LLMD vs LLND after 9 months of treatment

I have been seeing a LLMD in NY since December with overall good results. He stopped my antibiotics in July. Most of my initial symptoms had resolved and I had a few lingering aches and pains that would not go away. He described these lingering pains as an autoimmune response and felt we should reassess in 2 months.

That two month mark is upon us and I am very torn. Many of my aches in my joints are returning, along with anxiety and disturbed sleep.  I have mixed feelings about my LLMD - the last few times I have been there, the appts have been rushed and I don't feel I am getting a lot of his time, especially since I have to pay cash for the visits. I called this week to see if they would try me back on antibiotics again to see if it helped and they wanted me to come in - they will not prescribe anything over the phone. It is a 2 hour car ride for me to get there and I just couldn't get there this week.

I have talked with several people in my area who have had really good success with an LLND right near my home. I am considering trying this path, even for a few months and see what happens.

so.... after my long story, has anyone done antibiotic treatment then switched to naturopathic treatment with good results?

I would greatly appreciate any input

Thank you and God bless you all. I would not have made it through the last 9 months without this forum

 

I think it's just a matter of personal preference, although I do tend to believe that if you're seriously questioning the doctor you're seeing or their treatment, it's less likely to work. There's always the option of seeing both, if you can swing that.

Right now I'm relying primarily on herbs and that seems to be doing the trick for me, but I am also on an antibiotic as well. The great thing about herbal medicines is that they tend to regulate systems rather than doing just one thing, which is why I think they work for me. My LLMD is pretty sure I still have an active infection based on a low CD57, but I also have pretty high autoimmune markers, and certain herbs are adaptogens - they basically tell the body system what to do.

You could also try doing more to detoxify to see if that gets rid of lingering symptoms - that can be the cause for some people after the infection is gone, if it is indeed gone for you.

Thank you for all of your advice. I made and appt and saw the LLND that was highly recommended. A good first impression. he says I need to detoxify, detoxify, detoxify! He was very compassionate and I think we will work well together.

I'll keep you posted

Hey-can you PM me the name of your LLND?

I was thinking of switching to herbs-my symptoms came back after 2 months-back on abx-it's getting a bit much!

Gosh! Sometimes I soooo wish that there was a "like" button on posts!!!

Tickle - I was, well, tickled to see you say that!!! I've been running my mouth (or should I say fingers?) about detoxing for soooo long!! I figured everyone was getting tired of me saying that, but you are so right!! Detoxing is a huge part of the healing that needs to take place in order for us to get a life back.

Going the natural route can take more work in a way, but it's all very worth it in my opinion!!

Not everyone currently active on the forum knows my story. I took abx for a full year back in '07. By the time I had stopped using them - against my LLMD's advice of course - I had such serious cognitive issues (couldn't hardly communicate was the worst part) and had started having small seizures, along with major physical issues (couldn't walk far or stand for more than a few minutes, among other things) that I figured I didn't have much to loose.

I went home and started detoxing, once I was no longer bed bound. I had to start off sooo painfully slow though!! I stuck with it anyway for quite a few months, and then found a Chinese Medicine Practitioner that agreed to treat me, and I haven't looked back since!! I have gotten so much healing under my belt in the two years that I have been seeing this practitioner that I have my dairy goats again, and have had a decent sized garden that hubby and I work - I was even able to get quite a bit of canning done this year!!!

"Amazing, truly amazing" is what people that saw how ill I had become tell me now! So don't hesitate to give "Natural" a try! If it doesn't work out for you, chance are that you need to find a better qualified practitioner, but you can always go back to the pharmaceuticals if you choose!

Thanks Garden Peace!
Yep!! I drink the raw milk, make cheese, butter, buttermilk, kefir.......and of course, ice cream once in a while!!

Thanks you so much for your well wishes! I was really happy to read about your experience with natural medicine in your previous post! I'm so glad that things are getting better for both of you!

I do hope that you find this forum to be as helpful as I have over the years! It's been invaluable to me!

Hi PMM,

I have been in a very similar situation to you in terms of worrying about relapse. I have been treated with antibiotics only (no herbals) for neural lyme. I was on antibiotics for just over a year and only had a few symptoms left. I came off them in April this year, and within just a couple of weeks a lot of the old symptoms returned - fatigue, headaches, nerve pain and confusion. I managed to wait out a month then had another three months of antibiotics. I then came off these again about six weeks ago. I still have a few symptoms, but there has been no relapse at all. My last few remaining niggles are nerve damage which may or may not resolve over time (I do think it is getting slowly better). I certainly found that I was more tired and with poor sleeping for the first month, but I think that was the stress and worry about whether I would relapse again.

Unfortunatly lyme can leave lasting damage, even with perfect treament. A month or two off antibiotics is plenty to see if symptoms are stable or getting worse or better without meds. Symptoms getting better might imply the meds were causing side-effects (e.g. tinidazole can cause nerve problems), symptoms being stable could be due to left-over damage (that might well get better over time), but symptoms continuing to get worse probably means you need further treatment of some sort. It can be hard to work out when to stop treatment though, so it is good you have given it a go. I'm sure a little more treatment will resolve the issues. Please don't assume that you need to be symptom-free when you are lyme-free - as I say some problems can be due to medication/herbal treament side-effects or actual damage.

Good luck!

Kirsty