Dear Stephen,
I am dealing with a year and a couple of months of undiagnosed lyme that was confirmed by Igenex testing and my symptoms. I was taking biaxin once a day (could not manage twice a day) for two months and then switched to doxycycline for two months. I am also making and drinking lyme tea made from a decoction I make of sarsaparilla, red root, cat’s claw and Japanese knotweed, three times a day. Should I also be taking plaquenil to kill the encysted form of the spirochete? Thank you.
I am dealing with a year and a couple of months of undiagnosed lyme that was confirmed by Igenex testing and my symptoms. I was taking biaxin once a day (could not manage twice a day) for two months and then switched to doxycycline for two months. I am also making and drinking lyme tea made from a decoction I make of sarsaparilla, red root, cat’s claw and Japanese knotweed, three times a day. Should I also be taking plaquenil to kill the encysted form of the spirochete? Thank you.
Stephen’s response:
There is buzz here and there about plaquenil, some people say it helps, others have miserable side effects for months and no help at all. There is no research on it that I have seen – it seems to be guesswork generating its use. There is no evidence I know of (though I may be wrong) that it can kill the encysted form of the spirochete in vivo. So, you pretty much have to decide on that one on the basis of how it feels to you and what you can find on the Internet in the stories of people who have had success with it.
There is buzz here and there about plaquenil, some people say it helps, others have miserable side effects for months and no help at all. There is no research on it that I have seen – it seems to be guesswork generating its use. There is no evidence I know of (though I may be wrong) that it can kill the encysted form of the spirochete in vivo. So, you pretty much have to decide on that one on the basis of how it feels to you and what you can find on the Internet in the stories of people who have had success with it.
Stephen
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