Very recent infection

Hi everyone,

This is my first post(I've been reading for quite a bit), so I apologize if I make a mistake.

I'll tell the story of how I contracted lyme hopefully one day when I'm over the terror of how it happened.

In short the infection happened exactly 2 weeks 3 days ago. At the one week mark I felt a fatigue I've not felt in my whole life, severe headache, pain in the joints, confusion. This has been going on for the last 10 days, and since I was quite sure it was lyme I did all I can to research it.

Then I contacted an LLMD, who prescribed the following:
100mg of doxy twice a day, 4 weeks
Flagyl or grapefruit seed extract in the 4th week
10billion acidophilus throughout

He mentioned that since it is not yet a month, there is a good chance of eliminating it completely with this protocol.

I have 3 questions about this.

1- I have read quite a bit saying that pulsing the antibiotics 4 times is a good way to completely eliminate the bacteria. But mine is a different protocol. What do you think? Would my protocol still be effective?

2-I've read that doxy can cause the bacteria to become cyst form at an accelerated phase. And flagyl or grapefruit seed extract were only recommended at the last week. Do you think starting the grapefruit seed extract right away and continuing for 4 weeks is a better idea?

3-And finally, do you think 200mg docy a day would be enough since this is still 2 weeks old?

Thank you very much,
Recentlyme

Hi recentlyme, welcome to our community!
I am sorry you have Lyme Disease, but am glad you found us here.

Because you are at the early disseminated stage of the disease, you will need to treat until symptom resolution plus 4-8 weeks. This is according to Lyme Disease Treatment Guidelines (written by LLMD Dr. Burrascano)

The stage of infection isn't necessarily measured by how long you've had it...but how much it has spread.
This will mean more than a few weeks of treatment.


Also, you really should be on higher dose of doxy - 400 mg daily instead of 200 mg.

Not all LLMD's use a pulsed approach...it varies from Dr. to Dr.

The Flagyl or GSE are both considered 'cyst busters' in the Lyme world.

What you should look into a.s.a.p. is detoxing your body. You will need to do this to flush out the toxins that are created when the bacteria dies off. The die-off creates inflammation...and can cause an increase in the severity of symptoms, and also new symptoms arise. This is called a herxheimer reaction (herx)
Effective detoxing will help lessen the severity of the herx symptoms.

Here is a link to a website with a lot of detoxing suggestions:


www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

You will want to start detoxing slowly - start with a couple methods...and every few days add another one in.

Look up to the skies and be very thankful that you started the treatment early.... you will do great.

Wow, I've been to a lot of forums but this one is by far the most friendly and helpful. Thank you Girlie, thank you Robby Vieira, thank you Denikeef for the words of encouragement and advice.

So I'm actually calling in a favor from a physician friend of mine for the abx. I will tell him 8 packets of Doxy then for the first month of supply, and do you think I should start GSE from the beginning as well and only get Flagyl for the 4th week? Or should Flagyl be started earlier as well?(and hence I should ask for 2 packets instead of one)

And finally I just ordered some samento and benedrol too. Do you think they have a place in the treatment and when and how should I start them and use for how long?

Thank you all again

Post Edited (recentlyme) : 7/14/2016 11:31:08 PM (GMT-6)

Thank you Girlie.

I just got a hold of my antibiotics. Will start with 200 mg Doxy twice a day. Then at week 2 I will start pulsing the Flagyl , 3 days a week.

In the meantime I have already gathered a small collection of detox agents to start. I have:

Cholestyramine
Chlorella
Have a place I can go for Ozone Saunas
Will eat a lot of Parsley
Burbur Pinella (on the way)
Walking 3 miles everyday
Lemon Water everyday
Curcumin 500 mg 3 times a day and
Dandellion Tea

I'll start one by one. One thing that the pharmacist said while I was getting the Cholestyramine was that it would lower the amount of antibiotic my body would absorb. Do you think so? I have 4 gram packets of which I plan to use 1 packet a day.

I really wish that this information you're helping me with , helps guide someone in the future who needs this type of info as well.

A quick question Girlie,

Is there a reason why you suggest pulsing Flagyl 3days a week, versus using it for the whole 4th week? Is this something that would apply to an early infection like mine as well?

Cheers

If you herx badly after starting the doxy, wait until you've got it under control before taking the Flagyl.

Make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses of water daily...and add some fresh squeezed (organic if possible) lemon juice into some glasses.
I drink it with a straw...as the lemon can damage the tooth enamel. Don't brush your teeth right after drinking it. Rinse your mouth out with clear water after the water and lemon.

I recommend that you start detoxing with a few on your list...and then wait a day or two...and add a few more...

After you have started all your detox methods that you have listed, another good one is warm epsom salt baths.
just buy the epsom salts from the Drug Store. Add a couple cups in to a warm bath and soak in it. Start off with just a few minutes in the tub...and slowly increase.
I try not to stay in more then 15 minutes...as I start to get stiff.

You may be symptom free (since you've only had symptoms for a few weeks now) within a few weeks time...but then you need to treat at least 4 weeks after....so it might only be a couple months...or longer...no one can predict.
Give it your best shot now - as it's your best chance of 'knocking it out' .

Do you only have 4 weeks of antibiotics?

The Flagyl will last longer because it's pulsed.

Have you started the antibiotics?

You might want to consider starting the doxy at 100 mg twice a day for several days...and then if you're tolerating it well (no big herx) - then go to 200 mg twice daily.

Take it with food...it can be hard on the digestive system.

recentlyme - I don't want you to be disappointed if you're not symptom free within a few weeks. I hope so - considering you've only had symptoms for a couple weeks.
But, it is realistic that you might not be...just prepare yourself. The good thing is you are treating now...before you get more symptoms...that is a good thing.
I wish I had treated after a few weeks....instead of 15 months later...

it's not difficult to fine Curcumin supplements online.

No, it's not overkill. If you don't act now...you may live to regret it...You are so fortunate to be treating within a couple of weeks of the tick bite.

So, just take it one day at a time...be kind to yourself - rest when you need to....and detox!

Thank you Girlie ,for the words of encouragement that are strongly rooted in reality:)

I will definitely look for the alka seltzer gold and get some for relief.

I'll also update you and everyone once I start flagyl to report how I'm doing.

Talk soon

P.s. In the event that 400mg of doxy is too bad, I guess there is a way of working up to it right? Or do you just have to accept fate and stay at 200mg?

Great, thank you. So there's room to play there and make a package of doxy last for a year :)

One last question, just so I have a more stable mind as I go to sleep :)

Taking flagyl 3 times a week : wouldnt the antibiotic start working at the 3day mark anyways hence stopping might be considered you stopped before it started busting the cysts?

I'll probably go the pulse route as that makes more sense to me but just wanted to inquire.

Post Edited (recentlyme) : 7/15/2016 2:28:06 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Girlie,

Thank you for the really helpful comments again, including the last one.

I'm on day one(took 200mg 2 times so far) and I think I might already be herxing. I feel pretty heavy today like a truck hit me.

Another detox thing I'll use will be earthing by the way. I've heard it might actually be a cyst buster itself.

Btw,for chlorella, there seems to be so many contradicting suggestions. Have you by any chance stumbled upon, how much to use, and when during the day?

So far, I'm drinking lemon water like crazy, took 2 chlorella pills (500 mg each), will earth when the sun goes down.

Finally, I got myself some curcumin tablets (haven't opened them though) . It says it is optimized curcumin (50mg per pill) and the person at the shop told me that it'd be equal to getting 900mg of curcumin with each pill. Didn't really make sense to me, so want to ask, have you ever heard of such a thing?

Looking forward to giving some updates as things progress.