Olive leaf extract & Lauricidin combined

by Bev
(NE Okla.)

I have been taking lauricidin for several months suggested by my LLMD for Lyme.
Someone suggested I try Olive Leaf Extract. I knew nothing about it. Anyway, I have been using both and a week ago woke up with extreme muscle pain all over plus strong chilling and sweating. It has gone on for about a week, also, no fever.

Is it possible that the two above could have caused a very strong Herxheimer's reaction? I have experienced them back when I took antibiotics for Lyme. Like many, I quit taking the abx for Lyme and felt good. After several months my symptoms returned. My main symptoms with Lyme were extreme fatigue, sweating. I had a western blot test that indicated Lyme.

I live in an area where deer are plentiful, and probably had a tick bite.

What are your opinions and should I not combine the two herbs? My doctor that treated me is out of state and I have no doctor in my city that has a clue about Lyme disease.

Thanks for any advice.

Answer:

I can't think of a reason why the two should not be taken together.
It does appear that you experienced a Herxheimer's reaction specific to Lyme disease so I would try the olive leaf extract alone, in not too high a dosage and see what happens.

It may be that the reaction is something you have to go through while the offending bacteria and any other opportunistic organisms are being dealt with, but don't overdo it and drink a few glasses of water per day during the process. Lower your dosage until you can comfortably cope with the reaction. If it's putting too much detoxification stress on your body you may do other damage to yourself. I also think you should limit the duration of the process to possibly a week or two.
If the Herxheimer's reaction tapers off during this time you can increase dosage to give the Lyme disease a blast for a further two weeks or longer. (You could try re-introducing Lauricidin in small doses again if you wanted to.) If this works, then slowly reduce olive leaf dosage again to nothing or maintain a low dose and focus on re-building your immune system.

It seems to me that Lyme disease gives your body a bad knock. Any previous problems are amplified as your immune system struggles to cope with this new threat, and opportunistic organisms come out in force.

Probably one of the most important things you can do is create the best conditions for your body to flourish in. This will make your medication more effective as well.

I have found some things you can do cost very little but make a big difference.
For example, a healthy gut is one of the keys to recovery from any illness. While probiotics can cost a fortune, home-fermented foods can deliver gigantic doses of friendly bacteria instead.
Exchanging pasteurised milk for raw milk from a local farm can also make a big difference, as well as any other organic produce you can lay your hands on.
If you are lactose or gluten intolerant, have a crack at eating more raw and lightly-cooked vegetables to satisfy cravings for sugar and flour products and cut out the dairy products.
Taking digestive and proteolitic enzymes can also help relieve a burdened and overloaded system.

A resource I find very useful as a basis of understanding good health is "Lessons from the Miracle Doctors" downloadable free from the author's site here.