Lyme Disease

Living in the Northwest corner of Connecticut most people here either know someone who has had Lyme disease or had it themselves. This area has the highest incidence of Lyme disease in the world. It is a disease caused by the bacteria Borrellia burgdorferi and transmitted by ticks.

The sign people look for with Lyme disease is the bulls eye rash. Unfortunately this only occurs in 37% of cases of Lyme disease. Many people are infected with the bacteria and never see the rash. Symptoms of Lyme disease can range from typical joint pain, Bell's palsy, and numbness in various parts of the body, to severe fatigue and headaches to name just a few.

When it comes to treatment Doxycycline is the drug of choice for Lyme disease. When caught early Doxycycline has a good record of eradicating the bacteria. Sometimes though this is not enough and people experience a recurrence of their symptoms after stopping the drug. This happens because the Doxycycline can push the bacteria into its cystic form where antibiotics are unable to kill it.

Herbal therapies for Lyme disease have shown promising results when used both in combination with antibiotics and in isolation. These herbal therapies including Cat's claw, Andrographis, Sarsasparilla, and Teasle have been shown to kill Borrellia even in it's cystic form. It is often necessary also to treat gut problems that have been caused by the long treatment with Doxycycline. In these cases it is often necessary to extend the treatment to the gut for repair. Probiotics are always a good choice in this circumstance.

If you are someone battling Lyme disease, acute or chronic, Naturopathic medicine may just be your solution!