Lyme disease

[davidinthewilderness]

From your reading is it then true or likely that it is a lab release, then? Maybe I'll see if I can get some doxycycline just in case to have on hand for the (near/when?) future when medicine is hard or impossible to get.

I have it first hand from Dr. Eldridge in WA State who keeps diseased horses quarantined but the ticks get them and spread the disease around Eastern WA. He said this at a regulatory hearing in 2007.

When the vets go back to Plum Island they come back so infected that they are not supposed to go into the field but that does not mean that refrain. I have this documented and continue to document on my website. I was just hacked and it corrupted all my posts but they are still up, albeit, look like garbage. My most recent article article was on Vector Vets and includes video straight from the USDA. Many of the staff at Plum Island are descendants of Nazi scientists imported after WWII who went to work at PIADC.

There is a doctor in Lake Stevens, WA and he associates with a group and one doctor in particular, I believe in Illinois. I would have to check for certain.

The reason Lyme is so difficult to treat is that it is weaponized. So if you do one thing to treat one symptom it aggravates another symptom. A vicious cycle. Frankincense Essential Oil helps break the cycle of inflammation. Rub some on inflamed area and/or on the arch of each foot.

I agree that Lab 257 is a great resource.

For those in process of getting testing done the labs have signed a global partnership and are under UN control. This happened at the beginning of June. There is going to be a drastic reduction in testing and tests that are run are going to beginning popping up negative no matter if one is positive. It is the old "in your head" game. Go with your gut on your symptoms, don't rely on testing. At this point it is corrupt. There are no longer any independent laboratories like there was even 10 years ago.

If anyone is suspecting MS Royal Jelly helps rebuild the mylein sheath.

My prayers go out to those with Lyme. Somewhere, somehow there must be something natural to effectively treat it.

Celeste

[Deena in GA]

I really appreciate everyone who has chimed in on this thread! Since the docs don't seem to want to help people, we have to share info among ourselves. I've been reading the different Lyme forums and websites and there is SO much info, with much of it contradictory, that it's hard to sort through. Samento was already on my list to get, but I've added a few others from seeing them on this thread and reading about them elsewhere.

Hubby has worsened this week to where at times he hasn't been able to hold his toothbrush. Today he was not able to type on the computer and had me post something for him on a site that he visits daily. The memory problems are getting worse too. In fact, he took more steroids today than he has been because the pain is unbearable again.

[WisconsinGardener]

Here's an article about using iodine for Lyme: http://www.mdjunction.com/diary/jack...r-lyme-disease

[Deena in GA]

Thanks for that article, WG! We're going to go buy an iodine/iodide supplement tomorrow based on what I read there. From the article:

In my experience I have noticed that most Lyme disease sufferers have problems with their thyroid gland. All Lyme patients that I have met, report subnormal body temperatures. They also complain of being cold and very fatigued. It is thought that the Lyme disease pathogen attacks the thyroid which in turn would lower immune system function. However , Dr. Brownstein's book leads one to ask the question, could a lack of iodine in the diet weaken the thyroid functions that affect immunity, which would then allow the pathogen to take hold and perhaps also promote chronicity of the disease?

I had noticed a while back that every time I took my hubby's temperature (doctor had asked that I do that for a while a couple of months ago), it was below normal. I figured he just has a below normal temperature and didn't really think anything more about it. Doc never asked, he was only concerned with if his temp was high. But that, combined with the fact that he is always cold since the beginning of this "adventure" and always fatigued makes me think we're onto something here with the iodine/iodide.

[WisconsinGardener]

I had noticed a while back that every time I took my hubby's temperature (doctor had asked that I do that for a while a couple of months ago), it was below normal. I figured he just has a below normal temperature and didn't really think anything more about it. Doc never asked, he was only concerned with if his temp was high. But that, combined with the fact that he is always cold since the beginning of this "adventure" and always fatigued makes me think we're onto something here with the iodine/iodide.

Deena - do a search on treating Lyme with Iodine, and you'll find a bunch of articles. Also, have you checked out http://www.ilads.org/index.html? That's the organization the "Lyme Literate" doctors follow.

If they decide that I DO have Lyme, I'm probably going to increase my dose of Iodine. There's a lot to learn about iodine. I would get hold of David Brownstein's book on Iodine from your library and then start doing Internet research. Brownstein's usual treatment dose is 50 mg iodine in the form of Iodoral tablets. That's a little scary when mainstream medicine is saying that 150 mcg is all you need. Then, you'll find people saying that with that much you'll get Iodism - and then the other side saying no, what is really happening is Bromide detoxification - as the iodine pushes out the other hallides that your body sucked up from our toxic environment. There's a lot to learn.

Lyme disease would explain so much of what's going on with me. Guess we'll see.

[WisconsinGardener]

Here's another good article, from a mom who has put together a lot of info in one place on Lyme (she doesn't mention Iodine, though): http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lyme-disease/

[Deena in GA]

Yes, I've been reading on ilads.org - lots of great info there. The controversy with iodine sounds like a lot of the Lyme info, there's always more than one side it seems. I have read several people that said they use Lugol's too. In my husband's case every symptom he has fits Lyme symptoms even though the docs want to focus on other things that don't fit every symptom. Frustration is the keyword when dealing with Lyme it seems.

[Deena in GA]

This is info that I hadn't seen before and thought others need to know, from www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lyme-disease/ that WG mentioned above:

Central Florida Research, Inc., has designed the most accurate Lyme Test available. This new Borrelia Burgdorferi antigen test is much more definitive than the Western Blot test. The test detects the spirochetes in the blood using a Flow Cytometer. This test is much more accurate and the testing is covered by most insurance companies. For more information, go to: http://centralfloridaresearch.com/lab/

[NC Susan]

Ref post #31 Bee Well comment on Yankee Magazine articles->


http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues...ymecountry/all

Lyme Disease: One Woman's Journey
Resources and tips to protect yourself and pets

by Edie Clark

SHARE:

The Deer Tick can spread Lyme disease.

Credit: Dana Smith

Dr. Charles Ray Jones: Hero of the chronic lyme community, he is also the target of a medical licensure hearing. "it's a high-risk trade ... I'm considered the great satan."

Credit: Dana Smith

Dr. Kirby C. Stafford: Connecticut's state entomologist has committed 19 years of his career to tick research. "[Lyme disease] is not going away."

Credit: Dana Smith

Lauren Lemay: A former long-distance runner, she has fought lyme's devastating effects for six years. "I was ready to try anything ... there was so much wrong I felt I was dying."

Credit: Dana Smith

Marjorie Tietjen: Eighteen years of coping with lyme have turned her into an activist. "My frustration has been that wherever I go, no one focuses on the root of the problem."

In July 2002, having spent an idyllic week's vacation on one of the Elizabeth Islands off Cape Cod, I came home to New Hampshire. The island -- a glorious, wild place marked by ancient beech forests, kettle ponds, and open grasslands -- is also crawling with ticks, which at the time seemed only a minor obstacle to enjoying the abundant gifts it offers.
Within a month of my return, however, I would begin to learn a bitter lesson -- in the history, ethics, and politics of a debilitating disease, and the mystery that has surrounded it for more than 50 years.

Like many others who visit New England's islands, I was bitten by ticks, more than once. Ten days after getting home, on a very hot day, I felt cold. I put on sweaters and heavy socks and lay down under a pile of blankets. I shivered and shook. My head pounded. More than anything, I craved sleep. I lay in bed, shivering and sweating. I finally found the strength to call my doctor, who waved away my suggestion that I might have Lyme disease.

Some days later, bruises appeared on my legs, first one and then another, and within another day, my entire body was covered in them. A friend, a nurse, saw the deep blue marks and said, "You have Lyme disease! Get to a doctor right away!" How she knew I have no idea -- because they didn't look like the pictures of the bull's-eye rash I'd seen in books.

My doctor ordered blood tests. Indeed, I had Lyme. Soon my doctor was talking with specialists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. I was a rare case. I had all four of the identifying factors: a verified tick bite, flulike symptoms, a positive blood test, and a bruiselike rash, known medically as erythema migrans, or EM. My doctor prescribed four weeks of a powerful antibiotic, doxycycline, and when the symptoms hadn't completely subsided in that time, an additional two weeks.
The antibiotics cleared the rash immediately. The fever was subdued, but not my fear. I Googled "Lyme disease" on my computer. More than a million results came up, and to my dismay, many of them were in remarkable disagreement about almost everything. There were scores of "Lyme disease associations" to consult. Which ones were useful? I had no way to tell. I read dozens of personal stories -- all with the same theme. The treatment was as perplexing as its cause.
I read about Allen C. Steere, M.D., the physician who first gave the disease its name -- and who later received death threats and refused to make public appearances without security guards. I read about doctors who had been hauled before their state medical boards for prescribing long-term antibiotics, risking suspension of their licenses. I was mystified. This was beginning to sound like a John le Carre novel. My journey down the information highway had left me with more questions than ever.

Some of the Web sites I visited, such as lyme-rage.info, appeared to be outlets for fury against the medical establishment and the insurance companies. I could relate to that. My health insurance had expired just two weeks before I was diagnosed. A cancer survivor, I was in the midst of applying to insurance companies when I received the Lyme diagnosis. And so, on the next application, I dutifully reported my past history -- not only with cancer but now with Lyme. That application was denied. The reason stated? Lyme disease. I thought, "How could Lyme" -- which I thought of then as merely an achy, flulike illness -- "be worse than cancer?"

Whenever people heard that I had Lyme, they had stories to tell. That's how I learned about Lauren Lemay.
At her Gilford, New Hampshire, home, she sits on her deck looking out across the gentle view of the distant hills. For six years she has struggled with this sickness. "The day before I got sick, I ran 10 miles, played nine holes of golf, and then I painted the living room. That was my typical day," Lauren recalls.
Lauren, now 58, was an elementary school teacher, a long-distance runner, and a vegetarian for nearly 40 years. Health was her constant companion. "The next day, I was getting ready to go teach, and I just couldn't move," she says. "I was so tired, like nothing I ever remember in my life; I just wanted to sleep. I dragged myself to work, got through the day, and came home and slept and slept. And I was freezing. It was a hot day, and I crawled into a sleeping bag and curled up in a chair, shivering."
That was only the start. With increasing desperation, Lauren consulted 15 or 20 doctors and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn's disease, anorexia, depression, and empty nest syndrome. When she ran out of physicians in her local area, she consulted doctors at Boston's Lahey Clinic and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. When she found no relief there, she continued to seek. She visited a Chinese doctor, a psychic, a Venezuelan shaman, and a woman who conducted business out of a yurt in the middle of the woods in Western Massachusetts. "I was ready to try anything," she says.
She wasted away to 94 pounds and could hardly walk: "I was so scared. I would see it in people's faces; I'd be hanging on to my husband's arm, hanging on to the grocery cart. Me, who was always on a bike or running up a mountain. By that time, there was so much wrong with me, I felt I was dying."
Lauren was tested for Lyme half a dozen times. The results were negative -- but Lyme blood tests are widely known for both false positives and false negatives. In New York, finally, a "Lyme literate" physician, or "LLMD," determined that she had advanced Lyme disease and put her on a doxycycline derivative. "I was on it a year and a half," she says. "The medication made me sick to my stomach, and I had to go off it sometimes. But I'm so much better now. Now I'm off the antibiotic and seeing a Vietnamese practitioner in addition to my doctor in Portsmouth. I'm not all the way there yet, but I'm back to work part-time."
Lauren wasn't the only Lyme patient I met who has wandered helplessly through the narrow, darkened hallways of conventional and alternative medicine, seeking relief from their myriad symptoms. It turned out to be a rather common story, in fact -- one that stretches back in time some 50 years. During my research, I came across a book called The Widening Circle, by Polly Murray. Published in 1996, it tells the story of the early history of Lyme disease.
In 1956, Polly Murray, an artist and housewife in Essex, Connecticut, began to suffer an array of inexplicable health problems. Doctors couldn't find a cause. While she was pregnant with their second child, she and her husband, Gil, moved across the Connecticut River to Lyme, a pastoral place with views of the big river and of Long Island Sound.

A precise person, Polly kept a record of her family's complaints. By 1964, they had four children, all suffering from rashes, fevers, aching and swollen joints, and diarrhea. Visits to the doctor were frequent; relief was rare. In fact, thumbing through the symptoms Polly recorded throughout the 1960s, you might think you were looking at the notes of a severe hypochondriac -- except that her entire family was suffering from these complaints.

Eventually, doctors suggested a complete workup, including a psychiatric evaluation, at New England Medical Center in Boston. After three weeks of tests and observation, Polly came home with sleeping pills and antidepressants. But she continued recording all that was happening to her. And what was happening to her didn't stop.
She discovered that other people in the shore area were experiencing the same ailments. She compared notes with Judith Mensch, who lived in Old Lyme, and in October 1975 they called the state health department to report the plethora of symptoms that were plaguing them, their families, and now their neighbors. Polly asked for an investigation. When she told her doctor what she'd done, he was furious and accused her of "stirring up trouble."

Nevertheless, on November 20, 1975, she was referred to Yale University to consult Allen Steere -- a rheumatologist who had spent his first two years out of medical school working for the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), an arm of the CDC. Steere showed a deep interest in her case and wanted all her notes. She also gave him the names of other people she knew who were suffering as well.
By early in the new year, Steere had recorded 39 children and 12 adults from the Lyme area who were experiencing these symptoms -- all of which he connected to the bite of a tick, and which he collectively called "Lyme arthritis," a term that was later broadened to "Lyme disease."
On a national television news show, Steere explained the epidemic. Irate that their town was now on the map for unwelcome reasons, Lyme residents accosted Polly again and again. Fear spread that the town's real estate values would plummet.
From that small circle grew an epidemic of similar stories -- people with elusive symptoms that could not be conclusively diagnosed. Doctors surmised that they had fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), lupus, and sometimes Parkinson's. Yet this mystifying tick-borne illness was little known outside the growing number of Connecticut and Long Island shoreline communities where it was prevalent.
In April 1979, a dramatic increase in the number of ticks was recorded in Lyme and its environs. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, however, was inexplicably quoted as saying that ticks were "new to the state." They certainly were not new to Polly and her neighbors. By then, they had been plagued by ticks for more than 20 years.

Polly's experience sounded alarmingly like Lauren Lemay's. But I had to remind myself that a half century had passed in the meantime. I shook myself back into the present and drove to New Haven to see a tick specialist.

Kirby C. Stafford III, Ph.D., the Connecticut state entomologist, sits in his office at the Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, more than willing to talk about his favorite subject. A picture of a deer tick (Ixodes scapularis, also known as I. dammini, or the black-legged tick), blown up to almost human proportions, adorns his wall. Under magnification, the creature looks powerful and indestructible, like a prehistoric tank. It is, he tells me with almost paternal glee, "the ideal parasite."

Stafford gestures to his wall of filing cabinets: "Ticks, Lyme disease -- I've been in it 19 years. The Polly Murray thing happened in the mid-'70s. Allen Steere published his first paper in 1977, and the organism itself was discovered in 1982. After that, things proceeded rapidly." He's telling me about the cause of the diease: Borrelia burgdorferi, the corkscrew-shaped bacterium that spirals its way into humans from the mouths of ticks.
The mustachioed Stafford has a calm, precise demeanor, and with pens and eyeglasses case stuffed into his shirt pocket, is the very picture of a dedicated scientist. He continues: "At that time, the only place in the country you could be tested for Lyme was right here. Dr. Louis Magnarelli developed the test."

Even as we talk, researchers in a lab near Stafford's office are opening up envelopes and removing ticks mailed to them for analysis. Some 6,000 ticks arrive here each year. Scientists grind them up and test them for the spirochete bacterium that has bored its way into hundreds of thousands of Americans to date, and even deeper into their consciousness.

Stafford is the author of the Tick Management Handbook, a booklet that is distributed throughout southern Connecticut. (It's also available online at caes.state.ct.us.) In it, he discusses tick biology, tick-borne illnesses (Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, encephalitis, tularemia, Lyme disease), prevention, chemical control, and landscaping methods to reduce the Ixodes population -- in part by managing the numbers of deer, white-footed mice, and chipmunks (all principal hosts of disease-bearing ticks) on one's property.
"It's not going away," he says confidently. He shows me the CDC's incidence map, noting how the disease has spread from those early days in Lyme -- the concentrations now radiating like a dark stain all the way out into the Northeast. Indeed, 49 states in the Union have now reported cases. There are a number of places where Stafford and his researchers have been collecting ticks for many years, including Polly Murray's backyard.

"How does Lyme spread?" I ask.

He shrugs: "Migrating birds. There's no sure way to know. The movement of deer and the way people travel to tick-infested areas with their pets -- all can be factors. But it's widely believed that birds played a role in a lot of this." He shows me the tick's life cycle, which involves at least four critical stages. "It's like a mechanism that needs all the parts to function," he explains.
Having thought of the tick as an indestructible machine, I suddenly think it's a miracle that any tick survives with so many bridges to cross until it reaches the final stage on the back of a moving deer. "What about reducing the number of deer?" I ask.
"We've been wrestling with that for a number of years," Stafford replies. "We've done studies, and we've found that it can help substantially. But people get kind of exercised about hunting deer."

"Imagine virtually eliminating Lyme in five years! I've been living in the epicenter of the Lyme world for four years already. We could be almost done by now."

In her clipped British accent, Georgina Scholl, M.D., is talking about her passion: killing deer to save people. Slender, auburn-haired, dressed in linen, she's the vice chair of the Fairfield County Municipal Deer Management Alliance, a group that provides residents with a "deer hotline" and information on hired hunters. These towns, which suffer the highest incidence of Lyme disease, are trying everything they can to contain this epidemic.

Outside the French doors of her kitchen in Redding, Georgina looks out on a wildflower meadow that slopes gently toward the woods. The turquoise waters of the family's pool ripple in the breeze. This bucolic scene, once their paradise, is now a kind of no-man's-land for her family -- what she calls "no child left outside."
"We moved here to be in the country," she explains. "We built a treehouse for our sons at the edge of the field, and that of course is where the ticks are. And then we found out about Lyme. We had no idea." Georgina is a neurologist; her husband is an immunologist. "The problem is, we've got too many deer," she adds. "Why would anyone tolerate a problem that's destroying the woodlands, causing fatal car accidents, and spreading disease?"

Last summer, Georgina and her husband took a trip to Maine and stayed on Monhegan Island, where there are few ticks. "It was wonderful to be somewhere where they weren't," she notes. But it wasn't always so.
On Monhegan Island, a little rock of a place 10 miles out in the ocean off the coast of Maine, Peter Rand, M.D., and his band of fellow sleuths at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute have spent almost 20 years studying the relationships among deer, rats, and ticks, and how their population levels correlate with the spread of Lyme disease. "Oh, I'd love to write a book about all this," says Rand, a handsome man in his 70s, with a full head of white hair and a patrician bearing. From his office in South Portland, he loves to tell the story, an adventurous tale of trips to the island on the high seas, collecting ticks in the snow, and late-night sessions around a roaring fire, the team talking about the future of their research. "The beauty of the island was that it was contained," Rand explains. A scientist's dream.

For part of that time, most of the 75 full-time residents of Monhegan acted as guinea pigs; the island's little general store became their makeshift clinic. "The people would come down and put their arms on the meat counter, and we'd draw blood," Rand recalls. Dogs and cats were tested, too. He sometimes felt as though he were on the set of M*A*S*H.

His team worked like that for 13 years: "We found that as the years went on, up to 13 percent of the island's residents had Lyme." The local fear was that the presence of the disease would scare away visitors, who provide Monhegan with vital revenue. And so, after furious debate, residents agreed to have all the deer killed. Between 1996 and 1999, more than 100 deer were shot and their carcasses processed (the meat was donated to food banks), effectively removing the most active tick host from that island. And now, six years later, Lyme is rare on Monhegan. Rand's study was a triumph in the annals of Lyme disease prevention.

One comment I heard more than once is that Lyme doesn't kill you -- but you wish it would. In Brunswick, Maine, I visited Rita Losee, a little fireball of a redhead who was once a nurse and a triathlete. Bitten by a tick while hiking the Appalachian Trail, she was diagnosed quickly, but when she'd finished the recommended course of antibiotics, her symptoms returned. "There were three or four times when the pain was so awful, I was within days of killing myself," she remembers. Her doctor changed her diagnosis to chronic fatigue syndrome. At first she believed him -- but then she started researching on her own. "I convinced my doctor to put me back on antibiotics," she says, "and I started to feel better again."

The mysteries of Lyme haunt her: "One of the things that really puzzles me is that so many doctors refuse to know about Lyme. I was in touch with one doctor, and he and his family all had Lyme. I called him up and he said, 'I don't want to talk about this on the phone,' and he invited me over. I felt as if I were in a Kafka novel. I've never felt anything like this, the strange energy that surrounds Lyme. I asked him about it, and he talked about the denial that exists around Lyme. And then he told me that there was a writer for Newsday who started investigating, and he traced the whole thing to a little island off Long Island where the United States has a biological factory, and that this Lyme bug was an escapee."

I knew what Rita meant by the "strange energy" surrounding Lyme. When I visited Georgina Scholl and asked her to explain the controversy, she covered my tape recorder with her hand and whispered, "Please!" And then she said, as if in mediation, "Why do we have to have this disagreement? Let's just get rid of Lyme!" Kirby Stafford and Peter Rand both told me they wouldn't answer questions about the "biopolitical" aspect of Lyme. What did they mean by that? I wondered. What was there about this disease that could not be discussed?
And then I met Marjorie Tietjen, a sweet-natured woman who lives with her husband and son in a house in the woods of Killingworth, Connecticut. Marjorie, who has suffered from Lyme since 1989, calls herself a Lyme activist. I'd read her articles on the Web and was impressed by her wealth of information. She welcomed me to her home. Like almost every other Lyme patient I'd visited, she had stacks of papers and folders piled on the dining room table.
Marjorie had her own story to tell me, but she also had a book she wanted to give me: Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory by Michael Christopher Carroll (HarperCollins, 2004).

Carroll discovered that Plum Island, which sits in eastern Long Island Sound, was set up after World War II with the help of Erich Traub, a German germ warfare expert. During the war, Traub had operated a lab on an island in the Baltic Sea. Islands, it was thought, were ideal for such research, as they're self-limiting. But we know now that that's an illusion. As Carroll points out: "Plum Island lies in the middle of the Atlantic flyway, the bird migration highway that runs between breeding grounds and winter homes from the Caribbean to the Florida coast, up the East Coast to the icy reaches of Greenland. In addition, deer swim back and forth between the island and the mainland."

Compiling information received through the Freedom of Information Act, Carroll details Plum Island's shadowy netherworld: virus outbreaks, biological meltdowns, infected workers, contaminated raw waste flushed into the Sound ... and experimental tick colonies, bred for research on vector-borne diseases.

As the big white ferry New London pushes forward into deep water, steel-gray clouds hide the sky. The trip to Long Island takes about an hour and a half, and midway through our journey, on the port side, Plum Island appears, crowned with a water tower and edged with large, flat-roofed buildings. Off the island's shores, fishing boats and pleasure craft bob. At its tip, a picturesque granite-based lighthouse sits, like a photo on a postcard.

On the map, Plum Island lies like an arrow, one end pointing toward the Connecticut coast and other toward Long Island's North Fork. At the same time that Polly Murray and many others in that area were beginning to experience bizarre symptoms, Plum Island's germ research was up and running. Birds, stopping on Plum Island, often flew next to either Montauk (on the South Fork) or Lyme, where the rich estuaries of the terminus of the Connecticut River lured them. Initially, the highest incidences of the disease were in Lyme and surrounding towns, and at the tip of Long Island.
Lab 257 has been shut down, but other labs on the island perk along. If infected ticks did escape from this island, they've long since done the damage and nothing can stop them now; Borrelia burgdorferi is out and about, doing its job, making people sick.
And as it spreads, physicians and researchers continue to squabble among themselves: Some say that long-term antibiotics are the only way to treat Lyme, while the more conventional among them advocate only short doses of antibiotics -- and believe that if a patient needs a longer protocol, the illness must not be Lyme. Insurance coverage is often denied.

One way to stop an epidemic is to redefine it. Recent guidelines issued by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have narrowed the disease's diagnostic criteria so tightly that it's hard for any chronically ill Lyme patient to fit the profile -- leaving thousands of people robbed of an answer.

And one way to control an outbreak is to determine which doctors can treat it and which ones cannot. According to the Lyme Disease Association, since the early 1990s more than 30 Lyme specialist physicians in 10 states have been brought before state medical boards under charges of overdiagnosing Lyme and overtreating with antibiotics. This, of course, is a chilling development for doctors who want to treat Lyme patients.

Charles Ray Jones, M.D., is a 78-year-old pediatrician whose New Haven practice has embraced 10,000 children with Lyme since 1968. "I didn't know I was treating Lyme patients at the time. There was no such thing," Jones says. In fact, he's not only the world's foremost pediatric chronic Lyme disease specialist, he's virtually the only one.

I've come to see him on a rainy Sunday afternoon, the only day of the week he doesn't see patients. A humble man, Jones lives in an apartment in an unremarkable high-rise. His commute to his office is a flight of stairs.
His patients come from all over the country to his office, just down the street from Yale's School of Medicine. In addition to seeing patients all day long, for the past year he's been driving north on a regular basis to a Hartford hearing room, trundling a wheeled suitcase filled with papers relating to the case against him, which may rob him of his license to practice.

He greets me in the courtly manner of his generation, almost bowing. In placid tones, he explains his life with Lyme. In the 1960s, he was a staff physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. During that time, he and his wife began to look to the Connecticut countryside as a better place to raise their children. In 1968, they moved to Hamden, then a sleepy hamlet beside the Quinnipiac River, and he set up his practice.
"I started seeing children in clusters with what we thought was juvenile rheumatoid arthritis," he says. "This was very rare. But it wasn't really JRA. It didn't fit the whole picture. The clusters were not just in Lyme; they were all around. And there were many of them. Polly [Murray] was instrumental because she demanded they do something about this."

Along with Allen Steere and Eugene Shapiro, M.D., who now sits on the opposite side of the hearing room, Jones worked to solve the puzzle of this peculiar, crippling ailment. "Sure, we were colleagues at first," he notes. "We were all trying to figure it out. You could say we were mired in a lack of understanding." For Jones, this search for knowledge transformed into his specialty. He became an LLMD, Lyme literate by evolution.
"At what point did all this become contentious?" I ask.

"I was never part of that," he says. "I heard things, but I was busy. I just figured that was their problem."

Now it's his problem, too. Jones has been charged with diagnosing two children in Nevada with Lyme disease before examining them, and with prescribing antibiotics for them over the phone. Shapiro, his former colleague, a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at Yale's medical school, not only brought the charges against Jones but also helped write the guidelines that have narrowed the disease's diagnostic and treatment guidelines. The Hartford Courant once quoted Shapiro as saying that he had had calls from physicians in Connecticut "begging me to see their patients so they don't have to see Dr. Jones."

On the day I visit, Jones sits at his desk in a big leather swivel chair. On the desk are neat stacks of patient files. For the hearing, which he calls variously a "conspiracy," a "witch hunt," and an "inquisition," his accusers have subpoenaed many of his charts. "I'm considered the great Satan," he says with a gentle smile, "which always amuses me."

"This is not a malpractice suit," he notes. "If the charges were serious, it would be malpractice." He goes so far as to label the charges "trivial."
In his office suite are five rooms filled with patient files: 10,000 children, all the way back to the beginning. "Seventy-five percent of them are cured," he claims. For his legal defense fund, almost a million dollars has been raised by his patients' parents and, in some cases, by his patients themselves. "This little boy," he says, pointing to a photo of a cherub-faced youngster, "had a lemonade stand this summer, and he raised $33. Another little boy, 6 years old, came in with 21 cents in a paper cup."

Hundreds of parents have crowded the Hartford hearing room in support of this aging doctor, a widower of 12 years, who in any other life would be retired. "A lot of people who dealt in Lyme are no longer doing it," he says. "It's a high-risk trade. But I'm less encumbered."
Opponents debate Jones's figures, maintaining that many of these children don't have Lyme disease. If they succeed in wresting his license from him, the Lyme community will have lost perhaps the only physician left who's willing to treat these children long-term -- some of whom, he says, would end up in institutions without proper treatment.

Clearly, the new diagnostic and treatment guidelines and the reduction in the number of physicians willing to see chronic Lyme patients will have a huge impact on the disease's future -- and the lives of the people suffering its ravages.

I realized in talking with these people that my own Lyme disease is ongoing. At the time I was diagnosed, not only was I so unfamiliar with the disease that I didn't recognize the symptoms, but I was also confused by the massive amount of contradictory information available. And I was scared of what it all might end up costing. I'd already spent $731 out of pocket on tests and treatments. So I've ignored many of the painful problems I've experienced since my visit to that island paradise five years ago. Today my health hangs in the balance of a government and a medical system apparently unwilling not only to care for their constituents and patients but perhaps to take responsibility for an epidemic as well -- a scourge that I am convinced can be traced to a scruffy little island at the eastern end of Long Island Sound.

Ferries loaded with cars and passengers pass it up to 30 times a day. Fishing boats pull catch just off its shores, and the big, bright lens at the top of the old lighthouse sweeps the water, night after night, year after year, warning passing ships away from its rocky edges.

Ticks: Protect Yourself

Ticks: Protect Your Pet

Lyme Disease Treatment Wars

Amy Tan's Journey

Lyme Disease Resources


Related Content: lyme disease

[myst]

Lots of great information being share here.

Deena - Your husband may never have an elevated temp.....as the Lyme infections destroys the immune system and you need a healthy immune system to have fever. Also please research steriods and Lyme......it is a big no no to take take steriods if he has Lyme.

NC Susan - what a great article, pretty much tells the Lyme story without having to do a lot of research or reading a bunch of books. I went to the original article in Yankee Mag. and because it has a FB share I posted the Magazine link on my FB page, hoping lots of people will to read it.

[Burrito]

I was diagnosed with mono back in 95. I don't remember ever getting a sore throat but just super tired. I have never been the same person after that. I couldn't sleep, would wake up DRENCHED in sweat when I did, and have a very foggy mind. I had a really hard time in school after that. I went from straight A's with tones of energy to a zombie. I have no endurance for physical activites. After watching that movie, I am starting to wonder if I have Lyme. I read that you can test possitive for mono when you have Lyme. I have just about given up on life due to how I feel. Should I get tested for Lyme???

ETA: I always feel weak and shaky, get headaches, and have super tight muscles in my shoulders/upper back.

[WisconsinGardener]

I would! I've been researching Lyme since Friday - doing pretty much nothing else. I've learned a lot, but also learned that for some people, left untreated, Lyme can lead to dementia and then death. I'm pretty sure I have it - and pretty sure it's in my brain. My MRI this week showed brain lesions and my EEG was abnormal in a way that seizures are a possibility. The brain fog gets worse and worse. I have pain nearly everywhere now. Anyway, I'm going to add some of the articles that I've been finding to this thread so that they are in one place:

http://www.endowmentmed.org/content/view/603/33/

Lyme Disease Can Kill You

What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Lyme Disease Can Kill You

By CONNIE FREMONT/Star-Gazette Heatlh Writer

AN ALARMING number of medical doctors haven't a clue about Lyme disease and arrogantly refuse to believe their patients have it even when symptoms are clear.

In surveying patients from every American state and also England, Germany, Sweden and Finland, herb expert and medical writer Mars Carre found that physicians consistently refused to test for Lyme - or even consider it as a cause of sickness - if patients couldn't recall having a bull's eye rash surrounding a tick bite.

But the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta makes it clear: Only three out of 10 people who are infected with Lyme get a bull's eye rash.

And even when they do get it, it can occur anywhere on the body, not just in a circle around the bite.

To make matters worse, doctors who haven't kept up with treatments for Lyme are making what appear to be dangerous decisions regarding the use of anti-biotics.

Carre spoke to dozens of seriously ill men and women who said their doctors had told them they had "a little bit of Lyme" - which is an impossibility, you've either got a bacterial infection or you don't - and treated them with a brief, two-week course of antibiotics in a very low dosage.

New studies available for review at multiple National Instititutes for Health Web sites clearly suggest three-week courses of anti-biotics at a minimum, and often four-week courses.

Inadequate or incomplete treatment with anti-biotics is dangerous, creating "super bugs" that are resistant to treatment and incurable by any means.

Large survey reveals Top 5 herbs against Lyme

AN IMPRESSIVE survey of 1,200 Lyme patients proves it beyond the shadow of a doubt: Samento Extract is the No. 1 herb in use for Lyme disease, with eight out of 10 people reporting "significantly positive results" with the product.

Rounding out the Top 5 herbs in common and reportedly successful use against Lyme, in order of popularity, are:

* The anti-microbial herb Cumanda.

* Milk Thistle Extract for liver and kidney function and detoxification.

* Japanese Knotweed-Andrographis Paniculata "complex" formulas containing L-Arginine as an anti-bacterial and for energy improvement, Eleuthero for energy and adrenal support, Wormwood and St. John's Wort for mood and brain function and as an anti-viral. These often contain Milk Thistle Exract, also known as Silymarin.

* Evening Primrose Oil standardized extract.

The survey conducted by the Florida-based herb expert and Star-Gazette Lyme Support Group leader Mars Carre indicated that seven out of 10 people who are treating Lyme with herbs either use anti-biotics at the same time or have used them previously without getting well.

Because there is no test for Lyme that is universally recognized as being accurate, neither patients nor doctors can say that any Lyme patient is ever cured.

Patients can hope, however, to become symptom-free.

And Carre's survey indicates that people who treat the illness aggressively for three weeks to nine months do return to normal.

[WisconsinGardener]

Useful books:

Insights Into Lyme Disease Treatment: 13 Lyme-Literate Health Care Practitioners Share Their Healing Strategies [Paperback]



Healing Lyme: Natural Healing And Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis And Its Coinfections [Paperback]



Checklists for Bartonella, Babesia and Lyme Disease [Paperback]

[WisconsinGardener]

This is one of the foremost "Lyme Literate" doctors in the country: http://www.klinghardtacademy.com/Lyme-Disease/

I wish there was a simple explanation to his protocol. I haven't finished clicking around his site. Here is one link:

Biological treatment of Lyme disease: The Klinghardt Protocol

You'll need to visit the page for all the charts and pictures!

Biological treatment of Lyme disease: The Klinghardt Protocol(based on over 900 successful treatment cases)
The treatment of Lyme disease requires 4 distinctive steps:
1. Decreasing toxic body burden/unloading the system
2. Improving disturbed physiology
3.Decreasing microbial count
4. Immunemodulation1.

Decreasing toxic body burden/unloading the system
Sleep
• Low EMF (turn off all fuses, sleep sanctuary, turquoise
light/photon wave to increase melatonin and non-rem Delta sleep)
• Non-toxic/allergenic bedding material (cave: flame
retardants/PBDEs)
• Avoid light/noise pollution at night


Toxin elimination
• Remove intestinal biofilm: 1 tsp clay followed by 1 tbsp fiber laxative for 6 weeks, prior to doing anything else
• Address genetic glitches (methylation, sulfation, acetylation)
• Mercury and metal detox (ORS, sound cracked chlorella, nanonized chlorella and cilantro, EDTA chelation)
• Solvent and carbon based detox: glycine, laser-or homeopathy aided detox
• Colonics and lymphatic drainage, rhythmic cranial and liver compression
• Dry skin brushing and warm/cold showers
• Swedish sauna and Toxaway ionic foot bath


Detect and resolve interference fields:
• Scars
• jaw infections and devitalized teeth
• Chronic localized infections (tonsils, appendix, sinuses, etc)
• dysfunctional autonomic ganglia (superior cervical, sphenopalatine, pelvic ganglia, etc.)

Remove “allergenic triggers” from environment
• Food allergies
• Volatile organic compounds from carpets, furniture and paints
• new car smell (phthalates)
• Newspaper and office printing ink
• Work/profession related compounds

Removing psychological toxins
• 20 minute writing exercise to overcome past trauma
• Family constellation work to resolve trans-generational issues
• Applied Psycho-Neurobiology to resolve conflicts and severe trauma
• Regular time spend in healthy nature
• Regular massage
• Qi Gong, Tai Chi or Meditation

Removing structural blockages
• Optimize the dental occlusion to restore cranial lymphatic pump
• Craniosacral therapy to improve fluid dynamics in CNS
• Visceral manipulation to improve organ function

2. Improving disturbed physiology(vitality, detox, immune responses, tissue repair)
Biochemistry
• Assessment via lab work or ART –correct what is missing and what is too much (hormones, minerals and electrolytes, glutathione, sulfur, etc.)
• Genetic testing: find minimal bypass nutrition to correct for SNPs or gene deletions/mutations
• Diet: gluten and casein free diet, Specific carbohydrate diet,Metabolic typing, blood group diet or ART based diet
• Common deficiencies in Lyme: magnesium: has to be given transdermal or via injection. Oral Mag feeds spirochetes
Copper, zinc and iron are spent by macrophages and appear in oxidized form in hair and serum, giving the wrong appearance of excess


Neurophysiology
• Give the brain healthy rhythms: KMT technology
• Listen to Lyme entrainment CDs
• Spend time in nature
• Avoid disturbing EMF (cordless phones, cell phones, wireless technology, home near airport (radar), computer

Exercise
• Stretching
• weight lifting
• Movement (dance, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, etc.)
• aerobic exercise –avoid post exercise fatigue and pain

3. Decreasing the pathogen count
Treatment of Lyme with ozonated plant oils (rizols). Rizols have
strong and specific anti-microbial properties, no known adverse long
term effects, are relatively inexpensive and are pleasant to take.
They have been used successfully since 1905

1: treat parasites, mold and anaerobes
Rizol Gamma (effective dose: 20 drops tid)
2: treat both RNA (Borna, etc.) and DNA (HHV-6, EBV, etc.) viruses: Rizol Zeta (20 drops tid)
3: when on full dose of Gamma and Zeta, treat Babesia:
acidified sodium chlorite (“MMS”): 15 drops 1 hour apart, 2 days in a row, once weekly for 4 –8 weeks
4: after 2 months on full treatment: stop or reduce Rizol Gamma and treat Bartonella: Rizol My (20 drops tid)
5: after 2 months reduce dose of rizols Zeta and My to 10 drops tid and treat spirochetes: add Rizol Epsilon and Jota, 10 drops tid each
Always follow rizol with adsorbent (biosorption): chlorella (20 tbl), chitosan (1-2 caps), zeolite (1 tsp) or charcoal (2 caps)

Note from WisconsinGardener: Please go to link for the rest, as it didn't translate well with my copy and paste


Contact
Dietrich Klinghardt MD,PhD
Office: 425 823 8818
Academy: 425 462 8414
www.klinghardt.org
www.klinghardtacademy.com

[WisconsinGardener]

http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james26.htm

CURING LYME DISEASE WITH SAMENTO

By Dr. James Howenstine, MD.
April 17, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

Lyme Disease was initially regarded as an uncommon illness caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb). The disease transmission was thought to be solely by the bite from a tick infected with this spirochete. The Bb spirochete is able to burrow into tendons, muscle cells, ligaments, and directly into organs. A classic bulls-eye rash is often visible in the early stage of the illness. Later in the illness the disease can afflict the heart, nervous system, joints and other organs. It is now realized that the disease can mimic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Bell’s Palsy, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, neuritis, psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, chronic fatigue, heart failure, angina, irregular heart rhythms, fibromyalgia, dermatitis, autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma and lupus, eye inflammatory reactions, sudden deafness, SIDS, ADD and hyperactivity, chronic pain and many other conditions.

Dr. Paul Fink, past president of the American Psychiatric Association, has acknowledged that Lyme Disease can mimic every psychiatric disorder in the Diagnostic Symptoms Manual IV. This includes attention deficit disorder (ADD), antisocial personality, panic attacks, anorexia nervosa, autism and Ausperger’s syndrome etc. It might be prudent in any person suddenly found to have psychiatric symptoms to obtain a Q-RIBb blood test to exclude Lyme Disease.

Biology professor, Lida Mattman, author of Cell Wall Deficient Forms: Stealth Pathogens, has been able to recover live spirochetes of Bb from mosquitos, fleas, mites, semen, urine, blood, and spinal fluid. A factor contributing to making Bb so dangerous is that it can survive and spread without having a cell wall (cell wall deficient CWD). Many valuable antibiotics kill bacteria by breaking down the cell wall. These antibiotics often prove ineffective against Bb.

Lyme Disease is now thought to be the fastest growing infectious disease in the world. There are believed to be at least 200,000 new cases each year in the U.S. and some experts think that as many as one in every 15 Americans is currently infected (20 million persons). Dr. Robert Rowen knows a family where the mother’s infection spread to 5 of her 6 children[1] all of whom recovered with appropriate therapy. It is difficult to believe that these children were all bitten by ticks and seems more plausible that person to person spread within the family caused this problem. Bacteriologist, Dr. Lida Mattman, states “I’m convinced Lyme disease is transmissable from person to person”. In 1995 Dr. Mattman obtained positive cultures for Bb from 43 of 47 persons with chronic illness. Only 1 of 23 control patients had a positive Bb culture. Dr. Mattman has subsequently recovered Bb spirochetes from 8 out of 8 cases of Parkinson’s Disease, 41 cases of multiple sclerosis, 21 cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and all tested cases of Alzheimer’s Disease. The complete recovery of several patients with terminal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after appropriate therapy shows the great importance of establishing the diagnosis of Lyme Disease.

Some very important information has recently become available about the spread and magnitude of the problem with Lyme Disease. The severity of the Lyme illness is related to the spirochete load in the patient. Few spirochetes produce mild or asymptomatic infection. A study from Switzerland in 1998 pointed out that only 12.5 % of patients testing positive for Bb had developed symptoms. A German boy developed Lyme arthritis 5 years after his tick bite. Often mycoplasmal infections remain without symptoms until the victim suffers a traumatic event (stress, injury, accident etc.) These stressing events enable the mycoplasma to begin consumption of cholesterol and symptoms may begin to present. The mechanism of this deterioration is thought to be suppression of the immune system secondary to stress.

Many patients with LD have concomitant infections with other parasites (Ehrlichia in white blood cells and Babesia in red blood cells) Some patients have all 3 parasites. Each requires a different therapy with Babesia being particularly difficult to eradicate. Recently, Artemisinin appears effective in Babesia infections. All co-infections must be eliminated .to obtain a successful result.

Dr. Joanne Whitaker relates that nearly every patient with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). has tested positive for Bb. Dr. Louis Romero reports that 3 patients with PD are 99 % better after TAO-free cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa) therapy. When Dr. Mattman cultured 25 patients with fibromyalgia all subjects had positive cultures for the CWD Bb. which causes LD. She relates that Bb can be found in tears and could thus easily appear on the hands where touching could spread LD. Several families are now documented where nearly every family member is infected. How sick the individual patient becomes probably relates to their initial spirochete dose, immune system, detoxification capability and stress levels.

Transmission of the disease has been clearly documented after bites by fleas, mites mosquitoes and ticks. There is compelling evidence that Lyme disease (LD) can be spread by sexual and congenital transfer. One physician has cared for 5000 children with LD. 240 of these children were born with the disease. Dr. Charles Ray Jones, the leading pediatric specialist on Lyme Disease, has found 12 breast fed children who have developed LD. Miscarriage, premature births, stillborn, birth defects, and transplacental infection of the fetus have all been reported. Studies at the Univ. of Vienna have found Bb in urine and breast milk of LD mothers.

Researchers at the Univ. of Wisconsin have reported that dairy cattle can be infected with Bb hence milk could be contaminated. Bb can also be transmitted to lab animals by oral intake such as food.

The Sacramento, California blood bank beleives that LD can be spread by blood transfusions. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta, Georgia states that their data indicates that Bb can survive without detection by the blood processing techniques used for transfusions in the U.S.

Lyme Disease is the fastest growing epidemic in the world. LD is grossly underreported so there may be far more than the 200,000 cases reported annually in the U.S. Dr.Harvey and Salvato estimate that 1 billion persons in the world may be infected with LD. LD is thought to be a contributing factor in 50 % of patients who have chronic illness.

Dr. Joanne Whitaker, a Lyme disease victim from childhood, has developed a reliable test for the presence of Lyme disease. This test looks for the Bb organism, not antibodies, and is able to identify the cell wall deficient (CWD) form of the spirochete as well as the actual Bb organism. The test is called Q-RIBb which stands for quantitative rapid identification of Bb. Dr. Lida Mattman has confirmed that Dr. Whitaker’s test is sensitive because there has been a 100 % correlation between a postive culture of Bb by Dr. Mattman’s lab and a postive Q-RIBb test from Dr. Whitaker’s Laboratory.

Case Reports Illustrating The Critical Importance Of Establishing The Diagnosis Of Lyme Disease

Case 1 Larry Powers, a former Mr. America in 1962, became ill with the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease in 1990. Sinemet therapy was taken for eight years but he gradually became worse. He became confined to a wheel chair and required help with eating. After learning that Lyme Disease might be causing his symptoms of PD he started taking TAO free cat’s claw (Uncaria tormentosa). Within three weeks he was out of his wheelchair and fishing for 100 pound tarpon.

Case 2 Tom Coffey at age 34 developed diplopia, severe hypertension uncontrolled by drugs, and impaired balance. A diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was made. Surgery was performed to correct the diplopia. By June 2001 he was unable to swallow saliva and feeding tube nutrition was begun. His weight had fallen by 100 pounds. Nutritional support from the tube feedings produced slow resolution of the swallowing problem. Consultation with a Lyme expert uncovered the history of a bulls-eye rash after a tick bite. Therapy with Rocephin led to complete recovery.

Case 3 A young male college student developed such severe cognitive difficulties he was forced to drop out of school. A RIBb test was positive for LD and he resumed a normal life after receiving 4 months of antibiotic therapy...

What Causes Neurone Death In Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ALS?

One of the most insidious mimics for Lyme disease is ALS. The neurotoxins released by the Bb organism are capable of causing neurologic dysfunction in the central nervous system that produces symptoms typical of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The pathological hallmark of ALS is motor neurone degeneration and death.

Research performed by Dr. Harold Clark and Dr.Garth Nicholson and coordinated by Donald W. Scott[2] has resulted in a breakthrough in our understanding of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Mycoplasma were discovered in 1898. These are living particles of bacterial nucleic acid which do not have a cell wall. In 1971 Rottem et al[3] learned that most species of mycoplasma were absolutely dependent for their growth on the consumption of pre-formed sterols including cholesterol obtained from animal and human host cells. These mycoplasma live harmlessly in host cells until they are stimulated to activity by a stressing traumatic event (bullet wound, bad fall, injury from accident etc.). The growth of the mycoplasma consumes the cell’s cholesterol resulting in death of the affected cell. Mycoplasma have been identified in ALS using high resolution blood morphology. In the November 9, 2001 issue of Science Dr. Daniel Mauch[4] et al revealed that the glial cells surrounding the motor neurone supply the extra cholesterol needed to repair and replace aging synapses. If the repair does not properly occur the motor neurone cells proceed to die from overwork Glial cells are also heavily involved in gathering, processing and storing glutamate. Elevations in glutamate have been found in brain tissue in ALS.

A mycoplasma species, probably fermentans, which was harmlessly sequestered in a glial cell becomes aroused by some traumatic stressful event. This mycoplasma then consumes the glial cholesterol which makes up 40 % of the glial cell membrane causing rupture and death of the glial cell. The death of these glial cells releases large amounts of glutamate which becomes elevated in brain tissue. Within the neurone some of the excess glutamate accesses a urea molecule. The urea molecule gives up an ammonia ion which converts a glutamate molecule into less dangerous glutamine. This leaves the former urea molecule as a cyanate ion which damages the motor neurone’s mitochondria. One of the consequences of the damaged mitochondria is a decrease in the energy output available to the neurone. This produces the severe weakness and fatigue seen in patients with ALS. If the mitochondrial injury is severe the neurone dies. The death of motor neurones stops message delivery to muscle cells leading to atrophy of muscle tissue a universal finding in ALS.

This avid consumption of cholesterol may also contribute to the endocrine dysfunction seen in ALS because it decreases the amount of cholesterol available to produce estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, hydrocortisone, and aldosterone. Patients with ALS, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome often have hypothalamic dysfunction which may result in adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, and gonadal failure.

Lyme Disease frequently exhibits neurologic abnormalities because the Bb neurotoxins are drawn to the fatty tissue found in the brain and peripheral nerves. As a consequence sudden deafness, Bells palsy, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, peripheral neuritis, chronic pain, and a multitude of other neurologic disorders may appear.

The Influence of Toxins from Bb On The Symptoms and Course of Lyme Disease

Autopsy examinations of young persons (30s) dying from what appeared to be Parkinson’s disease PD have frequently failed to confirm the basal ganglion damage that would be expected in the classic PD seen in the elderly. Some patients with illnesses of many years duration misdiagnosed as Amyotrphic Lateral Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis, and Parkinson’s Disease have made incredible recoveries within periods as short as 24 to 72 hours when placed on TOA-free uncaria tormentosa (cat’s claw) for LD.. This rapid response could not rationally be attributed to improved immune function or bacteriocidal effects on spirochetes. Bb is known to produce a group of neurotoxins. The most sensible explanation for this recovery lies in turning off or blocking the neurotoxic effects of Bb on the lipid containing structures that the Bb neurotoxins are attracted to (central nervous system, peripheral nerves, muscles, joints etc.). This sudden improvement appears to be the result of blockage and inhibition of the neurotoxins[5]. The most important example of a “Biotoxin Illness” appears to be Lyme Disease[6]. Patients with symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease at a young age caused by neurotoxins would not be expected to show permanent structural destruction in the basal ganglia. These neurotoxins probably act at specific sites such as neurotransmitters-pre- and- post synaptic membranes, altering dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and acetylcholine molecules, thereby blocking surface membrane receptors of various kinds which would interfere with the proper action of enzymes, coenzymes and hormones. This is only one of the damaging mechanisms of action of the neurotoxins.

The TOA free form of cat’s claw (Samento) may have three direct beneficial effects in humans with LD:

Immune modulation (correcting immune dysfunction)
Direct broad spectrum anti-microbial effect on spirochetes. Quinovic acid glycosides found in TAO-free cat’s claw are similar to the quinilones widely used as antibiotics.
Blocking the adverse neurotoxic effects on cells, enzymes, and hormones

Whether the serious lack of energy and fatigue seen in LD are similar to the cyanate[7] induced damage to the mitochondria’s ability to produce energy in the motor neurone found in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or is due to failure of proper calcium channel function is not clear.

Favorable Therapeutic Results With TAO-Free Cat’s Claw In Lyme Disease

A pilot study treated 28 patients with Advanced Chronic Lyme Disease with TOA-free Uncaria tomentosa (cat’s claw). Conventional cat’s claw contains TOA alkaloids that interfere with the desired immune modulation. The 14 person control group was given antibiotic therapy. At the study’s termination 85 % of those receiving the cat’s claw preparation no longer had positive blood tests for Bb. All 28 persons had experienced a dramatic improvement in their clinical condition. No significant changes were seen in the control group.

Currently it is believed that nearly all adults are infected with stealth organisms (Borrelia burgdorfi, yeast, fungi, mycoplasma, anerobic bacteria,) and have picked up toxic metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminum, fluoride, aluminum etc.) both of which lead to detrimental effects on health. Samento may be of great value in eliminating some of these infectious (certainly Bb) and has also proven very effective in cancer therapy.

The Prima Una de Gato can be obtained from Allergy Research Group 800-545-9960, Nutramedix (product name Samento Plus) 561-745-2917, Farmacopia at 800-896-1484. and from Natural Health Team 800-416-2806. Dr. Whitaker’s lab can be reached by Internet at www.bowen.org or by calling 727-937-9077 to arrange blood Bb testing. Improving nutrition, detoxifying and improving mental health all contribute to good results in treating Lyme Disease. Removal of mercury amalgams and treatment of heavy metals may be needed.

There is convincing evidence that the Lyme Disease epidemic may have originated from the bio-warfare laboratory in Plum Island off the coast of Lyme, Connecticut. This, however, would require a lengthy discussion not relevant to this article.

Much of this information about LD was obtained from Lyme disease: Nutraceutical Breakthrough Using TOA-Free Cat’s Claw published in Focus by Allergy Research Group (October 2003) and from the November and December 2003 issues of Dr. Robert Rowen’s Second Opinion.

Footnotes:

1. Rowen Robert If you have ANY chronic debilitating disease, you could be the victom of a Monster Epidemic! Second Opinion Vol X111 No. 11 November 2003
2. Scott, D.W.,Crusador P.O. Box 618205, Orlando, Fl. 32861-8205 October-November 2002 pg.26-32 Also see Scott, D.W. and Scott, W.L.C. Amyotrophic LateralSclerosis: The Probable Cause; A possible Cure 233 Government St., Suite 6 E, Victoria, B.C. Canada V*T 4P4 TOLL FREE 1-888-232-4444 ISBN 1-55395-214-6
3. Rottem, Pfend, Hayflick Sterol Requirements Of T-strain Mycoplasmas Journal Of Bacteriology 1971
4. Daniel Daniel H., Nagler, Goritz, Muller, Otto, Pfrieger. CNS Synaaptogenesis Promoted By Glia-Derived Cholesterol. Science Nov. 9, 2001
5. Romero, Louis M.D. Ph.D Neurotoxins Focus Allergy Research Group Newsletter pg. 10 Oct. 2003
6. Shoemaker, C. M.D., Hudnall, Kenneth, Ph.D.Focus ,Allergy Research Group Newsletter pg. 10 Oct 2003
7. Scott, Donald W. Lou Gehrig’s Disease is Not a Mystery Anymore Crusader pg. 31 Oct-November 2002

© 2005 Dr. James Howenstine - All Rights Reserved

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Dr. James A. Howenstine is a board certified specialist in internal medicine who spent 34 years caring for office and hospital patients. After 4 years of personal study he became convinced that natural products are safer, more effective, and less expensive than pharmaceutical drugs. This research led to the publication of his book A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work. Information about these products and his book can be obtained from amazon.com and at www.naturalhealthteam.com and phone 1-800-416-2806 U.S. Dr. Howenstine can be reached by mail at Dr. James Howenstine, C/O Remarsa USA SB 37, P.O. Box 25292, Miami, Fl. 33102-5292.

E-Mail: jimhow@racsa.co.cr


There is convincing evidence that the Lyme Disease epidemic may have originated from the bio-warfare laboratory in Plum Island off the coast of Lyme, Connecticut.

[WisconsinGardener]

And here's the story of someone who read the previous article and claims she was cured of chronic Lyme. She goes into detail about exactly what she did:

http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1249668

[WisconsinGardener]

http://restormedicine.com/natural-ly...ase-treatment/

Natural Treatment for Lyme Disease: are antibiotics really necessary?

I am asked frequently whether it is possible to recover from Lyme disease without the use of antibiotics. It’s a great question, but unfortunately not one for which I have a definitive answer. Rather, my answer is “sometimes”. I wish I could tell people that of course they can treat their Lyme disease 100% naturally and have great outcomes every time, but that is just not realistic.

I definitely have patients who I work with without the use of antibiotics, where herbal antimicrobials and immune support, coupled with dietary changes and other supportive nutritional supplements have recovered them to the point where they are back out in their lives, either completely symptom free or at 90-95% of their normal (pre-Lyme) level of functioning. I love these cases as they really reinforce the power of natural medicine, and show us that God has instilled healing properties in the plants He has given us.

More often than not, when patients opt for all-natural treatment, I select a variety of modalities to cover as many bases as possible. An example is to combine the immune-supportive properties of transfer factors (both general and Lyme-specific), with herbal antimicrobials (teasel, cats claw, olive leaf, etc), with Lyme-specific homeopathic remedies, and as I said, base all of that on a solid foundation of good nutrition. We want to address the infection from several directions at once to maximize the impact and our success. Supporting detoxification and digestive support are important here.

If we need to step it up another notch, then I start considering other therapies such as hyperbaric oxygen (HBOT). HBOT is a great way to improve oxygen flow to the cells, accelerating the cellular healing and regeneration. It also has antimicrobial action as the bugs do not survive well in that high saturation of oxygen. It helps regenerate neurological function, and sweeps the body of other microbes such as viruses and mycoplasma. I love HBOT, and I wish it wasn’t so time and money intensive so that more patients could access it.

If HBOT is not an option, another approach is to engage some kind of Rife or frequency based therapy. This is not something I can specifically offer or prescribe, however patients seek out information through other Lyme sufferers and internet forums, and can make their own decisions about the different machines that are available.

Then, alas, there are cases where quite simply antibiotics are necessary. I wish it wasn’t so, but it is. Some people just can’t get sufficient recovery without these medications, and antibiotics offer relief that other more natural therapies can’t give. I honestly think that the majority of Lyme patients require antibiotic treatment somewhere along the way in their treatment path. Of course, I always vote for naturopathic support in conjunction with the meds, and nutrition is equally if not even more important here. But the bottom line is that in many cases, the medications are a necessary part of treatment.

There are a number of factors that determine whether a patient might respond well only to natural treatments. Duration of illness is one as well as severity of symptoms. Obviously a more recent case that hasn’t gone as “deep” into the body will likely respond better. Also, I have had better success treating naturally in cases where there is less neurological involvement. Arthritic-type Lyme seems to respond better to herbs and nutrient therapy, in part I believe because there are several great natural remedies for calming inflammation, which causes a lot of the pain, and minerals such as magnesium can offset a lot of muscle aching, cramping and twitching.

So can Lyme disease be treated naturally? Sometimes. My general philosophy is to start out with natural agents, building up to meds if the patient is not responding adequately. At least then we’ve laid a solid foundation of support and started doing some bug-killing before the medications come along, and have set up detox pathways to function better and handle medications and die-off better. In medicine this is called the “therapeutic order” – start with the least invasive therapy and work up in strength and invasiveness as needed.

Another important part of this puzzle is making sure other issues are being adequately addressed such as hormone imbalance, heavy metal toxicity, thyroid issues and food intolerances. Sometimes if Lyme symptoms are not resolving there is a tendency to get more and more aggressive with medications, adding new ones and increasing doses, when the problem may not be coming from the Lyme disease at all, and may be helped with something completely different such as gluten avoidance or chelation therapy.

Of course, Lyme disease is complicated. There is no answer that is right for everyone, and the thing that might be right for an individual today may not be right for them six months from now. A lot of the answers come from listening carefully to what the body is saying, and not being afraid to make adjustments along the way as needed. Whether natural treatments or antibiotics are used, a multi-system, multi-factorial approach is the key to recovery from Lyme disease. We need to treat the person, not the disease.

Copyright © RestorMedicine

[WisconsinGardener]

I have no idea of the effectiveness of any of these things. Just recording in one place what I'm finding.

http://www.toolsforhealing.com/index...tid=45:azindex

(This one sells the products mentioned at the link)

Lyme Disease Protocol Program Instructions

Note: Take tinctures in Royal Tea or warm water. Make and drink the Tea per its recommended instructions to help eliminate the die-off and as a general support "tonic" for the body.

Day 1

1 DROP Teasel Root Tincture
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
1 DROP Carnivora Extract

Day 2

1 DROP Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 1 DROP in afternoon
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
1 DROP Carnivora Extract in morning; 1 DROP in afternoon

Day 3

1 DROP Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 1 DROP in afternoon; 1 DROP in evening
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
1 DROP Carnivora Extract in morning; 1 DROP in afternoon; 1 DROP in evening

Day 4

2 DROPS Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 1 DROP in afternoon; 1 DROP in evening
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
2 DROPS Carnivora Extract in morning; 1 DROP in afternoon; 1 DROP in evening

Day 5

2 DROPS Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 2 DROPS in afternoon; 1 DROP in evening
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
2 DROPS Carnivora Extract in morning; 2 DROPS in afternoon; 1 DROP in evening

Day 6

2 DROPS Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 2 DROPS in afternoon; 2 DROPS in evening
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
2 DROPS Carnivora Extract in morning; 2 DROPS in afternoon; 2 DROPS in evening

Day 7

3 DROPS Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 2 DROPS in afternoon; 2 DROPS in evening
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
3 DROPS Carnivora Extract in morning; 2 DROPS in afternoon; 2 DROPS in evening

Day 8

3 DROPS Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 3 DROPS in afternoon; 2 DROPS in evening
1/4 tsp Cat's Claw Tincture
3 DROPS Carnivora Extract in morning; 3 DROPS in afternoon; 2 DROPS in evening

Day 9

3 DROPS Teasel Root Tincture in morning; 3 DROPS in afternoon; 3 DROPS in evening
1/4 tsp Catss Claw Tincture
3 DROPS Carnivora Extract in morning; 3 DROPS in afternoon; 3 DROPS in evening

Continue with the Day 9 dosage for 6�-12 weeks or until desired result is achieved.

If the above dosage does not seem to be strong enough, you may increase the Teasel Root Tincture to 15 drops 3 times a day. Do not go over 15 drops, three times per day.

If needed, Cat's Claw Tincture can be increased to 1/4 tsp 3X daily; Carnivora Extract may be increased or Carnivora Capsules added (see sheet on Carnivora for suggested dosages).
"DIE-OFF" OF ABNORMAL CELLS . HERXHEIMER REACTIONS

If lethargy, minor nausea or stomach upset occurs, simply abstain for ONE day. Reduce the dosage to . and gradually increase to the recommended dosage until "normal" tolerance is achieved. If necessary, start with only the Teasel Root Tincture and then gradually add the Cat's Claw Tincture & Carnivora Extract. These symptoms ARE NOT SIDE EFFECTS AS WOULD BE CONSTRUED WITH THE USE OF PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS. They are normal occurrences on the pathway to healing, and should subside over time.
NOTE:

This program may be continued as long as the individual elects.
Carnivora Extract is to be refrigerated upon opening.
Follow these instructions for the products you have purchased. Disregard instructions for products you did not purchase.

Disclaimer: This information has not been evaluated by the FDA. The information contained here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Under current legislation, The Wolfe Clinic is not permitted to make claims in support of health benefits derived from natural foods. This means we cannot make specific statements as to how food-based, non-drug, natural products may help to prevent or treat disease. Taking natural products should be a decision based on personal research and on the understanding of the role that food and food-derived supplements play in health and well being. Additionally, such natural products should be used only with the advice and support of a qualified natural health professional. Any information presented herein or information received via telephone or email, should not be construed as the practice of medicine.
Teasel Root TinctureTeasel Root Tincture

Teasel Root can be very effective against chronic Lyme Disease and other autoimmune disorders. Teasel Root drives the spirochetes from the joints into the blood stream. It is very effective to take while taking alternative bacteria killers. The Teasel pushes the bacteria out of their hiding place while the alternative bacterial killers do their job. Teasel is to be taken long term in low doses for total saturation. Spirochete's can go dormant for long periods of time and then become active again. By slowly saturating the body with Teasel, it stays in the system to kill the Lyme when it becomes active.
Suggested Dosage

Lyme Disease:

Day one: 1 DROP of teasel root tincture in warm water or tea
Day two: 1 DROP 2X
Day three: 1 DROP 3X
Day four: 2 DROPS, then 1 DROP, then 1 DROP
Day five: 2 DROPS, then 2 DROPS, then 1 DROP
Day six: 2 DROPS 3X
Day seven: 3 DROPS, then 2 DROPS, then 2 DROPS
Day eight: 3 DROPS, then 3 DROPS, then 2 DROPS
Day nine: 3 DROPS 3X
Continue the 9 drops per day for 6-12 weeks.

PLEASE NOTE: If the above dosage does not seem to be strong enough (whether by your weight or severity of the disease) you may increase to 15 drops 3 times per day. Do not go over 15 drops, three times per day.
Other Conditions:

15-20 drops 3X daily
Servings

1 fl oz = 1000-1300 drops
1 Bottle = approx 3 1/2 - 4 months (based on 1000 drops in bottle); approx 5 months (based on 1300 drops in bottle)
Ingredients

Tincture of Dipsacus fullonum (Teasel - USA wild-crafted fresh root), made with grain neutral spirits and distilled water. Less than 40% Grain Alcohol by volume.
Description

Originates from a family of Old World herbs found mostly in the Mediterranean and Balkan areas but can range from India and to South Africa
Species of Dipsacus and Scabiosa have become widely naturalized in America. Scabiosa was formerly used as a remedy for scabies.

Applications

Lyme Disease
Fibromyalgia
MSEpstein Barr
ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
Joint & muscle pain
Autoimmune diseases
Other chronic conditions

Contraindications/Warnings/Cautions

Sensitive individuals may have to increase their dosages more gradually
Herxheimer (detox) reactions when taking too much too soon (cells "die-off" too quickly)
Can be taken with prescription antibiotics

Supporting Supplements

Cat's Claw Tincture
Carnivora
Royal Tea
Lymphomyosot Drops
Royal Oil of Oregano . Super Strength (natural antibiotic support)
intraMAX (whole body support)

NOTES

Use of Teasel Root has not been evaluated by the FDA and no claims are being made to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.


Cat's Claw Tincture

Cats Claw TinctureCat's Claw is supportive to the immunity, the intestinal tract, and the joints. It is also an adaptogenic stress herb (helps the body to adjust to and handle stress).

It is also known as: Gambir Plant; Gambirplant; Garabato; Gou-teng; Gouteng; Krallendorn; Samento; Una-de-Gato.
Suggested Dosage

1/4 tsp in water 1X - 3X daily
Servings

4 oz Bottle
1/4 tsp 1X daily = 96 days
1/4 tsp 2X daily = 48 days
1/4 tsp 3X daily = 32 days

Ingredients

Cat's Claw Bark, Vegetable Glycerine, Distilled Water, approx 5% Organic Grain Alcohol
Description

Cat's Claw seems to have the ability to break through severe intestinal disorders that no other available products can touch. Its amazing healing ability and benefit to the immune system appears to have so many therapeutic applications that it far surpasses such well-known herbs as golden seal, Echinacea, pau d'arco, maitake, shitake, and reishi mushrooms, Siberian Ginseng, astragalus, and other natural products such as caprylic acid, citrus seed extract, and shark cartilage.
Applications

Cat's Claw may be beneficial for the following:

Cancer
Immune System
Arthritis/Bursitis/Rheumatism/Joints
Herpes
Intestinal Disorders
Diabetes
Lupus
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Fibromyalgia
Menstrual Irregularities/PMS
HIV Virus
Toxicity/Systematic Candidiasis
Strokes/Heart Disease/Blood Clots
Side Effects of Radiation/Chemotherapy
Organic Depression
Environmental Toxic Poisoning
Alzheimer's
Asthma/Lungs

Contraindications/Warnings/Cautions

Pregnant/nursing women should consult with their physician before taking.
Supporting Supplements

Teasel Root Tincture
Carnivora
Lymphomyosot Drops
intraMAX (whole body support)

NOTES

Use of Cat's Claw Tincture has not evaluated by the FDA and no claims are being made to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Carnivora

CarnivoraCarnivoraCarnivora in capsules modulate the immune system. That means it will stimulate your white blood cells to do what they are supposed to do. The liquid extract will do more. Research suggests that it can strip off proteins from abnormal or infected cells (not normal cells) paving the way to attack the core energy level (ATP level) of the abnormal cell, which stimulates them to commit cell suicide (apoptosis). Carnivora can give results similar to an expensive IV oxidation therapy. (Venus flytrap has the ability to digest protein (insects) without harming itself and without a digestive system.) To order these products, please call 1-888-257-4273. For more information email cnhp@toolsforhealing.com
Suggested Dosage

General Immune Support: 1-3 caps 3x daily Mon-Sat (6 days week)
Early, Intermediate, Advanced Autoimmune Diseases: See Immune System Protocol Programs I & II
Maintenance dosage is 1 cap 3x daily Mon-Sat (6 days week)
Pet dosage at 1/3 to . of that for people depending upon pet's weight
Children over 20 lbs should do . dosages; under 20 lbs 1/3 dosages. If yeast is an issue, each week is performed 2X at 1/2 dosage.

Servings

Capsules: 100 Veggie Caps
Extract: 30 ml = 1 oz = approx 1000�-1300 drops
Extract and Capsules each generally lasts 4-6 weeks depending upon usage and dosage

Ingredients

100% Pure - Phytonutrient Extract & Capsule of Dionaea Muscipula, the particular species of the venus flytrap plant
17 multi-faceted immune-supporting compounds found naturally in the plant
Not diluted with water
Free of alcohol, glycerin, propylene glycol, other toxic fillers
Contains non-toxic silica and cellulose powder

Description

Sold worldwide for over 25 years
Nature's Nutritional Powerhouse
Multi-faceted immune system optimization
Powerful antioxidant support
Non-toxic
Promotes & supports resistance to harmful invaders
Selectively responds to abnormal cells only. No harm to normal cells.
Manufactured in GMP facility; process employs superior European technology
Widest spectrum antimicrobial
One of the most versatile botanical substances

Applications

Cancer support
Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Lyme Disease
Hepatitis C
Crohn's Disease
AIDS
Ulcerative Colitis (inflammatory bowel conditions)
Giardia/Parasites
Herpes
Eczema/Psoriasis
Autoimmune Disorders
Immune System Optimization for Most Chronic Infectious Diseases & Disorders

Contraindications/Warnings/Cautions

NO side effects have been found
NO known Adverse Event Reports (AER) have been filed
NO known contraindications with prescription drugs
People taking blood thinner medications should consult with their physician for dosage adjustments while taking Carnivora
Pregnant and nursing women should avoid taking Carnivora
Herxheimer (detox) reactions when taking too much too soon (cells "die-off" too quickly)

Supporting Supplements

DMSO Drops
Lymphomyosot Drops
Cat's Claw
Teasel Root
intraMAX (whole body support)

NOTES:

If sensitive to even a low dosage, high toxicity in body. May need to do a pre-cleansing program.
A healthy diet works best . juicing is recommended.
Sensitive or light-weight people, do only extracts without capsules if doing Program II
Some Stage 4 cancer may not respond if the immune system is totally destroyed.
For "early" immune conditions, capsules are recommended. For "intermediate or advanced" immune conditions, extract is recommended. Can do both extract and capsules.
Use of Carnivora has not been evaluated by the FDA and no claims are being made to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.


ROYAL TEA

Royal TeaRoyal Tea, also known as Miracle Tea, is an all-natural tea considered the ultimate intestinal cleansing and cell rejuvenation product. It is the most effective, safe, and
gentle product for all ages, including children, for daily use to ensure intestinal wellbeing and general overall health while helping to reverse the aging process.

Royal Tea is a safe, natural, powerful means of promoting the healthy elimination of potentially harmful toxins and waste from the body while opening the pathway to
superior assimilation of important nutrients. It promotes the health and longevity of many organs, systems, glands and processes related to your digestive system.
Suggested Dosage

Recommended Instructions:

Two Royal Tea bags will make one gallon and will last approximately one week for one person.

Bring a gallon of good filtered water to a full boil.
Turn off the stove and add two Royal Tea bags (three bags for extra strength) into the boiling water.
Cover and let STEEP for eight hours . this will bring the herbs to full potency.
Refrigerate and leave tea bags in container till finished.
Drink: (You may reheat the tea but do not bring to a boil)
One 8 oz. glass in the morning
Two 4 oz. glasses in the afternoon
One 8 oz. glass in the evening
Alternatively, individuals with a hectic schedule may drink three 8 oz. glasses of the tea (morning, noon and evening).

In cases with chronic diarrhea, Crohn's disease, colitis and other inflammatory bowel conditions, boil 2 quarts of water and add 1 tea bag. Start by drinking 1 oz of tea, diluted in a glass of water, twice a day. This will provide a gentle cleanse without over-exciting the intestines. After 3�]4 days, if no negative symptoms appear, slowly and gradually increase the dosage by one ounce, twice a day, every 4 to 5 days. With these conditions, detoxification should be done slowly and passively so that tissue cleansing can occur and tissue inflammation is reduced.
For children:

75 pounds and greater 1/2 give . the dose (increase/decrease dosage as needed)
Under 75 pounds . give 1/3 the dose (increase/decrease dosage as needed)

Servings

1-Month Supply (12 bags)
4-Month Supply (48 bags)

Recommended amounts may be adjusted up or down based on the individual's needs. Royal Tea can be made stronger or weaker than the recommended instructions depending upon the individual's needs.
Ingredients

Holy (Blessed) Thistle
Persimmon Leaves
Malva Leaves
Marshmallow Leaves

Holy (Blessed) Thistle

Holy (Blessed) Thistle has been used medicinally for over 2000 years, most commonly for the treatment of liver problems. It is believed to have great power in the purification and circulation of the blood and is also used for stomach and digestive problems, gas in the intestines, constipation, gallbladder disorders, lack of appetite, and on the skin for treating infected wounds or ulcers. In herbal medicine today, it is used to treat cancer as well as infections, heart & liver ailments, and fevers.



Persimmon Leaves

Persimmon Leaves are a good source of important antioxidants, such as Vitamin a & C and flavonoids. Persimmon Leaf is an allergy or itching preventive food . no need for antihistamines again. Studies have also shown that Persimmon Leaf improves energy and suppresses body weight gain in animals that were fed high-fat diets.

Malva Leaf

Malva Leaf was valued as a medicine in ancient days. It was used to suppress and soothe inflammation and as an emollient. As an herbal mixture, it is commonly used for its colon cleansing properties and as a weight loss supplement.

Marshmallow Leaf

Marshmallow Leaf has been traditionally used to soothe and support the intestines. It contains mucilage which coats the linings of the mouth, throat, and stomach to reliever irritation. It also has mild antibacterial, anti-allergy and immuneboosting properties.
Description

Good intestinal health is important and should be preserved and maintained daily. This is the only product that achieves this safely and effectively.

The use of Royal Tea has many additional benefits. It improves overall digestion, strengthens the immune system, reduces mucus congestion, makes the skin more emollient and flexible, clears the eyes and provides an overall "tonic" effect on the body. It aids in cleansing and detoxifying the blood, kidneys, liver and lymphatic system. In addition, Royal Tea helps to eliminate parasites, bad bacteria, viruses and fungus, on a daily basis, by releasing heavy metals and increasing the Ph of the body. Royal Tea is a safe and gentle cleanser that also helps reverse the aging process. Many individuals also experience weight-loss with this product.
Applications

While Royal Tea is a safe, natural, and powerful means of cleansing and detoxifying the blood, kidneys, liver, and lymphatics, it has many additional benefits:

Helps to eliminate parasites, bad bacteria, viruses and fungus on a daily basis
Helps in releasing heavy metals
Aids the pH balance of the body
Improves overall digestion
Strengthens the immune system
Reduces mucus congestion
Makes the skin more emollient and flexible
Clears the eyes
Provides an overall "tonic" effect on the body
Helps reverse the aging process

Contraindications/Warnings/Cautions

Symptoms of "detox" reactions may occur. You may feel worse before feeling better . this is part of the healing process. Simply reduce the amount for a few days, then gradually increase the daily dosage. Do Not stop drinking the Tea.
Non-habit forming. No "bowel dependency." Safe to drink constantly for months or years.
Pregnant or nursing women, elderly and very young with existing medical conditions should consult with their personal physician before using the Tea or any herbal supplement.

NOTE: Even though there have been no reports of adverse interactions with prescription medications in over 20 years of Royal Tea being used in health clinics, the following warning is intended as a precaution: To avoid inhibiting the absorption and thus the effectiveness of prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications, avoid taking prescription drugs within 2 hours before or after you drink your Tea. Take any birth control pills at least 4 hours before or after drinking the Tea. This does NOT apply to natural vitamin and mineral supplements or to natural herbal remedies, just to man-made drugs and medicines which the body will see as a "foreign" substance and try to eliminate.
Supporting Supplements

Royal Flora SBOs
Other Royal Family Products

NOTES

Royal Tea should be steeped in water which is HOT - close to the boiling point, but do not subject it to very high heat.
DO NOT MICROWAVE the tea, the water, or the tea mixture. Excessive heat will destroy the important enzymes in the tea.
When heating the water, remove it from the heat after the water comes to a rolling boil. Then let it set for a few minutes to stop the boiling, and then add your tea bags.
After brewing your Tea, store it in the refrigerator and leave the tea bags in the mixture until you have finished drinking it all. Then you can dry them out and use the herbs in preparing other foods.

Remember, DO NOT MICROWAVE Royal Tea or the water! Microwaves can destroy the natural enzymes and render some important ingredients ineffective. If you wish to drink your Tea warm or hot, you can heat it in a saucepan or tea kettle - but do NOT heat the mixture to a rapid boil, for high temperatures can destroy enzymes.

Your Tea will keep for up to a month or more in the refrigerator. Keep it tightly capped and avoid drinking right from the bottle, which could introduce bacteria to the mixture. Some of the Tea ingredients have antibacterial and antifungal properties, but avoiding contamination helps make your Tea last longer.

[Deena in GA]

Burrito, you should definitely get checked for Lyme, but my advice would be to first find a doctor, hopefully near you, who has at the least treated other Lyme patients. Our experience, and that of many, many others, is that you are wasting your time going to other doctors, because they typically don't think Lyme, especially chronic Lyme, exists. If you've had it this long, you have chronic Lyme. Check the various Lyme boards for recommendations for doctors. I'm pretty sure I left a link for one in one of my previous posts.

Myst, thanks for the reminder that steroids and Lyme don't mix. Unfortunately, in hubby's case, the steroids are all that keep him from being completely bedridden - and hurting the whole time he's in bed. He had been decreasing the steroids, trying to get off them completely because of the problems with them and Lyme, but the pain came back more and more and once he got down to 10 mg a day and stayed there for a few weeks, the pain became incapacitating and he had to go back up to 15 mg. Even with that, the pain is horrible. If we could just get him to the point of being able to move without horrible pain, he would drop the steroids in a heartbeat. He hates taking them!

WG, thanks so much for adding all the links and articles to the thread! Those will be invaluable to others starting the look at Lyme. And NC Susan, that was a great article - we can certainly identify with the feeling of wandering in the wilderness trying to find help.

[WisconsinGardener]

Something to look into: Sea Salt to cure Lyme. Some people swear it did more for them in a day than a month of antibiotics. Other people say it's dangerous. David Brownstein, the iodine book guy also wrote a book called "Salt your way to health." In it, he makes the case that table salt is dangerous but unrefined sea salt is not.

Anyway, rather than post something potentially misleading, do a google search on it and make your own decision. The basic premise is that you take a teaspoon of salt in water 3 times a day or so - along with lots and lots of regular water plus vitamin C, bananas, etc. to balance the potassium. Supposedly, the salt is a natural antibiotic. Here is one link with both pro and con: http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/lym...ltvit-c-thread

[myst]

WG, just read the story on curezone, that was quite a protocol that person used. While she did take Samento 2 tabs 4 times a day, she also took other anti-infectives such as Colloidal silver and Oil of Oregano.

What stood out to me that she took Himalayan Salt 3 tps in spring water 7 times a day....did she mean 3 tsp of salt that would be 21 tsp of Salt. and vit C 4000
That sounds to me that she was doing the Salt/C protocol and I am not really familiar as I haven't done the Salt/C protocol but that is an awful lot of Salt....the Salt/vit C protocol only recommends working up very slowly to max of 1 tsp 3 times day.along with an equal amt of vit c. For anyone interested there is a group on Yahoo called lymestrategies, the members are doing the protocol and instructions are on the site.

[WisconsinGardener]

They're doing the Salt/C protocol? I read one article - which I haven't found again, yet - that said that the Salt/C was very good at killing some of the associated pathogens but not the bacteria itself.

I'm not going to copy/paste the following because I'm not sure it would come out with the links. However, this is something from Health Centers of America called Lyme Disease Table of Contents with TONS of links:

http://www.healthcentersofamerica.co...ion.cfm?id=132

[WisconsinGardener]

http://www.publichealthalert.org/Art...ments_fail.htm

The 18 Reasons Lyme Treatments Fail:
Tick-Borne Infection Medicine for the New Millennium

by Dr. James Schaller, M.D.

My average patient has been to 10-50 physicians before me. Many sincere, hard working health care experts are falling very far behind new Lyme information. I have become very concerned with the quality of "average" Lyme literate care, and I am particularly frustrated by three things:

1) Ten years of Lyme treatment is not acceptable. It is a paradigm that should be trashed. It shows massive defects in knowledge and practice. "Cure" treatments often merely lower body loads or may make someone feel better without killing many infectious agents.

For example, a pseudo cure that wastes money and time is the use of hyperbaric oxygen for tick infection treatment (HBOT). To put my money where my mouth is I recently conducted, and funded, a soon to be published study examining the effects of this treatment tool on Lyme, Babesia, Ehrlichia and Bartonella. After 120 treatments at 2.4 atmospheres for 90 minutes each, all participants still had clear and obvious positive findings for all four infections. It failed completely! So advertising that HBOT "kills" Lyme disease is nonsense. I have talked to Dr. Fife in detail and carefully evaluated and posted the HBOT research done by the late Dr. Robert Lombard. So while I love this treatment for many medical problems, it is not a tick infection cure.

2) I have published two Babesia textbooks, an Artemisia derivatives text, a two-volume color textbook on Bartonella (the last one is from 1998), and two practical mold toxin books that make infections harder to treat. These are just a sample of the publications I have written on various TBD topics. Why do infectious disease physicians rarely order these progressive medical books while 99% are ordered by patients?
Further, I have repeatedly posted new information based on our research or based on the study of 1500 plus articles, and it was ignored. For example, our blind research study of Babesia Mepron dosing found that 750 mg/teaspoon twice per day, for any duration of time, will virtually always fail and lead to a Babesia relapse. Few physicians have listened to this new research even when firmly reported.

No Lyme literate pope exists in the world. The information known in 2006 is already partly out of date. By definition, a Lyme literate physician must be very aggressive to stay current--the stakes are too high. Yet heavy scrutiny from medical boards inhibits their ability to do so.
This current practice will never allow these heroes to study and read as much as they prefer, when they have to explain to unlearned prosecution lawyers and surgeons on the medical board, why a Babesia or Bartonella co-infection can cause death.

3) I have been asked by a number of physicians to share various new findings. Most ask because they are ill themselves. I have asked them to stop treating themselves, and to do an hour consultation with very extensive labs. Almost all have refused. What they could have learned by fixing themselves would have translated into help for their patients; instead they chose to remain ill, and in turn have left their patients without any chance at full cure.
The age of the ten-year "patient" is over. It should never be tolerated again. Traditional and alternative medicine Lyme specialists need to catch up with emerging new 2010 medicine-now!

Reason One

The current treatment dosing for Babesia is flawed. If Babesia is present, Lyme cure is impossible. 750 mg/teaspoon twice a day of Mepron is not a Babesia cure, nor is the use of artesunate (Zhang Artemisiae) from Heprapro.com, at one dose three times a day -- it fails even after a full year of daily use! This had not been previously tested for Babesia. We have found obvious Babesia after extended artesunate use -- at malaria killing doses.

The flaw in all Babesia treatment is the assumption that one can simply plug in effective malaria dosing as Babesia dosing. This is a serious error. Malaria kills humans fast and has many obvious and extreme blood patterns. Babesia is much harder to see in blood, even with digitally enlarged red blood cells, and while it can cause 200 medical problems, it does not die easily -- it is much harder to fully remove than malaria.

Reason Two

The current testing for Babesia is markedly flawed. Some DNA or PCR tests sent to a respected East Coast lab are covered by insurance but require 10 negatives to be considered negative. Some labs are only good at tissue PCR testing. But if you need to do 10 urine or blood samples to show a positive, this is simply silly and unreasonable.
Some patients with immune suppressing Bartonella will not show any lab signs of Babesia when they have Babesia. Why?

1) Some infections like Bartonella turn off the production of antibodies. Therefore, antibodies to Babesia microti or Babesia duncani will probably not be positive in some infected patients. The complete removal of Bartonella can result in explosive increases in IgG and IgM for Lyme disease, Babesia, Ehrlichia and Bartonella antibodies in some patients.

2) Some patients have very few Babesia protozoa parasites, but they cause serious trouble in the body. Their small numbers are missed in a visual FISH exam or a PCR test.

Lots more at link.

[rolenrock]

Every embedded tick I find means I find a prescription of antibiotics, just in case. I'm doing just that right now after pulling one off last week. I hate the little buggers.

[LightEcho]

Our family doctor and friend (?) thinks that documentary is rubbish. His wife said the main doctor was discredited. I saw the documentary and thought it well reasoned and informative. My doctor is (may I say it) a moron. I am disgusted with the pharma- talk he uses as if he knows everything. I have found most doctors to be worthless money eaters. When I asked for a course of antibiotics after a tick was removed, he said he would only prescribe ONE pill prophylactically, since he THOUGHT the bug was not in there more than 24 hours. I should have told him that I would only pay his bill with one dollar prophylactically since I was only in his office for 1 hour. A doctor who is a friend and neighbor- and this is how he takes care of me? Hmmm.... when he wants food, he will be paying me doctor rates. (they are not preppers)

[Deena in GA]

LightEcho, your friend? IS a moron. You nailed that! Actually our family doctor also claimed a tick has to be on you for 24 hours before they can transmit Lyme. However, there are so many Lyme patients who never even saw a tick on them, that that can't be true. In fact, the doctor of a girl a know who has had Lyme for years told her that they can bite and then fall right off. He believes that is what the one that bit her did, since they never saw one.

I just met a lady last night who has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis who has many of the same symptoms my husband has. She struggled for ten years before finding a place that actually helped her. It a fibromyalgia clinic in the Atlanta area. They thought she had Lyme to begin with (and I'm not sure that she doesn't), but her test was negative, so they've been treating her for the other. They do IV treatments of vitamins and minerals. She said after the first treatment she felt much better. Something to check out...

Oh, and LightEcho, if your friend was referring to Dr Jencek in the movie as the "discredited" doctor, he has a thriving practice in Washington DC. I know a family who go to him there. There is a two month wait to get in to see him.

[LightEcho]

LightEcho, your friend? IS a moron. You nailed that! Actually our family doctor also claimed a tick has to be on you for 24 hours before they can transmit Lyme. However, there are so many Lyme patients who never even saw a tick on them, that that can't be true. In fact, the doctor of a girl a know who has had Lyme for years told her that they can bite and then fall right off. He believes that is what the one that bit her did, since they never saw one.

I just met a lady last night who has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis who has many of the same symptoms my husband has. She struggled for ten years before finding a place that actually helped her. It a fibromyalgia clinic in the Atlanta area. They thought she had Lyme to begin with (and I'm not sure that she doesn't), but her test was negative, so they've been treating her for the other. They do IV treatments of vitamins and minerals. She said after the first treatment she felt much better. Something to check out...

Oh, and LightEcho, if your friend was referring to Dr Jencek in the movie as the "discredited" doctor, he has a thriving practice in Washington DC. I know a family who go to him there. There is a two month wait to get in to see him.

This "friend" is a christian.... thinks he knows everything.... and generally means well. He is owned by the pharmas.

The "discredited" doctor is-
Dr. Charles Ray Jones: Hero of the chronic lyme community, he is also the target of a medical licensure hearing. "it's a high-risk trade ... I'm considered the great satan."

What I saw of this guy, forced into retirement by the drug companies and doctors who are worthless... is that he is one of the few willing to see reality.

[Cheval]

An alternative MD D.O. that was here that I knew was giving A LOT of IVs to lyme patients and the IVs were saving their lives and doing much good for them.

imho a lot of ticks just sneak on the host person and aren't noticed, even if they check for them. Mine was on me almost an entire day despite being large and EASILY seen on my chest. I slept overnight with it, took a shower and dried myself and just happened to notice this large, black dot in the mirror by accident. That thing crawled up my body totally unnoticed and it still has me scratching my head. I can feel a tiny ant crawling up my leg but not a large tick??

These 'discredited' doctors remind me of "Patch Adams" ....

[WisconsinGardener]

Well, just got my test results from the ELISA test (the one that notoriously unreliable), and it was negative for Lyme. I had prayed hard for God to make the results trustworthy, so I'm going on the assumption that my problem is not Lyme. I have white matter lesions and focal cerebral dysfunction and maybe those are causing my brain fog.

[psychgirl]

Thank Goodness it's not Lyme. My sister, who lives in Georgia, told me a story. Two years ago a grade school teacher where my nephew goes to school contracted Lyme disease. She got so bad that she had to quit her job and is now alomst completely deaf. My youngest nephew cried his eyes out to learn that his fav teacher was leaving! anyway, maybe she got a huge dose or something but she went through/is going through misery for sure. I have no idea how she is now, but I'm glad to hear you don't have that!

[Deena in GA]

I pray you don't have it, WG. Unfortunately though, a negative test does not mean a person doesn't have Lyme, especially when the test done is an ELISA.

Cheval, wish we had a doc around here that would do that.

[NC Susan]

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2011...1086?sac=Local

Mon Jan 17, 2011 Mystery illness upends lives of soldier, family


Staff photo by James Robinson

Chris Harriss, a chief warrant officer 2 at Fort Bragg, works with his physical therapist, Becky Bliss, on climbing stairs.


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Staff photo by James Robinson
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Chris Harriss, a chief warrant officer 2 at Fort Bragg, descends the stairs while his wife, Karin, sits on the couch at the couple's home near Spring Lake.


By Greg Barnes
Staff writer
The disease began to present itself about two years ago.
A little memory loss, a slight hand twitch. Karin Harriss barely noticed the changes in her husband, Chris, a chief warrant officer 2 at Fort Bragg.
Karin put a basket beside the door leading to the garage so Chris could easily remember where he placed his car keys. That was the only concession, way back when, to the disease that would soon steal her husband's Army career and his ability to do tasks as simple as walk up stairs.
After visits to about 20 different doctors, Chris still isn't sure what is robbing him of his memory, his speech and his mobility.
Karin said doctors initially told her he suffers from conversion disorder, a physical condition caused by a stressful event. Then came a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, followed by Lyme disease, and, in October, the scariest diagnosis of all - Fahr's syndrome.
Fahr's is a rare disorder characterized by abnormal calcium deposits in different regions of the brain that control movement. Symptoms of the disorder may include deterioration of motor function, dementia, seizures, headache, speech problems, stiff limbs, spastic paralysis and eye impairments.
At age 35, Chris Harriss already suffers from many of those symptoms.
"It's like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and ALS all at the same time," his wife said.
The prognosis is equally terrifying. There is no known cure or standard course of treatment for Fahr's syndrome, a degenerative disease.
But the Harrisses - and some of their doctors - refuse to give up hope, clinging to the belief that a bite from a tiny tick led to Lyme disease and all of this misery. If so, it could be treatable.
Before the beginning of 2010, life hadn't looked better for the Harriss family.
Karin said she was cruising through Fayetteville State University with a 4.0 grade-point average, an art student needing just four credits to graduate.
Their son, 10-year-old Camden, was thriving at a Montessori school after transferring from the Fort Bragg school system.
Chris, who is assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, had never been busier as a planner in the group's move this year to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
And then, everything went to hell.
Chris' slight hand twitch became a tremor. His right leg refused to fully bend. His memory rapidly deteriorated.
In mid-January, Karin said, she became alarmed by her husband's condition and took him to the Clark Health Clinic on Fort Bragg. Karin said the doctor could tell something was wrong - Chris wasn't nearly as strong as he should have been for a man his size. The doctor ordered X-rays and blood work and sent the Harrisses on their way.
Two weeks after that visit, Karin said, she began to see signs of dementia and other changes in her husband.
"It was so disturbing to me," she said. "I knew that he needed to go to the doctor, and he needed to go now."
On Valentine's Day, a day reserved for romance, Karin found herself taking Chris to the emergency room at Womack Army Medical Center. Her normally docile husband had become confused and argumentative, she said.
Chris left the hospital with a diagnosis of what doctors said appeared to be early onset of Parkinson's disease, the same disorder that afflicts actor Michael J. Fox.
According to hospital records, doctors prescribed three types of medications, which Karin believes further altered her husband's mental state.
In April, sitting by the pond at their home outside Spring Lake, Karin said she confronted her husband.
"You know," she said she told Chris. "Sometimes you look at me like you don't even know me. He said, 'Yeah, you know, it's like I just met you two weeks ago.' "
By early May, Karin said, Chris had fouled up at his job, an infraction grievous enough to lead to an Article 15, the Army's form of nonjudicial punishment. The Harrisses would not disclose the reasons for the punishment.
Lt. Col. Tom Bryant, a spokesman for U.S. Army Special Operations Command, said the Article 15 has since been withdrawn because of the factors involving Chris' medical condition. Bryant declined to comment further, citing privacy laws. The Harrisses said no one notified them that the Article 15 had been rescinded.
On May 5, records show, Chris was admitted to Womack, where he underwent an MRI and a spinal tap. The records show that doctors concluded he suffers from Lyme's disease and an altered mental state.
That 16-day hospital stay was followed by visits to private physicians, whom, Karin said, also concluded that her husband suffered from Lyme disease.
She said a catheter was implanted into Chris to dispense powerful antibiotics that, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, usually lead to recovery within a month if the Lyme disease is treated early. A second four-week dose may be needed for more severe cases, according to the CDC.
Karin said the antibiotics appeared to be helping her husband.
"His head cleared up, he was smiling, he was really, really clear ... but he was really weak," she said.
Despite his progress, Karin said, doctors at Womack decided against giving her husband a second dose of antibiotics. Instead, they referred Chris to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
According to Carolina Lyme, an organization specializing in the education of the disease, insurance companies will not cover treatment longer than 30 days without substantial documentation and proven illness.
In October, documents show, doctors at Walter Reed did another spinal tap and gave Chris a different diagnosis: early onset of dementia caused by Fahr's syndrome. The doctors said any treatment for Lyme disease should stop immediately, records from Walter Reed show.
After that diagnosis, Karin said, six counselors followed the Harrisses into a room to make sure they were able to cope with such a dreadful diagnosis.
"Our life was so good," Karin said. "His job was good. There wasn't many more years and he was going to retire.
"You think you had done the right thing, to finally get there, and then just ... "
About six years ago, Don Warpoole began building the Harrisses' home, a tidy two-story sitting on an acre and backing up to a pond and woods outside of Spring Lake in Harnett County. Warpoole and Chris Harriss became good friends.
Warpoole described Chris as outgoing, a man who was always working in his yard or going to the beach with his family.
"He was just one of those guys who had no stress, always in a good mood, just joking and kidding," Warpoole said. "Then one day I get a phone call and he's just, like, gone off the deep end."
Warpoole said that when he tried to visit, Chris refused to open the door. When he finally did answer several visits later, Warpoole said, Chris didn't recognize him.
"He was just real disoriented and lost," Warpoole said.
He said he didn't give up on his friend. Gradually, Warpoole said, Chris began to recognize him with each visit, and the two began to carry on good conversations.
"But you can tell he is really going downhill, from what I know of him," Warpoole said.
Karin said Chris used to be well liked by everyone, especially people he worked with at Fort Bragg. Now, she said, few people come around.
"It's like he's contagious," she said. "Nobody talks to us. Nobody calls."
Karin said there is little of Chris' former life as a soldier to cling to, other than the uniforms that hang in his closet.
"I go there a lot and hold onto his clothing, wanting that man to return," she said.
Earlier this month, Chris resumed his physical therapy sessions at Activcare on Robeson Street in Fayetteville. His therapist, Becky Bliss, sat Chris down on a bench and had him place tennis balls into a basket. Chris' hand shook so badly that the balls routinely missed their mark.
Afterward, Bliss had Chris get down on all fours and then lift one arm off the ground. Chris struggled, then tumbled, before he learned to do the exercise.
Chris, a man who once won a weightlifting trophy, also struggled to pull on two elastic cords, his arms shaking uncontrollably at the effort.
When Sean Rooney walked into the room, Karin asked her husband to identify him. Chris smiled.
"That's Pete,'' he said.
Rooney is a member of 9Line, an advocacy group for wounded Special Forces soldiers. He has been working with the Harrisses for months.
Chris' long-term memory is much better. He can recall meeting his wife in Italy and marrying her 12 years ago. She wore jeans to the wedding, he said, smiling at the memory. Other memories also remain vivid.
But he cannot walk up stairs one at a time and has fallen often. His speech is slow, and he struggles to solve even rudimentary mental tasks.
Fort Bragg has transitioned Chris into its Wounded Warrior Battalion. He and Karin hope that the Army's medical review board will discharge him on a medical retirement with full honors and benefits.
As part of that process, Karin said, Chris saw a new doctor at Womack on Jan. 6. The next day, the Harrisses received a memo from the National Institutes of Health, thanking them for their interest in the institute's Undiagnosed Diseases Program.
On Friday, Karin said, a team of doctors at Womack said Chris suffers from a disease of unknown origin. She said the team wants to enroll him in the Undiagnosed Diseases Program as soon as possible.
Karin remains skeptical.
"We have been doing this for too long," she said. "If that program takes too long to get in, he's either going to die from this or he's going to be permanently disabled."
There is no guarantee that Chris will get in. The program is extremely selective - only 50 to 100 patients from across the country are seen annually. Evaluation for entry typically takes six to eight weeks, but Karin said the doctors are trying to accelerate the process because Chris' condition is worsening.
"Today at physical therapy he really struggled, and it brought me to tears to see it," Karin wrote in an e-mail the day she received the referral letter. "My husband is seriously deteriorating and it is happening quick! One year ago he was working, running, driving, and planning 7th Special Forces Group's move to Eglin AFB. And now he can get lost a mile from home, has extreme fatigue, and severe memory loss.
"This is my best friend, my husband, and the father of our child. He has been willing to die for his country and serve without question and loyalty."
These days, Chris Harriss' only fight is to restore his health, and his dignity.
Staff writer Greg Barnes can be reached at barnesg@fayobserver.com or 486-3525.

[NC Susan]

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2011...64679?sac=Home


Sun Jan 23, 2011 Afflicted soldier to seek radical treatment for Lyme Disease

• RELATED:Mystery illness upends lives of soldier, family
  

By Greg Barnes
Staff writer
A Fort Bragg soldier whose health is rapidly failing intends to see a controversial Lyme disease specialist in Washington.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Chris Harriss will visit Dr. Joe Jemsek on Monday in hopes of beginning treatment for chronic Lyme disease, Harriss' wife, Karin, said Friday.
Jemsek's North Carolina medical license was suspended in 2006 after the state Medical Board charged him with inappropriately diagnosing and treating patients with Lyme disease. One of Jemsek's patients died after prolonged treatment.
Jemsek has re-established his practice in Washington and continues to treat Lyme disease patients with antibiotics for far longer than national guidelines recommend.
Jemsek's lawyer, Susan Green, said Jemsek has been treating patients with "incredible success."
"It saddens me deeply to see this man miscast," Green said. "There is just a ton of people who will tell you this man has saved their lives. I have seen it over and over again."
Chris and Karin Harriss say they are aware of the controversy surrounding Jemsek's treatment, but they are out of options. Chris Harriss' health has declined so much in recent months that his limbs shake, he has trouble walking and he forgets people shortly after meeting them.
"No one's trying anything," Chris Harriss said, his speech slow and somewhat slurred. "I don't care if I go to him or any doctor. But try something."
The Harrisses were featured in a Fayetteville Observer story Monday, prompting scores of responses from people offering advice or saying they suffer from similar health problems.
Chris Harriss has seen numerous doctors, who have said he suffers from everything from Parkinson's disease, to Lyme disease, to conversion disorder, to Fahr's syndrome, a disease characterized by calcium deposits in regions of the brain that control memory.
Karin Harriss said a new doctor at Womack Army Medical Center who examined her husband this month believes he has Lyme disease and has referred him to Jemsek. Tricare - the military's health insurer - has agreed to cover medical expenses, she said.
Early last year, Karin Harriss said, her husband tested positive for the tick-borne bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
Afterward, he was treated with antibiotics intravenously for a month. She said the treatment appeared to be helping, but doctors at Womack stopped the treatment because of the national guidelines.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says Lyme disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics over the course of up to four weeks if the treatment is administered early. A second four-week dose may be needed for patients who suffer recurrent symptoms, according to the CDC and the National Institutes of Health.
Instead of a second dose, Womack referred Chris Harriss to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he received the diagnosis of Fahr's syndrome. Doctors at Walter Reed said any treatment for Lyme disease should stop immediately.
Now, the Harrisses find themselves caught in the middle of a national debate over whether long-term antibiotic treatment is beneficial and whether such a condition as chronic Lyme disease even exists.
Dr. Phillip J. Baker, executive director of The American Lyme Disease Foundation in Lyme, Conn., sides with the CDC, the National Institutes of Health and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
In an article in The American Journal of Medicine, Baker concludes that there is no direct evidence that chronic Lyme is caused by a persistent infection. Treating a patient for six months or more - as some doctors recommend - "can do great harm and has resulted in a least one death," Baker wrote.
An article in 2001 in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that a study involving 125 people thought to have chronic Lyme disease found no significant benefits after half of the patients were treated with antibiotics intravenously for 30 days and orally for another 60 days. The others in the study received a placebo.
But a small contingent of doctors are convinced that long-term antibiotic treatment, combined with other measures, are essential to cure - or at least diminish the symptoms - of chronic Lyme disease. Those doctors include Jemsek, Daniel Cameron and Joseph J. Burrascano Jr.
Cameron, a member of the Lyme Project, disputes the study that says long-term use of antibiotics has no substantial benefit. He said the study used only a few patients, and many of those had suffered for years from chronic Lyme disease. The patients were not given other essential medicines in combination with the antibiotics, and their treatment may have been cut off too early, he said.
Cameron said he has seen hundreds of Lyme patients in his 24 years of treating the disease. Of the most difficult cases, he said, 70 percent to 80 percent improved under his care.
Controversial treatment
Jemsek's lawyer, Green, said the doctor declined an interview with The Observer at this time because of negative publicity in the past.
In 2006, the N.C. Medical Board charged Jemsek with inappropriately diagnosing and treating 10 patients with Lyme disease. Jemsek was operating an HIV/AIDs clinic in Hunterville at the time.
The board said evidence failed to support Jemsek's diagnosis that the 10 patients suffered from Lyme disease. It also found that patients were not adequately told that Jemsek's method of diagnosing Lyme was not based on objective evidence and departed from recognized standards. In addition, the board found that the patients were not adequately told that his long-term treatment departed from the four-week standard.
The board suspended Jemsek's medical license for a year but allowed him to continue his practice, providing he agreed to "protect patients from unsubstantiated diagnosis and treatment."
Afterward, Blue Cross-Blue Shield of North Carolina filed a $20 million lawsuit against Jemsek, accusing him of unnecessary antibiotic treatments. On his website, Jemsek blames the insurance giant for forcing him into bankruptcy protection. Green said the lawsuit was later dismissed.
Jemsek relocated his practice, Jemsek Specialty Clinic, to South Carolina in 2008 before moving it to Washington.
On his website, Jemsek acknowledges that treatment of Lyme disease is controversial, but he says "we tend to have pretty good clinical success in the vast majority of patients."
Bianca Baldwin, who lives in Harnett County, is among Jemsek's fans. Baldwin said her husband, Fort Bragg soldier Darren Baldwin, has been seeing Jemsek since December 2009.
In the beginning, she said, chronic Lyme disease had robbed her husband of his ability even to walk and talk.
Darren Baldwin started receiving antibiotics intravenously under Jemsek's care. Recently, after showing vast improvement, he switched to oral antibiotics, his wife said. He can now walk and talk, though both still are difficult.
"He's a different person than what he was a year ago," Bianca Baldwin said. The Baldwins live in Linden Oaks, a 10-minute drive from where the Harrisses live. The couples are now friends.
Physician Pete Demitry of Virginia also is sold on Jemsek's work. Demitry, who no longer practices medicine, said Jemsek worked wonders with his son, who was first diagnosed with Lyme disease about 10 years ago.
As a physician, Demitry said, he followed the traditional medical guidelines, allowing his son to be treated for the standard 28 days.
But Demitry said the disease kept recurring. Finally, he said, he took his son to Jemsek.
"I believe they were instrumental in saving my son's life," he said.
Conspiracy alleged
Dr. Burrascano wrote the guidelines for treating Lyme disease for the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, the group advocating long-term treatment.
Burrascano could not be reached for comment, but on a website called Military Lyme, he refers to the debate over the treatment of Lyme disease as a conspiracy.
According to the website, Burrascano believes that a core group of university-based Lyme disease researchers and physicians "act unscientifically and unethically," adhering to outdated views and attempting to discredit differing opinions.
"They behave this way for reasons of personal or professional gain, and are involved in obvious conflicts of interest," he writes.
Burrascano is not alone in his views. About four years ago, Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general for Connecticut, launched an antitrust investigation into the guidelines used by the Infectious Diseases Society of America for the treatment of Lyme disease. The guidelines were adopted in 2006.
According to Blumenthal's office, the investigation found, among other things:
The society failed to review panelists who created the guidelines for conflicts of interest. (Some of the panelists were later found to have conflicts.)
The panels in 2000 and 2006 refused to accept information regarding the existence of chronic Lyme disease.
The society blocked panel appointment of scientists and physicians with divergent views on chronic Lyme.
Blumenthal's investigation resulted in the society agreeing to reassess its treatment guidelines. The investigation also led the society to form a new panel with no previous members and to install an ombudsman from Blumenthal's office to ensure that the panel and its chairman are free of conflicts of interest. In addition, the society agreed to ensure divergent scientific opinions on the treatment of Lyme disease.
"This agreement vindicates my investigation - finding undisclosed financial interests and forcing a reassessment of IDSA guidelines," according to a news release from Blumenthal. "My office uncovered undisclosed financial interests held by several of the most powerful IDSA panelists. The IDSA's guideline panel improperly ignored or minimized consideration of alternative medical opinion and evidence regarding chronic Lyme disease, potentially raising serious questions about whether the recommendations reflected all relevant science."
But after reaching the agreement, the society did not substantially change the guidelines, again saying there is no significant gain to long-term antibiotic treatment.
Today, the controversy continues to rage.
Karin Harriss said Dr. Richard Serano, a Fayetteville neurologist, referred her husband to Jemsek in July. He received another diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease and was about to be treated by Jemsek when Womack directed him to Walter Reed Army Medical Center instead.
Now, Karin Harriss is not sure what to believe.
"I feel caught in the middle," she said. "Who is right? All I know is that my husband is getting sicker and his brain is dying and no one had been doing anything."
Staff writer Greg Barnes can be reached at barnesg@fayobserver.com or 486-3525.

[NC Susan]

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/...ac=fo.military

Mon Mar 12, 2012 Soldier's spirit is fighting fit as he recovers from mysterious illness





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In January 2011, Harriss had to work with Bliss on climbing stairs.





Editors note:
The Fayetteville Observer has monitored the progress of Chris Harriss for more than a year. A reporter and a photographer were present when Harriss began physical therapy, and, about a month later, when he got his first intravenous antibiotic treatment. Harriss' wife, Karin, has provided periodic updates throughout the year.

By Greg Barnes
Staff writer


A year ago, Chris Harriss' hands shook so badly that he couldn't consistently place a small ball into a big basket.
He could barely climb stairs and couldn't drive a car. His speech became so slow and slurred that it was almost incomprehensible.
A year later, after controversial treatment for Lyme disease, Harriss seems to have made an almost complete recovery.
At a physical therapy session last month, Harriss easily skipped across a rubber mat, taking the black squares two by two almost without falter.
His therapist, Becky Bliss, says Harriss has regained 95 percent of his physical abilities, the remaining impairment being mostly a little loss of balance.

Harriss, a chief warrant officer 3 at Fort Bragg, has improved so much that he has gone back to work. His boss at U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Col. Patrick V. Pallatto, said in a letter dated Jan. 17 that Harriss' work performance "has been nothing less of superior." Pallatto called Harriss "a talented and tested senior Mobility Warrant Officer" and a "great asset to this command."
Harriss, who is now assigned to Fort Bragg's Warrior Transition Battalion, wants nothing more than to remain in the Army. When he got sick, he said, he set a goal for himself and his family that he would complete 20 years of military service. He has less than three years to go.
But the Army - whose doctors have misdiagnosed Harriss with a dizzying array of illnesses - isn't allowing him to return to duty.
In January, an Army medical evaluation board disqualified Harriss.
That was followed last month by a ruling from an informal Army physical evaluation board in Washington that found Harriss unfit for the Army, his wife, Karin Harriss, said she has been told.

The latest ruling was made despite:
Col. Pollatto's memo saying Harriss is doing a great job at work, and U.S. Army Special Operations Command would welcome him there.
A report dated Jan. 31 from Harriss' commander in the Warrior Transition Battalion, Capt. Steven Jeffery Coon, saying Harriss is capable of making complex decisions, can solve logistical situations and can multi-task projects. Coon recommended that the Army retain Harriss.
Bliss' evaluation that Harriss has regained 95 percent of his physical abilities.

A medical reassessment by Womack Army Medical Center in November that rated his cognitive and speech abilities as superior.
Harriss said he wanted to stand before the physical evaluation board and show its members that he is almost back to normal. He wanted to jump up and down and do pushups and run in circles and do anything else to prove that he is fit for the Army.
But the board doesn't allow that. Harriss is expected to get his chance later, during a formal physical evaluation board.
For now, at least, the Army seems intent on discharging a man who has given more than 17 years of his life for his country.
Chris Harriss' physical condition began to deteriorate more than two years ago.
What started as a slight hand twitch quickly became an illness so debilitating that Harriss could barely walk or talk.
Documents provided by Karin Harriss show that Army doctors initially thought he had encephalopathy. Then came a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease along with a combination of medications, including the neurotransmitter dopamine, that Karin Harriss believes did her husband far more harm than good.
The Parkinson's diagnosis was followed by a positive test for Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness that can attack the central nervous system if left untreated.
After the Lyme diagnosis, Chris Harriss received powerful antibiotics for a month. His wife said the antibiotics seemed to be making a difference, but the Army, following federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, stopped the medication.
The Centers for Disease Control says "studies have shown that patients treated with prolonged courses of antibiotics do not do better than patients treated with placebo."

According to the centers, most medical experts believe symptoms that linger after a two- to four-week antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease are caused by residual damage to the tissues and the immune system that occurred during the infection. The centers said people with the lingering symptoms almost always get better, but it can take months or even years to feel completely healthy.
After the Army stopped the Lyme treatment, Chris Harriss was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he received a new diagnosis: Fahr's disease. The rare disorder is characterized by calcium deposits on the brain. Fahr's is a degenerative and irreversible disorder for which there is no known cure.

The diagnosis came as a crushing blow to Karin Harriss, who had already endured so much.
"How would you like to be told that?" she said. " 'So sorry ... but your husband has an illness that will calcify his brain. There is no known treatment or clinical trials. We as doctors do not even know much about this illness. We believe your husband has approximately five years left. And each day is his last good one. Each day is a day downhill.' "
Two months after the Fahr's diagnosis, Karin Harriss drove home to Canton, Ohio, to say goodbye to her father. He died from Alzheimer's disease the day after her arrival.
Her father had suffered from the disease for seven years. When he died, she said, she couldn't help but think that her husband, just 35 at the time, was about to meet an even crueler fate.

About the same time that Chris Harriss received the Fahr's diagnosis, he was transferred into Fort Bragg's Warrior Transition Battalion for physically and mentally wounded soldiers. That's where the Army began its medical evaluation board process to put him out of the service.
The Harrisses were introduced to Dr. David Weitzman, who told them that he had once treated a Fahr's patient and did not believe Chris Harriss suffered from the disease. Its symptoms, he told the Harrisses, don't manifest themselves so quickly.
Karin Harriss said Weitzman told them something else: The way your husband's condition is deteriorating, he probably has only six months to a year to live.

Medical records dated Jan. 6, 2011, show that Weitzman paved the way for Chris Harriss to begin seeing a controversial Lyme disease specialist, Dr. Joe Jemsek, in Washington.In 2006, the N.C. Medical Board suspended Jemsek's license for a year after finding that he inappropriately diagnosed and treated 10 patients for Lyme disease. The board found that Jemsek's method of diagnosing Lyme disease was not based on objective evidence and that his patients were not adequately told that his long-term treatment departed from the four-week standard.
Afterward, Blue Cross filed a $20 million lawsuit against Jemsek, accusing him of unnecessary antibiotic treatments. The lawsuit was later dropped, but Jemsek has said that it forced him into bankruptcy protection.
Jemsek left the state and eventually set up shop in the nation's capital, where Chris Harriss began undergoing monthly intravenous antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease.

As the Harrisses were told to expect, the first treatments did not go well.
"He hardly has any appetite," Karin Harriss wrote in an email dated March 4, 2011. "He is really hot when I am cold, and it is cold outside ... or cold when he shouldn't be. He says his head feels worse in a way he cannot describe. And he is emotional. He can cry for no reason. Or he can get upset very easily. He does not think this medicine is working at all. And for me, well, I am not sure either."
But just three weeks after that email, Karin Harriss wrote another one that was far more upbeat.
"We went and saw Dr. Weitzman yesterday. And Chris is improving!" she wrote. "He no longer stutters when he speaks, and forms sentences. He isn't falling all over the (place) either. He has more energy also. The dr. did an exam and found that the reflex in his right leg is returning."
For the Harrisses, the entire spring seemed to consist of major accomplishments followed by disheartening setbacks. But Karin Harriss refused to give up. Throughout her husband's illness, she has been a bulldog, complaining about Army doctors, writing her congressman, doing anything possible to get someone to help find a cure.

By July, after six antibiotic treatments, Chris Harriss' health started to rapidly improve.
"Chris is nearly recovered now! You just won't believe it!" Karin Harriss wrote July 21. She said her husband was going to take a road test the following week so he could get his driving privileges back.

The doctors at Womack, however, apparently weren't seeing the same signs of improvement. Either that, or they weren't looking for them.
In August, Karin Harriss became enraged because a review of her husband's condition for the Army medical evaluation board didn't include the substantial progress that she had seen in him. The summary, she said, was written by a doctor who had never even met her husband and had based his review primarily on medical records from January.

The summary, dated Aug. 4, said Chris Harriss suffers from "Fahr's Disease with early onset dementia, ataxia and tremor that is disqualifying for service."
But it also said Chris Harriss believes he has Lyme disease, which would not disqualify him from military service. The doctor who wrote the review recommended further evaluation by a neurologist to get a clear diagnosis.
That recommendation led the Harrisses to the University of North Carolina's Department of Neurology, where another doctor found Chris Harriss to be "alert, oriented, with fluent speech, normal language and comprehension."

The physician wrote that a brain scan came back "normal so the suspicion for progressive neurodegenerative disorder in his case is extremely low, almost negligible."
The doctor also wrote that Chris Harriss' Lyme antibody appeared to be back to normal and that he didn't appear to be suffering any symptoms of chronic Lyme disease. The doctor recommended discontinuing the antibiotic treatments.
After that diagnosis, the Army sent the Harrisses to UCLA in November, where a Fahr's specialist painted a different picture. The neurologist found "potential sub-acute and acute cognitive impairment which fluctuates" and recommended that Chris Harriss be followed for the next several years to see if the impairment progresses.
The doctor also described Chris Harriss as having "increased fatigue, is tired by noon, increased stiffness, difficulty walking and increased slurred speech." Although the doctor seemed to exclude Fahr's as a diagnosis, he did say some brain calcification was apparent.
Two months later, Army doctors signed a medical evaluation board report saying Chris Harriss could not effectively fire a weapon, evade direct or indirect fire or live in an austere environment without worsening his medical condition. The board disqualified him, citing a central nervous system disorder.


The following day, Frank L. Christopher, deputy commander for clinical services at Womack Army Medical Center, wrote a memo to the president of the Army's physical evaluation board in Arlington, Va.


In the memo, Christopher, citing the UCLA findings, the medical evaluation board and other documents, concluded that Chris Harriss' central nervous system disorder is a disqualifying condition.
Karin Harriss was livid. She thinks the Army picked and chose from the UCLA findings and discounted the findings from UNC and elsewhere.
Christopher declined to talk specifically about Chris Harriss' case, despite Harriss signing a waiver that would allow him to do so.
Speaking generally, Christopher said, it is possible that a soldier's condition could improve significantly between the time he is diagnosed and when the medical evaluation board report becomes official. He said he has seen it happen.
Regardless, the board's decision cannot be reversed, he said.


So Chris Harriss' options are running out. If, as Karin Harriss asserts, the physical evaluation board has already ruled that her husband is unfit for the Army, he can appeal the decision to a formal physical evaluation board.
There, he can use all of his supporting evidence, including his physical therapist, his boss and his commander in the Warrior Transition Battalion. He can jump up and down and do pushups and run in circles and do anything else he can think of to demonstrate that he is almost back to normal.
The board will have two options: to find Harriss fit for duty or unfit. If he is found fit, he would be allowed to return to duty but would probably face restrictions.
Nine days ago, Dr. Jason Hawley emailed Karin Harriss with encouraging news. Hawley is the doctor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who diagnosed Chris Harriss with Fahr's disease.
In the email, Hawley said the physician reviewing her husband's medical evaluation board had contacted him seeking clarification of Chris Harriss' diagnosis and current condition.
"With the diagnosis not being so clear, and Chris recovering both physically and cognitively, I would like to give him the opportunity to continue his military service if that is what he wants to do," Hawley wrote. "I don't know if that will be the final determination, but that was my input to the (physical evaluation board). I thought you'd like to know that."
In another email the next day, Hawley hinted more strongly that the physical evaluation board is re-evaluating Chris Harriss' condition and could return him to duty.
That is all Chris Harriss - a big, unassuming, aw-shucks kind of guy - has ever asked for.
Harriss said that was his goal from the moment he got sick, and he cannot understand why the Army didn't seem to believe him.
It was as if the Army's decision-makers thought, "No you are going to die, don't worry about it," he said.


But Chris Harriss didn't die, and his wife refused to stop fighting, no matter how sad, long and lonely the battle had become.
Karin Harriss still isn't convinced that her husband suffered from Lyme disease, even though she believes the antibiotic treatments helped him immensely. She has documents showing that the Army has spent more than $100,000 to treat him for Lyme disease.
She wonders whether her husband's illness could be linked to the anti-malaria drug mefloquine, which the Army banned because of adverse side effects. Chris Harriss had to take the drug whenever he deployed.


Whatever the cause, there is no mistaking that Chris Harriss' physical condition has improved dramatically in the course of a year.
Whether it has improved enough for the physical evaluation board to deem him fit for duty is likely to be known soon.
And this time, Chris Harriss will have plenty to say.


Staff writer Greg Barnes can be reached at barnesg@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3525.

[WisconsinGardener]

Well, as it turns out, my problem is likely Lyme after all. And, here is something that I found. It's not cheap, but from what I've been researching, it apparently works rather well - and it's cheaper than doctors and antibiotics that aren't covered by insurance. Plus, it seems to work better than antibiotics because it combats the biofilm this bacteria creates:

http://www.nutramedix.ec/ns/lyme-protocol

and, within that, there is a link to the exact treatment schedule. So, if you wanted, you could get the basic ingredients and do this entirely on your own. Or, you can get the program itself as a whole from here: http://www.nutramedix.com/

I talked to them this morning, and the basic cost is about $285/month. It is a 6-month program, and apparently, most people find relief in the six months. They won't tell you that, as the FDA prevents them from saying it is for anything specifically. That's why the actual protocol is an entirely different website. However, you can find lots of forums with people talking about their success with it.

[WisconsinGardener]

And here's more on doing it yourself: http://jarla.wordpress.com/2008/11/2...wden-protocol/

Jill's Lyme Notes
Dissecting the Cowden Protocol

After several months of trying to treat late stage Lyme disease, I sought the wisdom of a naturopath who is experienced in treating Lyme. She recommended to me the Cowden Protocol, for she had found it to be quite helpful for her patients over the years.

I balked when I saw the cost of the full protocol, averaging about $500 a month. I decided I needed to do some research before I took the plunge. Below, you will find the fruits of my labor.

I decided that some products in the protocol may be useful and worth getting from Cowden’s company, Nutramedix. Some other products also seem useful but are easily available elsewhere for less money. And some are products for which I’m having trouble finding a use.

In making these choices, I consulted a licensed pharmacist who runs natural drug store and stocks the Nutramedix products included in Cowden’s protocol.

Many of these products have limited or no scientific research regarding their use or safety, so using them involves some experimentation and risk.

P.S. I know that some readers of this will disagree with my choices. People have a variety of philosophies about using alternative treatments. Some people are really into alternative medicine, and some people are unwilling to try much without substantial scientific evidence of its effectiveness. I personally am pretty open but try to be informed. You may think that I’m being too critical of Cowden’s protocol, or you may think I’m not being critical enough. I ask you to be kind if you choose to respond to this. Lymeland can get pretty nasty sometimes.

So here it goes….

ADRENAL –It is a fairly widespread belief that Lymies have weak adrenals. I don’t know if that is true or not, but there are tons of adrenal support supplements available if you think you need something. The herbs used in Cowden’s adrenal tincture are all pretty common and have a variety of uses. I don’t know nearly enough to know if this combination is especially helpful for adrenal fatigue.

Schizandra, Astragalus, and Ginseng are all used in traditional Chinese medicine, which is way over my head. Ginseng and Astragalus are in lots of supplements.
Rhododendron caucasicum is being touted online right now for weight loss and as a cure-all drug. It is rich in phytochemicals. It comes from the mountains of Georgia (the country) and is commonly used there as tea. It’s supposedly the reason that so many Georgians live past 100.
Wild Yam is a fairly common root and has a variety of traditional uses. (see http://www.altnature.com/gallery/wild_yam.htm)

AMANTILLA -This is just valerian root extract, which is quite popular for calming anxiety and as a sleep aid. The U.S. government has a fact sheet at http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/valerian.asp I think it would make sense to be cautious about taking this if you’re already taking antidepressants, sleep aids, etc.

BANDEROL – I have found very little information on this, and Nutramedix hasn’t supplied a full species name. My guess is that they are using Otoba novogranatensis. I read here http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14097602 that it’s shown some usefulness against parasites. I’m not trying it for now.

BURBUR – Cowden includes Burbur leaf extract in his protocol as a gentle detoxifier that is useful during herxes. He uses the leaves Desmodium molliculum. If you google Desmodium molliculum you’ll see that some sites sell it as Manayupa, but I can’t find much information about the species. There is a lot more information available about a sister species, Desmodium adscendens, and its various uses here http://www.rain-tree.com/amorseco.htm. I can’t figure out if there’s a significant difference between the two species. I’m guessing not. D. adscendens is available in bulk at Raintree’s website. Update: I have used this herb in a tea on and off for a while now. It does seem to provide some soothing when I am having a die-off. See more about Burbur in Henk’s comments below.

CUMANDA –Cumanda is only available from Nutramedix. It’s traditionally used as an antimalarial, among other things. Read more about it here http://www.rain-tree.com/campsiandra.htm. This site notes that its use for Lyme disease may all be hype. On the other hand, Lyme is often treated by drugs used for malaria like doxycycline or plequenil, so maybe using Cumanda isn’t totally ridiculous. I honestly don’t know. I am trying it. Update: I tried Cumanda for several months. I never got the sense that it made any significant difference for me. See more about Cumanda in Henk’s comments below.

ENULA –Nutramedix markets Enula as an antimicrobial. I haven’t found anything that indicates that this tincture is anything unique. It consists of three ingredients; only the Elecampane seems useful.

Elecampane- This is very common and easy to find. It is a traditional cough medicine and is a good expectorant. It does have anti-microbial properties. Read more about it here http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/elecampane.php
Vitis tiliafolia- It seems that this is known in Jamaica as Blood Wiss. I can’t find any information about its use.
Ipomoea jalapa -This mainly has been used traditionally to loosen stools.

MAGNESlUM MALATE – Magnesium can be gotten very cheaply, though supposedly some forms are less effective than others. I don’t know enough to know if the Nutramedix version is a good choice in terms of quality and cost. My pharmacist told me that magnesium aspertate is a good choice.

MORA- Mora seems to have been designed primarily as an antifungal agent. It has three ingredients.

Blackberry leaf is used for mild diarrhea and sore throats (see http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/lea...berry_leaf.php) but I haven’t found any evidence that it’s used as an antimicrobial.
Yarrow flower- There’s a good description of Yarrow here http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/yarrow.php I’ve seen it used in anti-nflammatory and antifungal remedies too.
Calycophyllum spruceanum has been used traditionally as a general antimicrobial. Read more about it here http://www.rain-tree.com/mulaterio.htmYou can get it in bulk from Raintree’s website.

PARSLEY- Parsley is believed to be good for detoxifying because it has lots of chlorophyll (see here http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/parsley.php) Personally, I’m not sure why it’s worth spending $25.00 for it. You can get it fresh in the supermarket or even grow it yourself.

PINELLA – Nutramedix says that it uses the bark of Pimpinella anisum. It claims that it’s great for reducing inflammation and for detoxifying the brain and nervous system, which helps with brain fog (see http://www.bionatus.com/nutramedix/p...ella_flyer.pdf). Pimpenella anisum is more commonly known as Anise. The anise seed is a common spice that has been used for millennia. I cannot find any other source that discusses using the bark of the plant, so it’s possible that the bark has some special properties different from the seed. No description that I’ve seen of the herb’s usage includes much about detoxification. The plant, however, has been used traditionally in some parts of the world as a mild stimulant. Perhaps this is why users feel more clearheaded when using Pinella.

QUINA- The main active ingredient in Quina is Quinine, which was an early antimalarial. The FDA put out a warning in 2006 about Quinine (see http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=78097) Apparently, misuse of quinine can cause some nasty side effects, including death, so please only use this product under your doctor’s supervision.

SAMENTO- This is more commonly known as Cat’s Claw, and research has shown that it’s effective for Lyme disease. Cheaper varieties are easy to find, but my pharmacist said that Nutramedix is a good source. Update: I’ve learned a lot more about Cat’s Claw since I originally wrote this. Nutramedix sells a form of the herb that is supposedly superior because it is “TOA free.” Apparently the claims of superiority of TOA free Cat’s Claw are based upon two rather poorly designed research studies that were done by the company that has a patent on TOA-free Clat’s Claw. Buhner, the author of Healing Lyme says that it is best to use the whole herb. He recommends using Cat’s Claw from Rain Tree. You can read more about the TOA controversy here http://www.rain-tree.com/toa-poa-article.htm

SERRAPEPTASE- It seems that some research has shown that this is good at breaking down dead tissue, and it’s included in the Cowden protocol because of a theory that it can break down the cyst form of Lyme. I get the impression that this is all pretty hypothetical, but perhaps not totally farfetched. I’m giving it a try using the Nutramedix version. Update: I tried it. I can’t tell if it did anything. I’m really rather dubious about this product. Wikipedia currently says that there’s no evidence that this product does anything.

SPARGA- This is asparagus root. I have not found anything that says that asparagus has any medicinal use beyond making your urine smell kind of interesting. Update: With more research I found the following. Here is some information on medicinal uses for asparagus http://earthnotes.tripod.com/asparagus.htm Nutramedix claims that asparagus is good for detoxing sulfur. Some people <i>do</i> smell sulfur in their urine after consuming asparagus, but the smell is coming from compounds in the asparagus. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus#Urine) There may be a variety of benefits to asparagus, but it might make more sense to just eat the whole vegetable.

TRACE MINERALS- The trace mineral blend from Nutramedix is a proprietary blend of 70 minerals and has been infused with calming energies (see http://www.bionatus.com/nutramedix/p...n_flyer_Bs.pdf) Nutramedix claims that the minerals are in a form that is more easily absorbed by the body. Personally, I’m not sure it’s worth the $60 a month that it will cost if used as directed by the Cowden protocol. Most good multivitamins include trace minerals.

ZEOLITE- This is used for heavy metal chelation. I don’t know enough to comment on its usefulness. Chelation, however, should really only be done under the supervision of a qualified health practitioner.
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This entry was posted on November 25, 2008 at 3:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
35 Responses to “Dissecting the Cowden Protocol”

meri puccio Says:
November 26, 2008 at 1:08 am

hello, very intensive research. i had lyme, babesia, erhlichia and went on antibiotics — never felt fully recovered. had many symptoms. took burbur, enula, samento, cumanda and parsley for 3 months and feel so incredibly better. i know it’s expensive but it did work for me…. everyone is different, though.

good luck and thank you for this informative post.
henk de hondt Says:
December 7, 2008 at 10:32 pm

Certainly you did a good research and it is refreshing to find someone in Lymeland who can use his own (fogged or not) brains!
Pinella indeeed is the commun herb PIMpinella anisum. It is a small plant about 25cm high, from the family UMbellifera, and believe me it has no bark at all.
greetings henk
henk de hondt Says:
December 16, 2008 at 9:08 pm

I read somehing about Burbur detox. The Journal voor Ethnobiology en Ethnomedicine (nov 1987) published a studie about the therapheutical ceffects of Desmodium mollicum. No results are known, except one: A group of Peruvian indians using it as anti-infectant.
I asked the world famous biologist and expert on the flora of the Amazon rainforest, mr. Marc van Roosmalen what he knew about Cumanda(Campsiandra angustifolia and he answered me: (quote)
Dear Henk,
sorry for the delay in responding to your inquiry. I have no records of indigenous peoples in the Amazon using Campsiandra angustifolia, nor the bushland creoles and indians from the Guianas using C. comosa for medicinal purposes. I will do some more research and if so, I’ll get back to you soon. (unquote)
I wonder where nutrimedix finds his information that seems so hard to find!
friendly regards henk
How to Get Six Pack Fast Says:
April 15, 2009 at 3:25 pm

Not that I’m totally impressed, but this is more than I expected for when I found a link on SU telling that the info is quite decent. Thanks.
Considering Cowden Says:
July 5, 2009 at 3:12 pm

Thanks so much for accumulating all this research. I’m looking into the Cowden protocol and was wondering how much was really necessary. This definitely answers a lot of my questions.

I’d also like to know if anyone has done this protocol while undergoing IV chelation treatments for heavy metals. I’m currently doing this and wondering if it can be done at the same time.
Kate Says:
July 31, 2009 at 1:15 am

Thanks for breaking this down and saving hours of doing the same myself. Your effort is greatly appreciated! I am concerned regarding how much money various practitioners/big pharma/nutriceutical companies are charging sick Lyme folks simply to line their pockets and pay for their new Lexus (or is that Lexi)…. whether it be for tinctures, pills, IVs etc. My goal is to find a reasonably priced, effective treatment…. for the majority of people. You sorted through what i’d seen when i first read the protocol’s treatment tinctures…. exotic names for some common herbs/minerals were available for less (red flag)…. and the protocol seems very shotgun. I will work on getting more detail and finding a more specific way per symptoms to use the tintures in treatment – assuming they are effective.

Anyone notice that Artemisia (Wormwood) is not in the protocol. Anyone used it? I’m using it with Amox as i got a tick bite 3 weeks ago and had already guessed my Lyme was recurring after recent severe ankle injuries two months ago.

Kate – a physician with Lyme.
Karen Says:
August 1, 2009 at 3:05 am

I have been on the protocol for about four months. I began to see a lot of improvement when I started on the cumanda and banderol. I got a six month supply free of charge. Nutramedix does provide one patient per doctor with six months of free Cowden protocol. Dr. Horowitz of the International Lyme Disease Institute has found it to be 70% effective. The newer version, the condensed protocol, is said to be more effective and easier to follow. The protocol does not work unless you drink at least 12 cups of water per day, and take the magnesium malate to be sure you have at least two bowel movements a day. Since antibiotics don’t work on long term lyme, I don’t see a problem with trying this protocol. Cowden believes mercury amalgams need to be removed as well.
kathy Says:
December 6, 2009 at 7:34 am

i am on week 2 of the condensed cowden, having mild herx, nothing major……..was just nice to find all the info in one place…thank you for your research, svaed time that’s for sure………….the cumunda and enula andmora come later in the condensed version and am slowly increasing banderol and amento, alos using zeolite every couple nights as ordered…………..i alos had it ordered from Dr h, after i discussed no more antibiotics, he was my second opinion and afterpicc lines, bicillin, mepron, biaxin bactrim the works.i decided enough is enough! he ordered it and i have paid for my ist kit butas a member of an online support group if you can get the leader to call nutrmedix they will supply you with a 6 month supply free, so i will be receiving my 2nd thru 6th box and they said then dr h like to repeat either the 4th or 6th, so that will be my 6th box, i am alos doing a program called ACT, sounds crazy and i’m the biggest skeptic, but have felt changes and many in the group have had significant improvemnet…..if i can go all natural….and anyone else can benefit, i wish us all the journey back to health!!
Sue Sullivan Says:
January 11, 2010 at 2:35 pm

Dear Jarla~

Thank you for taking the time to dissect the Cowden Protocol, post all your findings, links and set up this blog! I am so grateful for people like you! It was recommended to me to try the Cowden Protocol after being on several antibiotics via injection and taken orally, along with Plaquenil and almost as many supplements as the protocol requires for nine months and STILL symptomatic. This Lyme thing has been such a nightmare and I must say the treatment has been worse than the disease! With so many uncertainties, controversy and expense involving the treatment…I have literally gone bankrupt, am in danger of losing my home of 22 years, the Cowden protocol looks like ANOTHER very expensive avenue that I cannot afford right now. So I m out here lost in the Lymelands, without a doctor, broke, unemployed and still very symptomatic. I took myself off everything in Nov because i just couldn’t swallow another pill. I KNOW that I need to something but not sure if this protocol is for me or even worth the expense. I have read a lot about several of the herbs and their properties but am wondering if it’s necessary to take ALL and I am way to foggy to even comprehend the protocol. Wondering where Dr. Kate s located? Thank you for listening to me ramble :-} And thank you for all your work~
Sole Sister
jodi Says:
May 7, 2010 at 1:03 pm

Thank you for all the research and for sharing your time knowledge with us all. I am on 4 different anitibiotics: ceftin, Zithro, plaquenil, rifampin. Also, am taking lots of supplements and a couple alternative remedies. I’m considering the CP.

Question? I wonder if anyone on here can help Sue Sullivan get set up with 6 months of free Cowden. Sounds like she really could use it. Best of luck to you Sue. Keep trying!!!
Jodi
Sue Sullivan Says:
May 7, 2010 at 11:11 pm

Wishing you all the best Jodi with the CP, should you try it! Short;y after my rant, I read the book by Stephen Buhner, “Healing Lyme” I contacted a practitioner recommended by the author in VT..His name is Tim Scott. I have now been on the protocol recommended by Buhner through Tim for 3+ months and getting good results! My fog is lifting, my body feels less like a train wreck and I am experiencing more energy :-} Good Stuff!! Thank you for your wonderful plug for me…getting set up with 6 mos free of Cowden!! You are so very sweet :-} I think I will stick with what I’m doing now, as it is working! Now if someone wants to help save my house….well that’s another story….Sue Sullivan
Peggy Says:
June 17, 2010 at 4:17 pm

I spoke with someone from Nutramedix yesterday. December, 2009, was the last month they offered the free six months protocol. The only thing they offer now is financial assistance in obtaining the program, but the applicant must complete the necessary paperwork and submit through a doctor’s office. Then it must be approved by Nutramedix. My understanding was that the applicant must show financial need.
Lisa W. Says:
June 25, 2010 at 2:34 pm

Sue,
I took have buhners book on lyme. He’s kind of vague about how much of the supplements to take. What dosages are you taking?
Sue Sullivan Says:
June 28, 2010 at 11:32 pm

Lisa~
I am taking a supplement called the “LB Core Protocol”… 3 capsules contain 500mg of Japanese Knotweed
430 mg Andrographis
500 mg. cat’s claw
110 mg sarsaparilla root
110 mg dandelion root

Now here’s the thing…3 caps are minimum dosage…I am on max dose which is 12 capsules 4x a day, totals 48 caps. I don’t know how many mg of each herb that comes out to be… sorry but my brain cannot do the math!! I am also on 2 tinctures ( Eleuthero for immune~ 3 droppersful a day and Cryptolepsis for Babesia, also 3 droppersful.)

It’s confusing…but I hope this was helpful to you Lisa. Good luck!
Sue
Joe B Says:
July 26, 2010 at 11:57 pm

Hey Lisa… visit these sites for Buhner info and dosage info…

http://planetthrive.com/2009/08/herb...-healing-lyme/

http://planetthrive.com/category/experts/buhner/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Lyme_Aid_Buhner/

http://planetthrive.com/2009/08/buhn...-lyme-program/ dosage*
kitty Says:
September 15, 2010 at 12:43 pm

asparagus does have medicinal qualities it was not difficult to find at all.maybe you should do a lot more research before you write that you can’t fiind anything on the net about it..on the first page, second link already!.
Properties of Asparagus plant
The vegetable contains phosphate and vitamin B, which gives it remineralizing and stimulating properties. Also, it has rare nutrients: copper, iron, zinc, manganese, chrome, calcium, sodium, potassium, which give it depurative, and laxative properties and make it a hepatic and renal drainer.
Treatments:
Next to its qualities of being a refined vegetable, asparagus is also used in natural medicine. It is used to control some stomach affections, clean the liver, lungs and intestines of their wastes and toxins. Apart from its depurative effects, the vegetable also has a protecting action on the arteries. Consumed regularly, it prevents the development of arteriosclerosis and cleans the blood.
Ralph Says:
September 23, 2010 at 11:27 am

Lost in lymeland for over three years, asparagus kitty….?
Taken on it’s own..? guess i could try anything natural at this point…

Currently taking amox 3000mg a day plus zithro…. feel like i have hit a leveling off point but still symptomatic, especially when tired or having eaten sugar/flour….
Not sure what to do but realize cannot continue taking oral antibiotics…
Donna Says:
September 28, 2010 at 5:36 pm

I have used Cowden’s herbs for about 2 years. I used a condensed version. The Banderol and Samento have been proven in a study to kill the cystic form of Lyme in vivo and in vitro. Google Townsend Report. They also come infused now and I have noticed the difference between the infused/imprinted vs, non.

I have also met with Dr. Cowden for one of his studies and I did not get the impression in the least bit that the protocol was designed to line his pockets. His motivation is about the patient getting well.

I have used Cumanda, Enula and Quina and alternated them. I do not know anything about Mora. I can tell you Enula does something because I took it for babesia, but if I reached a high enough threshold of it, I had severe bone pain. Many people have experienced this and I believe it is because Enula also kills parasites, something many of our LLMD’s do not treat and may be the key to wellness.

Burbur has helped me through herxes and Pinella helped greatly with brain fog. I did not take Pinella for extended periods because I read there is a potential for toxicity. I also alternate at times between other supplements to help with herxes and for detox; ie: chlorella, pekana Drainage Kits.

I have the trace minerals, but do not use all the time and if I have anxiety, I have used that and Amantilla with success.

Perhaps the Enula is on lieu of wormword. Wormword, for extended periods can be toxic also.

I encourage anyone who has questions to write Dr. Cowden himself.
he can be located on Facebook.
jeff the alternative renewable energy guy Says:
October 22, 2010 at 2:46 pm

what an informative post! my wife cindy has lyme (after a 12 year misdiagnosis of MS), and we are treating with colloidal silver and doug coil rife and al complex. just got started with bur bur for her herxes, and she feels better – her emotional tracking is much better.

so here’s teh question: if you are making progress on a protocol, does it really make sense to add new ones? seems to me that this just increases die-off and herx intensity, and maybe just my sweetie’s suffering.

comments?
Kat Says:
October 26, 2010 at 10:40 pm

Thanks for the great post. I have been working with an ND who is Lyme literate and have been following the protocol that she dictates. I started with the colloidal silver to help treat the most pressing coinfection that surfaced. Then was put on glutathione to help with the detox and oxidative stress in the body. I then moved on to Quina and Enula and will soon start taking Mapalo instead of Enula. The latest coinfection results in joint point so the Mapalo should help. In addition to the above, I am taking different supplements (mostly to help with digestion and blood sugar issues) along with a good fiber product mixed with whey protein and a probiotic which has really helped with the herx reactions.

The treatment has changed as the symptoms have changed and as new coinfections surface. Keep in mind that Lyme acts as an open door to coinfections which need to be treated to aid healing.
Sarah Says:
November 19, 2010 at 5:37 am

Does anyone know if Cowdens protocol can be taken with antibiotics and chelation? I am doing both with andrographis, cats claw, GSH/Nutritional ivs at my doctors office and want to try anything that might help.
Michele Dickey Says:
January 25, 2011 at 2:16 am

To Kitty. Before being so rude to someone who has done a lot of work and states that you can take it or leave it. You should have realized that her posting was over 2 years old when YOU were able to find the information! Did it ever enter your brain that things on the web change ridiculously fast and millions of things are added every single day.? Why were you even on here looking for information when you seem to think you know everything anyway!
Norma Miller Says:
February 13, 2011 at 4:06 pm

I was wondering how much colloidal silver people are taking.
Thanks
Mariel Says:
May 4, 2011 at 2:58 am

Hi Norma,
I am in month 3 of the Cowden protocol and I take 1 tbsp 3 times per day of Argentyn 23 (colloidal silver). Good luck!
Janet Says:
June 28, 2011 at 2:46 pm

to Donna and everyone else,
Why on the Cowden herbs for so long? Isn’t the protocol supposed to work well before two years or am I misunderstanding it?
I was on IM bicillin and now I am on 2 oral antibiotics (500 mg biaxin twice a day and plaquenil 200mg twice a day and many many many other supplements…I also take Samento, Banderol and Burbur 30 drops twice a day. Lately my ND put me on Mesosilver..I had asked about nano and colloidal.
I have so many pills and tinctures…some need to be taken with food and some without anything in stomach by 3 hours. I am having much difficulty getting everything in! Any ideas?

ALSO — I used to be a size 6/8 now I am over 200 pounds and still gaining no matter how little or how much I eat! I can’t express how uncomfortable I am in my body. Does anyone have some way to lose while Lyme is still active?????
Jan
cooley-hp Says:
July 4, 2011 at 5:56 pm

As a non-medical practitioner in Germany (hypnotherapist and phytotherapist), am working on my own protocol to deal with Lyme. There are less expensive herbal remedies (mistletoe tinture, echinacea tincture) but you ought to test them with the muscle test (=> psychokinesiology according to Klinghardt or Keding) to find out what is right for you. For instance, dipsaci sylvestra as a tincture can work well, supported by an enzyme, such as serrapeptase. Test how many drops of dipsaci and how long. For instance, if you take the Buhner protocol, add dipsaci and then test from that list what is good for you, add an enzyme to break down the cystic forms. You also need to build up your immune system! Stop taking antibiotics, only if absolutely necessary. Exercise, if possible. Sauna and sweating is also good to raise your body temperature (like a fever) and avoid stress. That is all easier said than done, I know. If you have the possibility, find a Native American healer – he/she will know how to proceed. Cooley-HP
Christine Says:
October 30, 2011 at 2:32 pm

I begin the Cowden Protocol November 1. The instructions for the tinctures are unclear to me. Can one mix the tincture in the same cup of water, or must one use separate glasses of water for each and allow each to sit for 10 minutes before consuming?
Roy Says:
November 7, 2011 at 5:10 am

This has no research background done to it at all. This is impressive at all. This does nothing for anyone. You dont mention anything about serrapeptase breaking down fibrin so your immune system can more easily detect the disease to kill it as well with working in conjunction with the anti microbials. This is just a plain bad article with no back ground research done to it. this just gives a false impression and bad rep for the Cowden protocol. Which has tons of medical research in the homeopathical community. Just watch all the you tube videos describing each product. This just kills peoples faith in trying or using these products. which are great btw. horrible article.
Roy Says:
November 7, 2011 at 5:10 am

isn’t **
diane Says:
November 13, 2011 at 6:55 am

would like follow up comments on people who have been using Cowden protocol for longer than six months. Can it heal you of lyme forever?
Roy Says:
November 14, 2011 at 10:07 pm

People in search of wisdom of lyme treatments and protocols. Please I urge you to not listen to anything that is written on this page thats in a negative tone about The Cowden Protocol. It is a great set up with extensive research done. It is safe and effective for most people with lyme. Although Not everyone responds the same way it is a great start to treating lyme without destroying your immune system. Just go on youtube and type in “Cowden protocol” Dr Cowden explains each of his products extensively HIMSELF. He tells you about how samento was used in an 18 week study and the patients were 90% improved by the 18th week. Just using that product alone. I have been on the protocol for a month now and im already seeing improvements all around with all my symptoms. And I have been on antibiotics for about a year without improvement. It destroyed my immune system and created a yeast problem. Now on this protocol Im seeing improvements. That has to mean something. Please I urge you to go do the research yourself instead of having someone dim wit that has no knowledge or experience of this protocol at all tell you how it is. GO WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON COWDEN PROTOCOL. Thanks for listening. Pass it on.
God Bless.
Karen Says:
April 16, 2012 at 2:34 pm

Thank you!
Angela Says:
April 16, 2012 at 3:43 pm

I am currently on month 6 of the Cowden Protocol and based on discussions with my attending physician, I will repeat months 4-6 again.

As to cost of the protocol, here’s my advice. Go directly to Nutrimedex to purchase it. http://www.nutramedix.com/.
They offer the lowest price, free shipping, and you will earn points each time that you can redeem on your next purchase.

Cowden Protocol Cost as of April 2012:

Month 1 $259
Month 2 $308
Month 3 $368
Month 4 $266
Month 5 $302
Month 6 $206

The article is outdated and may be referring to the original protocol and not the Condensed version
Marnie Says:
April 18, 2012 at 3:00 am

I have been on Banderol/Burbur, Samento/Parsley, Serrapeptase and doxy for 6 weeks and am feeling better.

I will have to check with my doctor for how long to stay on it. I too, am wondering if this ‘cures’ Lyme and if people who have done it do not relapse?
Angela Says:
April 21, 2012 at 2:02 am

I wanted to take doxy with Cowden but my Doctor told me that Dr. Lee Cowden advises against it. Bb morphs and forms biofilms able to evade antibiotics, and resurface after the abx have left the system.

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[night driver]

Someone mind explaining the mechanism of infection for bee stings???

So far as I am aware, bee stings don't carry blood from a previous sting since most if not all bee stings are one-offs and the bee dies. There ARE specific bees who do NOT lose their stinger but...

Lyme is a blood born pathogen and requires SOME blood from an infected source to be passed on to the next victim....

[Deena in GA]

I had to go back to see what you were referring to, Chuck, and see that I miswrote. We don't actually know what stung my husband, he never saw it, just felt it. And he has been bit by ticks 100+ times, at least, in the past year or so, not to mention the many before that. I don't know that I have ever been clear on here about that.

Eta, but the symptoms all seemed to start with the sting or the steroid given for the swelling as a result of the sting.

[summerthyme]

I was diagnosed with mono back in 95. I don't remember ever getting a sore throat but just super tired. I have never been the same person after that. I couldn't sleep, would wake up DRENCHED in sweat when I did, and have a very foggy mind. I had a really hard time in school after that. I went from straight A's with tones of energy to a zombie. I have no endurance for physical activites. After watching that movie, I am starting to wonder if I have Lyme. I read that you can test possitive for mono when you have Lyme. I have just about given up on life due to how I feel. Should I get tested for Lyme???

ETA: I always feel weak and shaky, get headaches, and have super tight muscles in my shoulders/upper back.

A couple questions- were you in an area where Lyme ticks exist, and were you involved in activities (hiking, camping, biking in the fields and brush, etc) that would have given you a chance of exposure?

And second, what sort of tests have you HAD done... I hope you've followed up on something in the past 17 years!

Summerthyme

[WisconsinGardener]

http://planetthrive.com/2011/06/jern...euro-anti-tox/

Can't really cut and paste from there very well. This is about Stephen Harrod Buhner's Lyme protocol. His position is that it shouldn't bankrupt you to treat Lyme. Natural treatments, not antibiotics.