Herbal Lyme doctors in the D.C. area

I am currently being treated by Dr J. I'm seeing progress but it's a long journey. I'm exploring adding a holistic herbal Lyme doctor as well. Can anyone recommend one in the DC area? My PA at Dr J does not want me to add any herbs but I want to and I DONT want to treat on my own with Dr B's protocol. I'm too sick to not have a doctor managing my herbal protocol. I herx BAD just by drinking a cup of green tea due to the EGCG in it. I also herx BAD with a FIR sauna. I plan on adding herbals in several months. I'm gonna give ABX at least one more cycle because the current cycle seems to have progressed me from 20% to 25%. Progress!


Oh and I'm getting my other rib taken out at Hopkins for thoracic outlet syndrome on Thursday! Wish me luck! I had my left side removed in september 2015. I will be loading up on ABX a few days after the surgery cuz we all know Lyme loves scar tissue and trauma!

I wouldn't say she is against it as much as she believes their ABX protocol is more effective. I am getting better...in much better than where I was a year ago...but I don't want to be stuck at 5% for 5 months and after 3 years only be at 50%. I want to be at 80% and I think herbals can do that. I want to use herbals alongside ABX. I know buhner says you can take herbs and abx at the same time.

I detox everyday with Epsom salt baths, pinells, burbur and lemon water. I'm going to be starting the FIR sauna a few times a week once I recover from my surgery. I've used it 3 times over the past 3 months and each time I flared and herxed terribly so I stopped.

I'm open to stopping ABX and going to the buhner protocol as my father works with alternative medicine and I know it works when western medicine fails. My plan is one more cycle of abx after my surgery then either a partial switch to herbals or a full switch.

Agree Girlie. Also, they generally know nothing about herbal remedies. And, it's possible it messes up their own tracking of their patients and their treatment approach for the patients and how well it works.

And that's their problem.

That puts the patient in a tough spot but in reality, it's up to them to accommodate the treatment the patient wants. Especially in the Lyme world.

LIWTC - I hope you find an herbal specialist who is willing to coordinate with your abx docs and vice versa... and SO GLAD about the 5% !!

Also - I think you should kick up detox another notch if you can. How about a GI binder and something like Tox-ease or Sy-detox? And/or an anti-inflammatory like Jap Knotweed?

Good luck!

-p

I am very much in the same situation as you, I see Dr J and feel like my progress is very, very slow. I have actually been on the induction protocol for over a year. I am also extremely sensitive and detoxing is a big issue for me, as I can only handle a little bit of any detox method. Keep me posted if you find a dr that will integrate herbals. I did see and integrative dr in DC but the amount of supplements they put me on is ridiculous, some of them seem to cause more harm than good due to interaction with the prescriptions I am on, and I can not handle the brand of homeopathic products they use. I have a long list of other health issues related to lyme and my treatment that Dr J does not address, it would be nice to find a way to treat all of my problems with herbs along with my lyme treatment from Dr J.

Keep me posted if you find anyone.

You could check out Vienna Complimentary Medicine in VA. He has lots of experience with Lyme and will work with you if you are with Dr. J. Also DS's pediatric person (who left recently) only had 1 herb of the ones I wanted to try that she said they found caused more herxing than healing. She was pretty open to DS trying things. We've just had 1 appt since she left and didn't discuss herbs then because we decided to cut back on supplements because of pill fatigue. Good luck with the surgery.

Yes, they are getting one and that person is/will be in training. DS had an appt right after she left and they had him see one of the other long-term practitioners. It sounded like it will be awhile before that person is ready because they won't just stick someone in there without extensive training. There's no way with all the kids needing help that they won't have someone there eventually. For DS they are almost always going to consult with Dr. J or the second in charge there if he happens to be out just to make sure they aren't missing anything. I imagine for now they are recommending new ped patients meet with some of the other long timers there. I'll post again in a few months after we go back.