New to Lyme and have questions

Hello, from a new user and unconfirmed as yet (untested, but very likely a tick bite (we have ticks all over the backyard). The bite was received last summer (never found the tick) left a massive half dollar size black and blue brused looking long lasting mark behind one knee, which was followed by bad knee joints and odd aches, (which i've NEVER had before). My reasoning for being here is because I'd like to read before I go for actual testing... perhaps it was stupid, but I shied from testing at the time of bite because i learned that the first line treatment is massive rounds of antibiotics...and I don't like them, they wipe ya out, leave you open to repeated ills....but so could this disease, so I'm considering what to do, at this point.

My question is this: Is anyone here currently or has anyone tried alternative therapies FIRST, over conventional medical treatments? My knees got less and less achey over the course of the past year..but other things have happened that point to a weakened and now compromised system, a very bad year for pollen led to a round of "worse than ususal" bronchitis (brought on by pollens off the charts, this year due to weather, and where we live/trees), a month of coughing was followed by such out of the norm ribcage pain that i thought I either had pneumonia or plurisy. I have read in researching that bronchitis and pneumonia are heightened by ones having Lyme. I also was witness to the FIRST ever reaction I've ever had to barometric pressure drop, which preceeded a storm..got out of bed feeling like i'd been hit by a train...then came rain..this repeated all winter... ... about the time I was bitten, I also had a tooth pulled (I'd have to sleuth out dates) and it was one time i said yes to AB because the tooth was likely infected....did not want to take chances..so I did have antibiotics, don't know if they would have worked to kill off some of the the vector borne bacterium or not...
I recently bought cat's claw pills ( uncaria tomentosa) and have been taking it for about a half month.....drink homemade kefir for probiotics, that is about it, tho...for health regimens. just hit again with another bout of bronchitis, after a month or better of wellness...another pollen is after me. Asthma ran on both sides of the family, I think brought on by tree/grass pollen, my sons and 89 year olf dad were affected too, at the same time. My mom suffered a cough her whole life and not a SINGLE doctor suggested she see an allergist.........

I have an acquaintance in Australia who had not heard of Lyme disease....he pulled up Wikipedia to find it is "not" in Australia. when he related that, my own research found an opposing Australian site declaring it IS very much present.... he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (progressive and terminal) I had to pass along what i had recently read about ALS and MND in regards to Lymes....which sometimes is not pinpointed, leading to misdiagnoses. There were accounts of people who sent blood out of country to be tested in the US and they received pos results...their own AU docs refused the testing.....long winded intro. sorry bout that.....
.mostly wondering it anyone has shunned conventional medicine, after getting a positive test. thankyou...

Post Edited By Moderator (CajunGrl) : 5/15/2011 4:08:12 PM (GMT-6)

Not necessarily true, MysteryLyme.

Hi CA kid!
I am sorry that you have a need to be here, but I am really glad that you found us!!

I am far from the only one to use alternative medicine to combat this insidious disease. Also, I am one who tried abx treatment, but my body rejected it - I got really, really ill and became bed-bound while on them & shortly afterwards. So I chose to not continue with abx. It took me 3 years to get back to my feet after that. I am now using Traditional and

Modern Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, and Western Herbology to treat my tick-borne infections and am using those plus Homeopathy to help support those systems that have been compromised. I actually started feeling better as soon as I started using these methods to support the systems that have been compromised, and have seen improvement in my tick-borne infections with only being in treatment for 2 1/2 months!!

I also do not have to put up with the side effects of taking abx. I have no increased issues with being out in the sun, no extra nausea (from abx), I don't have to be sure I eat enough to take my abx or other issues associated with taking abx.

I would highly suggest that you should read through the thread at the top of the forum titled "New to Lyme?...Start here!" as it is full of some really great info put together by our members here and has some really informative links, as well as some alternative therapies books and info!

Most blood tests for Lyme and other tick-borne infections still lack a great deal - as they are dependent upon finding the infectious agent still in the blood and the body has to have recognized it as an invader. Lyme is a spirochete like Syphilis, which means it has a cork-screw looking body and can invade tissues, blood vein walls and even bones will amazing ease. Evading detection by the body being it's #1 goal.

Here is a link to some of the more popular alternative therapies for Lyme Disease:
www.lymediseaseresource.com/Protocols.html

Of course there is a ton of info regarding tick-borne info out there, but do your self a favor and steer clear of info that is not aligned with ILADS (Inernational Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) standards - they are the only one based on the newest scientific research.

Please feel free to ask your questions here, as things can get quite confusing while trying to sift through all of the info.

I do hope this helps a bit!
Trav

Hi CA kid,
Reading up on tick-borne infections is always a good idea! That way you can be your own Health Advocate and be active in your own care, helping to ensure that you get the care you need.

Another thing I would heavily suggest reading is Dr. Joseph Burrascano's "Advance Topics on Lyme Disease". (betterhealthguy.com/joomla/images/stories/PDF/lymdxrx2008-october.pdf) He is a well-known and well-respected LLMD and researcher. Although his writings are about using abx to treat tick-borne infections, the information he includes will really be a big help.

Please be sure to ask any more questions that you may have, or if you would like any more suggestions.

Hi CA Kid,

Understanding and treating lyme is a daunting task. Netflix is streaming "Under Our Skin", a documentary about lyme and the controversy in the medical field. If you have a Netflix account, check it out.

I used a combo of abx and naturals and feel that was best. I am off abx, but continue to use homeopathic and herbs. I'm doing well.

I would recommend that you look into prevention, since you are out there doing the yard work. Insect Shield clothing is treated with permethrin and keeps ticks off you. They have pants, shirts, socks, hats, etc. and can be bought at LL Bean and a few other places. Also, there are ways to care for your property to keep the tick population down. Please check into that and minimize your risk of another bite. This is a bad year for ticks and the nymph size ones that are out right now are no bigger than a pepper fleck - hard to see or feel.

Im on an antibiotic eatment and a natural herb treatment and I don't want to dissapoint you but antibiotic treatment is usually the most successful was to go. The only thing that sucks about it is the side effect but hey, id rather suffer side effects of the antibiotics for a year or so than suffer from Lyme symptoms for the rest of my life

I remember back in highschool my health teacher telling us how she used only a natural herb treatment and she feels like a brand new person. You should see a Lyme doctor (not an infectious disease doctor) and ask him what he thinks the best treatment for you is. The longer you wait, the worse your symptoms will get and the longer your treatment will be.

But I must say, antibiotic treatment has been treating me well. I was at a point where I was barley even able to walk and dropped out of college. I have made a lot of improvement and I am back to running and school again. I still have a lot of other problems but I went untreated for fifteen years. Everybody's body is different, you just need to find the best one for you.

But the tests are rather unreliable, so lyme really can't be ruled out. In the end, it is a clinical diagnosis (based on symptoms.)

Thanks so much Deejavu, that is a really heartening story, and a wonderful advert for what I think boils down to personal freedom to follow what you think might work best for you, especially after reading enough to realize treatments can be costly, exclusive, and sometimes turned down....(by insurance co's). After reading the symptoms lists I got to thinking about my sister in law, also diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the early 80s I think....and wrote her to share the crossover info about lyme...she did recall getting a "bite" around the time she started feeling "achey" but thought it was a spider I myself had not heard of fibromyalgia before her diagnoses,,,,which I think is sort of a term used by doctors as is COPD, which cover complaints that cannot be pinpointed.... my own mom was wrongly diagnosed with COPD, when I think it was tree pollens/environmental sensitivity..she simply could have reloacted and alleviated her cough...
I really really appreciate the tip, and will be sure and get his book and read it, maybe first of all. I looked up one of the protocols found online last night that advocated both AB's and suppliments...just having a good suppliment list to go by is extremely helpful. As kids we all hiked locally and swam at the river...we are very much in deer country!! Do you know, (or anyone reading) is there a list of reported cases in the US, such as might be published by the CDC? this was a wakeup call, to see how fast it has grown and moved east to west..., and yet without alot of fanfare....west nile virus took center stage here, past 5 years or so as it caused a number of deaths....that led to vector control legislation, and taxation, for county spray programs.
I appreciate your help!