The first and most common go-to treatment for Lyme Disease is antibiotics, lots of antibiotics. For many, a round or two of antibiotics works, especially when caught early in the disease stages.
For others, however, antibiotics alone are not enough.
Fortunately, there are many alternative therapies for Lyme disease that you can consider. If your family doctor is not familiar with alternative treatments, you must locate a Lyme literate doctor who not only knows about them but can provide them in their clinic.
Below are a few of the alternative therapies working to heal Lyme disease in many people worldwide.
Apheresis
Apheresis involves a blood donor, a patient, and a qualified medical doctor. This is not a regular blood transfusion, however.
With apheresis, a patient who has infected blood, as is valid with Lyme disease, needs replacement blood to eliminate the bacteria living in their bloodstream. They may not need all a donor’s blood. Some only need specific blood parts replaced.
For instance, some patients may need healthy platelets, while others may need healthy plasma. White and red blood cells can also be replaced using that of people who have been cleared to donate.
Many people are willing to donate blood. But not everyone will qualify.
The donor and their blood must pass rigorous testing to ensure there are no chemicals, toxins, diseases, or other impurities that could cause the patient more harm. Once cleared, the doctor can begin the process of apheresis.
Plasmapheresis
A common type of apheresis includes plasmapheresis or plasma exchange. In this procedure, your doctor will separate your blood’s liquid part, which is also called your plasma. This blood purification is especially helpful for people struggling with autoimmune issues.
Plasmapheresis is a medical procedure that should only be done by a trained medical practitioner. During the process, a machine is used to remove some of your blood. The machine separates your blood into three different categories.
The way your blood is separated can be done through either centrifugation or filtration.
During plasmapheresis, your doctor will remove the plasma that is causing problems. Once removed, your doctor has options. He or she can treat the plasma until it is healthy again and then return it to your blood. Or, they can replace your plasma with a healthier version.
Your doctor will not extract red or white blood cells or platelets because you only need plasma replacement. They will solely focus on plasma.
Red Cell Exchange
Another type of apheresis is red cell exchange, which would be used on an illness that originated from a tick bite or other parasite.
Red cell exchange is just that; you are exchanging your damaged red blood cells for healthy, new red blood cells. The new cells are donated and allow your doctor to extract only the red cells needed to make you healthy again.
Plateletpheresis
Plateletpheresis can help people who have injuries, extreme inflammation, and diseases, causing chronic inflammation. Most times, doctors will use remove your platelets, treat them, and then inject them into your body’s spots needed repair.
Hyperthermia
Fever is your body’s line of defense against infections. Rather than waiting around for your body to produce a fever on its own, doctors artificially induce a fever in your body to eliminate the bacteria in your bloodstream, helping you go back to living a disease-free lifestyle.
With Hyperthermia, your doctor increases your core body temperature a little bit at a time. Research has shown that even a small increase in temperature, like from 1 to 4 degrees, helps wake up the immune system and send it into battle.
Hyperthermia is not something you can try on your own at home with a friend. A trained physician must medically supervise it.
Your doctor will monitor your vital signs during the process and can lower your temperature quickly if needed. He or she can increase the temperature if required also.
Receiving Hyperthermia means you will be placed in a thermal chamber. Usually, your whole body rests in the chamber. Your doctor will increase your body’s temperature using infrared-A-irradiation.
After your fever has had time to work, your doctor will gradually lower your body’s temperature down to where it is considered healthy for your body.
Biofilm Eradication
Newer treatments for Lyme disease include regimens designed to break down the barriers of biofilms to destroy bacteria.
Biofilm eradication protocols do just this.
The biofilm eradication protocol combines anthracycline derivatives and antimicrobials that act on both the inside and the outside of cells. The Anthracycline activity works to prevent DNA and RNA synthesis, thus preventing the replication of persistent bacteria and their biofilm colonies.
This means the biofilms are attacked from the inside and the outside. They are broken down until they are no longer able to reproduce and form more biofilms. This protocol helps to rid the body of the entire biofilm, not just a portion of it like many antibiotics do.
Research has shown that if you don’t get the entire biofilm, even a small portion left behind can grow and protect bacteria related to Lyme disease. Meaning, it starts cycling through the stages mentioned above all over again.
That’s why it is so important to fight the biofilm in all stages of its development.
Use Your Stem Cells
Regenerative stem cell therapy is recommended after Lyme disease treatments. Once in your body, stem cells can split and duplicate to replenish other cells in the body.
Recommended for those in remission from Lyme, your Lyme doctor will create a specific treatment for you based on the particular cells you need. They can even put healthy cells in your brain and spinal cord, which will then send messages to areas in need of repair to promote healing.
Final Thought
To learn more about these alternative treatments for Lyme disease, or to learn of others, reach out to a Lyme literate doctor today. Together, you can create the right treatment plan to ease and likely eliminate your Lyme disease symptoms.