First and foremost, there is no Cure-All-Be-All for Lyme Disease.  What works for one person may not work for someone else!  If someone does get better, we like to call it ‘remission’ because if you stray from typical treatment protocol, then your symptoms have the ability to return.  There are different levels of severity for all Lyme patients, so one person’s experience and symptoms are going to be completely different from may not be the same as someone else’s.  Obviously, there are similar trends in symptoms, but everyone is completely different when it comes to finding a treatment that works for them. Some people are able to go into remission after just a  year to a few years while some are not lucky enough to ever go into remission. Lyme can even lead to death. Remember, if caught immediately after tick bite and given antibiotics, you might not ever develop ‘Chronic Lyme.’  However, if you didn’t catch it early, you will go on to develop late stage Lyme Disease which is in no way shape or form curable by the IDSA’s recommended 4 weeks of doxy antibiotic.  You are basically sh*t out of luck and better get to treating before things get out of hand ;0.

In just the first few weeks of researching possible Lyme Treatments, I must say that I was beyond overwhelmed! There are a ton of therapy methods to choose from and very little resources to help you figure out whether or not something is worth trying or is even legit.  In addition, the majority of conventional and LLMD Doctors are ill-equipped to treat you.  In addition, they are not allowed to tell you about the successful natural and/or alternative therapy methods that actually work for Lyme Disease because A) They are not approved by the FDA and might lose their license if they talk about it  B) They don’t know anything about them because they are not educated on these types of therapies in medical school and/or because they typically do not have time to research alternative therapies outside of seeing patients C) They don’t bring them up bc they think it’s a bunch of hocus pocus.  It goes against everything that they are taught in medical school.  Ok, so I know that this sounds frustrating, but I promise there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Here is a great link that explains just how different everyone’s journey to recovery is:

http://www.tiredoflyme.com/can-i-ever-completely-get-rid-of-lyme-disease-opinions-from-the-most-popular-lyme-doctors-and-healers.html#.VGUM3tq9KSP

 There are a few things that have really helped me find my way thus far.  

1) Talk to the Lyme Community.  They are by far the most valuable source of information available at your finger tips.  Without my Lyme facebook groups I would be lost right now. The Lyme community will be able to quickly help you find out what has and has not worked for them.  I am in probably 11 different groups, and they all serve a different purpose.  For instance, one group is called ‘Lyme Success Stories’ and it’s where individuals who have been able to cure themselves post how they were able to achieve this/what protocol they used.  There is one that is merely for healing with antibiotics.  There is a group dedicated to gene mutations and Lyme.  There are multiple having to do with healing Lyme naturally whether it be homeopathics, supplements, oils, or a mix of all of the above.  There are a few groups dedicated to rife machine therapy. Ozone therapy… A group dedicated to coffee enemas. Bee venom therapy. A group dedicated to healing from worms and parasites.  Really, the list goes on and on!  I use ALL of them.  I can’t tell you how many times a day I hop into one of my Lyme groups and ask a question.  What I have learned thus far is that a large number of Lyme sufferers spent countless hours and dollars on conventional medicine therapies that eventually failed them.  They all say the same thing, they ended up having to be their own advocate and figure out what worked best for them via trial and error (aka be their own doctor). Outside of the natural appraoch/antibiotics, this usually involves a few types of alternative therapy methods that are not approved by the FDA (like the Rife Machine, hulda clark zapper, ozone machine, bee venom therapy, stem cell therapy, hyperthermia, etc).

2) Do Your OWN Research.  That’s right…. you heard me.  Start reading, and start reading anything and everything you can get your hands on in order to form your own opinions.  You and only you will be able to come up with the most effective treatment plan for your body.  You cannot expect to get better by just having someone tell you what to do because believe me, there will be a lot of doctors and health coaches telling you to do THE WRONG THING.  With that being said, you need to be prepared by having done your own research so that you can steer away from therapies that might be harmful to your body.  All of our bodies are a little different especially when it comes to pressing symptoms, gene mutations, and the ability to detox the Lyme die-offs, so you will have to experiment to see how your body responds.  Try out different things, take notes, pay attention to how your body reacts, and watch for improvement.  Read, read, read!

3) Reading Bryan Rosner’s Lyme books on treatment options for Lyme.  This is not an instruction manual, but it gets you off to a good start on what treatments are available.  He has one book that explains anything and everything you ever wanted to know about Rife Machines. His follow up book breaks down the top 10 most effective Lyme Disease approaches available. This book is beyond informative and helped lay everything out on the line so that I could make an educated decision on what treatment method I wanted to move forward with. However, he is not the end all be all, so make sure that you continually read other opinions because knowledge is your best friend when it comes to Lyme Disease.  I am currently rifing, but doing things a lot differently than what Bryan Rosner suggested, especially in his second book.  It’s not saying that what he is suggesting is wrong… I am merely pointing out that there are many many ways to get to the same end point when it comes to recovering from Lyme.

Ok, so what treatments are available? I am going to touch on everything from Supplements and Antibiotics to Ozone Therapy and Rife Treatments.  Before I dive into everything, here is a high-level view of the important elements in Lyme Disease Treatment:

1. Diet

2. Medicine (Natural or Synthetic)

3. Alternative Therapies to kill/disable pathogens

4. Mold

5. Parasites/Worms (yes!!)

6. Detoxing / Gene Mutations

7. Movement

8. Attitude

9. Sun

10. Grounding

11.  Healing trapped emotions

1. DIET  – A huge part of Lyme Disease treatment is your diet!  Diet is crucial and probably one of the hardest things to change!   You will be eating less like the American dream and more like a caveman.  A typical Lyme diet consists of mainly veggies and meat with small amounts of fruit.  We can even eat some sweet potatoes here and there as a treat or for dessert.  In a nutshell, we must avoid ALL Dairy, Sugar, and Gluten…that means alcohol too!  We need to stick to grass-fed, wild-caught, organic, GMO free, non-processed foods. In addition, we must avoid inflammatory foods and foods that will turn into sugar (like potatoes – different than sweet potatoes).  I know that removing sugar, gluten, and dairy is the difference between being able to walk and not walk for most people with Lyme Disease. In addition, many people with Lyme Disease also suffer from MTHFR and Autoimmune Disorders, so diet is extremely important.  As many Lyme sufferers know, cheating with Gluten just one time, will set you back a good 6 months!  I tried to cheat over Xmas with a few pieces of fudge containing sugar, dairy, and gluten and let me tell you, IT WAS NOT WORTH IT!  I spent the following 2 days in bed.  Not only did I have an excruciatingly painful migraine, I felt like I had been hit by a bus. Because of this one tiny exposure, I know that I will more than likely be more reactive to chemicals for the next few months. Diet really is crucial… I don’t hear of many people getting better who refuse to change their diet.  Some people have healed themselves by changing their diet alone. For example, I have seen many Lyme success stories in the Dr. Wahls protocol group.  For some it’s a matter of eating all veggies…

2. MEDICINE – I am not sure what the percentages are, but it seems like there are 3 groups of people when it comes to Lyme Treatment. 1) Those who treat mainly with natural remedies likes Supplements/Oils/Homeopathy  2) Those who treat mainly with Antibiotics  3)  Those who treat with a combination of  Supplements/Oils/Homeopathy and Antibiotics.  However, I do want to point out that no matter which group you are in, medicine alone is usually not enough to treat Lyme Disease by itself.  I often hear of people who have a Lyme success story incorporating some sort of alternative therapy to kill/disable pathogens (like Rife, Ozone Therapy, lymph therapy, hyperbaric therapy).  Keep in mind that for whatever reason, these alternative therapies are not approved by the FDA even though they work!

I am not going to talk much about whether or not I think the natural approach is the better choice over antibiotics bc honestly I just don’t know.  Like I mentioned before, I highly recommend reading Bryan Rosner’s book so that you will know what you are getting into especially with antibiotics.  There a ton of LLMDs out there that do not mean any harm, but do not fully understand the best way and the best types of antibiotics to use in treating Lyme Disease. In the event that the doctor is using both the right kinds of antibiotics and is using them in the correct way, some patients have definitely been able to heal this way.  However, a large number of those who healed with antibiotics could not have done so without the use of their rife machine or some other form of alternative therapy, supplements, etc.  Some people are able to heal themselves by going back and forth between antibiotics, natural remedies, and alternative therapy.  Most people are doing a variety of things all at once.  Really, there are a ton of combinations of all of these treatments that sufferers have used to go into remission.  I do just want to say that although some heal with longterm antibiotics, most of the time I hear that after years and years of trying, they had to switch to the natural approach before seeing any improvements.  With most remission stories I read about, they ended up healing with a natural approach.

Another thing to consider if contemplating antibiotics is having a severely weakened immune system.  If you do (and you have things going on like MTHFR, major gut issues, etc.) using antibiotics might not be a good choice for you. I am only saying this because antibiotics kill off the good bacteria in your gut and if you are reading this you probably understand the importance of your gut bacteria in the healing process. In the holistic world, your gut is your main immune system.   In the event that it’s just too big of a risk to take antibiotics, the more natural approaches might be a safer option for you. Examples of natural procotols -Marshall, Buhner, Jernigan, Cowden, Byron White, etc…there are tons of them!

Ok, so let’s talk about all of the Alternative Treatment  Options….

Bee Venom Therapy – Yes, stinging yourself with bees.  This has taken me from very ill to almost back to normal.  It’s easy, inexpensive, and does not hurt as much as you would think. It’s not time consuming either which is nice.  I know people who have healed soley from bee venom.

Homeopathy – I’ve heard lots of success stories with people using homeopathy to get better.

Rife Machine Treatment – I think rifing is great.  However, for me it has not been the magic bullet. I view it more of as something that helps keep people afloat.  That’s just me though… for some people, it is a game changer.  If I  The easiest way to explain Rife Machine Therapy is that this machine produces various frequencies that kill Lyme pathogens and the lyme confection pathogens.  So basically, it causes a gradual die-off depending on what cycle the Lyme pathogen is in at the time of treatment.   However, I just want to remind you that Rifing alone may not kill all of the pathogens in your body, so you might need to be taking antibiotics and/or natural medicine while treating with the Rife Machine.  You can literally rife for anything that you can think of… pink eye, candida, viruses, parasites, you name it.  There are are a ton of Rife Machines to choose from with a huge price variance.  With that being said, you will have to look through the different models and figure out what is best for you.  I know i am beating a dead horse here, but I highly suggest reading Bryan Rosner’s books to get a basic understanding of rifing.  Some of them are pricey, but the good news is that you can make one at home if need be.  I ended up purchasing the GB4000 and the MOPA because I want the rife machine to penetrate the deepest, hard to reach parts of my body.  Here is a good resource for now http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/energy/energy.htm

Hyperthermia Treatment – In a nutshell, hyperthermia is where they somehow heat the core temperature of your body to somewhere around 106 or 108 (I can’t remember exactly) various times throughout a 2 week period in combination with antibiotics and supportive therapies to kill confections.  I keep reading that people from all over the world are cured of some of the coinfections that go along with Lyme by doing Hyperthermia Treatments at this clinic in Germany called St Georg Klinik.  On the flip side, I have heard that the treatment is better for getting rid of coinfections than it is the actual Lyme.  Either way, if it helps, it helps.  If it eliminates some of the load, awesome.  The full load, even better. As we all know, the coinfection pathogens can be just as harmful as the Lyme itself, so the fact that you can get rid of a large number of these bad boys is pretty awesome.  This was actually sent to me from a representative at St. Georg Klinik –

“In addition to the improvement of symptoms, lab results also verify the success of these treatments. Patients who tested positive for Lyme and the co-infections Babesia, Bartonella, and Protomyxzoea Rheumatica have later tested negative after receiving whole-body hyperthermia treatment, and from following the pre- and post-treatment regimen. “

I think it costs around 16-17K for a 2 week treatment at the Fach Klinik and closer to 18-19K at the St. Georg Klinik, so I am considering trying this in the future if I do not see improvement soon… just not sure when. It’s a little pricey though, errr!http://www.klinik-st-georg.de/en/medical-wellness-center/

There are also Hyperthermia Lyme Treatment Centers in Austria and Switerland, but I have yet to research them.

Here are a few links below so you can read about Hyperthermia Treatments

Ozone Therapy – This is an extremely helpful therapy in treating Lyme, but you will still need to other therapies along with it.  From what I have heard and experienced, Ozone Therapy will probably not cure you, but it will get rid of some of your awful daily symptoms by keeping your blood clean.  Ozone IV Therapy  Treatment pumps so much oxygen into to your blood that it makes it almost impossible for all of the bad bacteria, parasites, and viruses to survive.  In a nutshell, it helps keep your symptoms in check to where you can function!   If you do not wish to invest 8K in the ozone sauna, you can always buy just the ozone generator for around $3500 and do various types of insufflation.  Or there is always the option of doing an ozone IV straight into the blood stream.  All of these methods are very effective. I consider this just a supportive type treatment, but for some people, it makes the world of difference and gets them functioning again.  Like I said everyone is different 🙂

Here is some information on ozone therapy in general : Ozoneuniversity.com

http://www.oxygenhealingtherapies.com/ozone_sauna_therapy.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/028201_ozone_therapy_fda.html

Buying Plasma Fire Ozone Generator – I don’t think you can just go to the website and hit purchase like back in the day when my friend purchased one.  Apparently, the owner only sells through a yahoo group and various sales reps in the ozone and naturopath world. If you want to buy one, you will probably need to  call a few ozone centers in your area to see if they have a direct relationship with him somewhat like a broker.

Buying the Longevity Ozone Generator – This is a good one, but everyone I have talked to has said that Plasma Fire is better. Still not sure, but at least you will know that it’s legit.

FDA’s suppression of OzoneTherapy: http://www.naturalnews.com/028201_ozone_therapy_FDA.html

Advanced Cell Training – I haven’t had time to dive into this just yet…haven’t heard too many success stories in all of my Lyme circles about this one…

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QL_Xe_AQwe8

http://advancedcelltraining.com/ACT/

Here is a form of Magnetic Therapy that supposedly works.  It takes 3 days to complete and costs $3K.  I have not tried this so I cannot speak to this.  I do believe in the power or magnet therapy, so I would not be surprised if this works or at least helps. – http://www.lymestop.com

iMRS Mats – I’ve heard really good things about these mats.  I spend a lot of my time reading success stories in all of these Lyme boards and Facebook groups, and I have seen this particular device pop up more than once in helping someone to achieve remission… coupled with some form of supplements or medicines, of course.

4. Mold – (coming soon)

6. Detox / Gene Mutations –  I have learned that those who detox while treating for Lyme respond better/faster to Lyme Treatment.  However, a lot of us have gene mutations like MTHFR that keep us from detoxing everyday chemicals and pathogen die offs which cause an overflow of ammonia in our bodies.  Some good detox methods are epsom salt baths, coffee enemas, ozone therapy, FIR sauna therapy, rife therapy, heavy metal footbaths, etc. As you kill/disable pathogens, your body will release mycotoxins/biotoxins/neurotoxins/ammonia into your body which is why we experience  inflammation and increased symptoms, etc. This is actually called a ‘Herx’ reaction. Unfortunately, we need natural medicine, antibiotics, and/or alternative forms of therapies to help remove the die-off toxins bc our bodies are not equipped to do this naturally. However, it is actually our genetics and gene mutations that determine how well we will be able to process all of these toxins.  For those of us who have gene mutations in regards to liver detoxification, methylation, mold, etc we will have bigger herxes and a much harder time recovering from Lyme Disease.  For example, let’s say that I do a few rife therapy sessions with frequencies that kill Lyme pathogens, I can probably expect to have a herx of some sort (sometimes weakness, nausea, fatigue, etc).  So knowing that I just did a big ‘rife session’ I will more than likely make plans to do some ozone insufflation treatments the next day to reduce the herx symptoms and help the body eliminate the toxins from the pathogen die off.  I’ll probably drink some clay. Take some charcoal. Take a clay or epsom salt bath.  Get in the FIR sauna, etc.  I might even run some ‘detox frequencies’ on my rife machine.  So, as you can see, there are lots of ways to aid your body in removing these die-off toxins.  So back tracking a bit, but it is very important to get tested for gene mutations (23andme) bc it will help you in the long run with avoiding certain foods and supplements that will keep you from healing.  For example, I have a gene mutation that does not allow me to process sulfur.  This requires me to stay away from foods, medicines, and even the most popular detox bath for Lyme, Epsom Salt Bath.

7. Movement – Lyme pathogens do not like movement, so get up and move!  I know it can be hard for some of your to get out of bed, but if at all possible, workout!  Yoga is a low impact form of movement that would be great for those of you who do not have a  lot of energy.  Dance if you can, even if it’s just for 30 minutes a day.  Movement in general is good for you!  Even if you don’t workout, it is imperative to at least do some sort of physical activity in order to keep your lymph system moving as you kill off pathogens and flood your body with toxins.  An easy way to do this is to buy a mini trampoline from walmart and jump for 10 minutes a day. Bounding up and down without picking your feet up works just fine.

8.  Attitude – I can’t stress how much having a positive attitude can help change all of the cells in your body for the better.   There have been numerous studies done on how having a positive or negative attitude can directly effect your health.  I know that the Lyme pathogens actually cause depression (for scientific and situational reasons), but that is all of the more reason to focus on having a positive attitude.  Having a negative attitude will bring down your immune system and keep you from regaining your health! I know that it is hard to be positive when you are sick, isolated, and not able do eat and do the things that you once did. However, there are things that you can do in order to change your way of thinking.  Any time you notice that you are thinking something negative, say 3 positive things to your self to eliminate the negative energy that you just created.  It sounds silly, but saying negative things to yourself is probably one of the worst things you can do to your health.  In that same regard, there have also been studies that showed that if you talk to your cells about healing, that you are more likely to change the way your genes are expressing and heal your cells/body.  I know that in the beginning of being diagnosed, all you can think about and talk about is Lyme, but after you have gone through the first 6 month research crazed period try not to talk about it so often.  And if you do talk about it, talk about it in a positive light.  In the world of energy, the more you talk about something, the more energy you are drawing towards it. So in a sense, you are making that something grow.  For us, that means that we are making our illness grow!  Of course, there are times when you have no choice but to speak about it, but try to limit it as much as you can.  Try to ONLY surround yourself with people who love you and care about you. Set boundaries with people who bring you down…or perhaps cut them out all together!  If something or someone is causing you stress (by not being there for you, debating you on your illness, doubting your illness, or talking negatively to you or about you), remove them from the equation!  You are fragile, and you need to be in a stress free environment to heal.  Unfortunately, sometimes this means distancing yourself from your significant other, family members, longtime friends, etc.  Ok, so since your goal is to not focus on your illness… focus on what makes you happy.  Get out and do things that make you happy!   I know some of you are limited on what you can do and where you can go now that you are ill, but find new things each day that bring you joy even if that means learning a new skill like sewing.  Go outside and get some vitamin D and make friends with nature! I have found it very helpful to make friends in the area who also have Lyme or some sort of invisible Illness so that you have someone to vent to and someone who understands where you are coming from 🙂 Smile more often.  Watch movies and TV shows that will make you laugh!  Meditate. Meditate. Meditate. Practice grounding.

11. Healing trapped emotions – Coming soon….

There are tons of healing blogs on Prohealth.com if you want to get out there and search for them!