Japanese Knotweed (Resveratrol)

After reading Stephen Buhner's book, "Healing Lyme", I've decided to give some of the recommended herbs a try.  My first herbal trial will be with Resveratrol.  Stephen recommends that the herb comes from Japanese Knotweed (and is not the red wine source).  After searching and searching to find the right product, I've settled on Japanese Knotweed from Dragon Botanicals.  What I like about Reseveratrol is that it has immune modulating properties, which can be helpful for a variety of conditions.  It's also good that it can regulate the immune system if it was over on under active.  What I didn't like about the antibiotics is that the idea there was just "kill, kill, kill".  The problem is, they were killing everything.  The bad bacteria, the good bacteria, and my immune system.  As someone who has been on and off antibiotics for over two years, I am definitely not against antibiotics for Lyme, but I feel that at this point in my treatment it is necessary for me to take a step back from the antibiotics.  I will definitely post my progress and my experience with the new herbal protocol.  You can read more about this protocol on Stephen's website.

According to the book, "Healing Lyme", Buhner indicates that the actions of Japanese Knotweed are as follows: antibacterial, antiviral, antischistosomal, antispirochetal, antifungal, immunostimulant, immunomodulant, antiinflammatory, angiogenesis modulator, central nervous system relaxant, central nervous system protectant and anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiathersclerotic, antihyperlipidemic, antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, antineoplastic, vasodilator, inhibits platlet aggregation, inhibits eicosanoid synthesis, antithrombotic, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, oncogene inhibitor, antipyretic, cardioprotective, analgesic, antiulcer, hemostatic, and astringent. (1)

Reference:
1) Buhner, Stephen. (2005) Healing Lyme. Silver City: Raven Press.

My Favorite Products for the Cold & Flu Season

These are my must-haves during the cold and flu season.  In my opinion, they cut your healing time in half!  Zinc, echinacea, and vitamin C are all essentials for boosting the immune system and helping to protect against free radicals.

Gypsy Cold Care by Traditional Medicinals - uses pharmacopoeial quality herbs to create a healing blend.

Nature's Way Zinc Lozenges - tasty, sweetened with stevia, and a great way to protect yourself against free radicals during the winter.

Zand Echinacea & Zinc Herbalozenge - these taste great and have no cane sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Trader Joe's Organic Raw Honey - mix with tea or eat it raw to coat your throat.

Solgar Esater-C (500mg) - Ester-C is more easily absorbed by the body, so it increases the chance that your body will get the most from this vitamin.

Detox & Disease

Detoxification seems to be such an important component in battling Lyme disease or any chronic illness.  If your detox pathways are blocked, then you are essentially "spinning your wheels".  You want to make sure this is not the case, and that your body is functioning at max capacity.  Here are some suggestions for implementing detox into your regimen.

Products, services, & Things to try at home:

• Infared Sauna - These saunas warm the body in the same manner as natural sunlight, but without the side effects of the sun.  This heat therapy increases circulation and stimulates the sweat glands that cleanse and detoxify the skin.  These saunas have also been reported to reduce pain and speed up the healing process.  Read about the 7 benefits of using an infared sauna.  Looking to buy one for home use?  Check out these portable devices [link 1, link 2] (I am in no way endorsing these, they have just been recommended by others).
• Lymphatic Drainage - This is a type of massage that helps to stimulate the lymphatic system.  Many people with Lyme and other chronic illnesses (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, etc.) have found it to be very helpful in their recovery.  Read more about lymph drainage.
• Skin Brushing - our skin is responsible for 25% of our detoxification each day.  Body brushing stimulates the lymphatic system so the lymph can circulate through out the body and travel back to the large vessels for excretion.  Read more about skin brushing.
• Epsom Salt & Baking Soda Baths - These help to remove toxins from your skin.  Add 1-2 cups of salts or 3-4 tablespoons of baking soda and soak for 20-30 minutes.
• Lemon Juice Tea - A lemon has 3x the amount of vitamin C as an orange.  Juice one lemon and pour it into a mug.  Add boiling water and a pinch of stevia.  Drink up!
• Smilax - Many naturopaths and herbalists report that Smilax assists in binding neurotoxins to help remove them from your system more quickly and efficiently.  I use the formula from RestorMedicine, although I'm sure there are plenty of other formulas out there.
• Green Drinks - a green powder with chlorophyll is great for helping your body to cleanse itself of toxins.  I really like Nanogreens, they've even got 10 servings of fruits & veggies mixed right in.

Some Helpful Articles (Thanks to the MDJunction Community for bringing these articles to my attention) about Lyme disease and detoxification:

• Detoxification is a vital part of the Lyme cure
• Detoxification is important during Lyme treatment
• Cleansing Neurotoxin Overload

In A Treatment Rut

I've been going back and forth as to what the next move in my treatment plan should be.  It seems that my body is getting sick of antibiotics- or perhaps it's just getting sick... I'm not really sure.  Since my recent bout of gastritis is really limiting the amount of healthy food I can consume, I get nervous about adding too much to my regimen.  As I see it now, here are my options:

1) Detox.  My naturopath recommended a 30-day gentle homeopathic regimen by Heel.  My body has been through a lot and has had a lot of medicine (antibiotics, antiparasitics, etc.) going into from a long period of time.  It might need a thorough cleaning....

2) Go natural.  I've been reading more about Stephen Buhner's protocol.  I've been on Cat's claw in the past and seemed to have good results.  I'm also interested in trying Teasel root after reading some of the literature on it's healing properties.  I've been on Smilax for a while now, and it seems that these three herbs combined could be quite a nice cocktail.

3) Resume the hardcore meds.  I feel that I prematurely stopped taking antibiotics before, and I relapsed...  Therefore, I'm scared of the same thing happening again.  Some experts say that you should remain on antibiotics until you are symptom-free for three months.  I am most certainly not symptom-free, and I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable taking antibiotics for as long as it may take to rid my symptoms.  BUT- I will say that my fatigue and upper back have improved since being on the antibiotic injections.  The other reason I am considering this option is because I have yet to take a cyst buster (which is necessary to kill Lyme in it's cyst form, which it often morphs into to "hide" from the body or antibiotics) while on the injections.  I think this would be a very potent, but potentially useful treatment combination.  I would need do it for at least a few months for it to be effective (since the borrelia life cycle is every 3-4 weeks).

So.... those are the options I'm left with.  For now, I think I will let my stomach call the shots.  Hopefully as that continues to heal, I'll be able to decide which one of these avenues I'm ready to take.  Ideally, I'd like to incorporate all of the above, my main concern for now is where to start.  One reason I'm leaning toward the antibiotic route is because I'd like to just power through it for a few more months and then be done with it.  Not that it will be the end of my treatment, but I'd like to be done with antibiotics.  I think my body will need to be rebalanced once I'm done killing off all of the good and bad bacteria in my body, and I'm anxious to start doing that.  It's my true belief that the body must be balanced to heal itself, and I'm looking forward to getting "balanced".

Being Smart about the Natural Approach

Many people are skeptical when it comes to treating things naturally, although it seems that may be starting to slowly change.  More and more people are reporting more failures with conventional treatments and are left to look to alternative approaches to address their needs.  Since the internet is often filled with conflicting information, here are some reliable resources to set you on the right track when treating things more naturally.

Some resources worth checking out if you're interested in a more natural or comprehensive approach:

Learn about natural medicine:

• Medline Plus - search specific herbs & supplements to find out about potential risks, drug interactions, and proven effectiveness

Find a Naturopath:

• American Association of Naturopathic Physicians - Click on "Find a Doctor"

Find a doctor who practices integrative medicine:

• American College for Advancement in Medicine - Click on "Health Resources" to locate a doctor in your area

Find alternative healthcare providers:

• Medfinds - Enter your search criteria and find a local practitioner or therapist

Find a massage therapist:

• Upledger Institute - click on massage specialties (ex. craniosacral, etc.) to find a practitioner

What is EFT?

EFT stands for "Emotional Freedom Technique".  It is an alternative therapy to deal with stress, PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, and more.  It is said to be helpful for many with chronic illness.

My naturopath recently recommended EFT to help with PTSD associated with my Lyme disease.  Unfortunately, when you have multiple scary episodes (physically and/or emotionally) that do not respond to conventional treatments, you can be very traumatized by these events.  That trauma sets off a cycle of fearing the recurrence of the events.  Believe me- being in excruciating and crippling pain for prolonged periods of time (without relief by medication) can really mess with your head!  Even though I thought EFT looked a little crazy when I watched some YouTube videos about it, I still decided to give it a try.  I'll try anything at least once!

EFT is also commonly referred to as the "tapping technique".  Like in acupuncture, it taps into certain meridians, and it was actually referred as "acupuncture for the emotions" by my practitioner.  So basically, there are these points that you tap while reliving a trauma or saying a predetermined thought or phrase.  If you are working on overcoming a trauma, you start of by picturing that event before you begin tapping and you rate your emotions surrounding that event on a scale of 1-10.  Your practitioner will then guide you through the trauma going through a series of thoughts and emotions that you had during your experience.  After several rounds of tapping, you will then check back in with yourself and see if your original number has changed.  You continue this process until you have "cleared" this trauma or emotion.  Below is a diagram showing the tapping points:

Here is a site that features the above diagram and provides the various steps to completing EFT.  Below is a video that shows an example of tapping:



And here is my practitioner speaking about EFT:

Recipe of the Month - Immune Boosting Raw Smoothie

I might be a little overly ambitious for starting a recipe of the week post (and it may change to recipe of the month if I can't keep up), but I'm going to give it a try.  Mainly because I'm really trying to incorporate more vegetables into my diet and we frequently get items from our CSA share that we don't know what to do with.  This recipe serves 2-4, so I highly recommend reducing the amount of ingredients if you're only making one for yourself.

Ingredients:
-2 apples, cored (I peel them, not sure if that is necessary though)
-2 ripe pears, cored (again, I peel them too)
-1-2 cups of water (preferably filtered)
-2 lemons, juiced
-1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & sliced
-5 kale leaves, rinsed & torn
-1/2 - 1 cup of baby spinach
-chopped or shredded cabbage

1. Blend apple, pear, water, and lemon until smooth and creamy.
2. Add ginger, kale, baby spinach, and cabbage and blend until smooth.
3. Add water for a thinner consistency.  Add an extra pear or apple if it isn't sweet enough for you.

Tips & Modifications: 

*I've never used kale for this recipe because I've yet to find organic kale at a local grocery store.  

*Since the smoothie is room temperature, you might want to add some ice cubes or a few frozen berries to make it cool like a smoothie should be!  

*Don't skip the ginger- it aids your body in easily digesting this raw smoothie.

I know this might not sound like the most delicious smoothie, but I assure you it is quite tasty.  A necessity for the cold & flu season or for an every day energy boost.  The greens offer powerful phytochemicals, the cabbage is a potent food that affects many pathways in the body, ginger is a powerful anti-inflammatory, and the lemon is rich in vitamin C and bioflavonoids.

Image: gameanna / FreeDigitalPhotos.net