Who Is Most At Risk
Your risk of Lyme disease may be higher if you:
- Spend time in heavily wooded areas where there are ticks
- Spend time outdoors in summer and fall
- Are young, children and young adults are more likely to get Lyme disease.
- Live in the coastal northeast, as well as in Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, and Oregon, where the majority of cases show up
Test Your Ticksand Yourself
I recommend sending the tick for testing so that your practitioners can help you create a treatment plan tailored to the specific pathogens that are found in the tick.
Although there are inexpensive and even free resources for tick testing, I have found the most comprehensive way to test ticks is using the expanded panel through www.tickreport.com. The results typically come back within 48-72 hours, which allows for timely and proper antibiotic treatment.
Ticks can carry parasites and viruses as well!
A study published in 2020 found that Ixodes scapularis, or blacklegged deer ticks, are the most common ticks in Connecticut. These ticks carry multiple bacteria that can cause Lyme disease, and several others that cause co-infections like Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Bartonella henselae, and Borrelia miyamotoi .
This means that a tick bite puts you at risk for a multitude of diseases, so it is essential that the tick testing you choose is comprehensive. It is best to know what infections the tick itself carried and choose the appropriate antibiotics or antiparasitics that can treat them.
Herbal Treatment For Lyme Disease Symptoms Popular Home
Herbs for Lyme disease symptoms help treat Lyme disease, an infectious bacterial disease caused by Borrelia Burgdorferi, a spirochete organism. Usually, it is introduced into the system through a tick bite.
More people in the northeastern US appear to be prone to Lyme disease, although cases have been reported in all of the lower states. In the early stages, it can be treated with antibiotics, but often it is not detected in time. A rash is a characteristic of Lyme disease, but many patients never develop it. Because there are so many symptoms in the later stages, its difficult to properly diagnose them. Medical tests are often still imprecise.
Herbs for Lyme disease symptoms work as a natural treatment for Lyme disease. They are generally less toxic than drugs. Some of the most effective herbal treatment for Lyme disease symptoms are:
Cats Claw :
- Cats claw without the tetracyclic alkaloid oxindole has strong antibiotic properties. In a 10-week study, patients with Lyme disease showed significant improvement in symptoms after using Cats Claw without T.O.A.
Natural Biotic Silver:
- The effectiveness of this non-pharmaceutical antibiotic has been the subject of much research in the treatment of Lyme disease. The natural biotic silver mineral has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. It also helps reduce inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, supports healthy bowel function, and makes any detoxification process effective.
Stephen Buhner Lyme Protocol:
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Take Care Of Yourself
If youve got Lyme Disease, dont give up. Work on helping your body to become stronger, healthier, and more robust through diet and lifestyle changes. Take time to rest and recover.
For everyone else, as the incidence of Lyme Disease increases, its important to take action now to inform yourself and strengthen your body.
Its always a good time to become as healthy and well as you can be!
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Summary: Healing Chronic Lyme Naturally For 2022 Is All About Back
As I mentioned before, a rock-solid foundation for health is essential to a properly functioning immune system.
Continually work to achieve proper nutrient levels by eating nutrient dense foods and avoid those that are processed and filled with sugar drink an adequate amount of water get enough rest and manage your stress in order to support normal and healthy inflammatory responses.
Naturopathic physicians are incredible resources for those interested in making lifestyle changes to support health and wellness, and we are fortunate enough to live in a state where naturopathic medicine is covered by most major medical insurances.
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An Overview Of Medical Treatment For Lyme Disease
Medical treatments for Lyme disease include antibiotics, herbal antibiotics, and other pharmaceutical drugs besides antibiotics. Combinations of antibiotics are typically used for Lyme disease treatment because the three types of Borrelia bacteria that cause Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi for short, Borrelia afzelii, and Borrelia garinii, morph into different forms that must be targeted with different antibiotics. Antibiotics that are commonly used to treat Lyme disease include penicillins , cephalosporins , macrolides , and tetracyclines .
The natural world is filled with botanicals with antibiotic properties. Herbal antibiotic protocols incorporate many of natures most potent antibiotic plants. Two of the most popular herbal antibiotic protocols for Lyme disease include the Buhner and the Cowden protocols. A few notable herbs in these protocols include Japanese Knotweed , which, in addition to being antibacterial, contains phytochemicals that alleviate Lyme-induced inflammation, and Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, a bitter botanical with potent anti-Borrelia activity.
Several non-antibiotic drugs are also used in Lyme disease treatment, including artemisinin, an antimalarial drug, and low-dose naltrexone , an immune system-modulating drug. You can read more about the applications of LDN for Lyme disease in my article, Low Dose Naltrexone for Lyme Disease Treatment.
Is There A Cure For Lyme Disease
Is there a cure for Lyme disease? This is a question that has gotten a lot of buzzes as it was previously believed that Lyme disease would go away after a few weeks of antibiotics. But more and more reports come from people who remain sick or even get worse after taking antibiotic treatment.
Is there a cure for calcium diseases? The good news is that Lyme disease is curable, especially if its diagnosed soon after symptoms start. However, many doctors treating Lyme disease also try natural methods such as diet, herbs, and supplements and see their effectiveness in the treatment of Lyme diseases.
Chronic Lyme disease can seem hopeless if there isnt a simple treatment that works for everyone. But that doesnt mean there isnt any treatment for you at all. On the contrary, there are many natural cures for Lyme disease. If you do your research you can find the one that suits your needs.
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Why Is Lyme Disease Treatment So Important
A New Study Shows Nearly 15% of the Worldâs Population Has Likely Had Lyme Disease.
Also, according to the Centers for Disease Control , Lyme disease is one of the most rapidly emerging infectious diseases in North America and Europe.
On the East coast, 50-60% of western black legged ticks are infected with species of Borrelia that cause Lyme disease.
Named after a small Connecticut town, Lyme disease is transmitted to humans by the bite of ticks infected with the bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. To make matters worse, there are several other species of Borrelia that cause Lyme disease and tick borne relapsing fever.
Initial Signs And Symptoms When First Infected Are Very Similar To That Of The Flu Leaving Many Cases Undetected
When initially infected, typical signs and symptomsincluding fever, body aches, fatigue, headaches, nausea, and Erythema migrans are very similar to that of the flu and can often be dismissed as such, leading to undetected infection.
If left untreated or improperly treated, Lyme disease can spread to the heart, joints, and nervous system, causing symptoms ranging from stiff neck, swollen joints, and muscle pain to heart palpitations, headaches, psychiatric symptoms , irritable bladder, cognitive decline, insomnia, and night sweats.
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Essential Oils From Garlic And Other Herbs Kill Lyme Disease Bacterium
Oils from garlic and several other common herbs and medicinal plants show strong activity against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. These oils may be especially useful in alleviating Lyme symptoms that persist despite standard antibiotic treatment, the study also suggests.
The study, published October 16 in the journal Antibiotics, included lab-dish tests of 35 essential oils–oils that are pressed from plants or their fruits and contain the plant’s main fragrance, or “essence.” The Bloomberg School researchers found that 10 of these, including oils from garlic cloves, myrrh trees, thyme leaves, cinnamon bark, allspice berries and cumin seeds, showed strong killing activity against dormant and slow-growing “persister” forms of the Lyme disease bacterium.
“We found that these essential oils were even better at killing the ‘persister’ forms of Lyme bacteria than standard Lyme antibiotics,” says study senior author Ying Zhang, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School.
Oils from thyme leaves, cumin seeds and amyris wood also performed well, as did cinnamaldehyde, the fragrant main ingredient of cinnamon bark oil.
“At this stage these essential oils look very promising as candidate treatments for persistent Lyme infection, but ultimately we need properly designed clinical trials,” he says.
Holistic Therapies That Complement Conventional Medical Treatments
The conventional treatment of Lyme disease often includes a course of antibiotics in the early stages of infection. This can be effective if the condition is caught and treated early.
In the later stages and in more chronic situations, it may become more complicated and difficult to treat as multiple body systems may be involved and immune function can become compromised. In these cases an integrative and holistic approach to treatment is critical to restoring the body back to health by targeting the multiple infections associated with Lyme and simultaneously strengthening the immune system.
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Treatment For Chronic Lyme Disease
Sometimes, people go through treatment for Lyme disease but their symptoms donât go away. If this lasts over 6 months, itâs known as chronic Lyme disease or âpost-treatment Lyme disease syndromeâ .
Doctors still arenât sure why some people get PTLDS. Some believe that getting Lyme disease may cause damage to your tissues or immune system. Others believe itâs because the bacteria that causes Lyme hasnât completely gone away.
There is little evidence that taking more antibiotics at this stage will help. They may actually be harmful. Instead, your doctor will focus on treating the symptoms youâre still having. This will be different for everyone. Some people could benefit from a medicine that relieves fatigue, while others may need a drug that can help with headaches or very sensitive skin.
Your doctor could also have you try a treatment that helps people with chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia.
More research is needed to figure out how best to treat PTLDS. Itâs something that can be frustrating. Just remember: Many people who have this condition do start feeling like their old selves after a few months.
Subculture Studies To Evaluate The Activity Of Natural Product Extracts Against Stationary Phase B Burgdorferi
To confirm the activity of the natural product extracts in eradicating the stationary phase B. burgdorferi cells, we performed subculture studies as previously described . We further tested the top active natural product extracts to ascertain if they could eradicate stationary phase B. burgdorferi cells at 1 or 0.5% by subculture after the treatment . Treatment with 1% Cryptolepis sanguinolenta extract caused no regrowth in the subculture study . However, the other natural product extracts including Polygonum cuspidatum, Artemisia annua, Juglans nigra, and Uncaria tomentosa could not eradicate B. burgdorferi stationary phase cells as many spirochetes were still visible after 21-day subculture . At 0.5%, all the natural product extracts treated samples grew back after 21-day subculture , however, only one of the three Cryptolepis sanguinolenta extract treated samples grew back. This indicates that 0.5% Cryptolepis sanguinolenta extract still has strong activity and could almost eradicate the stationary phase B. burgdorferi cells. By contrast, the clinically used antibiotics doxycycline and cefuroxime at clinically relevant concentration could not sterilize the B. burgdorferi stationary phase culture, since spirochetes were visible after 21-day subculture .
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Herbs For Lyme Disease Treatment
Herbs have been used as a medicinal treatment for thousands of years. Many people have turned to herbal remedies to help provide relief from Lyme disease when antibiotics didn’t completely help eliminate symptoms.
One research study found that a combination of doxycycline and baicalein provides additional healing benefits. According to a 2020 laboratory study, seven herbal medicines have been shown to kill B. burgdorferi in test tubes:
- Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
- Scutellaria baicalensis
Garlic has antibacterial effects and may help prevent tick bites. One study determined that people who took garlic supplements reported fewer tick bites than the placebo group. Garlic essential oil has been shown to eliminate the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.
Garlic can interact with certain medications, so speak with your healthcare provider before using it to prevent or treat Lyme disease.
Steviaa natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plantmay be effective in treating Lyme disease. A study published in the European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology discovered that stevia extracts are more effective in killing Lyme disease bacterium in the lab than the standard antibiotics.
The 2 Tiered Testing For Lyme Disease Is Positive In Less Than 30
The MarDX Western Blot is much more sensitive than the ELISA and detects Borrelia burgdorferi more often, but can still give a false negative more than 30% of the time.
In addition to issues with test sensitivity, there is the matter of timing. It can take weeks for IgM to become positive and over a month for IgG to show a Lyme infection, so testing too soon after a tick bite may not be accurate .
If a patient is not mounting a strong immunological response to Lyme, it is hard to detect antibodies in the patients blood, which is what ELISA and Western Blot testing investigate. Performing a urine PCR, which looks for DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi, is more accurate.
To complicate matters further, if you are only looking at Borrelia burgdorferi, you will miss the presence of other species of Borrelia that cause Lyme disease and TBRF.
Antibody and PCR testing does not test for co-infections, so you may receive a false negative, despite clinically showing signs of infection. For these reasons, it is important to be tested for all of the common co-infections of Lyme disease, including Babesia, Mycoplasma, Bartonella, Anaplasma, and Ehrlichia, none of which are detected by any Lyme test.
Once again, being proactive and treating comprehensively is the best approach.
Specialized laboratories like IGeneX or Vibrant Wellness can be used for proper testing of all tick-borne diseases.
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Is There A Vaccine That Will Protect My Dog From Lyme Disease
A safe and generally effective vaccine is available for protecting dogs against Lyme disease. This vaccine is initially given twice, at two- to four-week intervals.
Annual revaccination is necessary to maintain immunity.
Annual revaccination is necessary to maintain immunity. Vaccination against Lyme disease will be determined by your pets lifestyle and individual risk assessment. Be sure to discuss any questions you may have regarding the type and frequency of vaccination with your veterinarian.
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The Top 10 Vitamins And Supplements For Lyme Disease
Lyme disease medical treatment, whether it involves pharmaceutical or herbal antibiotics, is necessary for recovery. However, antibiotics alone are often insufficient for inducing long-term recovery. High-quality nutritional supplements are a powerful complement to antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease that can enhance your recovery process. Supplements for Lyme disease augment the treatment process by addressing factors that antibiotics alone cannot improve, including reducing inflammation, supporting the immune system, enhancing detoxification, and supporting gut health. Read on to learn about the top ten nutritional supplements that can complement your Lyme medical treatment and accelerate your recovery.
In This Article:
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Why This Action May Help
In my opinion, to heal and feel better requires a multivitamin with an essential set of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. A good multivitamin can improve functioning of the immune system, muscles, brain and nerves, hormones, organs including the kidney and liver, and detoxification, in addition to decreasing inflammation. It also may protect the body from the toxic effect of prescriptive antibiotics.
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Other Natural Treatments For Lyme Disease
The treatments discussed above are only some of the natural treatments that claim to treat Lyme disease. According to a 2015 study looking at the alternative treatments found during an Internet search, other natural treatments people use for Lyme disease include:
- saunas and steam rooms
The investigators noted that theres no research backing up these treatments, any many dont have a logical rationale behind them.
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Banderol And Cats Claw
“These two herbs are commonly dosed together because they work synergistically with clinically proven action against Borrelia species,” Greenspan says. “The goals with any treatment with Lyme disease spirochetes, whether chronic or acute, is to have a combination of herbs to be effective with the shape-shifting behavior of this microbe.”
Putting It All Together
The biggest challenge for those battling Lyme disease and co-infections, whether it is a new diagnosis or a recurring chronic case, is knowing how to move forward.
Patients are constantly bombarded with either apathy about their situation or unsolicited advice on how to deal with it. Family, friends, teachers and even doctors seldom understand the multi-system dysfunction and the serious emotional toll Lyme disease takes on the patient. Patients can be left feeling hopeless, confused and alienated, and are often told it is all in their head and prescribed antidepressants.
I completely understand!
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