Battling Lyme with supplements

Hi everyone. My name is Jody- I'm a single dad living in Northeast CT and contracted Lyme disease the first week of May this year. It sucks. My GP gave me 100mg Doxy for 21 days. It did not cure me. I saw her this past Monday as I have been feeling like I am in the twilight zone (LymeLight Zone might be more appropriate)
I have the usual Lyme issues...dizziness, aches in my legs, knees, shoulders, brainfog, poor short term memory at times etc. I wake several times per night in pain- usually my arms or shoulder. I have been taking Turmeric, and Magnesium Malate but honestly don't feel much different. I just bought some RainTree formula Cats Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) 500mg caps and Source naturals Resveratrol 200 polygonum cuspidatum root extract - both recommended by Stephen Harrod Buhner. I am about to purchase his book too and another called "Why can't I get better" by Richard Horwitz. Both books received 4-5 stars. Having never taken resveratrol or cats claw I do not know what to expect- except some people indicate I may experience "herxing" which is a reaction to the die off of the bacteria when I take these. Does anyone have experience with these supplements? I'd appreciate any advice. I live alone and by myself and it's scary and lonely to go through this alone. My daughter is in college and only is here weekends and is not really into "taking care" of dad...I am very sad but she is just not that type of daughter. I know she loves me but will not be the kind to take care of old dad. Thanks for any help you can provide.

I think it's horrible and ignorant too that the state of CT will not recognize Lyme Disease as a legitimate disease for the dispensation of medical marijuana. I believe that Lyme patients should be able to obtain small quantities for pain and sleep problems associated with Lyme. I contacted the State of CT Medical marijuana program and they asked for "evidence" that marijuana will help Lyme patients and it must be "scientifically" verifiable. What rubbish. How can one "scientifically" verify that cannabis will help with lyme other than one's own experience with it or others. I found what I could and they rejected it as I expected. So they would rather Lyme patients take pharmaceutical pain killers which do a lot of damage to the liver and immune system than take a far less toxic approach to palliation of Lyme symptoms using a far less toxic pain reliever like cannabis. That makes zero sense. It will be legal soon enough but it would be nice to be able to get a prescription card just until I get over the pain and difficulties associated with Lyme.

Beth- thank you for your kind and caring reply- I sincerely appreciate it. I actually am a vegan so I have some advantages already as to eating healthy. I drink green raw juices already, watch my sugar/carb intake and am well versed in taking care of my body. My best friend who used to live in Worcester MA taught me much about naturopathic and homeopathic modalities- so I have that on my side too, but realize in the case of Lyme I am best off receiving a constitutional assessment from a naturopath here in town at Avena wellness center. I won't let Lyme get the best of me and will approach it with a lot of optimism. I don't like how I feel, but realize that one gets worse before they get better in the healing process. Thank You!

Thanks girlie. I wish you the very best!

Mike - great post and thanks for the information. I always appreciate learning what others are doing to alleviate their symptoms. I hope not to just palliate my Lyme disease but cure it. I will keep you posted too.
I have a great naturopath in town who I will see when I can afford it. Unfortunately most integrated/alternative medicine practitioners do not take insurance so I will do what I can when I can! I fully agree with you about antibiotics. I don't want to take them at all and realize the longer I take them the worse my gut and immune system are. I do have some great high potency Probiotics that are at my disposal when I need them. My GP wants me on doxy for 30 days so I will try this one more time. I truly believe if more people knew what it feels like to experience post lyme treatment syndrome they would not scoff those who have it. I work at a very busy IT help desk and there are times where I get a dizzy spell or just feel really lousy for a bit and I get these "It's all in your head" looks or comments. People can really be ignorant.
Take care and best of luck

Jody,

You are off to a good start with the Knotweed and Cats Claw, I take both in my protocol. But I recommend getting some more potent ABX to knock this down early.

Buhner also recommends Sida Acuta and Cryptolepsis for both Babs and Bart co-infections, which almost everyone with Lyme from Southern New England also gets from the same tick bite. Neither did much for me, but everyone is different. Both are available at woodlandessence.com Colloidal Silver may also be worth looking into.

Buhner's book on Healing Lyme is pretty dated and he is planning a revision soon, so save your money. His info on Lyme on his web site is a little more up to date, and his newest book on Bartonella and Mycoplazma co-infections if also excellent.

Consider getting to an LLMD.... Check out the Lyme Center of New England, just a short ride east into RI.

Godspeed

Post Edited (tickbite666) : 6/20/2014 5:54:26 AM (GMT-6)

Sorry Buhner

So sorry tickbite666 best if luck and dont give up

Hi Inspiredby3- I am getting 100mg twice per day (200mg total) As I stated previously, I started 500mg per day of Raintree formulas Cats Claw and Source naturals 400mg Resveratrol from polygonum cupsidatum root as prescribed by Buhner. OMG- This is my 3rd day on the herbs and my left shoulder is absolutely killing me today- feels like a separated shoulder it hurts so much. But I read that this may be a "herx" and pain is normal in the beginning of this regimine. I also take turmeric daily, magnesium malate daily, 1000mg krill oil daily too. My doctor told me after this second round of abx which is a 30 day run, she wants another 30 days of doxy if this run fails to halt the Lyme. I feel like I am in the twilight zone these days- very hard to think, concentrate and focus. I'm trying to drink raw juices with spirulina as often as I can, coffee occasionally at work to help focus, and yerba matte tea 2 cups per day. They werent' kidding when they said it gets worse before it gets better. At end of summer I am seeing a naturpath too who lives in my town- $175 for initial naturopathic constitutional assessment. As a single dad that is very expensive as Insurance does not cover integrative medicine - which is absurd. I fail to comprehend why regular people like us can educate ourselves with herbal/homeopathic knowledge to help our immune systems, but our mainstream allopathic doctors do not. Sure there are some who will discuss alternative medicine but for the most part they do not. My doctor has zero knowledge of alternative medicines. I really hope the spaciness and pain go away soon. It's hard to sleep!