Accupuncture & Other alternative therapies

[renschwa]

Hello Everyone-

Just wondering if any of you out there have tried or read about employing accupuncture and/or other alternative therapies while in treatment for lyme disease. I've also considered chiropractic care. All of this would obviously be in concert with antibiotic use. I would never rely soley on alternative methods to fight this crazy disease. Just wondering what you all think/have experienced/have read. It seems that people either swear by or despise chiro care and/or accunpuncture so I'm left a little confused... Deciding whether to try it-one or the other or both...

I have started massage therapy once a week for about 3 weeks now. It's surely a nice treat at the very least...

[wonko]

My chiro is billed to my insurance as a specialist, which costs me a lot less than professional massage.  But I know not everyone is open to the adjustments done by chiros, and not all insurance covers chiro care.

Lots of plans, including mine, do have a discounted rate for certain alternative treatments, though it can take digging and work to figure out to what you are entitled and how to make sure you get it.

[Hope75]

I'm all for massage, but don't know how to get it paid for by health insurance.  Would love to find out how...

[JackieCalifornia]

Re monotherapy

My LLMD has used only combinations of abx previously, but has prescribed only doxycycline for my current infection of Lyme and a coinfection.  Perhaps doxy has some cyst-breaking qualities, but I don't know.

[duchess70]

I guess we can say I'm new to treatment. It has been 2 weeks of Doxy, 4 weeks prior to it herbal protocol. I was so afraid of Herxing, feeling physically bad, when I started abx. Instead I'm experiencing more neurological symptoms. Totally forgetting things, people's names, dizzy,  felt disoriented on my own street, depressed, crying spells, spending days in bed.
I think I have read everything that it is out there about Lyme. Definitely all the guidelines from ILADS. I just need to order my body to start doing some exercise. The only action my muscles get is a massage.
What abx have you been taking and for how long?

[wonko]

Yes, while my massage treatment did trigger one pretty big Herx, overall I find it to be a beneficial integrative part of my Lyme treatment.  Like lots of people with Lyme, inflammation is a major issue for me.  I literally become "puffy" during Herx reactions.  The massage helps move the inflammation, which is key to recovering from those nasty Herx symptoms.

Are you new to treatment?  More and more LLMD's are using combination therapy as opposed to "monotherapy" relying on only a single antibiotic.  I know for me I've experienced more noticeable reactions to combination therapy.  

[duchess70]

I'm having a full body 1 hour massage once a week. Today was feeling very miserably, depressed, tense, had headache. Massage relieves it all. And when you do it regularly accumulative effect of it is great and can make a difference in how you feel. Thinking about going back to my acupuncturist. I used to go regularly and I'm sure that those treatments for general health helped a lot to keep me not feeling as sick as I was supposed to feel. As doctor said, I look too well for someone with such low numbers  on CD-57 blood tests and  9 bands of Lyme. Doing whole nine yards of herbal protocol plus 400 mg Doxy for 2 month. Also waiting for arrival of infrared sauna. I tried one at LLMD office and loved it how it made me feel right away. I would say go for treatment and see what kinda reaction would you get. Get better :)

[dugganwi]

I have started a natural protocol for treating my Lymes. About 13 homeopathic and herbal supplements in all. I read that many conventional treatment protocols for Lyme (antibiotics) do not address the issue of "die off" and toxin removal. I am also using a machine called a Pulsar machine which is similar to a Rife machine. Right after my Pulsar treatments I notice  a HUGE die off reaction and it lasts for a few days afterwards. I am doing this under the care of my LLMD. I am also doing Foot Detox baths right after my Pulsar sessions to help remove the toxins. I also rented a FIR Infared Sauna with really helps you sweat out the toxins caused by die off and lyme in general. There is also research that shows increasing body temperature can really help kill off Lyme. Lyme is very sensitive to heat.

[JackieCalifornia]

Wonko has recently posted here somewhere about her adventures with deep tissue massage.  As I recall, she got a pretty decent sized Herx out of the experience.

[22dreams]

My sister was told by her former LLMD not to get massage. However, before she knew she had lyme, acupuncture and chinese herbal medicine kept her symptoms relatively under control until major external stressors entered the picture.

so: good-- helped symptoms at the time.
bad: delayed her diagnosis.

[JackieCalifornia]

You go!  Be brave -- you're doing the right thing.  

Herxing for me was not nearly as bad as the disease; I hope the same for you.

[juliva]

My LLDO told me to get message's on my first visit with him today, I didn't ask he made the suggestion. I guess it maybe worth a try. I start abx tomorrow.

[renschwa]

I have been finding my massages helpful and plan to stick with them, kind of wish I started sooner.  But when I told my LLMD that I was starting massage tx 2 weeks ago, she said I think massage would be great for you "right now." Now whether that mean that I've gotten to a certain point in Lyme treatment that she now thinks its ok, I'm not really sure when she meant by that...LLMD says I'm coming to the end of treatment, maybe by July I'll be off Abx.

But I am usually sore for a day or so after massage but it's bearable.

It does make sense that massage releases toxins, and that lyme toxins would be included in that...

Wonko, I hope massage helps you get over the next Lyme bridge w/ only minimal discomfort!

[ErinZoe23]

Dont sound far fetched at all! I went to massage school and was a massage therapist for awhile and does exactly what say.... I couldnt touch alot of people with multiple of things because its would progress there symptoms or disease alot.  our main objective in class was to break and release toxins from your body and then flush them out by massage. If you had a cold and was just in begining stage and got a massage then your cold would be in full blast because of the massage but end faster. Dont know all the technical terms havent practiced massage in awhile! but yes that is very true with massage

[wonko]

An update from me:  My chiro did a lot of deep tissue massage at my last appointment.  While I felt great that morning, in the hours following the massage I started to have that "coming down with something" feeling that I often get during Herx reactions.  By afternoon, I was miserable and had to use sick leave to depart early from work.

A couple of days later and I'm still in tough shape!  Yesterday I was having trouble lifting my feet enough to walk.  I have a lot of brain fog and shooting pains down my arms/legs.  Again, prior to the deep tissue I was feeling close to the best I ever have since treatment.

I want to discuss this reaction with both the chiro and my LLMD, but in the meantime my online reading has uncovered that this Herx-like reaction is not so uncommon in Lyme patients who get deep massage.  Knowing that Lyme bacteria like to hide in the body tissues, the pain I'm experiencing now could very well be productive, a result of the massage pushing the bugs out into the open when my immune system + antibiotics could reach it.  

If in fact my current pain is healing, then I don't mind at all and am actually excited to have found another route to kill bugs.  I know it sounds far-fetched, I really didn't believe it was happening at first, but this is the strongest "Herx-like" response I've had in a long time!  I'll post again after getting the opinion of my doctors.

Ugh, but for now back to bed!

[ErinZoe23]

I was sent to a physologist person thingy. not for me but could be for you. I went for pain and anxiety i have gotten since my disease (wich is still just MS...+ for lyme tho but still waiting to see a doctor) Anywho tho she wanted to talk more about my past and everything that has ever happened to me and i dont need that! lol I pretty much sat there for an hour thinking and saying i already know this tell me something new im here for pain and anxiety. She gave me a cd for pain to take hime with positive thinking and guided imagery was realxing but still aint for me... I stopped going since last week  But if you need someone to talk to about life and im sure if i would of got more into and went to more sesions it could of benefit...It was called Mind Soul Body physology (that last word may be wrong)  Other then that i find when people give me massages helps the most for that time till it endS!! I wish it would never end! lol And stretching in the morning makes me more relaxed and not so tight

[gwcurt]

I don't have Lyme but have Connective Tissue and Neurological diseases. Accupuncture didn't help me. Yoga stretching helped a great deal along with mild excercise. Taking supplements regularly helped me with energy. Massage feels great but the muscle pain relief never seems to last very long for me, at most 3 days. Everyone is different, as long as your doctor doesn't feel it will hurt you, it doesn't hurt to try different things till you find what works for you. Good Luck

[renschwa]

thanks wonko!

[wonko]

I just recently started going to a chiropractor and I regret not doing so sooner.

I work with computers and have repetitive strain injuries.  While that is separate from the Lyme, the two seem to play off of each other, as the bunched up muscles from the strain injuries are aggravated by the inflammation from the Lyme.

Alternative therapies should always be a personal choice that is well-researched.  Just throwing in my testimonial for how well the chiro care is going for me.