If caught early, this is usually the case as antibiotic treatment can eradicate the infection. Unfortunately, some cases are detected in a late stage and may be partially or non- responsive to antibiotic therapy. Decisions as to long term use of oral and intravenous antibiotics as well as natural alternatives will be discussed.

Lyme disease is usually transmitted by a deer tick that carries a spirochete (Borellia Burgdorferi). When transmission occurs many people will exhibit a bulls-eye rash, but the absence of this rash is fairly common. Many Lyme patients have no memory of a rash so they are not clued into the possibility of Lyme infection. Symptoms of Lyme can be very varied and include fever, weakness, fatigue, joint and/or muscle pain, numbness, tingling, heart involvement, memory deficit, blurry vision, anxiety attacks, and depression. Symptoms can easily be confused with Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and even Epstein-Barr Virus.

The diagnosis of Lyme disease is frequently made through a blood test but sometimes these tests are not accurate and it is not uncommon to see patients have three Lyme tests done. Other tests include a three sample in three days- urine analysis, and testing of the cerebral spinal fluid via a spinal tap. A positive test will mean treatment with antibiotics, usually a three-week dosage of amoxicillin or doxycycline. If the doctor believes your case is chronic and not caught in the first several months of exposure, intravenous antibiotic therapy may be utilized if oral antibiotics seem to be non- responsive. Intravenous therapy may go several weeks or several months and in some cases longer. There are some doctors that may treat with antibiotic therapy based on symptoms despite any positive lab findings. This sometimes may be appropriate especially in an early stage if a clinical picture warrants treatment and is usually left up to the doctor’s discretion and experience. Untreated Lyme can be devastating and over treatment with antibiotics that are not appropriate can be equally or more devastating.

If any lab tests for Lyme disease are positive treatment with antibiotics is appropriate. Follow-up lab tests that no longer demonstrate infection should be performed to determine the length and effectiveness of treatment. The absence of positive lab findings will usually mean the end of antibiotic therapy although many patients will still present clinical symptoms. From my observations, people that go beyond several months or have gone up to six months do not further benefit from antibiotic treatment although many feel an exasperation of symptoms without the antibiotics. At this point I believe the toxicity of the antibiotics to the liver and kidneys and the susceptibility to candida infections warrants discontinuing antibiotic therapy. An infection probably no longer exists and what you are dealing with is an overactive immune system that needs to be retrained.

We propose a model of what we believe is going on with chronic Lyme disease and offer alternative treatment options for the musculo-skeletal and neurological effects of Lyme disease that are extremely viable. Bio-energetic medicine proposes that all matter and pathogens (spirochetes, viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc.) all resonate and give off their own unique vibrational frequency. Through technological advances these patterns of vibrational frequencies can be measured and duplicated and captured in what we call energetic vials. Through manual muscle resistance testing sometimes referred to as kinesiology testing, a strong muscle will weaken when a patient holds an energetic vial that resonates at a similar frequency as to the once active spirochete in their body. The immune system has memory cells and even after an infection, (in this case Lyme disease) is resolved through antibiotics the immune system may still react as if the pathogen is present. The weakening of a strong muscle to a bio-energetic spirochete vial is suggestive of an immune system that is still responding as if there is an active infection.

Treatment involves holding the appropriate vial while the spine is stimulated and accupressure points are stimulated. What is actually being accomplished is that a vibrational frequency is being overlapped onto a similar vibrational frequency that is resonating from the body, which will cancel and negate the immune systems response to a pathogen that is no longer active. This tells the body to stop responding to a pathogen that is no longer there. From having an infection the body mounts an attack on wherever the Lyme once was and these attack sites need to be shut down for the body to recuperate Similar treatments will be continued to tell the immune system to stop attacking the various sites such as cerebral spinal fluid, nerves, fascia, tendons, ligaments, muscle tissue, synovial fluid, bursa sacs, etc. Homeopathic remedies are extremely useful to help restore organ and tissue function and repair the normal detoxification processes of the body.

This technique is extremely similar and sometimes identical to the Jaffe- Mellor technique to help reverse the effects of arthritis and fibromyalgia, which appeared in last month’s issue. Other factors that may be involved in any chronic condition that does not respond to treatment is hypercoagulation of the blood whereby fibrin deposits on the endothelial cells of the blood vessels preventing nutrients to leave the blood vessel to go to their target destination. Infections and antibiotics wipe out many nutrients from the body. Repair requires nutrients. If nutrient availability is hampered repair cannot be accomplished. There is effective supplementation to remove fibrin depositions and improve nutrient delivery. Thymus function could have been compromised due to chronic adrenal exhaustion, again from the Lyme or antibiotic use, and this would also affect the body’s ability to absorb nutrients on a cellular level, in this case not due to fibrin’s deposition on the blood vessel.

There are many variables to consider with chronic Lyme disease but a knowledgeable experienced practitioner can usually make a dramatic quality of life improvement for those sufferers.

Dr. Silverman is a chiropractor and state certified nutritionist who has been in practice for 20 years. He has taught college level courses in holistic health and nutrition and has appeared on many TV and radio shows including the Gary Null show and News 12. He has lectured and consulted for several homeopathic and nutritional companies and has two offices, one in Hauppauge (631-724-6780) and one in Roslyn (516-484- 0776.)