Originally Posted by madisongrrl

My backstory:

I had a deer tick bite in 2005 and symptoms of Lyme disease immediately followed that incident. My Lyme test was negative so I was never really properly treated. I continued to have strange symptoms over the years. It got worse in 2013 when I developed large fiber damage of my peroneal nerve - and no one could tell me why. Then I had a very fast onset of burning that started in Feb 2014, which spread all over my body by May 2014. I was pretty much living in a nightmare.

I was just diagnosed with Lyme a few weeks ago (via Neuroscience iSpot test - anything over 25 is positive; my result was 182, which is a strong positive). I was at the point where I couldn't wear shoes on my feet due to the burning pain and my hands always feel like they are burning and swelling. After starting antibiotics and LDN, my burning and sensory symptoms reduced significantly after 2 weeks. I've been getting a little better each day.



Yes, they are often prescribed in conjunction. Antibiotics to treat the underlying infection; LDN to help the immune system function and help with nervous system inflammation.



If you don't treat the infection or the underlying cause of the neuropathy, then the neuropathy will not have an opportunity to heal. Antibiotics can help people with chronic Lyme. How much can they help? It seems each person is different. Some people get better, some people don't. Some people feel good on antibiotics, but they feel terrible when they stop. How much better can I get? I don't know since I'm at the beginning of my journey.

There have been 3 high level NIH studies that have looked at the topic of antibiotics and chronic Lyme. Two of the studies (Fallon and Krupp) did show that chronic Lyme patients received benefits from antibiotic treatment. The 3rd study (Klempner) did not, but it seems as if there are some problems and valid criticisms of this study. This is the study that the CDC seems to cling to. I guess the they didn't read the other 2.