Madison Area Lyme Support Group

I apologize for the tardiness of this notice.  You may view the seminar after the fact on the website: https://www.truthforhealth.org/category/news/media-and-podcasts/faith-over-fear/

I’ve posted on the positive attributes of methylene blue, but recently more naturalistic health professionals have spoken out on the other side of it – a side that is crucial to know in order to make a balanced decision of whether to use it or not.  Read about it for yourself and make your own decision.  Also, read the comments after the article as one in particular by Dr. Don Hall points out that there’s years of research on positive results with MB and that neurotoxins are commonly used for chronic migraines, back pain, neuropathy, arthritis, and excessive sweating.  Again – gather intel and make your own choice, knowing there’s disagreement in the medical community, which is nothing new in Lymeland.

**Personal example**

After being under the same LLMD (Lyme literate doctor) for years of treatment for Lyme, Bartonella, and Babesia my husband and I were still unwell.  I made an appointment for a phone consult with one of the most experienced LLMDs in Wisconsin to run our treatment by him to see if he felt we had any glaring holes we needed to cover.  After listening, he said, “Have you ever used Cipro?” 

I knew Ciprofloxacin is a second generation fluoroquinolone used to treat different types of bacterial infections. I also discovered that it is made with fluoride to deeply penetrate muscles, which is primarily why it is used for Bartonella, but it’s also used to treat bone, joint, and skin infections as well as sinusitis – all of which Lyme/MSIDS patients can have.  There are now four generations of quinolone drugs, the newest being trovafloxacin (since 1999  has been reserved for life or limb threatening infections due to associated acute liver failure) and each generation has different pharmacokinetic properties and are useful for different conditions. Because tissue and fluid concentrations often exceed the serum drug concentration, these antibiotics are particularly useful for certain infections,

I was hesitant due to reports of swelling or tearing of a tendon, especially in the Achilles’ tendon of the heel which can happen during treatment or several months after treatment, but may be more likely in children, older adults (us), people who use steroids (us), or have had an organ transplant, and although uncommon, there are reports of being ‘floxed‘ from fluoroquinolone toxicity.  

Wow.  What to do?

This experienced LLMD told me his theory: he believes Bartonella is what causes the tendon problems and that cipro is working within the tendons and muscles to finally reach a pathogen that is difficult to get to as it sequesters in these tissues.  He said in all his years treating patients and using cipro, he’d never had a person have a tendon issue, other than pain that Bartonella notoriously causes.

I read all about what to avoid while taking cipro, how to take it, and made a pact with my regular doctor to only take it for a short period of time (I believe we also pulsed it, but honestly can’t remember).  My regular doctor was as concerned as I about the side-effects and never used the drug for that very reason but at my request agreed to prescribe it.

It was one of the most effective drugs we ever used.  I’m thankful to report no negative side effects were observed and we got yet further down the road to healing.

Since that time, we’ve discovered that the clarithromycin/rifampin combo is what we successfully use for Bartonella relapses, so we’ve never had to take cipro again, but I am glad we gave it a shot.

My same doctor allowed me to try disulfiram for Lyme early on before much intel was gathered on it and I did have a bad reaction to disulfiram you may want to learn about:   https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/10/15/disulfiram-psychosis-update/  Since you don’t know you are in psychosis, I highly advise single patients to have someone checking on them daily!  You don’t know you are going mad as a hatter. 

I’ve never blamed doctors for a bad reaction.  We worked together and experimented with many things as this is a ‘do it yourself’ disease which requires an open mind.  In fact, I’d go as far to say that it’s these very experiments in the unknown that have benefitted us in the long-run.  

https://gingerbreggin.substack.com/p/join-peter-breggin-md-may-27th-for?

Dr. Breggin will be the guest speaker at the upcoming Truth for Health Foundation’s weekly “Faith over Fear Tuesday” seminar. See the following announcement from the Truth for Health Foundation on how to join the meeting this Tuesday evening to hear Dr. Peter Breggin, MD and Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD on this critical health topic!

Note: you must pre-register. Details below:

Faith Over Fear SEMINAR:
JOIN US! EVERY TUESDAY 8 PM ET

Faith Over Fear Seminars in May:

• May 27 THE Toxicity of Methylene Blue – Risks You Cannot Afford to Ignore! Guest speaker: Dr. Peter Breggin, MD and Dr. Vliet So many people –both healthcare practitioners and those with no medical background whatsoever—have been lately promoting methylene blue as a remedy for practically every health problem under the sun, that I felt we had a duty to warn about serious toxicity risks to help people have balanced, truthful information with which to make informed decisions.

  We are honored to have Dr. Peter Breggin, a nationally known forensic psychiatrist who has spent his more than 50 year-career researching, teaching and testifying in more than 100 court cases about the toxicity of psychiatric medicines. Dr. Breggin and I did a seminar on this subject last year, and then just recently he published an in-depth Substack column with an extensive review of methylene blue and its potentially life-threatening toxicity. This common OTC manmade chemical is extensively promoted in the last few months.

  Dr. Vliet’s message: I have been concerned that few people selling and promoting the use of methylene blue ever address the brain toxicity and serious drug interactions with other prescription medicines or with common foods. In fact, many selling methylene blue claim it is “neuroprotective” and “enhances” cognitive function, even though the truth is far from that. You really need to attend live and listen to Dr. Breggin describe the history, neuropharmacology, risks and long term damage that can occur with methylene blue. Those who attend the live event will have an opportunity to ask questions with our speakers.

Faith over Fear Seminar Instructions

You must register in advance for our seminars by clicking on the zoom link below.
Register here and SAVE THE NEW LINK FOR 2025 through June 30 : It is the same each week Jan-June. 8:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)  7:00p.m Central Time (Wisconsin)
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/asMzHIEFTFKv38hKMta5UA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

If you miss the LIVE program, you always access the archive on our website here:  https://www.truthforhealth.org/category/news/media-and-podcasts/faith-over-fear/

For more:

• https://gingerbreggin.substack.com/p/emergency-notification-methylene  methylene blue is a Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOI). As such, it is one of the most toxic agents ever used in medicine and psychiatry, and the mother of the most dangerous drugs used in psychiatry.

  Methylene blue is not a miraculous new discovery. It’s the opposite. Created in 1876 in a lab, it is the oldest manmade chemical to be used in medicine. But for well over a century, methylene blue has never been FDA-approved for psychiatric purposes. Later, its chemical structure was modified in labs to create many of the earliest, most neurotoxic psychiatric drugs.  (See link for the in-depth article by psychiatrist Peter Breggin who has decades of experience and who has written many scientific papers and books showing how human beings who take psychiatric drugs sometimes are initially stimulated when the drug over-activates the monoamine neurotransmitters, including epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine; but eventually, similar to the animals, the human drug recipients typically become more subdued, apathetic, or disengaged from their own feelings, those around them, and with life itself.  Breggin does not prescribe psychiatric drugs as a treatment as he feels they do more harm than good.  Instead he offers therapy, and education on more effective and healthier principles of living. He is the author of the only medical textbook on the subject, called “Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Their Families.”)

•