Hi Mandles!
Welcome to our community! I'm so glad you found us.
What country are you living in? We do have some referrals for countries other than the US. All you need to do is to write to one of the mods here and we can look up the country you live in to see if we have any listings.
Even if there isn't one in a country close enough for you to travel, there are herbal protocols that you can buy yourself and self treat if need be, or maybe your practitioner will help you with the pharmaceutical abx options? Either way, we can likely be of help here.
Feeling worse after a few weeks in treatment is very typical and indicates a herx - a Jarrisch-Herxheimer reaction. As the bacteria die off, it releases toxins, and these toxins can overwhelm our bodies if our body is not detoxing well enough on it's own and this is the herx. We always suggest that member use detox methods to help the body process those toxins out.
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.
You can find some really good detoxing suggestions in the "New to Lyme?" thread that sits at the top of the forum. And this is another really good resource for detoxing ideas for Lyme patients:
www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html But, there is such a thing as over detoxing. This happens when we move more toxins than our body is capable of processing out effectively.
Many toxins are stored in our tissues, and by detoxing, we move them to the bloodstream where we can process them out of our bodies through the lymph system, then on
to the liver and kidneys as so on. We have to be sure to add in more detoxing routines slowly and carefully, or we will end up herxing just like we had never been detoxing. This article helps to explain that some:
www.tiredoflyme.com/4-reasons-why-you-still-feel-bad-despite-detoxing.html b)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, 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.
I've added extra spacing to my post to see if that would help ease the strain on your eyes. I know when I'm feeling like that, it's little things that make it easier.
Keep asking questions!! We are here to help as much as we can!