How about we have a thread for reasons a person might be having when they can't heal from Lyme?

I believe this to be something that's needed here, as new information is available so often as the science develops with these infections.

I can list a few things - anyone who wants to add to the list, or add details, please let's be sure we know what we are talking about (not just "so-and-so" told me) and links would be encouraged. We have a lot of 'science minded' people and others that come here that would want to read things for themselves. At a later date, I would like to condense the info from this thread and put the info into our "New to Lyme?" thread so that it's easy to find.
Just like I did with the "Questions to ask your LLMD" thread.
Thank you!!!

A Bartonella infection.

A Babesia infection.

**Dr. James Schaller has done a lot of research into these things.
www.personalconsult.com/

A person's detox pathways are compromised. If you can't get the toxins out, then the body will reabsorb those toxins, keeping that person ill. It's those toxins that drive our symptoms.
www.encognitive.com/node/5768

One treatment doesn't work for everyone. We will each need something slightly (or vastly) different than someone else....even if we have the same exact symptoms. Just spending time on the Lyme forums tell us this.
For me, I use abx for a full year, getting worse and worse, until finally I started having seizures and was bed ridden. I took a little over a year to heal from that experience, building my body back up, then I found a doc that would treat me with herbs and acupuncture and within two months I started feeling better, and within three months I was beginning to be active again!! I started my journey with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever at the ripe age of 7...and I'll turn 50 this summer. All it took was a change in the type of treatment. Sometimes just by adding some herbs to an abx protocol will do the trick, other times it's the harshness of the abx that will keep a person from healing.

So that's all this tired ole brain will allow me to do for now - bad night last night - sorry. We have some amazing members here though that know soooo much more than I do! So I'm hoping that they will be along shortly to add what they know as well!

Thanks in advance for your contributions!!!

Great idea Traveler!

Right now I would like to talk about Lyme Ammonia (all the information I have is from Dr. Jernigan whom I am not affiliated with in any way or form):

Lyme Ammonia is caused from lyme bacteria and is one of the worse toxins.

It causes joint pain, brain fog, lyme rage, Seizures, twitching, can destroy or impair one's organs, and the list goes on. 

From Dr. Jernigan:

"The way I see it is that Bb release NH3, which is converted to glutamine, by way of the glutamine synthetase pathways, leading to localized swelling of astrocytes. Depending upon the severity of infection and tissue environmental issues, including pH, temperature, oxygen levels, emotional state… the amount of ammonia could cause variable and cyclical worsening of symptoms.

 

The Bb in joints and musculoskeletal tissues may be creating symptoms due to the conversion of NH3 to nitric oxide (NO), which is well documented as causing multiple pathological processes, including sepsis, hyperactive inflammatory processes, and joint pain. Direct resonance testing has revealed that the liver and heart are often testing positive to accumulations of NH3, which is not being converted into urea or nitric oxide.

 

 

Once the ammonia levels are cleared and the Bb microbes are reduced, supplemental L-arginine can be taken in the morning to “wake up” or energize the brain. (L-arginine should not be taken in the presence of ammonia. Research reveals that NH3 + arginine and manganese increases nitric oxide (NO) up to 53% in astrocytes, leading to increased brain swelling). Armed with this knowledge, health care professionals would be wise to instigate a protein poor diet for Lyme patients, during treatment to minimize aggravations from arginine."

I myself have taken a product in the past made by Dr. Jernigan called Neuro-Antitox CNS/PNS formula.  I had joint pain, brain fog, lyme rage, etc.   It binds up all that ammonia as well as toxins so one can purge them out of their body. If you want to buy the Neuro-Antitox Formula, the only place I know of is here:

http://jernigannutraceuticals.com

http://jernigannutraceuticals.com/Ammonia.html

http://www.ehow.com/facts_6791236_ammonia-seizures.html

Heathersdad, thanks for posting the link, that's a very interesting article.

This is an interesting post. I wish I could help more with it! @ HEathersdad, I've taken your suggestions on staying warm. I think its helped. I wear two pairs of socks, two pants, a tank, l/s tee shirt and then a sweatshirt on top of that at all times, even when I'm sleeping. Hubby thinks I'm nuts but being pretty petite I think it has helped me retain heat even if I'm still not quite up to the norm.

@Opugirl...I have the same issue with feeling cold. I just purchased a secondhand metal hot water bottle (you can place it in a flannel holder or knitted holder). It stays warm all night. My toes were ice cold and they would droop. Socks were not enough for me.

I sleep with 4 blankets and with a fan...one minute hot, one minute cold....

Bluebyyou,
Stress not only plays a big part in not healing from Lyme, it can also bring on a relapse or flare!

Something interesting that I'm looking into is epigenetics. So, basically all of us have 99.9% identical genetic make up...so theoretically all treatments should work the same b/c we are so similar, right? Well, sort of right. There is a "newer" field in genetics called epigenetics which basically means that you could have the same exact identical DNA but DNA -A expresses differently then DNA-B and can create different proteins; hence a whole lot of differences in metabolic pathways etc.
Anyone remember that sheep Dolly, the cloned one? Well I have yet to read the book but apparently Dolly had 4 identical siblings. All looked visibly different and all had completely different personalities despite having 100% identical DNA. When I find a good article that is applicable and understandable I will post it here.

I just wanted to stress the importance of detoxing! I did not know about detoxing when I first started my Lyme treatment, until I found Healingwell a couple of years in and learned about detox baths. There are other methods of detox, too, if baths are not your thing. I drink a Green Vbrance and Rainbow Vibrance drink daily.

For me personally, if I get home late and need to skip the detox bath, I feel worse the next day.

Hey MarieLS,
I agree with you about that being a great article from James Schaller. For some reason many websites links don't work - I'm not sure why other than if you hover over the link and look in the lower right hand corner of the screen (at least on my computer) I can see in the link it has <strong><strong> in the link. This prevents the link from working.

Sometimes I can type in the link and it will work, other times there's nothing that I have figured out that will work. Those times you just need to post the link and tell people that they will have to copy and paste it for it to work.

http://www.publichealthalert.org/Articles/jamesschaller/18_reasons_lyme_treatments_fail.htm

You should all look into maybe getting a 23andME genetic test done, it will tell you exactly what supplements your body needs to detox your body the best by looking at your genetics. You will probably not understand what your results are, so you will have to get it read by someone who is trained to do this. I will ask my sister who read hers for her and get back to you all. Some people charge was too much. But look into it, it might help. Has anyone tried ozone? I have heard great things about it!

Lack of money

Lack of support from family members or friends.

Adrenal problems

Mold