CD57

Hi Jabele,
Truth be told, no one knows much about the CD57. What we do know is that some with a very low CD57 can be either really sick or not with these infections. We know that it has to do with the immune function, but we don't know what else plays into keeping the CD57 low, even though the person may seem to be healing well with these infections.

The CD57 result will vary quite a bit as each of us goes through treatments - this is quite normal.

These two articles will explain it a lot better than I can:
/www.researchednutritionals.com/library/lyme/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-cd57/


www.ilads.org/media/boston/slides/savely/savely.html

Thanks so much, Traveler. So, in other words, Lyme testing sucks I was really hoping to see that number go up and to feel like I was making progress, but I guess I will have to try to tell in other ways.

Based on all of your experience, what have you found to be the best treatment for chronic lyme? I did the antibiotics and mepron (for babesia), and then switched to the herbs my doc recommended (as stated above). I got really bloated at first from the MaxPara, which makes me think it was working and also that I have some parasite problems. However, I no longer get any die off or negative reactions from the meds and wonder if I need to step it up a notch? I also take biocidin which has a bunch of herbs, but I don't know how strong that is.

I've read good things about Cowden and that Buhler (sp?) protocol. What are your thoughts on those? Given my long-term Lyme status (also tested positive for RMSF & babesia) and chronic 50-ish CD57, what would you recommend? I eat a very healthy diet (except I drink coffee and do have some wine sometimes), and I think the diet was what prevented me from flaring up -- when I first started having symptoms, I felt like crap for 3 months (it all started after I took an antibiotic for a gyno. bacterial infection), but I think I had dormant lyme for at least 5 years before that.

I should also note that I have Addison's Disease-- just another thing I have to be mindful of. I recently started taking some adrenal glandular which seems to help (but obvi cannot stop my hydrocortisone or I'll die )

Your feedback on best lyme treatment options are appreciated!

Well, I am trying Buhner myself now, and it's very slow going for me, as I have Addison's as well. Those ups and downs are killers until you can figure out which health issue is causing it!

There is no clear answer as to what protocol is 'better', unfortunately. That would make recommendations a LOT easier!

Personally, the Chronic Tonic that I used the first time around worked well for me, but it doesn't for everyone. I don't know if it's the specific strains we are infected with or the genetic make up of each person, but that's not uncommon with these infections. Something can work like magic for one person and the next person with the same infections, same symptoms can try it and not have it help at all, or only minimally. I may be going back to the chronic tonic before long if I don't start making better progress with Buhner's.

Now, that's not to say that Buhner's isn't effective, as I have watched members here that were really ill heal well while using Buhner's protocols, which is why I wanted to try them myself. Buhner has protocols for each of the "main" infections, and some have extended protocols to help deal with the symptoms.

Cowden's mainly treats Lyme, from what I've observed on here and other places that I visit regularly, although, for some, it is effective for other infections as well. There have been several here that have started on Cowden's because it seemed easier for them to start, they plateaued and couldn't get past it until they switched over to Buhner's.

The best advice I can give on finding a good protocol for any one person is to find someone with most of the same symptom picture as yourself, see which protocol is effective for them, and give it a try! I thought I would do well with Buhner's, but I'm finding it harder to build up my dosages than it ever was on the Chronic tonic. I'm not sure if it's because my body just does better on the specific support that the CT has over Buhner's (they are nearly the same thing), or if it's due to different strains needing different treatments for me, but I'm beginning to believe that once you find something that works for you, stick with it when/if you get reinfected.

LOL! Nope, there are actually quite a few of us, and even more than are struggling with the lesser versions of adrenals issues.

Best of luck and let us know how you do with this!!

I used a homemade version of the Chronic Tonic on the recommendation of my practitioner. You can see how I did this here: www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3244272
Part 2: www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3382813

This only treated Lyme for me, but for Bartonella treatment, all I had to do is add in Houttuynia:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=2887463

When starting each of these, it was really rough, but I started off using half strength teas, and only taking 1 cup a day to start. When I hit 2 cups a day, even at half strength, my herxes got really strong, so I had to really ramp up my detoxing and ride it out for a few weeks before it started easing up. But, by the end of 2 months on the CT, I knew I was going to be able to heal at least some. It was the end of the first month with Houttuynia that I knew it was working and not just something that would make me herx severely.

I've started using Buhner's protocol this time around, and I'm not sure if I'll be sticking with it or not. It's definitely a bigger challenge for me to use, but I want to give it a fair try.

Both Buhner's and the Chronic Tonic are safe to use with most abx, but there are a few that shouldn't be used. Unfortunately, I have one of those Headaches from the depths with me today, so I can't remember which abx - but others on here do know!!! I would encourage you to start a new thread for this question.

hollsya -

Here's another good article on CD57 - it just isn't a good measure for progress. Three years ago when I started Lyme & Co tx, mine started at 37, a year later it was 43 and this year it's 54 -and I'm almost done with the bulk of my tx, doing very well. Way too many people have also reported a lack of correlation between how they're feeling and a higher or a significantly improved CD57 number.

However, some insurance companies still think it helps dx Lyme & Co so MDs are still testing for it. Whatever works...

-p

How frustrating! I love some good statistical improvement indicators...stupid lyme.