What is whole body hyperthermia?
Whole body hyperthermia basics
Whole body hyperthermia (WBHT) is a therapy that increases your core body temperature as high as possible, yet under 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit for as long as possible. The idea is to give your body a life threatening fever under controlled circumstances and keep you at that highest fever for two to three hours. Fevers have historically ‘cured’ ailments such as cancer and systemic, whole body hyperthermia replicates those fevers.
Borrelia, the source of Lyme Disease, begins to die at 105 degrees Fahrenheit and cannot survive above 106 degrees.
Brain damage from fevers begins at 107.6 degrees.
Two hyperthermia treatments are standard at clinics offering whole bod
There are no whole body hyperthermia treatments available above 104.5 degrees in the US.
What happens during Whole Body Hyperthermia (WBHT)?
The entire process takes between 6-8 hours.
The day before you must fast, receive a colonic irrigation and cannot drink any fluid for 12 hours before WBHT.
You are essentially in an ICU with a nurse dedicated to you and a doctor for every 5 patients. All your vitals are monitored. You are sedated during the entire process so all you need to do is show up!
After undressing, you lay in a tent-covered bed under heat lamps. It is never uncomfortable and you are asleep within minutes of arriving.
The heat lamps are turned up and your core temperature increases. My husband’s second hyperthermia had his core temperature at 107.46 for 120 minutes. That is as close to the edge as WBHT can be.
Why does WBHT work?
There are two key factors that make this HIGHLY effective:
- High core body temperature kills the spirochetes – Borrellia is a spirochete bacteria.
- Antibiotics at high temperature: As your body temperature rises it looks for glucose to feed the cells and the brain but cannot find any as you have been fasting. All it can find is the antibiotics so it draws the antibiotics into the cells, tissues and across barriers that antibiotics would not usually be able to penetrate into the very place that the spirochetes are lying dormant and have been hiding.
Side Effects
There are many scary potential side effects but they are rare and include heart, blood vessels and major organs. In my decision-making when choosing to go, I intentionally put any negative effects out of my mind as a possibility and focused upon the healing effects. This sounds pollyanna-ish but focusing on bad outcomes is a waste of time and energy.
Most common are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. If you sneak during your fast, you are guaranteed some ugliness in the stomach arena. I have not spoken to anyone that did not have at least diarrhea for two to three days after.
You may also experience a herxheimer reaction. This is due to the die-off of the Borrelia and detoxification from WBHT. For many people, the intensity of your herx depends upon how sick you have been, for how long and what you have done to your body while you have been sick. Research how to prepare for WBHT, especially if you have been taking antibiotics, either oral or IV. You want to be at your ‘detoxing best’, if at all possible.
If you have cold sores, make sure you let the nurses know when you check in and they will give you anti-virals and lip medication. USE IT!
Is Whole Body Hyperthermia safe?
With 10s of thousands of procedures done over the last 20 years, it is quite safe. I decided to have my 14 year old daughter go through it at the same time as I did, which may indicate my confidence. Certainly, if you have been sick like I was, almost any risk is worth getting better. As I imagined that life for my daughter, putting her through WBHT was a no-brainer.
Lyme Disease Cure?
My honest and full belief is the Whole Body Hyperthermia at these 4 clinics below is the place to START. This is the beginning of your journey, not the end. While Borrelia will die off with successful WBHT, this is only the beginning! You likely have co-infections that will not be affected by the Borrelia die-off and must still be addressed. It is not uncommon for people to feel WORSE after WBHT for a short time. I certainly did.
No one will use the word ‘cure’. But this is as close as you are going to get right now. There are MANY therapies available – stem cell, hyperbaric, biophoton, etc – but none of them address the spirochetes that are lying dormant like WBHT.
A nice side effect is that whole body hyperthermia is also used to treat cancer. Any cancerous, or potentially cancerous, cells will die off during the therapy as well.