Herbals or Antibiotics?

I will be seeing my LLMD again tomorrow and we will add either another antibiotic or some herbals. He is fine with whichever I decide upon. That's the problem....I'm still not sure which road to take. I'm taking 100mg of Doxycycline twice a day and just recently went through a terrible herx.

Suggestions anyone????

I agree with everything Achievinggrace said... Many of us are on combination protocols, myself included.

I'm using Flagyl (cyst-busting antibiotic/antiparasitic) and Andrographis (an anti-Lyme herb from Buhner's protocol), and may add or switch to a different herb eventually.

The most important thing to remember is not everyone gets the same results from the same treatments, so you really do need to go through some trial and error to find what works best for your specific version of Lyme/coinfections.

Happy Holidays,

I agree and am on both, antibiotics and herbal.  My goal is to get to the point of just herbals after the antibiotics do as much as they can.  Perhaps add some of both to really pound those spirochetes. 

This is the continuing debate and the answer is - there is no concrete answer! LOL! From my experience on this board, it seems that the majority of folks are doing a combination of abx and another herbal/naturopathic treatment. Most, if not all, LLMDs want you to do abx's of some sort - some want I/Vs, some do orals only, some do high dose, some do more moderate dosages. The current "Burrascano" handbook, which most LLMDs follow, and is accepted by ILADS, believe that you MUST take abxs to be cured. That stated, the proof is in the proverbial pudding as it were. Some here on this site have gotten better via herbal/natural methods. It's a very personal disease with a very personal solution IMO and it's up to us to figure out which works the best for us. And, unfortunately, sometimes the only way to figure out which path to go is via trial and error.

My own approach is to use the abx's and supplement with herbals in a hybrid approach. Springsjean said it well above, esp. that the herbals might aid synergistically to help the abx's). My LLMD is suggesting abx's and is also working with me on the herbals. But, you must remember that this only takes care of the one facet of a cure - the killing of the pathogens. You need a well-oiled detox program going as well (epsom salt baths, FIR sauna, coffee enemas, EXERCISE - whatever floats your boat and WORKS for you). PLUS, you have to address the emotional and spiritual components of the illness (acupuncture, meditation, therapy if necessary).

I may be mistaken but it seems to meet that off you are killing off bugs, you will likely herx no matter what you are using. Personally I began w abx and added herbals over time.