Lyme disease treatment needs to be individualized. It is of the utmost importance that you have a trusted health care practitioner that you can check in with about treatment. Lyme is a SERIOUS disease folks. I know how hard it can be to get a physican to listen and to understand but please seek out someone who is Lyme literate to help guide you on your healing path.
Find more information on finding a Lyme Literate Doctor here.
Many physicans will advise antibiotic treatment, be it oral, injectable or IV. Some patients sing praises to modern antibiotics as they help them get their life back, while for others, symptoms linger or worsen after antibiotic therapy. There are several new studies that have come out that show Borrelia’s resistance to antibiotic therapies.
It goes to show that we are all spectacularly unique and treatment needs to be customized to the individual's constitution and genetics.
One of the first steps many practitioners will take in treating Lyme is removing heavy metal and toxin exposure. Stimulating detox pathways, through chelation and methylation is often the first step towards healing. If the body cannot detox, it cannot handle treatment.
Below are some are some treatments to discuss with your practitioner. Many of the therapies listed below can be used alongside or as an alternative to antibiotic therapy.
**This website is mostly geared towards those challenged with chronic Lyme. If you have just been bit by a tick seek medical help IMMEDIATELY! Appropriate treatment (6-8 weeks) following a tick bite can save you a lifetime of havoc.
DIET & NUTRITION:
Many people who contract Lyme disease often develop food allergies or GI distress. As the immune system gets disregulated sometimes the body has trouble recognizing what is food and what is a pathogen. Many Lymies (as they sometimes refer to themselves) implement the one of the following diets to try to curb symptoms.
An anti-inflammatory diet often means no gluten, no dairy, no sugar and in some cases no nightshades.
Juicing for Lyme recovery
Ketagenic Diet- Ketotalk Podcast- Pinterest is filled with Ketogenic charts and recipes
Paleo Diets (no grain and very limited carbohydrates)
HCG Diets can help manage pain and release Stem Cells.
Intermittent fasting- eating during 8 hours in the day but fasting for 16
DETOX:
Along side any Lyme treatment protocol, be it allopathic or alternative, detox methods need to discussed with your practitioner. As you treat Lyme, die off of borrelia toxins are released. The body reacts to these toxins and a Herxheimer Reaction can occur. It is of the utmost importance that these toxins be pulled from your system otherwise, you can continue to feel awful. If you have a doctor that is prescribing you a killing agent and doesn’t discuss detoxing you might want to consider consulting with a new practitioner.
I have a blog/vlog post on detox here
Some great detoxifiers are:
Enemas - My family and I use this kit
Vitality Detox Drops is a water soluble patent pending zeolite product that claims that it can pull heavy metals and environmental toxins from the body; including the blood brain barrier.
Organic Chlorella
FarInfrared Saunas or mats
Colonics or colon hydrotherapy
Magnesium - My family switches up magnesiums regularly but we are big fans of:
Magnesium Threonate and Magnesium Malate
Each of us has a unique constitution. There is no one size fits all in Lyme and co-infection treatment. What works wonders for one individual may make an other feel 100 times worse. Your treatment needs to be individualized for YOU!
UNDERSTANDING DNA AND SNPs:
I think DNA TESTING and genetic counseling will be the future of understanding how to best individualize Lyme treatment. Understanding the intricacies of how we do or don’t process certain substances can give us greater understanding on how to get well.
Bob Miller of Tree Of Life has created DNA kits that cover more health information than current 23 and me kits. Tree of Life’s kits are in the same financial ballpark as 23andme. Bob does phone and in person consultations to go over for genetic profile.
If you have already done 23andme DNA testing, Genetic Genie is a free software program from which you can run your “raw data” and interpret your DNA results.
LYME HERBAL RESOURCES:
Stephen Buhner has a plethora of herbal knowledge to share about treating Lyme & co-infections.
Byron White Formulas are excellent quality herbal formulas that are targeted at Lyme Disease treatment. These formuals are only available through practitioners.
Bio Botanical Research is a company that formulates Biocidin and other herbal products that have some great research to back up the product. They also make liposomal, detox, probiotic and anti viral formulas.
Microbe Formulas has some great herbal products.
Reverence Botanicals has Buhner protocol herbal extractions and offers free USA shipping
Green Dragon Botanicals creates Lyme Disease support formulas
Woodland Essences has many Lyme and co-infection specific formulas. Some of their formulas are only avalable through practitioners.
Dr. Rawls has a Lyme Disease Herbal Protocol called “The Vital Plan”.
Dr. Lee Cowden has devised the Cowden Protocol that has helped many in the treatment of Lyme Disease.
Rainforest Pharmacy is an herbal company specializing in herbs from the Amazon region. They have a Spiro formula (for Borrelia) and Myco formula (for Mycoplasma) as well as some other wonderful anti-parastic and anti-fungal formulas. Rainforest Pharmacy has graciously offered LymeCompass.net visitors 15% off their products. Use code: 15OFF on their website.
Belfast Herbs has numerous Lyme specific herbal formulas.
BioPure makes many great supplements. They also make the BioPure Cocktail, an herbal blend is a compilation of several of the most commonly used products in Dr. Klinghardt’s evolving Lyme Cocktail. Dr. Klinghardt discusses many BioPure products in this video.
Nutramedix offers many high quality tinctures and is a go to place for the Cowden protocol. They offer coupon codes on their Facebook page.
Avena Botanicals has really high quality herbal medicines.
Mountain Rose Herbs provided high quality bulk herbs, capsules, and tinctures.
Beyond Balance offers herbal formulas for tick Borne illnesses
Half Hill Farm and Host Defense offer great medicinal mushroom products
David Winston’s publication: Tick Borne Diseases: Their Effective Treatment, Including the Use of Botanical and Complimentary Therapies
Althea Northage-Orr’s publication: Treatment for Lyme Disease with Liposomal Vitamin C, Diet, Neurotransmitter Support Supplements, and Herbs
OTHER MODALITIES OF TREATMENT:
This list may be overwhelming but what works for one person may not for the other.
LymeCompass.net is not recommending any of these products nor is offering medical advice. This information is for educational purposes only!
Accupuncture and Chinese medicine
Bee venom Therapy - Some use live bees, but I revere honeybees and have personally used venom that is extracted without killing the bees. I get that from Aprotronic Services. I mix it with Lidocaine and subcutaneously inject it in swollen or painful joints. Many physicians will instruct home use bee venom. Here is a 2017 study on Antimicrobial Activity of Bee Venom and Melittin against Borrelia burgdorferi . I have a blog post on bee venom. Michael Simics of beevenom.com explains how bee venom is safely harvested without harming the bees in this link.
Bx Protocol- Dr Sally Shultz shares here experience with the Bx Protocol- Here’s a video
Prolozone or Prolotherapy or Neural Prolotherapy
Wim Hof Method - Here is a video of interviews of Lyme Patients using WHM.
Rectal or IV ozone therapy or Ten Pass Therapy. Ozone doctors can be found here. (Please make sure your practitioner tests your DNA variants before using ozone)
Homeopathy- Some see a traditional homeopath or use DesertBiologaical Borrelia formulas
Dynamic Neural Retraining System Lyme Disease may cause Limbic System Dysfunction. DNRS is a method used to reset the Limbic system.
Rife frequency technology - There are many different “rife” machines on the market.
Dr. Tennant’s Biomodulator. Dr Jerry Tennant believes that we can overcome all chronic illness as long as we can make new cells. He also formulates some very high quality supplements.
Klinghardt Neurotoxin Elimination Protocol
PEMF ~ Dr. William Pawluk is very well known for his work and research on PEMF
Medical cannabis (treatment options will vary depending on state laws. Here is a map)
CBD oil is legal in all staes. CBD oil can be very helpful to people who are having neurological problems, seizures, tremors, shaking, muscle spams, pain and inflammation. There are many different CBD oil companies out there. Look for organic, CO2 extracted, and third party certified! These companies are my favorites: Elixinol*, Palmetto, etc.
Vitamin C and sea salt therapy
IV therapy such as; Phosphatidylcholine, Immunoglobulin (IVIG), Lipid Therapy, and Vitamin C
Essential oil therapy or Rain Drop Therapy- DoTerra* and Rocky Mounatin Oils are my favorite EO companies. Please be careful as essential oils are powerful. *I personally suggest airing on the side of caution and using a carrier oil when applying oils on your skin.
MMS or Miracle Mineral supplement
Hyperthermia Treatment available in Mexico & Europe
Nanopartical Collidal silver or Bio-Active Silver
Lugol’s Iodine therapy Iodine can act as a natural antibiotic however too large of a dose can be dangerous. It is important to work on the right dose for you with your health provider.
Low Dose Naltrexone, is a compounded prescription. Many people with auto immune presentation find LDN helpful. Many folks claim it really helps curb their inflammation.
Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) - Here is link for Dr. Shoemaker speaking about Lyme & VIP
I’d love to hear of treatments not listed above that have helped you feel well again. Please contact me if you feel there is something important to add to this list.