I read in a research paper today that Lyme disease bacteria persists in the skin in animal models. If the dose is low, the bacteria come back, but at 2.5 mg/ml of lidocane, the Lyme bacteria were still gone from mouse skin after 7 days.
I once had a skin biopsy done at Kaiser where I had some foliculitis I suspected was bacterial. I think they used lidocaine as a numbing agent as part of the skin biopsy. That’s a great sneaky way to get a negative culture test. The three day to a week bacterial culture test was negative and I was quite surprised, but I suspected they accidentally sterilized the culture in the process of getting the sample. The collection protocol’s use of lidocaine may explain it further.
Another interesting ploy, call it #525: Kaiser has strict rules about referrals to dermatology, it seems. You can’t have more than three areas with a problem, for example. This is a great rule to keep Lyme skin conditions from reaching them. I’ve had images taken with the dematology camera only to get no reply about some images. All of this made more sense when I heard from Kaiser doctors that Kaiser’s infectious diseases department likes to pretend Lyme disease does not exist. This was echoed by HMO staff up and down the food chain who suggested that doctors will not see what they do not want to see and that I should seek outside medical care for Lyme. For now, for better or for worse, Kaiser is my health care provider and I have to do what I can in that system.
In some mouse research, it was observed that:
1. Lidocaine demonstrated lethal effects on Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease) in laboratory tests:
– At concentrations of 5 mg/ml and 2.5 mg/ml, lidocaine killed B. burgdorferi bacteria after 1 and 7 days of exposure[3].
– The lethal effects were determined by observing loss of motility and disruption of the spiral shape of the bacteria[3].
2. This finding is significant because lidocaine is commonly used as a local anesthetic when collecting human skin biopsy samples for Lyme disease testing[3].
3. The antimicrobial effects of lidocaine could potentially interfere with detecting Borrelia bacteria in skin samples:
– Lidocaine may inhibit bacterial growth or kill Borrelia present in the skin when used before human biopsy specimens are collected[3].
– This could lead to false negative results when trying to detect active Borrelia infection in skin samples.
4. The researchers tested the effects of lidocaine specifically to evaluate its potential impact on Lyme disease diagnostic procedures involving skin biopsies[3].
5. Similar antimicrobial effects of local anesthetics have been observed in other microbial studies, suggesting this is not unique to Borrelia[3].
While lidocaine showed bactericidal activity against Borrelia in laboratory tests, the research was primarily focused on understanding how lidocaine might affect diagnostic procedures, rather than exploring it as a potential treatment. Further research would be needed to determine if lidocaine could have therapeutic applications for Lyme disease.
Lidocaine Ended Pain Near A Tick Bite
A few days ago I was having some very strong intermittent stabbing pains in my elbow nerve near where a tick was embedded for a week. There had been a red rash and I had taken two weeks of Doxycycline. This lidocaine may be what stopped stabbing pains after I put up with it for three hours. I applied a good blob of 5% lidocaine creme to my “funny bone” where the pain was. This is 10 times the concentration that killed two different species of Borrelia in mouse skin in one experiment. The pain was one single point, one single stab and then was fine. It was not a lingering pain, which is strange. Lyme can do some strange things if goes inside of myelin sheaths of nerve cells and moves along them, as has been reported by pathologist Dr. Alan MacDonald doing research for 40 years now.
Radiculoneuropathy in Lyme disease typically presents as inflammation of the nerve roots, leading to symptoms such as sharp or stabbing pain, numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness[9][10]. This condition occurs in about 4% of patients with acute neuroborreliosis affecting the peripheral nervous system[11].
Stabbing Pains
Radiculoneuritis is the third most common nervous system dysfunction seen in acute neuroborreliosis[12][13]. “Radicular” pain, which follows nerve pathways, can manifest as sharp, shooting, stabbing, or burning sensations[12]. Another sensory manifestation of radiculoneuritis is numbness and tingling along affected nerves[12][14]. Typically, nerve involvement occurs near the site of the tick bite[14].
When Lyme disease-induced nerve inflammation leads to motor dysfunction, it presents as muscle weakness[12][15]. In cases where this weakness begins in the lower extremities and progresses to the upper body in acute neuroborreliosis, it can be mistaken for Guillain-Barré syndrome[15][16].
The progression of muscle weakness from lower to upper extremities in acute neuroborreliosis can lead to misdiagnosis. Healthcare providers should be aware of this potential confusion with Guillain-Barré syndrome to ensure accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment[15][16].
Corticosteroids Help Lyme Bacteria do More Damage
Based on the available research, using corticosteroids in patients with Lyme disease is generally not recommended and may actually worsen outcomes:
Negative Effects of Corticosteroids in Lyme Disease
Corticosteroid use in Lyme disease patients has been associated with:
– Worse long-term outcomes and treatment failure[21][22]
– Increased failure rates of antibiotic therapy[21]
– Worsening of disease symptoms[21]
– Poorer recovery of facial function in patients with Lyme-associated facial paralysis[22][23]
Mechanisms
The negative effects of corticosteroids in Lyme disease likely occur because:
– Corticosteroids inhibit inflammatory and immune responses, which are important for fighting Lyme bacteria[21]
– They may handicap communication between immune cells[21]
– Corticosteroids can suppress the body’s ability to mount an effective response against the Borrelia bacteria
Recommendations
Given these findings, experts recommend:
– Using caution in prescribing corticosteroids for patients with suspected or confirmed Lyme disease[22][23]
– Differentiating Lyme-associated facial paralysis from other causes before considering corticosteroid treatment[22]
– Focusing on prompt antibiotic therapy as the standard of care for Lyme disease manifestations[23]
Corticosteroid use appears to increase Lyme bacteria levels indirectly by suppressing the immune response. This can lead to worse outcomes and treatment failures in Lyme disease patients. Antibiotics, not corticosteroids, are the recommended first-line treatment for Lyme disease and its manifestations. When doctors do what seems natural, using corticosteroids to suppress the inflammation caused by Lyme disease, they give the Lyme bacteria a boost and this ends up worse for the patient. This is one reason you must have Lyme literate doctors running your show or at least be a very strong advocate for yourself and know what you need to avoid.
In summary, Lyme is a scary disease and every little thing that might help to fight it is welcome for those who believe they may be fighting late stage disseminated Lyme disease.
Read More
[1] https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/03/potential-treatment-for-lingering-lyme-disease.html
[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32601348/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324597/
[4] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-16749-9
[5] https://ouci.dntb.gov.ua/en/works/7Pj5gZOl/
[6] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342528188_Effects_of_topical_corticosteroids_and_lidocaine_on_Borrelia_burgdorferi_sensu_lato_in_mouse_skin_potential_impact_to_human_clinical_trials
[7] https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4fb88469712fc827a56d37c0bc4cb70bf4344430
[8] https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/330178-treatment
[9] https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/hcp/clinical-care/neurologic-lyme-disease.html
[10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8903752/
[11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6908959/
[12] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19078675/
[13] https://karger.com/crn/article/12/3/276/97531/Isolated-Cervical-Myelitis-in-Lyme-Disease-A-Rare
[14] https://insightsimaging.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s13244-018-0646-x
[15] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6908959/
[16] https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/63/3/346/2595059?login=false
[17] https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/hcp/clinical-care/neurologic-lyme-disease.html
[18] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/neuroborreliosis
[19] https://drtoddmaderis.com/neurological-lyme-disease
[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jh47toFzvA&t=12s
[21] https://danielcameronmd.com/steroid-use-can-lead-long-term-treatment-failure-lyme-disease-patients/
[22] https://www.empr.com/home/news/steroid-use-questioned-for-common-lyme-disease-manifestation/
[23] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160906182119.htm
[24] https://www.globallymealliance.org/blog/dear-lyme-warriorhelp-16
[25] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33905494/
[26] https://aspire.care/blog/lyme-disease-treatment-dr-moorcroft/
[27] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324597/
[28] https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/330178-treatment