Like many people with chronic Lyme Disease, I’ve struggled to get on top of treating it since it’s a very persistent infection. Antibiotics would work to keep the symptoms at bay for a while and then the inevitable resistance came and the symptoms came back.

Late last year I discovered how effective ozone treatment is as a replacement for antibiotics. I initially treated intravenously at a local clinic, where blood is removed and infused with ozone and then replaced. This was amazingly effective! I then then followed this up at the same clinic with some sessions in a Hocatt sauna.

The Hocatt was equally as effective for me as the intravenous delivery. The problem though is that this is a very expensive piece of equipment and naturally the clinic charges a commensurate amount of money to use it.

DIY Time!

Because of the expense, I set about recreating my own ozone treatment. It turns out to be reasonably simple and very effective indeed for me. Please note that this is not general medical advice and it may not work for you, I am just explaining what worked for me.

So here’s my kit:

• One ozone generator
• One portable steam sauna tent

That’s literally it. The Ozone machine was AUD $130 and the steam tent was AUD $80 or so, both bought from eBay. This is what it looks like ready to go.

The ozone machine is bottom left of the picture and the steam generator is bottom right.

I put a fold-up camping chair inside the tent to sit on.

You can see the steam outlet on the floor at the back.

Close up of the ozone machine. The cylindrical object is an air dryer which makes the machine more effective at generating ozone. This one makes 500mg an hour.

I feed the tubing from the ozone generator into the tent via the zip holes meant for hands at the front.

And here’s the boiler that generates the steam. It feeds steam via the tube at the side.

How to use it

The boiler takes about ten minutes to get hot enough to make steam, so set it off and at the same time zip up the tent and start off the ozone generator — I program it for 40 minutes, allowing a ten minute “pre-fill” period and 30 minutes of sauna time for me.

As soon as you hear the boiler boiling, unzip the tent and get in quickly to avoid letting out the ozone gas. It will be a bit smelly, try not to breathe it in, it will irritate your lungs if you breathe too much of it in.

Wrap a towel around your neck and zip up the tent with your head stuck out the top, sealing off your neck as much as you can. OK, now relax for 30 minutes!

Warnings

• Really, try not to breathe in the ozone, it will damage your lungs.
• Put the sauna tent OUTSIDE, you don’t want ozone indoors.
• You need to be able to stand a bit of heat for this to be really effective. If you feel too hot, get out, or open the hand/arm zips to let some heat out.
• If you feel faint, get out immediately. Your blood pressure might be too low to stand the heat. If you have a BP monitor, do use it!

What to expect

The first few times you do this, you’ll feel pretty whacked, it’s quite intense. For that reason, it’s a good idea to build up to the 30 minutes over a few sessions, or even leave out the steam initially. The last 10 minutes of the 30 are the toughest, but they are also the most effective, so try to get there gently.

I usually get a herx from this between 1-4 hours after getting out. I do not get in and do another session until 2 days after my previous herx has stopped.

Good luck!