Reacting to Dr. Marty Ross’ video on efficacy rates seen in his practice
By Dr. Kyle Warren
Edited by Meghan Feir Walker
Have you ever wondered if herbal remedies remotely make a difference with chronic tick-borne illnesses? Have you been debating whether you should take antibiotics or herbals to recover? These can be tough questions for patients to answer because the matter of antibiotics vs. herbals for chronic Lyme and co-infections is one of the most controversial topics in the Lyme community.
Dr. Marty Ross, a successful Lyme doctor I respect greatly, has helped many chronic Lyme and co-infection patients over the last few decades. Though retired, Dr. Ross continues to be a resource to those in the Lyme community.
Recently, Dr. Ross made a video in which he discusses the efficacy rates of antibiotics and herbals in his practice, and I want to compare his results with my own to shed some light on the following questions:
- Do herbals work to kill chronic Lyme and co-infections like Bartonella and Babesia?
- Do herbals work as well as antibiotics for chronic Lyme and co-infections?
- Overall, which is better for killing Lyme and co-infections, herbals or prescription antibiotics?
- About how long does it take to get better from these infections according to Dr. Ross?
Without further ado, let’s jump in.
Watch this correlating video to hear Dr. Ross’ take on these questions and Dr. Warren’s response, or continue reading to find out.
Do herbal antibiotics work, and do they work better or worse than prescription antibiotics?
In his video, Dr. Ross discusses whether herbals work and whether antibiotics or herbals are more successful in recovering from these three tick-borne diseases: Bartonella, Babesia, and Borrelia (the name for Lyme bacteria).
In order to understand the complexities of which route is more effective, we need to hone in on the results for each of these major tick-borne infections.
How long does it take to recover from Bartonella?
Dr. Ross’ efficacy rates for Bartonella:
Success rate of prescription antibiotics: 80-85%
Success rate of herbals: 70-75%
Dr. Ross’ timeframe: 6 months
In six months, 70-75% of Dr. Ross’ patients recovered from Bartonella using a combination of herbs and about 80-85% got over the infection using a combination of antibiotics. Most doctors, including me, find it fast to get rid of these infections in six months.
For the remaining 15-25% of patients who weren’t able to get rid of the infection in six months, it can take months to years longer.
Dr. Warren’s response: “I don’t agree with this. I think Bartonella is the most antibiotic-resistant of all the tick-borne illnesses.”
In my clinic, the cases I’ve witnessed vary slightly from Dr. Ross’ patient cases. I have had many patients come to me after already trying to defeat Bartonella with antibiotics. Even after they took prescription antibiotics for long periods of time, nine times out of 10, they still had an active Bartonella infection when tested. Because I’ve witnessed this repeatedly in my clinic, I consider Bartonella to be the most antibiotic-resistant of the tick infections I regularly treat.
How long does it take to recover from Babesia?
Dr. Ross’ efficacy rates for Babesia:
Success rate of prescription antibiotics: 85%
Success rate of herbals: 80%
Dr. Ross’ timeframe: 4-5 months
For babesia, Dr. Ross noted that herbals work 80% of the time, and prescription antibiotics usually work about 85% of the time.
Babesia takes about four to five months to overcome for 85% of people in Dr. Ross’ clinic. This makes sense because Babesia lives in your red blood cells and your red blood cells turn over every four months.
For the remaining 15% of people, it's a longer, much harder fight that can take a year, two years, or longer to eradicate.
Dr. Warren’s response: “Mostly yes!”
You can get through Babesia in a turn or two of the red blood cells and most people are better in that timeframe. However, last week, I had a patient come in who was fighting four tick infections. After a year, they have gotten rid of three of them, but the Babesia is the one we're still fighting. Regardless of whether you’re using herbs or prescriptions, Babesia can sometimes be difficult to defeat. There’s often one tick infection that hangs on much longer than the others.
How long does it take to recover from Borrelia (Lyme)?
Dr. Ross’ efficacy rates for Borrelia:
Success rate of prescription antibiotics: 90%
Success rate of herbals: 90%
Dr. Ross’ timeframe: 1-2 years
Dr. Ross says herbals and antibiotics share the same 90% success rate for his patients. You have the same chance of getting rid of chronic Lyme (Borrelia) with either, but there’s something to keep in mind.
If you go the antibiotic route for Lyme, Babesia, or Bartonella, you’re not using one antibiotic but three at a time. The same goes for herbals. You’re going to use two to three herbs at a time to kill the bacteria because combinations get the best results.
Although many of his patients recover from Babesia and Bartonella infections in as little as six months, chronic Borrelia takes the average person one to two years to defeat.
Another important factor to note is that it’s rare to run across a patient with only one tick-borne infection. The grand majority of the time, I have patients fighting multiple infections. Many have Borrelia plus Babesia, or Borrelia plus Bartonella, or all three—often even more. There are several other tick-borne infections beyond even these three, including various strains of Anaplasma, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and others.
Because of this, Dr. Ross mentions that if someone is fighting multiple infections, including Lyme, it will usually take one to two years to recover, whether you’re taking prescription antibiotics or herbals. It can take some patients longer depending on everyone’s unique situation.
Dr. Warren’s response: “Yes, but I prefer the herbal route, for various reasons.”
I’ve found this to be true in our clinic as well. I generally tell my patients that recovery time can take anywhere from 6-18 months. Some of the best doctors in the world who have dedicated their lives to treating tick-borne infections reiterate that getting better in six months is extremely fast. They also expect most chronic cases to take one to two years. Some people recover faster, and others take longer.
Why I choose herbals over antibiotics
Fewer side effects, same results
While Dr. Ross said he gets slightly better results using antibiotics with Bartonella and Babesia, it’s not a significant difference. Antibiotics have a 5% higher success rate for Babesia and a 10% higher success rate for Bartonella according to his clinical experience. With Borrelia, herbals and antibiotics share the same success rates.
Why bother with antibiotics?
Just like Dr. Ross, I have found similar results between prescription antibiotics and herbals, but that made me ask why we should even bother with antibiotics in most cases. If the antibiotics are not significantly superior, why should we use them?
After years of clinical experience, I wasn't getting improved results using antibiotics. I noticed antibiotics gave my patients significantly more side effects and they had a much harder experience overcoming these infections.
A 5-10% difference isn’t large enough of a gap for me to justify the harsher symptoms antibiotics invoke. When taking three or more antibiotics at a time for six months to two or more years, patients get far greater side effects that affect the gut, heart, brain, and liver.
Patients still need to function
Patients still need to live their lives. They need to take care of themselves and their families and have jobs to work. They need to be able to at least somewhat function while getting treated. Because of this I eventually realized that in most cases, it wasn’t worth placing patients on antibiotics. When side effects become so intense that patients have to pause the treatment, that only stalls the process and causes many patients to drop out of the protocol altogether.
I also noticed a pattern with incoming patients and my existing patients who had been taking antibiotics. They had a much higher rate of recurrent infections, meaning that as soon as they stopped using prescription antibiotics, their symptoms and infections returned. This is especially true when I find person after person who still has Bartonella despite years of antibiotics.
In my experience, the herbal route works well in the same timeframe and has fewer side effects and a lower chance of recurrence.
Antibiotics vs. Herbals for Chronic Lyme and Co-infections
Which will you choose?
When comparing antibiotics vs. herbals, you have to look at the healing process as a whole—the many factors that go into recovering from tick-borne diseases. This is why I prefer using herbals and nutraceuticals in my practice.
As a patient, you have the right to decide which route you want to go when fighting these tick-borne illnesses, but it’s wise to consider your history, symptoms, sensitivity level, and other factors before reaching for antibiotics.
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Summary
Antibiotics vs. herbals for chronic Lyme and co-infections: How long does recovery take?
- Antibiotics vs. herbals for chronic Lyme and co-infections can both work to eradicate infections, such as Borrelia (Lyme), Bartonella, and Babesia.
- Dr. Ross stated he’s been able to eradicate Bartonella in six months with an 80-85% success rate using prescription antibiotics and a 70-75% success rate using herbals.
- For the remaining 15-25% of Bartonella patients, it’s taken longer than 6 months to eradicate the infection.
- Dr. Ross stated he’s been able to eradicate Babesia in five months with an 85% success rate using prescription antibiotics and an 80% success rate using herbals.
- For the remaining 15-20% of Babesia patients, it’s taken longer than 5 months to eradicate the infection.
- Dr. Ross stated it takes the average Borrelia (Lyme) patient one to two years to eradicate the infection. This is true 90% of the time using either prescription antibiotics or herbals.
- For the remaining 10% of Borrelia patients, it’s taken longer than two years to eradicate the infection.
Dr. Warren's response to the video
- I disagree with Dr. Ross slightly when it comes to Bartonella. In my practice, I’ve found Bartonella to be the most antibiotic-resistant tick-borne infection with a very high recurrence rate.
- When treating tick-borne infections, you have to take an average of three antibiotics at a time for six months to years, which is very hard on the body.
- Antibiotics produce far more severe side effects than herbals.
- Many of the patients who come to Restorative Health Solutions have already tried defeating tick infections with antibiotics, to no avail, but they have found success with our herbal protocol.
- While a few of my patients still choose to use certain antibiotics, if it’s appropriate, the majority want to go the herbal route. This is often because they had already tried antibiotics with other doctors and either couldn’t handle the intense side effects or their symptoms returned immediately after stopping antibiotics.
- When deciding which route is right for you, consider your history, symptoms, sensitivity level, and other factors.
