What is a Protocol?

For those of you who don’t know what protocol means in relation to chronic illness or in my case Lyme and co, as far as I can see its a terminology used to describe the strategy of treatment that one chooses in order to medicate. Be it pharmaceutical, herbal or any other supplement.

I struggle with keeping a protocol together. I once read that you should never change a protocol, that once you embark upon one you must stick with it. Well I couldn’t do that even if I tried. You see the learning process is not linear, I learn something new about my health almost every day, and a protocol must be tweaked accordingly. I berate myself for not staying by the book, but I did make the mistake of doing that once instead of listening to my body and very nearly died, that is another story.

Each to their own, I salute you who can stick to a protocol and wish that my life could be that simple! Generally I feel its important to observe how the body is responding to what your taking, but keeping to a rhythm is essential. I say rhythm because I feel that a protocol is almost like an orchestra. You start with a basic ‘beat’, which could be your main components, say an antibiotic or an antifungal, and as you go along you may end up adding several other products; binders, chelators, anti parasite medications etc.

You may likely find that something in that protocol may make you Herx, which can be a very serious inflammatory response, so you have to cut back, whilst trying not to stop. That is often where I let myself down, and I am sure I am not alone. It is a great art to keep the orchestra going, and I suppose practice makes perfect, but continuing to take something that makes you much, much sicker than you felt before, in the knowledge that in the long term you will be getting better. It takes a tough cookie to compose that kind of orchestra. There is no once size fits all in my belief, and in an ideal world, in my imaginary world where I have an imaginary physician who constantly advises me, we would be told exactly what to do according to our progress, or demise.

On the other hand, sometimes you find you have spent a small fortune on products that don’t work for you, and sadly this is often the case more so than finding products that do work. There is not getting away from trial and error when you are treating a list of diseases that you are not trained to treat. Visiting a physician is an obvious answer, but not many of us can afford to do that on a regular basis, and many people find that they have to visit various ‘specialists’ before they are able to find someone who is worth the huge financial overhaul. For others, a Physician is merely a dream. So we find our own protocol, by observing others success and failures, by studying our own test results and by trial and error. It truly is a brave new world when you have to take your health into your own hands, but like most terrifying experiences in life, it makes you stronger.

I have not been able to tolerate oral antibiotics (ABX) for a long time, due to Biotoxin Illness and a very dangerous infection of MARCoNS in my sinus’s (the wrong ABX made this worse). I am able to use ABX ‘locally’ in the form of a nasal spray, which in my opinion is a simple but genius way to treat the sinus’s without risking the damage that comes with taking oral ABX. I wanted to keep a rough note of what I take for my own records, but also to give some examples of how the protocol orchestra can work. It may be noted that some of these elements nod to treatment of cancer, it is something that many people with Lyme and co will be aware of, especially chronic Lyme as the degeneration of most bodily systems can be seen as a precancerous condition and so therefore often treatments will cross over. I do not recommend anyone to embark upon taking any medications without seeking medical advice.