Getting Off Antibiotics

Hi lyme,

Doing the transition from abx to herbals can be a tough one. I would recommend consulting with an herbalist if you can. They are usually affordable. I like Buhner as a supplement but I do not think it is as aggressive as it needs to be for many of us. I liked either stephania or andrographis for lyme, wobenzyme or nattokinase for cyst form, houttuyunia and sida acuta for bartonella, and allicin, artemesia annua and cryptolepis for babesia. That is a quick run through though. Buhner is a good place to start for sure and the website has a lot of information www.buhnerhealinglyme.com. But I really would recommend an herbalist again. Mine has helped me and a few others immensely.

~beth

There is also Cowden, Byron White (that one needs to be prescribed by physician), Jernigans, some folks on here are using a members protocol that he is terming synergistic protocol. A lot of these have similar components. I would suggest doing a search on this site for lyme cowden etc. and informing yourself about the myriad of options so you can choose one that best fits you.

Glad you are switching over! Don't be discouraged if you have setbacks. I thought I would have to go back on antibiotics several times but things are slowly stabilizing, I just had to give them a chance.

Yes, my current herbalist is a lyme specialist and she does take phone consultations. I can forward her information to you if you would like

Thanks Opugirl for that info!! I'm sure I cant pronounce most of those you suggested, but I will get to work to research them! I think I will call my LLMD to see if he can recommend a herbalist.

Healing98, wow!, its funny you said that....I feel Ive been slipping back steadily for about a month now. Not sure why but it started with a cold I had back then and Ive cont to go south. Do you have any ideas why you are going through same thing?

Here's what I've seen- besides my own experiences. There are many people who, for any one of many reasons, just can't seem to heal using abx. alone, or even abx combined with herbs.

That's where these herbal protocols can be life-saving - I know that it was for me. I didn't use any of the protocols that have been mentioned so far, as my Practitioner and I went over many of them and found one that she was comfortable using with me. You can see which one I used below, in my 'signature line'.

I used abx every single day for 12 full months - and only got worse. I'm not positive, but I think I improved right at first, but within 2 months I was worse off than when I started.

At the end of 12 months, even though I didn't understand why, I realized I wasn't going to heal going about it that way (with abx), and switched to a different type of doc and a different protocol that we choose together. Within 2 months, with tons of detoxing and such, I was having great improvements, but I was cautious, as I had gone through this before.

By 3 months I was beginning to improve by leaps and bounds -still I was being very cautious. It was at this point in time that we added in treating Bartonella. Within 2 months of starting Bart treatment, I was impressively improving!!

If a person isn't improving withing 2 - 3 months of starting that protocol, something's wrong. It could be issues with detoxing, that they need to treat more than one infection at a time, their body needs more support for those organs and systems that are really struggling or that they just haven't found the right protocol for them.

There is NO one way to treat these infections! We all are unique individuals with different strengths and weakness in our bodies that these infections use to their advantage. We need to search for what's right for our own body, because once you do - healing will be obvious!

Lymerunner, I am convinced that the reason that I got better 5 weeks into treatment was because my treatment for Lyme was effective, and as Lyme was forced to the background, Bartonella took center stage and had free reign to run amok with Lyme out of the way. I have also noticed new symptoms of Babesia which did not exist at the beginning of treatment, and if they existed, they were very minor compared to the Lyme symptoms.

I have been treating Bartonella for a week now with Bactrim DS and Clarithromycin. I don't know if my current symptoms are herxing from the Bartonella die-off or if they are from Bartonella being stronger in my body. In three weeks I am starting Babesia treatment. Hopefully by then Bartonella is under control.

Please keep us in the loop with your progress and the protocol that you go with. I am very interested in seeing how you do without antibiotics. As for me, I have started to add herbs to my treatment to supplement the abx and to help my body detox. I am hoping that in a month or two the herbs will be fully active in my body to where I can discontinue the abx.

It sounds like a few of us are about to switch protocols. I wish the best to everyone. I have a feeling after I meet with the LLND on Monday (first time) she is going to switch some things around or add some things. I've been doing IV's since March (well I started in January but failed with the IV Rocephin) and I think my body is done with IV's. I don't feel a real difference with them any more and it's starting to hold its own without them (I get one every other week now).

Curious to see how we all do...hoping for the best which is TOTAL recovery and healing!!!!!!!