Depression in Lyme Disease

Someone recently posted a question about depression and Lyme disease. I answered by excerpting a part of a book I wrote. Here is my opinion on the topic - written 3 years ago - my stance hasn’t changed.

Question:

> I am doing rife for almost 18 months with GB4000, i rife every two
> weeks and i was feeling great all the time. May be because i was
> feeling great, i kind of neglected and did not rifr for the last 5
> weeks.
> I been to see PCP for physical, PCP prescibed Zoloft and Prevacid, the
> very second day after starting these medication, i had serious
> reaction, not sure if this is reaction to medicine or reaction from
> lyme.
>
> I did had this kind of incident when i was on abx, the reaction i had
> was, i had started swetting and panic, shotness of breath, very un
> confortable and un explinable, please let me know if any one had this
> kind of incident.
>
> I rifed two days back, now i am feeling okay, but i have all the back
> pain and stiffness in head.. etc.
>
> Thanks
> Mallasani

My answer:

This is an excerpt from my book, Lyme Disease & Rife Machines, http://www.lymeandrifebook.com which explains my opinion on this topic. Needless to say, Lyme brains are already messed up by Lyme, and the antidepressant drugs rarely “behave” as they should. Be careful.

Excerpt:

—

Another problem experienced by almost all Lyme Disease sufferers, especially during herx reactions, is depression.  In Lyme Disease, depression can be caused by a variety of physiological problems in the brain resulting from neurotransmitter imbalances, hormone imbalances, the physical presence of the infection, Borrelia neurotoxins, systemic metabolic disturbances, etc. 

Here again the strategy of conventional doctors, often even LLMDs, is to prescribe chemical drugs that “alleviate” depression by changing brain chemistry.  Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are usually the drug of choice.  These drugs have many unwanted side effects including the incidence of unpleasant mental symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, hyperactivity, and more.  These side effects are particularly undesirable for a Lyme Disease sufferer because they already occur as part of the disease process itself! 

And let us not forget that the FDA just issued the king of all paradoxical warnings for ALL anti-depressant drugs:  The “black box” warning that states antidepressant drugs cause suicidal thoughts and ideation.

Another reason to avoid antidepressant drugs is that it is very important for Lyme Disease sufferers to be able to accurately assess their symptoms at any given time.  Self-symptom assessment is one of the most effective tools in determining which therapies work, which don’t, and what it feels like to get better or worse. 

A Lyme Disease sufferer already has enough brain imbalances caused by the infection; taking a drug to induce more unnatural brain changes is obviously not a smart idea.  Feeding brain chemistry-altering drugs to someone whose brain is already completely thrown off due to an infection can cause a confusing, dangerous roller coaster ride of symptoms.

PEMF is helpful in treating the symptoms of many types of depression and in some cases can be a substitute for taking chemical antidepressants.

In a February 2004 Science and Society article, Marianne Szegedy-Maszak reported that severely depressed patients who were taking pharmaceutical drugs for treatment and underwent brain evaluation with MRI machines actually ended up experiencing dramatic improvement in their depression from the MRI machine itself.  A patient who had been so depressed she could barely speak became ebullient after the 45-minute brain scan. Then a second patient, who seemed incapable of even a wan smile, emerged actually telling jokes.  The article concludes that in theory, since the brain itself is an electromagnetic organ, stimulation with electromagnetic energy appears to be beneficial in depression and possibly other illnesses such as Schizophrenia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

—

Bryan