Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

Dr. Rawls’ Lyme Treatment Guide

https://rawlsmd.com/treatment-guide

Dr. Rawls’ Lyme Treatment Guide

A-to-Z Lyme Treatment Ratings: From antibiotics to herbal therapy, ozone, and more, find out how Dr. Rawls rates these popular Lyme disease treatments.

As a physician, I often get asked my opinion on various Lyme treatments. While herbal therapy is my preference for the majority of those with chronic Lyme disease, I’m always learning and educating myself on different treatments and therapies that might make it easier for people to get their lives back. Based on my research, experience, and medical opinion, I developed a rating system to evaluate potential treatment options according to safety, efficacy, and cost.

Dr. Rawls’ Lyme Treatment Guide
Treatment Efficacy Safety Cost
Antibiotics 2.5 stars 2 stars 3 out of 5 dollar signs
NEW Bee Venom Therapy 4 stars 3 stars 2 out of 5 dollar signs
NEW Disulfiram 3.5 stars 1 stars 1 out of 5 dollar signs
Herbal Therapy 5 stars 5 stars 1.5 out of 5 dollar signs
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy 3.5 stars 2.5 stars 3 out of 5 dollar signs
Hyperthermia 3.5 stars 1.5 stars 5 out of 5 dollar signs
Infrared Sauna Therapy 4 stars 1.5 stars 2 out of 5 dollar signs
NEW Lyme Disease Diet 5 stars 5 stars 1 out of 5 dollar signs
Nosodes 2.5 stars 4 stars 2 out of 5 dollar signs
Ozone Therapy 3.5 stars 2.5 stars 3 out of 5 dollar signs
NEW Phage Therapy unknown 3.5 stars 5 out of 5 dollar signs
NEW Rebounder Therapy 3 stars 4 stars 1 out of 5 dollar signs
Rife Therapy 3 stars 4 stars 3 out of 5 dollar signs
Stem Cell Therapy 3 stars 3 stars 5 out of 5 dollar signs
UV Light Therapy 2 stars 3.5 stars 4 out of 5 dollar signs

More Treatments Coming Soon!

In the coming weeks, look forward to treatment additions like colloidal silver, essential oils, stevia, IVIG, methylene blue, peptides, and SOT therapy.

Sign up for our RawlsMD newsletter to find out when new treatments are added.

To evaluate the potential success and pitfalls of various treatments, I use a grading system based on my research, experience, and medical opinion. My criteria includes:

    • Cost: What are the out-of-pocket expenses for a particular treatment?
    • Efficacy: Is there any evidence the treatment works?
    • Safety: What’s the potential for the treatment to cause harm to the person who’s using it?
    • Ways to administer: What’s the route by which the treatment is given to a person?

Using my rating system, I’ve created a treatment guide so that you can learn about and compare a variety of treatments and therapies. You’re likely to hear some success stories with nearly every intervention or modality on this list. But measuring your options according to efficacy, potential risks, and cost, in partnership with your healthcare provider, will go a long way in helping you make the best decisions for you and your recovery.

Bill Rawls, MD
Medical Director and Cofounder of RawlsMD.com

Dr. Bill Rawls is a licensed physician with over 30 years of experience and a leading expert in Lyme disease, holistic health, and herbal medicine. In the middle of his successful medical career, Dr. Rawls’ life was interrupted by Lyme disease. In his journey to overcome it, he explored a wide range of treatments – from conventional medicine to an array of alternative therapies.

In the more than 10 years since his recovery, Dr. Rawls has helped thousands of patients to recover from chronic illness and maintain wellness. He is the author of the best-selling book Unlocking Lyme, and the Medical Director of RawlsMD.com and Vital Plan, an online holistic health company and Certified B Corporation®.

http://

How to Overcome Chronic Lyme Disease

Aug. 1, 2018

Dr. Bill Rawls overcame chronic Lyme disease with herbal and natural remedies. He reveals the 5 essential elements for recovery here. Learn more about Lyme disease and Dr. Rawls’ story: https://rawlsmd.com/health-articles/m…

Dr. Rawls recently came out with a nifty coinfection chart worth looking at as well.

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**Comment**

I would dispute a few items on the treatment ratings. I’ve done many of the treatments listed and have found antibiotics to be cheaper and more effective than herbal treatments for both myself and my husband. Dr. Horowitz has found that herbs alone have about a 70% success rate in his office (if I’m remembering correctly). Not many doctors write books on their clinical experience so when they do, I take note.

Please understand I’m not dissing herbs here – just talking brass tacks about money, time, and efficacy. I still use herbs to this day for various issues and know they have helped many patients, but to my knowledge there is no magic cure – including herbs, or I’d be using it. Savvy, layered treatment focused on all forms of borrelia and taking coinfections into account as well as detoxification, immune system imbalances, gut health, diet, exercise, sleep, stress, and more is crucial on this journey. It truly is as individual as the person.

For more:

Many are having wondrous results with disulfiram, unfortunately I had to quit it as it caused psychosis for me (not fun, and a $30 drug ended up costing me $20K due to a week long hospital stay because I went completely nuts).  Dr. Horowitz has also had good success with the triple Dapsone combination on some of his most refractory patients.  I’ve heart there are many side-effects and the need to supplement to mitigate those effects, but for the right patients it may prove to be the thing that helps the most.  Regarding liposomal essential oils, my husband and I are currently taking liposomal oregano oil in our Bartonella treatment of Clarithromycin/rifampin, along with garlic, monolaurin, and stevia.  Time will tell on this treatment.  

Go here to listen to Dr. Frid’s clinical experience using liposomal essential oils.  (Unlike antibiotics, she finds LEO’s most effective when pulsed).  I found them cheapest on her website.

Category:

Lyme, Treatment

Harvard Student, Queen’s Prof, Collaborating to Rapidly Identify Lyme-Infected Ticks

https://www.coastreporter.net/national-news/harvard-student-queens-prof-collaborating-to-rapidly-identify-lyme-infected-ticks-

Harvard student, Queen’s prof, collaborating to rapidly identify Lyme-infected ticks

OTTAWA — Harvard University microbiology student Indumathi Prakash was just seven years old when a tick bite near her home in Massachusetts gave her Lyme disease and left her to spend most of her childhood battling rheumatoid arthritis.
2021071616070-60f1e62aa5ca5b9124ece6c1jpeg

OTTAWA — Harvard University microbiology student Indumathi Prakash was just seven years old when a tick bite near her home in Massachusetts gave her Lyme disease and left her to spend most of her childhood battling rheumatoid arthritis.

Now Prakash, 21, is working with a Queen’s University professor, although virtually, on a rapid test that will diagnose the bacterium that causes Lyme disease in ticks in just a few hours.

If successful, the test will open the door to better and faster treatment for the rapidly expanding disease.

“I really wanted to do something to prevent the same thing from happening to someone else so that’s kind of why I got interested in tick-borne disease in general,” said Prakash, in a phone interview from Cambridge, Mass.

Lyme disease has been around in Canada since the 1980s. Warmer winters over the last decade have allowed ticks, and the pathogens they often carry, to flourish in ways they never did before. (See link for article)

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**Comment**

Interesting that this author doesn’t utilize her own countryman’s independent research showing ticks are impervious to the climate and hide under leaf litter, snow, mulch, etc. when conditions are harsh – but doing so would be defying the accepted narrative that “climate change” is behind tick and disease proliferation, and all the woes on planet earth today, despite climatologists who state otherwise, and we certainly can’t have that.

Important quote: 

Since Lyme disease can often be prevented if antibiotics are started within 24 hours of the bite, doctors routinely give people with tick bites antibiotics before it’s clear the bacteria is present.

No, I’m afraid doctors don’t routinely give people with tick bites antibiotics.  I wish they did – and they certainly should.  Doctors continue to take a “wait and see” approach, which is dooming patients to sometimes a life-time of suffering. In my opinion, it appears doctors would rather diagnose patients with anything but Lyme/MSIDS.

The article points out that ticks can be tested by results often take days to obtain results.  This is another problem with testing – not only for ticks but for humans.

Evidently the new test will also detect other coinfections that often come with Lyme disease.

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks

Lyme Disease Skin Rash Puzzles Doctors, Leads to Misdiagnoses

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-skin-rash-misdiagnoses/

LYME DISEASE SKIN RASH PUZZLES DOCTORS, LEADS TO MISDIAGNOSES

Patient with Lyme disease skin rash

Lyme disease can cause an atypical skin rash that may be mistakenly attributed to another illness, as this case report demonstrates. In their article, Suzuki and colleagues describe a 43-year-old woman who developed a rash which puzzled doctors and led to several misdiagnoses before Lyme disease was correctly identified.

By 
 

Lyme disease can cause an atypical skin rash, which may be overlooked by clinicians. In this case report, a 43-year-old woman, who was an avid gardener and lived in Wisconsin, developed pink papules behind her right knee.1  Over the next several days, the rash “evolved into painless vesicles with surrounding faint erythema.” She also developed fever, chills, neck pain and malaise.

Diagnoses: shingles, cellulitis, necrotizing fasciitis

Doctors initially suspected shingles (Herpes Zoster) but treatment with valacyclovir, an antiviral medication, did not improve the skin rash or symptoms. “The blisters increased in size and showed purple discoloration,” the authors wrote.

The doctors then diagnosed her with cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection which also causes a skin rash. She was prescribed ceftriaxone, followed by cephalexin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. But the woman remained ill.

She was then referred for evaluation for suspected necrotizing fasciitis, an inflammation of the vessel walls.  At this time, she had a fever of 101.3°F.

“The atypical appearance of skin rash might confuse physicians with many differential diagnoses, such as spider bite, herpes zoster, bullous cellulitis, necrotizing fasciitis, and so on.”

Additionally:

“Physical examination showed blister and a surrounding round erythematous patch at the right popliteal fossa and right inguinal lymphadenopathy,” the authors wrote.

Lyme disease skin rash

The woman was diagnosed clinically with “early Lyme disease with bullous erythema migrans.”

“Given the season, geographic location, outdoor activity, and progression despite treatment for cellulitis and shingles, she was clinically diagnosed with early Lyme disease,” the authors report.

The woman was treated for Lyme disease with a 10-day course of doxycycline and her skin rash resolved.

Laboratory tests for Lyme disease were negative – a common occurrence with early Lyme disease.

“The atypical appearance of skin rash might confuse physicians with many differential diagnoses, such as spider bite, herpes zoster, bullous cellulitis, necrotizing fasciitis, and so on,” the authors point out.

Editor’s comments:  I have seen rashes described in this article in my Lyme disease patients. I am concerned when a patient is diagnosed with shingles, cellulitis or necrotizing vasculitis before Lyme disease is considered as a possible cause of an atypical skin rash.

If uncertain about the root cause of the rash, I will typically treat patients with a combination of medications including an antiviral agent and an antibiotic that is effective in treating cellulitis, a spider bite and Lyme disease.
References:
  1. Suzuki H, Carlson JR, Matsumoto E. 43-Year-Old Female With Fever and Bullous Skin Lesion. Clin Infect Dis. Dec 17 2020;71(10):2763-2764. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa206

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**Comment**

Everyone knows that delayed treatment for Lyme/MSIDS is causing chronic/persistent symptoms, yet it continually appears doctors would rather diagnose patients with anything other than Lyme/MSIDS.  It’s almost like they want to run through a litany of other causes first, treat for those, and finally if nothing works throw up the white flat and admit it’s tick-borne illness.

For more:

Please remember that those getting the rash is highly variable and certainly not a sure thing.  If you get it, it is diagnostic for Lyme – no testing needed; however, if you don’t get it, you can still be infected:

Rashes-larger-blog-4

Category:

Lyme, research

Know Your Ticks

https://www.globallymealliance.org/tick-table/

Know your ticks

Easy to read table shows the most common ticks found in the U.S. that transmit pathogens to humans.
Note: only a partial list. To learn more about tick-bite prevention and how to be Tick AWARE, click here

Click here to download the Tick Table

Tick Table

For more:

Remember, in Wisconsin, ticks are found in every county in the state. Researchers are also finding them in bright, open, mowed lawns.

Category:

Alpha Gal Meat Allergy, Anaplasmosis, Bartonella, Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, Mycoplasma, Parasite Treatment, Rickettsia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tickborne Relapsing Fever, Ticks, Transmission, Tularemia, Viruses

Pulsing Antibiotics, Diet and Itchy Rashes, and Insomnia

https://www.globallymealliance.org/blog/dear-lyme-warrior-help-1

Dear Lyme Warrior…Help!

by Jennifer Crystal on May 26, 2021

Every few months, Jennifer Crystal devotes a column to answering your questions. Do you have a question for Jennifer? If so, email her at lymewarriorjennifercrystal@gmail.com.

Is it helpful to pulse antibiotics?

Pulsing is a method of antibiotic administration where the patient takes the medication for a certain amount of time (for example, two weeks) and then stops it for a period (say, another two weeks), and then repeats the cycle. Some people have found great success with this method (Steven Phillips, MD talks about it in his new book Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again). He writes about patients who were on antibiotics all the time for years and only reached a certain level of wellness, but then felt completely better after switching to a pulsed regimen. Pulsing allows the body to detox, especially after intense Herxheimer reactions, and gives the gut a break, too.

That said, pulsing doesn’t work for everyone. Some feel that doing so allows the spirochetes to build up a stronger load during the off-period, making them harder to kill (and causing worse Herxheimer reactions) during the on-periods. My own body has difficulty adjusting to any kind of on-off regimen (for example, if I’m weaning off a medication, it never works for me to take it every other day; this just causes a jerking effect). For others, that method works just fine. The bottom line is that you need to speak with your Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) to see if pulsing is the right choice for you, and you may need to do a little trial-and-error to find out.

I’ve been battling Lyme for four months and just started getting rashes and hives on my legs at random times. It seems it may coincide with something I ate. Did you have any trigger foods, and did you find anything to help rashes and hives long-term?

Lyme is an inflammatory disease. As I explain in my post “Stop the Itching! Lyme and Hives,” Lyme can cause an inflammatory response anywhere in the body, manifesting as redness, swelling, heat, pain, or loss of function. I started getting hives four years after getting a tick bite, but it would be another four years before I got accurately diagnosed and started treatment. Once I did get proper antibiotic treatment, the hives stopped.

Before then, itchiness and redness could sometimes be triggered by exercise. After a run, my legs might turn bright red and grow incredibly itchy. The reaction was never triggered by food, but one of two things may be going on for you. You may simply be having an allergic reaction to something you’re eating (try to find a common denominator in your meals, and see an allergist who can test for food allergies). Or, maybe you are eating an inflammatory food that is exacerbating the inflammation you’re already experiencing from Lyme. (See my post “The Lyme Diet” for information on inflammatory and anti-inflammatory foods). It helped me to switch to an anti-inflammatory diet, which I’ve been on for over a decade. What helped the most with my inflammation, though, was proper treatment with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication. If you are not already seeing a LLMD, I encourage you to find one who can address your systemic inflammation, check for co-infections, and help you consider dietary changes. (To find a good LLMD in your area, please click here).

Before sleep medication, can you describe your insomnia? Was it every night? For how long?

Once tick-borne illnesses crosses the blood-brain barrier, they can cause a host of neurological issues, including sleep disturbances. Before I was accurately diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis, I had horrendous insomnia. At one point, I was literally awake for weeks. I tried everything: meditating, counting sheep, using lavender oil, taking over-the-counter sleep aids, but nothing worked. Despite my exhaustion, my brain would not turn off. I had word and song iteration—words and songs playing in my head like a mash-up, over and over again. It felt like my body was in park and my brain was in overdrive.

Some nights I did sleep, but it wasn’t restful. I experienced hallucinogenic nightmares that left me more tired when I woke up than when I went to sleep. Sleep disturbances went on for a couple years before I was accurately diagnosed, and persisted (with some improvements) for a few months during the start of treatment. These issues came back when I relapsed. The first step in getting them under control was to treat the infections that were causing it. I saw a sleep specialist who did neurofeedback, taught me good sleep hygiene, and figured out, through some trial-and-error, the best medication to help me sleep.

Writer

Jennifer Crystal

Opinions expressed by contributors are their own. Jennifer Crystal is a writer and educator in Boston. Her work has appeared in local and national publications including Harvard Health Publishing and The Boston Globe. As a GLA columnist for over six years, her work on GLA.org has received mention in publications such as The New Yorker, weatherchannel.com, CQ Researcher, and ProHealth.com. Jennifer is a patient advocate who has dealt with chronic illness, including Lyme and other tick-borne infections. Her memoir about her medical journey is forthcoming. Contact her via email below.

Email: lymewarriorjennifercrystal@gmail.com

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**Comment**

This post took me back in time.

The crazy manifestations of this complex multi-faceted illness can not be overstated.  They are unbelievable.  This is one of the reasons main-stream medicine thinks we are all nuts.  I’m sure it appears that way when we frantically diatribe through our litany of bizarre symptoms.  It truly takes a special practitioner to quietly listen to patients, believing that there is a real, physiological cause behind it all.  To believe that thousands upon thousands of patients are saying similar things are all crazy is a lazy way out.

I’ve pulsed antibiotics successfully and taken them everyday successfully.

Pulsing is based upon the fact that Lyme disease has a 4-week cycle, where every 4 weeks patients experience a symptom flair. Burgdorfer found this in mice studies, and IGeneX found the same thing in urine antigen studies.Borrelia grow and are active, then become inactive.Four weeks later they activate.This has been shown recently in vitro. Think of Bb as a slow relapsing fever.This nuance is important because antibiotics only kill during the active phase.You need a minimum of a month to bracket a whole generation cycle. 

Slightly different than pulsing, is something called “cycling”, used when patients reach a plateau. You discontinue antibiotics until symptoms return.  Then, when symptoms return, go to full treatment until symptoms are gone again. Dr. Burrascano states that many patients become symptom free after 4 of these cycles.  He used this on himself as well with success.  Burrascano found 3 other physicians doing the exact same thing with patients. This approached worked for all of them despite the different geographical areas they were in.

But, like all things Lyme/MSIDS, this doesn’t work with every patient.  But – it’s still worth trying!

My LLMD states Lyme/MSIDS causes all sorts of rashes – everywhere on the body.  I had one that looked like ring-worm that was on my derrière.  It expanded outwardly until finally it disappeared.  I believe treatment resolved it.

Rashes-larger-blog-4

A reminder that the EM rash is diagnostic for Lyme.  If you have the EM rash, you have Lyme, but many never see or get the rash.  This graph beautifully demonstrates that getting the “classic” EM rash is highly variable.

Insomnia is a real pain.  

For more:

Category:

Lyme, Sleep