The top 10 things you should know while treating lyme

Hi gang, I've been a lyme sufferer (I'm lyme free now) and realized there are some great things everyone needs to know while treating for lyme.
These are things I wished I knew before I was treated for the lyme. But No one knew enough to even consider these.
You get sick and you think there is a magic pill, well for lyme, there is no magic pill. Healing from lyme is a process.

Here are my suggestions.

1- Take a cold source/human strain of Probiotics (not yogurt, not kefir or not probiotics on the shelf). While on abx, you need to take at least over 50 billion units a day. If your LLMD has not give you probiotics along with the abx, change dr's. Totally irresponsible to give abx and not rx probiotics with them. If you're not on abx and treating naturally, you still need to keep your gut in good balance so still need to take probiotics.

2- You have an illness, so assume you have system candida and eat a candida diet and treat the yeast, before, during and after lyme treatment (whether with natural or pharma abx)

3- Keep your liver clean!!!!! <--- very important! You will herx less and heal MUCH faster

4- You have an illness, so assume your adrenal glands are going to be fatigued. Feed the adrenals every chance you get

5- Keep your diet clean while healing. No sugars, no processed foods, no caffeine, no white foods (breads, pasta, rice etc), no alcohol, no smoking etc.......

6- Drink TONS of water

7- Keep the essential fats in your diet up. Take a good source of Omegas

8- Treat your emotional issues. Most of us who had/have lyme have anxiety and or depression. You cannot heal physically if you do not heal emotionally.

9- Sleep as much as you can

10- If Abx are not working after months, re access your options. You need to give your body a helping hand. Abx are not the cure for chronic lyme and never will be the cure for chronic lyme. Make sure you discuss with your MD or ND other options if abx fail.

I wish I knew this before being treated for lyme. I'm very happy to say, I had chronic lyme for 15 yrs and have not had any lyme symptoms in over 2 yrs now. Am I cured? Well I would rather say I am healed from it.


Feel free to share your good healing tips.

Thanks

Jen

Hi Jen..Excellent topic. Thank you so much for taking the time. I am very new to finding I have chronic Lyme. I am on Day 2 of starting doxy (200 mg per day to start and working up to higher dose most likely next visit in a month)
I also have a Candida overgrowth.

1--As told by my LLMD, I'm taking Acidipholous, enertic coated 4 pills, 2 hours after I take my morning dose of Doxycycline. The Acidiphlolous is only 5 billion per pill I believe. I hope that is a high enough dose?? I also eat a yogurt daily and I have Keffir in my fridge if needed.

3--How do you keep your liver clean? With water?

4--How do you feed the adrenals?

5--Have been doing this for a long while now. I'm not even eating starchy veggies. I do cheat with a handful of berries or some grapefruit.

6--Doing as much as I can. Having to get up in the middle of the night to pee a bunch of times.

7--Doing this and taking a triple omega pill every day

8--Hard one there, trying my best, but I can't remove all stress from my life. Can anybody? I have to work full time and it's killing me. I'm just doing it until it physically isn't possible anymore. To be honest, it's not that physically possibe for me now, but we really don't have much of a choice. Money is a stressor and so is work. The LLMD did prescribe me some anti anxiety meds and I need to pick them up from the pharmacy and start them.

9--I take an anhistimine at night to sleep and it usually does the trick. although I never feel rested. But, I sleep at least 8 hours per night usually.

10--I will go over this with my LLMD next time I see him!!

Thanks again. You rock!!

9--

Well, of course we're all against people not getting better from Lyme, but how we choose to treat our infections is an individual decision we each have to make for ourselves. It's a shame that it's often so hard to tell whether some of our treatments are working, and that it often takes so long to see results.

Luckily, there are many paths to getting well for us - ranging from strictly pharmaceutical to completely natural. To each his own! We're here to support each others' decisions, first and foremost.

One item left off the list - some form of exercise! This is a MUST - even Burrascano states it. However amount you can handle and work up from there. I like the fact that you addressed the emotional issue too...I think this is what keeps a LOT of peole STUCK in the disease state. We must detox the mind/soul as much as we detox the body! Good list! And, I agree with te comments of others re: abx - some, even MANY people recover with abx alone - they might not post here...so, as others have stated - it's a personal disease that requires a personal treatment - abx or alternative or both.!

Post Edited (yazzer) : 3/7/2012 11:28:41 AM (GMT-7)

You can take up to 100 billon units of probiotics safely per day (only when immune system is compromised)

Purple; in my practice and in Naturopathic teachings, we assume anyone will illness has adrenal fatigue. It's prevalent in most diseases (I'm a Lyme Literate Naturopath by the way)
Our adrenal glands make most of our hormones as well.

Yes exercise is imperative, but not while fighting active infection. I only recommend exercise once the person is well enough to function a little better. Depends on the severity of the illness. I've been lifting weights for 15 yrs, when I was on abx and in active infection, I did not exercise (a few walks but not weights) and once I was stronger, I went back to weights.
It all depends on the person as well. But YES exercise is a must to healing for sure.

Thank you so much for posting this. I lasted all of about 10 days on abx and the reactions were more then I could handle (skin neuropathy that made me feel like I was being eaten alive coupled with a severe depression)

I've been off of them now almost a week and am concentrating right now on clearing my liver pathways before I focus on killing bugs. I am taking some of the herbs from Buhners protocol though to do some treatment.

I have an Osteopath that I have worked with in the past, I see her on Monday. Hopefully she can help, she doesn't have a lot of experience with Lyme.

For me, the abx were too much. I think I'm not detoxing fast enough and it was causing my body to flood with toxins that it couldn't release. Even after a week off of them, I still have the neuropathy, it's just much less now. My depression has lifted and I feel like a loving human again. Last week I wondered why anyone would even like me because I was such a burden. It was a really dark place, and I didn't want to go on anti depressants. For me, I don't want to take more meds to handle my meds.

Thank you Peacesoul

I will mention this to her.

peacesoul said...
You can take up to 100 billon units of probiotics safely per day (only when immune system is compromised)

 

Oh good. On the safe side, I took an extra 2 (10 billion) acodiphilus last night after my 2nd dose of doxycycline. Thank you for the recommendation.

Purple; in my practice and in Naturopathic teachings, we assume anyone will illness has adrenal fatigue. It's prevalent in most diseases (I'm a Lyme Literate Naturopath by the way)
Our adrenal glands make most of our hormones as well.

Yes exercise is imperative, but not while fighting active infection. I only recommend exercise once the person is well enough to function a little better. Depends on the severity of the illness. I've been lifting weights for 15 yrs, when I was on abx and in active infection, I did not exercise (a few walks but not weights) and once I was stronger, I went back to weights.
It all depends on the person as well. But YES exercise is a must to healing for sure.

 

I would really love some recommendations of adrenal fatigue cleansing. I see diet and sleep are important, which I am following by, but any type of supplements I'm having a hard time following. If you could pop me an email, I sure would appreciate it. Thank you again for your insight. I am always open to learning more.

"1- Take a cold source/human strain of Probiotics (not yogurt, not kefir or not probiotics on the shelf). While on abx, you need to take at least over 50 billion units a day. If your LLMD has not give you probiotics along with the abx, change dr's. Totally irresponsible to give abx and not rx probiotics with them. If you're not on abx and treating naturally, you still need to keep your gut in good balance so still need to take probiotics. "

What is a "cold source/human strain" of probiotics?
Are you saying we shouldnt take kefir or probiotics in pill form at all, or are you just saying they're not a good substitute for whatever you are talking about.

Sleep: Colonoscopies are good, if you need it. Everyone after 45 should have one and anyone with family histories of colon cancer should have one after 40 yrs of age.

I have protein with every meal and I am sleeping as much as possible, with antihistime about 8 hours even though I never really feel like I slept at all.

I'll get some licorice tea. I've been drinking liver detox type teas.

thanks for the advice. Where do you practice btw? Are you close to NJ ?

You can email me and I will send you some good info on Adrenal Fatigue.

Post Edited By Moderator (achievinggrace) : 3/10/2012 5:51:26 AM (GMT-7)

peacesoul said...
Hi gang, I've been a lyme sufferer (I'm lyme free now) and realized there are some great things everyone needs to know while treating for lyme.
These are things I wished I knew before I was treated for the lyme. But No one knew enough to even consider these.
You get sick and you think there is a magic pill, well for lyme, there is no magic pill. Healing from lyme is a process.

Here are my suggestions.

1- Take a cold source/human strain of Probiotics (not yogurt, not kefir or not probiotics on the shelf). While on abx, you need to take at least over 50 billion units a day. If your LLMD has not give you probiotics along with the abx, change dr's. Totally irresponsible to give abx and not rx probiotics with them. If you're not on abx and treating naturally, you still need to keep your gut in good balance so still need to take probiotics.

2- You have an illness, so assume you have system candida and eat a candida diet and treat the yeast, before, during and after lyme treatment (whether with natural or pharma abx)

3- Keep your liver clean!!!!! <--- very important! You will herx less and heal MUCH faster

4- You have an illness, so assume your adrenal glands are going to be fatigued. Feed the adrenals every chance you get

5- Keep your diet clean while healing. No sugars, no processed foods, no caffeine, no white foods (breads, pasta, rice etc), no alcohol, no smoking etc.......

6- Drink TONS of water

7- Keep the essential fats in your diet up. Take a good source of Omegas

8- Treat your emotional issues. Most of us who had/have lyme have anxiety and or depression. You cannot heal physically if you do not heal emotionally.

9- Sleep as much as you can

10- If Abx are not working after months, re access your options. You need to give your body a helping hand. Abx are not the cure for chronic lyme and never will be the cure for chronic lyme. Make sure you discuss with your MD or ND other options if abx fail.

I wish I knew this before being treated for lyme. I'm very happy to say, I had chronic lyme for 15 yrs and have not had any lyme symptoms in over 2 yrs now. Am I cured? Well I would rather say I am healed from it.


Feel free to share your good healing tips.

Thanks

Jen

Contrary to what you are saying, rice can be eaten I think. Why not?