Ahhh Joan Jet, good tunes by that chick!
There's three that I know of, everyone suggests Dr. L in Saginaw is the best, but usually has waiting list. My personal thoughts is he is the best "in the sate of Michigan." But is he effective at treating hard to treat coinfections like Babesia? Is he up to date with the latest persister cell antibiotic protocols Dr. J and Dr. H uses, not at all. But he will treat your Babesia if you have it, problem is when he treated me, he did it for 2 months, then just said it was cured and no longer needed treating. After 8 years of treatment, I still have to treat Babesia because the LLMDs in Michigan underestimated this coinfection. Most on this forum will tell you Babesia needs a lot longer treatment than 2 months, more like 6-12 months, if longer.
The top educated Doctors like Dr. J and Dr. H will basically state that majority of lyme patients get the 3 Bs: meaning Borrelia, Babesia, and Bartonella. So chances are you'll need to treat Babesia or Bartonella sometime in your treatment.
If I were you and your lyme has turned chronic, you have the money, I'd go out of state. I wish I would of done that in the first place.
Being aggressive with antibiotics in high dosages at the beginning of treatment can really shorten treatment span also make coinfections less harder to deal with later down the line, this is according to Dr. B, despite what others say. Watch the video here.
https://vimeo.com/306846706But I'm forewarning you, even though LLMDs in Michigan and elsewhere reference Dr. B, as well as Dr. H and Dr. J as the top Lyme Literate Medical Doctors, doesn't mean they follow Dr. B's guidelines and use aggressive antibiotic treatment like IV antibiotics or orals in the high dosages that Dr. B recommends.
Because of extreme herxing, liability and even lawsuits, I suspect many lower level LLMDs don't risk using the aggressive treatment and just start off with lower dosage antibiotics. Remind you top LLMDs like Dr. J used IVs, rang up a lot of bills for insurance companies, then the medical system went after them and he lost his license. IV antibiotics can cost upwards of $5k a month or more, so another reason why most lower level LLMDs will even risk using IVs.
I wish I had started off with IV antibiotics, then trickled off with orals, kind of what Dr. B suggested. At one point I tried getting IVs under Dr. L in Saginaw, insurance just said they wouldn't cover it and Dr. L didn't go out of his way to do anything about
it.
The other two Doctors are Dr. M in Keego Harbor and Dr. Z in Romeo. Dr. Z will get you started on oral antibiotics, but he's not at all knowledgeable about
coinfections like Babesia and Bartonella or treating lyme disease longterm for that matter. And Dr. M can be a little aggressive with some antibiotics in the first few months or year, but then just sticks patients on minocycline for the rest of treatment hoping for the best.
I can tell you when I first got diagnosed with lyme in Michigan, there were other members on on Lyme Net who complained that Michigan LLMDs aren't aggressive in treating Lyme Disease. After 8 years of dealing with this disease, being treated by all three, I can concur on that.
And just so you know, there's some Veterans on Lyme Net who stopped posting over there because they were stating stuff like I said above and then the moderators forewarned to stop criticizing the lower level LLMDs and recommending new forum members to not waste their time and go out of state to the top LLMDs. Some have this mentality that even though lower level LLMDs treat with subpar antibiotic treatment, it shouldn't be brought up and LLMDs shouldn't be criticized. If you don't want to take it from me, talk to TF over on Lyme Net or read what he said here on the lyme net forum, he's a veteran lyme patient and very knowledgeable.
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/135810It is what it is...
But I recommend following what the top LLMDs use in treatment and try to find a LLMD that uses similar drugs and protocols in their treatment, not to mention supplementing a biofilm buster like Stevia or Xylitol to add with antibiotics or the antiparasitic drugs you'll be taking. Some will say Stevia doesn't work, doesn't absorb in the gut and get into the bloodstream. Again, just follow what the top LLMDs suggest, if Dr. H is having success using Stevia with Dapsone, it obviously works, it did for me. You just have to get a highly concentrated form, like the whole leaf version from Sweetleaf. A few drops underneath the tongue after taking oral antibiotics, hold for 15-30 seconds, then swallow.
If your limited on money and have no other choice, Dr. L is your best bet, if he has that waiting list going, just give Dr. Z or Dr. M to get you started on antibiotics while you get your name on the waiting list for Dr. L.
Dr. L is still a great Doctor, but just like any Doctor, he has his strengths and weaknesses. I made my first breakthrough with treatment when I went on Zithromax, Flagyl, and Malarone. For two years of treatment with Dr. Z and Dr. M of standard antibiotic treatment, nothing worked, until I tried these drugs. Remind you all three hit Babesia. And Flagyl or Tindamax is a must to try, flagyl was one of the first oral drugs to get some lyme patients out of wheel chairs.
But will you reach remission on these drugs, highly doubtful. So many are developing very resistant strains of Babesia... Some are having to treat for 5-10 years, yet still aren't in remission. At some point you may just have to result to herbs longterm, that's where I'm at after 8 years.
Until more is figured out and new drugs like Disulfiram or Curza CZ199 hit the market for lyme patients. Interesting new post here about
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=4129850But hey, I have no clue what state you're in, if you got diagnosed quick enough and haven't gone chronic. If you did catch it early, remission odds do go up...
Post Edited (Charlie55) : 6/2/2019 12:49:34 AM (GMT-6)