Recently Diagnosed! Is this the right path?

Hi Lewellyn!
Welcome to our forum!I'm so sorry that you have suffered with these infections for a while, but I'm sure glad you found us!

If you haven't yet, please do read through our "New to Lyme?Start here!" thread as it's packed full of important info, helpful links and pdf's, as well as symptoms lists - as Lyme rarely travels alone and having a co-infection will stop the healing from Lyme.

Ceftin is one abx that will work for Lyme, but it won't treat all forms of Lyme, so you will need other abx that should be added as well, once you find that you can tolerate the Ceftin. With the Doxy, did you eat before taking your doses? That can make a huge difference in how well you can tolerate it. We take large doses of these abx, and they are incredibly hard on our stomach, liver, and other organs so we must do what we have to do to protect those organs. You can also try eating before you take your Ceftin dose to see if that helps.

Be sure you are taking a high enough dose of whatever abx that you take to actually kill the bacteria. I'm sure others that know more about the different abx to treat these infections will be along shortly to help you further.

You will also need to be taking high doses of probiotics while you are on these strong abx as the abx destroy the good bacteria in the intestinal tract.

You should be detoxing as well. We have a good post explaining what we have found to be an effective way - and inexpensive and easy to do! - to detox from not only the abx, but from the toxins that these bacteria put off when they die - both a natural death and from the abx. www.encognitive.com/node/5768

I would also highly suggest that you not rely on your PCP to treat you. These are incredibly complex infections and you will need someone who has had special training to treat you effectively so that you will have less of a chance of relapsing. These doc's are known as LLMD's (Lyme Literate Medical Doctors) or you can use a Holistic Practitioner.


For information on finding a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor(LLMD) in your area, you can start a new thread titled something like:"Looking for LLMD in the _______ area." Although you will need to enable your email option in your profile in order to receive any recommendations, as we don't allow doctor's names and contact info to be posted on the forum for several reasons. You can enable your email option in your profile, under 'edit profile'. Be sure to click the submit button to actually save your preference.

You can also email our long time member, Dan's Mother at:[email protected]

You can also email Stephanie at: [email protected] You can also go to: www.turnthecorner.org/ if you want to learn a little bit more about Lyme Disease.

You can also go to The Lyme Disease Association and search for LLMD's 3 times in a month. You have to register first. Here is the link: www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277&Itemid=74

You will want to find an ILADS (International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society) doctor. The ILADS site is another great place to read to get you started on your Lyme journey. www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/treatment_guidelines_clearing_ilads.html

It sounds like you are having a herxeimer reaction from starting the abx., which is an increase in current symptoms or new symptoms from the Lyme bacteria being killed.
Yes, Ceftin is used for Lyme Disease. I am taking Ceftin. However, like Trav. said, it needs to be combined w/ other abx. to reach all forms of the Lyme Bacteria. And it is possible that you have Lyme co-infections which require different types of abx.
You need to find a LLMD as soon as you can. They are properly trained in treating these complicated infections and follow the ILADS guidelines for treatment. What state are you in?