Well, I came up with this long before I started reading Buhner's writings, and Dr. Horowitz also says something similar:
With the experience that I had personally, and what I've watched others go through, here is what I believe needs to happen for many of us to heal:
a)Detoxing - gene mutations, mold exposure and multiple tick-borne infections can all prevent us from detoxing well, but we must be able to get those toxins out of our bodies. I have not had any of the gene mutation testing done, although I do seem to have the same kind of issues as those that do - so I figured it was best for me to assume that I did and work to get my body to detox much better. It took a lot of diet changes as things with my body changed, I used a foot soak daily, dry skin brushing, making sure my bowels moved at least once a day (sorry if it's TMI!) pushing myself to drink at least 64 ounces of lemon water each and every day, liver/gall bladder flushes (all natural), oil pulling, taking activated charcoal and keeping the amount of stress in my life at a bare minimum. You can find some really good detoxing suggestions in the "New to Lyme?" thread that sits at the top of the forum:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=1606610And this is another good list of possible detoxing routines:
www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.htmlb)Supporting the body functions/systems. We have to have the body working at it's peak performance to heal from something as devastating as these infections. Supporting any gland, organ, body system that is struggling will allow the body to switch it's 'concentration' from just trying to function over to healing.
c) Raise the immune function. Many legitimate Lyme researchers now believe that it's the lowered immune function that determines who gets chronic Lyme and who heals right away. We already know that Lyme lowers the immune function and when a person has Bartonella and/or Babesia, the immune function is further compromised, so to heal we must raise our immune function.
d) Lastly, oddly enough, are anti-infective treatments. Many of us have experienced treatment failures or set backs, so we can see that the treatments aren't the only thing we need to have - there has to be more to the equation, but anti-infective treatments are very important!! Lyme bacteria are one of the most complicated bacteria! Although it takes only hours or days for most bacteria to replicate, Lyme bacteria only replicates in the body every few weeks.
It's not a matter of that antimicrobials aren't needed, it's that they aren't the most important part of how we heal from these infections. I've seen many come through here that believe only taking abx for a long standing infection is all that's needed - I hear back from many of them telling me that they have relapsed. So it became obvious quickly that there was much more that was needed - and not just immune support, but more still. For many of us, we have to have all of our body working at top shape, plus detoxing and treating if we wish to heal.