Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment of Lyme Disease
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Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999
Is there any consensus on the efficacy of Hyperbaric oxygen? Does anyone
have opinions about whether it is really effective to treat Lyme or just a
waste of time and money?
It seems to me there are two issues:
1) Does it kill the infection?
2) Does it help restore lost brain function/improve blood flow to the brain?
Is there any evidence that it can effect a true cure when antibiotics have
failed? (Or, how does it compare to antibiotics overall?)
I'm hearing a lot of hype, which makes me skeptical, but I'm also reading
studies of HBO treatment of other diseases, which make me think it may
indeed be a good treatment for Lyme. Opinions?
A.J. Lumsdaine
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999
I did 30 treatments of hyperbaric oxygen last December. I was taking 500 mg
Biaxin bid before, during, and after the hyperbaric treatment.
I had a strong herx reaction between days 5 and 14 of the treatment which
then improved until I felt normal about two weeks after the therapy ended.
For the next two months, I had NO LYME SYMPTOMS. Before the treatment, I
was having lyme disease symptoms roughly every four weeks. So, I skipped
two of my symptom cycles. However,
after that time, I have had some cyclical symptoms, which seemed
to worsen each cycle.
My theory is that the treatment definitely worked in killing off
some of the spirochetes. However, a low number was left alive,
which then rebounded in number over time after the therapy. I
believe that a longer treatment period may have worked better for
me. I am trying to decide if I can afford another session or if
I want to keep combating the lyme with antibiotics.
Julianne Collins
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999
Hi AJ,
I did hyperbaric oxygen treatments in 1997. The first time I did 20 sessions
while on oral antibiotics. The second time, I did 20 sessions on IV
antibiotics. While I did feel quite well during the second treatment - no
headaches - I don't believe that I've seen any long term benefit from it. In
fact, I recently had a positive PCR on spinal fluid and a culture that
purportedly showed that I have not one, but two strains, of lyme.
I am now on IV rocephin again and feeling terrific, which leads me to believe
that the good health I enjoyed during the treatment was most likely due to
the IV antibiotics rather than the oxygen itself. I know of at least five
other people who did hyperbaric who had varied success with it. Some felt
great for months afterward. some got worse. Some saw no difference. Of the
ones who improved, I'm sorry to say that they've all since relapsed.
Interestingly, though, the ones who saw improvement were the same ones who
had the most grossly abnormal SPECT scans.
My conclusion, then, is that whatever benefit you get is transitory, unless,
of course, you're willing to do it forever - a costly endeavor at $100 a pop.
It may well be that it works for some people, but I defy you to find anyone
out there who knows how long you have to do it before it works.
Best,
Elayne