Few Questions

Hi BBRH,

Yes, your neck and foot symptoms are consistent with Lyme and coinfections. They will go away with treatment, although in at least in my case, the neck problems are the last to go.

You can get some relief from this by detoxing. How to do this is listed in the "New to Lyme?" thread. Also lymphatic drainage massage can help as can applying heat.

Please do keep taking the antibiotics that have been prescribed for you. They are helping your body fight the bacteria and preventing it from making further inroads.

Hope you feel better soon.

There have been an number of members that have used LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone), although I don't know what results they had. You could use our search function to find those threads that have to do with LDN.

What I just found about LDN is interesting. According to Dr. Ken Singleton, in his book "The Lyme Disease Solution" states: "An often-effective approach for regulating the autoimmune dysfunction associated with Lyme and other TBDs is to increase your body’s ability to produce endorphins." Use of LDN increases endorphins. "An additional function of endorphins is regulation of the immune system. In fact, many of the white blood cells of the body contain receptors on their surfaces for endorphins."

He goes further to say - "Therapies, therefore, that help to improve and normalize endorphins are among the most promising and exciting of all immune regulation, inflammation management, and pain control modalities. Three of the most effective therapies in this category are acupuncture, bodywork and massage, and low dose naltrexone (LDN) therapy."

Interesting. Although I haven't researched it very well, but if this is the case - I would heartily encourage you to take and stay on the LDN for as long as your doc would allow!

Oh boy - my neck problems have gotten much worse since the Lyme reared its ugly head! I feel like the muscles in my shoulders are just giant rocks, and my shoulders are always up to my ears! Heat and epsom salt baths (which might just be the heat factor again) really help with this - and sometimes a little self-massage really does the trick!