Heat Therapy??

One of my good friends in my fathers Lyme support group who I know battled chronic lyme for 5 years. He tested positive on the Igenex IgM as well as PCR tests. He took Doxy as well as IV therapy and while he got much better and his symptoms leveled out, he still was not "cured".

Very short story -- about two years ago, while on a trip to Mexico, he got very sick after eating some fish. He returned to California and was hospitalized for 5 days -- and ran a fever of between 102 and 105 degrees. The fever eventually broke & he was OK. Now here's the interesting part -- it seemed to completely cure his Lyme disease. He feels 100% and has for the past year and a half. His doctor (not an LLMD but someone who treats nearly 50 Lyme patients) believes that it was the heat associated with the fever that killed off all the spirochetes or enough of them to make a difference. Perhaps its dormant right now but still an interesting observation.

I've read about "heat therapy" and am curious as to whether anyone has tried it. I read an article indicating that, in cultures, 100% of Lyme die at 106 degrees for 24 hours. 12 concurrent tests confirmed this. Unfortunately, that temperature can kill you as well but its interesting to note that Lyme die at only 8 degrees fahrenheit and 4 degrees celsius over normal body temperature. The article also mentioned that Lyme replicate fastest at 98.6% but have much difficulty when the body temp reaches 101-103 eventually dying at 106.

I know there are drugs that can cause the body temperature to increase from the "inside out". Also, heard that regular use of a sauna can assist as well.

Any thoughts or comments on this?

you know i've been thinking about this too. at night i sleep under two blankets and a sheet. after a couple of hours i start sweating like crazy then i'm in and out of the sheets all night. i wonder if it raises my temperature.

also when i went to the eye doc he said to use hot compresses, as hot as i can stand without burning myself, over my eyes, for about 5-10 minutes each morning and night. have to say it has eased some of the pain.

i know our water is super hot. so is this heat helping to kill the ketes around my eyes,--i don't know but my eyes do feel a little better.

so how can you raise the body temp without hurting yourself? or having to spend a fortune???

hugs

Originally Posted by earle

so how can you raise the body temp without hurting yourself? or having to spend a fortune?

There are "washing machines" that heat the body that are used in cancer treatment on the theory that heat shock proteins are therapeutic but cancer cells die at a lower temperature. Some womens groups even have funds available for reduced price sessions.

I believe you get a fast glucose drip so that your brain basically thinks you've had a big lunch and are lying down afterwards and taking a nap. Most patients seem to wake up somewhere during the cool down cycle, but at all times a patient has a "panic button" he can hit if the heat gets too much.