Standard Lyme disease treatments often fall short when dealing with chronic infections, but blood cleansing therapies like apheresis and plasmapheresis remove toxins, inflammatory proteins, and immune triggers from the bloodstream. Science has proven that when the body needs help recovering from long-term illness, physically removing the triggers can bring healing at a much deeper level. This leads to lasting symptom relief.
Living with chronic Lyme disease and co-infections can make it feel like you are fighting an uphill battle every single day. When traditional treatments don’t seem to phase your symptoms, it is very easy to feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Are there solutions that go beyond a standard regimen of antibiotics?
The answer is yes.
Blood cleansing therapies, like apheresis and plasmapheresis, can make an incredible difference in how you feel when used as part of a comprehensive, personalized treatment plan. In this article, we will walk you through the science behind these treatments and how they may offer you the symptom relief you have been seeking.
What Exactly is Blood “Cleansing”?
We have seen the faces of many patients over the years when we have mentioned this treatment. So, before we move on, let’s answer the question we know you are probably already thinking—what in the world is blood cleansing?
Blood cleansing, when it comes to chronic Lyme disease, involves the use of a group of medically-established procedures designed to remove harmful substances circulating within the bloodstream, such as toxins, inflammatory proteins, pathogen debris, immune complexes, or other various biological triggers. Each of these can contribute to systemic inflammation, autoimmune reactions, and ongoing symptoms.
Let’s break it down a little more.
Because the body can become overwhelmed by all of these things floating in the bloodstream, it cannot efficiently clear them out on its own, resulting in chronic symptoms. This is where blood cleansing procedures come in. They are often needed in patients who have successfully responded to treatments reducing the pathogen, yet still have persistent symptoms.
Using various techniques, the blood is cleared, and relief is felt.
Apheresis—The Foundation of Blood Cleansing Treatment
Therapeutic apheresis is often the umbrella term used for all the different procedures that can remove unwanted elements from the blood. It is performed using a machine that draws blood from the patient and separates it into components, including plasma, platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. It then removes or treats targeted elements before returning the cleansed blood to the patient.
In other words, it is manually doing what the body couldn’t do itself. All of this can be done in just a few hours while being carefully monitored by the highly trained specialists in our clinic.
Plasmapheresis or Plasma Exchange
Sometimes referred to as plasma exchange, plasmapheresis is widely used for blood cleansing. As its name suggests, this treatment focuses on the plasma, which is the liquid portion of the blood that contains proteins, antibodies, immune complexes, and substances associated with disease that contribute to inflammation, autoimmunity, and chronic symptoms.
During the procedure, the plasma is removed and replaced with a healthy substitute, like donor plasma, saline, or albumin. It is then returned to the body. This is a swift way to significantly reduce the concentration of those toxins and inflammatory proteins that are fueling your symptoms.
Clinical research highly supports plasmapheresis as an effective intervention, and it is regularly used by our team at Lyme Mexico Clinic. We have found it to be very valuable for patients who are not responding to more conventional therapies.
Red Cell Exchange to Reset the Blood
Another blood-cleansing treatment you may encounter is known as red cell exchange. It is used when red blood cells are infected or dysfunctional and replaced with red cells from a healthy donor.
Red cell exchange is ideal for those patients in whom the blood cells are overloaded with pathogens or blood-borne parasites that are causing systemic or neurological symptoms. By reducing the number of infected cells quickly, red cell exchange can alleviate symptoms and ease systemic stress faster than many other interventions.
Extracorporeal Photopheresis (ECP)
Extracorporeal photopheresis is yet another advanced blood-cleansing approach that has been proven effective by researchers. It involves removing certain white blood cells so that they may be treated with a photosensitizing agent and ultraviolet (UV) light, before being returned to the bloodstream.
The process changes cell function that can help calm an exaggerated immune response and promote regulation. We have found it to be most effective when addressing autoimmune complications, as it stabilizes the system.
Why Blood Cleansing Treatment Matters For Lyme Patients
Patients suffering from chronic Lyme disease do not suffer from pathogens alone, but from the persistent inflammation and immune dysregulation that seem to follow a long-term infection. It is not all that unusual for the body to struggle when clearing out the toxins and other debris on its own. Even the most aggressive antimicrobial therapy cannot leave patients feeling a sense of relief.
Blood cleansing has proven itself to be an effective treatment in these situations. When standard approaches just don’t seem to be enough, apheresis and others can be a game-changer, bringing the patient a transformative experience.
Choosing the right approach, blood cleansing can help reset the immune system, reduce systemic inflammation, remove toxins, and, of course, provide symptom relief. It can breathe life and hope into patients who have felt trapped by their illness.
Integrating this procedure into a personalized, comprehensive treatment plan can be powerful. For instance, combining apheresis with one or more of the following: oxidative therapies, immune modulation, antioxidant support, detoxification therapies, antimicrobials, and biofilm eradication provides a multi-modal strategy that can reduce pathogen load, calm inflammation, and strengthen immune function.
Blood Cleansing at Lyme Mexico Clinic
Have you been feeling like your symptoms persist despite all the standard Lyme disease treatments? Blood cleansing treatments could be the answer you have been looking for.
Therapies such as apheresis, plasmapheresis, photopheresis, and red cell exchange are scientifically proven methods of removing harmful triggers and supporting healing at a much deeper level. You could feel less inflamed and more in control of your own body when you have relief from the right treatment.
If you are ready to learn more about blood cleansing and whether or not it could be right for you, reach out today to our team of specialists at Lyme Mexico Clinic. Travel outside the country, such as outside the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, or New Zealand and find alternate treatments that will give you relief.
Schedule a consultation and become a patient today.