NewBeginnings

My llmd says absolutely not. We have never got flu shots fortunately. I always thought it was so strange that we would need them b/c I never had them growing up. My llmd says that ten years of flu shots will triple your chances of getting alzheimer's b/c of the mercury in the shots. I have also been told that the flu vaccine is usually a different strain than what ends up going around so it is questionnable whether it really works. My llmd says that especially kids with asthma should NOT get the flu vaccine. There are a number of things you can do to prevent the flu. Most importantly get d levels checked (25 hydroxy test) and supplement if levels are not over 50, ideally closer to 100. My llmd says that low d is associated with 6 forms of cancer and heart disease and the flu. If you feel the flu coming you can take 10 times the daily dose of d for several days to help fight the flu. We did this plus we used chinese herbs and tea that my acupuncturist prescribed. I would find a good acupuncturist rather than get the flu shot. That way you know where to go if the kids start getting sick. My daughter is nine years old and love acupuncture. My older two do not but they will take the tea and the herbs. Acupuncturists/chinese medicine doctors can work wonders if you start to feel sick. I will try and find more info that my llmd hands out about how to prevent the flu and I will post it. Wow....thank you for the information. I have not had his levels checked and will be sure to do so. Thanks!

I'd like some advice and opinions from other Lyme moms about flu season. I have heard conflicting reports on whether or not to get a flu shot. One LLMD said to get it and another said absolutely not. I'd like to know what your Dr's have said and also if you have any tips for getting through flu season while battling Lyme. Thanks!

This has been an ongoing problem for me. I have tried oral iodine and reacted very badly to it. I have found that by rubbing a quarter size amount of iodine on my skin each night, it reduces the pain significantly by morning. Quote from the site I read it on: http://www.womentowomen.com/breasthealth/breastpain.aspx "Topical (meaning used on the skin, not taken by mouth) iodine can be bought over the counter in the grocery or drugstore, usually for less than a dollar. Apply it in a quarter-sized area once a night on the breast until the brown spot persists overnight, or for one month. I will admit I cannot explain exactly how this works, but the iodine seems to adjust the hormones just enough to keep the swelling down, or perhaps it is treating some subclinical virus or bacteria. Most of our diets today do not have the same amount of iodine in them that our ancestors’ did. This use of iodine does not seem to impair thyroid function."

I'm sorry to hear your ds is having this problem. A couple things come to mind. Doxy is notorious for causing upset stomach and does make some people vomit. Does your son take it with food? We take ours with a ginger root capsule in the middle of a meal to help keep the nausea back. Some people get nauseous right away from Doxy and with others, it may take awhile. I didn't start to have stomach upset until I was about a month in. Does he take the Doxy right before bed? Doe your son take probiotics and a Florastor type of beneficial yeast? Most prescription bottles say to take Doxy on an empty stomach, but I have never met anyone that could!

Makes sense.....I've noticed they calm down a lot after an epsom salt bath. I need to increase his detoxing more. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate the info.

Thanks for sharing this, it's good info to know! I wasn't really sure what to think about his tics coming back and staying for so long.

They always put "take on an empty stomach" on doxy bottles. Supposedly it is absorbed better that way. I have never met anyone that could tolerate doxy on an empty stomach. Also, do not lay down within 2 hours of taking Doxy. It can cause bad acid reflux and can burn the esophagus. It will take some time before this happens, but its miserable when it gets to that point. Avoid having dairy at the same time you are taking doxy as well as supplements. They need to be taken a few hours away. I try to take ours 4 hours away if possible. Dairy and magnesium will interfere with absorption. Pacifmama has a lot of good points. I thought my son's tics coming back were a herx at first as well, but he's been ticcing for the entire time on doxy now. Is he on any kind of yeast prevention? I recommend liver support as well. Just trying to share what we've learned along the way with Doxy....hope this helps some.

I'd like to know what you all recommend for your kids Omegas. Any particular brand that you like better than others and how much do you give? Thanks!

My son had tics before the doxy. That was actually his first symptom. His tics subsided over the summer while on another abx but a lot of his other symptoms remained. When we got the positive Myco p test, we put him on Doxy bc he is allergic to zithromax and his tics restarted. All of his other symptoms are very much improved, but doxy did bring out the tics. I don't know if its directly related to the abx or if the doxy has shaken things up in him and that's why they started again. And yes, he does have Lyme. Late stage...... I'm hoping your Dr or pharmacist warned you about sun sensitivity while on doxy. Has he had any upset stomach from it? If so, I find that it helps us to take it with a ginger root capsule and right in the middle of a meal.

Hi, How long has he been on doxy and how old is he? My son is also currently on doxy and he's been on it for 4 weeks. He had completely stopped ticcing before he was on doxy. When he started on doxy his tics came back. I think the time frame for tics subsiding will depend on each individual. I have noticed that increasing his magnesium intake and more frequent epsom salt baths help to calm his tics and twitches down a lot. It may be something to consider.

No one is trying to cause you additional worry. I think people are just trying to bring awareness out that Lyme is a possibility. It may not be your childs issue, but for some peoples kids it is. If your son is not getting better, in my opinion, you need to explore all options. I can only speak from our own experience. Look at every possibility. It's not always Lyme, but when something continues to be wrong despite the best efforts, chances are, something is being overlooked. I'm not trying to scare anyone, I am just trying to share what we have learned. Our childrens health and happiness are all we are all after in the end. It's OK to be skeptical, but sometimes a second look is worth it.

Tell her thank you, but thank YOU for posting here for us to read! It really doesn't matter where it came from. We all have the same goal, and all of us sharing what we learn and find along the way gives us all more power and helps us get closer to getting our children well. As I've stated before......I've learned more from other parents than I have from all of the Dr's we've seen. If it hadn't been for other parents, forums and TONS of internet research done on our own.....where would we be?????

I came across this link and although it's from a year ago, it had some interesting information about Mycoplasmas. Hope you find this helpful. http://www.publichealthalert.org/pdf/2009_07.pdf

Yes, thanks!! Great info.

Interesting.....I've never heard of it, but it sounds interesting.........

I know there are some people over on lymenet that have experience with it. You may want to look around over there to get additional opinions.

Zith would have been a great option because it would tackle so many issues at once, but at least the Doxy will get myco p and Lyme. Thanks again to everyone for all of your support ~ through our entire journey so far, I've learned more from other parents than I have from all of the Dr's we've seen!!

He has been on numerous things. Keep in mind, he was never on any zithromax due to allergy. We have been limited on what he could take. Prior to Doxy he was on Aug/Amox combo but the penicillin family won't touch myco p because myco p lacks a cell wall. At that time, we didn't know myco p was an issue. He has been on ceftin, omnicef, amoxicillin, augmentin and now doxy. We held off on the Doxy due to his age but when we found out about the myco p and our only options were zithromax family or doxy, we went for it. I said I'd buy my son new teeth if it helped!! As it turns out, for any of you that have kids on the edge of the age bracket, you can take your kids and have a full set of xrays done and as long as the crowns are fully formed, it will not have an effect on their teeth. All of my sons permanent teeth are fully formed, but not in yet except his wisdom teeth and I don't care if those come in purple! Our dentist said it will turn the root of the permanent teeth darker but those aren't exposed so it doesn't matter.

Our LLMD said the same thing.

Mycoplasma pneumonia is not a co-infection of Lyme to my knowledge. Lyme just makes you more prone to infections that normally wouldn't phase a lot of people. Your immune system is down and the bugs have a field day. I really had no idea though that Myco P could have such a profound affect. We also had no idea that old viruses could come back and reactivate. Unfortunately, it has taken a long time to figure out that Lyme is not his only issue and then the million dollar question becomes, which do we treat first?? We had really thought that he was having strep issues as well because his throat would get fire engine red and his tonsils were huge, but yet, he never complained about a sore throat. He also has a history of Scarlet Fever so I thought for sure he has PANDAS. He fit the category. I still don't feel like we have all of the answers. All I know is this month makes 1 year of treatment and when I look back at his daily log that I keep, he has come such a long way. Some days, when they are bad ones, I worry that we are having a setback or we are not getting anywhere, so I'll flip back through that book and realize it's just a small bump in a long road and try to be thankful for where he is now. Out of the last 12 months though, the last 3 weeks on Doxy have made the biggest impact on him. He did start a new mild facial tic last Sunday, but I can tell things are stirred up. His headaches are gone, his pupils are no longer dilated, all of the rest of his tics are gone, his throat is no longer red, but the biggest change is that he's HAPPY again. Other meds have stopped some of the symptoms but didn't improve his mood at all. I'm hoping I'm not jinxing anything and I know I got off of the subject I was replying to, but I just thought I'd share some info. Hopefully it will help someone else.

I agree with you. It's also amazing how many old infections have become reactivated for both of us. He is not out of the woods yet, BUT he is more relaxed and he is finally HAPPY again. The first week was a rough one though. I was very nervous we had made a mistake because all of his symptoms came back.....including ones we hadn't seen in awhile. Once that week was over, he began to emerge.

Thanks for all of the encouraging words and well wishes! He is currently taking Doxycycline.

He is elevated on both.

I just wanted to make a quick post to say "Thank You" to all of you on here that share your experiences and wisdom. My son has been in Lyme treatment for a year now and while he was getting better, he should have made more progress in that amount of time. It was all of the discussion on this board that prompted me to push for a Myco P test for our son. Now that we are treating him for Myco P, the difference is amazing!! (fingers crossed) We still have our ups and downs, but he has by far made the most improvement with this treatment. None of the Dr's we have seen even suggested Myco P as a possibility. A big heartfelt thanks to all of you for sharing. The support on this board is invaluable.

For me, herxing feels like the flu. Tired, aches, chills, tingling in extremities, headaches, nausea, just an overall sick feeling. For my son, his herx's are mostly neurological. Anxiety, stress, tension, headaches. From what I hear from other parents with children with Lyme, they have also noticed their childrens symptoms seem to be more neurological as well. During a herx, try to really focus on detox. Lemon water, epsom salt baths, activated charcoal, massage therapy, just to name a few things that seem to really help us. The nausea can be coming from a heavy die off. Activated charcoal will help this a great deal. Just make sure to take at least 2 hours away from any meds.