Newly Diagnosed - need herbal treatment advice/experience

Hi there,

I am 24 years old, just diagnosed with Lyme. I have been sick for about five years, tried everything. Finally pursued Lyme through a naturopath who sent my bloodwork to Igenex lab. Came back positive yesterday.
My symptoms include: brain fog, dizziness, blurred vision, floaters, memory loss, mental confusion, neck/shoulder stiffness cracking and pain, digestive problems, food sensitivities, fatigue...

I am eager to try an herbal approach before venturing into such things as IV therapy or especially antibiotics. How I feel about my body is that antibiotics would do more harm than good.

So my naturopath gave me a prescription of different herbs to start taking as an initial protocol. But I hadn't ever heard of any of them even though having done a lot of research on my own beforehand. SO I want to get more information before I spend 300 dollars a month on them.
Does anyone have experience/knowledge about any of these as effective against Lyme/ effect on the body?
The prescription is:

Artemesinin: 1 capsule 2x/day
Samento: 10 drops/day to start up to 30
Banderol: same as above
Diatomaceous Earth: 1 tsp 3x/day
Buoloke: 1 capsule, 2x/day

He also has me on Olive Leaf and probiotics for candida control


Also here are my lab results:
Test Name: Lyme IgM Western Blot

18 kDa. +
31 kDa ++
41 kDa ++
83-93 kDa IND

Test Name: IgG Western Blot

41 kDa +

All co-infections were negative.

Thank you!!

Post Edited (treetoile) : 11/26/2015 7:48:48 PM (GMT-7)

That's a good mix of herbs, especially for lyme. What all did you test positive for? If you are positive for babesia you may need to add something else for that. Artemisinin is great for bab, but it shouldn't be used alone.

I have used Artemisia, which is what artmesinin is made from (artemesinin is concentrated). Its great, definitely strong. This is used primarily for babesia.

I have not used the others, but I have heard good things about them. Samento and banderol are supposed to be great for bart/babs/lyme.

Boluoke iirc is for biofilms, which is used as a hiding mechanism lyme uses.
Diatomacious earth is used for colon/parasite cleansing. Parasites are one of the most common co-infections from tickbites.

It looks like a strong protocol to me

Treetoile - even though you tested negative for co infections - you can not rely on those results. In fact, you most likely have at least one co infection, as Lyme rarely travels alone.

The co infections are diagnosed clinically. Sometimes they come to the forefront after awhile on a Lyme treatment.
Sometimes we trial a treatment for a co infection and see if we respond - either feel improvement, or we herx - that is telling.
Many of us slowly add in herbs for the co infections just to "cover all bases"

Sorry, no easy, cut and dried answers.

Welcome treetoile!

Sorry for the reason you're here but glad you found us.

Kudos to you for being proactive with your care!!!

You've been given great information already and I can only emphasize the need to feel confident about treating for Babesia and Bartonella in spite of negative tests for the reasons already given.

My research shows that healthy people can be walking around with asymptomatic Babesia and/or Bartonella infections.....and it's extremely rare to just get Lyme.

It wasn't until I started treating for Babesia and Bartonella that I was able to break the plateau I hit on abx and I am now thisclose to being 100% symptom-free.

I agree that your starting protocol is quite comprehensive. I hope your LLMD told you to start one herb at a time to gauge response. And, truly, I hope you'll consider starting with even less than 10 drops Samento. You can always increase quickly if you have an uneventful start.

Finally, did your LLMD talk to you about the need to establish a detoxing protocol? You see, as the bugs go through their life cycles, they die.....and the dead bug parts are toxic to our bodies. This is what causes our symptoms.

It follows that a successful treatment protocol will create more dead bug parts which makes it easy for the body to become overloaded with toxins....which means symptoms can increase.

An effective detoxing protocol will help the body clear those toxins. Perhaps you might want to take a peek at the following site that has quite the comprehensive list of detoxing suggestions:

www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

Please continue to touch base with us throughout your treatment. We're here to support you and help in any way we can. We're all in this together.

Yes, DE is for detox.

I think it would be good for you to do things to support your liver, kidneys and lymph system.

Dry skin brushing before your baths helps move lymph fluid.

The supplements you listed would be great to support your liver and kidneys....and reduce inflammation which is very important since herxing is an inflammatory response.