Consult Your Healthcare Provider Before Using Natural Remedies
If youre curious about banderol, samento, or other herbal treatments, talk with your healthcare provider about whether to incorporate any of these remedies into your Lyme disease treatment plan. While it may be tempting to want to try it, improper treatment of Lyme disease can lead to serious complications such as joint problems and nervous system disorders, so self-treating with herbs isnt recommended.
Also, itâs important to keep in mind that the side effects and risks of these herbs in regular or high doses arenât known, nor is their safety in children, pregnant or nursing women, or people with other health conditions. Your healthcare provider can help you weigh the risks with the benefits.
Lyme Disease Doctor Discussion Guide
Get our printable guide for your next healthcare providerâs appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Can You Recommenda Lyme Disease Specialist Or Private Clinic
Unfortunately, the NHS lacks Lyme disease specialists. One of the things we as a charity are hoping to see in the future is a Centre of Excellence for Lyme disease, where doctors from various disciplines see higher number of Lyme disease patients and start building up clinical experience.
On the NHS, Lyme patients in the UK are generally seen by their GP, and possibly referred to consultants in various disciplines ., depending on their overriding symptoms. If your GP needs help finding someone, he or she may wish to phone the National Reference Laboratory as their experts are well networked and may be the best positioned to suggest a suitable consultant.
Caudwell LymeCo is not able to recommend individual doctors who treat Lyme disease privately, nor doctors who use treatments outside those recommended by the NHS. This is because there is no way we can predict what the outcome will be for any patient. There is currently a completely unsatisfactory situation whereby we know that the so-called standard treatments fail to cure lots of patients, but we do not know what actually will cure them. Without this proof we would not be in a position to recommend any private specific clinic, doctor or treatment.
Samento And Banderol: Uses And Research
Proponents of banderol and samento recommend them as alternatives to antibiotics, which are the standard treatments for Lyme disease. Itâs said that these herbal remedies may help patients steer clear of the side effects sometimes associated with antibiotic use, such as gastrointestinal distress.
Supporters also say that banderol and samento aid in the treatment of Lyme disease by reducing chronic inflammation.
In addition, banderol and samento are sometimes used to control post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome . In people with PTLDS, symptoms linger long after theyâve completed a course of antibiotics. These symptoms include fatigue, muscle and joint pain, sleep disruption, and mood changes.
At this point, however, theres very little evidence to back up claims that banderol or samento can help treat Lyme disease. There is some research out there showing that a combination of samento and banderol may help knock out Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium responsible for Lyme disease. One study often pointed to, however, lacks rigorous peer review. Scientists have yet to confirm these findings or those of related research in clinical trials involving Lyme disease patients.
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Holistic Treatment Options For Chronic Lyme Disease
While oral antibiotics work fairly well for the early Lyme disease infection, the treatment for chronic lyme disease requires a comprehensive and individualized approach.
Fortunately, we have a lot of experience treating this and are achieving great results. Some of the treatment options we have available include:
- Herbal therapy: We have read just about every Lyme disease book out there and countless research articles. We use different herbal protocols including the modified Cowden Protocol, Vital Plan, and Buhners Protocol.
- Homeopathy: There are certain homeopathic remedies that seem to be very effective especially in kids.
- Antibiotics:The effectiveness of long term antibiotics for Lyme disease is debatable. The doctors from the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society do recommend trying different antibiotics to see if symptoms improve. This is done carefully and only under medical supervision. The decision to add antibiotics into the treatment regimen will be an individual decision between you and your doctor.
- IV Therapy: We have been to multiple conferences that discuss the use of different IV therapies including IV Vitamin C for immune support. For some people IV therapy seemed to make the biggest difference.
My Experience With Antibiotic Treatment For Lyme
When I was first diagnosed with Lyme disease, my first response was standard: Try antibiotics. But every time I started a new round, I was absolutely miserable by the second week.
Nausea, abdominal discomfort, and feeling generally terrible all over increased until I was forced to stop the drug. Probiotics didnt help, and I had the same response to different types of antibiotics. While some people tolerate antibiotic therapy better than others, it became obvious that I would have to find a different solution.
I later discovered that my experience was not unique many people seem to have the same response to oral antibiotics. I also met numerous people who had undergone 6-9 months of intravenous antibiotic therapy, only to be right back where they started within a couple of months of finishing.
Though there may be some logic in using antibiotics for 2-4 weeks during acute infection, many people develop symptoms despite initial use of antibiotics. And as I came to know the microbe better, I began to understand why antibiotics are not necessarily a good treatment for chronic Lyme disease. Though some people do overcome Lyme disease with antibiotics, those results arent consistent enough to be considered reliable. To date, no clinical studies have shown benefit from long-term antibiotic therapy for chronic Lyme disease.
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The Search For A Cure
The worst of it lasted about two years. After that, I was able to sit and walk a bit, but I still couldnt do much. I started searching for answers on the Internet and reading recommended books. I did everything I could think of: I healed my gut, I found many food intolerances, balanced my hormones, and supported my thyroid and adrenals.
Finally, I ran into the question of chronic infections. I ran tests on myself and confirmed my suspicion of having Lyme disease. It turns out I had loads of other infections, as well. That started me on the next step of my journey back to health: finding out how to treat these infections.
Initially, I was told that I had to treat it with antibiotics. This didnt sit well with me with how I think about life and how we should treat our bodies. But I eventually decided to try antibiotics, since that was the conventional procedure. ILADS is doing great work regarding Borrelia, and I tried the combination of antibiotics suggested by ILADS. But they were too hard on my gut. My system just couldnt handle them.
Episode 29 Lyme Disease
For those diagnosed with Lyme Disease, the options for treatment can often be overwhelming. If you can get a prescription for antibiotics, will you be treated longer then the recommended three weeks that wont clear out chronic Lyme bacteria? Among natural options is the Cowden Protocol, a series of herbs and supplements to deal with all facets of this complicated disease. Dr. Rebecca Risk credits this program with saving her life when her Lyme Disease was at its worse. She will be speaking with the creator of the Cowden Program, Dr. Lee Cowden to learn how it works. This is the second episode in May of four Lyme centric episodes for Lyme Awareness Month.
Topics Covered In This Episode:
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Heavy Metals And Chelation
Some sites discussed heavy metal toxicity, particularly due to mercury, as copathogenic with Lyme disease . Specifically, Lyme disease was said to predispose to symptomatic mercury toxicity consequently, mercury chelation was a recommended adjunct to other treatments for Lyme disease. The interventions marketed for mercury toxicity included chemical chelators such as dimercaptosuccinic acid, 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonic acid, alpha lipoic acid, and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid . Some herbal therapies such as garlic, cilantro, or chlorella were also said to be beneficial for heavy metal intoxication. In addition to chelation, some sources recommended the removal of all mercury-containing amalgam dental fillings and root canals as part of Lyme disease therapy . Some have suggested receiving future dental care only from biological dentists .
Bismuth and silver, in contrast to mercury, were heralded for their therapeutic rather than toxic properties. Silver is said to support the immune system as it attempts to kill off these bacterium . Silver kills lyme through oxidation first, then alkylation. Usually sold in colloidal form, silver particles are administered both orally and parenterally . Bismuth compounds were promoted for killing cyst forms of B. burgdorferi and are sometimes combined with EDTA to sequester additional substances .
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Creating The Perfect Environment For Healing
More than anything else, chronic Lyme disease is a breakdown of the bodys ability to fight off everyday threats and heal itself. It isnt as much the microbes themselves as it is that the microbes are no longer constrained by a strong immune system.
I had likely harbored Borrelia and other stealth microbes long before I got sick everyone harbors some stealth microbes in the grand mix of their microbiome. For me, years of rigorous night call, eating on the run, and other bad health habits weakened my immune system enough to allow the microbes to flourish.
Creating a healing environment within my body was essential for my recovery. Though herbs were essential for my recovery, I recognized that I also had to curb the habits that contributed to my immune dysfunction in the first place.
Even before starting herbal therapy, I had given up night call by necessity. Adequate restorative sleep is essential for overcoming any chronic illness. My sleep was so disrupted, however, that it took a lot of effort for me to restore normal sleep.
Poor eating habits and antibiotics had made a mess out of my intestinal tract. I also knew that I needed to make some drastic changes to my diet. Admittedly, it was a challenge at firstI grew up in the middle of the fast-food generation. But with time, eating healthy became the new norm. With a cleaner diet, all the digestive issues cleared, including leaky gut.
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Borrelia The Misunderstood Microbe
Retrospectively, I may have harbored Borrelia burgdorferi for years before I actually developed symptoms. Im an outdoor person tick bites have always been a common affair.
Its not uncommon for people to harbor Borrelia and not know it stealth is this microbes middle name.
Lyme disease is mostly transmitted by nymphal ticks, which are about the size of the pin. They bite, transmit the microbe, and then drop off most people arent even aware of being bitten. Because symptoms of the initial infection are so mild , its not uncommon for people to be completely unaware of being infected.
And Borrelia isnt the only microbe to worry about. Ticks carry many microbes that have similar characteristics to Borrelia. What they all have in common is stealthy characteristics that make them hard to find and even harder to get rid of.
If immune system function is robust, a person can harbor these types of microbes indefinitely, keeping them in check without ever having symptoms. When illness does occur, its typically chronic and debilitating, but not life-threatening. Additionally, the degree of chronic illness is highly variable. Some people are severely debilitated, while others are only marginally miserable.
Antimicrobial Treatments For Lyme Disease
The conventional medical approach to Lyme disease treatment in adults is a ten to 21-day course of the antibiotic doxycycline.1 However, a growing body of research shows that this treatment is insufficient, if not completely ineffective, for cases of chronic Lyme disease. Functional medicine offers a far more comprehensive approach to the antimicrobial treatment of Lyme disease. Read on to learn about the types of antimicrobial treatment options available, and how they can be combined for optimal effect.
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What Happens After Symptoms Disappear
Our patients receive an ongoing maintenance program from us for the rest of their lives. By the time that they are fully functional again, weve known them for several months or, in the harder cases, several years. So, we usually have acquired a good idea of their genetic composition and their ability to withstand these things on their own. Hence, someone with a robust constitution may need only a basic multi-vitamin and some detox and supporting herbs.
On the other hand, a very fragile person might need other things to support them. I myself have genetic problems with my immune and detox systems, but Im doing fine with herbs. I am still taking selected herbs as well as some important immune supporting supplements and Ill never give them up! By taking care of myself, I can live a normal life.
In fact, I travel throughout Europe teaching about herbs. When I speak at conferences and other venues, I like to share patient cases. They are real life, allowing me to demonstrate what we are doing and how well its working. I give detailed information on what herbs I use and in what dosages. My mission, the reason why Im going around Europe, and now also the States, talking about herbs, is to teach other professionals how to help others in the same way.
So, what began as my own personal interest has become my lifes work.
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Review Of The Medical Literature
Scientific studies supporting the efficacy of any of the treatments discussed above could not be found on review of the medical literature. Most of the cited treatments were never evaluated with any scientific study, although we did find that a few treatments were evaluated in studies that either were poorly designed or had unclear relevance to human disease.
Two studies are worth mentioning in more detail. A study of combination therapy with cholestyramine-atovaquone enrolled 25 patients with persistent symptoms after being diagnosed with and treated for babesiosis-Lyme disease coinfection . In this study, however, all patients received cholestyramine for the entirety of the trial, so no inferences could be made about its therapeutic efficacy.
The effect of hyperbaric oxygen on strains of B. burgdorferi was assessed both in vitro and in experimentally infected mice in one study . The investigators found that growth of the organism in vitro was inhibited by hyperbaric oxygen in 14 of 17 cultures. In addition, the organism was cultivable from the bladders of only 20% of mice treated with hyperbaric oxygen, compared with 90% of untreated mice. No study of this therapy in humans with Lyme disease has ever been published.
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Lyme Disease Treatment With Alternative Medicine In Winston
Spending time outside with your family, friends, and pets can be a fun way to get some fresh air and enjoy nature. Unfortunately, it is also an easy way to pick up an unwanted traveler on your clothes, gear, hair, and pets fur.
From backpacking in a national park to playing in the backyard, you can be exposed to ticks in bushy or wooded areas, especially during the warmer months from April through September in North Carolina
It is imperative to prevent ticks from attaching themselves to your skin because they can carry and transmit Lyme disease. When Lyme disease takes hold this can be a very challenging condition to treat, especially if there are co-infections, but the healthcare providers at Robinhood Integrative Health are very experienced in diagnosing and treating chronic lyme disease.
Sharing My Own Healing With Others
At last, after such a long period of professional inactivity, I began seeing patients again. As I encountered those who had the same problems that I had, I used the Cowden Protocol with them. Were still amazed at how well it works! Im glad that I was able to find a way to help my patients without having to use antibiotics.
Typically, patients dont have many positive test results at first. These usually appear after a short period of initial treatment. When you give patients herbs, their immune system starts fighting against the infection. Some patients are so sick when they first come to my office that their immune system is totally shut down and cant fight anything. In that situation, all results will be negative.
If their doctor doesnt know this and understand the underlying mechanisms, they will just look at the negative lab results and declare the patient healthy, when in fact these are the sickest cases needing the most help and support. That is why the diagnosis needs to be based on clinical picture and symptoms, not just lab results.
Of the symptoms, pain and fatigue are typically the worst part of being ill. We ask them to rate both between 0 and 10, with 10 being the worst imaginable. We do this at the beginning of treatment, and we then follow their self-assessments.
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Het Dr Lee Cowden Protocol
Dr. Lee Cowden
Het Cowden protocol is ontwikkeld door Dr. Lee Cowden. Het is een protocol om chronische ziekten en de Lyme bacterie Borrelia en haar co-infecties aan te pakken en tot genezing te komen.
Dr. Cowden zelf ooit begonnen als Cardioloog en Interne geneeskunde verdiepte zich door het toedoen van de grootmoeder van zijn vrouw in de natuurlijke geneeswijze. Cowden leed in die tijd zelf aan allergische reacties en longklachten welke ondanks medicatie niet verbeterde. Door het gebruik van gezonde voeding, vitamine en kruiden welke zijn grootmoeder voor hem kocht genas hij van zijn kwalen en werd de interesse in natuurlijke geneesmiddelen gewekt.
Het Cowden protocol is constant in ontwikkeling en bestaat heden ten dage uit verschillende varianten. In 2006 kwam een van de eerste varianten van het Cowden protocol op de markt welke zeer uitgebreid was. In dit protocol werd er gewerkt om eigenlijk alle mogelijke infecties. bacterieel, viraal, parasitair, toxiciteit etc. in een keer te behandelen.
Over al die jaren heen werkte Dr. Cowden aan een verbetering van zijn protocol, hierdoor zijn er al regelmatig middelen vervangen en / of bij gekomen waaruit studies hun effectiviteit is bewezen bij de behandeling van infectie ziekten.
het nieuwste protocol is het: