Q: I suffer from chronic Lyme Disease and have been prescribed several rounds of antibiotics. I still have significant joint pain, headaches, brain fog and fatigue. I am told I can never get rid of Lyme Disease. Are there natural remedies for Lyme?

A: I can hear your frustration through the printed word. I have seen many clients in my consultation practice who have come to me with feelings of hopelessness surrounding Lyme. The conventional medical approach is to treat the Lyme Disease with antibiotics.

When a child or adult is quickly treated with an antibiotic for the Lyme, the result is usually a swift and positive healing. However, if the person does not recover with the first round of antibiotic, additional rounds are routinely prescribed. Long-term antibiotic therapy can result in an imbalance of micro-organisms in the intestinal tract and deplete the functioning of the immune system, making the body more susceptible to other illnesses. I always suggest taking the best of both conventional and holistic medical practices by integrating natural remedies with antibiotic therapy. They can help keep the body strong while the antibiotic does its job.

I have often found that when children or adults do not fully and quickly recover with a round of antibiotics, it may be because viruses are also involved - viruses the tick has picked up from other animals and passed into the human host, piggybacking the Lyme spirochete. In the past year, I have seen quite a few cases of medically diagnosed Lyme piggybacked by bacterial Bartonella (cat-scratch fever), indicating the tick fed on a cat.

We know ticks feed on mice and dogs, which carry viruses, and, as we also know, viruses do not respond to antibiotics. They do, however, respond quite nicely to natural remedies designed to address the specific strains of virus and can be given along with antibiotics without interfering with each other.

If you are suffering with chronic symptoms of Lyme Disease, in spite of repeated antibiotic therapy, you may wish to consult with a health practitioner who is familiar with the viruses that are known to attach themselves to the ticks that transfer this disease.

Copyright © 2004 Andrea Candee. All rights reserved worldwide.