What Is Bee Sting Therapy
Bee venom is released through the stingers when bees feel threatened, and the venom has historically been used for several illnesses as it is believed to have various medicinal properties, explains Sunitha D. Posina, M.D., a board-certified internist and locum hospitalist based in New York City.
Dr. Posina adds that bee venom in its simplest form does contain anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory compounds, including one known as melittin, which has 26 amino acids and contributes to about 50% of the venom’s dry weight. It is believed to have positive and negative effects, depending on the dose being used, she tells Good Housekeeping. It also contains other components including phospholipase A2, apamin and adolapim, all of which have been studied for potential anti-inflammatory effects and pro-inflammatory effects.
As portrayed on the documentary, bee sting therapy involves a practitioner placing a bee on a certain area of the body . The bee proceeds to sting the patient’s skin, and rather than remove the bee’s stinger immediately, the practitioner may leave it in there for several seconds. But the most important thingto note is that practitioners are involved, says Amy Rothenberg, N.D., a naturopathic physician who heads up Naturopathic Health Care in Massachusetts.
Exploring Bee Venom Therapy
Thats when I read about Ellie Lobels story and Dr Klinghardts success with bee venom and started considering Bee Venom Therapy. It has anti microbial effects proven to be effective against the Lyme disease bacteria. I didnt like the idea of killing bees and I didnt know who to get bees to sting with in the first place . I couldnt get to the only bee venom therapy course in the UK or even contemplate managing a full day out of the house. So I approached my local BKA and to begin with, they supplied the bees so that I could begin the protocol endorsed by Ellie Lobel. I wasnt consulting a private doctor at this point and my GP was not supportive, with the Lyme diagnosis or any kind of treatment. In fact, they consider what Im doing to be self-harming with live bees. I have the distinct impression theyd like to lock me up.
The initial test sting was hard. Im allergic to bees and have histamine intolerance, so the possibility of going into anaphylaxis was relatively high. My throat did become tight and I had difficulty breathing for a few minutes. Slightly scary, more so for Lee. I was almost beyond caring, Id reached the point of last resort and no return. I had the precautionary alcohol free Benadryl on one side and EpiPens on the other . Lee had been primed to tip the Benadryl down my throat and then inject me if anything went wrong. It didnt. I was fine. I herxed like crazy that night- sweats, shaking, nausea and dizziness, but no anaphylaxis.
How Bvt In Lyme Could Help
Most of the research on BVT is done in laboratory animal studies. These non-Lyme disease studies show BVT
- lowers activation of NF-kB which is a cellular messenger that triggers cytokine production.
Inflammation cytokines, created by the immune system attacking Lyme, cause most of the Lyme symptoms. So lowering them could help a person significantly. These non-Lyme animal studies may indicate what happens in humans however, the effect in humans may not be the same.
To read more about these cytokines and ways to lower them see Control Cytokines: A Guide to Fix Lyme Symptoms & The Immune System.
There is only one study about Lyme and BVT. In this study Lyme researcher Eva Sapi, PhD, carried out modified petri dish experiments in her lab. She found that one BVT component called melittin and whole bee venom both
- reduce Lyme biofilms,
- kill spirochetes, and
- kill round bodies .
So it is possible one other benefit of BVT is that it is an antimicrobial that can treat regular lyme and persister Lyme. And BVT could remove Lyme biofilms that block treatment. One word of caution here – it is very possible that this laboratory result does not correctly predict what happens in living people.
Read more about biofilms and effective treatment options in Biofilms: Lyme Disease Gated Communities. Read more about antimicrobial strategies for Lyme in A Lyme Disease Antibiotic Guide. Read more about persister Lyme and possible treatment approaches in How to Treat Persister Lyme. What Works?
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Bee Venom Therapy For Lyme
Bee Venom Therapy uses bee venom to improve Lyme symptoms.
BVT is given directly through bee stings or through injection by a healthcare provider. One protocol developed by a person living with Lyme calls for ten bee stings three times a week at spots located along the spine. For more information about this protocol see the Resources section below.
To be clear, there is no research in Lyme disease showing how often or how much bee venom through stings per treatment is the most useful. My research on this shows that the protocols and treatment methods have been learned by trial and error.
What Conditions Does Bee Venom Help
Bee venom has been used for a long time in other countries and cultures for a multitude of conditions such as Multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure, asthma, hearing loss, premenstrual syndrome, arthritis, injuries, Lyme Disease, pain, skin conditions, HIV, cancer, animal treatment and other conditions.
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Antibiotics Typically Given For Lyme Disease
Regardless of where the Lyme disease is contracted, conventional treatment is spearheaded by the use of antibiotics. The most popular of these antibiotics used by doctors is doxycycline. Other antibiotics used against the Lyme bacteria include cefoperazone, daptomycin, amoxicillin, tigecycline, metronidazole and tinidazole.
Sometimes doxy is the only antibiotic used. Other doctors will retest Lyme levels after a course of doxycycline and if the tests come up positive, will try the other antibiotics.
In some cases, a combination of these antibiotics will be given in combination in an attempt to fight the Lyme disease infection of B. burgdorferi bacteria.
Hi Welcome To Britterbeez
I am so glad youre here and open to learning how bee venom therapy can help in your healing journey!
In short, bee venom therapy is the process of stinging oneself with bees, and yes I know that sounds a little scary-ok, A LOT scary. Im here to guide you through the process and provide simple and easy resources that Ive found to work best during this treatment.
Choosing bee venom therapy has been the best decision I have made. Ill admit, its not an easy journey but together , we can all heal.
BEE kind to yourself through this journey and know that you are in the process of positive changes.
xo
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Pioneers Companion Workbook: Acupuncture Treatment Plans And Pathways
Amber Rose, PhD., L.Ac. , LMSW, is an expert, pioneer, and maverick in a whole new field of medicine. Her revolutionary approach to healing is unlike anything you have ever seen before. Her Bee Venom research goes back 22+ years and she also has 30 years of experience as an acupuncturist. Dr. Rose has treated over 55,000 patients with Lyme, MS, HIV/AIDS, CFS, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, ALS, Parkinsons, Arthritis, and chronic pain. She had a free clinic in Bethesda, MD for four years. Her book, Pioneers: Healing Lyme with Bee Venom Therapy is already a classic and Bible on the topic of BVT for Lyme and Co-Infections. It is the only book of its kind in the world. Her NEW Pioneers Companion Workbook focuses on Bee-Acupuncture Treatment Plans and Pathways.
Bee In Balance: A Guide To Healing The Whole Person With Honeybees Oriental Medicine & Common Sense By Amber Rose
About the Author
Rev. Dr. Amber Rose, L.Ac., LMSW, has been a healer all her life. After graduating with special honors from the Universities of Chicago and Iowa, she went on to study at the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia, MD. She also graduated from the New Seminary in NY. Just as her psychotherapy experience alerted her to the value of acupuncture, Ambers acupuncture experience led her to Bee Venom Therapy . In this book Amber shares her discoveries of the healing miracles of BVT available for patients who are suffering with Lyme disease and Co-Infections. This pioneering and revolutionary approach to healing is unlike anything youve ever seen before. It is bound to be a classic and a Bible for healing Lyme with Bee Venom Therapy.
Join her Facebook Support Group Here
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Stinging Away Lyme Disease With Bee Venom Therapy
Three-hundred-thousand people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year. Usually caused by a tick bite, it can impact people physically, mentally, and neurologically. If diagnosed early, antibiotics will wipe out the bacteria left behind in the blood before it spreads through the heart, joints and nervous system. Now, some patients are turning to bees to take the sting out of this painful and debilitating disease.
One sting after another after another.
These days, Adriana Furey stings herself with ten live honeybees three times a week to get relief from the symptoms of chronic Lyme disease. Before
For months and years at a time in a dark room, really unable to pick my head up off the pillow, Adriana Furey recalled.
Adriana and her mother talked with 75 different doctors, tried antibiotics, immunotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen and herbal treatments. Nothing worked until bee venom therapy, or BVT. Ellie Lobel, a nuclear physicist, literally stumbled across the treatment by accident.
I was attacked by killer bees, Ellie Lobel shared.
But days after surviving the surprise bee attack her symptoms started disappearing. Ellie spent the next several years researching BVT and found it kills the bacteria that causes Lymes most debilitating symptomsbut according to Ellie, it only works if taken directly from the bee.
The devils in the dosing right, is what they say. So not enough, wont heal you, but too much can kill you, Lobel revealed.
Dr Bill Rawls Treatment Guide
Want to see more Lyme disease treatment ratings? See What Dr. Rawls has to say about popular treatments and therapies in his Lyme Disease Treatment Guide.
Dr. Rawls is a physician who overcame Lyme disease through natural herbal therapy. You can learn more about Lyme disease in Dr. Rawls new best selling book, Unlocking Lyme. You can also learn about Dr. Rawls personal journey in overcoming Lyme disease and fibromyalgia in his popular blog post, My Chronic Lyme Journey.
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How A Bee Sting Saved My Life: Poison As Medicine
Ellie Lobel was ready to die. Then she was attacked by bees. Christie Wilcox hears how venom can be a saviour.
Listen to the free audio version
I moved to California to die.
Ellie Lobel was 27 when she was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease. And she was not yet 45 when she decided to give up fighting for survival.
Caused by corkscrew-shaped bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, which enter the body through the bite of a tick, Lyme disease is diagnosed in around 300,000 people every year in the United States. It kills almost none of these people, and is by and large curable if caught in time. If doctors correctly identify the cause of the illness early on, antibiotics can wipe out the bacteria quickly before they spread through the heart, joints and nervous system.
But back in the spring of 1996, Ellie didnt know to look for the characteristic bulls-eye rash when she was bitten she thought it was just a weird spider bite. Then came three months with flu-like symptoms and horrible pains that moved around the body. Ellie was a fit, active woman with three kids, but her body did not know how to handle this new invader. She was incapacitated. It was all I could do to get my head up off the pillow, Ellie remembers.
After fifteen years, she gave up.
So she packed up everything and moved to California to die. And she almost did.
Less than a week after moving, Ellie was attacked by a swarm of Africanised bees.
Are There Any Proven Benefits Associated With Bee Sting Therapy
Although bee venom has been used for centuries for its medicinal properties, there isn’t one piece of singular evidence or sound collective data in regard to its clinical effectiveness. “There are a few small studies done on its benefits in terms of skin health, inflammatory conditions such as Rheumatoid arthritis,” Dr. Posina explains, but its not enough to say it is definitively a helpful holistic practice for treating medical conditions.
“A randomized control study done in China in 120 people showed that bee-venom acupuncture showed some symptomatic relief similar to Rheumatoid arthritis medications such as Methotrexate and Celecoxib, she adds. However, we do need larger studies, including randomized control trials, to know that its effects are substantial and to initiate these treatments.”
Those who turn to bee venom for topical beauty treatments, however, may actually be onto something. Experts say the venom could potentially manage aging effects on skin: “In skin, there is some evidence suggesting its antimicrobial and anti-wrinkle effects. One study showed increased collagen protein synthesis, stimulated skin cell turnover, and recovery of damaged cells,” Dr. Posina says. But many leading healthcare experts agree: There needs to be more scientific evidence to validate any benefits before consumers can feel comfortable about any claims.
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Lyme Disease Is Expanding
Lyme disease has been surging in epidemic proportions over the past few years. This seems to be related to droughts and warmer summer conditions, and the surge of populations of deer and mice. To some degree, the latter also appears to be related to the increased the availability of acorns in the northeast U.S.
This is reflected by research on two of the leading tick species that carry Lyme disease: The blacklegged tick is the primary tick associated with Lyme disease.
The lone star tick ) has often been attributed to Lyme disease, but a 2018 study from U.S. Army Public Health and the CDC found that the lone star ticks do not carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease.
A 2016 study found that the blacklegged tick has expanded over 44 percent since 1998, and found in 1,531 counties in 43 states.
The growth of these tick populations has, of course, resulted in more cases of Lyme disease. According to the Centers of Disease control, Lyme disease diagnoses range around 300,000 per year. And 96 percent of these cases are in 14 states in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest.
Bee Venom Fights Lyme Disease Reduces Inflammation
by Case Adams, PhD·
Lyme disease bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi
Recent research has proven out the ability of bee venom therapy for fighting Lyme disease, along with other inflammatory conditions. A 2017 study has confirmed that bee venom will kill the tick bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi better than popular antibiotics used for Lyme.
In this article
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Research Proves Bee Venom Fights Lyme Bacteria
Researchers from Lyme Disease Research Group at the University of New Haven have been investigating the ability of natural products to combat Lyme bacteria the primary being Borrelia burgdorferi. They have tested bee venom used by many natural doctors over the past few years to combat Lyme disease.
The researchers tested both whole bee venom and a bee venom extract compound called melittin against the Lyme disease bacteria. Not only did they test these, but they also tested these against three popular Lyme antibiotics, doxycycline, cefoperazone and daptomycin.
The researchers also tested a combination of all three antibiotics.
The table below tells the story. The table shows the B. burgdorferi bacterial count numbers as a result of different treatments. The bars show how much of the bacteria in different forms is still alive after treatment. The red bar shows the spiral forms . The orange bar shows the persistent forms of the bacteria, including the round body forms. And the green bar shows the biofilms after seven days.
As you can see, the doxycycline therapeutic dose killed a lot of spiral forms but then the round bodies and biofilms are still pretty evident. The same goes for cefoperazone and daptomycin to different degrees. There is still plenty of biofilm bacteria evident after the treatment. Enough at least to allow the bacteria to grow.
The researchers concluded:
The researchers also noted:
Can Bee Sting Therapy Be Dangerous
There isn’t substantial scientific evidence about its benefits, yes, but Dr. Posina also adds that research also lacks in terms of its negative side effects. That said, one of the most important risks to be aware of is the risk of a severe allergic reaction, such as anaphylactic shock, which can result in death if not treated immediately, Dr. Posina warns.
Also, you’ll need to consider the bees. Honeybees in particular are extremelyimportant and essential for our environment as they contribute to about 80% of the pollination of flowers, fruits, and vegetables so experts stress that consumers need to consider the agricultural impact these treatments and products could have overtime. For more than a decade now, it is noted that there is a significant reduction in the number of bee colonies. It is believed that it is due to aggressive farming methods, chemical and pesticide use, pollution, global warming and disease spread through a parasite, Dr. Posina adds.
All experts consulted agreed: Never attempt apitherapy at home or unsupervised without guidance from qualified healthcare professionals. You should always speak with your healthcare provider about any forms of long-term treatment or use of new topical treatments in your routine.
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