Lyme Disease Support Group

I had Lyme disease for a little over 2 years before I knew it was Lyme, and almost died. I could not walk and was 85. The only thing I did was the artificial fever therapy. But I was and am very health minded and a vegan. I eat no refined or junk food. This diet may have also helped for my recovery. There are many different suggestions on how to do the fever therapy. I have tried most of them and for me they were all too harsh except for one. Do not do this therapy if your health practitioner does not want you to. If you think your heath practitioner is not educated in hydrotherapy then get another Dr. that is educated. I could not afford a doctor but had good connections and advice from a friend who was under a doctor that was treating her with fever therapy. The temperature that is needed to kill the Lyme bacteria is 103. It not only kills the bacteria but fever therapy will increase the white blood cells. When I first had Lyme I could not take the fever therapy this high but had to gradually get my internal temp to 103. (about 4 tries)My daughter however has not been able to get it above 101.8 yet she is getting good results. To do the therapy you sit in a bathtub of water with the temperature anywhere from 105-107. I duck taped the overdrain so that I could fill the tub at max. Keep a bowl of water with ice in it and use a cloth to dip in the water and keep on your forehead, but wait until you feel the need for it. Keep cooling down the cloth in the ice water as you need it. Then use a good waterproof digital thermometer and use one to keep in your mouth and one to ck the water in the tub. Keep the water in the tub up to 104-105. Leave the thermometer in the mouth and do not take it in and out or you will cool down the mouth and get a false reading. As soon as your internal temp reaches 103 take a cool shower and go to bed. Do not do this alone. Make sure someone is at least in house with you and checking in on you periodically. If you get dizzy get out of the tub. and try it some other time. make sure you are drinking a lot of water before during and after. About a gallon on the day you do it. If your body is not hydrated enough you will for sure hurt yourself. I did this for 3 weeks and during the 3 weeks I took a 2 day break every 5 days. Then I did it once a week for a few weeks and then once a month for the rest of my life. Please Google fever therapy or fever treatments and read all of the good results that are obtained for Lyme by doing them. Some scientist say that the spirochetes are destroyed at 103 and their reproduction is inhibited at 100.5 another Dr. says that antibiotics ability to destroy the Lyme is multiplied by 16 times by doing the fever therapy. Please do your research. You do not have to battle this disease for years.

thats what we have infared saunas and the biomat to do. I will crank the heat up tonight.

Set your Timer Steelers! i do first yellow all night every night but the water therapy makes sense too..

Ron whats the thing you are always saying about Lyme LOVING heat? I always thought fever therapy was good too though. Boy I thought I was confused before!

Post edited by: Canuck, at: 03/23/2009 16:55

i will this time

Here is my problem with this...altho heat does work...effectively...

We know that the bacteria hides and protects itself.

Remember, people tried Malaria for a cure because of the high fevers...it protected itself and came back.

Now, forcing it into and keeping it in remission...I can see as a possibility...but notice it needs to be done every so often for the rest of his life...to keep the dormant bugs dormant.

When Lyme detects a hostile environment, it will go dormant. it enters our own cells to protect itself...and lays dormant there...

This is why it is a super bacteria. Unless we begin killing off our own cells, we are not going to be able to completely eradicate the bacteria from our bodies...merely control its ability to become active...

Not a bad thing dont get me wrong. i just dont want to see people forcing themselves into hot tubs and baths...and when feeling so awful that they dont wait for someone to be home...and passing out.

Heat is very effective against Lyme - and if a simple hot tub or bath could be for some the only long term maintenance how friggen awesome is that...

But extreme caution must be employed when treating with heat in terms of water...and we do have several other heat options...

I do agree with heat therapy...i just dont want people taking risks when those horrifically bad days hit...

What about blood pressure? I have to take meds to control mine. Wouldn't heat be very dangerous for someone with hypertension or heart problems?

Yes you are right about that. People with high blood pressure are advised to use caution in hot tubs.

Mine is turned down to 96-100. I never had a blood pressure issue till now. I was always low bp and loved hot baths. Now my bp bounces all over the place and was put on meds.

I still take one every night. Its the only way I can go to sleep but I dont tolerate the heat as well.

Definitely. I have high BP, too. Heat in any form makes me feel awful. I also have co-infections which make heat completely intolerable. Cold always is relief. I do take epsom salt baths as I can tolerate them because even though they are uncomfortable, they are effective for my herx pain. But all those hot baths and hot tub soaks and heat packs never helped me, only made everything worse in the long run.

Valerie