Not Able to Get Off Abx ? Ever ?

BarnGurl - You are not alone, I know *exactly* how you feel and Im going through the exact same thing you are right now. I also work fulltime which has been really tough.

Ive been on ABXs now for over 2+ years and everytime Im off of them, I will quickly relapse regardless of what herbs Im on. The difference with me is, ABXs are 120% effective while Im on them, but Ive learned to control all/most of the side affects (thanks to this forum). My LLMD tells me it can take 3-18 years to cure some people, so we will be cured, we just have to pace ourselves.

I guess what bothers me most is that I do not have any choice but to continue the abx. I certainly cannot work without them. And to all you doctors who insinuate this is possible, you should try it.

I believe I may have been infected for a long time and sometimes I am so disgusted bc the disease makes you feel trapped. Like where did the freedom go ? The backsliding is a constant reminder of this dreaded disease.

Thanks for listening and I truly appreciate all your insights.

There is def a mental aspect of this disease. I believe brain swelling causes some of the mental deterioration. You can experience decline in cognitive abilities and mood which lead me to believe there is def something to this.

www.mentalhealthandillness.com/tnaold.html

Interesting article on some of the psych aspects of this disease

Post Edited (BarnGurl) : 2/15/2014 6:37:31 PM (GMT-7)

"Although diagnosis is the major focus of this article, I would like to say a few words about the role of psychiatry in the treatment of Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease. The effective treatment of psychiatric symptoms in these patients helps improve their overall prognosis and reduce their need for antibiotic treatment."

There is another neuropsychiatric disorder called Bartonella rage...................... and this statement just triggered it.

In some patients it may be possible. I guess it depends on what stage of healing you are at. Like, I wish I was where he was talking about. I have wondered if the psych has a role in the healing process. Seems reasonable to me based on the effects of the disease as well as the feelings we manifest as a result of it.
Ive def heard psych meds recommended for Lyme. I think it is to alleviate mental effects of the symptoms in absence of any true cure.

I did horrible on abx so I tried colloidal nano silver and I am doing much better on it. Huge improvement. Silver is a natural abx.

Lymebabe, I want to add in silver...what dosage do you take, and is it a specific brand. I would be taking it with abx, which I believe is ok...someone please tell he if it's not...:)

I small also interested in the collided silver info. Was just looking into ASAP yesterday.

Roxie60 I e-mailed you also.

Lymerunner:

Does anybody notice that their neuro symptoms get worse if their diet is bad?

In a word "yes". Diet def has an impact on all of my symptoms. I read Burrascano's guidelines for diet and they have really helped me.

She was treated for 2 years. But honestly, she has improved on herbals past the point where she was since discontinuation of abx. If I had known this would happen with Buhner's full protocol, I would have tried discontinuing abx and switching to full herbal sooner. Not just one or two herbs, but the whole gamut. Trouble was our LLMD was very well versed in abx, but not so much (actually not at all) with herbs. I had to educate myself - with these infections knowledge is power, and Stephen Buhner has lots of it.

Even after 2 years of abx our daughter was herxing significantly with herbs. I was concerned about not being able to reach recommended dosages, either for her or myself (I have never taken abx). Buhner's associate said at lower dosages, you just have to treat for longer. Which is fine with me. I can keep this up for the rest of our lives if I have to. We are that good.

Before starting Buhner I had palpitiations, exercise intolerance, brain fog, hot flashes, foot pain on both the tops and bottoms of my feet, tennis elbow, sacroiliac pain, tinnitus, some vertigo and a general sense of just getting old really fast.

Last summer (3 months after we started Buhner) I could bike 25 miles in an 1 hour, 20 minutes, but still had trouble with severe flu-like body aches the next day. I was still pretty exercise intolerant. Now I can erg for 1 hour, have better times than most other competitive Master's rowers at my rowing club and not even have muscle aches the next day. I feel strong, I can shovel snow and be happy doing it, and I am 52 years old. I'm still not sweating the way I feel I should be, but hopefully that will come.

Our daughter has recovered from her diagnoses of Aspergers, Tourette's and ADHD. She has great executive function (3 years ago I was dressing her, brushing her teeth, going to school every other day to clean up her desk - she couldn't think for herself at all) and is getting 80-90's in mainstream classroom with no help from me. That sure beats sitting beside her everyday redirecting back to homework, redirecting, redirecting....

It is that good.

Buhner's books give a super overview of the bacteria, how they behave, why they cause the damage they do, how to reduce the damage and finally how to decrease bacterial/viral load. He gives all recommended dosages, which herbs to use, where to source them, how to prepare them.... everything. His associate is available for consult if you need help.

There are others doing synergistic protocols on this forum. I think that hitting the infections from all angles (not just one or two), is key, as is detoxing and gradually bringing the body back to a state of balance. Deejavu and Heathersdad have the handle on that one. Hopefully we get there some day.

rowingmom you are a pathfinder. Thanks so much for your thoughtful response. You are light years ahead of me but hopefully I will find the way.

Your remarks about your daughter brought tears to my eyes. My son suffered almost identical effects with lack of concentration, irritability and general difficulty learning and attending to tasks. Now several months into treatment he is functioning very well in the classroom and is an excellent athlete. Im going to go very slowly transitioning from the abx. I dont want either my son or myself to ever go back to where we were before treatment.

Post Edited (BarnGurl) : 2/16/2014 8:27:13 PM (GMT-7)