new dx & mthfr...questions

Hi everybody,

I've finally received my lyme diagnosis and found out I have the mthfr mutation as well. I am still nursing my daughter, and so we have to be exrta careful about abx. She started me on zith 250 mg 2x/day, and some methylated (right term?) b vitamins in additon to the immune & gut support stuff she started me with last month. If you were me, would you...

...start with the b vitamins for a bit first, to help the zith be more effective?

...realy go hard on the detox stuff or ease into more gently (considering mthfr)?

If it helps, here's what I've got going so far:

burber 2x/day (more as needed with abx/herxes)
pinella 2x/day
astragalus tincture
maitake mushroom tincture
ag immune
probiotic
magnesium supplement

acupuncture 1x/week

To be honest, I'm nervous about how effective the zith will be - is that a low dose? A pretty effective drug on its own? I'd rather go with straight herbs than wreck my gut for little benefit. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks!

Start slow on methylated stuff, I got really weird feeling off it after a few weeks and had to back down on the dose. Then I eased into it and I felt better.

I take 1000 mg zithromax along with 600 Rifampin, so your dose does seem low.

I hate to be the one to tell you, but if you were just diagnosed with Lyme, your nursing child could easily have it as well. You need to get your child evaluated or at least on their own protocol to help prevent the development of these infections.

Lyme bacteria are known to be passed in utero and in the breast milk as well. You can find references to this all over the internet.

I would say that you need a really good Master Herbalist to talk to in order to find out which herbs will be safe with your little one still nursing. I know that those that choose abx while still nursing a child usually end up on Amoxicillin.

And my understanding is you have to be super careful about detoxing too. I don't remember for sure if there is anything that's considered safe to use for detoxing while breastfeeding.

I have 3 grandsons aged 5, 3 and 4 months. They each nursed randomly for a few months with the younger one. It's a beautiful thing to commit to that. I wish you the best with all of this.

Just a general question, but does it ever make sense to postpone tx in the mother until the baby stops breastfeeding, knowing how important breast milk is and how detrimental abx are to gut flora?

-p

Having lived with this for so long - I say no. But I have a different perspective.

Sorry Moonflower - I have no desire to make you feel bad - this is just the way I see it after having had 2 children of my own and breastfeeding them for as long as my chronically ill body would.

You have to consider that in circumstances where the mother has gone through pregnancy and has already started breastfeeding, that the baby has now has been possibly exposed to two different means of passing these infections along - both in utero and through breast milk. So the chances that the child has Lyme as well at that point is even higher.

Both of my kids that I delivered have ended up somehow not having these infections - but I also raised them on no processed foods (literally) - everything they ate/drank was homemade, except the most basic things of course, like water, wheat, sugar (for making jams and a few goodies along the way) - but we did buy whole wheat 'berries' and grind it ourselves for a long while too. They had fresh meat, eggs, milk, and even water too- straight from our little farm. So I think that while they may have been born with it, raising them like this helped to strengthen their immune systems to the point that they conquered it. That's the only explanation I can come up with anyway, as to why they are healthy now at ages (gulp!) 29 & 31. (<--- how did that happen???? I surely don't feel old enough to have kids that old! LOL!)

Please do let us know how you and your baby girl are doing!! I wish you the absolute best. And I applaud you for breastfeeding and sticking to it as long as you can!!