a month of antibiotics for every new tick bite? or would anyone rely on astragalus?

I would go ahead an do abx for a month.

Maybe you can ALSO do Astragalus.

Some people have to be on abx for a long time.

Make sure he detoxes, and takes a lot of probiotics.

You can also schedule a phone consult with Julie, Buhner's assistant.

Margaret

I've used nothing but astragalus for protection this year - I've had two highly suspicious tick bites that I'm sure would have turned into full blown infections had I not been on astragalus. The dose is 1,000 mgs daily until you get a tick bite or symptoms - then raise the dose to 3,000 mgs daily. Rowingmom said that she experienced a lot of extra inflammation on the 3,000 mgs daily, but I'm doing okay with it as long as I take my turmeric.

To top this off, this year, my hubby was infected with Lyme, but NOT me!! so to me that says that the astragalus works because he's getting bit and infected instead of me!!

We use astragalus, 1 capsule Mon, Wed and Fri. Cordyceps mushroom powder 1 tsp daily. Buhner recommends cordyceps if you are unable to take astragalus.

Astragalus in high doses may be problematic if you have a high bacterial load because the supported immune system will produce significant die-off. Buhner says that once you have decreased your load, astragalus can be used. So it is a balance between immune activation and bacterial load. If your load is lower, you can handle more astragalus and it can then be used as a preventative.

With the MWF dosing we do notice that we don't get as many colds, etc. now.

My problem with abx dosing is that you don't know what infections may be involved in the new bite. And doxy surely doesn't treat them all.

I would think that a properly functioning immune system (which of course involves a properly functioning gut microbiome and optimum nutritional status as well) would be more helpful.

There is a reason why we are all suffering from these infections while others who have been exposed do not. This is the same with any infection. Not everyone who is exposed is infected, or if they are the infection is short lived and doesn't become chronic or deadly.

The real problem is not the bacteria/virus/parasite, it's the body's terrain and ability to deal with it.

hi again,

thank you rowing mom for what you said too, and yes I agree with all of it too!

regarding the astragalus, I'm not sure what I"ll do right now, b/c I would have said his bacterial load was low as of April; that's when we started the Bart. herbs regularly and now it's been stomach aches almost everyday. But, I also wonder about strep (it went through his class with stomach ache symptoms the week before his tummy aches started; and his tummy aches started a week before the bart. herbs were added regularly. Something I'm going to talk to his llmd about next Wed. BUT, I digress!!!)

anyway, regarding the astragalus I'm not sure what to do right now, so I'll wait and consider more, b/c really, the more I think about this all, through the year and a half now, I would bet money he got this from me; that it was congenital or gestational, however they are calling it now.

Which is why I especially think about and try to research these days (been listening to Klinghardt interviews online, reading his stuff, and reading Buhner more thoroughly than before…they are brilliant!) the subject of "WHY" is someone symptomatic and another not as much or at all. And I realize everyone is different and has different things going on in them and around them. So, to your point rowing mom, to be the healthiest we can be, with a fully up and running immune system is really the way to get through this, I absolutely agree! and thank you and others for saying these things, b/c that's how I've learned them over the past months, from reading posts, and articles, books, etc.

The past months, as I read Klinghardt and Buhner, I see that both of them don't even have killing the spirochete at the top of the list. Yes, important, obviously, and something you do still, but they talk about the idea of the terrain too and addressing other things, like you said.

So, for my ds, the reason I hate giving him the antibiotics right now, is that symptomatically, he's been really doing well (well, except for these new stomach aches…the thing is, there is no increase in other bart. symptoms, not one at all…it confuses me.)

anyway, he's been doing well, and I hate the idea of the antibiotics killing his good gut flora (b/c probiotics can't replenish it all) and possibly hurting his immune system. ugh!!! I guess it's important if that was a tick bite ,but….it frustrates me.
(1 more week of them. I cannot wait for that to be over!)


and, back to what you said about why is someone symptomatic and others not.
(ok, warning, this is where I get long :) )
I do think I was infected in 5th grade after a tick bite. I can see certain minor things, that really seem like lyme/bart. symptoms through the years, yet none of them (except OCD type anxiety) have ever been troublesome enough to even hardly bother me. although some increasing lately, foot pain, as I age and am out of shape.

But I think why my son would be symptomatic if he did get it from me? A few things right off the bat.
you mention GMO's. I believe they were introduced into the foods in 2008? well, I was 36 years old then, but my son was born in 2010 has been consuming those regularly, (although I do try to buy GMO free and organic now).

he had to be on formula exclusively (low milk supply, couldn't nurse). I'm sure his formula had GMO in it, hurting his gut, but I didn't know or think of it at the time.

and also, he had to be on IV antibiotics at 6 weeks old (suspected Meningitis, but didn't have it). That certainly was not good for his gut.
Judy Converse, RD says in a book of hers, "when antibiotics are given very early, say in the first weeks of life, the baby's immune system is so immature that it may have trouble recovering that "digest and defend" sequence in the gut. An error message may be given to the baby's new immune system to teach it to regard disruptive flora as normal. …the bad stuff won't quit, it just keeps growing back".

he had signs of yeast problems as an infant (bad cradle cap and a couple small eczema patches as an infant)

also, I have a mouth full of mercury from my cavities, and I've read that that can affect the child in utero,
and, being a boy the following info doesn't help him any:
"testosterone blocks the body’s ability to make glutathione and (that) mercury binds to glutathione, thus inactivating whatever stores the body may already have. So exposure to testosterone and any mercury compound would be a double-whammy."
a block in making glutathione…not helpful.

also unfortunately my nutrition was not good while pregnant, and I've read that the child inherits the mother's gut health. (I wasn't sick, but I ate poorly)

and, his dad has auto-immune issues of asthma, and allergies, and past eczema.

so, I'm thinking out loud on things I've thought of before and continue to think of, and your thoughts make me think of these issues all the more,

and then with the following info that we know: "80 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive tract, making a healthy gut a major focal point if you want to achieve optimal health"

is it any wonder that my baby(3 1/2 yrs old when lyme/PANS symptoms started), who was hit with antibiotics at 42 days old (24 hour IV), dealing with mercury from my fillings while in the womb, drinking back GMO laced formula (and their harmful effects on gut health) all day, every day for a year, radiation from a chest x-ray at 6 weeks old, my poor nutrition during pregnancy, being a male, most likely having the MTHFR gene mutation, his father's history of auto-immune disorders…is it any wonder that he would have a hard time being asymptomatic with the borelia infection, with all of these things going on and affecting his gut from early on (80% of his immune system/function).

and even if I don't have it, and he didn't get it from me, still none of these things help him with just brushing the bacteria off, or dealing with it asymptomatically.

anyway, I've gone on and on, like I said, just kind of thinking out loud, and all to say to that I 100% agree with you rowing mom, "the real problem is the body's terrain and ability to deal with it". 100% agree! and this is why I've hated to give him antibiotics these past weeks, and am glad we're almost done with the Rx.

so much to do, so much to learn! it's very fascinating really (except for that it stinks. lyme and co., I mean)

Post Edited (stacestar) : 6/27/2015 11:09:31 AM (GMT-6)