Hope is a dangerous thing. It can break through any dark matter and bring along the light we need and long for.
I’ve purchased the latest expanded and revised book called Healing Lyme written by Stephen Harrod Buhner.
It’s been five years since I found out I had Lyme, so why wait until now to read some of these books ? I suppose due to couple factors. In the beginning 95% of anything I read I could not process or retain.Once I pushed past that I was too overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation, a situation without a positive finality. No cure for Lyme is something I hear often yet I have a hard time accepting. How I see it, there’s a cure for everything. We simply need to find it, and hopefully during our life-time.
The additional pain that comes from a relapse pushes me yet again into the research field, because we all know pain is the best incentive to make us act, and have come face to face, yet again, with the Buhner protocol, a treatment I heard about with many positive results but never tried it al least not in its entirety.
Yesterday was my first day, and all was good but today I have a very big headache and I feel funny (nausea, headaches, feel like Im getting a nose bleed, fatigue and pain behind my eyes). I’ll have to reduce the doses.
I’m following the example Buhner has in his book for a Neuroborreliosis protocol, since it got in my brain, which consists of the following tinctures.
*Polygonum cudpidatum or Japanese Knotwood tincture- 1/2tsp, 3-6x daily -for endothelial protection.
*Salvia Miltiorrhiza or Sage and Scutellaria baicalensis or Skullcap combined tinctures, 1tsp 3x daily for cytokine remodulation.
*Cordyceps/ Eleutherococcus/Uncaria tomentosa or Cat’s claw combined tincture, equal parts of each, 1.5tsp 3x day for immune remodulation.
*Glycyrrhiza or Licorice tincture, 1/4 tsp 3x daily. (not if you have high blood pressure) for immune remodulation.
Uncaria rhynchophylla, 1/2-1 tsp 3-6x daily for neuroborreliosis.
*Withania somnifera or ashwagandha. Powder: 1/2 tsp am, 1tsp before bed time (pm) for immune remodulation.
Tryptophan, 1500 mg 3x daily for neuroborreliosis.
*Great lakes gelatin powder, 1 Tbl. in the morning with water or juice for collagen.
*Vitamin C, 1000-3000mg daily for collagen protection.
*Selenium, 200mcg daily for collagen protection.
All supplements with a * are part of the core protocol, so you can add to this protocol based on your needs. The book has a long list of other tinctures to add.
In addition to this I take Sida Acuta tincture, since my body has always responded extremely well to it, weather is in IV form or tincture. I don’t respond well when its in pill format. Sida Acuta helps with tremors associated with neuroborreliosis.
Burbur-Pinella tincture helped with the headache.
Like I said, hope is a dangerous thing, it stubbornly pushes through dark walls looking for a way out. God, I pray I’ll find my way out so others can find theirs. Thx.
The adrenals, thyroid and menopause mess our hormones radically. Pregnancy, for some reason, improves the wellbeing of the mother but after delivery there’s another story.
Personally I had to reboot the adrenals, and pre-menopause began in 2017 during my mercury fillings removal procedures. Another can of worms opened as pre-menopause settled in and later on in 2019, menopause.
“Adrenals sit on top of the kidneys, one for each kidney. The middle portion of the gland secrets the hormone epinephrine, better knows as adrenaline. The outer portion of the adrenal gland secrets cortisol. These two stress hormones define how you will react to stress of any sort. “*
I was operating in the sympathetic response only, the fight and flight response, unable to relax any longer and let the body heal. This was not intentionally done. I was severely fatigued all the time without the ability to rest, as I’ve previously mentioned. This is very typical in Lyme patients. I’m being tested in March for Addison’s disease since the latest blood test looking at the levels of cortisol in the morning came back low.
Hormones influence our emotions, and depression, anxiety, moodiness and other similar emotions are the results. My adrenals are fatigued and among Lyme patients this is a prominent finding.
This area is so in- depth I would only bore you to death talking about it and there are lots of youtube videos which do a better job at it than I would, so I’ll leave it at that.
How can you help your hormones and stress level?
Slow down your activities and try to slow down your mind, it’s very difficult I know because I’m still trying. Meditate, do yoga, watch non-violent shows and movies, choose non-violent subjects in your daily communications, walk barefoot on the grass and dirt outside, stay in the sun as much as possible.
Ashwagandha, Licorice and Asian Ginseng (panax ginseng) are good herbs to take. Avoid Licorice if you have insomnia and high blood pressure.
If you have a thyroid disfunction there are prescription drugs the doctor will prescribe for you. Ashwagandha, iodine or L-tyrosine are a natural route for supporting the Thyroid gland.
Menopause, a natural tornado as I call it, brings along with it too many imbalances and for those fighting Lyme, chronic Lyme, and other serious illnesses and diseases it’s a very unpleasant layer of crap on top of all the other layers of crap they have to deal with already. Ashwagandha helps to reduce the hot flashes, the herb VITEX restores progesterone secretion and normalizes the menstrual cycle and abstinence from sugar helps reduce the hot flashes (something nearly impossible to do with all the cravings that come along with menopause).
I hope some of this info can help someone, and chin up, the cure is coming.
Biofilms are colonies of microbes. They hide safely inside a protective polysaccharide shell which protects the organisms inside from starvation, drying out, the immune system, and antibiotics. Inside they’re free to mingle and exchange information.* As M.D. William Rawls put it in his book Unlocking Lyme; “imagine a crowded dance floor with bodies squeezed together forming a uniform mass swaying to the rhythm of the music.”
If immune function is compromised, like in chronic immune dysfunction, biofilm can form on surfaces of the body. It’s very hard to rid your body of these biofilms and when the bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi finds the environment safe they come out (multiplied by now) and goes wild in the body causing the known relapses and/or other complications.
Common biofilm illnesses include bacterial vaginosis, chronic UTI’s, chronic sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, middle ear infections in children, heart valve infections. “Lyme disease is not primarily a biofilm disease.” According to M.D. William Rawls. However, symptoms of Lyme disease are caused by the bacteria manipulating the immune system to generate inflammation, and it can allow the biofilm generated by other bacteria to flourish. Ex: Dizziness common in Lyme disease may be related to biofilm formation with calcium deposits in the inner ear probably caused by other baacteria.*
How can you overcomebiofilm?
A strong immune system will do it:)
Herbal therapy with antimicrobial and immune-enhancing properties (garlic, zinc, elderberry, echinacea, mushrooms, sage, artemisia, calendula, capsicum etc). Personally I respond really well to artemisia.
Essential oils like eucalyptus and thyme.
Protein-digesting enzymes.
Monolaurin- comes from coconut fat.
NAC (N-acetyl cysteine.
EDTA, a chelating agent.
Oxygen and nitric oxide. *
More research is needed and being done on biofilm, but one think research has shown is the ineffectiveness of antibiotic treatment against biofilms.
On a personal note, I believe based on the research I did, that lyme bacteria can hide for years in these biofilm colonies, multiply and get stronger and a compromised immune system due to trauma, accident or serious illness can trigger them and set them free to cause extensive damage in the body. For me personally was a combination of my little brother Fanu passing away and third pregnancy. I absolutely love Alex, my third and don’t regret anything but I will forever miss my little brother, Fanu.
Hope some of this information has been of help to you today and keep fighting, a cure may be around the corner:)
God Bless:)
*Quotes or information taken from the book Unlocking Lyme by William Rawls M.D.
Lyme is a cruel disease. The co-infections that come along with it are horrendous and most often worse than Borrelia Burgdorferi alone.
Co-infections I suffer from are: Babesia Duncani, Bartonella, Mycoplasma Pneumoniae. In addition there’s Ehrlichia/Anaplasma/Rickettsia (the worst one) and Chlamydia. There are said to be hundreds of Borrelia versions yet undiscovered.
Viruses such as Epstein Barr Virus, Streptozyme (strep infection), MMV6 Herpesvirus have been found in my body. In addition to these there are also CMV or Cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B and C, HSV-1, HSV-2, herpes virus, HHV-6a, HHV-6b, HHV-7, parvovirus B-19, adenovirus are the most commons. There are thousands more, some undiscovered yet. Most people are carriers of some of these viruses but the immune system is stronger and keeps them in check. For Lyme patients these only add to the multi-head-monster-disease and cause serious damage.
In addition intestinal parasites, mold and toxicity and some genetic cellular dysfunctions such as HTGF C677T mutation was positive for me, a critical enzyme required for a metabolic process that repairs DNA. But the list is long in this criteria as well.
There’s also a vitamin deficiency usually present such as Vitamine D, B, and magnesium; these were in my case and can vary for others. Also the HTGF B1 or Human Transforming Growth Factor was high in my case meaning high amount of inflammation present in the body.
By now I had non-epileptic seizure (I learned that later) all the time, paralysis of arms and feet, tingling of extremities, face and lips, among my many other symptoms.
I’ve seen cardiologists, neurologists, urologist and was referred to immunologist, endocrinologist, but due to feeling too weak to stand and too poor I opted out of some.
I had Lyme for years, but I got re-bit and the high amount of trauma/stress at the time (my little brother died, pregnancy #3, school, trip to Europe and work) triggered the monster.
Symptoms of Lyme Disease and Co-infections for me: flu-like symptoms it’s how it began with face pallor, chills, muscle ache, low fever then high fever and malaise. Added along the way: numbness and tingling of upper and lower extremities, face and lips. Constant nausea. Peripheral blindness, air hunger (Babesia), rashes, joints, muscles and bone pain around the clock, dissociation, fog vision, fainting spells, rapid weight loss without activity, hyper-sensitivity to noise and light, hyper-anxiety, irritability, depression, ghost like facial paler, loss of hair/eyelashes and eyebrows, bitter/metallic taste in the mouth, stomach discomforts, swollen lymph nodes, left side pain in the spleen region, shallow breathing, irregular an heavy periods, headaches, confusion, loss of memory especially short memory, speech impairment, swollen eyelids, ovary and bladder pain, chronic UTI’s, Bell’s palsy on the right side of face, non-epileptic episodes, to name a few.
How to treat?
Since there’s no cure for Lyme Disease yet, the treatments are very controversial in the western medical circles and three weeks of antibiotics only helps half of the patients while the other half go on a life long debilitating and severely painful battle.
Advise #1 from me: Fight for your life and don’t allow the doctors to brush you aside as if you’re crazy. Most likely they’re frustrated as well by the lack of knowledge on this subject and most are scared of the CDC, a corrupt and criminal corporation in my opinion, not looking out for patience at all.
Antibiotic treatment may have helped a limited amount of people but science shows the presence of Borrelia in tissues even after treatment.
A holistic systematic approach to healing has proved to help. Tincture protocols like Buhner and Cowden as I mentioned in previous steps seem to help tremendously. Herbs and aromatherapy also do wonders, and are far more affordable than antibiotic IV’s.
Core Herbal Protocol*
Primary
Resveratrol from Japanese Knotweed: 200-800 mg, 2-3 time a day.
Andrographis: 200-800mg, 2-3 times a day.
Cat’s Claw: 400-800mg, 2-3 times a day.
Chinese Skullcap: 400-1000mg, 2-3 times a day.
Garlic with stabilized allicin:180-1200mg, 3x daily.
Sarsaparilla: 200-1000mg: 2-3 times a day.
Secondary
Cordyceps: 1-3 grams (1000-3000mg); 2-3 times daily
Reishi: 1000-2000mg, 2-3 times a day.
Eleuthero: 50-200mg 2x a day.
Supportive Supplements
NAC
Alpha Lipoic acid
Vitamin C
CoQ10
Vitamin D
Resveratrol from Japanese Knotweed
French Maritime Pine Bark
Hawthorn
Milk Thistle
Omega 3
* Treatment info comes from the book Unlocking Lyme by William Rawls, MD. Most of these treatments I take with great results. It’s the relapses that suck.
Gut restorative supplements as well as toxin and mold removal are a must. (See previous Series for more info).
Hope some of this information can help you find some answers and gives you some tools towards getting better.
This step has many routes towards healing, some better than others, some easier than others and some with a far better outcome than others.
It’s not a simple 1.2.3 point presentation answer when it comes to autoimmune health battles since every single body reacts differently to treatment and Lyme Disease brings along the dangerous co-infections which alter the immune balance in various ways. My battle has a neurological angle, yours could have a cardiovascular angle, so on. Since I’m not a doctor I can only share with you my personal experience, nothing more.
Inflammation gone wild is the biggest cause of autoimmune diseases, I believe, and by reducing it or eliminating it, you’ll see a dramatic improvement.
How am I doing it?
Eliminating all dairy products from my diet was an immediate and inexpensive route. “Antioxidants in the blood steam play an important role in reducing the damage effects of inflammation.”*- Blueberries, dark chocolate, pecans, artichokes, strawberries, green tea are some of the foods rich in antioxidants, they have to be pesticide free otherwise you fill up on toxicity. Prostaglandins: One of a number of hormone-like substance that participate in a wide range of body functions such as the contraction and relaxation of smooth muscles (ex: stomach, intestines, urinary bladder, uterus or the walls of arteries and veins, respiratory, urinary and reproductive systems), the dilation(widening) and construction (tightening) of blood vessels, control of blood pressure, and modulation of inflammation. -definition found by MedicineNet with personal notes added- “Diet rich in vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids (fish, flax, chia seeds) promotes prostaglandins that diminish the inflammatory response.”*
“Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofin (Advil) and naproxen, artificially control inflammation by blocking key enzyme, called COX-2, and provide relief from swelling, redness and pain.”*
As for herbs that help reduce inflammation, turmeric which has curcumin (member of the ginger family) as a primary component has potent anti-inflammatory properties. Other herbs with similar properties are Boswellia serrate and devil’s claw.
Protein-digestive enzymes play a role in breaking down inflammatory debris and immune complexes. Like bromelain from pineapple and papain from papaya.
Rebuilding collagen– “The primary tissues affected by inflammation in chronic lyme disease (and I suspect Lupus or other autoimmune diseases) include joints, ligaments, muscles, brain, eyes, skin and heart. What those tissues have in common is collagen -the most abundant protein in the body. It’s what holds you together.”*
Personally, I know the filling of being eaten from within, how every joint hurts 24/7, how tired I get by this pain, how frustrating is to walk, exercise or just move in general and how eager I am for a cure. Because of this battle, I believe, I got adhesive capsulitis also known as frozen shoulder going on now and it hurts like heck.
Diet to help restore collagen. Kale and other deep green leafy vegetables (Yuck! Don’t like them personally), cucumber, salmon, sardines, eggs, celery, olives, bone broth, gelatin (like NeoCell Collagen- that’s what I take).
Restoring immune strength is a must in order to battle and succeed against Lyme Disease or other autoimmune diseases.
I will have to add Vitamin D (a hormone really), C, Magnesium and B’s are very important for proper immune function.
Seems like a lot, right? But don’t loose heart, there’s more to come:) Hope some of this info helps you in your own battles and chin up, we’re here and one day we pray we’ll be pain free.
God Bless:)
*Quotes from the book Unlocking Lyme by Williams Rawls, MD.
So you got the Doxy antibiotic treatment, it worked for the first five-six days, you saw a heathy ray of hope shining down on you from the heavens above, you even had the energy, finally, to go out with friends and celebrate the good news, only to find yourself the seventh day down on the floor, with half of your face paralyzed, barely breathing, severe nausea, cold tingling lips and extremities, unable to focus your eyes on anything, in and out of consciousness, absolutely sure that you’re dying. But why? (At least this is what happened to me, your experience may have similar details with many additional symptoms, depending on how your own body was affected).
Well… I wished my doctor would’ve tolled me that Herxing is part of the healing process and why a Lyme disease patient goes through these. The young lady in the video explains it well in my humble opinion, the why and the how to ease the severity of herxing so you can avoid expensive and unproductive ER trips, like mine’s.
Some of the Herxing symptoms: Severe/intense fatigue, joint pain, flue like symptoms, cognitive symptoms, neurological based seizures, nausea, fast heart beating, metal/bitter taste, tingling and numbing of extremities and/or face/lips, dizziness, fog vision, sensitivity to light and noise, sharp bone pain, headaches, are the ones I remember experiencing but there are more out there.
Chlorophyll- liquid form- about 15 drops in your water bottle simply needs to become a life style. The water will look dark green to black, so that can be a cool topic for your friends- vampire water. If you don’t like the taste, or color, use it in pill format. I was too sensitive to charcoal pills, reacted too strongly, so that didn’t work for me, but epsom salt baths are very nice, sauna too.
So if you’re new to this process, let me tell you something I wished I knew. Herxing is scary, and it can feel like you’re dying, however there’s a better life on the other side and if you’re vigilant with your detoxing it’s manageable…still scary and unpleasant though. I imagines the stupid things dying and it put a smile on my suffering. So if you’re herxing that’s because you’re killing them. Yah!
Herxing is part of the healing process, wether you choose antibiotics or a natural approach. Hard to get past it. But keep on killing them!!!!! Now that you’re aware what Herxing is about, what next? If you haven’t caught it in the cute stage (the first 24h- a week) and the doxy helped some, only to make things so much worse, now what? Here is where the medical controversy starts.
Coming up next, but until then God Bless and keep up the hope:)
Journey 