Treating oldest daughter with Buhner Protocol - questions please!

For those of you who are unfamiliar, my whole family got lyme back in 2013. I treated for 8 months, and my kids treated for 3 months with antibiotics and then 6 months further with byron white herbs.

2 years later, I was still suspicious that my daughter was not yet cured. We retested her with igenex, and it came out indeterminate, but some bands still showed. So to be on the safe side, I decided to treat her with Buhner's herbs.

The only symptoms she had remaining that could have been related to lyme were a sore throat, occasional stomach aches, fatigue, and memory and mood issues.

I started her on JKW and cat's claw, and she made improvements with her mood and memory. In march she came down with Strept throat 3 times. During the third time of treatment with good old penicillin, i stopped the herbs for a while. Well let me tell you I could not believe how she regressed. She even asked me to give her back the herbs. I did that bc I wanted to see what would happen, and was questioning her needing anything at all. Well, she has been on them again for 1.5 weeks and is doing phenomenal. She used to be angry all of the time and never knew why - now that is no longer the case. She is very chatty and happy, and she got thru her finals beautifully. Math is her weakest subject - and every time I would review with her one day she used to forget everything from the day before. This time around it "sunk in".

Ok, so I am very very happy with cat's claw and JKW - I have her at good doses, and I think it is the anti-inflammation, anti-depressant and CNS properties of these two that are helping her.

Now I am at a crossroads. I tried Eulethero (was originally following the website recommendations before I bought the book) - but it didn't sit right with the treatment. And then I realized it really wasn't necessary bc it is an immune remodulator like cat's claw is. Then I tried Ashwaghanda. That didn't work either bc it was making her too sleepy the next day, even though I was giving it to her close to bedtime. Then I thought to give her Houttuynia bc I was undecided whether or not to treat her for Bartonella, and others said she would herx from this so it would be obvious whether or not she needed it. Well, that's when she kept getting strept throat - so I backed off on it. It was also making her more tired (I think it was bc of the alcohol content of all the herbs)

So what should my next herb be? What is my next step? So I go with the cytokine remodulators or great lakes gelatin powder (as the book recommends)? If you ask me, she is perfect right now. She is alert, happy, has a good amt of energy, and has no sore throat or stomach issues or anything......

Thanks in advance for your advice!

If she has no other symptoms while on the two I wouldn't mess with it. What are her doses?

Don't forget that you can be in full remission, and you'll still have positive bands on a western blot since those antibodies will be left in your body for years, possibly forever.

Treat for symptoms (seems like what you're doing regardless, but just a reminder)

I am doing great but still taking J/K and Cat's Claw and definitely will for a long time. They do not hurt you. I do not think her taking collagen will hurt her at all. I take it because my skin was doing that crepe stuff. And I need support for my connective tissue in my joints. But... that could be my age. I did not need eleuthero or ashwa or even sida acuta. Just because it is in the protocol does not mean it is for us. Buhner says his protocol is a guideline. Each of us will also take a different amount of the herbs themselves. Some do well with just a couple of drops, some need teaspoons.

When she developed strep throat with houttuynia, did her culture test positive? The reason I ask is that bartonella can cause symptoms of both IBS and strep throat. K had many brutally sore throats, but only cultured positive once (we treated with PenVK).

Sore throat was never a bartonella herx for K and neither was the IBS. They both simply cleared up with the biaxin/rifampin used for treating bart. But I suppose it is possible.

If you ever consider using another antimicrobial herbal combination, I would suggest CSA (cryptolepis/sida/alchornea). WoodLandEssence carries it. That was the one that made the most impact on K's executive function and ability to do math.

However if your daughter is doing well, and you intuitively feel that JK and CC are enough, perhaps they are. For me, K was just having too many breakthrough bartonella symptoms with extreme exercise for me to believe that the bartonella protocol was all she needed. She needed more.

I had tonsillitis for years and finally got my tonsils out. Too young to remember it much, except that I swallowed a lot of blood during the surgery and there is nothing worse than vomiting blood right after a tonsillectomy.