Lyme depression harder to treat?

Well, taking antidepressants treats the symptom of depression, rather than the cause. That is, your symptoms of depression are under control while you're on medication.

If you have Lyme disease and your depression is caused by Lyme disease, then you can certainly help your depression by treating the infection.

I can't understand from your post, do you not have luck with antidepressants? Is that what you're asking?

As I treated my lyme my depression went away.

However, there was a point where I did need the help of anti-depressants while on treatment. But not for long, I think it was at the most a month.

I also had absolutely NO depression prior to lyme.

When you have depression, you have lower levels of serotonin. Chronic infections can block an enzyme that is needed to produce serotonin. So the infection is the cause. Metals can block this enzyme as well. If you treat the infection, then the depression may get better. This is often the same with OCD, anxiety, and nervousness. Inositol is something I would read about and try if I had that problem. Low dose lithium is another, N-acetyl cysteine, and alpha lipoic acid may also help. Organ meat is high in ALA.

I will second possible low thyroid causing anxiety and/or depression. Remember to test free T3 and free T4 not just TSH.

Its not just the active Lyme that can effect the thyroid but also the toxic load from bacterial and fungal/yeast die off during treatment. This might have something to do with how well your liver can detox, as there is a liver-thyroid connection.

In the meantime, anxiety can be helped with calming herbs like holy basil.

5-HTP is a very simple natural solution for depression, but you cant use this with actual Rx depression/anxiety meds.

I have a team of NDs that are being very thorough, I've had 25 different tests ($6,000+) done so far so I think they're checking everything! They suspected thyroid as well but it's fine apparently. I'm waiting to get results back on Lyme itself and co-infections. They also found my vitamin D was low (low normal actually), my progesterone was very low and I may have a toxic mold allergy (at least I think I have the gene that makes me susceptible).

As far as the depression, yes I've taken over a dozen different antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, etc. and no luck at all. I've had depression for about 10 years and Abilify and adderall (for my ADHD) are the only things that keep me functional, but still depressed. If I do have Lyme as they're suspecting, I probably got it when I spent a summer on Long Island 14 years ago... So I'm guessing treatment won't be a simple or quick matter. I'm hoping the depression stems from that, but who knows. It sounds like others with Lyme are at least able to treat their symptoms with antidepressants, so there must be something else going on with me :( whether it's related or not, my depression is definitely treatment resistant, and even my NDs seem to have given up trying to treat it already. I have two small children (4 and 1) and every day is sheer misery, I hate that they miss out on so much because mommy is too exhausted, depressed, and angry... I hate that they watch me cry all day...

Silly sheep did say that the antidepressants didn't work for her...but treating Lyme did.
So, you're not alone in that regard.

Have you tried herbal treatments...or just pharmaceutical ones?

I got tested for EVERYTHING too, to no avail - everything is apparently normal, lol. I have literally been figuring this stuff out on my own.

Detoxing well is a a BIG part of the equation! For myself the herxes, even with the detoxing, left me in an all out psychological mess. I had to treat my gene mutation before I could detox properly. If you have had your genes tested (I assume you have as you mention being hetro for one of the genes) the upping you detox will help. This need not be expensive!

Did they also test for other gene mutations, I ask as my mutations also play a part in dopamine and serotonin production and that is something else I have needed to address.


I would caution against ruling out coinfections because the results come back negative - the tests for these are less reliable than the Lyme tests even through the best labs. Given your psych symptoms you could be looking at Bart, possible Babs, too, but they should be a clinical diagnosis first, with lab results as confirmation (as should Lyme for that matter).

Girlie is right, pharmacutical antidepressants made me worse - like the rage you describe....for me that is Lyme rage and isn't pretty I can tell you. Treating my detox issues and thus detoxing efficiently plus treating the Lyme means this has gone. I haven't hit anything in weeks, lol! I would ask your doc about alternative antidepressants too, if you can or haven't already.

Fixing up your diet would be a good thing, as you said, but it needn't be expensive. It is as much about not eating 'bad' things as eating good things.