FIRST IT WAS LYME DISEASE, NOW IT’S BABESIA

Oh, these tick borne illnesses! Since we saw three new cases this week of one you may not have heard of, Babesia, I thought I’d share some information. You know, forewarned is forearmed and so forth.

It’s estimated that half the ticks in that summer suburb of Chicago the locals call, “Wisconsin” are currently carrying one or more tick borne diseases. Northern Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota also have plenty of infected ticks as well. The tick bites you, burrows deep into your skin, sucks some blood, and evacuates its intestines (yes, it takes a crap) in your bloodstream. In its bowels are: Borrelia (Lyme), Bartonella, Erhlichia, Anaplasma, and Babesia. 

I’ve written other Health Tips about acute and chronic Lyme, so you can use the Search Engine and look those up. Let’s say you’re lucky enough to have been quickly diagnosed with acute Lyme Disease, treated with antibiotics, and think you’re out of the woods (literally and figuratively).

“Wow!”, you say, “Glad that was caught early.”

But weeks later you’re sick again, this time with some new symptoms: nausea, maybe some vomiting, fever, headaches, shortness of breath. You wonder if it’s related to your recent Lyme infection which was treated. You go back to your doctor. Just like the first time, your Lyme test is negative. She doesn’t give you more antibiotics and lo! in a couple of weeks, your symptoms have pretty much gone away by themselves.

“I wonder what that was all about,” you mumble.

But then, a few weeks later, everything starts up again. Fever, night sweats, “air hunger”, fatigue, joint aches, insomnia, nerve pains, mood issues (anxiety, depression), POTS (extreme drop in blood pressure when standing), brain fog (difficulty with concentration, word finding, etc.).

When you return to your Primary Care Provider (PCP) with these symptoms, instead of circling back to your Lyme, she sends you to different specialists (neurologists, rheumatologists, etc.). The MRI of your brain is negative (more about that later) as are all your other blood tests.

In the meantime, you’ve gone online to read everything you can about Lyme Disease and go back to your doctor saying that you might have Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS). Since she has not read everything about Lyme Disease, she is not pleased that you have consulted Dr. Google. However she is willing to order, “Lyme and Co-Infections”, and when the test comes back, remarks that you are “positive” for Babesia. In this situation, you are fortunate, as 50% of patients who do have Babesia also have “negative” tests.

She then refers you to an Infectious Disease specialist whose first appointment is in four months. When you yourself call around to different Infectious Disease specialists, it’s the same story, three to four months at best.

Three quick points to insert:

First: The reason the antibiotics you took for Lyme did not kill Babesia, is that Babesia is a parasite much like malaria. Lyme antibiotics don’t hit malaria or Babesia. Ask a second year medical student the symptoms of malaria and she’ll rattle off “headache, night sweats, fever, etc.”, just like Babesia. And here’s the best part: the treatments used for Babesia are very similar to those used for malaria. The herb Artemisinin deserves special mention. In 2015, Professor Tu Youyou received the Nobel Prize for her work isolating the active ingredient against malaria in Artemisinin, dropping the global death rate from malaria by 42%. Now, along with malaria antibiotics, herbs, and ozone infusions, we routinely use Artemisinin to treat Babesia.

Second: Possibly the reason your brain MRI was “negative”, is that the radiologist did not use the new software called, “Neuroquant”, which was originally designed to diagnose early Alzheimer’s but can also diagnose inflammatory changes in the brain caused by long COVID, mold biotoxin illness (CIRS), and tick borne illnesses like Babesia.

Third: It is pretty much agreed among LLD’s (Lyme Literate Doctors) that Igenex, Vibrant and InfectoLab are the most reliable companies for diagnosing tick borne diseases. What held patients back however was the prohibitive out-of-pocket cost, but now Igenex is covered by Blue Cross. Very handy, indeed!

NOW, ON TO TREATMENT

Different LLD’s have different treatment protocols, but if you’re so inclined to read a few, they do follow a similar pattern.

Your medication will likely be an anti-malarial (Atavaquone) combined with a macrolide (Azithromycin or others) or tetracycline (Doxycycline).

YOUR HERBS MAY BE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

• Cryptoleptic and/or Mimosa pudica ( African herbs for malaria)
• Artemisinin
• Mild herbal combinations (Beyond Balance: MC-BB1, 2, 3)
• Strong herbal combination (sold only by physician prescription) Byron White A-Bab

OTHER IMPORTANT SUPPORT

• Oxidation Therapy (Ozone infusions with UltraViolet Blood Irradiation)
• Cytokine Control (Cytoquel and other products)
• Adaptogen (Ashwaghanda)
• Thyroid and adrenal support
• Liver detoxification (Liposomal glutathione)

And, of course, all the obvious stuff:

• A healthful diet
• Probiotics to cover the antibiotics (you’ll be on antibiotics about three months)
• Good sleep
• Regular exercise

So basically, it’s this: if you had Lyme and you’re still not well, you need to be checked for co-infections like Babesia. If you’ve had Black Mold (CIRS) and you’ve detoxed, and you’re still not well, you probably should be checked for Lyme and co-infections.

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD