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Posted 7/26/2015 6:52 AM (GMT -5)
I'm curious what everyone thinks about this topic....

Is it ok to have the occasional 1-2 glasses of wine or 2-3 beers?

On the weekends I like to have a couple glasses of wine at the end of the day. Or if I'm working outside in my gardens/yard work on a Saturday all day, come 3pm I like to open a beer and I'll sip on it for a hour and a half, cook dinner, eat, then have two more.

Is this ok? I don't know much regarding this topic and I want to know if this is a habit I should stop.

I do find the next day my dizziness is a bit worse the next day from consuming alcohol because I think it aggravates the Lyme.
Posted 7/26/2015 8:10 AM (GMT -5)
I think there is general consensus that it is best to avoid alcohol with lyme. Your body is already under a lot of stress and alcohol does flare or rile up the lyme, or at least stress your system. I'd say having alcohol as a treat every once in a while might be ok, but not ideal. But drinking it consistently is best avoided.

Also, depending on the meds you take, you may have to be very careful with alcohol.

There are a few threads on this topic:
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=2208045

I'll see if I can't track down more info.
Posted 7/26/2015 9:28 AM (GMT -5)
The real reason most people avoid alcohol is because when they have Lyme, it generally makes them feel a LOT worse! LOL! Or we can feel like we have a hangover without even touching alcohol - so no need to add to that feeling!!

But as Sebreg said, generally it's a good idea to not drink anyway. You are fighting one of the most complex infections that is known. You need to be building up your body, not doing anything that might take away from your healing.

Alcohol is known to interfere with the effectiveness of abx, and with some abx, it can really cause problems.

I would greatly encourage you to put this on hold until you at least have healed most of the way.
Posted 7/26/2015 10:21 AM (GMT -5)
I'm going to avoid it from now on while I'm treating/trying to get better. I've been feeling pretty good these past two weeks since starting b12 injections and a couple different supplements my LLND had me start before starting the herbs. A big reduction in my symptoms... I wasn't sure if it was from the stuff I started or my symptoms just behaving - but anyways for the past two nights I've had 3 beers each night and today my symptoms are back. And awful. Not sure if I caused it by having a few drinks the last two nights, or I'm just having a flare with my Lyme Disease. But best to avoid alcohol I see.
Posted 7/26/2015 11:39 AM (GMT -5)
The other thing that I failed to mention is that wine and beer both can contribute to fungal/yeast issues.

So, as you have seen, it's just generally best to avoid alcohol while we are trying to heal.
Posted 7/26/2015 12:57 PM (GMT -5)
I'm not using any antibiotics though and will be using herbals. I'm on a good probiotic as well so hopefully I don't need to be too concerned about that.
Posted 7/26/2015 1:37 PM (GMT -5)
Well, herbals are abx as well - so the fact that you are ingesting something that will work against your treatments is what I was getting at. I didn't use pharma abx either, and still avoided alcohol - and mostly still do since I'm working on healing my adrenals now.
Posted 7/26/2015 7:16 PM (GMT -5)
What about alcohol once we are healed? I know you need to keep your immune system up but would drinking occasionally 3-4 drinks make you more prone to relapse? I want to avoid drinking for a long time since most of my remaining symptoms are visual and that spaced out feeling, I don't want to make it worse as I have gotten my eyes much better in just 2 months of treatment but still have a ways to go. I know a few people who had lyme, and had to be treated with antibiotics for months, the typical story that we see here, months, and didn't really feel normal again for a full year (even though that seems to be a quicker recovery then most), and now lead pretty normal lives. I even had them tell me that since they had this 10+ years ago they rarely have ever gotten sick since, maybe because the immune system becomes very strong from battling.
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