Should I stay on Buhner? Or go back on abx?

So, I had my treatment review a couple of weeks ago, and have been mulling it all over since . . . think I'm more confused than ever :-(.

For those that don't know, I've been in treatment for around 15 months - 13 months of various abx, then herbal protocol the last couple of months. So this time, I asked about rifampin - mainly because I (and several others on here) suspect Bart (all neuro symptoms). So I now have a prescription for rifampin plus either doxy or minocycline, my choice.

However, I'm now thinking maybe I should stick with the herbs for a bit longer :-/. I've only been on them (Buhner lyme herbs essentially) since oct/nov last year, so maybe I should give them a bit more of a chance to work? And give my body a break from the abx? What does anyone think? I feel I may have pushed my doc towards abx as I was worried about the cost of all the herbs and supplements . . . I think otherwise she would have suggested staying on herbs for another 3 months :-(. Maybe I should ask for Bart herbs (houttuynia?)

If I do do rifampin, would you advise pairing it with doxy or mino? All neuro symptoms, still have slightly woozy head, tingling etc. I think I made most progress on tinidazole, and did ask about that, but she hasn't included it on my prescription, to combine with rifampin & doxycycline/mino . . . :-/

Please help - I'm really so unsure sure what to do :-(

Thanks traveler . Well, my progress throughout treatment has been slow but steady . . . you know, I don't seem to have had any wow! moments where I feel a dramatic improvement, and I haven't had any major herxing either (lots of tearful, emotional stuff tho; not sure if this was herxing or not??) The closest I really came to either of these was when I was on tinidazole for three months (3 days a week, with clarithromycin and amoxicillin on the other 4 days) last autumn . . . I would often get persistent headaches while on the tinidazole, maybe a herx?? And in the following days, I really thought I was feeling a bit better, & my woozy head seemed to have improved a little during this treatment. But then I moved off abx and onto herbs.

With the herbs, I'm taking Japanese knotweed (resveratrol), Eleuthero, cats claw, andrographis, Hericium, coriolus, alpha GPC, and various other supplements (vitamins, fish oils etc). I've been taking them for nearly 3 months, but honestly can't say I've felt a huge improvement, no herxing or anything. But since my review, I've thought, well, maybe I haven't given it enough of a shot yet, and I certainly haven't got worse, so maybe, again, it's just very slow progress :-/. I don't want to waste my time, but don't want to give up too soon either . . . And I'm guessing it's easier on the body than abx? Especially rifampicin, which I'm a big worried about as I think I've heard it's quite a harsh drug? Although if it cures me then I'm all for it! ;-)

Maybe I'm just thinking it's easier to stay on the herbs for a bit, you know, taking the easier option :-/ . . . I don't know, I just don't know which path I should be on :-(

Any advice/thoughts gratefully received! Thanks xx

Flossie - you have said that the symptoms you are having seem to mostly be bartonella. Because the Buhner lyme protocol will not really address bartonella, I would suggest continuing with herbs but to slowly add in the herbs in the bartonella protocol as well. Buhner recommends using ALL the herbs in each protocol for a reason. They work well together (better than any single herb does alone), to decrease inflammation, decrease tissue injury caused by the bacteria, and support immune response.

My feeling is that you can't properly assess the benefits of herbs if you aren't using the proper ones.

From his website: http://www.buhnerhealinglyme.com/

BARTONELLA
Research is ongoing, this is the most up to date protocol:
• Sida acuta tincture (from Woodland Essence or [email protected]) ¼ tsp 3x day for 30 days
• Hawthorn tincture, same
• Japanese knotweed, (tincture, same dose (from same sources as Sida acuta, above), or capsules from Green Dragon Botanicals 2 capsules 3x daily)
• EGCG 400mg +- daily
• Houttuynia (Yu Xing Cao – 1st Chinese Herbs, powder – use “LYME” code at checkout for 10% off) 1 tbl daily
• L-arginine 5000 mg daily in divided doses
• Milk Thistle seed, standardized, 1200 mg daily
All for 30 days.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have active herpes, chicken pox, or shingles DO NOT USE L-arginine

Thanks so much traveler, and rowing mum too for all the info. I think I will continue on herbs for another month, just to buy myself some time to think, if nothing else. I do worry about Bart, and my doc doesn't seem to mention it unless I bring it up. So maybe I just have to go it alone on that :-(. I really don't feel confident enough to go "off piste" on my treatment plan though - I currently just take pretty much what my doc tells me - and it's especially difficult here in the uk, as a lot of the herbal things you speak about on the forum are in the US. I feel very much like I'm flying solo sometimes . . . :-(

I know what you mean about flying solo!! That's what I'm left with since I wasn't up to traveling out of state and had no desire to wait around until I could find an herbalist that I could help learn about these infections again! UGH. So I'm on my own, at least I've been through this before, so I have some idea of what I'm doing.

You should check with your customs and see what is allowed to be purchased online and delivered to your house. You might be able to get enough of the herbs to do what you need to. It's a thought.

Rowing mum - thanks so much for all that info! I will definitely look into it. May be checking back with you to check I'm looking at the right herbs, if that's ok ;-). Thanks again for taking the time to give me that info xx

Speyfisher - hadn't considered that, but yes, I guess I could do that . . . Will speak to my doc about it. Hopefully I should have a few more weeks to research and try to decide what to do, as I'm going to stay on my herbal protocol for a bit, to give me some time to think . . . :-/

Traveler - thanks for that. I'm going to try some of the contacts rowingmum has given me first & hope they may be able to help. It really is tough doing all this stuff on your own - so thank goodness for this forum! . Without it, I'm pretty sure I would have given up by now :-/