neuroborelliosis
Lithium as treatment for Lyme-related depression
// Filed in: Lyme Disease Treatment|Lyme Disease Symptoms
Tracy writes:
I would like to find research on lithium as a supplement for Lyme disease. I noticed in one of your posts that you took this your first year.
Both my LLMD and naturopath are in support of supplementing with it. It's helped me personally. I wonder if you have any research to suggest? I would like to share it with others to consider as an alternative to discuss with their medical professionals, but it seems without the research proof people are questioning it. (Perhaps as an alternative say, to Xanathx and Klonopin which cause detox stress on the body while we need instead to focus on clearing the Lyme bugs and neurotoxins.)
I hope you can provide info or suggestion where to further my research.
Dear Tracy, Thank you for your question.
I remember sitting in my naturopath’s office in agonizing pain, trying to follow his advice through my brain-fog. When he suggested lithium, my naturally cautious nature kicked in. “What is it?” I asked. He said, “it’s a mineral.”
In my miserable state though, lithium sounded to me vaguely sinister, like something out of an old Dracula flick, the mug of steaming potion given to the victims to keep them docile. Even worse, I knew that lithium was somehow associated with psychotic episodes and depression. Did this nice doctor simply think I was just losing it?
I’d told him about the phone that wouldn’t stop ringing, about hearing my dead father saying my name. I had told him that I couldn’t make heads or tails of any paragraph I tried to read, and that recently, I had remained in the same position in the same chair from sun up to sundown, because I could not decide what to do. (I confided that I thought maybe I’d died, and just hadn’t figured that out yet.) Depressed? I think any formerly healthy person who wakes up to find they can’t walk, talk, or think is entitled to a little depression. But I wasn’t sure whether taking lithium would firmly secure my insanity, or help me get through it.
With considerable relief, I can report that it helped me through the toughest time in my life. It is also inexpensive as I recall, and I didn’t find it at all addicting. I’m glad it’s also helped you.
Your point is well-taken that without the supporting research, there is reason to doubt claims. Fortunately for those who want more information about the use of lithium, there is plenty of science behind it. In my opinion it is not without risks and benefits, like other drugs, and should only be prescribed by a doctor. In future posts please watch for an interview with my naturopath, whom I have asked to share what he knows and point to further research. Here, for starters:
From an article in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2002:
The special usefulness of lithium lies in long-term prevention of recurrences of mania and bipolar depression and in reducing risk of suicidal behavior. Lithium also may be beneficial in recurrent unipolar depression and is an effective adjunct for treatment-resistant depression.
Reference:
Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2002, Vol. 10, No. 2 : Pages 59-75
Is Lithium Still Worth Using? An Update of Selected Recent Research
Ross J. Baldessarini, Leonardo Tondo, John Hennen and ,Adele C. Viguera
(doi: 10.1080/hrp.10.2.59.75)
And here are three articles from the British Journal of Psychiatry:
Lithium in Bipolar Mood Disorder
Monitoring Patients on Lithium
Use of antipsychotic drugs and lithium in mania
Learn more about Lyme disease treatments.
I would like to find research on lithium as a supplement for Lyme disease. I noticed in one of your posts that you took this your first year.
Both my LLMD and naturopath are in support of supplementing with it. It's helped me personally. I wonder if you have any research to suggest? I would like to share it with others to consider as an alternative to discuss with their medical professionals, but it seems without the research proof people are questioning it. (Perhaps as an alternative say, to Xanathx and Klonopin which cause detox stress on the body while we need instead to focus on clearing the Lyme bugs and neurotoxins.)
I hope you can provide info or suggestion where to further my research.
Dear Tracy, Thank you for your question.
I remember sitting in my naturopath’s office in agonizing pain, trying to follow his advice through my brain-fog. When he suggested lithium, my naturally cautious nature kicked in. “What is it?” I asked. He said, “it’s a mineral.”
In my miserable state though, lithium sounded to me vaguely sinister, like something out of an old Dracula flick, the mug of steaming potion given to the victims to keep them docile. Even worse, I knew that lithium was somehow associated with psychotic episodes and depression. Did this nice doctor simply think I was just losing it?
I’d told him about the phone that wouldn’t stop ringing, about hearing my dead father saying my name. I had told him that I couldn’t make heads or tails of any paragraph I tried to read, and that recently, I had remained in the same position in the same chair from sun up to sundown, because I could not decide what to do. (I confided that I thought maybe I’d died, and just hadn’t figured that out yet.) Depressed? I think any formerly healthy person who wakes up to find they can’t walk, talk, or think is entitled to a little depression. But I wasn’t sure whether taking lithium would firmly secure my insanity, or help me get through it.
With considerable relief, I can report that it helped me through the toughest time in my life. It is also inexpensive as I recall, and I didn’t find it at all addicting. I’m glad it’s also helped you.
Your point is well-taken that without the supporting research, there is reason to doubt claims. Fortunately for those who want more information about the use of lithium, there is plenty of science behind it. In my opinion it is not without risks and benefits, like other drugs, and should only be prescribed by a doctor. In future posts please watch for an interview with my naturopath, whom I have asked to share what he knows and point to further research. Here, for starters:
From an article in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2002:
The special usefulness of lithium lies in long-term prevention of recurrences of mania and bipolar depression and in reducing risk of suicidal behavior. Lithium also may be beneficial in recurrent unipolar depression and is an effective adjunct for treatment-resistant depression.
Reference:
Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2002, Vol. 10, No. 2 : Pages 59-75
Is Lithium Still Worth Using? An Update of Selected Recent Research
Ross J. Baldessarini, Leonardo Tondo, John Hennen and ,Adele C. Viguera
(doi: 10.1080/hrp.10.2.59.75)
And here are three articles from the British Journal of Psychiatry:
Lithium in Bipolar Mood Disorder
Monitoring Patients on Lithium
Use of antipsychotic drugs and lithium in mania
Learn more about Lyme disease treatments.
Expert Interview Series: Carol Fisch
// Filed in: Lyme Disease Expert
Carol Fisch is Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Laboratory Science. She is also a stealth pathogens researcher, teacher, and, as she also suffers from Lyme disease, an advocate and activist for those suffering from stealth pathogens and neuroendocrine disorders. In her outreach education, she explores the possibility that people with a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are dealing with a bacterial complex that also causes Lyme disease, among other illnesses.
"Most medical professionals, when speaking of Lyme disease, are typically referring to an outdated and over-simplified version of the disease that was once taught and believed that the main causative agent being dealt with was the Borrelia spirochete. We now know there are many agents involved," explains Carol.
"Many patients given a CFIDS or Fibromyalgia diagnosis, or a Gulf War Syndrome or Neuroborreliosis Complex (Lyme disease) diagnosis, are dealing not only with a spirochetal disease that causes multiple damage to the host but a very complex organism that causes multiple damage to the host. It is indeed a very complex organism within itself. Borrelia burgdorferi is one of the players in Neuroborreloiosis Complex."
Carol says she would like to see the medical community work more harmoniously together in an effort to find answers to the complicated challenges of these illnesses. She is hopeful that such unity is possible and imminent. As she says, "we have a long way to go but in working together hopefully we can come up with answers that help all of us to live healthier and more productive lives."
Carol's experience includes having been a medical laboratory advisor for tick borne illness testing. She is well-versed in microbiology, immunology and parasitology and has an excellent understanding of Cell Wall Deficient Organisms (CWD). I spoke with Carol about the significance of her work and research on Dec 11, 2008.
Members can log in and listen to the interview.
"Most medical professionals, when speaking of Lyme disease, are typically referring to an outdated and over-simplified version of the disease that was once taught and believed that the main causative agent being dealt with was the Borrelia spirochete. We now know there are many agents involved," explains Carol.
"Many patients given a CFIDS or Fibromyalgia diagnosis, or a Gulf War Syndrome or Neuroborreliosis Complex (Lyme disease) diagnosis, are dealing not only with a spirochetal disease that causes multiple damage to the host but a very complex organism that causes multiple damage to the host. It is indeed a very complex organism within itself. Borrelia burgdorferi is one of the players in Neuroborreloiosis Complex."
Carol says she would like to see the medical community work more harmoniously together in an effort to find answers to the complicated challenges of these illnesses. She is hopeful that such unity is possible and imminent. As she says, "we have a long way to go but in working together hopefully we can come up with answers that help all of us to live healthier and more productive lives."
Carol's experience includes having been a medical laboratory advisor for tick borne illness testing. She is well-versed in microbiology, immunology and parasitology and has an excellent understanding of Cell Wall Deficient Organisms (CWD). I spoke with Carol about the significance of her work and research on Dec 11, 2008.
Members can log in and listen to the interview.
Diagnosing Lyme: Lies & half-truths
// Filed in: Lyme Disease Diagnosis
It irks me to see inaccurate info about Lyme on health-oriented blogs. For example, I just read the sentence: "Lyme is completely treatable. No need to panic," and now I'm really bugged. No, I don't want everybody to panic. However, it's just such unfounded casualness about Lyme that creates the illusion that one needn't seek a Lyme aware doctor's advice right away, at the first suspicion of Lyme symptoms or the presence of a tick bite. There is absolutely no evidence that the person making the claim has any awareness of just how dangerous, and multi-stage, Lyme can be when left untreated.
The same blogger also cavalierly states that "a characteristic bull's eye rash will show up within 3 to 30 days." GRrrrrr! Not true. Up to 50% of people with a Lyme infection will never show signs of the circular, red skin rash. Diagnosing Lyme is a tricky thing, part art, part science. Even ILADS doctors differ in their approach to diagnosing Lyme. I skim the blogs like a watch-dog, looking for useful information. I'm vigilant. I can sniff out a lie about Lyme faster than you can say "neuroborelliosis."
How is the blog-skimming public supposed to become informed, with half-truths and lies circulating so freely? The mis-truths and misinformation all stems back to the opinion of the CDC -- in the form of the IDSA -- that Lyme is not a serious disease. I am really looking forward to following up on the results of the antitrust investigation into the IDSA's guidelines for the treatment of Lyme. Stay tuned. I'll be posting whatever I sniff out right here.
The same blogger also cavalierly states that "a characteristic bull's eye rash will show up within 3 to 30 days." GRrrrrr! Not true. Up to 50% of people with a Lyme infection will never show signs of the circular, red skin rash. Diagnosing Lyme is a tricky thing, part art, part science. Even ILADS doctors differ in their approach to diagnosing Lyme. I skim the blogs like a watch-dog, looking for useful information. I'm vigilant. I can sniff out a lie about Lyme faster than you can say "neuroborelliosis."
How is the blog-skimming public supposed to become informed, with half-truths and lies circulating so freely? The mis-truths and misinformation all stems back to the opinion of the CDC -- in the form of the IDSA -- that Lyme is not a serious disease. I am really looking forward to following up on the results of the antitrust investigation into the IDSA's guidelines for the treatment of Lyme. Stay tuned. I'll be posting whatever I sniff out right here.