Note – some of these were simply for symptom relief, though most were for working as hard as I could for healing.

1. Rife Machine (to kill Lyme bugs) Used regularly for years

2. B12 injections (for energy) – no noticeable help

3. Ribose (for energy) – no noticeable help

4. Malic Acid (for energy) – no noticeable help

5. Wellbutrin (for depression and brain fog) – some help

6. Gabapentin (for nerve pain) – This did help a lot.

7. Epsom Salt Baths (for magnesium, and for pain relief).  These baths helped a lot

8. High Dose B vitamins (for energy) – no noticeable help

9. Calcium Magnesium Powder (to help intestines)

10. Colemas (to cleanse colon)

11. Curcumin (this really helped my joint pain, a lot)

12. MMS (Miracle Mineral Supplement), to kill Lyme Bugs

13. Thyroid supplement (to balance Thyroid hormones)

14. Testosterone Cream (to bring up the Testosterone) – no noticeable help

15. Grow Bone Supplements (to help heal osteoporosis)

16. Prayer (lots of comfort)

17. Visualization (for healing, and escapes)

18. Ten Day Fast (Quite the experience.  This did help my digestion)

19. Healtone (an audio frequency designed to help) – no noticeable help

20. Saunas (to cleanse the body via sweat) – seems to help

21. Essential Oils (various oils, for various purposes)

22. Oil Pulling (to eliminate toxins)

23. Redmond Clay (internally, to soak up neurotoxins), and in the bath

24. Deep Tissue Massages (I think this helped quite a bit)

25. Energy Healing (several practitioners)

26. DMSA (for chelating heavy metals)

27. Ionic Foot Baths (a little help, maybe)

28. Alinia (antibiotic, to kill parasites)

29. Probiotics (lots, different brands, no noticable help)

30. Doxycycline (antibiotic, used with “Met” below)

31.  Metranidazole (antibiotic, felt like it was killing me)

32.  ”The Work” Emotional Healing, by Byron Katie (helped a lot)

33.  Alpha Lipoic Acid (for chelating heavy metals)

34. Mini Trampoline.  I’ve done this for years.  The theory is that it is supposed to stimulate the lymph system.

35. Skin Brushing.  I think this has really helped.

Note – a lot of the energy supplements I got from the site below:

Krebs Cycle Nutrients

36. Pantothenic Acid (for energy)

37. Pyruvate (for energy)

38. Free Form Amino Acids (for energy)

39. Succinic Acid (for energy)

40. L-Carnosine (for energy)

41. Alpha-Ketoglutaric Acid (for energy)

42. Cloves.  I heard that cloves kill parasites.  One man who did heal from Lyme ate lots of them, so I’ve been eating about 20 cloves a day.  This never seemed to help, though I went through 3 bags of cloves.

43. Fish Oil (Arctic Omega) – Dr. Metzger recommended – to balance body

44. Chia Seed – to promote energy, and maybe bind toxins in the digestive system.

45. Coenzyme Q10 – for energy, didn’t seem to help

46. Ginseng – for energy

47. Cholestyramine. This is supposed to bind toxins in the intestinal system.

48. DHEA – I read that this could help with herx reactions, and help alleviate depression.

The CD57 cells are a subset of cells in the immune system. Lyme disease really attacks these cells and a measurement of these cells can be used to verify Lyme, and to monitor recovery. A normal score is 200, someone who has Lyme would be below 60, and less than 20 represents severe illness.

My CD57 on November 19, 2008 was 15.6
My CD57 on June 4, 2009 was 34 (Yeah, it’s going up!)
My CD57 on November 25, 2009 was 102 (Wow, that’s quite an increase in one year!)

In immunology, the CD57 antigen (CD stands for cluster of differentiation) is a protein which is also called HNK1 (human natural killer-1) or LEU7.

Wow, the MMS is powerful..! 

Miracle Mineral Supplement

In October 2009 I purchased the book about the Miracle Mineral Supplement (MMS) from Amazon.  Amazon actually sells the MMS itself also so I was ready.

Early November I took some low dosages (2 drops) and didn’t feel a thing.  I figured I would take a “Malaria-killing” dose of 20 drops so I did that one morning.  I didn’t feel anything for about an hour, and then it hit me hard.

I was down in bed with nausea and headache for about eight hours.  It was really miserable.  At one time the phone rang and I couldn’t get out of bed.  That was Sunday.

Now maybe it was brain fog, but the next day I thought, “Well, that wasn’t so bad.  I’m sure it cleansed me out and killed lots of spirochetes.  I think I can handle it again tomorrow.”

So Tuesday I did the 20 drop dose again.  This time it even hit me worse.  I was puking so hard sweat was streaming off my forehead.  It took a day and a half to recover, and I still felt weak after that.

Eventually I learn.  So then I backed off and started at 2 drops and I’m working up 1 drop each day.  I’m just taking it once per day in the morning.  I didn’t really feel anything until 9 drops.  Then I felt a little nausea so I stayed at 9 drops for a couple of days.

Then I increased and I’m up to 11 drops right now.  I’ll let you know about the long term effects.

I’m also using the MMS in the bathtub, and I’m up to 50 drops there.  If you are going to use the MMS, I recommend getting the book from Amazon and reading the whole thing first.  Otherwise, you are likely to use it wrong.  You have to activate it first and the book explains how to do it.

You can also read more about MMS at Miracle Mineral.

Some Lyme doctors say that people with Lyme disease shouldn’t exercise aerobically.  I disagree.  I think that we should work up to an intense burn.  Spirochetes don’t like oxygen and working out aerobically provides oxygen to the tissues.  I think that the increased oxygen and the elevated body temperature actually kills spirochetes.

Don’t overdo it.  I can only work out hard every other day.  The other day I do stretches and situps and jump on the mini tramp to keep my body moving.

Here is what I’ve been doing.  I’m a runner and run several times a week.  I still need several naps per day and have a lot of pain (as of the end of 2009), but I’m still trying!

2010 Results

• 6/26/2010 – 28th (of about 85)  Gruesome Grizzly Trail 8K - UT (Time – 47:22)
• 4/24/2010 – 2nd (of about 50)  Gunnison Spring Run Off - UT (Time – 21:17)

2009 Results

• 11/7/2009 – 24th (of about 300)  Therapy Animals 5K - SLC, UT (Time – 22:15)
• 9/19/2009 – 19th (of 99) – Hidden Peak Challenge 6K – Snowbird, UT (Time – 1:05:13)
• 7/18/2009 – 56th (of about 90) – Battle at Big Springs 8K – Provo, UT (Time – 52:26)
• 6/6/2009 – 8th (of about 500) – Irace for MLD 5K – Bountiful, UT (Time – 20:53)
• 5/30/2009 – 31st (of about 70) – Gruesome Grizzly Trail 8K – Provo, UT (Time – 43:32)
• 5/23/2009 – 4th (of 80) – Scandinavian Festival 5K – Ephraim, UT (Time – 22:41)
• 5/2/2009 – 14th (of 33) – Timp Shadow Trail 5K – Provo, UT (Time – 27:56) Muddy Race!

If there are official online results from the race, then I link to them.

Keep Moving

My Dad has osteoporosis so my bone quality may not be related to Lyme Disease.  But my greatly impaired digestion and weakened state certainly didn’t help.

In talking with others with Lyme, osteoporosis doesn’t seem to be a common symptom, so just skip this post if it doesn’t apply to you.

I started this Grow Bone System by Vitamin Code on October 20, 2009.  I’ll do another Dexa Scan in a year and let you know my results!

I Love Fruit

I also wanted to share with you how I’ve been strengthening my teeth.  My teeth used to be so sensitive that I couldn’t eat apples, oranges, grapes, or many other fruits.

For years I’ve brushed my teeth right after meals.  Now I’ve read that the teeth are in a softer state right after eating and that you should not brush right after meals.  So I rinse my mouth out after eating, floss if I need to, and then rinse for a couple minutes with my homemade Xylitol mouthwash.  Xylitol actually strengthens bones and teeth.

I make this Xylitol mouthwash with about 1/2 Cup of Xylitol, nearly a quart of pure water, and about 30 drops of peppermint oil.  I just mix it up in a quart jar.  You may want to try less peppermint oil.  I like mine strong and minty.  

When using, I just take a mouthful and swish it around my mouth for a few minutes.  If I’m alone and I don’t need to open my mouth to talk to anyone, I may even keep it in for ten to fifteen minutes.  I spit it out afterwards, but it won’t hurt you to swallow some.  

If you swallow a lot it could loosen your bowels somewhat and give you diarrhea.

Now I can eat fruit again, and it doesn’t hurt when I brush my teeth!  If you have experience with Lyme and osteoporosis, let us know in the comments below what has helped you.

Around 2005 I started to have lots of intestinal pain.  Now, my gastrointestinal system has never worked easily or normally.  So that’s probably why that area started to hurt first.  

I wasn’t doing well, but tried to work around it and work through it.  Around 2006 I started going to doctors, and I don’t go to doctors unless I really need to.  I went about 12 years without seeing any doctor at all at one point, before the Lyme Disease.

At first the doctors thought it was Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).  I tried some treatments for IBS but most of them just increased the pain.  I considered exploratory surgery to see what was wrong in my abdomen.  I did a ten day fast at one point and that actually helped quite a bit to relieve the pain.

But the pain came back.  I had a colonoscopy done and an endoscopy, and the results were normal.  My joints started to hurt a lot.  One doctor did an “Upper GI Series” where you drink nasty stuff and then they take X-rays.  He thought I had an ulcer (but I didn’t) and I did unnecessary treatment for that.

My legs started getting really weak and I couldn’t stand very well.  Extreme fatigue set in and I needed several naps every day to get through.  These symptoms came on gradually over many months and years.

I went to a neurologist, an endocrinologist, and a rheumatic specialist.  I had a massive case of Candida on top of everything else and went to a specialist for that, which did help some.

Major Fatigue

All this time I continued to work in my own business.  I just dragged myself to my computer between naps to do more work.  Then depression and memory loss started also and I was a real basket case.

One doctor thought I had gall bladder disease and recommended I have my gall bladder taken out.  We did that but it was a mistake and only made digestion more difficult than it already was!

Finally one Naturopathic Doctor (in late 2008) asked me, “Have you ever been tested for Lyme Disease?”  I knew little about it and said no.  We did a Western Blot test and it came back positive!

This diagnosis was later confirmed by a low score on the CD57 blood test.  I’ll provide more info on the CD57 test in another post.

It took three years to get diagnosed and I hope this site will help some people to get the proper tests and treatment early on.  Once you know what is going on, then you can make some progress.

I use about 1 Cup of Epsom Salts in a hot bath.  Some say to soak in the epsom salt bath for 20 to 30 minutes but I prefer about 45 to 60 minutes.  But then, I use the bath as one of my naps.  

That’s how I fit my bath into my schedule nearly every day.

Epsom Salts

Sometimes I add a cup of baking soda or about 10 drops of Lavender Oil.  But I think the Epsom Salt is what really helps me detox through the skin.  I also absorb the magnesium through the skin and that may account for some of the improvement also.

I usually feel totally fatigued and brain foggy after working for a couple of hours in the afternoon.  I go into the bath and afterward feel more energetic and more hopeful about life.  My pain is reduced, and I can work out, or work on the computer a bit more.

Give it a try!

What other ingredients have you used in healing baths?

I do really lean toward natural treatments, but I have to say that Gabapentin (generic for Neurontin) has helped me incredibly.

Get Good Sleep

I first tried Lyrica for the nerve pain and I was able to sleep deeply for the first time in years!  Lyrica was pretty expensive so I researched and found that Gabapentin was similar in makeup.  They both kind of keep the nerves from firing so excessively.  Gabapentin is much, much cheaper.

So I got the Gabapentin and found it helped in the same ways.  I was able to focus better while working and it even stopped my memory loss.  During naps and during the night, I was able to drop into the deeper stages of sleep.

No wonder I was so exhausted all the time!  For years I’d not been getting deep sleep, with my body fighting all the time.

Gabapentin is not a cure, but it helped me a lot.

I’m not claiming that Gabapentin is a treatment for Lyme Disease.  It doesn’t kill the borrelia spirochete.  However, it sure made life more livable for me, so I’d thought I’d pass it on.  I take 300 mg three times a day.

Please add your comments and experiences below.

I finally watched “Under Our Skin” and came away with many emotions.  

Positive comments about the film

1.  The film shows the seriousness of Lyme Disease, both in the numbers of people who get it and in the severity of the symptoms.

2.  It also explains many of the political and economic reasons that Lyme is going undiagnosed for so many people, and why so many doctors refuse to recognize it properly.

3.  This film will help expand awareness, and also help friends and family of Lyme patients to understand more of what they are going through.

Ways the film could be so much better

Under Our Skin DVD

1.  On my DVD, the sound and the picture are slightly off, so that the words don’t match the mouth movements.  This is a tad bit annoying after a while.

2.  The film doesn’t explore any alternative treatments for Lyme.  they don’t explore rife machines, chelation, oxygen treatments, herbs, miracle mineral supplement, colloidal silver, or anything!  This is a major weakness in my view.  All they present is that long term antiobiotics are the way to heal.  Hogwash (in my opinion).

3.  They don’t talk about any of the testing methods and the pros and cons of each.  I think the movie would be so much better if they talked about the Western Blot and the weaknesses of that test, the CD57 test, the borrelia blood tests, and more.

You can get the film yourself at Under Our Skin.  I was grateful that I’m not as bad off as some of the Lyme sufferers in the movie.  I was disappointed that so many of them are still sick after many years.  I became angry as the movie showed the doctors losing their licenses for helping Lyme patients.

What did you think of the movie?  Add your comments below:

Central Florida Research Lab 

This lab actually tests for borrelia in a blood sample, as well as the usual Western Blot tests.

Klinghardt Neurobiology

Dr. Klinghardt is one of the leaders in Lyme Disease treatment and you can find many articles on his site about testing, treatment, and more.

Free Digital books on Lyme Disease from Jenna Smith