Stomach Issues

Hello everyone,

So I was clinically diagnosed with lyme, babesia, and bartonella 4 years ago based on my symptoms. The doctor that diagnosed me provided me with a recommended protocol to help with a lot of my symtoms.. diet, herbals, probiotic, etc.

Anyway, I have been taking a tincture of cat's claw, lemon balm, houttuynia, ACV, turmeric and a 50 billion CFU probiotic for the last 4 weeks. I have definitely noticed some improvments in energy levels, less breakouts on my skin, and some better sleep. However, I have been getting extremely bloated after the probiotic basically everyday since I started. I thought it would get better with time, but it never really changed.

Anyway, I was also going to take a break from the tincture because it says that I should take a one week break from lemon balm after a month of use. But during this week that I've taken a break from the tincture, my acid reflux is worse than it was before I started. Do you guys think that these things are helping my stomach, or making it worse? I feel like I am caught in a catch-22 at the moment and am not sure where to turn.

I also got a gut map stool test to check for candida, leaky gut, etc. but I need to stop taking the probiotics for 2 weeks before taking the test. Any suggestions on if I should continue with the protocol, or take a break?

Thank you,
Christian

i think you may need more than the cat's claw, lemon balm, houttuynia, ACV, turmeric and a 50 billion CFU probiotic to deal with Lyme bart and babs in any case

i have found herbs somewhat helpful - but not enough on their own
houttuynia can help with Bart, cats claw can help a little with Lyme, lemon balm is supportive also i think - but most people here seem to need pretty heavy hitting protocols to move forward.

for this reason i would not worry about stopping what is basically a supportive program for a couple of weeks and the GI Map test - if that the one you are going for - is a good test that should give you some useful information about what you are dealing with

with bart and babs gut issues are prevalent
i think its the case that bart causes inflammation of the gut lining - and from there - gut dysbiosis, leaky gut, etc etc
mine was sensitive to any probiotics or prebiotics - which would both cause herx like symptoms and bloating.

diet modifications can be very helpful in controlling gut symptoms - i use a keto diet for this (less carbs = less food for for the messed up gut microbiota = less gut symptoms ) and it was a turning point in my recovery.