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Recent Dr Burrascano Interview On The History Of Lyme

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Posted 1/3/2019 11:20 PM (GMT 0)

sebreg said...
"Dr. B said...
you're setting the patient up for failure, killing the weak germs, then leaving the stronger one's to survive.'"

To be fair, I think he said this in regards to low-dose doxy monotherapy (300mg?).

You're misinterpreting...

Again, why do you think his original protocol consisted of starting off with IV antibiotics for anyone who has gone chronic and gone undiagnosed within vast amount of months to a year.

Why you think he cringes at 200mg 2x a day, then says lyme patients should be prescribed 1000mg Amoxy 3x a day, then stated 300mg of Doxy a day fails 100% of the time.

sebreg said...

I found it interesting what he said about treatment pauses and then smashing the hell out of borrelia when it is flaring/activating in those 4 week cycles. Makes sense to me.

It was also interesting hearing what he had to say about the effectiveness of IV therapies and absorption. I think that is an important point.

Why you find it interesting, Why? That was confirmed with Dr. Kim Lewis's John Hopkins study with pulsing antibiotics and it's been brought up many times by me as well as some other patients here on this forum and others...

As Dr. B pointed out, Borrelia has like a 4 week cycle.... You have to wait for dormant bacteria to come out of hiding when you go off all antimicrobrials because the borrelia senses harm and communicates with other spircohetes. Biofilm busters like Stevia and drugs like flagyl, even disulfiram have shown to help active and expose these dormant persister cells, that's why it's vital to use them.

Man oh man, I sure hope someone maybe thinks about bookmarking or pinning two things on this forum, Dr. Bs video and the John Hopkins study.... Because soon as the first page or second page gets filled up with alternative therapies, this thread is going away real fast.

But here's the thing with the 4 week cycle, I and so many other patients relapse within a week, bone crushing fatigue and other things. Is that biofilms? Is that coinfections like Babesia.... I think it's both, because I found out when I use biofilms it increases my energy 10x fold. But I suspect Babesia and other coinfections are the main cause, like Bartonella.

I used to hear that lyme patients could make it a couple a weeks then crash, from listening to what most people say know, they can't even make it a week. The new biofilm busters and persister cell drugs are helping a lot, but again, goes back to how tolerable something like a strong drug like Dapsone is. And most lower level LLMDs not willing the liability or risk using some of these stronger antibiotics with a longer half life and side effect. Most won't even perscribe IV antibiotics, so this is what we're left with, lower level LLMDs not prescribing an aggressive antibiotic. regimen.

sebreg said...


The only point I'm a bit iffy on is that knocking out lyme will make it easier to treat the coinfections. It certainly won't hurt, but what if the coinfections are the primary drivers of disease? He is basically saying lyme is the engine driving the disease state in most situations and my intuition is that this is not always the case.

Me too, that's why I mentioned the vaccine and even the Dr. Kim Lewis's theory that simply using Disulfiram is going to be a one two punch for Lyme, acute or chronic. Especially when the CDC and IDSA keeps rejecting an accurate diagnostic test through Dr. Lee or Dr. MacDonald's culture test which Igenex will be implementing shortly... Most lyme patients are still going to be going undiagnosed....

Problem is, currently there is a more accurate diagnostic test for borrelia and coinfections right now through Igenex, but it's not the standard testing that most hospitals use, why is that?

We're going into 2019 and we're still lacking in so many places with this disease, it's insane, we've made progress yes, but it's too obvious to me that science has been suppressed. Possibly because the CDC knows that Lyme could bankrupt the whole healthcare insurance system and expose corruption in their department, just like the vaccines causing autism for black boys... There was even a whistleblower Dr William Thompson who claimed he was told to trash the evidence by higher ups, nothing ever happened, he was never called by congress to testify. This is how deep corruption goes!!!
http://avoiceforchoice.org/cdcwhistleblower/

The healthcare system is already built on a house of cards, which the current president is already trying to pull the plug on Obamacare with a corrupt judge in Texas. It's not perfect, but what happens when you pull the plug and not have anything to replace, people are going to die...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/health/obamacare-unconstitutional-texas-judge.html

But going back to Dr. B and coinfecitons, just like I told OriolCarol, it was a different time and decade when Dr. B treated Chronic Lyme. As he stated, they didn't even have an adequate drug candidate for Babesia, the one they used caused diabetes. The coinfection wasn't that prevelant, Lyme Disease is a whole different ball game to treat now. In actuality, I doubt most LLMDs are using enough adequate treatment for Babesia, other than the top LLMDs like Dr. J and Dr. H... Dapsone and Daraprim, that's what those are treating, along with persisters cells and biofilms. I've heard some reaching remission on Coartem and Primaquine, but those two are barely mentioned by lower level LLMDs...

You should go see how much dosage you have to take of Coartem or even something like Quinine and Clindamycin... It's super high dosages, the LLMDs in my state use none of these drugs and they use weak dosage of antiparasitics. I've heard many say their Babesia has become resistant to Mepron, as Dr. Rawls talked about on his blog
https://rawlsmd.com/health-articles/understanding-babesia

Dr. Rawls said...

Atovaquone is associated with high incidence of side effects; some people are very sensitive to it. Because of extensive use for prevention of babesia in livestock, resistance to Atovaquone is becoming common.

I think working in Cryptolepis and Artmesia with antiparasitics like Alinia/Zithromax/Malarone can possibly work... But when some are saying they're going to treat Babesia with just herbs, highly doubtful it's ever going to work... Again, Babesia and Borrelia become resistant to herbs, just as they do with antibiotics.

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/3/2019 4:52:21 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/3/2019 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
but here's the thing with the 4 week cycle, I an many other patients relapse within a week, bone crushing fatigue and other things. Is that biofilms? Is that coinfections like Babesia....

I think it reproduces every 72h more or less.. it's what some scientist vía email told me... There is a major cycle every 4 weeks or so but borrelia is constantlly reproducing.

Post Edited (OriolCarol) : 1/3/2019 4:47:22 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/4/2019 12:02 AM (GMT 0)

OriolCarol said...

I think it reproduces every 72h more or less.. it's what some scientist vía email told me... There is a major cycle every 4 weeks or so but borrelia is constantlly reproducing.

Yep, Babesia is insane!

I suspect biofilms play a role in relapsing and fatigue when you get off of all antimicrobrials, but I think coinfections like Babesia are the main cause lyme patients are relapsing so fast, compared to what it was like when Dr. B treated... A lot can change in the environment in 13 years since his practiced closed, I did see they recently stated Lyme is in all 50 states now. I suspect it always was, but it's just more prolific now, so is Babesia... Whats to stop it?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lyme-disease-has-now-spread-to-all-50-states-report-finds/

We've been pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and the government hasn't done anything to take care of the deer population... I did hear on CNN they're debating to genetically manipulate mice, dunno about that, seeing how well GMOs and glyphosate has gone with Monsanto and human beings digestive tracts... Every friend I've talked to has someone in their family with Celiac, Gluten intolerance or chrons/ulcerative collotis. Now this same company has merged with Bayer to protect themselves from going bankrupt due to all the cancer lawsuits from farmers, maintenance workers and such...
https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/27/technology/lyme-disease-genetically-modified-mice-ticks-nantucket/index.html

All talk, not enough action, as always with Lyme. But what's interesting is, they took action when it comes to releasing GMOs and toxic herbicides on our crops to help make Monsanto massive profits of money, they gave them the entire green light on that, we're all test tube babies when it comes to the longterm side effects from GMOs and herbicides, but when it comes to trying longterm antibiotics for Chronic Lyme, nope... We're all psychosomatic!

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/3/2019 5:07:43 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/4/2019 12:12 AM (GMT 0)
I really suspect it's just yanking and pulling on one infection as the other infection grows back, some call it wack a mole, lol... Meanwhile hurting our immune systems with all these antimicrobials, whether it's antibiotics or herbs. These new persister cell drugs treat multiple forms:coinfections, persister cells, and parasites. What I suspect Flagyl did when it first got lyme patients out of wheel chairs decades ago, but just like that drug, patients are still only getting to be 80-90% better. And at what cost to health with a very toxic drug like Dapsone?

Chronic lyme was so easier to treat back in the day I've heard, as Dr. B explained. It's crazy when I think about it, we knew less back in the day, but the disease was easier to treat.... We now know more, but it's much harder to treat. I guess we'd all be in a better state if the current healthcare system and Doctors acknowledge the science behind the John Hopkins study, as well as others(Embers). CDC still hasn't changed their protocols, still use an inaccurate test, and health insurance doesn't cover our LLMD office visits or drugs.

What might be promising is what they're using on Cancer right now, immunotherapy, where they train your T cells to hunt down the cancer cells without having to overload a human body with chemo and radiation, which is also decimate your microbiome. Love how Dr. Kim Lewis has this attitude towards lyme patients and LLMDs, when Doctors have been doing the same thing wither cancer for decades. And yes, again, didn't like the way he treated a lyme patient I know when she reached out and he acted like her neurological lyme was psychosomatic. I see Doctors who have been doing the same thing in other fields with disease, while frowning upon ILADS and Lyme Patients for doing exact same thing, still a sterotype on Lyme patients within Dr. Kim's head, whether he wants to admit or not. As Dr. H explained, this is what he's trying to overcome with these Doctors and it's not easy when they are so egotistical and set in their ways!

Girlie had remarked in another thread, when one Doctor threw his hands up in the air and said Dr. H's protocol won't work. Meaning Dapsone! This goes to show how much influence big pharma and insurance companies have on Doctors and Lyme Disease, it's probably going to take even more time to convince them... Not sure if we have that much time? I guess you could say the only hope is if more rich people get it, more doctors get it, etc... Usually what needs to happen, Gwen Oslen pharmaceutical rep changed her tuned after her niece overdosed on prescription drugs. Now she's an outspoken critic of big pharam, love her quote, Big Pharma is "not in the business curing, but disease management and symptoms maintence."

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/3/2019 5:33:49 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/4/2019 12:28 PM (GMT 0)

1000Daisies said...

I've posted previously that I've done Advanced Labs for my family. I got tired of the inconclusiveness of Igenex, so I eventually started doing Advanced Labs. Many here on this board were negative about it because they say it's not in the blood, but I do question that (and don't agree). Plus, there are some people who do microscopy on their own blood, as well.

All of us were positive. My kids came back right away as positive. Mine was an extended culture and took many weeks before my positive came back. My functional medicine MD doctor said that I have either a really low load or was hidden.

I wanted to circle back and do Advanced Labs again - for my one kid who has been well for nearly two years (if I had the extra money). I really was curious from an analytical perspective of what it would show when he's been well for so long. Unfortunately, I've been told Advanced Labs has been closed. I also posted about this previously here too.

thanks 1000Daises, it sounds like Igenex will be offering this test soon...who knows maybe even this year. i want to try it myself. maybe then you could try again with you and your kids to compare against your initial baseline tests.

to plug another great man in this fight, Neil Spector. he also discussed new diagnostics in his FB video on 1/1, it sounds radical but a scan the detects the pathogens directly. i remember he mentioned this last year too, on one his updates. real curious about this test, as there seems to be progress on it, however i have heard no other details about it anywhere. wonder if anyone else knows anything about it.
Posted 1/4/2019 1:16 PM (GMT 0)
Dr Spector is a very special person, love him. That's fascinating about that scan test, hope it comes to fruition I hadn't heard about it before.

Charlie55, I agree that things have likely changed on the ground since Dr B was practicing, so what he is saying may have been true in his time. But nowadays it does seem coinfections are more prevalent, average tick is carrying more infections than before, maybe virulence of the coinfections has also increased. I also suspect patients are harder to treat than they were a generation ago...

In my case, I've realized babesia is the dominant infection, and likely has been since the beginning. All my dominant core symptoms are babesia-related. Maybe lyme primed the system for failure, but it's been the babesia that has been hell to get rid of. Truly unbelievable how difficult it has been to chip away at this infection. I've made good progress but it has been a crazy effort to get to this point.

In regards to blasting borrelia in its flare phase, I've heard of basic pulse therapy but hadn't heard of doing it this specific way when the organism is in its growth phase. I mean, it makes perfect sense to me as a strategy. The good part is you use fewer antibiotics and you might be able to maintain greater efficacy of the abx by constantly surprising/blasting the pathogens intermittently. My symptom phase was dominated by babesia, with flaring every 3-4 days or so.

And of course yeah, inadequately dosed monotherapy is truly setting up patients for failure, culling the low-hanging pathogen while leaving the tough ones in place. What always amazes me is that doctors will treat confirmed lyme with this monotherapy, and if the same symptoms persist after treatment they call it a new disease, PTLDS. I find that logic baffling and aggravating especially in light of all the documented studies showing borrelia's ability to persist...
Posted 1/4/2019 1:30 PM (GMT 0)
Spector is working with Dr SP from ct and Galaxy labs right now on better drug for lyme and bart(especially).... as well as with tulane and johns hopkins on another project approaching it from a different angle...can read about it on SP's website

https://www.stevenphillipsmd.com/
Posted 1/4/2019 4:21 PM (GMT 0)

dbwilco said...
Spector is working with Dr SP from ct and Galaxy labs right now on better drug for lyme and bart(especially).... as well as with tulane and johns hopkins on another project approaching it from a different angle...can read about it on SP's website

https://www.stevenphillipsmd.com/

yes i hope there is an update on this soon. this seems like a dream team of sorts, however i know that startups in this phase are very sketchy, a lot fail. i wish there was a way to know what research projects are in queue at places like Tulane, John Hopkins, etc. it seems like we are all just waiting for press releases to happen about these studies.
Posted 1/4/2019 9:39 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for posting this. I will be for sure be watching more of these videos.

It's funny, how knowledgeable Dr. B is, because he says in this video that the producer "only" gave him 7 hours to give his presentation. So much that he knows from being in the trenches and frontlines of this illness, that is a lot of material to cover in 7 hrs, or a lifetime.

LymeN Cos are complex illness, like right now it seems like it's tricking entire systems of my body.
Posted 1/5/2019 1:37 PM (GMT 0)

sebreg said...

Charlie55, I agree that things have likely changed on the ground since Dr B was practicing, so what he is saying may have been true in his time. But nowadays it does seem coinfections are more prevalent, average tick is carrying more infections than before, maybe virulence of the coinfections has also increased. I also suspect patients are harder to treat than they were a generation ago...

In my case, I've realized babesia is the dominant infection, and likely has been since the beginning. All my dominant core symptoms are babesia-related. Maybe lyme primed the system for failure, but it's been the babesia that has been hell to get rid of. Truly unbelievable how difficult it has been to chip away at this infection. I've made good progress but it has been a crazy effort to get to this point.

It has and I totally support ya on that, problem is, human beings have this tendency to always look for one specific cause for everything and disregard everything else, whether it's mold, mast cell activation disorder, POTS, gluten, autoimmune etc... If you look at what the top LLMDs are treating with now, they're treating with drugs to cover all bases: borrelia persister cells, biofilms, and coinfections/babesia. If you're not even treating biofilms with an effective modern day biofilm buster like Stevia or Xylitol, I suspect it's going to be very hard for your immune system and multi-infection disease to respond to just using a babesia drug. I'm not saying you're just doing that, but just using one antibiotic and one parasitic drug may not be enough.

To say that babesia is the dominant infection for you, it definitely could be, since most LLMDs and lyme patients haven't been using the adequate drugs or herbs to treat this parasite. Most antiparasitic drugs and herbs are failing for malaria in Africa.

I find that I herx tremendously when I use stevia, persister cell drug like dapsone, and an antiparasitic like zithro or mino with cryptolepsis, remind you dapsone has antiparasitic effect too. I suspect you have to cover all basis when treating this disease, just like spirochetes hide underneath the layers of biofilms, I suspect babesia does as well.

And just because you treat Babesia 4 or 5 times throughout your years in treatment, doesn't mean it's not going to stick it's head up 4-5 years down the road, or even later... The layers of biofilms could possibly be the reason for this, as well as it's resistance to antiparasitic drugs.

dbwilco said...
Spector is working with Dr SP from ct and Galaxy labs right now on better drug for lyme and bart(especially).... as well as with tulane and johns hopkins on another project approaching it from a different angle...can read about it on SP's website

https://www.stevenphillipsmd.com/

Well done, thanks for sharing this dbwilco, this is what the lyme forums should be used for, but barely anyone mentioning about this or the new antiparasitic drug tafenoquine. News like this is hardly mentioned on the forums, meanwhile it's filled up with mold, herbs, and other alternative therapy protocols... Keep this thread going with updates, appreciate everyone's contribution!

dbwilco also be sure to try alinia, heard that one is having success against babesia as well.

Along with Coartem, Primaquine, and Daraprim... Hardly any LLMDs are using these drugs, yet this is what some of the top LLMDs and lyme patients have said they've had success with...
Posted 1/5/2019 2:31 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yeah, trust me, I have been throwing the kitchen sink at this babesia. No other way to beat this thing back, monotherapy is a road to ruin once these infections are established. Been making good progress, but it's taking a vast combo of things. Yeah, relapse is always a worry. I think there are ways to hedge once you get to remission (life style, intermittent pulse treatment to keep things in check, etc), but nothing is guaranteed that is for certain. Once I get to remission I'll try to be as vigilant as possible so I can hopefully nip any relapse in the bud. And hopefully as we get more research on these infections they will find better treatments.

Funny you mention coartem, Dr H has put me through three 3 day cycles of it so far (combo'd with other stuff). I'm about to start my 4th cycle. Coartem has been one of the most effective drugs for my babesia (if not the most), I herx like crazy to it. Malarone used to be super effective for me but it doesn't do as much now. A-bab has also been a good one actually, probably one of the strongest herb combos I've been on. I wouldn't mind giving primaquine and daraprim a shot down the line depending on how far current treatments take me, but I don't know if Dr H uses those drugs a lot. I'll have to ask him. In his book he mentions a babesia protocol that involves dapsone. Pretty heavy duty. I really like Dr J's approach to babesia.

I can confirm that alinia has also been effective for me. I've rotated through various combos for this stuff, I'm a big-believer in rotating the protocol when a patient plateaus or isn't seeing improvement anymore, especially if symptoms from the infection are persisting.
Posted 1/5/2019 10:55 PM (GMT 0)

sebreg said...
Oh yeah, trust me, I have been throwing the kitchen sink at this babesia. No other way to beat this thing back, monotherapy is a road to ruin once these infections are established. Been making good progress, but it's taking a vast combo of things. Yeah, relapse is always a worry. I think there are ways to hedge once you get to remission (life style, intermittent pulse treatment to keep things in check, etc), but nothing is guaranteed that is for certain. Once I get to remission I'll try to be as vigilant as possible so I can hopefully nip any relapse in the bud. And hopefully as we get more research on these infections they will find better treatments.

I totally hear ya on all of that!

sebreg said...


Funny you mention coartem, Dr H has put me through three 3 day cycles of it so far (combo'd with other stuff). I'm about to start my 4th cycle. Coartem has been one of the most effective drugs for my babesia (if not the most), I herx like crazy to it. Malarone used to be super effective for me but it doesn't do as much now. A-bab has also been a good one actually, probably one of the strongest herb combos I've been on. I wouldn't mind giving primaquine and daraprim a shot down the line depending on how far current treatments take me, but I don't know if Dr H uses those drugs a lot. I'll have to ask him. In his book he mentions a babesia protocol that involves dapsone. Pretty heavy duty. I really like Dr J's approach to babesia.

Great to hear, I hopefully get to try it soon!

Dapsone I felt like I was cured for the first few weeks, but then came back, lol. Yep, malarone, flagyl, and zithro probably was the first breakthrough with treatment for me, those will still work when pulsed, but have failed to help me reach remission, but was a big stepping stone for me 7 years ago or so...

Others have remarked that rotating between coartem and primaquine helped but Babesia in remission for them..

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3861155

TOOTY said...
The one is Pocono Lyme on Lymenet, and the other I do not remember their name.

But, the protocol that seems to be the be-all, end-all for Babs is Coartem cycled with Primaquine. A couple rounds (meaning weeks!!) of these two meds and those two people were totally over their Babesia. It's my secret weapon when the time is right if BVT with the other meds hasn't kicked it for me.

What is Dr. H having you used coartem with if you don't mind me asking? I've heard others say you have to be careful with the drug, only take it alone, and seperate between other drugs at least two days.

And at what mg doe Dr. H recommend, totally alright if ya dont want to answer...

Amazing how darn resilient this parasite is...

But I guess Malaria is no joke, heard Joe Rogan mention on his podcast some that get symptoms for a couple years, five year, then even 10 or 20 years. And of course, a lot of people die contracting malaria, so I guess things could be a lot worse for us. One marijuana dispensary owner went over to Africa to find a unique strain of hemp that has THCV cannibinoid, meanwhile he got bit by a friggin mosquito then later died....

Moral of the Story, do not understimate parasites... There was an actual LLMD a few years back that committed suicide with Babesia. I know that Lyme is general is causing people to do this, but those fighting both makes the disease tremendously harder to deal with and treat!

I can't seem to find that article of that LLMD, but here's a recent one from May... The writers also failed to mentioned he probably had a borrelia infection, gotta love the news, always failing to report the truth behind Lyme and coinfecitons...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5730781/healthy-father-two-50-dies-four-days-bitten-tick-pennsylvania-yard.html

Article said...


Healthy father-of-two, 50, dies four days after being bitten by a tick in his back yard after doctors misdiagnosed deadly parasitic infection as kidney disease

Spleen or not, this parasite is deadly, hard to treat, and very debilitating despite what the arrogant Doctors have been saying at the CDC or IDSA. They've been wrong about both Lyme and Babesia since day one...

The Lyme patients, along with Dr. Lee win their cases against the CDC, this could very well mean many patients could have a case against them too...

I'm quite curious what the future holds! Because the truth truth is slowly getting out despite the suppression of science...

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/5/2019 4:03:13 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/6/2019 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
I also have another separate question for you sebreg, are you intolerant to gluten?

I'm just curious if babesia is the cause of gluten or if it's just possibly both borrelia and babesia... It could be just the whole infection itself, but not all lyme patients have an intolerance to gluten. Kind of like how some have a meat allergy and some don't, that has to do with supposedly something in the saliva of the Lonestar tick, the alpha-gal.They also did just recently figure out that simply reovirus can trigger celiac disease...

It's also possible, if some of the lyme patients cure or reach remission from borrelia or babesia, that the gluten intolerance may go away, considering this article, that the intolerance may just have to do with a barrier of your intestines that has been weakened by these infections.

https://www.lymeneteurope.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6180&p=45078&hilit=gluten+sensitivity

Columbia Researchers said...

The findings suggest that these individuals have a weakened intestinal barrier, which leads to a body-wide inflammatory immune response.

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/5/2019 5:12:24 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/6/2019 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
Dr H has me on clindamycin (I take 3 probiotics plus chobani greek yogurt to counteract potential gut issues from this med), plaquenil, nystatin, and bactrim along with the coartem. Taking various biofilm busters. Initially the clindy wrenched my gut and I was worried I wouldn't be able to take it, but I stabilized (the worry of c-diff was also in the back of my mind). It gave me a bit of herx for sure as well.

The dosing I'm on for coartem is 3 days of 4 pills twice a day, for a total of 24 pills. First day you take doses 8hrs apart and then next two days 12hrs apart. Half-life on the lumefantrine (one component of coartem) is 3-6 days, so pretty long. He has me doing the cycles 11 days apart, some docs do 14 days. I've seen this med dosed other ways as well.

I'm not herxing as much this 4th cycle of coartem. I take it as a good sign, I think my load is getting less and less, feeling sooo close to getting this thing under control. Taken such a ridiculous effort, I can't believe it sometimes. Parasites are no joke, plus all these infections and cofactors synergize together, combo'd with the right genetic terrain it can turn into a monster. I think that the longer you've had the infections and more severely ill you've been the longer the climb back to health it will be. Doesn't mean you can't get better, but it usually takes more effort.

From what I understand the meds you want to avoid a few days before, during, and after coartem are meds that affect QT interval (like zith, quinolones, stuff like that). In his book Dr H also mentions avoiding neem, artemisia, crypto, A-bab. Not really sure why, it's not explained.

Personally I haven't noticed issues with gluten although I minimize my intake. It's possible I had issues earlier on in my illness but all my systems were out of whack, I couldn't tell what was causing what. Best things I did were cutting out refined sugars, avoiding processed foods, and cutting back on dairy (I would always have gut issues and skin break-outs with milk). I cut back on gluten as a precautionary measure. I wouldn't be surprised about the gluten intolerance going away once the infections are controlled and body systems are stabilized.

Charlie55, are you thinking of doing coartem/primaquine rotations? have you tried A-bab? Like I said, after a certain point I'm all for the kitchen sink approach. Dapsone helped me as well but was not the be all end all, maybe it has some effectiveness on babesia but not enough imo.
Posted 1/6/2019 5:57 PM (GMT 0)

sebreg said...




Charlie55, are you thinking of doing coartem/primaquine rotations? have you tried A-bab? Like I said, after a certain point I'm all for the kitchen sink approach. Dapsone helped me as well but was not the be all end all, maybe it has some effectiveness on babesia but not enough imo.

Sebreg - I didn't think Dapsone was anti-parasitical? I believe Daraprim is though (pyrimethamine).
Posted 1/6/2019 6:16 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks sebreg for all the insightful information, gonna help me as well as others I suspect!

sebreg said...
Dr H has me on clindamycin (I take 3 probiotics plus chobani greek yogurt to counteract potential gut issues from this med)

Yes, eating some type of food with cultures is a must, before I was just taking a probiotic pill, I don't think it was enough. Now eating cottage cheese, way less sugar and lactose. I'll probably also still eat plain yogurt as well, but lot of the yogurts still have a lot of lactose and sugar in them, lactose is also basically a sugar.

Year ago, I was eating yogurt and taking probiotics, put on a little too much fat around the waist line, I suspect due to eating so much yogurt. Not bad, but enough where it's noticeable, gotta watch sugar and dairy products.

Sauerkraut is also a better option, less sugars, problem is most grocery store Sauerkraut has been pasteurized, gotta find brand that's raw, unpasteurized, and refrigerated. Some will even have writing on the label that shows it has cultures/probiotics. You're most likely to find cultured sauerkraut at health food stores like Better Health and Whole Foods.

sebreg said...


I'm not herxing as much this 4th cycle of coartem. I take it as a good sign, I think my load is getting less and less, feeling sooo close to getting this thing under control.

Yep a good sign, along with probably more energy and well being I'm assuming. Babesia really fatigues the hell out of everyone that has it.

But it's always hard to tell if the parasite has built up a resistance or it's just less of a load on your immune system. I think rotation with antiparasitics is key due to beating this drug/herb resistant bug, and using the right ones that haven't been overused in farming, like mepron, which I basically think is useless now. Considering what Dr. Rawls stated on his website.

sebreg said...


Taken such a ridiculous effort, I can't believe it sometimes. Parasites are no joke, plus all these infections and cofactors synergize together, combo'd with the right genetic terrain it can turn into a monster. I think that the longer you've had the infections and more severely ill you've been the longer the climb back to health it will be. Doesn't mean you can't get better, but it usually takes more effort.

Nope Babesia is no joke, it's possibly more resistant to standard drugs than borrelia is, more adaptable and quicker to respond once you're off of drugs, considering the life cycle is like 72 hours compared to 3-4 weeks with borrelia.

Sadly, the LLMDs in Michigan high underestimate this parasite and they're not treating aggressively enough, long enough or even with the right drugs.

sebreg said...


Charlie55, are you thinking of doing coartem/primaquine rotations? have you tried A-bab? Like I said, after a certain point I'm all for the kitchen sink approach. Dapsone helped me as well but was not the be all end all, maybe it has some effectiveness on babesia but not enough imo.

Yes...

No haven't tried the supplement A-bab, quite expensive $90 at pop. I'd rather just buy some tinctures on Etsy, mix them together myself in an empty capsule, what I've been doing. Cryptolepsis really seems to help! But I'm sure A-bab works quite effectively, I just watch my expenditure. Been treating for a long time and it's gotten to be quite expensive over the long run. I come in some money with the next months, maybe I pick it up and give it a whirl....

Yeah, just like anything, Dapsone knocked it back for a good amount of time, lot longer than most. I've found that Dapsone, Minocycline, and Rifampin has tremendously helped me. Remind you mino and dapsone really gets in the brain well which I really felt when I was on this protocol, Rifampin does too I think... Problem is with Dapsone are the extreme side effects amongst other things, gotta be super careful while being on Dapsone while taking it with other drugs.

Stevia extremely helps the efficacy off all these drugs for me, as I suspect it's getting underneath the layers of biofilms and possibly killing off both babesia and borrelia. Xylitol works really well too, have yet to try Lactoferrin.

As patients get closer to the end of treatment, it's quite noticeable what works and where in the body too... Feeling pinching sensations, pins and needles, and twitching in the brain is not fun. It feels like I a have a cat and mouse running up there, lol...

Again, so appreciative to the tips!

I have also taken Lifeway Kefir plain, which tastes pretty good, but still 12g sugar per serving. Then you look at the flavored Kefir, sugar is off the charts. They also have a triple berry flavored stevia, but it's still 12g of sugar.

Anyone who has a chronic disease, whether it's cancer or lyme has to watch sugar, I don't care if it's fructose, lactose, or organic cane sugar. Sugar is sugar, gotta be careful...

I think on occasion, it's ok to take sugar laced foods once in awhile with your antibiotics and antiparasitics, studies have shown taking sugar with antibiotics has increase the effectiveness. How Dr. Sapi stumbled across Stevia... But it's easy to get addicted before you know it back to eating a lot of it.
https://www.livescience.com/14124-sugar-improves-antibiotic-treatment-persistent-bacterial-infections.html

Just better off taking a sugar substitute like Stevia or Xylitol instead f you're looking to break up biofilms and increase the potency of antibiotics...

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/6/2019 12:29:03 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/6/2019 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
Interestingly I never had the debilitating fatigue with Babesia.

Fatigue has not ever been on my list of symptoms.... strange I know.
Posted 1/6/2019 6:30 PM (GMT 0)

Girlie said...
Interestingly I never had the debilitating fatigue with Babesia.

Fatigue has not ever been on my list of symptoms.... strange I know.

What's interesting is my fatigue wasn't this bad earlier or middle of treatment, seems to have gotten worse as all my other symptoms went away as I've progressed. Weird?

Possibly due to Babesia becoming more resistant? Not sure...

I still take part in activities in the Outdoors... I know I'm stupid, but it's hard to refrain from hunting and fishing still when I love these sports. What if, I got later bit by a mosquito and contracted Babesia when my immune system was down treating with antibiotics?

We also have to remember, Everyone's body is different too. I never really got night sweats like some people due with Babesia. However, periodically I have warming sensations occasionally throughout my whole body as if I'm going to sweat after I started using daspone, mino, and rifampin.

It's possible that all these years I was treating the borrelia infection properly, but never enough heavy doses of antiparasitics or the right kind, considering what the Yale study suggested about Babesia.

I don't think I have Bartonella, never responded well to Bactrim when I took it, but hey, just never know...

Found this interesting, everyone talked about this episode of Monsters Inside me a few years back... I remember seeing this, I never suspected I had it this bad because I never had the major symptoms... What's interesting is, the nephew from the family commented that Armando, his Uncle who contracted the parasite is still treating it... Which means he's probably still treating Babesia and Lyme, is what he means. But hey, he may not even be aware that he contracted borrelia too, amongst other things when he got bit by a tick...
https://youtu.be/k2utwfg-rek

Gloribel Diaz said...
Armando is my uncle so anyone was wondering about how he is now hes fine but he still gets treatment for it

Scary stuff, yet the CDC still claims it's easy to treat and cure! lol

Does anyone have cats as pets??? Also another warning note, this new parasite Toxoplasma Gondii that everyone gets who owns a cat, the CDC also states this disease is asymptomatic, where the symptoms are highly unnoticeable... How much ya want to bet that complete BS as well?
https://www.businessinsider.com/toxoplasma-gondii-the-cat-brain-parasite-2015-1

Business Insider said...
Luckily, the human immune system is usually able to keep the parasites from getting out of hand. Pressure from the immune system forces them to cluster into little cysts in the brain and muscles. These cysts usually lie dormant, suppressed by the immune system. However, in the sick or the elderly, whose immune systems are weaker, the parasite can break free and cause serious illness, attacking organs — most notably the brain and eyes.

What happens if you contract Lyme and you're a cat owner, then get this parasite as well... I haven't seen too many LLMDs talk about this... Something to maybe consider...

It's funny how Doctors respond when you mention you might have a parasite in your body, but they always down play the risks and say your immune system can easily handle it. But if you look at what's happening to the environment in North America as else where in the globe, how we're getting hit from all different sides with infection and disease, it's very scary how much they've downplayed Lyme and all these bugs we're contracting. On top of majority Americans being overweight, lacking Vitamin D/nutrition, and all drugged up with pharmaceuticals all the times, can't be good!

Funny, word hypocrite comes time mind... How scientists say there's so many people in denial about climate change, I see the same Doctors and Scientists in denial about Lyme and tickborne disease, which some scientists say is the first epidemic of Climate Change. It's all really mentally deranged when you think about it. People are influenced by corporate media. Scientists and Doctors are influenced by the status quo from big pharma and health insurance companies.

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/6/2019 11:59:11 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/6/2019 6:59 PM (GMT 0)
Girlie, I feel like I read somewhere that dapsone may (emphasis on may) have activity against babesia. But I'm not 100%. Daraprim for sure have heard that hits babesia. How are your treatments going btw? for me babesia caused insane fatigue, like I was being dragged down to the center of the earth, but I'm sure it is different in each case based on a variety of factors.

Charlie55, I'm glad to share anything that can help, and so appreciate you and others who share their knowledge and ideas. I feel lucky to have access to top-notch medical care, important to share whatever we can. I learn most of all from other patients, I never would have recovered any health if it wasn't for patients in forums like this one. The score of doctors I saw weren't worth 2 cents compared to the help and knowledge I got on here.

True true, hard to know about resistance or whether the pathogen load is down. I think it might be a combination, but I truly sense that my baseline symptoms are disappearing which makes me think I've gotten the load down pretty significantly. Time will tell of course. But will hedge all my bets, treat as thoroughly as possible and keep it up even after remission with various strategies to keep it in check. On a sidenote, I've found matcha tea makes me herx (Buhner mentions it is a good source for EGCG which can help against babesia). I plan on drinking that consistently even after remission. Another little hedge, don't know if it will help but doubt it will hurt.

That's cool that you are going to try to hit those combos up. I hope they will prove helpful for you. Some people do really well with coartem, others don't get much response. Likely depends on the strain. But more often than not seems to be a great drug for a lot of babesia patients.

I know, it sucks the A-bab is so expensive. But frankly, given how effective it has been for me, even at low amount of drops, I would say it has good potential value even when you compare to some of the other herbs out there, relative to their efficacy and costs. But like anything it is a gamble, hard to know if it will be a good treatment for you until you try it. But it is great that crypto has good effectiveness for you, it was like a nuclear bomb when I first tried it but now I don't think it does anything for me. Probably culled the lower hanging pathogens.

I've always wondered with sugar. If you take some maybe it can activate some of the pathogens, draw them out, and then BAM! you slam them with a strong pulse-dose of abx. But yeah, better to use stevia and xylitol, maybe that's part of the reason they might be effective, plus ability to dissolve biofilms.
Posted 1/6/2019 7:09 PM (GMT 0)

sebreg said...
Girlie, I feel like I read somewhere that dapsone may (emphasis on may) have activity against babesia.

It does, how effective, not sure. But I know Dr. H has mentioned and hinted that Dapsone does help treat Babesia.

Video where he talks about how Dapsone helped many patients with Babesia - https://youtu.be/bzu0weofvm8?t=6256

But I suspect you have to take it with other antiparasitics, like Daraprim, Zithro or Mino, maybe even Plaquenil...

I'm sure Dr. J has told Girlie some insightful things about Dapsone and Daraprim together, they not only treat borrelia, but babesia as well other coinfection. It's a protocol that covers a lot of bases... But do not leave out a biofilm buster of some sort... Girlie has added some great information on this board, which made me try Dapsone again...

I've noticed a huge difference in minocycline, compared to just zithromax or doxycycline with Dapsone. Everyone's body and strain of babesia or borrelia is different, you'll have to cycle through the different drugs to find which one that works best for you... Sadly, most LLMDs aren't even willing to try Dapsone...

sebreg said...

I learn most of all from other patients, I never would have recovered any health if it wasn't for patients in forums like this one. The score of doctors I saw weren't worth 2 cents compared to the help and knowledge I got on here.

Yes I agree, not just forums, but the internet in general. How I diagnosed myself, found a LLMD, found drugs and herbs to treat with. Listening to others... But I suspect it's also a double edged sword and others easily get wrapped up into spending thousands of alternative treatments that dont have a lot of science behind them.

I'm very grateful of everyones input on forums, blogs, social media, everywhere! Even the documentaries which I also love!

sebreg said...


I know, it sucks the A-bab is so expensive. But frankly, given how effective it has been for me, even at low amount of drops, I would say it has good potential value even when you compare to some of the other herbs out there, relative to their efficacy and costs. But like anything it is a gamble, hard to know if it will be a good treatment for you until you try it. But it is great that crypto has good effectiveness for you, it was like a nuclear bomb when I first tried it but now I don't think it does anything for me. Probably culled the lower hanging pathogens.

Great to hear, I'm gonna put it in my notes.

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/6/2019 12:14:40 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/6/2019 7:19 PM (GMT 0)
https://youtu.be/bzu0weofvm8?t=6256

And like what Dr. H said in that video I posted above, even though Malarone and Mepron not effective as they once were, might be worth trying these antiparasitics with Dapsone. I don't know if he recommends Mepron with Dapsone though, anyone reading this you'd have to look into that first before taking, as there may be an interaction with the drugs. I just know he said he's having success using Malarone with Dapsone.

Also, you start feeling toxic, the symptoms and herxing overwhelming. Take 2 or 3 days worth of breaks, maybe even week, then come back and hit the infection hard again. You'll find you feel even better on the 2nd or 3rd time you've pulsed these drugs, just like what Dr. B suggested treating borrelia.

I suspect as some patients get closer to remission, it might be a good idea to hit the infection down the road like a month from now, 2-3 months from now, just to make sure it's completely in remission.

As time goes on Dapsone toleration does get better, but you have to be really careful with this drug. Super high dosages of Folic Acid, Alpha Lipoic Acid and Milk Thistle, even Liverite Liver Aid which Walmart carries for only $12. As well as taking lots of probiotics!!!

Post Edited (Charlie55) : 1/6/2019 12:23:31 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/6/2019 9:09 PM (GMT 0)
Charlie - if he said he’s having success with dapsone and malarone - then can we not assume that you could sub in Mepron - Both are atovaquone.


I’m trying to recover from my past two weeks.
But I don’t know how much of what I’m feeling is toxins from die-off or kidneys.

I don’t think I’m going to do cycle 6.

I need to find out if it’s the Rifabutin or the dap/daraprim affecting my kidneys.
So once I have a good kidney function test - I’m going to take Rifabutin + 2 abx and test them.

I need to know because Dr J has prescribed Rifabutin for my “step-down”protocol -which I will be taking for many months.
Posted 1/6/2019 9:15 PM (GMT 0)
Girlie, i hope your kidney function will be fine. I had elevated transaminases while i was on rifampin.

Today i took the first 600 mg at once... and i can handle this feeling of dying, panic attack... within one hour....
Posted 1/6/2019 10:53 PM (GMT 0)

OriolCarol said...
Girlie, i hope your kidney function will be fine. I had elevated transaminases while i was on rifampin.

Today i took the first 600 mg at once... and i can handle this feeling of dying, panic attack... within one hour....

I found Rifampin to be fine - no elevated liver enzymes or kidney issues.

Some llmd’s do prescribe the Rifampin to be taken once daily as you are doing.

Let us know how you do going forward.
Posted 1/6/2019 11:02 PM (GMT 0)

Girlie said...
Charlie - if he said he’s having success with dapsone and malarone - then can we not assume that you could sub in Mepron - Both are atovaquone.

You're probably right, I'm just being cautioning on what drugs to mix...

Girlie said...

I’m trying to recover from my past two weeks.
But I don’t know how much of what I’m feeling is toxins from die-off or kidneys.

I don’t think I’m going to do cycle 6.

It can be brutal, this is another level of treatment mixing dapsone with other drugs, the herxing and toxins from the die off can seriously make you feel really bad!

I'm don't feel too bad, but I can't imagine what a patient may feel like if they're just in the beginning or middle of treatment, then they hop on a powerful protocol with Dapsone. I think the payoff in the end will be well worth it, considering what Mandy Hughes went through and what state she's in today, very happy and living life.

I think in a lot of lyme patients minds, when you herx or feel so toxic, first thing you do is worry about breaking something inside your body. I'm not so sure, but everyone should be careful regardless, a few days off, few weeks, maybe a month, then go back on. Give as much time to your body as it needs, I firmly believe into listening your body.

Baking soda water drinks, drinking nothing but water, sitting in hot bathtub or sauna, detoxing with herbs. Vegetable shakes... Liverite Liver always made me feel better a lot better, along with baking soda.
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