Most LLMDs (Lyme Literate Doctors) treat Lyme disease – especially chronic Lyme disease – by pulsing the antibiotics over months or years, which means taking antibiotics for a few weeks or a few months on followed by a few weeks off and so on. This is what I have been doing for the past year. LLMDs may switch medications throughout the treatment based upon the patient’s response and whether or not someone has co-infections that need to be treated, such as Babesia. Some people will see an improvement in their condition on certain antibiotics while others may only see slight or none at all, so it takes a lot of experience and listening to the patient to know which medications to try. Also remember that not all LLMDs are created equal. They often have different protocols and different antibiotics which they prescribe most often.
Not to be discouraging, but it can take a long time to find what antibiotics and/or “alternative” therapies work for you, and what works for some may not work for others. Such is the dilemma with treating Lyme disease. The word “cure” is not attached to any one antibiotic used to treat Lyme. So don’t be too discouraged if you aren’t better in a few months or even a few years as certain antibiotics just won’t work for you while others may.
I take only oral antibiotics – oftentimes, two or three medications concomitantly – as my LLMD feels that you can typically achieve the same results with oral antibiotics without the risks that come with intravenous therapy (e.g., infection, gall bladder complications). However, he does say that some cases do not respond as well or much at all to oral antibiotics and therefore need IV therapy (the drug Rocephin), especially when one has neurological Lyme disease. You should also be aware that many do not respond much to IV therapy either unfortunately, even months or years of it.
The first medication I was put on was Doryx (time-release doxycycline) in order to be able to build up to tetracycline which is more powerful. The Doryx helped a lot at first, but we did not continue with it as he said that at this point, given that I have developed late-stage neurological Lyme, all it would do is put the spirochetes to sleep in a sense, and not do much in the way of killing any off.
Antibiotics I have taken:
Doryx (time-release doxycycline)
Tetracycline
Tetracycline + Diflucan
Biaxin + ceftriaxone
Mepron (anti-malarial that can penetrate the cyst form of Lyme; also used for Babesia) + Zithromax
Mepron + Diflucan
Mepron + tetracycline + Diflucan
*Mepron will not be effective alone as it will only penetrate the cyst but will not kill the form of the spirochete inside the cyst.
Note: The Diflucan is not being used to treat a possible yeast overgrowth due to the antibiotics, rather, it is being used because many of those with Lyme disease are getting better taking it for extended periods of time as a result of pioneering work done by Fritz Schardt, a German physician specializing in internal medicine. Dr. Schardt found that when he treated himself and others with chronic Lyme with Diflucan, many of them, including himself, eventually got better, and part of the reason is that he feels Diflucan interferes with the spirochetes’ ability to grow and replicate:
“JN: Tell me your reasoning as to why diflucan might work in chronic lyme.
FS: There are several reasons. First of all, it inhibits an enzyme
called cytochrome P450. This is an enzyme that your liver, for instance, uses to detoxify
chemicals and drugs. Borrelia has a very primitive p450 defense, so if you inhibit it,
it is easily weakened. Therefore I believe that diflucan inhibits the growth and
replication of borrelia. It does not necessarily kill it. In addition, it penetrates
well into the cells and into the nervous system and brain, where borrelia may hide.”
To read the full interview and the abstract of the journal article he published on this, CLICK HERE
UPDATE: 3/21/11
I have decided to stop antibiotic therapy after a year and a half as I was not seeing much more progress. What I have decided to do is try experimenting with a Rife-type device (specifically, the GB4000 + Amplifier). It is a frequency generator device that gives off frequencies (low-dose electromagnetic fields) through direct contact. The person’s body is used as a conductor for the frequencies. whereby a person holds metal rods (covered by moistened cotton covers) in their hands, and places their bare feet on metal plates (covered by moistened cotton covers). The electrical current carrying the frequencies is then sent directly through the body, from the hands to the feet, or visa versa, using the body as the conductor. This has been shown to disrupt organisms in the body and thus elicit a “cure” or at least an abatement of symptoms – that is open to debate. I have read much on the use of Rife machines (Note: not all Rife machines are created equal), and have spoken to some fellow-Lyme sufferers who are using the GB4000 and getting well, whereas with antibiotics they had either failed all of them, plateaued or had their symptoms return once off the antibiotics. I was told by a doctor the it is the closest thing he has seen to a cure for Lyme outside of, what is often, long-term antibiotics.
One of the reasons for this may be due to the fact that low dose electromagnetic fields have actually been shown to break up biofilms (whereas antibiotics typically cannot as biofilms are thousands of times more resistant to antibiotics than free-swimming bacteria are) A biofilm is composed of living, reproducing microorganisms, such as the Borrelia bacteria, that exist as a colony, or community. Spirochetes have been shown to form biofilms, and this is one of the theories as to why chronic Lyme develops.
I will keep you posted as to my progress as I have only just begun experimenting with the GB4000 this weekend. In the meantime, here are a few journal articles discussing the use of low-frequency electromagnetic fields to break up biofilms…
1. Effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields on Helicobacter pylori biofilm.
3. Effect of electric currents on bacterial detachment and inactivation.
Here is a neat video showing Borrelia forming a biofilm
Cool blog.
Interesting about the cytochrome enzyme and how diflucan works… Food withs Resveratrol have the same action on the Cytochrome p450 enzyme.
There is a lot to be said for moving on from Mepron to Malarone, which is a combo of atovaquone ( = Mepron) and proguanil. PubMed citations show that proguanil, among other effects, potentiates Mepron and prevents resistance to that drug by pathogens. There is also one citation that suggests to me that Malarone may hit Bb as well as Babesia. After ten years of Lyme treatment (and much improvement during that time), I’m having herxing from a tiny dose of Malarone as I haven’t had in years. It’s powerful stuff! Go slow. I’m expecting that after a few months of this herxing I’m going to be coming out on a higher level.
Thank you for sharing this antibiotic as a choice in the Lyme + co-infection antibiotic arsenal. I hope the Malarone is a success for you!
Have you thought of trying ozone therapy (saunas, ear insufflations) and colloidal silver? My entire family has Lyme, and pyroluria, and we have begun this therapy, and I think it is working. We have tried everything else, and are nervous about antibiotic therapy, as our “guts” are already destroyed by Lyme and coinfections (as well as overuse of antibiotics) Even Lyme Literate docs like Burroscano, think now that antibiotics aren’t effective, as once you go off of them, the Lyme returns. i would check out Dr. Saul Pressman about ozone therapy that you can do at home, and Dr. Garry Gordon’s AS 200 silver. You must do it for months to years, but the sauna is relaxing, and it can be done in your own home:)
Good luck!
Hi Deirdre
I had looked into ozone therapy but was cautioned against it by my LLMD as he was adamant that is causes DNA damage. Thus, I put that idea aside. I have heard that many people improve greatly with it, although I have yet to hear that it has proffered a “cure”. I totally appreciate your hesitation with antibiotics, as there is no guarantee that months and even years of antibiotics will put the Lyme/co-infections in remission or cure one of the infection(s). As for the colloidal silver, it seems to help many people, but my fear was that it is just like taking mercury to rid oneself of Syphilis. I also saw that the ingestion of the silver could cause your skin to turn blue permanently and so that was out in my mind. What I decided to do a few months ago is stop all antibiotics as I was not making much progress with them. I made the decision to try a Rife machine – the GB4000 specifically as not all Rife machines are created equal – as it seems to be the closest thing to a cure that I can see outside of antibiotics since many people just don’t respond much or at all to the antibiotics once the infection has become entrenched. What further solidified my inclination to try the Rife is that my LLMD told me that all 90+ patients of his that did not respond to the antibiotics or did not want to continue on them who went the route of “Rifing” are now either completely symptom-free or so greatly improved that their quality of life has gone up ten fold. I am starting the GB4000 this week and will be writing about my experience with it as I go. Good luck and I hope you find what works for you and your family!
Hi,
I have been seeking a diagnosis for three years now and even t though I had many positive bands on my Western Blot, in Canada the Doc’s will only consider Lyme if it shows up on the CDC Elisa test.
I am being treated by a Dr. of Naturopath who specializes in Lyme and is supported by a retired LLMD. I just started my Antibiotic regime last Saturday and I am already terrified that it won’t work. My quality of life is pretty low due to this illness.
Love to hear more about the Rife Machine…can you Rife in conjunction with Antibiotics? Any updates from Danielle or the site owner?
Cheers
Hi Danielle
Since this post have you had any luck with the Rife?
Hi there,
Yes, I have improved with the frequency device. I still have some very bothersome symptoms, and, yet, overall I am much better in that I am much more functional and have more energy and there is a general lessening in severity of those symptoms that remain. I wouldn’t be able to be off of abx were I not using it! So, it hasn’t been an overnight cure for me, but it seems like for many it can take a year or two even depending on whether they find a treatment schedule/frequencies that work for them.
@callctr2000. Sorry to hear it has been such a struggle for you to get proper treatment. I really am not suggesting that antibiotics don’t work for treating Lyme disease – acute or chronic – as there are many many people who do get well with antibiotic therapy, although, as I mentioned, sometimes they will need to be on prolonged courses of antibiotics (months or years). And even if they do need prolonged abx therapy, that also doesn’t preclude that they won’t begin to see continued improvement along the way – although herxheimer reactions will probably be sprinkled in as well. So, as you have just begun treatment, I really wouldn’t be discouraged already. As for experimenting with a Rife-type device, some people do use abx in conjunction with it, others stay on antibiotics and during the breaks use the rife, while still others forgo abx altogether, which is what I chose to do. Thus far, I have seen a slight overall improvement which is very exciting, and I am not even using the machine at its maximum power or any of its fancy features until I get the hang of it. I hope I have answered your questions!
Danielle, Did you purchase your own Rife machine or are you using one at a practitioner’s office? I have been looking for one locally that I could try from someone who has experience using them but haven’t located anything in my google searches. I hesitated at first but finally started abx a few weeks ago. My doctor instructed me to stop them yesterday due to a drop in low blood cell count since starting them. I have always been sensitive to drugs and am not sure that is a journey I want to continue. My gut was telling me there was something other than herxing going on and I was right. In the meantime, I am looking for alternatives. I have read of many success stories with Rife and am intrigued.
Hi Jessica! I purchased my own rife machine. So sorry to hear about what happened with the abx. There is a Rife group on Yahoo you may want to join and you can ask on there if people in your area have a rife you can try http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Rife/