If there is ever another condition with more confusion and controversy, I would like to know!
Lyme disease is a serious infectious disease that presents with a variety of symptoms, from debilitating neurological and/or arthritic conditions to extreme emotional and physical exhaustion. Lyme disease can effect all organ systems in the body, from the heart to the brain, and can affect all physiological functions. The bacterium that causes Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, can evade the immune system and survive through a multitude of biological forms. From a cystic or dormant form to a cell wall deficient or invasive L-form, Lyme disease requires a variety of treatments to effectively eradicate this infection from the body. There’s no question. It takes a lot of work, but complete resolution of the infection is possible in as little as 3 months.
What is very important about our treatment of Lyme Disease is that Dr Davies tries to avoid the use of high dose antibiotics at all costs. Using functional medicine, the goal with Lyme patients needs to be to help their bodies get stronger to be able to fight the infection on their own. Using a series of testing we can determine where the body is week as well as track the progress of recovery with follow up testing. Most often, Dr Davies follows the Marshall Protocol in patients that qualify. More about this approach here. Dr Davies also supports his treatments with the use of hyperthermia, which may be done by him or done at home with the purchase of appropriate equipment. It may also be possible that Dr Davies refers a person on for more aggressive care, if needed.
Commonly, people are suffering from a host of symptoms at the time of identifying the Lyme infection. Identification is not easy in itself. At Westcoast Integrative Health we use the latest testing in the identification of Lyme Disease. Western blot testing against a host of surface proteins using a combination of IgG and IgM antibodies are commonly required to identify the Lyme infection, but also a new test called an Immunoblot allows the quantification of infection in the body.
If you feel that Lyme disease or any number of coinfections (babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, bartonella, mycoplasma, STARI, tularemia among others) are a concern for you, please consider at least a consultation with Dr Davies.
Check out this symptom chart to see if you have any of these concerns – http://www.lyme-symptoms.com/LymeCoinfectionChart.html