Why antibiotics may not work for Lyme disease
Excerpted from Natural News: (08/27/2015)
For some, early treatment with antibiotics is effective. For others and for those in the late stages of infection, antibiotics may be ineffective for the following reasons:
- Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, has a corkscrew shape that allows it to bore deep into tissues and cartilage (including the brain and nervous system), safely out of reach of most antibiotics.
- Borrelia burgdorferi can give up its corkscrew shape and convert to a form that is able to live inside cells (“intracellular”) where again, antibiotics have less reach.
- Borrelia burgdorferi, along with other similar microbes, can form dormant cysts that are completely resistant to antibiotics; the harder you hit it, the more resistant it becomes.
- Borrelia burgdorferi is usually accompanied and aided by co-infections of other stealth microbes that also live inside cells.
Antibiotic resistance occurs at a high rate with these types of microbes. An antibiotic is one single chemical substance. Bacteria, such as Borrelia (and also its co-infections), respond slowly to antibiotics and have more time to develop resistance to the antibiotic. In other words, the longer they can hang on, the more likely they are to become completely antibiotic resistant. Using multiple antibiotics at once seems to accelerate this process and alternating antibiotics doesn’t seem to help. Resistant bacteria become even more entrenched.
Antibiotics destroy the normal flora (friendly bacteria) in the gut and skin, causing bacterial imbalance and a host of other symptoms in the body. Most importantly, use of antibiotics suppresses immune function, which may present the greatest hurdle to recovery—you cannot get well without optimal immune function.
Borrelia burgdorferi can exist in biofilms, which are protected colonies of microbes that form on a surface (such as plaque on your teeth), but what role this plays in Lyme disease is controversial. The symptom profile of Lyme disease suggests that it is not a biofilm disease and that biofilms are not a big factor in overcoming Lyme.
For more: http://www.naturalnews.com/050967_Lyme_disease_antibiotics_natural_cures.html#
Lyme Handbook 
This article seems to say that long term treatment with antibiotics is counter -productive. So what recourse do we have, if any. I have been suffering with =n=eurological msymptoms for close to ten years.
Bud, Have you ever tried going on the HealingWell.com forum? There are many knowledgeable people on the site who can help you with ideas for treatment. Some do use antibiotics, but many try such modalities as herbs and other natural alternatives. They can also help you find an LLMD if you want. It’s a great support group.
Bud,
I tend to agree with you. Whenever I see an article criticizing long-term antibiotics and LD, I get angry. But, I posted this article because I think it is important that patients know that these scenarios are real. Hhow we combat biofilms and immune weakening are a major issue that is still being studied by the best LLDs.
I know for me, I did a combination of long-term antibiotics and intense detox to rebuild my immune system and I had good results. Of course, we are all differen, so there is no single answer to follow.
All the best,
Rob