Feedback about a quote from Dr. H's book

I have had the exact same question, mpost.

In fact, I'm annoyed with my ILADS-trained LLMD because he discouraged me from taking herbs while I was on abx and I had the impression he was "anti-herb".

I almost fell off my chair in February of last year when he told me he thought I was no longer a candidate for abx (my symptoms were so very mild). He then told me to transition to an herbal protocol (either Buhner, Cowden or White).

I hadn't researched any of the protocols to any degree and felt very rushed to make a decision. As time went on, it became clear to me that my LLMD knew virtually nothing about herbs and he wound up releasing me in October.

I think most LLMD's only know abx (after all, they are doctors and not herbalists). Maybe fears of persecution for recommending herbs (not FDA approved) are just as great as the fears of persecution for prescribing long-term abx.

It's a very frustrating state of affairs and it's the patients who lose.

I've stayed away from commenting on that, as I know that many here believe I'm very biased towards herbs because that's what I used (even though they couldn't be more wrong about me) - but I very much believe that. Over the almost 8 years I've been here, I've watched too many members relapse or need to go to herbs to "finish out" their treatments - but to say that no one ever heals with abx alone is wrong as well. I know of people that do heal with pharma abx alone and are out enjoying their lives now.

I believe that these doctors are only capable of working with what they know - and what do they know? What they were taught in school - pharmaceuticals, not herbs. I don't believe that the majority of LLMD's believe herbs will work, or they would be using them. Start interviewing herbalists and you will see the slant go the other way.

I don't agree at all with the statement that the CDC is right to go after some of these LLMD's - and it's not the CDC, but insurance co's and medical boards - as they are persecuting them not for using "bad medicine", but for not following IDSA's treatment protocols which are a LOT worse than what the LLMD's do since the ID doc's will only prescribe short courses of abx, then nothing at all. At least the LLMD's understand that 2 - 4 weeks of abx won't clear a Lyme infection, and don't tell the patient that the remaining symptoms are self inflicted in some manner.

When my LLMD asked me "what do you want to do now?" after my 1 month on ceftin and biaxin, I put my nose to the grindstone and decided I better figure out what I wanted to do. To give my doctor the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just thought I was learned enough to tell him what to do.

In my research of the internet, I found more successful cases with herbs and so I choose herbs. Trouble then was finding someone that could help me in that regard. I found no doctor close by. They know pills. They know protocols that they studied, but if they have not studied it, they don't know it.

I have an LLMD but his heart is not in it. He is much more concerned about did I have a Pap, mamogram, what is my blood pressure and when was my last chest x-ray, etc I showed him a list of S.B's herbal protocol I was taking and instead of seeing all of those long hard to pronounce words he focused on the CoQ10 and remarked how it was good in preventing Alzheimer. I thought to myself, I guess he read about CoQ10 this week.

My internal medicine did not want to talk about my lyme. He did not want to hear about my herbs. He said, "when was your last blood test?" My files showed me more quickly than his did.

Interestingly enough, my internal medicine nurse wanted to know everything I was doing for lyme. She actually took notes. Mission accomplished, but in a small way.

My sister has been out of the country since before Christmas. We had a visit Thursday and she asked how I was doing and she said that our Mom had told her I was doing herbs. My own sister said to me "so are you a witch now or were you one in a previous life?"

There is a huge amount of misconception out there regarding herbs. Because she is my sister with her doctorate degree, but not very street smart, I just giggled. My sister must think that pills grow on trees. LOL!! I asked her where does nitroglycerin come from? She was amazed when I told her it comes from a pretty flower called fox glove.

People forget that "modern pharmaceuticals" are just a little over a hundred years old. Most drugs originated in nature and the pharmaceutical companies just figured out how to synthesize the chemicals and sell them at a profit.

People look down on Chinese medicine as if they are somehow backwards, but China doesn't spend nearly as much on healthcare as the US does.

What many people fail to realize (including LLMD's) is that herbs contain compounds, elements, and nutrients that our body's need. Each one is different but they have the ingredients that our body is missing and by taking the herb, we replace those elements that we need and function better. In a way, they are like food without the calories. They can cause problems so they are no blank check.