HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Remission, Lyme & Steroids

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 12/26/2013 4:36 AM (GMT 0)
Just wondering if Lyme disease can go into remission for over 10 years? And how would it react if treated
with steroids?

I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus and treated with Prednisone and Plaquenil and improved after some time. But I thought I might have been misdiagnosed--and really had Lyme d. all that time and wondered if the meds that I took did help.

What would you all think of this??
Posted 12/26/2013 9:19 AM (GMT 0)
People on here strongly advise against steroids. If I remember correctly, they say it interferes with your immune system. I don't know enough about the other meds to comment. Others with more knowledge will comment.
Posted 12/26/2013 3:12 PM (GMT 0)
Systemic steroids are generally contraindicated for people with Lyme...as they relieve symptoms by reducing the immune reaction, which is necessary for fighting a Lyme infection. 

Plaquenil is an anti-malarial drug (with anti-inflammatory properties) that, in addition to other uses,  has been used by some doctors as part of a protocol to treat the Lyme co-infection Babesia.

Posted 12/26/2013 5:28 PM (GMT 0)
If you have any questions about the use of steroids and what they will do to a Lyme infection - look up steroids. They always say that if you have an active infection (in this case Lyme disease) then you should not use them. Other wording you may see on some sites is if you are immune-compromised, or immunodeficient - which if you look up those words it only means that your immune system isn't working at full capacity.

So, by having taken the steroids, essentially the immune system was lowered even further, allowing the infection(s) to go deeper into the tissues, organs and bones. At this point, yes, it's not all that uncommon for the infection to essentially be able to go "dormant" for a period of time. Many times what "reactivates" the infection(s) is stress, another tick bite, mosquito bite, or anything that may create more stress or trauma.

If you had taken a high enough dose of Plaquenil, as Phoiph has said, it could have helped a Babesia infection from getting worse -even while you were taking steroids.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply