Many patients come to me saying that they have Lyme disease. They were diagnosed by someone years ago and had multiple rounds of antibiotics and other treatments. They may have had some improvement, but then always get worse again. We do testing on other patients that are chronically ill and find Lyme or co-infections as a potential cause and they did not have any idea that they had it or may have it. The CDC says that there are 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease reported each year. Let me explain some basics.
Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia. There are many strains that have now been identified besides B. burgdorferi. Some are only found outside the United States, like in Europe, but are strangely showing up here now. Borrelia is a spirochete, a different kind of organism. It can exist in the blood as a spirochete, but can also form a cyst like structure (persister form) and hide in tissues, evading the immune system and antibiotics. Hence the difficulty getting rid of it. It produces a biofilm to protect it from antibiotics.
Borrelia produces a toxin that is a Biotoxin, like Mycotoxin and Ribotoxin from toxic mold and bacteria in water damaged buildings (WDB). Just like there are certain genetic types (HLA) that are susceptible to mold and bacterial toxins in WDB’s, there are HLA types that are susceptible to Borrelia toxins. While 24% of the population is HLA susceptible to WDB’s, 20% are HLA susceptible to Borrelia.
Borrelia is transmitted by certain ticks, typically the deer tick (backlegged tick), but there are others. There are hundreds of types of ticks and only a few transmit Borrelia. While areas of high concentration (endemic areas) used to be primarily in the Northeast US, it has spread to many other areas of the country due to climate change and travel. Lyme disease can be an acute infection with a fever and characteristic rash, or become chronic in HLA susceptible patients. Many patients never recall the tick bite, rash or other initial signs of a bite.
Along with Lyme disease there are so-called co-infections. They may transmit from a tick bite with the Borrelia or may exist alone. Often, these are through tick vectors, but there is good evidence they can be spread by lice. These include Babesia, Bartonella, and Ehrlichia (Anaplasma). While certain organisms have specific symptoms that may give us a clue to their presence, most often the symptoms overlap with CIRS in general.
Diagnosing Lyme and co-infections is very difficult. The blood testing available is not 100% accurate and may miss them. I tend to use MDL as they have a strong track record and are more affordable than Igenix. Symptoms can look like other things, like CIRS from a WDB. Antibiotics may make someone feel better because some (like Doxycycline) have anti-inflammatory properties also. A strong reaction to attempts to kill them (Herxheimer) may be a clue. Sometimes, we just do a trial of treatment carefully and see how patients react.
Treatment for Lyme and co-infections is very difficult as patients can be extremely sensitive to attempts to kill the organisms. I believe in following the Shoemaker protocol for all Biotoxins, regardless of the cause. Get out of exposure and start detoxification with binders to remove the toxins. The vast majority of my patients with Lyme disease and co-infections also have CIRS from WDB’s, so I address that first or they will never feel better and will potentially react violently to Lyme treatments. If there are COVID shot issues (Vaccine Injury), that also needs to be dealt with before treatment to kill the organisms. Histamine issues can make treatment very difficult, so I address those beforehand also.
For Lyme and co-infections, there are two camps. One wants to kill them with antibiotics, which usually include several for long periods of time. This creates huge gut damage and further immune dysregulation. The second camp uses herbal antimicrobials that are more gentle. Studies show that the outcomes from traditional antibiotics and herbal antimicrobials are similar with less side effects in the latter treatment group. I usually go in this direction. Other natural treatments can be used to destroy biofilms and heal the gut.
Lyme disease and co-infections can be successfully treated and patients can have a normal life again. However, you have to pay strict attention to detail and treat CIRS as a whole.