Welcome to my blog! This is a place of information and hope for fellow Canadians who are suffering from Lyme disease. I want to share with you the knowledge I have gained during my fight with this debilitating, frightening, and misunderstood illness. I hope you will be blessed.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Goodbye biofilms - I hope!

I'm starting on a new herbal regimen in addition to my antibiotics - Banderol and Samento.  I received them in the mail today....finally....after waiting 2 1/2 weeks for them.  I'm both happy AND nervous to embark on this treatment, which will last for 4 months. 

First off, here they are.  Ta da!  They look so lovely and innocent, don't they?  But I hear they pack quite a punch.


This herbal treatment is going to hopefully help me get rid of any Lyme germs that are preserving themselves under biofilms.  Biofilms are a slime coating that exist on some Lyme bacteria, and which antibiotics are unable to penetrate.  Lyme is stealthy.  It finds ways to hide and protect itself, only to come out of hiding at some later date and send the host (aka ME) into relapse.  Banderol and Samento break down biofilms, and are able to kill all three forms of the Borrelia bacteria - the spirochete, L form, and cyst form. 

The downside of Banderol and Samento is that people often report herxheimer reactions (also called die-off reactions).  As the bacteria die off, toxins are released too quickly for the body to dispose of, and symptoms can flare up or you can feel flu-like for a period of time.  I know what herxheimer reactions feel like.  My worst herx occurred 3 days after I started antibiotic treatment in 2011.  I felt awful for 6 days, and then it subsided.  They came regularly during my treatment for about a year, and then finally I was free of them.

Dr. Marty Ross, an LLMD who has a practice in Seattle, Washington, has provided a lot of very good information about Banderol and Samento, and has seen a lot of success with this treatment in his practice.  Check out his website, Treat Lyme and Associated Diseases, if you want to know more about this herbal regimen.

Wish me luck.  I'll let you know how it goes.