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Abx but not herbals

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Lyme Disease
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Posted 12/17/2014 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
So, had my second apt with my LLMD yesterday. He wanted to start antibiotics, which I knew was going to be the case. When I mentioned doing Buhner's protocol first (or in conjunction) with antibiotics, his attitude changed slightly. He wasn't rude, but I could tell he did not agree with my line of questioning. He said "his way" was antibiotics. He said "please let's not do both" when I asked about doing herbals in conjunction and his reasons were so that I'd be able to know if antibiotics were working or not. He said that if I wanted to herbals he'd recommend Buhner or Zhang, but didn't want me doing that under his care while on the antibiotic regimen.

If I continue, I'll be on Azith, Rifampin, and Plaquenil for bartonella for 5-7 months along with the Nystatin the whole time. I suppose if I start having symptom improvement and am tolerating the abx, he might be more willing to discuss adding in herbals in a couple months.

Thoughts? Herbals, antibiotics, or both? There's something about Traveler's herbal-only success with bartonella that is intriguing, but this doc seems pretty confident that this abx regimen will work.

Also, has anyone had great success with this abx regimen for bartonella and become symptom-free?
Posted 12/17/2014 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
I used neither in my approach and feel fully recovered.

Remember, the doctor is your employee(the one who's getting paid) and not the other way around. He should help you with the approach that you want to do.

I agree with the doc, maybe do not do both. Not sure how long you had lyme, but if its soon enough maybe you can use abx.

Although, I would not stick with abx long run, if it so happens the lyme doesn't go away "fast" with abx.

Otherwise, it may cause more harm than good.
Posted 12/17/2014 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
My doc surprised me with something along those lines. At first I thought the same thing. I went to my doc because he is also a Chinese medical doctor and I am interested in herbals. He has me on antibiotics now with no herbals. On my third appointment I brought this up. Found out he will be adding some herbs soon.

Also, I herxed a lot on just one antibiotic. I can't imagine how much more worse it would have been if I was on herbs too. Herbs Can be powerful. I would not want to start out on both. I think After you have killed enough of the bacteria would be a better time to add them in.

My doctor is only doing one antibiotic at a time, but rotating them. But every one is different and I believe multiple protocols can work.

Good luck😃
Posted 12/17/2014 5:06 AM (GMT 0)
berean—

It is not uncommon for LLMDs to prefer one protocol over another. This preference develops after treating many patients over time (assuming the LLMD is experienced) and finding reliable sequences and formulas for the tx depending on each patient's individual case. Plus, like any other specialist, they tend to go deep into what interests them and tend to shy away from things that don't.

It also makes sense to approach any change in your protocol with a staged introduction of new components so that you have some "control" element as each new thing is added so that you know what the catalyst is to new symptoms or reactions.

I knew going into my treatment that my LLMD used both herbs and abx. In fact, she started me on Byron White tinctures for lyme, bart and Babs—and I worked up to the highest doses very quickly without any responses to the lyme tincture and minor responses to the bart and babs tinctures. I'm still taking them and they are helping to control some of my sx. I startd IV abx at the beginning of Nov (chose IV to avoid exacerbating severe GI problems).

I think you have a couple of options—if you love and trust your LLMD, then you might have to adopt to his program. Or, if you are set on a specific protocol, you need to find an LLMD who is compatible with that program.

However, I think most GOOD LLMDs realize that since every patient is different, that their program also needs to adapt to the unique situation each patient presents. So there's nothing wrong with trying out the abx—you'll know fairly early on (4-6 wks) if they are effective or not. And during this trial period continue speaking with him about herbal protocols. Just be sure that if you do abx that you increase probiotics and take specific measures to control any yeast overgrowth potential.

Please let us know how things evolve!

-p
Posted 12/17/2014 5:24 AM (GMT 0)
berean-

Its best not to try to many at once. How would you know which is working then?

I just got the llmd agreement to add herbals after one year on abx.

My abx was for lyme - doxy and flagle. I did not feel better untill the 5th month. The first three I herxed. But I've had this for decades too.

Maybe bart abx works faster I dont know.

Probiotics - dont bother with the cheap ones. Get the best. I use VSL#3 with 112 billion active good bugs per pill. And so far (fingers x'ed) I have zero noticable gut issues even after 1 year on ABX.
Posted 12/17/2014 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
awesome! thanks to all for your input!
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