amoxicillin - not typically given anymore as a lyme treatment. I was treated with 30 days of amox, 3 days after a known tick bite and within 24 hours of a bull's eye rash appearing. My case was not resolved. Very common treatment for many types of illnesses. If your doc offers amox first I would find another doc.
doxycycline - this seems to be the cookie cutter first line of defence. There are two versions of treatment: 1 pill given within a few days of a known tick bite and 2 - 8 weeks of treatment prescribed in the presence of symptoms or a positive lyme test. Also a common treatment for syphilis another spirochete.
minocycline - a less common lyme treatment, this cheap antibiotic's forte is getting into very small places between cells and tissues, just like the organism its trying to kill. For this reason, this is a preferred choice if when infection started is uncertain. Mino at 100mg BID for 3 weeks has show effective with those who have had the illness for almost a month. Has also been used as an acne treatment. It does have side effects and is not for kids under 14 - 16.
Herb Protocols:
Herbs are another option. They are gentler and results are slower and more subtle - but kinder to the body. I know some who have had complete success with a year's treatment of just herbs, after having the illness for up to 7 months before treatment. I know one who was allergic to one of the key herbs. For me herbs alone wasn't enough - however taking both mino and the Buhner herb regimen is proving to be the key for me... Neither treatment alone were enough for me. Every case is going to be different, just like western treatments, listen to your body to see what it needs and wants.
Coweden Herb Protocol - an herb protocol, expensive and arduous to take, but clinically tested to cure 90% of chronic lyme. Resources can be found at nutramedix.ec/ns/lyme-protocol
Buhner Herb Protocol - an herb protocol, inexpensive and much easier to take, but not clinically tested. Similar to the cowend protocol. This is what I take with excellent results. The protocol is laid out in: Healing Lyme, a comprehensive book written on the illness's workings and treatment by psychotherapist and herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner
Quinine - Never use without an antibiotic, the two operate as a team. Cysts form to help a pathogen lay dormant and safe from attack until the host (you) provides more favorable conditions (becomes stressed). (Video of Lyme spirochetes forming cysts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVmCa70bAxE) Antibiotics can not kill pathogens in protected cysts, but with quinine and its brethern treatments helping, cysts are broken and antibiotics can kill the unprotected pathogens, preventing relapses.
Pain Treatments:
Arnica, an herbal essence known for healing bruised and sore tissues among cosmetic surgeons and athletes, arnica is also good for some nerve pain. Directly drag dropper (don't squeeze bulb) over painful area, lightly spread then allow to dry. Don't shower for hours after application, you'll remove some of the active oils. Relief could be instant or take up to an hour, every one is different. Herbs are not controlled like pharmaceuticals for consistent strength and repeatable results - the source/brand of your herbs matter for their effectiveness.
Hydrogen Peroxide Soaking, in the hottest water you can stand add hydrogen peroxide in roughly 1:48/50. Soak for about 10 minutes. I noticed relief for 3 days, while plain hot water soaking gave less relief for only a few hours at most.
Massage it does help and feels great!!
Antidepressants. I have heard from more than one person that antidepressants took away nerve pain. The prescription was usually for sleep or depression not pain and result was unexpected. I can personally report nortriptiline did this for me. My first 5 mg dose alleviated all my body wide within an hour, which was so bad breathing, thinking, and movement were excrutiating. Sleep was impossible for years. Maintaining the nortriptiline at a near pain free level (up to 40mg) for two months resulted in complete resolution of the pain which hasn't returned 6 years later. I have heard similar results from others with other anti-depressants.
One herbal antidepressant is bleeding heart. Drop up 1-4 drops up to 4 times daily on tongue. This is good for stressful times, times of grieving and boosting western anti-depressants. Managing stress better helps the body handle pain better.
Treatments I know little about:
Interferon - An immune stimulant. I know little about its use in lyme. An ILADS reference to the effects of interferon ilads.org/lyme_research/lyme_articles3.html Another article discussing an interferon's failure to slow progression of Multiple Sclerosis, an other illness thought to be a spirochete cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57475123-10391704/commonly-prescribed-interferon-beta-does-not-delay-multiple-sclerosis-progression-in-study/
Rife Machine - I have only one anecdotal 2nd hand story about this, otherwise I know nothing about these. A man who was a tree surgeon had lyme which affected his balance and ability to work. He is reported to have included this in his treatment. http://www.rifemachine.com/
Listen to your inner voice.
I can't say this enough. Unfortunately your doctor may not know which experts to listen to - my very strong advice is listen to your gut especially with this illness and remember: its your body, you make the final call - defend it.
I spent two years at one of the top 50 hospitals in the country, not getting help, getting worse and the whole time I was ignoring my inner voice to do something different. Once I started listening to my inner voice I started getting help and I started getting better.
But know fear is NOT your inner voice. Be tranquil and listen, you'll know the difference. Choices guided by your inner voice may seem reckless or haphazard, but as long as you are deciding from a tranquil place, trust it and observe what happens. Being tranquil ensures you are not deciding from fear and observing objectively. And if it leads down the wrong road, you can always make different choices.
Take it for whatever it is worth... This is years of hard won information and I sincerely hope none of you end up needing this info.
Treatment can take weeks, months or years depending on how entrenched the spirochetes and coinfectants have become. There are other protocol's out there, I haven't heard about any others that catch my attention.
Once you get treatment: Watch yourself.... very very carefully for the next 6 months. Watch for signs of irritably (angering at things that normally wouldn't get you) or fatigue or soreness (which may seem like its work related) - this is a sign its in the central nervous system. Resolve to take notes - if your treatment isn't working, lyme can affect your ability to think about what you want to say - bad for talking to docs.
Remember this is a waxing and waining illness. You might notice a phase which goes away and then you get a new phase which is totally different symptomatically than the previous phase. For example, the first phase may be joint pain and irritability, the next phase may what seems to be a pulled back muscle. Its very "easy" to explain these seemingly unrelated phases away - they almost never seem related.
If, toward the end or after treatment, you feel like something is wrong and just can't pinpoint it - go back to the doc, describe your lyme history - if Dr doesn't respond, start looking for a lyme expert immediately and different doc. This is a super hard illness for even the experts to identify. Do not give this illness any extra time to "wait and see what happens" this illness will roast you because it doesn't sit in the blood and make you sick, it drills into tissue making it hard find via blood test and making it possible for it to injure tissues while you have no symptoms. This drilling action also makes it possible for the illness to go dormant and re-emerge when the body is stressed.
Run away from anyone who says they "know" this illness. This illness is more surreptitious than a Steven King invention... and we just don't know that much about it.
What to do I mean when I say it will roast you? I do not wish to compare or imply I understand anyone else's pain - no one can and no one ever should. However, this might help add perspective of what long-term lyme looks like: Suicide is one of the symptoms of lyme - its not well documented - but it true and a topic in lyme communities. I have seen countless days when I pleaded for my first weeks/years of pain. I have seen periods of wishing intently for death, all the while I was undiagnosable. I was instead described as "sensitive" or "needed to talk to someone" - meaning Drs at Dartmouth, one of the top 50 hospitals in the country, with comprehensive testing, were clueless..... This probably sounds dramatic - but I swear, I am under selling it.
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