Magnesium is one of the most important minerals that you can take when you have chronic Lyme disease.

However, lately in forums it has been blasted as a crucial component of the biofilms that protect colonies of spirochetes from being destroyed by antibiotics and our immune systems.

Which one is true.

First I will tell you my own experience, which I think many of you will relate to.

I have suffered from frequent migraines since I was very young, and when I finally crashed having ignored so many warnings through the course of my equine pursuits and free weight training  “…no pain, no gain!”  I actually thought I was building strength by ignoring all the symptoms until finally I crashed in 2006.

Initially my migraines flared unbearably which added to the long list of pain which had me drugged up and under the covers literally, often barely crawling to the toilet to vomit – if you’ve suffered from migraines, you know what I mean.

Well, when I first stumbled on Dr. Burrascano’s “Treatment Guidelines” I read that magnesium is one of his required supplements.  I didn’t really think about it but over four months I started taking Himalayan Salt, Coral Calcium and mega-doses of Magnesium (1000 mg +) – all of which have magnesium.

Between terrible herxes and intense pain from noises (even whispers) and light (I had to cover all my windows in shades to block out all light – wear sunglasases indoor and put a heavy jacket, towel or blanket over my head when my mother drove me anywhere), I really didn’t think about my migraines – in fact it just dawned on me one day that I hadn’t had a migraine in weeks.

I began to monitor the supplements in a different way and really never figured it out until a very respectable doctor told me that “…all migraines are caused by a lack of magnesium unless otherwise proven.”

Soon afterwards, I had to take a fasting test – with no supplements – and I had a raging migraine worse than ever!

Then after I started the magnesium again, my migraine faded away.

Now, Dr. Burrascano says, “Magnesium supplementation is very helpful for the tremors, twitches, cramps, muscle soreness, heart skips
and weakness. It may also help in energy level and cognition.”

And the Office of Dietary Supplements say, “…Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential to good health. Approximately 50% of total body magnesium is found in bone. The other half is found predominantly inside cells of body tissues and organs. Only 1% of magnesium is found in blood, but the body works very hard to keep blood levels of magnesium constant.

Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Dietary magnesium is absorbed in the small intestines. Magnesium is excreted through the kidneys.

The aspect of magnesium that have many of us with chronic Lyme disease fearful of taking it is that the biofilms that protect Lyme (and other pathogens or diseases) are built by grabbing magnesium out of the blood stream.  The magnesium is a key component to the structure of the biofilm.

After extensive research, my belief (although I am not a licensed medical practitioner) are that the potential negative effects of magnesium can be countered by Lumbrokinase and Nattokinase Plus (which includes Serrapeptase also) which are targeted to destroy biofilms and become even more effective when taken together.

Please send comments if you have experience with magnesium and/or biofilm busters.

“Serrapeptidase”, better known as “serrapeptase”, is best known for its ability to relieve pain from inflammation, reduce inflammation, and destroying pathogens. It is suggested to be able to kill Lyme bacteria, a wide variety of fungus (another tool in the fight against Candida) and unfriendly bacteria.

This means this enzyme through it’s natural action in our bodies can greatly strengthen the immune system. This enzyme is naturally processed commercially today through fermentation, and was first discovered in the silkworm intestine.

In the past, it has been known primarily for it’s ability to relieve pain – especially pain from inflammation, anti-inflammatory properties.

Serrapeptase reduces inflammation in three ways:

1. Breaks down the insoluble protein by-products of blood coagulation known as fibrin. Fibrin develops from soluable protein which clots together to form a mesh when you are wounded.  Fibrin can cause many health problems in certain health problems and diseases;
   
2. Thins the fluids formed from inflammation or injury and facilitates their drainage which speeds the tissue repair process.
3. Serrapeptase alleviates pain by inhibiting the release of specific pain-inducing amines known as bradykinin (according to Wikipedia, bradykinin is a nonapeptide or group of proteins consisting of nine amino acids), that cause blood vessels to enlarge (dilate), and therefore causes blood pressure to lower.. The cardiovascular effects of the serrapeptase are due to the remarkable ability to break down dead or damaged tissue without harming living tissue. Atherosclerotic plaques can be slowly dissolved without harming the inside of the arteries.

Serrapeptase is also known for its ability to destroy harmful pathogens and unfriendly bacteria.  This helps to greatky strengthen our immune system and free it up to fight more serious infections (such as Lyme disease.)

Surprisingly it has been known for over a decade that serrapeptase works to break apart and/or dissolve biofilms.

The wonderful collision of earlier research with the frantic search for a cure for the many modern chronic illnesses (such as Chronic Neurological Lyme disease, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Epstein Barr, Autism, MS to name just a few) and auto-immune diseases (such as HIV, Celiac disease and Diabetes 1 to name a few) has resulted in the discovery of serrapeptase inhibiting and destroying biofilm.

Bacteria, as we have discussed in many blog posts, often follow a process called biofilm formation which results in virtually impenetrable fortresses for the bacteria to multiply and thrive growing steadily and in extended chronic infections causing the immune system to atack our most weakened and fragile organs and/or central nervous system making the disease incredibly painful and resistant to any anti-micrbial, anti-bacterial or anti-viral agents – pharmacological or organic in nature.

Throughout medical research into various means of inhibiting or destroying these biofilms, great breakthroughs have occurred – especially in the last few years.

One study from top Italian scientists suggest that “proteolytic enzymes” (see definition below) could significantly enhance the activities of antibiotics (pharmacological or organic) against biofilms by revealing the infectious colonies as the biofilms are destroyed, and actually inhibit the invading bacteria or virus from developing any new biofilm “hide-outs.”

If the body were always capable of producing adequate proteolytic enzymes, it is possible that cancer would not develop. In theory, cancer cells have a type of protein coating that is destroyed by these proteolytic enzymes. When this protein is destroyed, the body’s white cells are able to attack the cancer cells and destroy them.

This is also true of the protein coverings that enable Lyme disease to successfully evade our immune system and busily creating these strongholds – sometimes for years without any symptoms – and the WHAM!  You encounter exceptional stress and everything shuts down.  For “Lymies” we call that the “crash”.  For those fortunate souls who discover their Lyme infection immediately, the infection is killed before the biofilms can be constructed.

Unfortunately, for those who think they have successfully eradicated a new infection of Lyme, it is not uncommon for a full-blown infection to flare up months or years later due to stree or extreme physical stress and find that a few spirochetes slipped into the central nervous system and evaded the antibiotic treatment.

Lymes disease can lie “dormant” for decades without showing more than a few aches and pains here and there…creating massive biofilm colonies while the unsuspecting victim pops ibuprofen for a sore joint or stiff neck.

The following anecdotes come from Systematic Enzymes (to read entire article click here):

The late alternative medicine renowned internist physician, Dr. Hans Nieper, M.D., (1928-1998) of Germany, pioneered the use of this enzyme in clearing arteries and capillaries of accumulated cholesterol-loaded plaque.

In this extraordinary application of an inexpensive and entirely safe food grade natural protein, Dr. Nieper fed the protein to a small group of men scheduled for artery by-pass surgery by him. He delighted in presenting a pair of 70 year old former gymnasts doing handsprings who previously could barely walk to the door unaided, and suffered extreme chest pains.

Another licensed medical doctor who requested anonymity calls serrapeptase “miraculous”. Dr X claims serrapeptase protects against stroke and is more effective and quicker than EDTA chelation treatments in removing arterial plaque. He also reports that serrapeptase dissolves blood clots and causes varicose veins to shrink or diminish. Dr X excitedly told of a woman scheduled for hand amputation and a man scheduled for bypass surgery who both recovered quickly without surgery after treatment with serrapeptase.

To conclude this series on “New Hope for Severe Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease, it appears to me, as a journalist and chronic neurological Lyme sufferer, that these three enzymes from earthworms will most certainly ease the sever intensity of symptoms and possibly cure even decades of suffering.

I know that I am not speaking for myself alone when I say that the acceptable goal for healthy and vibrant living is not as high as it once was – which has caused me great sadness.  However, I am now raising that standard high in the air with new found hope that extraordinary health can be ours again – not way down the road, but perhaps someday soon!

NOTE:  This is a powerful anti-coagulant so it must be used with care.  If cut while taking this product, contact your physician immediately.

Best place to purchase:  Vitamin Research Products makes a product that is combined with the third enzyme in this series: “serrapeptase” in the correct dosages and with enteric coating to be effective.  Don’t be fooled by bargain basement prices…you will be wasting your money and will not derive any benefit.

Click here for recommended product.