Marshall Protocol

[cappy7]

Hello,

Has anybody heard of the Marshall Protocol? It was developed by Dr. Trevor Marshall of Thousand Oaks California. It is fairly new and it's being used to treat auto-immune diseases and bacterial infections. From the articles I've read, it has promising results. The articles I've read talk about Autoimmune Illnesses, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Lyme Disease. The protocol is geared to combating cell wall deficient bacteria. It is very interesting reading. I stumbled upon a website that contained a video clip form the "30th Anniversary of Lyme Disease" conference in Farmington, CT. They were honoring Dr. Charles Ray Jones and Polly Murray for their dedication in the fight against Lyme disease. From the reading, Dr. Jones has used the Marshall Protocol for his patients.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[janetclarkson]

I have tried this a couple of years ago. It involved taking monocycline and possibly one other abx (or that could have been the next thing I tried!).

I remember it mainly because I had to avoid vitamin D like the plague. I couldn't eat fish all summer which was really hard, and I had to keep out of the sun which involved copious use of sun block and walking around looking like "the return of the mummy".

Anyhow, it didn't work for me (which is probably not what you want to hear), but I believe that it has for many others so that shouldn't put you off. This disease seems to attack people on so many different fronts that we all have to seek the best cure for our personal main line of attack.

The protocol may also have been tweaked and improved since I tried it.

I didn't suffer any major herx reaction that I can recall, but that might be because it wasn't working for me.

I thought the protocol was an Australian thing, but you seem to have more information on it so I am probably wrong. Doesn't really matter, but I feel better sometimes thinking that research is going on in several continents - improves the odds!

Best wishes

Janet

[cappy7]

Did you also take Benicar? Benicar is in a class of medications called Angiotensin Receptor Blockers or ARBs for short. Benicar's primary use has been to treat high blood pressure but it has a very mild effect on high blood pressure and studies are showing it protects against inflammation in major organs. I believe this was added a few years back. This is essential to the protocol. Yes, Vitamin D has to be avoided or limited.

Dr. Marshall developed this protocol to cure the patient of the disease, not just put them in remission or get them symptom free. Many people, as you know, relapse after treatment. The protocol can take anywhere from 1 to 3 years to fully rid the body of the bacteria. His goal was to not make the patient feel better or be able to manage their symptoms, it was to cure the patient and kill all the bacteria. Maybe you were not on it long enough.

Thanks

[ticker]

Hi cappy7. I have heard of people trying this but have never heard of anyone getting better from it.

Learn as much as you can. Knowledge is power.

[Bill S]

My LLMD uses 2 elements of the protocol but doesn't use most of it.

My LLMD uses the Benicar to reduce tissue inflammation, but lower doses (I'm on 10mg 3 x day). He thinks that the Lymes creates inflammation in the tissues to hide from the immune system/meds. Certainly the Benicar seems to help me with not only the cytokine effects, but we were seeing some die-off of the Lymes with ONLY Benicar while I was off all abx (I was seeing reddish spots that resembled vasculitis, but aren't vasculitis). I still get them sporatically.

My doc tried to use the Minocycline that the MP uses on me, but I appear to have a drug reaction to it. But he has been using it with many of his other patients with good results. I am currently on Cefzil and Tinidazole (Tindamax) with good results.

He also put me on Vit-D supplementation because my levels were very low (17 when they should have been 32+). Marshall goes the opposite way with Vit-D depravation. My LLMD is a Rheumatologist and thinks the depravation is a very bad idea (not only does it not reduce the inflammation as having normal levels of Vit-D does, but it increases the risk of heart disease 3x).

Maybe the MP works for sarcidosis, but I don't have sarcidosis...

Some will come in and say that the MP works for them, and good for you. My doc disagrees, and so far his treatment has been very beneficial.

The only problem I had with the Benicar was that my insurance didn't want to pay for it, insisting that I either use a cheaper generic blood pressure med (which won't have the same effect), or legally certify that I already tried ALL other meds and this is the only one that helps my blood pressure situation. They won't even pay for an alternative use of the drug). Fortunately my LLMD had a large supply of samples he was able to give me, saving me $200 a month.

The only other thing I can say about Marshall is that 1) he's not a medical doc, 2) his treatment is VERY controversial, and 3) don't you criticize him or he'll threaten you with lawsuits. Draw your own conclusions and go with whatever your LLMD suggests.