox+ will help your symptoms for awhile, but it comes raging back. 

Herbs shown to be affective are Cat's Claw, Andrographis, Japanese Knotwood, Stephania, and Smilax.   These are not mild herbs, most of them are contraindicated in pregnancy and you should do your research on them, but many people who suspect Lyme's will try a protocol of 2 or 3 of these herbs for about a month.  If you experience a relief of symptoms or a significant herxeimer/die off reaction then it is very probable that Lyme's is your issue and a year long regimen is recommended. 

[4myhoonie]

hmmm.......gets me thinking. thanks!

[Beth]

Do not view these pictures if you have a weak stomach! The Vitamin C and salt therapy is fascinating and I've already started Vitamin C flushes for many reason and killing off any pathogens that may be present is certainly one of them. The thought of having anything like this in my body is just creepy, gross!  

Borrelia burgdorferi/lyme bacteria photos
http://www.lymephotos.com/bb/index.html

Vitamin C therapy with photos
http://www.lymephotos.com/

FAQ about Therapy
http://www.lymephotos.com/faq/index.html

Printable Treatment Protocol
http://www.lymephotos.com/printableprotocol.html

"Insects, arachnids, and ticks carry many different types of bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and nematomorphs. We have found many strange things, which we have tried to explain. We must say we are not medical professionals. We were just desperate people looking to get better. We have lost all faith in the medical profession. We were tired of having doors closed in our faces. We researched, contemplated, and came up with an idea. Research the late, great Linus Pauling. He took at least 18,000 mg of vitamin C every day. We tried to read everything we could about Lyme disease. Supposedly cows somehow beat Lyme disease. We considered, why cows,why not other animals? Cows love salt. Humans consume less salt today than they ever have. Early Americans consumed approximately 20 grams a day. The consumption has been drastically decreasing with each decade. Could it be that the decrease in salt consumption has allowed these new illness, such as Lyme, Chronic Fatique Syndrome,Fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's Disease, and Gulf War Syndrome to flourish. Now just lately, the whole salt scare has reversed and the researchers admit that they were wrong. So go ahead and shake that salt! As far as treatment goes, the results were forthcoming with the taking of 8 grams or more. We have actually increased to as much as 24 grams, but find that no one really wants to take that many pills in one day. Remember it is a one-two punch: the treatment is both salt and vitamin C. After years of suffering, finally life is back to normal. We still do not know if organisms lie dormant in our body; therefore, the treatment continues, simply as maintenance. The extreme pain no longer exists. The knot on the side of the neck is gone. We are at peace. We wish you all good health! Feel free to contact us with your opinions and questions. Though we may not be able to answer each one individually, we will post findings as they come. Hang in there and think positive thoughts."

http://www.lymephotos.com/lastword/index.html

Has anyone ever tried this, that has been diagnosed with lyme disease?

[ladyhen]

Has anyone ever tried this, that has been diagnosed with lyme disease?

My oldest daughter is still Lyme free.  Some of her story is on this thread;  Vit C & Sea Salt

She had chronic Lyme for nearly 7 years and is still dealing with the damage that it left behind.  Don't know how long remission will last, but for now she is enjoying life. 
She still takes vitamin C and uses a lot of salt.  We are big believers in minerals after all the reading we've done on Lyme and other conditions.

[Beth]

Has anyone ever tried this, that has been diagnosed with lyme disease?

My oldest daughter is still Lyme free.  Some of her story is on this thread;  Vit C & Sea Salt

She had chronic Lyme for nearly 7 years and is still dealing with the damage that it left behind.  Don't know how long remission will last, but for now she is enjoying life. 
She still takes vitamin C and uses a lot of salt.  We are big believers in minerals after all the reading we've done on Lyme and other conditions.

thank you!   

[momhome]

The last few days (since starting Doxy) my legs have been

getting worse like jello. I feel like gumby. When I walk my knees want to

buckle, my hips hurt,and its like I have almost no control over them. Any

suggestions?

[DHW]

gwen posted this on another thread:

http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?id=3990&t=CFIDS_FM

It is an article about the work Ritchie Shoemaker is doing with Lyme Disease and related diagnoses.  He uses Visual Contrast Sensitivity to determine neurological involvement and quite a few other tests to accurately diagnose LD.  The second part of the article explains his approach for an initial appointment.  He treats the infection first the erradicate the bb bacteria and co-infections, and then he detoxes the body of mycotoxins - poisons generated by the infectious organisms.

Dr. Robert J. Rowen recommends Carnivora for LD and other infectious diseases.  This is taken on an on-going basis to prevent a relapse. 

[momofCE]

As for testing, while there is much research and efforts being made for a more accurate test for Lyme, the best I've heard of for now is the Western Blot. And even then most good LLMDs recommend only a few labs. One of them is IGeneX- its out there somewhere- in Washington or Oregon.... kinda all the same diff to me.

But, this is very important- you cannot go by the normal "positive" or "negative" reading of test for accuracy. If you have only ONE "fingerprint band" you have Lyme disease.

Quoting Dr. James Schaller MD, one of the best authorities on Lyme:
"Many patients and practitioners are profoundly ignorant about how to interpret a Western Blot Test. They say it is either "negative" or "positive". Wrong. If a person has one fingerprint band, they have Lyme disease. These highly specific bands, widely accepted in the world of literature, are 13, 14, 17, 21, 23, 24, 25, 28, 31, 34, 35, 37, 39, 47, 50, 54, 83, 84, 93, and 94. The lab can be a junk lab that invests nothing to optimize their testing kit, but if one of these bands is positive-Lyme is present. IGeneX has the best Western Blot in the world. No other Lab has invested so much, for so long, to create the best test. If your clinician wants to first use an ELISA, simply run. To put it bluntly, the ELISA test as a screening tool is useless, missing even the most obvious PCR positive patients with clear past histories of massive Bull's Eye rashes, which, while not the norm, provide evidence of spirochetes."

hth!

Is this true?  My 18,34 and 39 came out positive and my 41 and 83-93 came out ind (indeterminate).  My doctor said lyme's is a possibility.  He started me out on vit c (and other vit.) IV, lots of vitamins and supplements, and cipro, flagyl, and diflucan (to treat yeast-tested positive).  I got so weak and couldn't eat much (I would force myself to eat when I could, All food was disgusting).  I had to stop the flagyl on day 12 even though I was supposed to take it 14 days.  I am supposed to go back to see him soon.  I don't know what he is going to say-if he will think lyme is the cause of my chronic fatigue, achiness, periods not coming etc.  I don't seem near as severe as alot of people.  Also, my sleeping is straightening out.  I am on HTP, and I don't stay out past 8:00.  I am getting better, but still don't feel I could do alot of exercise etc. 

[DHW]

It is true that Western Blot tests for Lyme are not read correctly.  One fingerprint is all it takes to be positive.  This has been known among Lyme literate docs for quite a while, but is not widely accepted among conventional and non-Lyme doctors.

[wlwest]

I see there hasn't been many posts here for quite a while!  I had posted a few weeks ago about being hit with headaches. Turns out it's Lyme. My daughter became sick and had a rash. Her symptoms were similar to mine. Anyway we went to a Lyme doctor. We've both been on doxycycline today is the 3 rd week. She is doing pretty well sometimes she has a headache or is tired. I am still suffering with sever neck stiffness, head pain and getting up is painful. The pressure is terrible. I am also takin b12 shots and plaquenil. Also we are taking alit of supplements, silver shield, vit c, chlorophyll, probiotics, curcumin. I think that's it!  Anyway how long before I can start to see significant improvement?  I am thankful I am as good as I am but it's still tough. I have been researching oils and have some. But I am afraid to do too many things at once. My doctor says to wait until later in treatment to do oils. Any encouragement or help would be appreciated!  I also get so emotional and sad so easily. Especially when my symptoms get bad.

[kcb]

Hello wlwest, I guess you haven't gotten any replies, and it's been several months.    How are you doing with Lymes disease?  I have been successful treating three of my kids with homeopathic Ledum 200c for Lymes disease.  Lymes is really tough, and antibiotics don't always kill it.  One of my sons was on antibiotics for four months straight, for Lymes disease, and it didn't really work.  The symptoms declined, but within a few weeks off antibiotics, they returned.  Plus, the antibiotics messed up his gut and gave him stomach aches.  Homeopathy is better.  Here's what I do for my family:

Take Ledum 200c for Lymes disease, twice per day for weeks or months, and then declining in frequency.  At first, you might see some reaction to the Ledum, either an improvement, or possibly a lot of symptoms getting worse all at once.  This is an indication that the remedy is correct and the body is starting to flush out the Lyme organism. 

The longer you have Lyme, the longer it takes to treat with homeopathy.  After the symptoms are healed, you can reduce the Ledum to once per day, for a couple weeks.  Then every other day for a couple weeks.  Continue to decrease in frequency until you're taking it just once per month for a few months.

After you feel better, if you have symptoms again, then go back to twice/day until you are better, and for a couple extra weeks.  Then begin to decrease the frequency all over again. 

I can tell you the stories of how my kids healed up.  The first was a miraculous healing -- God touched my oldest son (12yo) through prayer, and he was instantly well after being bed-ridden for five weeks.  2011.  Praise God! 

The second case was my fourth son.  We found a Lyme bullseye rash on him when he was 7yo, and we did four months of antibiotics.  When that didn't work, I started him on homeopathy, and he gradually got completely better.  That was a couple years ago. 

Third case was my third son (8yo), about a year ago.  We found a tick on him and started Ledum the next day.  I stopped after two weeks, because I didn't know how to do the gradual decrease of frequency.  Within days of stopping the Ledum, my son became sick with the Lyme symptoms, and I started him on Ledum again.  He had a total of four days of acute symptoms, and he has been fine ever since. 

The fourth case was my fifth son (5yo), last year.  We never saw a tick or rash, so didn't know he had Lymes until he started complaining of symptoms: weak limbs, joint pain, headaches, lethargy.  He took a couple of months to heal up on Ledum, and he is still on the once/month doses. 

I hope that helps!  You are welcome to pm me if you want, because I'm not on the forum very often anymore.

Kim

[wlwest]

Thanks for the info. My daughter responded very well to treatment. She has been off antibiotics since February. I still give her probiotics and watch her closely. I am still struggling. I added resvertrol and that has helped a lot. I am still doing the antibiotic route. My doctor changed it some. And of course a lot of supplements and diet. I have ordered some tinctures from the stephen buhner protocol. So I am going to start that when I get that. I do have ledum and I had took some of that myself in the very beginning. I was so scared and then when my daughter had the rash I was too afraid to follow that. But I would use that if we had any more bites. I think I have had this for a really long time. And either I had a second bite or something set it off. So I didn't know if ledum would be good for that or just an acute case. I research all the time. It's so hard to decide what the best way is. I've stayed on the route from my llmd for now. I have a lot of head pressure and neck pain still. That's where it's the worst for me. If I don't see improvement with this latest round of meds I will probably switch to all herbal protocol. I do know it takes time.... It has been almost 8 months. That's a long time to be in constant pain.😕