Self Treating Lyme in the UK


Due to the situation we find ourselves in, a number of people are turning to self treatment. I just want to run through the safety behind doing this if you're left with no choice. I do not recommend self treating (although I currently am), but if you are going to, you need to be aware of the dangers. I won't go into the alternative therapies and strange protocols really as I'm a cynical scientist, and a lot of them can be very dangerous and you should not do them at all (e.g. salt & vitC - doses are so high they can cause you liver and kidney problems; Marshall protocol - will cause you such a deficiency of vitD that your immune system will stop function and you will get osteoporosis).

Herxheimer Reaction

Firstly a quick note about the Herxheimer reaction. Not everyone gets this, but most people seem to. This is the phenomenon where you get worse before you get better and is due to spirochaetes dying off en masse and causing your immune system to go a touch berserk. They can cause old or new symptoms to appear and get worse, feel like you've been poisoned for a couple of days, give you a high temperature or just make you super tired. They are usually quite transient though, longer than a few days could be a side effect of the treatment or just generally that your symptoms are getting worse. To help get through the herx some people recommend detoxing (and there are more ways to do that than treatments), drinking lots of water, resting, aspirin (if you have a high temperature), anti-histamines such as benadryl, and most importantly, not upping the dosage of any medicine until it calms down.

Herbals

The first stop for self treating. This is pretty safe and can give you improvements such that you'll be able to either travel to see a doctor, get to work to afford to see a doctor or start killing spirochaetes so you can tolerate antibiotics easier.

Most people recommend Samento (Cat's Claw) and Banderol. Ca's Claw is available in tablet form or drops, banderol is available from Nutramedix as drops. Dosage-wise, it's best to start on a low amount. The bottles instruct you to take an eventual dosage of 15 drops of each, twice a day, but if you dive straight in on this you will likely suffer a very strong herxheimer reaction and be very ill. I started on 4 drops twice a day, and added 2 drops every other day until the herx was too bad to want to push on (10 drops, twice a day of each). The important thing is to listen to your body, if it's too tough, stick with the dosage you're on. Other than herx reactions there are very few documented side effects for samento and banderol, although obviously any allergic reaction symptoms (swelling, hives, difficulty breathing) means stop taking them straight away.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are more effective, but come with many, many more associated risks. This is why they're prescription only, although you can buy them yourself online from a number of places. Only do this if you are sure you understand the risks and what to do if there's a problem.

For all long term antibiotics you need a good probiotic (see below) to prevent wiping out your gut bacteria and developing problems with candida overgrowth or C. difficile diarrhoea.

Doxycycline - very high doses are needed to be effective, horribly strong doses in fact, 200mg twice a day is the general recommendation. But this is the first line treatment for lyme. This makes side effects more likely, such as sun sensitivity. Even if you don't think you have this, sun cream is a good idea. And if you start getting tingling feelings out in the sun, cover up, including hands and face. If you have never taken tetracyclines before, the first time you take it make sure there is someone with you who can call an ambulance if you are allergic to this class of antibiotics. You may also get nausea if you don't take them on a full stomach.

Metranidazole/Tinidazole - absolutely brutal antibiotic, would really not recommend without doctor's supervision. Pretty much guaranteed to floor you. Don't take it every day, you need a week off at least every week to let your liver cope and recover. You should have regular tests of your liver, if your GP will not do this you can get them privately through Nuffield, Spire or TDL.

Penicillin/Amoxicillin - generally considered some of the safer antibiotics, although a lot of people are allergic to them. As above, if you haven't taken them before make sure someone is on hand if you do turn out to be allergic. The dosage can again be brutally high (up to 3g a day in some cases) so can cause nausea and diarrhoea quite easily.



To Be Continued...