Lyme Disease News Journal

13 signs of Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2018-06-04T14:05:45-04:00

"Lyme disease is an underreported, under-researched, and often debilitating disease transmitted by spirochete bacteria. The spiral-shaped bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, are transmitted by blacklegged deer ticks. Lyme’s wide range of symptoms mimic those of many other ailments, making it difficult to diagnose…" Healthline.com

13 Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease:

• Rashes
• Fatigue
• Joint pain
• Flu-like symptoms
• Sleep disturbances
• Cognitive decline
• Vision changes
• Other neurological problems
• Skin outbreaks
• Heart problems
• Mood changes
• Pain
• Symptoms in children
• If you suspect Lyme
• The bottom line

Read the full article

Posted by Evan (LDRD Webmaster)

History of the Lyme Vaccine

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2018-05-29T08:45:53-04:00

With the recent news of a possible new Lyme Disease vaccine, we decided to give some context to the story and provide a variety of sources for those that are interested.

Here are some different perspectives on the elusive Lyme Vaccine and the hope of a new vaccine that is promising to be effective in preventing Lyme.

In the past
The history of the Lyme Vaccine

CDC - Lyme Disease Vaccine

NIAIDH - Overview of Lyme Vaccines

In Recent News
Lyme Disease Vaccine has been fast tracked

Lyme disease vaccine Phase 2 study slated for second half of 2018

Valneva R&D - Developer of the new Vaccine

*Posted by Ev, LDRD Webmaster

Lyme Disease and your pet

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2018-05-25T16:08:08-04:00

It is vitally important that we check our pets for ticks on a trip by trip bases. Every time you venture outside you should check your pet before you come back inside.

We all give our pets medicine to deal kill ticks on contact, this is necessary for their well being and our peace of mind. Even so, your pet can bring ticks in from outside without you knowing about it and they pose a danger to you and your family. This year alone our dogs have brought in ticks at least a dozen times and it is only May!

In an article from South Coast Today:

"Dr. Rachel Ashley, a member of the staff at Capeway Veterinary Hospital of Fairhaven, emphasizes that while the deer tick is very prevalent throughout New England, there are several other tick species that are found in the area. Deer ticks carry Lyme disease, which can be transmitted not only to dogs but also to humans."

“Every year there are more and more cases of tick-related diseases,” she said.

Ashley adds that the abundance of wildlife places the region at high risk. She urges owners to check their dog’s fur even in sub-zero weather, adding that ticks like to grab onto a canine’s fur in a process called “questing.”

“Questing is a behavior exhibited by hard ticks as a way of increasing the chances of coming in to contact with a suitable mammal host,” Ashley said. “The behavior involves the tick ‘climbing up a blade of grass or other structure and then waiting with its front legs outstretched.’”
Read the full article here

Be sure to check your pet in these areas:

Behind the ears
Sides of the eyes & eye lids
Between the toes
On the tail

We use the flashlight built into our cell phone to make it easy to see in the hard to see spots!

Natural Tick Repellents

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2018-05-22T11:10:09-04:00

Many people are not comfortable using chemical repellents on their skin, pets or even in their yard.

New studies on the effectiveness of essential oils and naturally derived insect repellents have emerged in recent years that do show promising results.

But what are reputable sources for deciding what repellents to use?

The Official Word?
What does the CDC say about natural tick repellents using essential oils? Click here to read the CDC page - https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/prev/natural-repellents.html

And the doctors?
Here is an article on MD Junction about Citronella and Oregano Oil - https://www.mdjunction.com/forums/lyme-disease-support-forums/tips/10741380-essential-oils-to-kill-ticks

Traditional wisdom?
And the good old trusty Farmer's Almanac. What are considered to be the traditional remedies for repelling ticks? Take a gander - https://www.farmersalmanac.com/7-natural-tick-remedies-work-27452

This year has been a bad year for ticks around these parts here in the Blueridge Mountains of North Carolina and we have been inspired to update our knowledge on the healthy alternatives, we think you should too!

Article by Ev (LDRD Webmaster)

Chronic Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2017-12-18T16:32:00-05:00

Here is a collection of articles on Chronic Lyme.

According to the CDC, what many call "chronic Lyme disease," is properly known as "Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome" (PTLDS). Doctors can follow protocol and treat patients who have been diagnosed with early-stage Lyme.

Read the collection on Chronic Lyme here

Do you have to be concerned about ticks in winter?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2017-11-15T09:53:00-05:00

Do you have to be concerned about ticks in winter?

Yes. Chances of getting Lyme disease can actually increase in winter, because people believe ticks are inactive. However, ticks have super powers and can even survive periods of being frozen underground.

There is undeniable healing power in nature. Getting outdoors restores the mind-body balance, increases a sense of well-being as well as the likelihood you’ll sleep well at night. A brisk hike in the fresh air is the antidote to being cooped up indoors.

Even better, mosquitoes and flies won’t bug you like they do in warmer months.

Ticks, though, are a different animal.

They do survive throughout the winter, according to Dr. Thomas Mather of the University of Rhode Island.

Ticks produce a sort of antifreeze to protect themselves from frigid temperatures. They are “back out and biting,” as soon as the weather warms and the ground thaws, observes Dr. Mather.

This doesn’t mean you should stay inside. Get the benefits of being in nature, just take precautions.

Checklist for outdoor activity:

- Wear long socks, appropriate footwear, and tuck your socks into your pant legs.

- Wear light-colored clothing including socks and shoes, to make tick checks much easier.

- Avoid brushing up against grasses, stay clear of woodsy areas, and hike in the middle of the path.

- Perform a routine tick check when you get indoors. Have another person check your hair and scalp.

- Check your pets. Dogs and cats and any critters who share your bed and your living space should also routinely be inspected.

- Wear DEET, but be forewarned, even it does not guarantee protection from tick bites.

Please visit our Facebook page

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2017-09-07T11:53:00-04:00

Please visit and like our Facebook page and join in on the conversation!

Find out how others are dealing with Lyme Disease. Click below.

Lyme Disease Research Database

A good diet for Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2017-03-17T16:30:00-04:00

A good Lyme-literate doctor will suggest you supplement your treatment with a good diet. This is especially true for those of us with chronic Lyme symptoms. But when it comes to food, a lot of us do not like to change things up – creatures of habit, unite! However, change may be easier if you understand why it's necessary.

Read the full article

What one food vegetarians should avoid when battling Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-11-29T12:26:43-05:00

You may be a vegan or vegetarian who eats soy products to increase your protein.

Nurse Jean Reist has treated Lyme patients in her Pennsylvania clinic. She explains the importance of protein in the diet.

Think of it as your weekly tasks of stocking your fridge with healthy foods and taking out the garbage. That’s similar to what occurs inside the lymph nodes on a regularly basis.

Critical trace minerals are transported by protein through the lymph system. If the patient’s diet lacks protein, the lymph system cannot properly do its job of delivering nutrients to the cells and taking out the toxins.

So she suggests vegetarians help out by adding a small amount of animal protein to their diet while battling the Lyme bacteria.

Eggs, whey, fish okay — but not soy.

Reist cautions against soy products because soy is high in copper. Lyme patients must also try to rid our bodies of an overload of metals, among them lead, aluminum, mercury, and copper.

Learn about Lyme Disease and protein.

Diet and inflammation

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-11-26T09:49:14-05:00

What is diet’s role in healing Lyme?

The body’s response to injury is often inflammation. This is beneficial in case of a cut or scratch.

But when the body’s immune system is chronically switched-on due to a Lyme bacterial infection, the resulting inflammation can wreck havoc.

What you can do to fight inflammation

Stress and medication contribute to inflammation, but so does a diet of refined carbohydrates and sugary foods, as well as dairy, red meat, and cereals.

Be proactive in your own healing

Eat a mediterranean-style diet free of foods that are known inflammation triggers. Inflammation may not sound serious -- but according to medical experts it is no joke, which is why it is called the silent killer.

Healing from chronic Lyme is not easy for many of us. Why gamble with your health by consuming foods that may cause your body even more harm?

Increase your healing odds by eating anti-inflammatory foods such as oily fishes (salmon, sardines, and mackerel), walnuts, green leafy vegetables, and many spices and herbs.

Bright yellow turmeric with black pepper reduces inflammation hiding in the body, and contains anti-aging properties. It is included in the treatment of many debilitating diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimers and arthritis, as well as Lyme.

Look around in the produce section. Let your senses guide you. Choose organic, healthy, brightly colored fruits and vegetables which are high in anti-oxidants. Our diets should include about two and half cups of vegetables and fruits every day.

Exercise — not just on the days you feel like it.

The mind is not always our friend. Sometimes it is a bully, interfering with the needs of the body by arguing that it’s too tired or too sick to move around even just a little.

I speak from experience!

Don’t let your mind work against your body’s best interests. Make an effort to override it. Form new habits. This takes courage, so don’t be surprised if you think this is a difficult task. It is. But aren’t things that are worthwhile usually kinda hard?

Here’s a motivating factoid to encourage you to exercise even just a little:

Exercise oxygenates the blood and kills spirochetes, which cannot survive in a high-oxygen environment. Be a spirochete slayer. Your mind will even be impressed.

No one in this world is more invested in your healing than yourself. Not your mom, your doctor, your spouse or even your dog. Only YOU can change your habits if needed.

A tasty, organic mainly-veggie diet and regular exercise are part of my healthy healing journey. I exercise every day now, but it took years to formulate working-out as a habit. I realize this means my mind is particularly stubborn. At least now its habit is a healthy one that it won’t let me give up!

Manuka honey and shea butter

Honey is healing, and for centuries societies around the globe have applied it to cure infection caused by wounds and other skin injuries.

Skin problems associated with Lyme disease can include severe rashes and intense itching. Honey can be used topically to help reduce inflammation and soothe itchiness.

Manuka honey is a special, potent healing balm. Bees collect it from the Tea Tree bush, widely praised for its cleansing and germ-killing abilities.

Manuka honey’s healing properties are so dependable and effective that it is used by medical personnel in Emergency Rooms for patients with critical burns and gunshot wounds.

It is sticky, like all honeys. So it should be covered once applied, but mixed with shea butter Manuka can soothe and heal irritated skin.

For help with a case of seasonally recurring eczema, I discovered that spreading on a blend of Manuka honey and shea butter before bedtime helps reduce inflammation and soften rough skin.

If you try it yourself, remember to cover with a non-stick bandage so it stays on your skin instead of ending up on the sheets!

A remedy for inflammation — and a yummy late-night drink

In my house, Manuka is also our favorite go-to for soothing scratchy throats due to colds or allergies. On a chilly night I love curling up with our two little doggies, and a good book, and sipping on a hot steamy mug of Lemon-Manuka.

Into a cup of hot water, stir in one teaspoon honey and a squeeze of lemon. Add a dash of cayenne pepper for a cup of cozy warmth.

Avoid eating sugar if you have active Lyme symptoms. You do not need to add to your body’s troubles by consuming this non-food food.

The point is to reduce inflammation, and sugar can cause insulin levels to rise, which results in plummeting blood glucose and encourages silent or low-grade inflammation. Stevia is a good sugar substitute and doesn’t react in the body like sugar.

Okay, so your turn! What is your favorite anti-inflammatory remedy?

Can we break chronic pain patterns?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-11-23T09:23:08-05:00

Chronic pain is exhausting. Especially when there seems to be no way out. But as the saying goes: when you’re going through hell, keep going.

Because going through may be the only way to get over it.

A few years back, I was at the peak of suffering from chronic Lyme symptoms. One symptom was non-stop itching and the feeling that zillions of creepy-crawlies were devouring the skin all over my body.

I was at the edge of my tolerance, stressed and about to die, I thought, from sheer misery.

And then something happened. The pain subsided, disappeared unexpectedly.

And it was heaven.

But it was temporary.

The relief lasted only about a half hour, but it was enough to show me that it was possible. That was my introduction to the miracle of the mind-body connection and the power of distraction.

Have you ever experienced “pain fountains”? If you suffer with chronic Lyme symptoms, you may know exactly what I mean.

Let’s just say it. The body-mind connection is a singular, miraculous evolutionary development. A god-given gift. Practice being in tune with it increases our awareness and sensitivity.

Pain in our bodies is also experienced in our minds, and vice verse. The mind can assist the body in healing, yet it can also lock us in a loop of pain that feels impossible to escape.

Dealing with serious illness is one way — one hard way — to learn more about this mysterious connection. A doctor friend described these pain fountains as the patterns formed in our neuronal pathways in response to chronic pain. A sort of dance between body and mind.

In my experience, the pain fountain felt like a recording on repeat, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

But what I didn’t realize — until I experienced it out of the blue — was that pain fountains can be, if not stopped, interrupted. And that interruption can reward an exhausted immune system with a temporary reprieve from the agony of chronic pain.

The result can bring about a deep sense of wellbeing, although usually temporary, and often brief and unexpected.

Like a gasp of air in one who thought they were drowning. Like a good night’s sleep to an insomniac. A break in the pain fountain can ignite hope in the heart. And that is what healing feels like.

Is it possible to set the stage for such a break in a chronic pain fountain? I learned the answer when I picked up a paintbrush and proceeded to thoroughly distract myself from my suffering.

But it doesn’t have to be a paintbrush. It could be knitting needles, or a fishing pole, or a model railroad, or a practice of Tai Chi.

I stumbled accidentally into the powerful effect of creating art. What do you love to do? I suggest you do it, no matter how awful you feel. It can’t hurt, and it might just break the pattern and help you find healing.

Art & Acupuncture: 2 ways to get chronic pain relief

Magnesium a must for Lyme patients

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-09-03T14:40:00-04:00

Magnesium for reducing inflammation

If you have Lyme disease, you have silent inflammation.

It is highly likely that you are also deficient in magnesium, because the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia, unlike other bacteria that require iron to survive, has evolved to use magnesium to complete its own life cycle.

The Lyme bacteria steals magnesium from our cells to survive.

Another factor contributing to the problem, for Americans at least, is that our farming topsoil has been depleted in magnesium which is not replaced. So our foods tend to be deficient in magnesium, which is problematic.

Magnesium supplements have been clinically proven to reduce pain and inflammation from fibromyalgia and other autoimmune diseases. As Lyme is an inflammatory disease, it makes sense to pay attention to something as simple as adding in a vital mineral.

Increasing magnesium levels through diet or supplements may be even more crucial for people with Lyme, because not only does the Lyme bacteria rob us of magnesium, so does stress—both physical and psychological or emotional—as well as the use of antibiotics.

If you have Lyme, you are likely familiar with experiencing stress on every level. One of the main complaints addressed by magnesium is anxiety, and reducing mental stress is a critical first step in healing.

Magnesium deficiency same as Lyme symptoms

Many of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency are the same ones associated with Lyme disease, such as irregular heartbeat, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, muscle cramps and spasms, and joint health.

Other problems stemming from a lack of magnesium are arthritis, heart disease, hardening of the arteries, and calcification.

Magnesium deficiency shares another aspect with Lyme disease.

Tests are highly unreliable. Here’s why. This vital mineral is located throughout the body and functions in every cell, including those in our brain. Only about 1% of magnesium is in our blood. Yet the test for magnesium deficiency is a blood serum test.

Magnesium can alter the course of health — and disease

Magnesium research over the past 40 years tells us that this essential mineral is far more vital to our health—physically and psychologically—than was previously assumed.

Fibromyalgia patients treated with magnesium malate have been clinically demonstrated to experience a reduction in pain.

According to a recent study published the journal BMC Bioinformatics, magnesium is essential to altering the course of health and disease.

Major body functions requiring magnesium

Our bodies use magnesium to perform thousands of biochemical functions that contribute to good health—at the top of the list is a good night’s sleep and regulation of the heartbeat.

Nerve function, blood sugar control, blood pressure regulation, energy metabolism, protein synthesis, and production of the antioxidant glutathione are just a handful of the major functions that require magnesium.

It is easy to get more magnesium in your diet by eating magnesium-rich foods and also by taking a magnesium supplement. Magnesium baths also increase levels through the skin. Ask your doctor about the best way for you.

Calcium and magnesium are both necessary

Calcium and magnesium work together like two sides of the same coin. Yet modern medicine has fixated on the role and importance of calcium, even though getting too much calcium is problematic.

In addition to fibromyalgia patients, increased magnesium has shown benefits to those suffering with atrial fibrillation, Diabetes type 2, cardiovascular disease, premenstrual syndrome, and migraines.

Low magnesium levels are also associated with cardiovascular aging, which contributes to premature aging.

Magnesium is an essential part of the delicate balance of our health. Taking a magnesium supplement or eating foods rich in magnesium helps create the right amount of calcium in the body. Yet, calcium supplements taken without magnesium can actually deplete magnesium in the body.

What depletes magnesium?

Pharmaceutical drugs, antibiotics, stress, whether psychological or physical, depletes magnesium in the body.

Same with caffeine, so be aware that if you have a habit of drinking coffee or tea in the morning, one of the reasons behind your afternoon crash is that the caffeine has depleted your necessary magnesium levels. Drinking yet another cup of coffee is probably not the best way to wake up.

Nor is reaching for a candy bar or anything with sugar. Fizzy sodas and pop drinks contain phosphates which bind with magnesium and flush it out through the kidneys.

“Anti-nutrients” such as sugary drinks, candy bars, cookies, cakes, and pastries tank the level of magnesium in the body as well.

Having a Vitamin D deficiency contributes to a loss of magnesium.

Alcoholic drinks, if taken seven times or more per week, also flush magnesium out through the kidneys.

Exercise and sweating depletes magnesium. Magnesium is controlled by the kidneys and excreted daily.

How do you know if you’ve got too much? Your body will naturally let you know. Too much magnesium can cause diarrhea as your body rids itself of the excess mineral.

Foods rich in magnesium

You can take a supplement, but the easiest fix is to start eating foods that contain magnesium to see if you feel an increase in energy. Look for vegetables high in chlorophyl, such as dark leafy greens—chard and spinach contain magnesium.

So do pumpkin seeds, yogurt, kefir, beans and other legumes such as black-eyed peas. Artichoke, almonds, avocado, goat cheese, figs, dark chocolate, and banana are some other foods that contain this miracle-worker mineral.

Further References:
http://www.newsmax.com/fastfeatures/magnesium-deficiency-lyme-disease/2016/07/11/id/738173/

http://www.everydayhealth.com/pictures/foods-high-in-magnesium/#05

https://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Miracle-Revised-Updated/product-reviews/034549458X/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=recent#R1L09DW10O2WDF

What’s missing in Lyme treatment?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-06-28T13:53:59-04:00

Healing chronic Lyme means you have to think like a private investigator. Yep, even when your brain fog rolls as thick as on a San Francisco street.

Private investigators solve mysteries. You want to solve the mystery of good health. How should you start?

Ask questions.

Let’s say you’re in pain. You go to an MD. What happens?

After a physical exam, you may walk out of there with a prescription for pharmaceutical painkillers.

The drugs may ease the pain for awhile. However, locating the origin of pain can be tricky. And if the source hasn’t been diagnosed or addressed, pills can only hide it temporarily and it may come back. In some cases, pharmaceuticals can even make it worse.

What then?

You might look further afield. Pain is motivating — which may be its only merit, but it’s a goodie.

You might turn to alternative treatments, seeking out an acupuncturist, herbalist, or a traditional Chinese Medicine doctor.

The MD offered one choice: pharmaceuticals. The acupuncturist, herbalist, and TCMD offered three more choices and possibly some pain relief without drugs.

What are the missing keys in Lyme treatment?

Standard treatments for Lyme cover one dimension: Kill the bug with antibiotics. If that worked for everyone all the time, there would be no need for further discussion. But it doesn’t.

Lyme patients who still aren’t healthy and continue to suffer from symptoms after completing a course of antibiotics might want to ask their doctors lots of questions.

For starters, let’s ask what else besides antibiotic treatment might be helpful? Diet and exercise aren’t generally addressed.

Most MDs don’t study nutrition, so they don’t consider it a factor in healing. However you might land in the office of a doctor with nutritional expertise. There are exceptions, because of overwhelming evidence that what you eat does play a role — a big role, in health and healing.

Or you might find a more holistic doctor, with knowledge that movement and physical exercise—even if only one brief walk per day—helps detox your lymphatic system, which is critical to recovery.

In that case, you’ve got a doctor with a wider perspective on Lyme treatment. You are encouraged to become more proactive in your own recovery. And that could be the moment you turn the tide toward wellness.

What other dimensions are missing?
For further reading see the 4 Paths to Beating Lyme

Diet & herbs in healing Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-04-21T10:44:50-04:00

When you want to know what to eat (and drink!) when healing Lyme, ask an expert.

My recent guest—nutritionist, herbalist, Lyme expert, and educator Rebecca Snow, MS—shares a lot of fascinating facts about foods, herbs, and how to start thinking about using nutrition to really get the most out of your healing protocol.

Rebecca’s clients often come to see her for diet and lifestyle support, particularly those who are already seeing a Lyme literate doctor and may also be taking antibiotics.

I wanted to get her opinion on herbal protocols and their role in healing Lyme.

Unlike some of the more conventional Lyme experts I’ve interviewed, Rebecca thinks “there’s probably too much focus on antibiotics in the Lyme-literate community.”

She has a good point.

“There is evidence that chronic symptoms of Lyme may be infection,” she adds, “but they may also be related to an auto-inflammatory response.”

A more effective approach than one that simply applies antibiotics to healing Lyme would include diet, nutrition, and the use of herbal and homeopathic supplements.

Lifestyle factors play an important role as well. And one of the most important of these is sleep. Are you getting enough shut-eye?

Hippocrates, as Rebecca reminds us, is considered the father of modern medicine. Sleep was his go-to prescription for illness. Many of us today go without enough of this precious healing resource.

Rebecca says that because Lyme is an infection-triggered illness, it is more complex than simply the infection itself.

And because of that complexity, looking farther afield than simple antibiotics is a good idea.

"In my experience, herbs and antimicrobials, or antibiotics, are not as strong as prescriptions antibiotics.

However, because I think Lyme is more complex, I mean, it’s an infection-triggered disease process, and I think that disease process is more complex than just the infection itself, that herbs have a lot to offer,” she adds.

Read the full article

Listen to the interview with Rebecca Snow, MS.

Rebecca Snow, MS, CNS, LDN, RH(AHG) is an herbalist, nutritionist, educator, and Lyme expert. Based in Maryland, she sees clients via phone/Skype as well as teaches workshops and mentors new practitioners.

Rebecca has a Master of Science in Herbal Medicine, and takes an integral approach to helping her clients heal from Lyme and other chronic diseases.

http://rebeccasnow.com

Patience — flip side of courage

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-04-09T12:05:35-04:00

A reader asks, how did I recover from Lyme disease?

I’ll tell you what I told him. It was the first thing that popped into my head, and it might not be what you expect.

Superman vs Clark Kent

Courage makes the headlines.

We all love to hear about daring, noble feats of everyday superheroes. Regular people doing unselfish acts.

It’s little wonder that feats like this restore our faith in humanity —

The man diving into the freezing pond to save an 11-year-old child.

The mother lifting a two-ton car off of a boy.

Your spouse refusing Ben & Jerry’s because they know you can’t eat sugar.

Courage is easy to admire because it’s easy to spot.

When it comes to battling Lyme, courage is as necessary as light is to life. Especially when you feel like you have to convince the doctor that you’re actually sick.

There’s no question we have to persevere, do our own research, and get a second opinion when necessary. Or a third, fourth, or fifth until we get the help we need. And it takes courage to question your doctor.

So this is where it helps to see that courage has a flip side. And that is patience, the unsung virtue.

If courage is Superman, patience is Clark Kent with his nose in a book. Granted, boring to watch. But he’s doing the work on the ground.

So that was my first response to the reader who asked what worked for me. Patience.

Patience and courage, because they’re really two sides of the same coin.

Patience and perseverance

Writer Amy Tan said when she had Lyme disease, she couldn’t remember the paragraph she had just read.

Has that ever happened to you?

It takes patience to start again, and again. You have to believe in your own body’s healing power.

Like Sisyphus pushing the boulder uphill. That’s perseverance. Never give up.

There is always something you can do. It begins with understanding what the Lyme bacterial complex is doing in your system. We’re talking about the mind-brain-body connection here.

Lyme bacteria in the brain

Science shows that the Lyme bacterial complex can cross over the blood-brain barrier. Not every bacteria can do that.

Think of the mind as the cloud. The brain is the device, the hardware. And science also tells us that the mind is located in our guts as well as in our heads.

Which is why there is such an important connection between the health of our guts, or intestines, and our mind-health. Feeding your body means also feeding your mind.

Lyme disease, when it affects your mind, threatens to erase your memories. It can delete your ability to put together a simple sentence. You can’t think of a word when you reach for it.

This is one of those tricky Lyme symptoms that is hard to explain to your friends. That’s because cognitive problems tend not to show up on the exterior.

Your interior

Inside, it’s as if your interior being — your mind, your faith, your thoughts, beliefs, memories, everything that makes you you — has been shredded to bits and dragged over rocks and tossed off cliffs into a deep mud pool far below.

With all that going on, it can be tempting to give in to despair. Who could blame you?

I’ve been there, looking down the barrel of mortality. I had to decide whether to keep fighting or give in.

I almost gave in because the pain was unbearable.

Who knows why, but after a while of not dying, I chose courage.

What I didn’t know was that I’d have to be patient — more patient than I thought was possible — before I could really express that courage.

So I patiently proceeded (along with my doctor’s help) to do everything in my power to get back to health.

Especially eating right and keeping my mind sharp.

Foods & activities for brain health

Fighting Lyme from every angle was what worked for me. Antibiotics, herbal supplements, homeopathics, exercise, positive thinking, prayer (without ceasing), and good friends. Yep, a huge dose of good old fashioned love thrown into the mix.

I sought the company of friends, community and laughter. My husband helped by renting funny movies for us both to watch—since he sorely needed to escape the drag of Lyme disease as well.

And getting my butt out of bed to walk around the block even when I felt like I was dying.

My naturopathic doctor and I also found a diet that would support my brain and body.

What did I do?

I ate foods rich in Omega-3, lean proteins, and a rainbow of vegetables which are high in antioxidants and key vitamins. Colorful veggies are also detoxifying and will help your immune system by supporting your elimination organs, the kidneys, liver, and skin.

Nourish your body with whole foods. Avoid refined foods, sugar, and white flour. Avoid alcohol and coffee.

Reach for scrumptious red and blue fruits, such as organic strawberries and blueberries.

Keep your mind fit

Exercise and stretch whenever possible, and by all means rest.

Sleep is the key to healing. Good sleep.

Exercise your brain.

It’s important to help keep your mind fit. Try new things, keep learning. You can learn almost anything online.

Play games such as crossword puzzles or Sudoku. Play games online. Check out lumosity.com or brainmetrix.com.

Teach yourself another language by playing an online game or challenging a friend through duolingo.com.

If you played an instrument before you got Lyme, take it down off the shelf. Sit down at the piano and tinker.

Music is healing, especially when you make it yourself. Play music with friends. Let it take you away.

What kind of art do you like? You can take virtual museum tours online.

Make your own art. Craft something. Learn how to make an origami crane — so beautiful. Paint, write, draw, color in a coloring book.

Read a book. Read a series.

Keep your mind active and fit. Nourish your brain with vital, healthy foods that make you feel good.

Diet and nutrition are only part of the whole picture, but they were crucial to my recovery and now maintenance of good health.

Above all, be patient and kind to yourself. There is no more precious thing than your life.

Then you can tell your own superhuman story about healing from Lyme.

I bet that our double-sided virtue, patience and courage, will both play have played a big part.

Diatomaceous Earth--Guard against tick bites

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-03-22T14:55:16-04:00

Prevent tick bites
While I was researching ways to guard against tick bites, such as rubbing your skin with clove, tea tree, peppermint oil or other essential oils, a reader wrote to tell me about food-grade Diatomaceous Earth.

This is not the same Diatomaceous Earth that we used to mix into the pool filter. That DE is laden with chemicals.

I had never heard of “food-grade” DE, which is said to be safe to consume. I’m skeptical, because in anecdotal research it is referred to as something of a panacea, curing everything from hot flashes to cancer.

Obviously, not one, single supplement can do everything.

DE kills fleas and gnats
But what can it do?
Is it all hype?

Not all of it.
My friend Stephanie uses it to kill fleas. If you’ve ever experienced the hell of a flea infestation, that’s worth a whole lot.

And I’ve used it successfully myself to kill gnats when they threatened to overtake my house. Mixed a tablespoon or two into the topsoil of the houseplants.

So I’ve seen it kill off gnats and fleas without harming pets and children. That’s a good sign. It can be rubbed into your pet's skin to help guard against tick and flea bites.
Caveat: DE is not fit for breathing. Take care that your pet's nose, mouth and respiratory passages are protected during application, and apply it when outside in fresh air.

85% Silica
Diatomaceous Earth is mostly silica. 85% and up. The rest is made up of additional minerals.

The way it kills tiny insects is by tearing into their exoskeleton and dehydrating them.
Drying them to death.

You’ve seen those tiny packets of silica that are used in packaged goods such as dried foods, clothing, toys, and all sorts of consumer goods. The reason silica is effective is because of its dehydrating ability.

It sucks the moisture out of whatever it’s packed into.

When consumed, it is said, DE offers the benefit of nourishing the body with silica and cleansing the colon of parasites, molds, bacteria and other scum in general that is contributing to a lack of energy and all manner of illness.

Why should silica matter to Lyme patients?

First, silica is what the body needs to generate collagen.

Second, Lyme bacteria are famous for eating the collagen out of our joints and skin. Our knees, Dr. Cowden once told me, are nothing but fine-dining collagen restaurants for the Borrelia bacteria.

So is it safe to consume DE?
Because if it is, I want to know. It could not only help cleanse the colon of all the bad stuff, it could also restore the damage done to our joints and skin (and nails and hair).

I’m in!! But…

My first instinct is to avoid taking it, simply because I wouldn’t want to stir up a major herx. Anything that changes the stasis of the gut is likely to do so.

Ask your Lyme literate doctor
If you are considering trying it, please first ask your doctor(s) about it. Let me know what they say.

I’ll post about DE again, once I find a qualified medical expert to offer scientific evidence that food-grade DE is helpful. Especially if it might help anyone who suffers with Lyme and its co-infections.

Many Lyme patients are dealing with immune-system challenges such as an imbalance of gut flora and fauna, a direct result of using pharmaceutical antibiotics.

Leaky gut syndrome
According to Dr. Lee Cowden, it’s often a case of the cure being worse than the illness itself. Pharmaceutical antibiotics punch holes in the gut lining, causing leaky bowel syndrome (IBS) and other problems that may be very difficult to cure.

Center of the immune system
The gut is center of the immune system. In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s called the dantian, a.k.a. the sea of qi (pronounced chee). In Japanese it is called the hara.

The story goes that qi, or jing, is the energy that sustains life. It supplies the rootedness and vitality required for healthy life to develop. When the dantian is unhealthy, from poor diet and nutrition to lack of fresh oxygen, the person will be sick and drained of energy.

In traditional Chinese medicine, qi gong practice helps restore and maintain the energy flow throughout the body and mind with deep, rhythmic breathing and slow physical movement.

So it follows that cleansing one’s colon would also help to restore one’s health and vital energy.

Food-grade DE for humans?

I you are thinking about giving food-grade DE a try, be sure to heed the disclaimers and warnings.

The FDA has not weighed in on this stuff. They haven’t tested or approved it for human or animal consumption. Therefore, DE may have unknown consequences or contraindications. Buyer beware.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease in dogs

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2016-03-11T12:23:07-05:00

Lyme in dogs

Our family adopted a two-year old.

She’s an 11-pound cuddle-bug with a smidgen of sass and a lust for green beans.

The adoption process included a full medical checkup, a spay, and followup exam.

Everything looked great.

Everything, except our little doggy had tested positive for Lyme disease. In her early life, before her first owner abandoned her, she had never been given tick preventatives.

When I saw that she’d tested for Lyme I slightly panicked.

The adoption was already a done deal. And I wasn’t about to back out because of Lyme. If anyone understood the pain and confusion of Lyme, I figured, it was me. We were a perfect match.

When I asked if she had any symptoms, the foster mama clucked reassuringly. No signs, no symptoms.

The foster mom takes in 50 dogs a year. “About 5 of them have NOT tested positive for Lyme,” she said.

She doesn’t consider it a problem. But because they were located in Virginia, the vet started her on Doxy and administered a Lyme vaccination before the adoption.

All pets can get Lyme

“I didn’t even know dogs could get Lyme,” said more than one of our dog-owning friends.

They can.

Our pets are exposed to ticks—deer ticks, dog-ticks, many types—whenever they’re outside. We humans wear insect repellent but we know that it varies in efficacy. It’s very important to protect our animal friends with products such as Heartgard and Nexgard.

Contact with ticks is especially likely in deep woods, but we and our pets can pick up an infected tick anywhere rodents and other carriers might pass.

Including your own backyard.

Unless you are the owner of a blue-tailed skink, http://www.anapsid.org/lyme/sceloporus.html, your pet is not immune.

Cats, horses, ferrets, parrots and other critters bitten by an infected tick are vulnerable to Lyme disease. However, just as with Lyme in humans, much about the disease in dogs is controversial.

Unfortunately, veterinarians do not have a unified approach to diagnosis or treatment. A lot of this has to do with geography. In Virginia, Lyme is reported regularly.

Pet insurance

In canines, Lyme symptoms can manifest as lameness and other bad news.

So, being head-over-heels about our new baby, I looked into pet health insurance, because I know that Lyme symptoms may appear when a body is under stress.

If she were ever to get injured or sick, Lyme bacteria might be waiting to pounce.

But pet insurance raised more questions.

I learned that no pet insurance policy covers pre-existing conditions.

Pre-existing conditions can no longer prevent people from getting proper coverage, but our pets are a different story.

Would pet insurance cover Lyme symptoms that might show up in future years?

The scoop on pre-existing conditions

We pondered whether to buy it or not. It was a conundrum. When your dog has tested positive for Lyme, but shows no signs or symptoms, is it considered a pre-existing condition?

It sounded like a gray area to me, so I called the vet.

“It’s a gray area,” he said. “Ask the insurance company.”

It was starting to feel a little like a game of keep-away.

The representative at Healthy Paws pet insurance told me that coverage of any future symptoms would be determined by our veterinarian.

Let’s say your dog tests positive for Lyme today, but shows no signs or symptoms.

Five years down the road, he starts showing signs.

Lyme can cause many troubling symptoms and signs, including lethargy, loss of appetite, fever, lameness, malaise, joint pain, or kidney disease.

If the vet diagnoses the new symptom as a result of the Lyme disease that had been diagnosed all those years ago, the insurance policy will not cover treatment.

If the vet diagnoses the symptom to be unrelated to Lyme, it will be covered.

Prevention and care in spite of Lyme controversy

At least we can depend on one thing:

There is as much Lyme controversy among pet-doctors as among people-doctors.

It isn't hard to see why there is confusion, since as I mentioned, much of the reporting of Lyme depends on geographical location. Here in North Carolina, Lyme doesn’t exist, according to one of the vets with whom I conferred.

“You just don’t see it here,” he says.

I remain skeptical. It may simply be underreported.

Our dog hails from Virginia http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/maps.html.

As this map shows, Lyme cases are reported there.

What mystifies me is how the ticks know to stay put at the border.

Luckily, I found a vet who shares my skepticism and suggested antibiotic treatment, as well as the vaccine and followup booster.

Lyme treatment in dogs

Some vets, when a dog tests positive for Lyme, will administer the Lyme vaccination. They will also prescribe 30 days of Doxycycline and a followup booster at 3 weeks.

Other vets will not give the vaccination or antibiotics, reasoning that a dog that tests positive but doesn’t have signs or symptoms is a carrier, but is not sick. They claim that only a small percentage of dogs will ever show symptoms of Lyme.

On a personal note, my dog gets a few drops of Samento or teasel in her water bowl. I take one or the other as a prophylactic, so she gets it too.

And maybe most importantly, we do our daily tick checks after having been outdoors. This is tedious, but we sleep better at night.

Probiotics for pups

As soon as our pup finished her Doxy prescription, I started her on a high quality probiotic for pets. Probiotics will help restore her healthy gut flora and fauna. It is best not to give probiotics until your pet is finished with the antibiotics.

I use Dr. Mercola’s pet probiotics. For $5 off this product when ordered from iHerb, click http://www.iherb.com/iherb-brands?rcode=NEJ627.

A friend of mine claims that adding nutritional yeast to her dog’s diet repels ticks and fleas.

However, when I asked the vet if nutritional yeast would repel such critters, he smiled as if reasoning with a 5-year-old and handed me a pamphlet for NexGard.

This is not to say that the vet disapproves of nutritional yeast for dogs.

He claims that our dog eats better than he does. So because of the B vitamins that make her coat shine, I continue to give her nutritional yeast as well as probiotics.

Herbal alternatives for Fido

In humans, anti-inflammatory supplements such as fish oil, glucosamine, chondroitin, and turmeric are suggested for reducing inflammation and pain of Lyme symptoms such as headaches and arthritis.

Always ask your veterinarian to see if supplements or herbal alternatives are right for your pet. *See warning below.

For a little extra pet protection, I use high quality products on our pooch that are designed for pets and that use essential oils.

In my opinion, a line of quality products are available online from jeansgreens.com in Castleton, New York.

Jean’s Greens offers a Bug Repellent Shampoo that uses essential oils to fend off biting insects, including ticks. Ingredients include eucalyptus, lemon, rosemary and wormwood essential oils.

*Warning! Always check with your vet before feeding your beloved pet a new food or using any ingredients on their coat. Essential oils, when used wrong, or if a cheap brand is used, can cause harm or even kill a precious pet.

Anti-inflammatory diet for dogs - fish oil

Our vet will check our dog for elevated protein levels in her kidneys every three or four months. If protein levels are high, it indicates kidney trouble. However, if her levels have not risen for one year, all is considered well and we may expand the time between checkups.

For the anti-inflammatory effect, we added a high quality fish oil to her diet. Our vet says to be aware that a lot of fish oil on the market is “snake oil,” due to unethical producers who spot an easy way to cash in on people’s love for their pets.

She gets the same kind of fish oil I take, once daily. It has made her coat thick and soft as goose down.

Just a note here about delivery. I don’t let her swallow the whole capsule. The doc suggests cutting it open and squeezing the oil over her food. This prevents the whole cap from racing through the dog’s digestive system and popping out the other end—before it has had a chance to dissolve.

Good girl!

She loves to learn new words. Her favorite is “dance.”

Friends say they see a big difference in her personality, coat, and carriage since the day we brought her home from the rescue agency.

She may be Lyme positive—but so far, so good.

With all the love, care, and supplements she gets — along with the grain-free dog food, she is as full of good cheer as ever.

She still goes nuts over green beans. She's a good girl.

And she’s never met a human she didn’t love. I’m sure she’d even greet the jerk who tossed her out and shut the door in her face.

To him, I am forever grateful. For if he hadn’t rejected her and given the neighbors a reason to take her to the rescue people, we would never have met her.

She is, like your dog is to you, our precious baby. A font of love, forgiveness, and a source of happiness and joy.

With a little luck, we will never, ever have to use that pet insurance policy.

How to remove a tick from your dog
http://www.akc.org/learn/dog-health/lyme-disease-in-dogs/
http://www.akc.org/learn/dog-health/how-to-remove-tick-from-dog/

Can antibiotics heal Lyme disease?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-07-17T13:38:53-04:00

Can antibiotics heal Lyme disease?
Yes. If Lyme is detected early on, antibiotics can be effective in stopping the infection and killing the bug.

But what if you’ve completed antibiotic treatment, and you still feel more zombie than human? Quality of life matters.

When you dig a little further, you find that Lyme disease is often complicated by many factors. So it makes sense that Lyme is difficult to treat with just one pharmaceutical drug.

For one thing, the nasty co-infections that can accompany Lyme infection may go unresolved.

Research increasingly shows that a tick bite often downloads additional pathogens along with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme. Co-infections such as Babesia and Bartonella seem to be the rule, and not the exception, for people with Lyme.

So why do most doctors take this one-drug-for-one-bug approach to treatment?

The answer is, as in so many cases, because that’s what they’ve always done.

It’s historical.

One drug for one bug
Monotherapy is the treatment of a condition by means of a single pharmaceutical drug. This idea of “one drug for one bug” was developed after World War II. Monotherapy came into use with the “first generation” antibacterials, as some epidemiologists and researchers refer to them.

But humans, our systems, and our environment, have evolved since the 1940s.

Consider the communication system. The computers my dad worked on in the 60s were as large as my kitchen, and had a fraction of the capacity of my smartphone.

Back then, people even had to get up and walk to the telephone.

Bacteria evolves too. Lyme and its co-infections are a new challenge for doctors as well as patients. These bacteria are stealth pathogens, with the ability to evade the immune system and antibiotics.

Outsmarting the smart bugs
Monotherapy offers only one weapon against the complexity of a Lyme infection.

Lyme, Babesia, and other co-infections are newly emerging infections, sometimes called “second generation” infections. These difficult-to-cure diseases require more holistic and complex approaches to treatment.

Stephen Buhner, author of Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections, questions the sole dependence on antibiotics as a treatment for Lyme disease.

“Technological medicine,” he says, “while a great adjunct, is not capable, at this point in time (if it ever will be), of dealing with this second generation of infectious agents.”

Especially when it is not detected in the early stage, many of us find that Lyme is not an easy disease to cure.

Plant medicine is considered by alternative medicine practitioners to be a smart healing ally, because as living organisms, herbs evolve right along with bacteria.

Get a handle on it
For me, killing the Lyme bacterial complex—as I call the numerous pathogens that we call Lyme—has been an ongoing challenge that has transformed my life. I have to say, it hasn’t been an altogether bad thing.

I try all feasible pathways to vitality and good health. My focus is on healing through daily attention to body, mind, and spirit. Most precious of all, I have a better handle on what truly matters.

I’ve had much good luck with herbs and plant medicine over the years since battling Lyme and its co-infections. Although I’d be the first to tell you to run to the ER with a severe infection—because that ain’t nothing to mess with—I consider herbal medicine one of my primary allies in staying healthy in my life post-Lyme.

Co-infections complicate Lyme. They can muck up the healing process and delay the gift of living a vibrant life.

Plants might be able to help. Most people I know who've healed from Lyme have taken herbal medicines along with their standard protocol. According to Stephen Buhner and other herbalists I've interviewed, there is generally no problem with taking herbs at the same time as taking pharmaceuticals. But as always, I recommend asking your doctor or medical team for their opinion before doing so.

“Those with co-infections tend to be sicker longer, have more difficult symptoms, possess a lower quality of life, and are much less likely to heal from the use of monotherapies such as antibiotics,” says Buhner.

Get well soon!

The monkey mind and the mandala

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-07-12T10:22:47-04:00

Lets talk about the body/mind connection.

How does it work, exactly? For starters, let's consider the monkey mind.

At any given moment, we all have a load of chit-chat streaming through our thoughts.

You recognize this phenomena: the familiar little monkey mind skittering up, down and all around your inner landscape, ceaselessly chattering, never at rest.

What's your monkey mind saying?

Do you ever get quiet and listen?

It may be repeating worries, fears, or other negative memes. I know mine does. Sometimes it gets the upper hand, like in the middle of the night when I'm lying awake, and it seems like everybody else on earth and their dog is snoozing peacefully.

Can this inner voice and its repetition of fears create underlying physical stress?

Some healers believe that negative thoughts, repeated ad nauseum by our monkey minds, can actually soften the way for infection in our bodies. I don’t know for sure.

One thing that's for sure is the amazing connection between the body and mind. One way to access and strengthen this body/mind connection is to draw. This is where art – the act of making art, that is – can actually help open the doors to healing.

Yep. Just pick up a colored pencil or marker, nudge your inner kid awake, and just draw.

Or you might want to try coloring in a delicious looking coloring book of mandalas. Coloring book for adults! What a country.

The claim is that many people who are ill or in the throws of a healing crisis find the act of coloring is quite helpful.

Hold on. Coloring is good for you?

Now we’re talking.

Mandala studies shows that when you are coloring, your conscious mind is turned off. The chatter is turned down at least. Similar to being in a dream state.

As the standard chatter recedes, your unconscious mind, which is vastly larger than the conscious tip of the iceberg, is able to get a word in edgewise. Answers to conundrums may suddenly pop into your mind. You may receive key information about the next step on your healing journey, because healing mechanisms can be triggered by the simple act of coloring.

When I heard about this, my inner coloring-book lover did a happy dance.

If there are inherent lessons in illness, I suspect it has to do with realizing that we must give 100% participation in our own cure. It's learning to accept that we've embarked on the hero’s journey.

A hero who has stepped onto a landmine and can't move off.

So let's face it. The hero needs tools. And maybe a fistful of colored markers.

Any kind of coloring will work. However, mandalas are special for many reasons, and probably the best kind of design to bring harmony to your senses because of their circular symmetry.

Try it.

You might think it's pure synchronicity, but while you are fully concentrating on coloring, you may be given a reprieve from your pain. If it works and you feel better, who cares if it's synchronicity or if it's some sort of mandala magic?

Art saves lives.

At the very least, it can calm the monkey mind for a few minutes and give us a break from its tiresome chatter.

With practice, it may strengthen the bridge between that vast part of us that is perfectly well, not affected by disease, and give our body the rest it needs to heal deeply.

No matter what the doctors say, no matter what anybody else says, no one lives inside our bodies but us.

Only we can really know how we feel, what we need, and in any given moment, what can make us healthier. Our bodies are magnificent, and capable of self-repair and self-healing beyond our wildest imaginings. I believe this.

Sugar cravings and nightsweats: What is your gut trying to tell you?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-07-08T11:59:02-04:00

Causes of autoimmune disease.
Dr. Peter Muran is like the Sherlock Holmes of Lyme literate doctors.

A physician who specializes in natural, alternative, and complementary medicine, with a background in engineering and chemistry, he says disease doesn't just happen.

He explains that preceding every disease, including chronic Lyme, there is a pathway, a chronological timeline that led to the condition.

Take, for example, the classic killer heart attack.

“Someone doesn't simply have a heart attack and die,” says Dr. Muran, who, along with his wife, Dr. Sandy Muran, practices Functional Medicine at Longevity Healthcare in San Luis Obispo, California.

There are factors that lead up to the cause of death, he explains. If you take an engineering approach and look for the clues, you can discover a telling storyline.

The heart attack does not come out of the blue. First, an occurrence of some sort leads to the clogging of the arteries, and then, this disease of the arteries develops until they get blockage, and then finally, the result is a heart attack.

Nudge it with a sledgehammer?
As he sees it, the doctors' job is not to come up with a diagnosis so that a label can be slapped on the illness, and a code to treat it can be decided upon.

Instead, his goal is to investigate the chronology leading up to the illness, to locate just where along the line the imbalance occurred. Then, he says, the doctor's job is essentially to get out of the way and allow the body to heal itself.

But in their effort to heal the patient, doctors can make errors in judgement.

For example, it only takes a nudge, a very mild or slight tuneup of the hormonal system for tremendous results, says Dr. Muran.

“When Prednisone is given to manage a slight cortisol deficiency in the hormonal system, it's like using a sledgehammer when all you needed was a tackhammer.”

What does this mean for us patients? It means that we can have some degree of control in changing our particular situation.

While there is no way to change the fact that we got Lyme to begin with, chronic Lyme can be examined objectively, looked at and analyzed the way one would a story—or a crime.

And a good place to start looking for clues is in our diet. Conventional doctors are not schooled in nutrition, so we'll get little help from them.

SAD but true
Most Americans, finds Dr. Muran, live to eat, intead of eating to live. The SAD (Standard American Diet) causes stress and inflammation and creates imbalances in the immune system. Under these conditions, diseases which we could normally keep in check are instead allowed to flourish.

Dr. Muran finds that patients dealing with chronic disease often do have problems in their GI tract.

Night sweats, sugar cravings, and other disturbances are often a result of the inflammation and imbalance in the gut caused by an unhealthy diet.

He points out that we are not subjected to anything separate from the earth, or sterile. “Our GI tract has 100 billion cells living in it,” he says, which is ten times the number of cells that make up our body.

It doesn't take an engineer, or even a Watson, to recognize that our bodies have an ongoing and continuous relationship with the earth, meaning the flora and fauna that live inside us, and that actually play a key role in our wellbeing.

Our bodies are miraculous and resilient. Given half a chance to survive, we may even begin to thrive. Making positive shifts in our lifestyle and diet can help us manage chronic Lyme.

Members, for further information about Dr. Muran's approach to managing chronic Lyme Disease, please listen to our 4-part interview with him in our Lyme Experts audio interviews series in the membership portal.

How I survived the Herx

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-07-03T11:49:07-04:00

Ten years ago, one day in July, 2005, I was sick with Lyme, and vacillating between extremes. I was feeling pretty positive most of the day, symptoms not horrible, merely terrible…a big improvement.

But at that moment, my naturopath called, and our conversation sent me into a mental funk.

Through the brain fog, I strained to comprehend what he was suggesting.

He explained that he really didn’t want to prescribe antibiotics. But in the next breath he said that because I was not out of the woods, I really must use them.

He said antibiotics were crucial now, because there was a neurological involvement we must address. Neuroborrellia.

He recommended intravenous antibiotics, and thought I should have an IV for the next several weeks. That meant getting a catheter stuck into my arm and bringing home a portable IV stand with a bag. Then I would be injecting myself with antibiotics every day.

The thought of having a tube stuck into my arm me depressed me to no end. But the problem was, there was evidence that with Lyme disease, long-term antibiotics are effective. In fact, they may be the only way to prevent symptoms from returning.

It was a conundrum. I felt like I was being pulled in two directions at once. I did not want the catheter. I did not want to stay on antibiotics. I dreaded the Herx. But, I did want to kill the spirochetes, and I did want to get completely well.

Evan, however, was convinced that I was coming along really well. He was my systems-thinking cheerleader.

“Look at the numbers,” he said. “You have only been on the antibiotics for twelve days. You added a second antibiotic on Friday. Okay, so you herxed in misery. But instead of seeing that as bad,” he said, “look at it this way. The Herx proves the antibiotics are doing their job. They're killing the spirochetes efficiently.”

And it turned out that he was right. Doctors call it a die off. The Herx is one of the ways of measuring the effectiveness of the antibiotics. It’s a case of the cure being as bad as the illness.

Spirochetes — the original survivalists
Spirochetes are ancient organisms, eons older than dinosaurs. Over the ages they have had nothing else to do but refine their survival techniques.

For such minuscule critters, they’ve got a sophisticated arsenal of ways to keep from detected by your immune system. They can armor themselves with cysts to keep the antibiotics from reaching them, and morph into other forms, thus playing hide ’n seek in your tissues, muscles, organs, and brain.

The spirochetes are the villains, and the last thing they want is for the Terminator — your immune system — to locate and destroy them.

Fight back! Why anaerobic exercise helps
Lyme spirochetes thrive in a cold, low body temperature. I was beginning to get the idea that I would have to fight back, and fight hard. As much as possible, I started to include therapies and lifestyle changes that would increase my core body temp.

The good news is that Borrelia burgdorferi are anaerobic organisms and can't survive in a high oxygen environment.

My plan to fight back began to take shape back then. It started off pretty slowly I admit. Surviving the Herxes was easier said than done. I drank a whole lot of water with lemon. I slept. I endured and persevered, like you are doing.

Don't let the Herx scare you
I knew in my heart that the more I could manage to raise my core body temperature, the more the spirochetes I could kill. It was my main goal, to kill them, and to try to not kill myself with a Herx.

It wasn't easy trying to get enough exercise. I had a hard time standing up, let alone walking around the neighborhood. But I kept at it, determined to be as proactive in my healing as I could.

Today, ten years to the month from my diagnosis, I'm a martial artist, with two solid years of practice logged on my journey from Borreliosis to black belt.

You don't have to join a Taekwondo school. You don't have to sweat through hours of hot yoga, play basketball, dance, or climb steep mountainsides if you don't want to. But you do have to make a plan to be as proactive in your own healing as you possibly can. The doctors can only do so much. The rest is really up to you.

Did I ever get the IV antibiotics?

In the end, the decision was made for me. I couldn’t afford it, so I passed. These days, I might have been tempted, since now I've got health insurance. But in 2005, it simply wasn’t a choice.

Herbs and plants for a healing diet

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-04-25T15:26:25-04:00

Dr. Christine Horner was once on the clean-up crew. As a board certified plastic surgeon, she specialized in breast reconstruction surgery for cancer patients.

And she noticed something odd.

Each year, her patients were younger and younger. Breast cancer was an epidemic.

When her own mother died of the disease, she knew it was time to step back and look into the reasons all these women were getting cancer in the first place. Instead of putting them back together following the illness, was there something that could be done to avert it?

What she discovered can benefit everyone sick with Lyme disease.

She became convinced after her research led to the 5,000 year old teachings of Ayurveda. Ayurvedic healing works on the principle that our body has innate intelligence. When our bodies are in balance, that inner intelligence keeps us healthy.

Imbalance caused by illness, such as cancer, Lyme bacterial infection, or unhealthy lifestyle and diet disrupts our innate healing intelligence.

I’ll have what she’s having
While learning about Ayurveda, Dr. Horner made a surprising discovery. Following a luxurious spa treatment and detoxification process called panchakarma, or “five actions,” she looked in the mirror. Her face appeared ten years younger. She had a renewed sense of zest and vitality. In fact, she had never felt better in her life. On fire to put this new discovery to practice, she studied like mad to get certified in Ayurveda.

Schooled in Western medicine and having worked for years as a surgeon, it is important to Dr. Horner that everything she promotes is research-based. Ayurvedic healing is, and it also has a history of development — millions of people experimenting and refining it, over thousands of years. Ayurveda literally translates as “life-knowledge.”

Currently in the West, there is an explosion of empirical research into the natural approaches to health through the uses of herbs and plants for healing, as well as lifestyle factors. The research bodes well, unless you are one of those vegetarians who only eats French fries.

Lyme disease patients on standard antibiotics can also benefit from incorporating some or all of Dr. Horner’s advice. A healthy diet and lifestyle includes many factors, and among the most crucial is eating a varied diet of organic fruits and veggies.

Eat your medicine
“Eating a plant-based diet is considered the healthiest type of diet around,” says Dr. Horner. “Not only do plants and herbs contain vitamins, minerals, nutrients and all the other things we know are good for maintaining our health, they also contain hundreds of phytons.”

Phytons are plant chemicals, powerful natural medicines. Some of them even work exactly like chemotherapy. Pharmaceutical companies study the plants, create a drug that works the same way, and then tell the public that plant medicine doesn’t work.

Ayurveda says that there are fundamental truths about human beings, and that the basic rule-book says that, “if you follow these rules you’ll bring your body into balance. And that balance enlivens your body’s inner healing intelligence,” says Dr. Horner.

Lyme infection obstructs the balance your body is trying to create. So the idea is to do as much as you can to bring it to balance. We’re all different and in Ayurveda there are three doshas and nine different body constitutions. Overall though, the general rules apply across the board.

Strengthening your body’s immune system is the key to regaining balance and good health. The immune system needs a variety of veggies, so vary the produce you consume. Alternating supplements on a weekly or monthly basis can also help insure your maximum benefit.

Two herbs are better than one
Supplements have synergistic effects. When paired with another supplement there is a multiplication of the healing effect. Pharmaceutical drugs do not work this way.

For example, green tea and turmeric taken together are many times more effective than when taken alone. Each of these have antioxidant and anti-inflammation properties which work better when put together.

Dr. Christine Horner has more energy than many teenagers I know. I asked her what she puts in her morning smoothies. She rotates between fruits and green smoothies, and also tosses in a comprehensive list of healthy supplements.

Along with plant medicine, she also talked about the vital importance of having practices such as mediation, exercise, and radical forgiveness. Nurture your spirit, especially if you are dealing with Lyme or any serious illness. Lifestyle factors are as important as eating a healthy diet.

For further information please go to drchristinehorner.com

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Breathe deep, eat your greens, and be well!

Herbalist Julie McIntyre

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-04-13T10:31:01-04:00

People seek out clinical herbalist Julie McIntyre when they have reached the end of their rope. They may call her after having received a formal Lyme diagnosis. They may have already spent thousands of dollars on standard protocols and are still battling symptoms. Then there are those who are desperate for help, but don’t believe in antibiotics and put their trust in plant medicines instead. She often hears horror stories from Lyme patients who are “completely and totally frustrated with mainstream medicines.”

Standard medical doctors don’t normally talk to patients as though they are adults with minds of their own. When I’m sitting on that cold steel table it always feels like the doctor is using a tone reserved for imbeciles. “Can da widdle patient take a nice, big breath for me?”
This is absolutely not the case with Julie, who currently works with Lyme patients in 17 countries around the world via Skype, and in-person when feasible. A holistic healer treating Lyme since 2003, Julie uses her intuition and “everything she’s got,” when analyzing how best to treat each person. “Lyme is insanely complicated,” and each person is uniquely affected, she says.

Instead of talking at her patients, she actively listens. She hears what they say, the words they use, and how they describe themselves. She learns about them in every way she can, including observing their body language, examining their fingernails, and also noting the quality of their voice. “The voice tells a lot,” she says.

Most people suffering with Lyme, she says, also tell her their illness has become their greatest teacher. People understand that the illness is changing them profoundly, working in psycho-spiritual ways that most of us would never seek out willingly.

To guide patients through the process of healing from Lyme and co-infections, Julie uses her partner Stephen Buhner’s herbal protocol. But she also “innovates a lot,” always treating each person on a case-by-case basis. For example, she may add in homeopathic remedies and amino acids for one, and for another she may have them blend their own tinctures, therefore gaining a hand in their own healing process.

Where IS the immune system anyway?
The immune system, while it is a system of biological structures, it is also a system of processes. Think of it as a field inside and outside your body. Julie’s work focuses on the immune system’s many parts, such as our emotions. The immune system includes our guts—both physical and non-physical, as in gut feelings. The enteric brain is the gut brain, and it is in constant communication with our head brain. Our bodies believe what we say, Julie says, and our white blood cells respond instantly.

Herbal protocols can be used alone or concurrently with conventional medicine. One of the many benefits of plant medicine is that is it “highly flexible, and perfectly forgiving,” says Julie. “I am not dogmatic, and the plants aren’t either.”

Her advice is to support the immune system by supplementing with herbs and foods such as reishi mushrooms, ashwagandha root, rhodiola, and astragalus. She mentioned a rock rose and tea from Greece, called cistus incanus, which is used both as an immune modulator and as a bug spray. To prepare as tea, use 1 tsp in 8 ounces hot water, steep ten minutes and drink at least two cups a day.

“It’s important to know when enough research is enough research,” she says. There is a lot of wisdom in accepting that “this shall pass,” and a vital key to healing is to regain something that many of us lose along the journey, a sense of trust. “Trust the plants, trust the medicines, trust your own body.”

But how can we trust nature, when nature is the thing that got us into this trouble in the first place? I asked, and Julie agrees it’s a bit of a paradox. Short of living in a high-rise guarded by guinea fowl and donning a hazmat suit every time you venture outdoors, how do you protect yourself from dangerous critters the size of a pinhead?

Her response, in three words, “Immunity, immunity, immunity.”

Strengthen your immunity with plants and foods, but also nurture your emotional health, a key component of the immune system. It’s vital to find something that brings you joy and do it every day. Engage with the people who lift you up, and laugh everyday. It is almost impossible to heal alone. All of us need loving and supportive relationships, especially when healing from chronic illness.

For further information about Julie McIntyre, Stephen Buhner, and the Buhner protocol, please visit gaianstudies.org.

Common allergy med kills Lyme bacteria?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-03-05T15:49:33-05:00

Encouraging news is spreading throughout the Lyme community. A northern California nonprofit called the Bay Area Lyme Foundation says that a common allergy medicine may help kill the Lyme bacteria. A new laboratory study shows that the antihistamine, loratadine (or as you might know it, Claritin), starves the Lyme bacteria by preventing it to gather manganese, which it evidently needs to harm the body. The study has so far proved Claritin effective in killing Lyme bacteria in test tubes.

The Bay Area Lyme Foundation's mission is to "make Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, and to make prevention common knowledge." These are our kind of people.

Not all doctors are educated about Lyme diagnosis and treatment. For many years, the CDC held the line that only 20,000 new cases of Lyme disease were diagnosed annually. Recently, they increased that estimate to 300,000. However, for decades those low numbers, as well as inadequate doctor-education about Lyme prevention and diagnosis, meant inadequate funding for research. Perhaps this breakthrough study is a signal that the tide is turning.

As always, consult your Lyme-literate doctor for further information. Claritin and all allergy medications can cause side effects. The study of loratadine was published in the open access publication Drug Design, Development and Therapy.

Laughter, the best medicine

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-02-28T12:13:51-05:00

Do you journal your experience of Lyme? I did, and though it's painful to read now, I am glad I captured something of the emotional and psychological dimension while it was occurring. I wouldn't have remembered how I scraped the bottom, especially in comparison to the healthy high that is my new normal.

Shortly after diagnosis, I was put on a cocktail of antibiotics that nearly killed me. Every day was a challenge. No, every breath was a challenge. I never knew that severe pain could be a 24/7 ordeal. The physical pain was torture, but it was the accompanying emotional pain that pushed me over the edge into despair. And then, miraculously, and none too soon, pushed me out again.

From my journal: Lately, I feel emotionally raw, and a bit overwhelmed by a radical compassion for the suffering in this world. I am tremendously grateful for my friends and family. If not for them, I would be dead. My heart breaks for anybody who doesn’t have people to lean on in times of crisis.

I was falling apart—in mind and body. Lyme was bitch-slapping me right out of the stratosphere. The illness had triggered some mysterious process that was stripping me of everything that wasn't absolutely necessary for my immediate survival—from certain foods and drinks, to relationships, to habits, to clothes that I couldn't wear (too itchy, too big, too small), to possessions, desires, and even including my lifelong dreams. I was a musician who couldn't practice, a writer who couldn't string a sentence together. I wasn't left with much that I could recognize of my old self. I was being peeled to the core of whatever ragtag collection of trinkets might be left of my inner self. And inside, things were no bed of roses. In there, I discovered I was capable of really feeling my own pain, and other people’s, deeply, probably for the very first time.

But I could laugh—and that's why God made comedy.

Each day, Evan went in mad pursuit of a (hopefully) hilarious movie that we hadn’t yet seen. We'd start it up before bedtime, and cross our fingers it would work its magic.

While I was laughing, I wasn't thinking about my pain. Pain did not exist! Those precious moments were my aim, my sacred chalice. For a few brief seconds, I wasn't trapped inside my misery. I was free. And like cracking a window for fresh air, I believe healing can take hold in those small openings. Episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 were manna from heaven.

But you can’t fake it. That’s the trick. Your funny bone has got to be genuinely tickled. You must actually be laughing, not just ha, ha, faking it. Bowled over, tummy-clenching humor--miracle of miracles. I felt like I’d discovered the Rosetta Stone.

Most people suffering with longterm Lyme symptoms realize that addressing the psychological component of the disease is equally as important as treating the physical one. The two cannot be separated.

Homework assignment: Watch a comedy tonight.

Diet and Supplements

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-02-18T18:45:26-05:00

Lyme makes excellent troubleshooters of us. People with Lyme disease are an innovative species. We tend to reach out and try new things. We've got to, because sometimes that's the only way to find the best remedies and treatments for our particular situation.

Every winter, I get eczema on my legs and hands, no matter what I do or how I eat. It’s frustrating. Yet each spring, it goes away as the weather warms up. Along with record-breaking temps and bitter winter cold comes an added challenge: Dry air inside. If you suffer from eczema, these cold, dry conditions can make a breakout unbearable. Your doctor can prescribe steroidal creme. Mine did, but after my horrid experiences with Prednisone, I couldn’t even bring myself to open the tube. I am mega-cautious when it comes to any medicine with steroids in it.

Manuka honey and Shea butter
By chance, I learned about Manuka honey from a friend who works at the local hospital. It comes from New Zealand, and the bees cultivate the nectar from tea tree bushes, with its famously potent antibacterial agents.

Turns out this hospital—a Western-medicine-centric place—like every other hospital in the US, orders Manuka honey by the boatload. Doctors in the ER use it on bad burns, deep gunshot wounds, and eczema.

It’s a good sign when your average hospital in the US starts using healthy “alternatives.” The type they use is trademarked Medihoney. I bought The Wild Bee brand at the local healthy foods store and started applying it directly on my skin. Mixed with a bit of Shea butter, that is.

Of course, nothing beats butter to seal in the moistness. Once in the morning and again before bedtime, I dab honey on the patches of dry skin, then slather it with a layer of Shea butter. Especially in the winter, I’ve found this combo to work like nothing else to soothe my dry skin and keep the eczema from getting worse.

I’ve long avoided eating any honey because our bodies react to it the same as sugar. Excessive amounts of sugar are to be avoided when the body is fighting any infection, but especially when it’s battling a fierce opponent such as Lyme. Manuka tastes lovely, but be cautious adding it to your diet. I do not recommend eating any sort of honey if you’re harboring a load of Lyme bacteria.

At the same time as I started using the Manuka on my skin, I also changed my diet. My doctor recommended that I limit my diet to find out if it could be a food allergy triggering the eczema. It may not be solely due to the cold dry winter weather.

Give GF a try
So I quit eating most of the common allergens. My diet is now 100% gluten-free and dairy-free. Wheat has never bothered me in the past, but by eliminating it completely and then experimenting with adding it back in, I’ve discovered that it actually does make my eczema worse. So, no more wheat for me.

Soy, although another potential allergen, isn’t problematic for me. I drink soy milk and eat tofu and edamame. Soy provides a good nonfat source of protein.

Bamboo leaf tea for silica?
In addition, I’ve added in a daily dose of bamboo-leaf tea. Over the past few years, I have experimented with preparing this tea, mainly because it’s very convenient. We happen to live inside a bamboo grove. I enjoy the process of picking and cleaning the leaves, then roasting them and grinding them up for a pot of tea.

Bamboo leaf tea has a pleasant grassy fragrance. It’s a light green tea which combines well with other teas (I especially like it blended with Jasmine green). It’s also very nice just brewed all by itself. Bamboo leaves are a high source of silica. The second-most common element on earth, silica is necessary to restore and regulate the amount of collagen in our bodies. Lyme bacteria eats away the collagen in our joints and skin. Bamboo leaf tea may help replace it.

What I don’t know yet is how much of the silica actually gets absorbed into our bodies from drinking bamboo leaf tea. How much is bioavailable? I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.

Turmeric with black pepper to reduce inflammation
Now let’s consider a very important spice—one that’s probably in your kitchen. Turmeric is highly recommended for reducing silent inflammation associated with arthritis, gout, heart disease, a whole host of other ailments, and of course, Lyme disease. Research into the cause and effect of Alzheimer’s disease on the brain has pointed to some very convincing scientific evidence that turmeric helps heal the brain, thus slow the aging process itself. But turmeric taken alone is evidently not as effective as turmeric that includes pepper. The addition of black pepper renders it many times more effective.

These are just a few of the supplements, therapies, and lifestyle changes that I’ve personally experimented with over the years. If something isn’t working for you, you might want to try a different remedy. Listen to your own body, be patient, and you’ll find what’s best for you. Different things work differently on different people, but these are some that I’ve come to depend on, to help me maintain the quality of life I’ve gotten used to since healing from Lyme.

Lyme Book Excerpt - The Ghost Caller

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-02-17T17:39:16-05:00

You may know that Prednisone is contraindicated when you have Lyme. Ever wondered what would happen if you took it anyway? Before my test results had come back from IGeneX, I was prescribed steroids to stop a spreading rash.

When I finally found a doctor educated about Lyme, he expressed deep concern when I told him about the steroids, which had been prescribed by an IDSA doctor. They had replicated the Lyme bacteria, driven it into my organs and across the barrier into my brain.

The day I started on Prednisone, I began to experience auditory hallucinations--the kind you hear, not the kind you see. I also had kinesthetic hallucinations: I would wake up from a nap convinced I had a raging fever. But the thermometer always read 98.6.

The steroids took a big toll, emotionally as well as physically. The irony was, they didn't even stop the rash completely. So in my fog, I reasoned that I had to keep taking them—follow the doctor's orders. By the time I mustered the guts to disobey the doctor and stop taking it, the damage was done. I couldn't walk, talk, or think.

The following is an excerpt from my ebook, available soon:

So, I took the Prednisone. And life as I knew it started to disintegrate. As the undetected Lyme bacteria began destroying my immune system, it collided with the corticosteroids. I began to learn what it meant to fall apart.

I was in the kitchen when the phone rang. I answered. Wrong number. It rang again; I picked it up. Again, a little girl on the other end asked for someone whose name I did not know.

Again, I told her she had the wrong number.

But the phone kept ringing.

Each time, I picked it up and said hello. As soon as I set it down, it would ring again. To the same exact little girl I said, “sorry, wrong number.”

By the third time, I was angry and my voice was rising in pitch. “Please stop calling me,” I said. “Wrong number! Which word do you not understand?”

By then I was fuming, staring at the phone like a snake at a mouse. This was ludicrous. No normal person would keep on calling over and over, thinking she was going to get it right eventually. Isn’t that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting different results?

When the phone rang again, I flew into a rage.

From another part of the house, Evan heard me yelling into the phone. He appeared in the doorway. My heart was beating fast. I wanted to hit something. I slammed the phone down hard.

“What's going on out here?” he asked.

I shot him a look to kill. “Some stupid moron will not stop calling! She’s got the wrong number.”

He looked at me. “I didn’t hear the phone ring. Not once.”

“You were in the shower!”

“I was in the bath. I would have heard the phone,” he said.

I am outraged at his bullheadedness. “Well, if it hasn’t been ringing, what are you saying? I’m crazy?”

My head wobbled on my neck and I collapsed into a chair, choking back tears. I had tremors and a stammer.

Evan headed for the door. “Why don’t you call your mom,” he said, before pulling it shut behind him.

Chronic Inflamation

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2015-02-12T09:51:18-05:00

Chronic inflammation is the troll under the bridge. It's the nasty culprit creating a dangerous—even deadly--environment in our bodies. Inflammation is at the heart of a long list of disease, including Alzheimer's, asthma, multiple sclerosis, gout, fibromyalgia, cancer, and Lyme. Chronic inflammation can exist inside our bodies for years, suddenly wrecking havoc in our heart, kidneys, or liver.

So what's causing it? I've been reading Kenneth Singleton's terrific book, The Lyme Disease Solution. As he explains, when Lyme bacteria or its co-infections infect the body, the same as when other microorganisms attack--such as parasites, fungi, mold, and viruses—inflammation results. Sometimes you can see it. Sometimes you can't. As I understand it, a little bit of inflammation goes a long way. It is our immune system's natural reaction to infection. A cut on a finger is painful. It swells a bit and turns red. These factors indicate that the immune system is doing its job. White blood cells rush like EMTs to the site of the action. In a healthy person, the infection is stopped. The redness fades and the swelling goes down as the cut mends.

However, if the bacteria isn't killed by the actions of the immune system, the inflammation can become chronic.

“...whenever we are dealing with chronic infections like Lyme, we must be careful not only to treat a person with appropriate antibiotics, but also to address the chronic inflammation problems that have been triggered by Lyme.” Singleton, K. The Lyme Disease Solution (pp. 186-187). Kindle Edition.

The Do's and Don'ts
First, the don'ts. Don't give a helping hand to the inflammation troll. The following activities suppress or kill the endorphins that will help you heal.

Smoking. If you smoke, quit! Here's your good excuse.
Drinking alcohol. Same goes here.
Consuming fried foods, doughnuts, pastries. If it doesn't build healthy cells, it isn't good for you.
Consumption of sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Fifty pounds or more overweight.
Nursing a victim mentality and a negative attitude.
Being unable to forgive.
Averaging less than seven hours sleep per night.
Not drinking enough water.
Little to no sun exposure.

The good news? We can take action to prevent the inflammation troll from ruining our party. With shifts in dietary, lifestyle, and exercise routines, inflammation can be reduced or eliminated. The immune system produces these wonderful little gizmos called endorphins. They assist the NK (Natural Killer) cells in fighting the bad guys.

There's a short list of helpers to make our immune systems create more endorphins. You're gonna like it: Belly laughter, massage, chocolate, acupuncture, adequate sleep, and regular exercise. Eat fresh veggies, salmon (or Omega 3-s/Fish oil supplement), range-fed or organic meat consumption, and healthy oils, like olive. Indian curry, in particular the spice turmeric (curcumin), is a well-known anti-inflammatory agent. (However, please consult your doctor to see turmeric is okay for you. People with gallstones are not advised to consume turmeric.)

On the long list, you'll recognize these emotional and cultural keys that assist endorphin production, as well. We've seen them all before, but they're not trite. Not by a long shot. Indeed, these common-sense tips are central to healing body and mind:

Count your blessings.
Cultivate a positive outlook, and a spirit of generosity and giving.
Take time daily to pray and/or meditate—rejuvenate your spirit.
Do some deep breathing in fresh air.
If possible, get exposure to sunlight for ten minutes a day.
And nurture healthy relationships and social circles. You know, the kind that fluffs your feathers and fills up your love and laughter reserves. Seek out the company of people who make you feel good, not drained.

Antibiotics are necessary to kill the Lyme bacteria. Yet in many cases, they are not enough to return the body back to homeostasis, its natural state of balance. This is where lifestyle and dietary changes are needed to help us get a handle on inflammation.

Acupuncture for healing Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2014-11-09T20:37:00-05:00

I've written about acupressure for pain relief, now let's talk about acupuncture. Yep, the kind with the needles.

Recently, I got the chance to talk with an acupuncture doctor in San Francisco Bay area, Palo Alto to be exact. This region is home to IGeneX Inc. and Google, and it is also where to find Jenny Qui, currently a doctoral student in Chinese Traditional Medicine. Jenny is focused on using acupuncture to help alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain, and Lyme disease in particular.

Jenny Qiu is having great success treating Lyme symptoms. The alternative medicines, to some people, are actually more traditional than what we call “traditional” or conventional medicine. That is because Western medicine, including antibiotics, only came about at about the turn of the 20th century, a hundred years ago. And acupuncture, acupressure, herbal tinctures, homeopathy, and bodywork (among others) are treatments that have been around for centuries.

Jenny explains that acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine treatment, is used alongside Chinese herbal medicine to treat any infectious disease. But she wanted to find out if it can help minimize symptoms, such as joint pain and chronic fatigue, caused by Lyme disease.

Her research has convinced her that Lyme patients can get relief using acupuncture. She is currently writing her dissertation on her work.

“Since 2008,” says Jenny, “I have been treating a Lyme patient at my clinic. He comes in biweekly for acupuncture treatment.”

The patient, who is also a patient of San Francisco Lyme disease expert Dr. Raphael Stricker, was diagnosed with Lyme in 1989. Jenny says that according to him, “acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine has been, by far, the most helpful and effective treatment for his major complaints of joint pain and chronic fatigue.

“The patient has minimized his use of Western medication during his years of alternative treatments,” she adds.

The Western cure for Lyme, antibiotics, can cause problems that have far-reaching effects on the immune system. The seat of the immune system lies in the intestines. As antibiotics destroy the pathogens in the guts, and they also decimate the friendly flora necessary for a healthy balance.

With acupuncture and herbal medicine, Jenny is aiming to minimize the damaging side effects of antibiotics. She wants to show how traditional Chinese treatments can work together with Western medicine to make healing from Lyme disease more bearable.

Taking proactive steps, such as seeing an acupuncturist, helps you move forward in your healing. What alternative or complementary medicines are you using, if any?

Join the LDRD and listen to the interview

New Success Story interview with Linda

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2014-08-27T16:34:00-04:00

My grandmother used to say, “Keep prayed up, and shuffle your feet!”

Linda Warner, mom, grandma, professional, and patient advocate, would probably agree with that homey piece of folk wisdom. She has a story to tell about paying attention to body, mind, and spirit. “You can't get well unless you treat all three!”

In the course of our down-to-earth conversation about her diagnosis and treatment of Lyme, she was happy to talk about the role of faith in healing from serious disease, and often mentioned divine intervention. “God has my back,” she says. And her success story seems to bear that out.

Linda lives in Colorado and is grateful now to have more good days than bad. But for more than twenty years she knew what it like to struggle daily with health problems. Her symptoms included candida, malaise, which is a general bad feeling, and intense anxiety. She followed Dr. Horowitz's protocol, and other means to restore wellness, including an alternative clinician who uses the Rife machine.

In 1989, exhausted and suffering from chronic fatigue, she crashed her car after falling asleep at the wheel. The resulting back injury created major inflammation, and she found relief through chiropractic, massage, and acupuncture therapies.

Professionally, Linda works in pharmaceutical sales, in the field of psychotropic medicines. She recommends Pharmasan Lab's iSpotLyme test. Through pharmaceutical as well as alternative treatments, she missed very few days of work over the years, until November 2013. After taking Dr. Horowitz's protocol and other alternative therapies, she stepped away from the aggressive pharmaceutical treatments in March, 2014.

“Stay away from inflammatory foods,” she cautions. But most of all, listen to your intuition. If chronic fatigue is plaguing you and your doctor doesn't understand it, Linda says to keep digging. Effective treatment should cover all angles, not just one.

“I came from having a black-and-white perspective to looking at the whole picture.”

Please sign into the member’s area to listen the interview with Linda.

Join the LDRD to listen to all 16 Success Stories along with the 17 Expert Interviews.

Finding a Lyme diagnosis: Mystery symptoms

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2014-07-13T10:51:00-04:00

Excerpt from my upcoming eBook.

I wake up and roll out of bed, heading to the loo. But when my feet hit the floor, I gasp at the explosion of pain in my ankle. Leaning against the wall to keep myself from toppling over, I stand panting for a moment. I manage to lurch across the room without putting any weight on my foot.

Sitting on the toilet, ankle throbbing, I break out in an ice cold sweat. My stomach doubles over in cramps. Nausea overwhelms me. Try to think, I tell myself. I recall hearing that intense pain can make you vomit. But what's wrong with my ankle?

The nausea increases but I cannot catch my breath. My lungs will not inflate. There is no oxygen. Losing all muscle control, I slip off the toilet seat, collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Then I hear Evan’s voice somewhere nearby. It echoes through the tin can of my head. "What is happening to you?"
His face spins in front of me. He looks terrified.

I might be dying. Right now. And I don't know why. There is no bliss, no white light. No welcoming angels. I am bewildered.

But in the next moment for no apparent reason, the crisis passes. I am able to take a breath. My body temperature begins to normalize.

Evan helps me up off the floor. I still cannot put weight on my foot. He asks again. What’s happening? What’s wrong with your foot? I understand the questions, but have no answers. I ask how long I've been lying on the floor.

“Five minutes,” he says.

What? I could have sworn I had limped into the bathroom hours ago.

As he helps me back to bed, I glance in the mirror in disbelief. A zombie is staring back. My skin looks pale and lifeless, as if my face has been carved out of clay.

Life after antibiotics: How to heal your gut

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2014-07-02T13:41:00-04:00

How do you heal your war-torn gut from the damage done by antibiotics? In my experience, and what I've learned from others, is first of all eat a healthy, whole foods diet. This means eliminating sugar (yes, including honey and other sweeteners) and alcohol. Cutting out sugar is necessary. It feeds the Lyme bug and cancer, you don’t need it. Or just little-bitty bits as a once in a blue moon treat. Not every day. Quit sugar, and believe me, you'll feel the difference.

The key is to eat a vibrant diet of foods that have a lot of prana - life force - and focus on consuming anti-inflammatory foods. The Mediterranean diet is a good place to start, according to WebMD. It's a bit loosey-goosey, which suits me fine. I don't tend to follow strict guidelines anyway and listening to your gut is, after all, the whole idea here! So eat fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans, fish, healthy whole grains and olive oil, with bits of meat and dairy and a splash of red wine.

Live foods, fresh greens with a lot of enzymes flush your digestive tract with nutrients. But be cautious with raw foods which can be too harsh when you're healing. I usually stir-fry or steam a variety of leafy greens, broccoli, sweet potato, garlic and onions. Serve with brown rice or quinoa, which cooks up in only 15 minutes -- way quicker than brown rice, if you’re like me and want to eat when you’re hungry! Watch out for gluten, which can hide in lots of things that might surprise you, such as salad dressings, marinades, and soy sauce. So many people nowadays seem to be keen on Gluten-free foods, it’s easy to find GF products in your grocery store and on the menu at your favorite restaurants.

Some spices, like turmeric and ginger, help reduce inflammation, so add these into your meals whenever you like. Your doctor can prescribe turmeric in capsules too, which would give you a stronger dose. I have a friend who has greatly reduced her RA pain with medical-grade turmeric capsules she gets from her doctor.

When your antibiotic Lyme treatment is over, start taking a good probiotic (up to 100 billion units daily). I started as soon as I finished the pharmaceutical antibiotics. I'm well again, so in my case I have not been taking probiotics on a regular basis for a few years now. But that’s just because I wax and wane with supplements. Always do what works for you, physically as well as financially. Supps can take a big bite out of the monthly grocery budget, I know. So I'm off and on now, but for the first two years following the antibiotics routine I took them religiously, and I'm positive they helped to restore balance to my gut flora.

Herbalists recommend some supplements, such as Slippery Elm and Marshmallow, which are believed to have a healing effect on the intestines. I have found that to be true for me. I drink them as teas, usually mixed with other bulk herbs that taste good and address my issue, which is my skin. The other thing I did was to drink aloe vera juice and I think it helped. Some people chew DGL tablets which help with digestion issues. You can get them at Whole foods or any other grocery with a good supplements department. HCL is also said to help.

Sharing a meal with family and friends, relaxing while you dine, exercising regularly, and enjoying life as much as possible. Even when you’re sick, don’t make it worse by thinking the worst. Invite happy people into your life, online as well as face-to-face. These are anti-inflammatory measures too, just as vital to your overall health and wellness as any sort of diet.

Lyme Success Story - Samson

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2014-03-18T11:18:40-04:00

In spite of the turmoil Lyme can cause, many people are living happy and productive post-Lyme lives. I've had the fortune to connect with a number of them. Samson's story is a really uplifting example.

The first thing you notice about Samson is his upbeat attitude, in spite of the long journey he took back to health. He's a happy young man, originally from Detroit, who worked hard to earn his way into his dream profession, the music business, in L.A. To an outsider, it may appear as if he's always had a lucky star, and that may be true! But the thing he's really good at is not giving up. He's a vivid example of being proactive in your own healing.

His story, like a novel with lots of ups and downs and a happy ending, includes knee surgery for puffiness, an inflamed jaw, a frozen shoulder, tons of research, nightmarish symptoms and three different protocols in eight months. It also features travel – lots of travel – around the US, to places such as the Mayo Clinic, to seek out specialists to diagnose and treat his illness.

Like shooting a squirt gun
Until he finally found himself back on the road to good health, Samson never stopped trying to find a way to heal from Lyme. The worst period for him was from age 21 to 28. At one point he visited Dr. Andrew Weil's clinic in Tucson, where he was directed to try an Eastern approach. He used alternative medicines and meditation. He read Weil's book Spontaneous Healing, and became a vegan for a year. That resulted in anemia, although it did give him a little relief from his symptoms. At another point, he fasted on water only for two weeks, in another attempt to get down to the root cause, which also resulted in a bit of relief. But it was hardly enough.

Samson was also taking Omega 3's, turmeric, curcumin, and other supplements. But he says that when you're dealing with Lyme bacteria, taking supplements without taking antibiotics is like shooting a squirt gun at a person who is trying to do harm. It won't stop them, but it will give you the satisfaction of doing something.

Finding confidence
A turning point came one day, when Samson happened on the trailer online for the acclaimed film about Lyme, Under Our Skin. He proceeded directly to Lyme specialist Dr. Daniel Cameron in New York, and began antibiotic treatment for about three weeks. But his intuition urged him to continue seeking help, and it was only when he walked into Dr. Raphael Stricker's office in San Francisco that he felt confident about kicking Lyme.

Samson, who works as a talent manager and is in scout development in the music business in Los Angeles, has a lighthearted way of telling his story, but anyone who knows how difficult Lyme is, will recognize the cost, the resources, and the steely perseverance he had to devote to healing. Perseverance, and always listening to his intuition, have no doubt fueled his healing journey.

“I've always been very intuitive, and grateful for that!” he says.

Today, Samson has finally won his life back from Lyme, and he's feeling great and right on track, exactly where his intuition told him he belonged.

Join the LDRD to listen to Samson’s story.

Please keep in mind that your success story might just help lift the spirits of someone who needs it most. Call us if you would like to share.

A new year list for healing from Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2014-01-03T16:13:30-05:00

Setting new goals and dreaming new dreams can happen at any time. In January, though, you can almost feel a collective buzz as so many people set goals and re-evaluate past aims. If you are healing from Lyme, how does goal-setting work?

I can't remember having the consciousness to set many goals when I was really sick. It was enough to remember to take which medicine when. I used to joke that with my Lyme-brain fuzz head, tracking those meds and supplements had become my full-time job. The little notebooks I kept were my external memory drive. I could not have gotten through it without some sort of system.

New goals can seem very big and abstract. A lot of people want to work on changes in their job status, their weight, or aim for a vacation destination or specific financial goal. People dealing with Lyme often feel their world's been shrunken to the size of a thimble though. New goals any bigger than keeping track of your daily routines can be overwhelming. Still, if you're in the mood for taking a bigger picture approach, writing down your desired goals can be really healthy. It can also be healing just to reflect on last year's goals in relation to where you are today. How has your situation changed since last New Year?

Here are two ideas to try, to kickstart your new year of intentions on the healing path.

Make a gratitude list
Perhaps you already do this on a regular basis. If so, good for you. This simple act, done every night before bedtime, can be one of the most transformational things you could ever do for yourself. You can make it as general or detailed as you want, but try to be specific as you write, and really visualize the faces of the people that you're thankful for, or the doctors or nurses, children, parents or friends who showed up at your side during the worst of days. Name them all and send each one a special prayer of thanks as you do.

Name your furry kids, too. Our pets are unconditional givers. My sweet kitty, who was always by my side during my roughest months and years, recently died at age 13. I grieved for her, and also cried tears of gratitude for all the love, affection, and moments of wonder and laughter she gave so naturally throughout her life. Her passing marks a new point in my own healing stage. It was as if she came to be with me especially as I got through Lyme.

Make 12 new monthly goals
You don't have to reach the moon every four weeks. Take baby steps, and you can always adjust your monthly goals as you go along. Last year I decided to give up gluten for awhile and see how it affected me. The first thing I noticed was that there were no more sandwiches in my future. I adjusted that goal a little and things turned out fine for me.

Relinquishment goals such as that can be valuable of course, but include positive goals too. Consider how you might parse the 12 months of this new year. You could go by the seasons, or some other way that strikes you as important. Are your first three months going to focus on getting better treatment or changing doctors? Maybe your second three months could be about integrating a healthier diet and exercise routine into your schedule. One set of three might be focused on personal/cognitive skills such as starting some new brain exercise games, then you might think about making goals around who you'd really like to attract as your mentors and buddies – your healing community.

Whether or not you set goals for the new year, we wish you much love and rigorous good health as you make progress in healing from Lyme.

What's Lymph got to do with it?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-12-18T16:42:42-05:00

Lyme disease typically clogs up the lymph system, which is foundation of our immune system. The lymph system plays the role of our body's clean-up crew or garbage collector. It gathers waste products, dead microorganisms, damaged cells, and bacterial toxins that would otherwise trigger inflammation anywhere in the body. The lymph system is linked to the tonsils, the thymus, the spleen, lymph nodes and the large intestine. These organs are all about taking out the garbage. I know how my kitchen stinks if one of us forgets to take the trash out. Don't let your inner garbage sit around. It's toxic. Get it moving.

But I know how it is. When you are sick with Lyme and your symptoms are kicking, exercise may be the very last thing on your mind. But nothing moves the lymph like getting some exercise, especially in fresh air. If the weather is not too vile, and you are physically able, motivate and take a walk. Take the dog, or round up a friend to accompany you. They can help you set up a regular schedule that you won't be so easily persuaded to drop. Swimming and jogging are great exercises for getting the lymph to move, if you can manage. If you can do a dry brush massage, do it. That's also a terrific lymph stimulator. However, use your best judgement, and do not use a dry brush if you have skin eruptions or any sort of rash.

Lymph massage through breathing
Going for a massage could be heaven, but if it isn't an option, you can treat yourself to a really effective self-massage in this simple way. Deep, rhythmic breathing is like giving yourself a massage from the inside. When you breathe out, contract your lower-abdomen muscles, and on the in breath, keep them contracted but allow your ribcage to expand. Sit up straight, imagine a string pulling gently up from your spine through the top of your head. Imagine the other end of the string pulling gently down from your tailbone. You needn't get fancy with your imagery to get into a really relaxing frame of mind. The breath is capable of doing all of that naturally. Of course, you can get through the day without scarcely taking a deep breath. But why do that, when it can be so helpful in our healing process? We just have to remember to direct our awareness in using it.

When we eat fresh fruits and vegetables and add fresh herbs to our daily meals, we take their vitality into our bodies for healing. Dr. Wolf Storl’s work is centered in his conviction that all plants, and especially wild plants that haven't been cultivated, are bursting with vital energy from the sun. In his 2010 book, Healing Lyme Disease Naturally, he lists several herbs that strengthen the capillary vessels, regulate the blood pressure, alleviate arterial sclerosis, improve the lymph functions and support the immune system by stimulating the thymus (Storl, 2010). Always check with your doctor(s) before taking any herb. Herbs, just like pharmaceutical medicines, can have side effects.

Reference
Storl, Wolf D. (2010). Healing Lyme disease naturally: History, analysis, and treatments. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.

Food as medicine

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-10-06T13:27:29-04:00

Good food is good for you
A good Lyme-literate doctor will suggest you supplement your treatment with a good diet. This is especially true for those of us with chronic Lyme symptoms. But when it comes to food, a lot of us do not like to change things up – creatures of habit, unite! However, change may be easier if you understand why it's necessary.

Sometimes it has to hit us below the belt, in the area of the wallet. So think of it this way. The money spent on medicines, herbal supplements, doctor's appointments, and health insurance may be going to waste, if we neglect our diet. The food we eat is also medicine. It will either help build vibrant immune cells, creating strength and energy, or it will bring the body down. Go to your local market and cast your eye over the organic produce aisles. Doesn't it make you feel better, just looking at the brilliant colors and the variety?

Our bodies are nothing short of miraculous. I wish that didn't sound trite, because I truly believe it. Even aging bodies can learn new tricks! Don't be fooled into thinking you can't make some small change, because you have the power to control what goes into your mouth every day. Exercise and a diet of scrumptious, fresh organic foods can speed the healing process of chronic disease, and slow down the aging process. A better diet also contributes to better sleep, which every Lyme patient needs.

Success Stories – Chicken soup for the soul
As the editor of this blog, I often hear amazing stories about someone who turned around a dire situation. The stories contain different elements but they're all about someone who kicked chronic disease.

The other day a woman I train with said that her dad was celebrating his 79th birthday. None of his family had dreamed of that possibility, because his brother and his nephew had died young. The doctors had informed them of the risk, because diabetes “ran in the family.” But her dad, at age 40, had experienced a scare: His beloved brother's early death. Shortly after that terrible wake-up call, he started exercising. He started out walking, then jogging, then began running long distances. Eventually he began working out vigorously every day of the week, running marathons, and pushing the limit of what his doctors said was possible. He also changed his diet, adding veggies and fresh fruit daily, cutting down on red meat, and eliminating sugary treats.

Chicken Soup with Lyme
I also hear stories – many stories – about people with Lyme. Some (more than you might think), are living healthy, post-Lyme lives. I've shared a lot of these on our “Success Stories” audio interviews here on this site. My purpose for sharing is because you are very important to me. I feel like Lyme patients are all part of one big family. We've been through the ringer! I want you to know for certain that healing from Lyme is possible. You know how hard it is to endure the symptoms. I don't need to remind you of that. What I want to make sure you know is that it is entirely possible to remove more of the obstacles to healing. Your body, our bodies, want to heal. And they are completely capable of it. We just need to give them what they need, and take away the roadblocks so they can make progress.

All these stories share a common thread. Someone in a bad way changed their life, simply by making better every-day decisions. And so they changed the outcome of their story.

Art & Acupuncture: 2 ways to get chronic pain relief

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-09-29T13:02:50-04:00

Art & Acupressure: 2 ways to break chronic pain patterns

Art for pain relief
Chronic Lyme symptoms are such a drag. We can stand only so much stress, I think. Not only does chronic pain just plain hurt, it also exhausts the body and mind to the brink of insanity. Sleep is restorative, but the war between the Lyme bacteria and our immune systems often destroys a good night of sleep. Honestly, when I was super sick, I recall thinking it would not be so terrible if I could just get out of my own body for awhile. Take breaks from the pain. Even prisoners get time off for good behavior. Then quite by accident, I learned that it was entirely possible to engineer those pain breaks. Art became my healing ally.

That is when a chiropractor friend told me about pain fountains, a name she gave the patterns and exquisite neuronal pathways that our bodies and minds can create in response to serious illness. The pain is trauma, both physical and emotional, because our minds get involved and have an opinion about our pain. That body-mind involvement can work for us, or against us. It works against us most powerfully when we aren't aware that we're caught in a loop. Patterns lay down a groove. If nothing disrupts that groove, the pain continues to spill throughout the body's systems like a fountain.

But even our awareness cannot simply make the pain vanish. I wish it were that easy (and perhaps for some, it is). In my case, making the pain go away took the total concentration that I was able to give to a painting project. It was as if I had to use guerilla tactics, sneak up obliquely onto the pain fountain, and re-route its direction. Stop its flow. Redirect the energy into my project and into my breath. What was weird was that I wouldn't even become fully aware that the pain had subsided until I quit painting. And then I knew it had been gone, because it would come flooding back. Like an elevator stopping at a different floor, I would stop, and return to experiencing the pain.

Acupressure for pain relief
For centuries, Asian cultures have recognized that the human body has meridians or pathways of energy, and have applied acupuncture and acupressure to points along those pathways to promote healthy ki (the Japanese term), or chi (the Chinese term). Healthy ki is moving, not stuck. As Lyme is an anti-inflammatory illness, acupressure can help by restoring conditions for the body to reduce inflammation.

Since the Lyme disease bacterial complex attacks the body's vital systems, it makes sense to counter with therapies that support those systems and gives them a fighting chance at balance. These are the lymph, digestive, eliminatory, respiratory, nervous, reproductive, and endocrine systems.

Western medical science has affirmed that these pathways and points in the body really do exist. A professional acupuncturist can teach you where to locate the points on your own body, but it is easy enough to find a good chart or video to help you find them yourself.

Art and acupressure can both be practiced for free. You don't need professional tools or expensive equipment, or a professional artist or acupuncturist to tell you what to do. Find the points that feel good and work on them. Find some paper and paint, or colored pencils, or whatever appeals to you, and take 30 minutes to lose yourself in art. You might also succeed in losing the pain – at least temporarily. Take a pain break. You deserve it. We can all promote our own healing at whatever stage of Lyme we find ourselves.

Best test for Lyme & Co-infections

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-09-20T15:36:34-04:00

Best test for Lyme co-infections
Should Lyme patients be concerned about Bartonella? Commonly associated with Cat Scratch Disease (CSD), this bacteria is also commonly included in the toxic waste dumped into the human bloodstream via a tick or flea bite.

If you have a diagnosis of Lyme disease, you should be aware that you may also be dealing with common co-infections such as Babesiosis, Ehrlichsiosis, or Bartonellosis. Get tested and treated for these additional inflictions, which can cause symptoms and impact the immune-system.

What are some of the problems associated with co-infections? Well, it begins with not even knowing that you might have them. Not all diagnostics labs are created equal. We admire the work that is being done at IGeneX. Here are some of the reasons why.

Same old Lyme-testing trouble
Nick S. Harris, PhD., of IGeneX laboratory in Palo Alto, CA, cautions that due to many factors, Lyme disease remains very complicated to correctly diagnose. Among the top reasons stated, infection does not show up the same in everybody. People all react differently. In addition, seralogical (blood) tests yield unreliable results because the Lyme bacteria is known for its stealth activity and it likes to hide. Lyme is weird (you heard it here). Even in a person with active disease, the bacteria are not always likely to be detectable in the blood. On top of that, antibodies may only be present for a short amount of time, making testing for Lyme bacterial infection a hit-and-miss affair at best.

Standard tests frequently flunk
If you go to your IDSA doctor, assuming you can convince them to test you for Lyme, he or she will give you the standard ELISA and Western Blot Lyme tests recommended by the CDC. What your doctor may or may not know is that these standard tests often fail to give positive diagnoses to patients, causing a chain of reaction wherein they are not made aware that they should begin proper treatment for the disease.

This frustrating scenario has been going on for years. Decades. Your doctor or doctors might also be smart enough to be paying attention to what many call the Lyme wars. They might recognize that while a positive blood test would be optimal, where Lyme is concerned, a clinical diagnosis is often the only way that doctors can observe your condition.

More sensitive testing required
IGeneX lab offers tests sensitive enough to detect the bacteria. For many Lyme patients, myself included, testing at IGeneX has signified the end of the mystery (do I have Lyme?), and the beginning of recovery.

Dr Harris recommends that “for patients presenting with clinical symptoms of Lyme Disease who test negative by the IgG or IgM Western Blot, the Whole Blood PCR or the LDA/Multiplex PCR Panel on urine may be appropriate. There are physician-developed antibiotic protocols to enhance the sensitivity of the LDA. In addition, there seems to be increased sensitivity of this test during the start of menses.”

IGeneX tests for Co-infections
IGeneX lab also offers tests for other tick-borne illnesses. The following info is from Dr Harris on their website:

“The tests are IFA (fluorescent antibody) or direct tests by PCR. In the case of Babesia, FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization) is also available. The FISH test detects the ribosomal RNA of the Babesia parasites directly on air-dried blood smears. This test is highly specific for Babesia, unlike the standard test, the geimsa stain smear, which cannot differentiate between malaria parasites and Babesia.”

Babesiosis Tests
B. Microti and/or WA-1 IgG/IgM Antibody Babesia and/or Babesia WA-1 PCR Babesia FISH (RNA)

Ehrlichiosis Tests
Human Granulocytic Ehrlichia IgG/IgM Antibody Human Granulocytic Ehrlichia PCR Human Monocytic Ehrlichia IgG/IgM AntibodyHuman Monocytic Ehrlichia PCR

Bartonella Tests
Bartonella henselae PCR with Whole Blood

New Bartonella Test
Across the country, another diagnostics lab has been working on a new test for Bartonella, and they want you to know about it so you can request it from your doctor. Galaxy Diagnostics in Research Triangle Park, NC, claims it has developed an even more sensitive test for Bartonella, using state-of-the-art molecular detection.

According to their literature, twenty-eight species of Bartonella have been identified so far, and new species are found every year.

Added cost, but better long-term health prognosis
Of course, testing for co-infections will likely add cost to your treatment plan. But it is important to know what obstacles you could be facing on the road back to good health.

Lyme treatment choices: Do other people's perceptions matter?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-06-30T10:41:00-04:00

Other people matter, this much is clear. We're social critters who need love and feedback from our peeps as much as we need food and water. But when it comes to our choice of Lyme treatment, can other people's opinions affect the way we perceive ourselves?

Look at a bottle of water, then look at a cup of water. The water conforms to the contours of each vessel. People, largely composed of water, are much the same. We tend to take the shape of the environment or community in which we find ourselves.

Other people's ideas of us have an impact on us. I don't mean to say that they control or dominate us (unless we let them). I mean their opinions and beliefs tend to influence how we perceive ourselves, and fit ourselves into our environment. The closer or more fully developed the relationship, the deeper can be the impact of their opinion of you, whether it is spoken or unsaid. We don't grow, develop, or heal (or become whole) in a vacuum.

Their feeling about a particular Lyme treatment may differ from ours. For example, imagine a scenario in which one person is eager to try treatment with an ILADS doctor, or begin alternative therapy, or an herbal protocol, yet her spouse has a low opinion of alternative medicine. He thinks she needs to stick with their IDSA doctor and go with conventional antibiotics. It may not be an easy decision to make.

We need feedback from people we feel close to, and we hope they support us. It's natural and necessary to seek support and emotional resonance. When someone in your life accepts and loves you unconditionally, hangnails, bad-math skills and all, you feel safe. Intimacy is psychological, physical, and emotional sanctuary, and healing can commence from that place.

Psychologists who study how personalities develop are currently revising their conclusions. The new thinking is that people's dispositions are not fixed, but more like a psychological language that can be picked up through immersion. Other people influence us.

When Lyme symptoms linger or come back long after the antibiotics are finished, the problems are more complicated. Social support systems, friends and family members, may be less available for the person who hasn't rallied quickly back to health.

Lymies do their best to fit in, be part of the norm, but chronic pain or exhaustion makes it difficult to be chipper, or even fulfill basic obligations. Even acting normal can tire out a person who is operating on insomnia and anxiety. Can you count the times you stuffed your pain and faked an answer to the perennial “how are you” with a glib, “fine thanks, you?” It's completely understandable. It can feel incredibly lonely and frustrating, like nobody wants to hear that you are still battling Lyme, especially when it seems that it never gets better.

And from the outside, understanding a chronically ill person's dilemma is not easy. A person with Lyme disease is in pain, and it's often invisible. One of the weird downsides is that people with Lyme often don't look sick. No one can see their bad headache, racing heart, or aching knees. “You look fine,” friends and family members will say. “You must be feeling better.” Beyond this, there is also a cultural undercurrent at work, the subtle shaming of a person who does not act chipper and perky, or at least look cheerful.

We all have many facets. Recognize that other people's vision of you – your uniqueness, depth, and your quirks – does have some impact on your vision of yourself. Others are, in a very real sense, mirrors to our growth and healing processes. This includes your doctor or medical team. So who is your support system, and what do they believe about your approach to healing? The only one who can influence a change in their opinion of you, is you. It's worth paying attention to.

New practice, new healing

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-06-25T16:59:39-04:00

Healing through cross-training
Surprises. Some are fabulous, whereas others we could live without. Before I was diagnosed with Lyme I never would have guessed that it could happen to me. Took me completely by surprise. But the nastiest blow was being told by the IDSA doctor, “Looks like MS. My advice is to apply for disability, get a wheelchair, and get ready to spend the rest of your life in it.”

Needless to say, I changed doctors, and was lucky enough to stumble upon a group of smart ones who had a clue about Lyme, and as much faith in me as I had in myself. I didn't get a wheelchair. I learned to walk, talk, and think straight again even through the pain. Over a period of years, I found ways to heal my body, mind and spirit through cross-training.

Time is a river
I thought about the element of surprise yesterday. A friend told me an anecdote about the way different cultures perceive the concept of time. Westerners and Easterners envision time differently. Both see time as a river.

However, in the West we imagine that events flow towards us from the horizon, approaching the present moment where we stand. In front of us, we see future events as they approach. When the event/time has past, it disappears behind, fading into memory.

Easterners imagine time's river approaching from behind. The future comes up from behind, like a surprise. It isn't visible until it's upon us. As events pass by, they flow away to the horizon, fading gradually from memory, appearing smaller and farther away as they go.

Lyme disease was like that for me. It attacked out of the blue, and engulfed my present moments for many years. But gratefully, as the time of being so sick has faded into the horizon, I see it from an increasingly distant perspective. And life continues to come up from behind and surprise me.

Starting a practice
I recently did something that I wanted to do when I was a teenager, at which time circumstances intervened, so I never got around to it. So it seemed a bit surprising, a little out-of-the-blue when recently I started taking Taekwondo lessons at a local studio. The present moment snuck up from behind once again. But this is no brutal blow like Lyme delivered. It's a nice surprise.

Starting a martial arts practice in my 50s – peri-menopause and post-Lyme. Ha, ha, right? Yes, I have stepped out of my comfort zone. And in spite of however it looks, I'm going for it. Even if I look silly, or have to push myself really hard. Even if I am really bad at it. Which I am. But I will stick with it, because it's fun, challenging, and has benefits for the brain (and god knows, I can use all the help I can get).

In fact, physical exercise is reported to be better for improving cognitive functions than even mental exercise. My brand of cross-training has always included an exercise component, but martial arts is well suited to my needs, because it's a body-mind-spirit practice. You have to find what works for you. When I was fighting Lyme at the acute stage, I couldn't even handle much walking, let alone do martial arts. For help regaining my balance, slower, meditative exercises such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong were well-suited.

Importance of community
The Taekwondo community my partner and I joined is a family-friendly place. Very supportive. Folks are each at their own stage of development. There are lots of women and children, and people of every age, from three-year-olds to at least one 70-something. Some have been at it for years, some are newbies. Everyone has something to teach or offer.

I practiced with a 5 year-old yesterday whose listening skills were, embarrassingly, better than mine. As instructed, he nonchalantly executed five perfect kicks in a row. Meantime, I lost track of count and lost my balance. Ten minutes later, I was mirroring an economics professor, a black belt. He helped me aim my roundhouse kick more precisely. Following that, I sparred with a woman ten inches taller and four years more experienced than me.

Astonishing turnaround
Another beginner, a 43 year-old pediatric endocrinologist (I know, it's a mouthful), told me she had decided to start training because of a patient of hers. He is a member of the community too. She saw him go through astonishing changes over the course of his seven years of practice. He is 18 now, and was diagnosed with diabetes at age six. He had been overweight and at times severely depressed. Last Saturday we watched him skillfully earn his first-degree adult black belt. Afterward, he read aloud a personal essay he'd written about his healing journey through martial arts. He's headed off to college, a dream that when he was child, he assumed would never come true.

But the future is full of surprises. Some surprises we will abhor. Others we appreciate. Perhaps in the end it equals out, I don't know.

Can you recall any good surprises in your life since Lyme? If you're not there yet, it's okay. Sometimes it helps to hear stories of courage and victory. Other times, not so much. It depends on where you are on your path. My wish for every person suffering from Lyme or any chronic illness is always this: Persevere. Find the right healing path, diet, medicine, and Lyme doctors for you. Find a community of people who will cheer you on, offer you a hand up when you lose your balance, and celebrate your victories when you succeed. The river of time is on your side.

Stephen Harrod Buhner on mycoplasmas and coinfections

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-05-18T11:09:57-04:00

When standard antibiotic treatment fails, many of us give holistic or complementary protocols a try. It takes determination to battle the stealth pathogens associated with Lyme and its coinfections. Where pharmaceuticals bombard the body, herbs are more elegant and complex. They work synergistically when encountering these organisms.

As Stephen Harrod Buhner says, “The bacteria are evolving, we need to, too.”

Buhner, master herbalist and author, is well-known to many in the Lyme community for his informative, meticulously researched, and beautifully written books. His popular Lyme protocol has helped scores of Lyme patients, as it picks up where technological medicine leaves off.

His new work, Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections is a reference book for people struggling with these common Lyme coinfections. There is increasing evidence that coinfections such as Bartonella and mycoplasmas are the rule, not the exception, when Lyme is present. How do these coinfections behave in the body, and what can be done to alleviate the problems they create?

Q: Who would you like to read this book, and what do you want them to walk away knowing?
A: Well, the book was written for both people with Lyme and Lyme coinfections and for health professionals and I tried to make it accessible to both groups. These kinds of emerging infections are what some epidemiologists and researchers are calling “second generation” infections. “First generation” are those bacteria that antibacterials were developed for after world war II. In essence, technological medicine already dealt with the easy ones.

The emerging infections, among which are included Lyme and its coinfections, are much more difficult. They tend to be stealth pathogens, much more clever when they infect the body, and they take a different approach. Technological medicine, while a great adjunct, is not capable, at this point in time (if it ever will be), of dealing with this second generation of infectious agents.

So, the purpose of the book is twofold. First: to begin giving a good general sense of how these infectious agents behave and why they do so. This takes a lot of the mystique away from them, lowers the fear level, and allows an intelligent response to treating them. This creates empowerment both for healing professionals and those who are infected.

Second: The standard medical model for treating infections is tremendously flawed and those flaws are rather glaring when it comes to treating stealth infections such as these. I am hoping the book will stimulate the development of a much different approach to treating infections, one that is a great deal more sophisticated than the one currently in use. The bacteria are evolving, we need to, too.

Q: Why should people with Lyme be concerned about coinfections and mycoplasma?
A: Coinfections make treating Lyme much more difficult due to the synergy between Lyme and other coinfectious agents. Research has found, time and time again, that coinfection is much more common than not. Those with coinfections tend to be sicker longer, have more difficult symptoms, possess a lower quality of life, and are much less likely to heal from the use of monotherapies such as antibiotics.

Q: Please give us a basic working definition of mycoplasma.
A: Perhaps the tiniest bacteria known, mycoplasma must scavenge almost all of its nutrients from its host by breaking down host cellular tissues. It has an affinity for mucus membrane systems and cilia and once in the body creates a kind of nutrient starvation in the host which results in a wide range of symptoms, much as lyme does.

Q: What is mycoplasma's relation to Lyme disease? How long have medical doctors been noticing its relationship to Lyme?
A: Mycoplasma, like most of the coinfections, is very new to medical doctors. Like most [coinfections], it has only come to prominence in the past 15 years or so, more so each year. As with the other coinfectious agents, it is spread by tickbite (among other things). As researchers have looked deeper into the Lyme epidemic, they have found that mycoplasma is a much more common coinfection than realized.

Q: Please elaborate on the issue of chronic Lyme -- the idea being that many of us go 'chronic' because we were not diagnosed early enough for treatment to be fully effective. How can a working knowledge of herbal remedies help?
A: About 60 percent of people who are infected with Lyme can be helped by antibiotics. Five to ten percent are not. Thirty to thirty-five percent appear to be helped initially but relapse. Added to that are the very large group of people who are never properly diagnosed with lyme. About half of those heal naturally over time, the others do not.

In consequence there is a large group of people that develop chronic Lyme. In that population, about half will respond to a fairly simple herbal protocol, the others will not. Herbs are much more elegant medicinal agents than pharmaceuticals in that they contain hundred to thousands of complex compounds that work together synergistically when confronted by disease organisms.

The plants have been here much longer than people and they have developed extremely sophisticated responses to infections. when we take them internally, those responses are medicines for us. The very nature of stealth pathogens and their wide impacts on the body make herbs a very useful approach.

In essence, successful treatment of Lyme infections needs to address: immune status, inflammation dynamics that are breaking down cellular tissues in the body (cytokine cascades), specific symptoms, and the long term damage, especially in the nervous system, that lyme causes. Pharmaceuticals are useless for most of those. Each of those problems can often be addressed with one or two plants due to the complexity of compounds in the plants.

Q: Please say a few words about the difference(s) between plain old resveratrol capsules and Japanese knotweed, and why you prefer whichever you prefer.
A: I always wanted to use Japanese knotweed root itself for treating Lyme, however, when I first wrote the book there were no decent suppliers for the herb in the U.S. It turned out that a number of resveratrols were made using knotweed root, in fact what they were were actually standardized knotweed root, so that is what I first suggested.

Now that the herb has proved so helpful to so many, a number of growers and harvesters have made it commonly available. I like the whole, powdered, root the best for several reasons. First it is much cheaper than the capsules. Second, I think that it is much easier to take these herbs if the powder is simply blended into liquid and then drunk. Taking all those capsules is a pain.

And, just my own preference . . . I like wild plants or those organically grown. They haven’t been mucked about with; there is much less standing between us and the plants.

Thank you, Stephen!

Bulls-eye not the only skin rash in Lyme diagnosis

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-04-27T10:58:04-04:00

Lyme disease is found in patients whose skin rashes do not look like the bull’s-eye, or so-called “typical” Lyme rash. Skin rashes related to Lyme disease may differ conspicuously from the bull’s-eye type. Lesions may resemble numerous other skin conditions, such as those associated with contact dermatitis, lupus, and spider bites.

“Researchers note that multiple textbooks and websites prominently feature the bull's-eye image as a visual representation of Lyme disease.” They write, “This emphasis on target-like lesions may have inadvertently contributed to an underappreciation for atypical skin lesions caused by Lyme disease.” -- Some Visible Signs of Lyme Disease Are Easily Missed or Mistaken, Science Daily, Apr 22, 2013

Disregard for skin lesions that are unlike the bull’s-eye rash can be a mistake. Early detection and diagnosis is crucial in getting proper treatment, and early treatment is the best prevention for trouble down the road. Steven E, Schutzer, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School,

Clinical diagnosis must consider any skin rash, regardless of its resemblance to the bull’s-eye. Other symptoms may include fever, flu-like malaise, and headache, as well as sensitivity to bright or fluorescent light. Doctors must also consider context, and whether the patient has been in an area where Lyme disease is endemic.

Misdiagnosis is problematic. Get a second, third, or fourth opinion if your doctor does not listen to your concerns, or if he or she disregards unusual skin lesions, or any of your symptoms.

This development in the evolution of Lyme diagnosis is exciting, because it can help medical experts to dispel one of the common myths regarding symptoms that indicate the presence of the Lyme bacteria. Our gratitude goes out to the medical research team who made this discovery, guided by Steven E, Schutzer, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.

Personal experience taught me what took medical science years to prove. Having had Lyme before these studies were conducted, I am one of the many who did not benefit from the latest research. Instead, doctors and dermatologists insisted that my severe skin lesions were a bad case of eczema and not an indication of Lyme. I was told to “take it easy,” and “get a handle on my stress levels,” and my skin condition would go away.

Nothing like a life-threatening skin rash to make you a little stressed.

Even after being admitted to the ER with a staff infection due to the increasingly spreading rash, doctors believed that only the bull’s-eye rash would signify Lyme. As a result, proper diagnosis and treatment were significantly delayed. Do not let that happen to you or your loved ones.

Yolanda Foster speaks about Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-04-13T11:02:57-04:00

"The light had gone off in my brain." Yolanda Foster speaks about Lyme.

“We live in the most extraordinary country, with the best doctors in the world. But the truth is, we don't have proper diagnostic testing,” Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Yolanda Foster told the audience at the Gala held for the Lyme Research Alliance on April 6. The LRA honored Foster with the Star Light Award, in recognition for her advocacy and for serving as a role model for people suffering with Lyme.

In her acceptance speech, Foster describes her frightening decline from “being an outspoken, multi-tasking social butterfly, to being trapped in a mentally paralyzed cocoon.” Doctors did not find any indication of Lyme disease in their standard blood tests, so they missed important clues. She knew something was wrong, intuiting that it may have been an infection in her brain. But doctor after doctor misdiagnosed her, advising her to cut back on her busy schedule. She was put on subscription drugs.

“Sleeping pills, Adderall, steroids, and anti-depressants,” she recalls, reciting the litany of drugs she was given. “[But] I was so so not depressed,” she adds. Increasing frustration and annoyance were closer to the mark.

After a two-week stay at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles that achieved nothing, Foster returned home to bed. Hopeless, and believing that in her native Europe she might find a doctor to help, she to embarked on the long flight from California to Belgium. After a test showed spirochetes in her brain, she finally received a correct diagnosis of Lyme Neuroborreliosis and co-infections.

Thankfully, zeroing in on the pathology leads to treatment, but as anyone who has been through this crazy-making process knows, Lyme treatment is a double-edged sword. To begin with, it is not so cut and dry. And antibiotic therapy also causes Herxheimer reactions which can be as debilitating as the symptoms themselves. Friend Suzanne Somers led Foster to the Sponaugle Wellness Institute in Clearwater, Florida. Foster reluctantly left her family to go for a 6-week treatment. She reports that now she feels about 80% back to normal.

The LRA event raised more than $1 million to fund research for finding a cure for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Doctors Steven Schutzer, M.D., of the University of Medicine and Dentristy of New Jersey, and Mark Eshoo, Ph.D, director of new technology at Ibis Biosciences, were also honored at the Gala and received an award for their significant contribution in research and treatment in the quest to find a cure for Lyme.

Please watch Yolanda Foster's speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8ZDvwTXKw

Interview with director of the Lyme Research Alliance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uDyb0NyRog

New Lyme bug and natural antibiotics

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-01-19T10:12:19-05:00

A friend and I had made a date to see a matinee. I was getting ready to leave when she called.

“I'm sick,” she managed hoarsely. “The flu.”

So instead I drove to Whole Foods, my pharmacy of choice, and foraged through the produce department for lemons, oranges and fresh ginger. In the spice aisle I picked up a jar of cayenne pepper for topping off a hot citrus-ginger drink. All fall and winter this immune-strengthening drink has helped keep me well.

I let myself into my friend's apartment building, pushed the elevator button and rode up to her floor. I could hear coughing from another apartment as I knocked on her door. She opened it and stepped back, covering her mouth with the sleeve of her bathrobe. She's a nurse, so taking precautions is simply commonsense. I set my offerings down in her kitchen.

We waved and air-hugged from across the room. I promised I would not catch it. As soon as I got home I washed my hands well.

If you've been lucky enough to not catch it yourself, it's hard to miss the prevalence of stories about this winter's flu epidemic. Common also are stories about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of the flu vaccines and prescription drugs designed to combat the bug or virus causing the terrible problems.

My bias is to bone up on prevention. I know it's sometimes impossible to ward off these nasty critters, but I've managed to stay out of harm's way for a good long while now, and I like to think my hot lemon & ginger drink with two shakes of powdered red pepper on top,is helping.

I decided that I needed an antidote to all the dire flu-bug warnings – and also to the unwelcome news story about the latest Lyme-like bug in the US, the Borrelia miyamotoi (more on that in a minute). So I picked up Herbal Antibiotics, 2nd Edition: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-resistant Bacteria. This is a good time to revisit the sound advice of master herbalist and author Stephen Buhner.

Stephen has a thorough scientific approach and vast knowledge of healing herbs. His thoughtful, user-friendly writing is informative and comforting, even when describing the “rise of the superbug.” This is his alarming account of the increasing powerlessness of conventional antibiotics.

In this book, Stephen investigates natural alternatives to conventional antibiotics for treatment of drug-resistant bacteria. If you want to hear a sound argument for using herbal or plant-based antibiotics, check it out. He generally includes as much information as you would want about each herb. One thing I adore about Stephen's books is that he includes recipes for making tinctures, teas, tonics and soothing soups. If you are a DIY'er like me, you'll like that too.

Strengthening the immune system is the first line of defense. As Stephen says: “Countless studies have found that the healthier your immune system, the less likely you are to get a disease and the more likely you are, if you do get sick, to have a milder episode. This is especially true in diseases such as Lyme.”

Bear in mind, not all flu-like symptoms are an indication that you have the flu. Another bacteria carried by deer ticks is now being investigated. It also causes a Lyme-like fever and symptoms resembling flu.

This organism, the Borrelia miyamotoi, was first discovered in Japan in the mid 1990s and detected in deer ticks in Connecticut in 2001, and California in 2006. Lead research scientist Dr. Peter J. Krause at Yale explains.

Sources:
Buhner, Stephen Harrod (2012-07-17). Herbal Antibiotics, 2nd Edition: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-resistant Bacteria. Workman Publishing. Kindle Edition.

http://www.enterprisenews.com

Chronic Lyme, a persistent problem

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2013-01-12T10:53:58-05:00

Chronic Lyme disease is the controversial third stage of this multi-stage illness. While medical experts agree that for some, problems and symptoms persist after the standard protocol has been administered. What they don’t agree on is whether these persistent problems should be treated with antibiotics, and for how long. Also in question is the use of the term “chronic.”

According to the CDC, what many call "chronic Lyme disease," is properly known as "Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome" (PTLDS). Doctors can follow protocol and treat patients who have been diagnosed with early-stage Lyme.

The fact that there is no insurance code for chronic Lyme, or PTLDS, means that many doctors will not treat chronic Lyme with long-term antibiotics.

Dr Lee Cowden, whose Lyme protocol has helped many, including me, agrees about the debilitating effects of long-term antibiotics. Dr Cowden would rather the patient detox and kill the Borrelia bacteria with herbal tinctures such as Cumanda, Samento, Banderol and others which will not punch holes in the gut lining and create problems in addition to the Lyme infection.

Stephen Buhner’s core herbal protocol for Lyme includes Cat’s Claw, Sarsaparilla, Japanese Knotweed and Eleuthero. Stephen is also devoted to helping Lyme patients and his alternative treatments are soundly researched. Many people opt to self-treat with these or other herbal protocols while also still on the doctor-prescribed antibiotics. Stephen has told me that his core protocol will not interfere with standard antibiotic treatment.

My personal approach to treating chronic Lyme, or “late-stage” Lyme as my doctor called it, did include treatment with long-term antibiotics (six months). After that, I embarked on the Cowden protocol for a couple of years. During that time, I would never have had the stamina to work full-time outside my home. My work as a freelance writer allowed me to keep hours that fit with my quirky schedule of daily napping, frequent breaks, and staying in bed all day when I simply had zippo energy. Talking to sources over the phone, writing propped up on pillows, and a supportive, compassionate partner smoothed the brutal lows and quickened the recovery time.

However, my long healing journey has been successful for one main reason, and it isn’t just afternoon naps or diet or exercise, or love, or even the expensive Resveratrol that makes the difference -- but all of those do definitely have their place. The real key is a continual re-commitment to healthy living every day, through several daily practices that address and acknowledge these four fundamental areas: my intentions, behaviors, my culture and shared values, and the social systems that play a major, yet somewhat invisible, role in life.

Chronic Lyme or PTLDS will continue to dampen and depress our spirits if left untreated. And long-term antibiotics may not be the answer.

Actively healing from Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-12-30T10:47:09-05:00

“The more you see, the more you care. The more you care, the more you participate.”
-- Diane Hamilton

As a supporter of a multi-faceted approach to healing chronic Lyme, I try to read widely and
consider many different types of advice from a wide range of teachers and experts. The quote
above is from one of my meditation teachers. She is referring to the benefit of developing
the ability to see more perspectives. To see is to acknowledge and recognize the value in a
perspective that may be different from one we normally take.

I think this is valuable advice, particularly in light of Lyme treatment where so much contention
divides doctors, limiting their points of view instead of expanding them. Does it have to come
down to “either/or” choices between Western medicine and natural or alternative therapies?
Or can we embrace a healthy “both/and” perspective to include whatever works best for each
individual?

What works for one of us may not work for another. Further, what works at one stage may
not be best for another stage. In my own case, it’s taken some careful experimenting to find
out what works. For example, I began treatment on what used to be known as an “antibiotic
cocktail,” which included several different strong antibiotics administered orally for at least six
months. But when I couldn’t afford to continue, I started the Cowden protocol. I stayed on that
for about three years. I switched to Teasel root extract after that. And now, I take a handful of
supplements every morning and remain stable and healthy.

But the key to my current state of good health, I’m convinced, is that multi-faceted approach. I
am devoted to strengthening my body as well as stretching it, so I do strength training exercises
as well as yoga. I cured a frozen shoulder using these exercises a few years ago, when most of
my Lyme symptoms were well on their way out. I knew another woman at the time who suffered
from the same painful condition in her shoulder. She was able to afford treatments administered
by a chiropractor, who used electricity to break up the adhesions. She regained use of her arm
about a year into treatment. My arms continue to get stronger and feel fine, all through simple
push-ups and yoga. We both got the treatment we needed. Hers was passive. Mine was active.

When we do whatever we can to help ourselves heal, we become stronger and more aware.
Our healing is not only in the hands of the doctors, although I thank god for good doctors
every day. It’s in our own hands as well. It isn’t an either/or situation. It’s a both/and. Trust your
instinct. Read tons. Use every approach you can think of, diet, exercise, meditation, study,
medicines -- prescription and/or complementary or alternative.

In the New Year, let’s continue to use all our awareness to develop a more comprehensive path
of healing from Lyme at any stage. Let’s see more perspectives, allow ourselves to care more
deeply, and participate more vigorously in our own healing.

New Year ahead. What's your Lyme diet?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-12-23T11:42:33-05:00

On this winter solstice, chill winds and snow swirl through the giant bamboo forest
just outside our windows.
Since last Friday morning, we’ve shed a lot of tears.
Our broken hearts can heal but it will take time. In my own reflections over the course of the past week, I’ve recommitted to get stronger and healthier in 2013, in mind, body and spirit.
That’s my New Year’s wish for you, too.

-- All my best, Suzanne

Holiday gatherings usually center around sharing a meal together. You might be anticipating some changes in your dishes of choice this year. Where is the list of “should” or “shouldn’t eat” foods? And, the most important question of course: is chocolate on the list?

Food choice is so personal. Is there a good “Lyme diet” to follow? Take a peek at this food pyramid shared by Dr. Andrew Weil (and not just because chocolate is on the list!)

We hear a lot about how a particular food is good for us, such as salmon or flaxseed for the omega oils, and avocado for its ‘good’ fat. But how big a portion is advised, and why it is good are something you might not yet know. That’s why I like this simple chart. It tells you the how-much and the why.

An anti-inflammatory diet is beneficial for anyone suffering from Lyme, an inflammatory illness. Chances are, your doctor and your medical advisors are not well-informed about the way your diet affects you, so it’s worth looking into.

Most of us with Lyme have specific needs at mealtime. Communicate your wishes to your family. If you are the main chef and bottle washer at your house, encourage and allow others to help out in the kitchen. Let them do the shopping and the cleanup.

Aside from knitting irresistible toys for the adorable little ones, my preference during the holidays is to renew, reconnect and reflect. Since Lyme, I pay more attention to my breath, I take more time to write and walk. Give yourself permission to enjoy whatever activities you find regenerative. If it expands your spirit, feels loving and healthy, it’s a worthy pursuit. Healing comes from such wholeness.

A word about frenzy, which is so often the tone around this time of the year. It’s defined medically as temporary madness, “a state of violent mental agitation.” Its synonyms include fury and rage. Let’s focus on the symbols of the season, on faith and on relationships that matter. Or have you succumbed to old habits, struggling through city streets and stores clogged with impatient shoppers. It’s always our choice.

Faced with a few days off, it’s tempting to try to get as much done as humanly possible with the extra down-time. But your body and mind needs slowing-down-time. Don’t try to rush the healing process with your willpower.

If you’re in pain and the weight of the world feels like it’s on your tired shoulders, please be generous with yourself and rest. The world’s wisdom traditions teach that this dark season naturally facilitates surrender. So allow the healing process to move through you, and perhaps move you to a new place in your journey. With grace, you will be yourself again in time.

I wish you a peaceful and joyful holiday -- with an oz of 70% chocolate!

Paying it forward = Stress relief

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-12-02T15:28:06-05:00

I was stuck. Attempting to turn left into a traffic jam, confronted with cars backed up as far as I could see. Several vehicles had fresh-cut Christmas trees roped to the roof like hostages. The setting sun was blinding all the westbound drivers. I started to settle in for what looked like a long wait for a break.

Suddenly, a driver stopped to wave me in. Hallelujah! I couldn’t believe it. I watched as everybody in the long line of cars behind her was forced to stop and wait while I made my turn. With a wave and a smile and a tap on the brakes, she had flooded my heart with hope and love for my fellow humans. If she hadn’t voluntarily stopped like that, I might still be sitting there.

An hour later, stuck in a checkout line held up by a woman buying 4,000 rolls of ribbon, I overheard the couple behind me. They were griping quietly at each other. I encouraged them to go ahead of me, and they suddenly smiled and said thanks, both wishing me a Merry Christmas. It felt so nice to pay back the generosity that had been extended to me that I actually wished there were more shoppers standing in line to wave ahead.

In times of stress, whether from traffic, sickness, or other events, it seems we have a choice. We can’t control the events themselves, but we can choose how we react. The glee and gratitude I felt for that driver infected my mood instantaneously. In every crowded lane and line for hours afterward, I enjoyed interacting with clerks and shoppers and felt genuinely uplifted with every sincere smile and upbeat thank you. It got me thinking about generosity and vulnerability.

We’re more vulnerable when we’re ill and suffering. Pain breaks down the normal barriers that healthy people take for granted, the psychic boundaries we put up in a grocery store or a crowded elevator. When we’re spending most of our energy trying to feel normal or attempting to breathe through the pain in our muscles, our skin, or the fog in our mind, I think we’re more naturally vulnerable and open to other people’s moods and actions.

This open attitude of heart or viewpoint can make us feel weak. After all, it is only the strong ego that can construct barriers and know exactly who it is and what it wants. But these days, having returned from the trip to the underworld of Lyme disease, I feel, at times, much less attached to the picture of who-I-think-I-am. I feel more porous, less fixed. That fluidity has its own sort of strength.

I wish I could thank that anonymous driver for her small gesture of kindness, which felt to me like a light of consciousness in a murky sea. It could have worked the other way. We’ve all been the recipient of an angry gesture by an impatient driver (or we ourselves have been that angry driver), and we know how that affects us and others too. But as the recipient of her generous action, I went on my merry way with an attitude of gratitude. Like a fairy godmother, she’d waved her wand and changed the landscape from black-and-white to technicolor. In the crowded store, I passed her kindness along like an unexpected gift, and I bet it’s still working its way around town.

Serious illness not only brings suffering, it has another side which is filled with gifts if we are open to receiving them. When I take a genuine, hard inner look, I know I have Lyme to thank for the tremendous blessings in my life now. Riches beyond measure. Among them, more patience, resilience and humility, and an extraordinary awakening of consciousness which is largely unexpected but certainly profound.

Here’s to the spirit of gratitude and vulnerability. What are you grateful for?

New Lyme test available in Europe

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-11-17T10:54:28-05:00

A new test that detects the Borrelia infection is now available in Europe. I hope to find out whether this novel test will become available in the US anytime soon.

SpiroFind was developed in Mellrichstadt, Germany by the European subsidiary of Boulder Diagnostics, a privately owned company in Colorado that focuses on diagnosing diseases that are not reliably diagnosed.

The SpiroFind test detects Borreliosis through each stage, from early to late or chronic manifestation. It works by measuring the immune response to the Borrelia bacteria. Europeans may now contact the clinical laboratory, which is accepting blood samples for testing.

The effectiveness of the SpiroFind test was confirmed in a clinical study at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Conclusions of the study have been submitted for peer-reviewed publication and presentation at a conference in Berlin, Germany in April 2013.

DNA Test in US Available
Another new Lyme disease test, which tests DNA, became available in the US in 2010. I talked to Dr. Sin Hang Lee about this test, which is available in Milford, Connecticut. Patients and physicians interested in information on this DNA test may call George Poole, manager of Milford Medical Laboratory, at 203-876-4496.

New diagnostic tools give us hope for earlier and more effective treatment.

Cold freeze won't keep ticks from biting

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-11-11T10:25:10-05:00

Gorgeous fall weather brings temptations. Pumpkin pie cooling by the kitchen window. Outdoors, leaf-strewn mountain paths beckon. Canada geese honk and chatter in the clear twilight as they pass overhead on their way to the nearby lake.

The last thing we want to think about is Lyme disease. However, there is an increased chance of getting Lyme during winter, when we believe ticks don’t pose a threat.

I hope you’re feeling well enough to spend some time outdoors. Natural environments have an undisputed healing power, increasing relaxation and restoring a sense of balance in our minds and bodies. But if you do, take the necessary precautions. At least in Rhode Island, ticks can survive even a cold New England freeze, according to Dr. Thomas Mather of the University of Rhode Island.

From WPRI News:
Ticks can survive throughout the entire winter, even if they are frozen in the ground for periods of time.

“They must produce some sort of antifreeze inside of themselves, because as soon as the ground thaws and they warm up again, they’re back out and biting,” said Mather.

When you go for a hike in the fresh fall air, stay in the middle of the path. Avoid grassy and wooded areas. Wear long socks and boots and tuck your pant legs in. Perform that routine tick check when you come inside. Pets who share our living space should routinely be inspected too. And bear in mind, wearing DEET does not guarantee protection from tick bites.

How much is too much exercise for Lyme patients?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-11-02T15:40:14-04:00

We take a cross-training approach to healing from Lyme. This includes body, mind, spirit and shadow (psychological) exercises. Some Lyme patients are just too weak, especially in the first stage, to address the needed physical exercise. Indeed at times it is not wise, if you are dizzy or otherwise debilitated. But there comes a time when you really just have to move that body! I know from experience.

Anaerobic exercise, such as stretching, sprinting and weightlifting, can help you heal from Lyme disease. But don’t overdo the aerobics, according to Dr. Joseph Burrascano and other Lyme experts. They say that too much aerobic exercise, such as walking, jogging, jumping rope and skipping, can be detrimental.

One reason is that vigorous jogging or other aerobics open up the blood-brain barrier, allowing more Borrelia bacteria to enter the brain. Too much, too fast aerobic exercise can also deplete the adrenals and decrease the specialized cells that are part of the body’s immune system, the T-cells. T-cells are the highly skilled militia of the immune system. They hunt and destroy invading bacteria. They also alert other cells to do their jobs. The adrenals can be depleted by the low-grade, ongoing stress of chronic illness, by not getting enough sleep, and in many other ways.

Tai chi and gentle yoga, chi gong, and other Eastern body-mind-spirit exercises are very beneficial. Depending on the style of each of these practices, they are considered anaerobic. Mindful stretching as you get out of bed in the morning can warm up your muscles and make you feel a smidge better. If you’re not feeling up to snuff, but want to do something, simply take a few slow, deep breaths. Breathing from the diagram can relax and bring your body and mind into harmony.

I’ve gotten hooked on yoga this year, and finally made it a habit. I’m also a big fan of using the breath for relaxation, and finishing with a meditation.

What is your exercise routine? Have you ever overdone it?

Video games and art as therapy

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-10-28T14:04:39-04:00

Find a Lyme doctor near you

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-10-23T13:53:45-04:00

Q. Can someone help me find a Lyme doctor near Boston Massachusetts?

A. The Lyme Disease Association has a doctor referral page, based on your zip code. You have to sign in first, then enter your zip code and it will give you the names & contact info of doctors nearest you. There is a filter, too, so you can specify particulars, such as whether you want an ILADS doctor (best choice).

To read how it works, here is the link.

http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277&Itemid=192

You will find the link to use the system at the bottom of that page.

I wish you all the best in your healing journey.

Dr. Phil sheds light on chronic Lyme treatment

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-10-16T18:07:21-04:00

Dr Phil brought mass attention to “persistent Lyme disease” on his show last spring. Fashion model Stephanie Vostry who was featured on the show appeared sick, fragile, and miserable under the studio lights. Watching, my heart went out to her, and to weathercaster Brooke Landau and a longtime Doctor Phil staffer who were seated in the audience, and who also shared some of their experiences with what they termed chronic Lyme disease. If you are very ill at this moment, please judge for yourself how much you want to watch of the clip, which includes footage from Under Our Skin. This stuff is disturbing. And real.

Stephanie’s treatments have put her in financial jeopardy. She started an online campaign at gofundme.com to raise money to pay for her Lyme treatments. So far she’s raised over $10,000 toward her $20,000 goal.

The show was difficult to watch, and I think it raised my anxiety level about 300%! I am grateful to Dr Phil for shedding light on this controversial disease and on the use of long-term antibiotics. Even though I’ve been in the state that Stephanie is in, I realize now how thoroughly I have disconnected from the memories of being that bad off. What amazes me about Lyme disease is that you can go through utter hell, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially, and that you can come back to life. It really has been literally like being raised from the dead.

Have you watched the show? What did you think of the way Lyme disease was presented to the public?

Watch Under Our Skin for free on Hulu.

Warm-weather ticks & Treatment strategy questioned

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-10-07T17:00:03-04:00

Surprisingly brisk bursts of wind scatter multi-colored leaves and shuttle herds of gray thunderheads across the sky. It’s Fall, arguably the most beautiful time of the year, at least in our nook of the SE. Still, when it comes to unwanted critters, awareness and prevention are the rule for venturing outdoors.

Warmer weather creates a haven for the tiny natural catastrophes we know as ticks. In the Southeast, we may be advised that ticks don’t carry Lyme disease, but an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. A recent news clip from WXIA in Georgia attests to the rise in ticks, which may be due to the very warm weather much of the nation has endured over the course of 2012.

For prevention, the classic advice includes keeping on top of your pets’ tick and flea medications, and using caution outdoors. When you are outside, whether hiking, strolling through a neighborhood park, or preparing your garden for the season, don’t make yourself available for ticks. Start a fashion trend -- goodness knows it’ll keep the neighbors amused. Tuck your pants into the tops of your socks and wear light-colored clothing so ticks are easier to spot. Who says you can’t wear white after Labor Day?

Other prevention-strategies for the season: Make a tick-check a part of your post-outdoors routine. We can’t see our whole selves even in the mirror. Ask a family member to inspect the back of your head and your back. If they do find a tick -- have them remove it without damaging it (which can increase the risk of infection) and put it in a baggie, so it can be checked for the bacterial complex which causes Lyme and other diseases. Not all ticks carry the spirochete that causes Lyme.

We recommend sending it to IGeneX Labs in Palo Alto, California. There are a few other labs around the country, which you can find through searching online.

Watch and wait? Or treat with doxy?
People who suspect that they’ve been bitten and infected by a tick have a couple of choices. One is to watch and wait. See your doctor, and be ready to treat symptoms aggressively if they arise. Symptoms can be extremely subtle, and they are mightily varied depending on your particular immune system response, general state of health, age and many other factors.

The other option is to begin antibiotic treatment immediately, with the most common drug used for Lyme, doxycycline. This approach, which is apparently based on only one case study, deserves scrutiny, according to ILADS doctor Elizabeth Maloney, who has another view on the matter.

In her written testimony, she questions whether this now commonly-recommended prophylaxis strategy is sufficient to treat the borrelia infection. She states that it may indeed prevent the patient from getting the treatment they need, by hiding the symptoms of Lyme. Watching and waiting may be the wisest choice.

NE docs wise to lyme -- but SE docs say no Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-09-29T12:58:09-04:00

The more I learn about Lyme, the more mysterious it seems. And not the disease so much, but the approach that’s taken by our medical professionals. It is a disease with layers of complexity. You can be tested for leukemia, for example, and the results are either positive or negative. Not so with Lyme.

Awareness of Lyme and early treatment is increasing in the Northeastern US. However, I’ve seen anecdotal evidence that patients also get Lyme disease in the Southeast. On the LDRD Facebook page, in a recent post about Lyme in Georgia, several people living in a smattering of southern states -- Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia -- chimed in to affirm that they’d been diagnosed with Lyme and had caught it at home.

In a casual conversation with an epidemiology professor and veterinarian from Georgia, I learned just last week that there is no Lyme in our region. He agreed that there are other egregious diseases caused by ticks in the SE, but “we don’t have Lyme.”

My dentist here in NC told me the same thing. I imagine most doctors in the area would concur.

All of this makes me curious. Consider this. When we as Lyme patients approach our healing from all the fundamental dimensions that we can, from body, mind, spirit and shadow, we’re taking more perspectives than most of our doctors are (there are exceptions). Our healing is more whole, and more effective in my experience, when we work on all of these dimensions.

When the CDC declares that there is no Lyme disease in a certain region, their evidence is not, I would argue, taking other perspectives. It is overlooking some equally fundamental dimensions. Cases of Lyme that are diagnosed in the SE, for example. Can we really just ignore that? Pass it off as an anomaly?

Doctors base their conclusions on empirical, scientific evidence. And correctly so. That’s the way it should be. But when there is anecdotal evidence, isn’t that also proof? Someone is surely diagnosing some cases of Lyme in the Southeast. What is going on there? This just doesn’t square with the rational conclusiveness associated with medical people. Could it be that doctors and the CDC are simply too busy, and the catalogue of diseases is too full, to include another?

And yet, the IDSA does seem to be changing. Ever so slowly. At least, in the Northeast they’re changing their approach to treatment and diagnosis in the early stage of Lyme. CBS news in Pittsburgh ran this story recently: Doctors Change Treatment Recommendations for Lyme Disease.

As this news clip points out, doctors in the NE region are becoming aware of the critical need for early Lyme disease treatment. Patients presenting with a bull’s eye rash, who have caught it immediately, are likely to get antibiotics right away. They have a good chance of beating Lyme in its early stages.

This is good news, because of course the not-so-good news is that Lyme cases are rising alarmingly quickly in Pittsburgh. This year 150 cases have been recorded, up from 10 or 15 last year. 70% of the ticks in the region are believed to carry the bacteria which causes the Lyme infection.

But apparently they stop at the border. So in the Southeast, we’re not dealing with Lyme. Except of course, anecdotally.

Interesting also to note that Romney is seeking to align his campaign with ILADS. Obama has also acknowledged the disease and its enormous financial implications. Awareness in Washington, DC is steadily but slowly increasing.

Lyme is a political issue, and not simply because of the definition of politics: many (poly) blood-sucking critters (ticks).

Chronic Lyme and Antibiotics

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-09-18T13:22:57-04:00

Q. Hello,

I am new to Lyme Disease... come from a very holistic background, eat a whole food
organic diet, etc. Will not bore you with details and get to my point.

Any idea on the current train of thought on IV antibiotic treatment for people with chronic
lyme? I will also be taking a holistic approach, but am also trying to get the latest info on
antibiotic treatment before my visit with the infectious disease md.

Thank you!

A. Thanks so much for your question. I get where you're coming from, as I've always
been a health-foodie myself. Lyme blindsided me too. Through diligent attention to
my cross-training approach -- including body, mind, spirit and shadow practices daily
-- I am completely well. And I was almost dead. Sounds dramatic, but it's true.

Your question is specifically about IV treatment for chronic Lyme, and I'll tell you,
it's a complicated answer. For one thing, the term "chronic Lyme" is not a condition
widely agreed upon in the medical world. Whether or not a chronic state of Lyme
disease exists seems to completely depend on whom you ask. Doctors are people
and people have their biases. I noticed recently that the CDC has changed their
information on their website to reflect that there is a condition which they say is more
properly called “Post-Lyme disease Syndrome,” or PTLDS. The article states that the
cause of PTLDS is as yet unknown.

My bias is to go with a cross-training approach, which I have laid out on our website.
This is what we call "100 Perspectives," which is the way I think about my practices,
the body, mind, spirit and shadow practices that I mentioned. Please read about it
and see what you think.

The notion of long-term antibiotics (IV and/or oral) is hotly debated. Although I
know that some are grateful for antibiotics long-term, I am also a huge proponent of
attacking the bacteria from every angle. The daily practices are not simply tacked on
to my life, they’re central to it. This is what has worked for me.

Dr. Lee Cowden, whom I've interviewed several times, is a worldwide expert on Lyme
treatment. He's not pro-antibiotics for the long-term. He sees that they can cause
worse problems than the Lyme bacteria can for the intestines. He is in favor of long-
term herbal tinctures, which do not damage the intestines when used as directed in
his protocol. His protocol worked for me as well. We need to bear in mind that the
intestines play a major role in our immune system, so Dr. Cowden’s message is a
significant note of caution, in my opinion.

I suggest that you listen to the audio interviews on our website that feature Dr.
Cowden. (Many are free for the public to access - go to our blog and do a search.)
He will teach you so much and give you a lot of food for thought, all very positive.

All my very best to you on your healing journey,
Suzanne

Here's more information about Dr. Cowden and the Cowden protocol.

Letting go of the fear of Lyme symptoms

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-08-21T17:30:18-04:00

A friend popped in while on a road trip last week. She and I have never met in person before, just over Skype, for business. During dinner we discovered that we’d both had Lyme. And we’re both recovered.

Has that ever happened to you? Someone you’d never suspect turns out to be a recovered Lymie? I was really taken by surprise, because Stephanie is someone I’ve always known was brilliant. She’s loquacious, funny, sensitive and inquisitive. She’s verbal. We’re both English teachers, and that tells you something about our common love of language. (And our common fear of and frustration with brain-fog!) But she’s also a Fulbright Scholar (which I’m not), she worked for a megalithic TV corporation for many years, and she is a bona fide cinematographer. And she’s been honored by government officials for her humanitarian efforts that led to actual laws being changed. And...she’s had Lyme disease.

Okay, enough of my brag about her. Suffice it to say, we’ve all known people who seem to have a lighted star over their heads wherever they wander in this world. She’s just one of those. But at dinner, as she lowered herself into our Japanese-style seating (yes, we eat sitting on the floor), I heard her say that she’s been having some stiffness ever since Lyme disease.

My ears perked up. I couldn’t believe it. She’s just returned from a year in China, and is on her way to Micronesia for two years. I leave my house to go to the grocery store every few days. I have what’s called a low threshold of adventure, which is I believe, the medical term for it. Stephanie’s got just the opposite. Little wonder she can tell a story and make you laugh, get hired on a dime and make a friend in the time it takes to wash your hands. She’s got no fear of the world. Did I mention she lives on a houseboat when she’s Stateside?

Her neck, however, was stiff the night she had dinner with us. She and I had a lot to say to each other about Lyme, but we talked about everything else under the sun that night too, and that’s another sign that we both live post-Lyme lives, isn’t it? But she was very interested in hearing about sugar’s effects on Lyme, and we traded notes on our workout routines. Turns out she’d been putting her sore back and neck down to age. But she found out that my yoga routine is keeping me limber and strong, and I have no soreness to speak of (not Lyme-related anymore, that is). She vowed to get better about regular exercise. I hope she keeps her promise to herself, because I know how much it helps me. We talked about our love for learning new skills and languages, and how that helps our mental muscles stay toned and flexible. And she has set the bar high for me. I am seriously going to consider traveling abroad soon. Letting go of the fear, and the image of myself as a recovering sick person is the one last stand to truly embracing wellness.

Do you have a remarkable friend who has walked a path you’d like to walk? Would you do it if you didn’t fear Lyme disease, or its effect on you? Please tell me about it. I’d love to hear your perspective.

For further reading about the four fundamental dimensions of healing from Lyme, click here.

Proposed Lyme legislation ignored by IDSA

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-08-06T14:24:51-04:00

In July, a Congressional subcommittee met to discuss a Lyme disease bill that is championed by a number of politicians in the Northeast US. The bill urges congress to approve a national strategy and money for research into prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease. A federal strategy would heighten awareness in all public health agencies.

The hope is that when people who are sick and infected with Lyme go to their local clinic, they may actually be able to receive medical help from doctors who understand the critical importance of early treatment. As it stands, clinics across the US are staffed by medical professionals who remain largely ignorant of it. Lyme misdiagnoses are rampant and dangerous.

The powerful doctors’ group, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, was absent during the meeting and has remained silent about the bill. You may remember that in 2009 the IDSA opposed a similar bill, claiming that it lacked support from the scientific community.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who, cosponsored the bill, states that Lyme disease has increased to epidemic proportions. It is the sixth most common reportable disease in the US. In the Northeast, it is second only to chlamydia. These stats are according to Dr. Ben Beard, director of vector-borne diseases at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From the article “Lawmakers call for national Lyme disease strategy,” in the Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2012: "'The tick problem is growing. The Lyme disease problem is growing," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a cosponsor of the bill in the U.S. Senate. "This requires resources."

The legislation provides for the establishment of an advisory committee made up of researchers, patient advocates and agencies, as well as the coordination of support for developing better diagnostic tests, surveillance, research and other efforts.'”

Will this be the year that legislators do the right thing and go on the attack against Lyme disease? I continue to hope that influential IDSA doctors – who see their own patients ravaged by the disease – will soon take a stand for more awareness of this increasing epidemic.

Babesiosis

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-07-24T16:00:29-04:00

Ticks! How do I hate them? Let me count the ways.

Babesiosis is known as a co-infection frequently accompanying Lyme. But it is no mere side-kick. The latest threat from ticks is not a new disease, but cases seem to be on the rise especially in the northeastern US. Babesiosis is described as a malaria-like illness which can be life-threatening in some people. It is caused by the parasite babesea microti, which invades and destroys the body's red blood cells.

Unlike Lyme disease, Babesiosis will not present with a bullseye rash. Symptoms from the outset are fever, sweats, fatigue, bad headaches and malaise, or a general feeling of un-wellness.

People who are at greatest risk of fatality from Babesiosis:
• are on immuno-suppresant drugs
• lack a spleen
• on chemotherapy
• infants & elderly

Take precautions to prevent exposure to ticks, which can hang out for days on the tips of grasses, and hitch a ride on chipmunks and other rodents if there are no deer around.

In the summertime, ticks are in the nymph stage, at their tiniest. Just to up the ante of the risk, many of us spend more time outdoors enjoying the warm weather and longer days. This means that when you come inside, tick-check time is even more important than ever. Get the kids in the act. Place a full-length mirror in the foyer and establish a habit of helping each other search for uninvited critters.

Be well, for goodness sake!

Diet as medicine. Go gluten-free or not?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-07-14T16:50:46-04:00

Lyme Disease and the autoimmune condition which is refer to as Chronic, or Post- Lyme share some symptoms with Celiac Disease (CD), which is at the heart of the current shift in the US towards gluten-free foods. In about one percent of the population worldwide, gluten causes damage to the walls of the small intestine, resulting in gastrointestinal problems, malnutrition, and manifesting in various symptoms, including skin rashes, serious fatigue and weight loss.

Very little is known about CD, however but there is a growing awareness, which is why, over the past five years, we are seeing more gluten-free (GF) choices in the grocery stores. To a person with Lyme disease, this scenario, an autoimmune disease with vast, murky symptoms and not a lot of clarity about treatment, probably seems vaguely familiar.

The leading US specialist in CD, Peter Green, MD at Columbia University, recommends that people suspected of having gluten-sensitivities not quit eating foods containing gluten until they are properly tested and diagnosed. This is because withdrawing from foods with gluten will change the test results. However, as there is currently no other treatment available for people with CD or non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, the treatment consists of eliminating all sources of gluten-containing foods from the diet.

But there's a catch-22 in that logic. Do you feel better when you don't eat foods containing gluten? I do, I don't feel as puffy, which I guess is the way inflammation in the gut feels. Would you go back to including gluten in your diet just so your intestinal biopsy proves that you have a definite sensitivity to it? I'm not sure I'd do that. And if you did go back to eating it, and you were diagnosed with CD, then you'd be put on a treatment that consists of not eating gluten.

Evidently, the US is behind the UK and Italy and other countries in its knowledge of CD. According to a 2011 interview with Dr. Green published on Delight Gluten Free Magazine online, in England, people with CD are part of a program that enables them to have gluten-free foods delivered to their home. This “food as medicine” is also a tax write-off because it is part of a subscribed treatment for their illness.

I write about nutrition and a healthy, whole foods, Lyme disease diet, and whenever I pay for my fresh organic groceries I often think how nice it would be if I could write off a meaty percentage of that food, since it is a central element of my ongoing treatment.

What do you think? Let's talk about it.

No Panacea for Lyme but diet is critical

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-07-08T12:17:17-04:00

Do you have a Lyme diet that you swear by? I find my own diet morphing to include almost no gluten, and I do feel better. Gluten-free labels are popping up everywhere and it seems to be a trend with legs. Even the mainstream grocery stores seem to offer more choices every day, and recently, several of my friends have casually mentioned how much better they feel on a GF diet. A recent story in Salon.com claims that only about one percent of the US population can't tolerate gluten and yet one-quarter percent is steering clear of it. How important is gluten-free food in a Lyme diet? Do your symptoms get worse when you eat it? It makes me feel bloated and icky, but I've only recently noticed that.

For women reaching menopause, Lyme symptoms can blend in really irritating ways with the Seven Menopause dwarves, as Suzanne Somers calls them: Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Bloaty, Sleepy, Forgetful, and Psycho, aka All-Dried-Up.

Somers promotes gluten-free foods and hormones to help manage the Seven dwarves. I write a fair amount about diet and good nutrition because I've seen firsthand that a diet full of nutrients and whole fresh foods is crucial to the healing process. Adding fresh vegetables and a modicum of fruit, loads of greens, lean proteins, and entirely cutting out sugar has benefited my healing process more than I can say – even though the internal medicine doctor I saw while in an acute stage of Lyme declared that my “diet had nothing to do with it.”
I'm here to tell you that it does. It's not the only thing, but it's one of the things that we can control, change, modify and design to promote our own healing.

Bear in mind the distinction between eliminating illness and living a life of wellness. That's an important difference, because you aren't always going to be sick, and you aren't always going to be healing from Lyme. Some day, I hope very soon, there will come a moment when you will feel better. You'll feel like your old self again! The moment might slip away, but it will come back. And then the intervals between the good moments and the bad moments get smaller. You find yourself re-engaging with life again. You still relate to people suffering with Lyme, yet don't define yourself as being sick anymore. There'll come a time when the brain-fog will burn off for good, like a hazy morning sky before a clear day.

This recognition that you are well again might happen in one moment. Or it may happen, as it does for a lot of us, over a long period of time. I think of it as emerging out of the ocean after swimming a great distance from some other land mass. You aren't lifted out, you don't suddenly jump out, but instead you walk slow-mo through the water towards the beach.

You'll be a new person, the same essential you but changed forever, because that's just what happens to those of us who get swept away on this journey of illness and healing. And when you emerge and know that you have, that's the moment to set a course for a life lived with vibrant presence, vigorously dedicated to wellness.
There is no panacea for Lyme, but then, there are no panaceas for anything! Even your Lyme doctor can't perform miracles. We can't fix everything with a Lyme diet. Personally, I found that sticking with a diet of whole, organic, fresh foods and eliminating sugar and now gluten, has given me a real boost toward the shore. Stick with it. Never give up!

All of us want to get better, and so many people with Lyme are good people, deeply invested in helping each other. With that in mind, I want to suggest that we follow these two rules:

First, heal well.
Second, through diet, physical exercise, attitude, work, relationships and in your spiritual or religious practice: live a life dedicated to wellness.

Success story: Late Lyme diagnosis with a happy ending

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-06-20T15:38:59-04:00

Mary C. of New Hampshire feels that the time is now right to share her story. She has weathered severe storms to get to this point, including a grand mal seizure, two months isolated in a recliner and two years on the corticosteroid Prednisone.

“Yes, I’ve been prescribed the wrong medicines, and yes, it’s taken a long time to get well,” she says.

But her message to those who are struggling with Lyme? “Don’t give up!”

Mary’s Lyme diagnosis came at a price of many long years. Listening to her story, it seems incredible how many medical professionals offered her questionable advice and ignored obvious signs. For example, she was not tested for Lyme disease even after suffering the seizure. The doctor who examined her told her that “people have seizures all the time.”

She compares her situation to that of a prisoner, wrongly jailed for years, who finally meets a lawyer determined enough to investigate the truth. Finding the prisoner innocent, she is set free at last.

She says, “I’m 58 years old but I feel like I have a new life.”

As for spending so many years “in jail” with the wrong diagnosis, Mary is far from blaming doctors and medical experts. She reminds us, “that is why we call it practicing medicine. We haven’t perfected it yet. And chances are good that those doctors were doing their best with the knowledge they had at the time.”

Admiring others who have told their stories of healing from Lyme, she keenly observes that several are professional athletes, such as Perry Fields, who possess a deep inner drive to push themselves with Herculean effort.

Mary, who has owned and operated an automotive business with her husband for more than 30 years, says, “I’m not an expert in anything. I only have a small amount of that type of drive. I want to talk to people who are more like me.”

Although she may not agree, personally I think Mary’s long struggle for a correct Lyme diagnosis also contains a ring of heroism.

For 26 years she worked her way through a confusing maze of misplaced assumptions and misdiagnoses. She was told she had Lupus. But the diagnosis never felt right to her.

At one point, a doctor pointed out there was no way Mary could have Lyme disease, because of course, that only existed in Lyme, Connecticut!

At last, in a particularly heart-rending turn of events, both Mary and her mother were diagnosed at the very same time. Her mother died of cancer just five days later. However, she got the opportunity to tell her daughter that she could go and rest in peace, knowing that Mary had finally received a correct diagnosis and could now get the right sort of treatment.

After 26 years, she finally knows what she’s dealing with. And now, this self-described, “overweight, carbohydrate junkie” begins her days with a cardiovascular workout on the elliptical and bike, and eats healthy foods. It’s been a long journey, but today she is well on her way to living healthy and Lyme-free.

Her nurse practitioner’s advice? “Whatever you do: keep moving, keep moving!”

Mary will never forget the afternoon she spent, back in 1986, helping a friend clean out a shed. That day a tick bit her ankle, but she didn’t discover it, embedded and engorged, for two days. Her leg swelled and she developed a bullseye rash. At the time, neither she nor her doctor knew anything about Lyme. They assumed she was having an allergic reaction to the tick bite, and he prescribed Benadryl.

And that was just the beginning.

I invite you to listen to Mary tell her story in her own words.

Join the LDRD to hear the interview and over 20 other success stories along with over 20 interviews with Lyme experts.

Lyme Diagnostics

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-06-14T16:54:11-04:00

If you suspect you have Lyme, doctors can form a diagnosis by your considering your symptoms, history and serology. Most of the Lyme literate docs whom I have interviewed say they will start treatment on the basis of a clinical diagnosis, so the patients aren’t left waiting and wasting precious time before killing the Lyme bacteria.

Typical Lyme tests are the Western Blot, ELISA and PCR. However, these tests have limited clinical value. Only when the infection is active can the bacteria be measured and identified.

Lyme bacteria has survived throughout millennia because it has the ability to cloak itself and evade the human immune system. Therefore, it can be impossible to detect, using such serology tests.

Aside from a clinical diagnosis, there are some new approaches. A Wisconsin research and education company, NeuroScience, Inc, working in conjunction with an independent laboratory called Pharmasan Labs, Inc, have teamed up in the name of improved diagnostics for Lyme disease and other illnesses.

Dr. Gottfried Kellermann, CEO of NeuroScience, Inc. states on the company website: "It is my life mission to improve the lives of people through better science."

NeuroScience has created a diagnostic tool called My Immune ID-Lyme, which “utilizes the immune memory and cytokine alterations to identify any B burgdorferiexposure (current and/or past) and therefore identify Lyme disease even when B burgdorferi is successfully evading the host immune system or is currently dormant.”

If you’re able to communicate well with your doctor(s), encourage them to use newer, better ways to test for Lyme.

The next step, of course, is successful treatment.

Once you know you have Lyme, I encourage you to treat it from every angle: intentional, behavioral, social and cultural. This integral healing approach leaves no stone unturned. It includes body, mind, spirit and shadow.

For further information on treating Lyme from every angle, or the cross-training approach, see the 100 Perspectives.

Be fearless in fighting Lyme and insist that your doctor is too.

Be well!

Lyme disease at the center of JP Morgan failures

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-05-22T17:16:51-04:00

A tiny tick can wreak big damage. We know the terrible health issues that Lyme bacteria and its attendant co-infections can cause one single person, affecting them on every level and in every aspect of life.

But people don’t exist in a vacuum. For every person suffering with Lyme disease, numerous others are affected in countless ways. They don’t have to have the disease, they may just be related to, work with, or care for someone who does: their co-worker, aunt, Facebook friend or significant other.

An interesting article in the New York Times reveals that Lyme disease lies at the center of the discord at JPMorgan. Turns out that a key leader, who evidently knew the critical importance of managing relationships, was unable to preside over meetings as usual because she got Lyme. And due to the absence of her level-headed influence, certain people lost sight of their duties. Narcissism abounds in power positions.

The NYT story reports that the bank’s Chief Investment Officer, coolheaded executive Ina Drew, had expertly handled key personnel relationships and directed the organization during peak moments of the brutal financial crises of 2008. However, her guidance was dramatically absent during 2010 and 2011.

“But after contracting Lyme disease in 2010, she was frequently out of the office for a critical period, when her unit was making riskier bets, and her absences allowed long-simmering internal divisions and clashing egos to come to the fore, the traders said.”

Conference calls between deputies in Ms. Drew’s New York and London unit “devolved into shouting matches,” according to a trader quoted in the article. Without her to expertly manage negotiations between divisive personalities, egos spun out of control and distracted everyone from their duties.

Of course, Lyme disease is not the sole cause of the banking giant’s financial woes. For our purposes here, the financial failures are besides the point. What I find intriguing is how the story clearly illustrates the power of relationships, the impact of leadership, and the mayhem that resulted because one key person in a position of leadership got Lyme disease.

The impact of Lyme on our relationships
Think of the way your own suffering has impacted your relationships, how it has colored the everyday decisions of your friends and loved ones. Chances are, you’re not at the center of a monolithic banking meltdown. But like all of us, you have duties and responsibilities. You may be the head of a family or company that depends on you financially, emotionally or otherwise. How do you manage to cope with the changes Lyme disease has forced on you? How do they manage without you, when they face meltdowns of their own?

Another key theme woven through this story is vulnerability. We work hard to make something of our lives, pour endless love and resources into developing and protecting our families and our life’s work. It’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking we’re invulnerable to disease, or to anything so small as a tick.

It comes as no surprise that ticks will bite the movers and shakers of the world as easily as the working class. Perhaps because of her notoriety, Ina Drew’s case of Lyme will serve to shed more light on the disease, the numbers of people affected, the ease with which Lyme can be contracted and the difficulties that so many of us encounter in getting diagnosed and seeking treatment.

Lyme Success Story! Treating every angle

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-04-24T11:48:34-04:00

Not too long ago, Jerry was preoccupied with his professional responsibilities and other commitments. Resolutely running the treadmill, he pursued his multiple roles as a husband, father and self-described Type A quite unconsciously. But around May of 2010, he began “to feel really crummy.” Not merely tired from work, he was exhausted. He ached all over, his glands were swollen and painful, he suffered headaches and disturbing muscle twitches.

At first he brushed it off as a bad flu and continued on his daily routines. He did not have a bull’s eye rash. But then his symptoms took a turn for the worse, the muscle twitches increased and he felt he was losing control. He decided it was time to get tested for Lyme. The result was negative. However, test results were positive for an infection that typically accompanies Lyme: Ehrlichia. Antibiotic treatment began but he continued to feel worse, even taking Doxycycline. At that point, he took the initiative to search out a doctor in Minnesota who specialized in Lyme and could really help him.

Jerry found Dr. Karen Vrchota. She sent his blood to be tested by IGenEx, in Palo Alto, California. In addition to three co-infections, Ehrlichia, Bartonella and Babesia, Jerry was positively diagnosed with Lyme. She recommended further treatment including some of Dr. Cowden’s protocol, such as Samento, Burbur and Parsley tinctures.

As Jerry worked with Dr. Vrchota, he branched out to discover many more proactive methods that would allow him to feel in charge of his own therapy. He realized that truly healing from Lyme disease demanded coming at it from every angle, not simply by taking antibiotics and herbal medicines. At the suggestion of Dr. Cowden, he focused on getting rid of the mercury, aluminum and other heavy metal poisons and toxins in his system. He adopted a new approach to exercise and nutrition. Following the advice of Dr. Burrascano, he began cardio as well as strength training exercises. He talks about the difference he began to feel as he focused on heating up the blood and getting it flowing. Spirochetes hate heat and cannot survive it. Therefore, physical exercise is super important to include in a Lyme disease protocol.

In his search for wellness, he has been seeking advice from experts in many fields, psychological as well as physical, spiritual as well as emotional. He feels confident that he’s now about 95% healed, and is eager to reach out and help others facing similar health challenges.

Over the past couple years, Lyme disease has become one of Jerry’s greatest teachers. He has rediscovered the simple joys -- tossing a ball with his kids, slowing down each day to practice mindfulness meditation and noticing life’s small blessings.

Hearing him tell his story, it’s easy to see that this once-Type-A person has a loving and generous heart. You can sense that something in his nature has softened and profoundly changed and evolved. He talked movingly about how he is now deeply committed to “giving something back,” and I’m really pleased to be able to share our recent conversation in our Lyme Success Stories series. You’ll hear him discuss the challenges he faced in getting properly diagnosed, his treatments, protocols, exercise routines, and the doctors and other experts who are guiding him as he turns his life around.

Jerry has redefined the meaning of success in his life and feels endless gratitude for the things we tend to take too easily for granted. By approaching Lyme disease comprehensively and from every angle, his healing is happening on many levels of his life. Yours can too.

For additional information on healing Lyme from every angle, see Beat Lyme!

Join to listen to the interview.

Mind your brain health!

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-03-18T13:23:00-04:00

Whether we’ve recently received a diagnosis of Lyme disease, or we’re dealing with recurring symptoms, eating right and exercising are core considerations of a good protocol. We know the importance of foods rich in Omega-3, lean proteins, and a rainbow of vegetables which are high in antioxidants and key vitamins. The physical health of the body is usually our main focus in healing from Lyme.

But what about mental health? You know, brain fog. One of the most disturbing things about Lyme is that the bacterial complex can actually cross over the blood brain barrier. That means it may affect your cognitive abilities, the ability to pay attention; your speech centers, creating stutters or slurs; your memory; your balance and more. I’ve found that herxing can bring on a ridiculously frustrating case of brain fog, even when other symptoms have faded.

What is really hard to explain to someone who has never been through it, is the unique torment of days filled with sensations and events that you can’t know with certainty even exist. Did I hallucinate that smell, those sounds, or is there someone else in the house? And if that isn’t real, how can this physical pain be so tortuous? My heart goes out to anyone who is at that stage of Lyme.

As Winston Churchill famously said: “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Having been dragged by Lyme through the murk and come out on the other side, I can now look at that component of the disease with some objectivity. Yes, it’s crucial to take your antibiotics (whether conventional or alternative), nourish your body with whole foods and detoxifying fruits like strawberries and blueberries, exercise and stretch whenever possible, and by all means rest.

But because of this mental component of Lyme, it’s also absolutely necessary to exercise our brains, and therefore help keep our minds fit. The general rule is to try new things.

Try this:
Play music - dust off your violin or sit down at the piano
Go to a museum or concert - if you’re not well enough to do so, take a virtual museum tour online

Play games - try lumosity.com or brainmetrix.com
Paint
Write
Cook
Play Sudokus or do crossword puzzles
Read a book - on an iPad or the old-fashioned paper kind
Try learning a language

Almost anything can be learned online, either with a live teacher/virtual classroom or software program. If you have a yen for learning something, from Yoga to Mandarin Chinese to how to improve your fingerpicking technique on the ukelele, the important thing is to try something new. When you can.

Make a promise to your mind that you’ll do whatever you can to help your brain stay fit so that when you come out on the other side of Lyme disease, you will be smarter and healthier than ever. For it’s true what Nietzsche said: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

Sweet Alternatives: Splenda or Stevia?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-03-11T12:09:07-04:00

Have you thumped your thymus lately?

The thymus is located in the chest, in front of the heart. It’s part of the adaptive immune system. You may recall as a kid seeing Tarzan pounding his chest, right before leaping onto a vine and sailing across the treetops. The thymus, which decreases in size after puberty, is situated right there in the chest behind the sternum. The King of the Jungle and his gorilla pals pounded their chests as a show of strength and dominance. Some physical therapists say that thumping it gently will help stimulate it.

Eating Splenda shrinks it. Why is this bad? Because T-cells develop in, and are educated by, the thymus. Splenda can damage the T-cells, according to Jean Reist, a nurse who has treated over a thousand people diagnosed with Lyme disease. When treating Lyme, the last thing you want to do is cause damage to your adaptive immune system.

Lyme-literate experts advise us to avoid sugar. So what do you replace it with? Honey and agave sweeteners may contain nutritional goodness, but they are processed by our bodies the same way that sugar is. Stay away from Splenda (sucralose), which contains chlorine.

I’m happy to see that some nutritionists recommend stevia nowadays. I switched to stevia tincture when I was first diagnosed with late-disseminated Lyme symtpoms. Stevia tincture is made from the stevia herb, which has small leaves and looks like any other hillside weed. My mom, who has an amazing green thumb, grows it in a container on her deck. If you ever get the opportunity, bite into a stevia leaf. It’s unbelievably sweet, and it’s pure plant. No sugar. Nothing fake. This herb is native to South America, used for centuries to sweeten tea and make mate, and although popular for decades in Japan and elsewhere, it’s now in widespread use in the US, following approval from the FDA. Still, if you buy stevia at the grocery store, read the label. Some brands actually add sugar! I use KAL Stevia tincture, an alcohol-free, zero-calorie blend.

How far can diet and exercise go toward treating Lyme? There is no question that antibiotics are well-advised and necessary towards a Lyme disease treatment. But if there are lingering symptoms or problems, diet and exercise seem to be critically important. In my experience, healthy shifts in diet and making the effort to maintain a regular workout practice have made a huge, positive difference. I know that without having changed my habits I wouldn’t be in very good shape at all.

Weird as it sounds, I count having had Lyme disease among the biggest blessings in my life. Perhaps it is the biggest. I know you’ll understand what I’m saying. Although I’d never have voluntarily dived into the wretched state that it put me in, if I hadn’t been dragged under by Lyme, I strongly doubt that I would now be making the daily efforts I now make to live a radiantly healthy life, in body, mind & spirit! As you know, healthy living is not something that happens by accident. It takes mindfulness. I eat live foods, and drink freshly-made juices, mostly containing fresh organic veggies and high-fiber, high-protein foods such as beans and quinoa, to improve my skin and elevate my energy. I hit the gym at least three times a week, mainly doing interval workouts and strength training with weights. Exercising helps oxygenate my blood, strengthen my muscles and improve my endurance. I also think positively, which is not too difficult considering that post-Lyme, I feel blessed to be alive at all!

I also love to learn from other people. My mom is in her 80s and still healthy, beautiful and active, taking dance and Tai Chi classes and enjoying spending time with her friends and family. She never bought us much junk food or soda pop as kids, and she didn’t drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. Instead, she shared her excitement over vibrant fresh greens and delicious fruits straight from the garden or the local farmer’s markets. When we sat down to dinner, she and my siblings and I often lingered afterward just talking and enjoying each other’s company. Recently I asked about her secret to living a long, healthy life. She thought about it for a minute and said, “I don’t poison my body and I think positively!” I love my mom. What a wonderful role model.

Sadly, I have friends ten years younger than I who suffer with RA and other autoimmune deficiencies, who refuse to examine their dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles. They depend on the medical professionals to help heal them with medicines.

If you decide to take an active role in your own healing, begin by recognizing that shifting your diet and starting an exercise practice takes determination and regular effort. Realize that your Lyme doctor may be an excellent diagnostician, and she may have prescribed antibiotics and been of great help to you in the early stages, but she may not know bupkes about nutrition, or how some foods or alternatives such as Splenda may contribute to, or denigrate, your progress.

Medical doctors don’t study nutrition in medical school, not with any depth. While it would be nice to think that they could be our role models for healthy living all-around, that isn’t in the curriculum. So unless your doctor is also educated in and interested in the way diet affects healing, it’s possible that you know much more about it than he does. There are indications that this is changing, and that more people who become doctors are also interested in how the whole healing process works. This is a wonderful trend, and I have a feeling it will continue. One of my friends says her doctor expects his patients to have read up on their condition online, and he encourages them to dialog with him about what they learn there.

Does your medical doctor know about the role of nutrition and exercise in treating Lyme? Do you talk with your nurse practitioner or doctor about diet and exercise as you heal from Lyme disease? Who are your role models for healthy living? Drop a line or leave a comment. I love hearing from you!

Now go on, nobody’s looking. Thump your thymus!

An integral approach to healing from Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-03-04T12:29:53-05:00

Lyme affects all the systems in the body, including the brain and therefore the mental state. It seems important to recognize that Lyme, as a complex disease that can be very hard to heal from, must be treated from as many angles as possible.

I’m not writing about this approach simply because I read about it somewhere and thought it sounded good. I’m a walking, talking example of someone who beat Lyme because I practice an integral approach myself. It begins with recognizing that in any given event, there are four perspectives that represent the fundamental dimensions of an illness, as stated in the post above:

Physical state
Mental state
Cultural views
Social systems

We’ve already touched on the first two angles, and explored how you can see one but not the other. The doctors can treat your physical body with medicines while often missing entirely your state of mental-emotional health. Sometimes mental problems can clear up when only the body receives treatment. Other times it takes another approach.

Cultural views, the third angle, include other peoples’ thoughts and opinions about your experience. Think about the impact that your family members and friends’ ideas about your illness have influenced or affected you. Whose advice do you seek out in times of trouble? Your psychologist, your BFF, your mom, and the opinions of other important tribe members all play a role in your approach to healing Lyme. And in many cases, this has proved itself not a simple disease to heal. What happens to the people who have experienced recurring symptoms?

Say, for example, that your manager at work came across an article that restates the IDSA’s guidelines for Lyme treatment, and he knows you have completed the requisite three weeks of doxycycline when you suddenly begin to complain of arthritis or fatigue -- again. If he believes hands-down that the IDSA must know the optimal treatment for Lyme, he may not believe that you are still not well. He may even suspect that your symptoms are “all in your head.”

I remember when a writer friend whom I trust and admire queried me about my pain. I had confided at lunch that I was having trouble writing because I couldn’t remember from one sentence to the next what I had just said. You look fine, he insisted. I was hurt. It felt like betrayal. He didn’t believe me, and I hated being put in the position of having to defend my illness. The opinions of others still hold sway even if they’re wrong. On the other hand, when others believe in us and hold a space for our healing, it can feel as liberating as fresh air. It opens the way for our progress.

The fourth angle of the integral approach is the social systems. Think of the health care system, and whether or not you can afford access to coverage. Can you not get access because you’ve been denied, or because you had to quit your job and can’t afford COBRA? Systems are simply there whether you are aware of them or not. The emergency room, for example, is a social safety-net system. If you haven’t been privy to a doctor’s care for one reason or another you may wind up in the ER in a health crisis. That’s an example of falling unintentionally into a social system that may be your only option. An example of an intentional use of a system may be your own research into alternative care, which leads you to an integrative doctor and a trip to the pharmacy for herbal tinctures and supplements.

As you can see, the social systems available to us are largely influenced by where we live, which country, and how near or far we are to the kind of doctor or medical team we need. Many people with Lyme disease have come up against the cruel realization that not enough medical professionals are educated about diagnosing or treating Lyme. Numerous people have had to travel by air across state lines, sometimes thousands of miles, to get to a doctor that will give them appropriate treatment. Social systems are not incidental to the story. They lie at the heart of it, influencing the outcome just as cogently as do the other three angles.

Bear in mind that these four perspectives are not unique to illness but always arise naturally, and always together, in any given event you can think of. Even when you’re healthy you can still identify all of these dimensions. Each area only tells a part of the story. Each part contributes to our experience as a whole. They cannot be separated.

Once we recognize how these dimensions work together in our day-to-day life, it’s easy to see where things are functioning well and where they aren’t. Being aware of dysfunction gives us a much better chance to change it. And to get better.

Learn more about this approach on the Beat Lyme page.

Fight Lyme from every angle

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-02-26T13:28:55-05:00

Lyme is a multi-systemic disease, which means it can affect all the systems in the body, including the brain. Many people discover that Lyme symptoms must be treated from as many angles as possible. But how can we be certain we’re hitting them all?

These four angles represent the fundamental perspectives that arise in any illness, in fact these four angles are always present for everyone, healthy as well as ill:

Physical state
Mental state
Cultural views
Social systems

Consider the way these fit together in your life. For now, let’s talk about the first two, because it’s easy to see how they work together, although they differ in one crucial way. You can see one, but not the other.

Conventional Lyme protocols treat the physical body -- your physical symptoms. That’s one angle. Even if your doctor uses alternative medicine, for example, prescribing herbal tinctures instead of conventional antibiotics, he is still addressing the physical symptoms. And as Lyme symptoms vary from person to person, your doctor might be primarily prescribing treatment to address your arthritis, while also treating a different patient for Lyme fatigue and rash.

Conventional medicine emphasizes treatment of the physical state with good reason. The physical body is what we see. It’s easy to see many symptoms or their effects, such as the sudden wince of someone suffering with arthritic pain. Many illnesses and conditions can and should be treated primarily from this one angle. You break a leg, you go to an orthopedic doctor.

But what about the mental state?
People with Lyme disease often have the experience of seeming normal to our friends and family members even though we know that inside, something is off. Very off. They may declare “but you don’t look sick.” They may not be able to tell from the outside, but our inner view could be garbled and fuzzy, and it can vary from day to day or depending on the medicines we take. I used to have the odd feeling that I was somehow living underwater, just a few inches from the surface, so close but so far away from normal. It was weird to think that people thought of me as “okay,” because I knew I wasn’t quite.

Integrative physicians, in contrast to conventional doctors, are in the business of addressing the mental state in addition to the physical. How do they accomplish this? For starters, they talk to their patients and they listen. They ask how they feel. Patients may be asked to guess at what they think the problem is, and they are generally encouraged to play an active role in their own treatment.

These patients typically feel gratified for having been listened to and taken seriously. Doctors who listen are thought of as open-minded by their patients. Instead of simply being poked and prodded and treated like a slab of meat, patients feel respected and even energized by sessions with their doctor. Energetic exchanges or meaningful conversations can contribute to a patient’s mental health, leaving them feeling optimistic about the future of their state of physical health. That’s two angles.

In the next post, I’ll discuss the third and fourth perspectives and explore the ways in which they contribute to the whole picture of healing from Lyme.

Resveratrol and Lyme treatment

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-02-18T15:58:25-05:00

Is resveratrol a component of your Lyme treatment? A lot of people, from Dr. Oz to herbal healers to big pharma, are excited about its health benefits, and probably not least of all due to its presence as an ingredient in red wine. Reportedly, resveratrol boosts mental & physical energy, reduces appetite and cravings, offers cardiovascular protection, lowers blood sugar, prevents oxidative damage from free-radicals and contains anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. And it improves the quality of sleep. And gets rid of turkey neck, age spots and gray hair! Geez, who wouldn’t be interested?

Resveratrol is a phenol, an acidic organic compound, found in some plants. It occurs in the skin of grapes, and also in the seeds of muscadine grapes. The Japanese knotweed is an excellent source of it as well. In grapes it acts as an antifungal, and also it is very high in antioxidants which helps to protect the fruit on the vine from the harsh effects of the sun. Sure, it’s available in red wine but so is alcohol, which isn’t recommended in any Lyme protocol. You can get a much larger and more beneficial dosage of resveratrol through supplements.

Resveratrol was a part of my protocol during a critical stage of Lyme, and I’ve recently started taking it again. I’m taking Biotivia Transmax 500mg, just fyi. So far it’s been very helpful as an anti-inflammatory, which gives me a lot of hope for healing a recurring Lyme rash (not a bullseye rash). Superficial research turns up glowing testimonials. I’d like to believe them all. However, my inner critic revs up to high-alert when reading such claims. I will be poking below the surface and talking with scientists and doctors about resveratrol’s part in Lyme treatment. I want to know: Is it beneficial as part of a protocol for Lyme disease? Not all resveratrol is alike. What type or form is recommended for Lyme patients? And as there are no long-term tests available as yet, are there contraindications? What are the differences between trans-resveratrol, plain resveratrol and cis-resveratrol?

A 60 minutes segment from January 2009 examined some of the claims of resveratrol as a “fountain of youth” supplement that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is now evidently interested in.

Master herbalist Stephen Buhner lists it as the number one ingredient in his core herbal protocol for Lyme disease. He recommends whole root Japanese knotweed. Here are Stephen’s remarks copied from planetthrive.com: “The Source Naturals form of the caplet that I recommend is recommended because it is essential whole root knotweed that is standardized to contain a certain percentage of resveratrol. What I would recommend is that you get the whole root in encapsulated form. You can get it from Tim Scott at tim@watercourse-way.com in Bratteleboro, VT.”

What type, if any, are you taking as part of your Lyme treatment? I’d love to hear from you. Let me know if resveratrol has helped with a Lyme rash.

Detox diet and chronic Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-02-12T14:11:06-05:00

The trick with any Lyme treatment is that detoxing will almost certainly bring on a Herxheimer reaction, referred to quite generously by some as a healing crisis. As anyone who’s experienced a Herx knows, it can be as bad as or worse than the Lyme symptoms themselves. Personally, I find it impossible to tell the difference.

What is a Herx? The Herx occurs when the Lyme bacterial complex dies from an attack by antibiotics or other means, and releases toxins that signal reactions from the body’s immune system. Herxing can be triggered at a number of points throughout the healing process.

Detoxification, once the catch-word of glitzy drug rehab centers, is now more or less a Hollywood cliche. Almost every health & beauty magazine or website promotes a different detox diet that in theory will cleanse your body of toxins that assault it every day: smog, sugar, alcohol, pesticides and artificial sweeteners. If you suffer from a chronic condition such as post-Lyme syndrome or chronic Lyme, proponents of detox diets say you’ll benefit from periodic cleansing.

Current, popular ways to cleanse include the ‘Master Cleanse’ which consists primarily of drinking lemon, water and maple syrup. Many consider fresh raw vegetable juices a healthy basis for a good detox diet that can help people slim down while infusing the body with necessary enzymes and other rich nutrients. These types of diets are believed by some to boost the body’s elimination mechanisms through internal cleaning.

However, there may be no scientific basis for cleansing diets. Dr. Peter Pressman of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles states that the body’s multiple systems, such as the liver, kidneys, and GI tract, already do a perfectly good job of cleansing the body and eliminating toxins. He claims there is no evidence to suggest that detox diets improve the body’s natural mechanisms.

Lyme patients must be vigilant about popular trends. Changing your diet or engaging in something radical such as a juice fast might even be a bad idea, especially if you are on antibiotics or some other Lyme treatment. Always discuss with your Lyme doctor or medical team before changing your diet. Cleansing can be dicey for people with active Lyme disease symptoms. The cleanse may trigger a Herxheimer reaction which would affect the body’s immune system.

Whether you think colon cleansing is good and necessary or not, we can all agree that keeping things moving is best. By drinking lots of filtered water and eating foods that help prevent or relieve constipation, we can do our best to ensure that our body is able to eliminate the toxins from the Lyme bacteria as well as the meds, while undergoing Lyme treatment and post treatment. Be sure to drink about 8 glasses of water daily, as it helps digest the fiber, as well as softens and adds bulk to the stool. When I am experiencing a Herx, I drink extra water and it always seems to give me relief, almost immediately.

What are the best foods for preventing or relieving constipation?

High-fiber foods such as barley, quinoa, brown rice are helpful. So are flaxseeds, beans, lentils, artichokes, sweet potatoes, pears and green peas. If you’re avoiding gluten, don’t eat wheats, barley or rye. Quinoa makes a great breakfast cereal. I add a little coconut oil, stevia and cinnamon, and toss on a teaspoon of flaxseed for good measure. And of course steel cut oats that are gluten free are highly recommended in a healthy Lyme diet, because they’re so good for our skin in addition to their fiber-rich content. We should be eating about 20 - 35 grams of fiber per day, according to the NIH.

Additionally, people with a magnesium deficiency are found to be at greater risk for constipation, so include plenty of magnesium-rich sources in your healing Lyme diet. Nuts such as almonds and cashews are high in magnesium, as are baked potatoes in their “jackets” as my mom used to say.

Refined or processed foods such as white bread, white rice, and white pasta are not your friends if you want to promote pooping. In addition, ice cream, cheeses and meats are high in fat and will work against you in your quest for a good bowel movement. Cut these processed and sugary foods out of your diet and replace them with high quality, high fiber foods. You’ll begin to see and feel the difference.

For now, we may not have the answer to healing chronic Lyme, but in my experience, my quality of life -- and the amount of energy I have for living -- increases immensely the more I shift my diet into the healthy zone. Over the years, each and every person I’ve interviewed for our Lyme Success Stories series has also told a remarkable tale of having healed more quickly after making healthy changes to their diet.

Rethinking Lyme disease treatments

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-01-29T13:52:31-05:00

Whenever somebody else talks about their battle with Lyme, whether it’s about the symptoms, diagnosis, or treatment itself, I get a deep sense of validation. It’s a mixture of relief that I’m not crazy and empathy for the person who went through a hell-realm that I know intimately. My dad’s generation called these foxhole tales, shared experiences while hiding from a hostile enemy.

Celebrities’ stories have a potent affect on our collective notions about disease. When someone famous for car racing or acting or novel writing, or when the President of the US (GW Bush) has fought and defeated the same powerful foe as we have, we want to know their stories. We may not be equal in status but we’re equally brought to our knees by the Lyme bacteria. Hearing their stories about dealing with Lyme might trigger an idea that works, or give us strength to try a new approach.

Parker Posey was diagnosed with Lyme disease in February 2009 and received the standard IDSA Lyme treatment of antibiotics. After completing the round of antibiotics and experiencing a return of her symptoms, she decided not to continue on a second round and instead turned to a holistic approach involving detoxification, diet and supplements. Her experience led to her involvement with a documentary film by rethinkingcancer.org, the story of five cancer patients and one person with Lyme disease who all made the decision to treat their diseases through alternative means, and who have all lived years beyond the time their doctors predicted.

Posey asks: “How can a natural approach to healing oneself be considered so unconventional? Why do we think we can't play an active role in getting healthy? Why do we give ourselves away so easily to pharmaceuticals that deplete our system and confuse the natural healing process?”

Lyme patient David Walant has been free of Lyme for 20 years. Listen to him in this brief clip from the webpage of rethinkingcancer.org.

Karen Allen, who played opposite Jeff Bridges in Starman, was interviewed in 2010 on the blog, Macrobiotic Adventures, about her difficult journey through Lyme disease and back to health. Her story is familiar to almost everyone with Lyme, it’s a series of tortuous misdiagnoses and failed cures, and then finally a way through the pain and confusion and back to a normal, creative life. The interview is fairly long, but very intriguing. Karen talks about her dynamic healing experience with the parasite zapper invented by Canadian Dr. Hulda Clark.

I hope you find these clips inspiring, as I have. Remember you are not alone and you’re not crazy. Change your diet if you think it will benefit you. Change your sedentary life and exercise every single day. Stay limber, stretch and relax daily, and surround yourself with loving friends. It’s your life and it’s worth every precious moment you have to get well.

Cleansing for health post-Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2012-01-15T14:02:43-05:00

January invites fresh starts. So it’s no surprise that cleansing, colon cleansing to be specific, is on the minds of many. A lot of us abandon our usually healthy diets as we travel or feast with friends and families over Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now that we’ve decked the hallways, it’s time to clear them out.

In my life BL (before Lyme,) I had embarked on dietary healing cleanses such as juice fasts quite a few times. Bear in mind, I grew up in California and one of my first jobs after high school was at a health food store, so my behavior wasn’t out of sync. But health food stores were new and not quite popular yet. Even in SoCal in the 70s - 80s you might be dubbed a little weird if you shopped in one, especially wearing your Birkenstocks and tye-died t-shirts.

Pre-internet days now seem like ancient history, but these stores always had an intriguing books section which I gravitated to. I sipped many a smoothie while reading about the virtues of sprouts, organic veggies, the healing power of vegetable juices, herbal formulas and even (ahem), enemas. Since learning about the function and importance of the colon, it’s always made sense to me that an occasional cleansing could be very helpful. Keep things moving on out. Now of course the internet is a rich source of research on, and recipes for such cleansings, including full-color images of the dreadful gunk that people have dredged from their lowlands.

Having been through Lyme’s crucible, I would never suggest that someone still healing from Lyme Disease try a colon cleanse. I haven’t yet asked, but I doubt that many Lyme doctors would advise it, based on my own experience with frequent and painful Herxheimer reactions and the Lyme symptoms themselves.

However, I’m currently on Day 6 of experimenting with an herbal intestinal cleanse. I decided to go for it because I’ve been feeling so incredibly normal for more than a year now. This is my first time since healing from LD and going through many years of both traditional and alternative Lyme Disease treatment. I’ve got a good feeling about it. Over the holidays, I did experience a few skin-breakouts and some sort of shingle pain that I attribute to chronic Lyme symptoms. It seems to happen every winter as the weather grows chilly & dry and I spend more time indoors with the heater on. It’s too early to come to any real conclusions, but since Day 1 I’ve noticed a distinct reduction in swelling in my tummy, and my skin breakouts have almost completely faded. The skin isn’t itchy or red as it has been for over a month. I haven’t had any negative effects from the herbs, no Herxing (thank goodness!), no brain-fog, no skin rash and no fatigue. In fact I’m super energized and I’m off to a dance class as soon as I finish this post!

Drinking more water (one doctor mentions that we should all be drinking nearly a gallon per day) is so important. And you know how I feel about exercise - it’s the miracle cure when you can possibly swing it. But on top of these two things, it seems to be helping me to focus, at least for a week or two, on cleansing my colon again. Remember, I’m no doctor and I’m certainly not doling out recommendations here. But I know sometimes it’s helpful to hear someone else’s experience.

I can’t remember where I copied this quote from so apologize for the lack of acknowledgement. But in the spirit of the new year and its power & potential for healing, I want to include it here:

"The future is just the past catching up with us. Today is the preview of tomorrow's reality. In the future we will say one of two things. ‘I wish I had’ or ‘I'm glad I did,’ but we make that choice today."

If you’ve cleansed lately please tell me what your experience was. I’d love to hear from you, especially if you’ve had Lyme.

How to recognize Lyme symptoms in your child

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-12-06T10:44:48-05:00

Probably the most frightening thing, aside from contracting a Lyme infection yourself, is discovering that your child has Lyme. Parents number one role is to protect, after all. We are the first line of defense between our kids and the big, bad world. We’re hardwired to keep broken glass, vampires and werewolves at bay, to say nothing of the lions, tigers and bears. But some adversaries come in small sizes. Sometimes they’re even invisible to the naked eye.

Lyme shares a long list of symptoms with a number of other illnesses. So what sort of treatment do you give if you don’t know the difference between one disease and another? How can you tell whether your kid has the flu or he’s suffering with Lyme? You find your mind racing to find answers, to fill in the blanks. But, you may reason, you never saw a tick so therefore it can’t be Lyme.

One thing we have to bear in mind is that it’s possible to get a tick bite that nobody notices. You may not have seen any ticks on your child, but if he or she was playing in an area where ticks are prone to live, it is possible that your child was exposed.

I’ve heard some medical doctors say that Lyme disease cannot be transmitted from a tick who hasn’t been attached to a person’s skin for less than 24 hours. I’ve heard them say 36 and 48 hours as well. But according to noted researcher and former Yale post doctoral-operative fellow in therapeutic radiology, Dr. Eva Sapi, there is no evidence to suggest that Lyme can’t be contracted in less time than that. She and her research students in Lyme treatment regularly go on tick-gathering forays in the forest near their New Haven, CT research lab. She has seen people contract Lyme disease when a known-to-be infectious tick has only been attached to their skin for an hour or two, no longer.

People often make a mistake in thinking that if the bull’s-eye rash that is so closely associated with Lyme isn’t present, than it just can’t be a Lyme infection. However, that simply doesn’t seem to be the case. Although a Lyme infection can be the most likely suspect if that rash is present, the absence of the rash does not indicated that it isn’t a Lyme infection. So if you haven’t seen a tick, and you don’t detect a skin rash, what do you look for?

Lyme symptoms in your child may include the following:

flu-like body aches that don’t improve with sleep
fever
headache
rash
crushing fatigue that is not relieved with rest
joint pain
sensitivity to florescent lights
night sweats
nausea and vomiting
insomnia
forgetfulness and confusion

If you suspect that your child may have Lyme, please try to find a good Lyme literate doctor. Call ILADS and ask them to give you the name and contact info for the doctor or pediatrician nearest you. Don’t be surprised if a knowledgeable Lyme doctor, who suspects that your child may have a Lyme infection, starts treatment with antibiotics before test results are in. An untreated infection can involve the brain, heart, joints and all the systems of your child’s body. Early treatment for Lyme is so very important, as the disease has three stages. Treatment during stage one is the most reliable way to prevent further progression of the disease.

Diagnosis and treatment of Babesia & other coinfections

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-11-29T14:47:13-05:00

If you have been treated for Lyme Disease but you’re still in pain, you may have MCIDS, or Multiple Chronic Infectious Disease Syndrome. Dr Richard Horowitz coined this term for patients presenting with symptoms of multiple chronic infections, many that don’t test positive with the standard tests. Challenges to the immune system include chronic inflammation, problems detoxifying heavy metals, sleep disorders which in turn exacerbate inflammation, and mitochondrial infections. Patients with multiple co-infections may have a suppressed immune system, and ultimately it is the inflammation that causes the problems.

Dr. Horowitz has treated almost 12,000 patients with Lyme Disease over the past twenty years. He has observed that most of his patients have had multiple infections, viruses and parasites and that for this reason, the standard of care recommended by the IDSA has been less than effective. Patients may have one or more coinfections such as Babesia, Erlichia, Bartonella, additional piroplasms which don’t test well with the standard testing. Some have hormonal disorders, nutritional and enzyme deficiencies, GI problems, autonomic nervous system disfunction and other symptom complexes.

To describe the challenge of treating a patient with MCIDS, Dr Horowitz uses the following analogy. “It’s like the patient has ten nails in their foot, and you pull out only one. They still have pain.” Doctors need to address all of the factors and overlapping symptoms.

Also, there are evidently different strains of Borrelia and Babesia that may not be detected with the ELISA or the Western Blot tests. Recent evidence suggests that new species of tick borne coinfections may be arising and may occur in regions of the US and worldwide. One tick bite can transmit a cesspool of multiple infections.

Here is an intriguing paper by Dr. Horowitz illustrating the interest in investigating Alternative Medicine to treat Lyme and coinfections that elude conventional Western medicine. Herbs, Hormones & Heavy Metals. (.pdf)

Dr. Richard Horowitz is the President of the International Lyme and Associated Disease Educational Foundation. He serves the Lyme community in multiple ways, primarily as an internist at the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center, in Hyde Park, New York. In 2007, the Turn the Corner Foundation named him the Humanitarian of the Year for his ongoing work with chronic Lyme disease.

Alternative treatment for Lyme - Cowden Condensed Protocol

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-11-21T11:42:58-05:00

The latest Cowden protocol -- Cowden Condensed Support Program -- was featured last summer (2010) in an article in The Townsend Letter by the Lyme Disease Research Group. Personally, I had brilliant results from the original Cowden protocol and it’s gratifying to see Dr. Richard Horowitz’s very positive results as well. Alternatives to conventional antibiotic treatment for Lyme often seem difficult to track and trust, however there is no lack of scientific methodology from this medical group in Connecticut and the University of New Haven.

There is also good news in that the condensed protocol is more affordable than the original version. The protocol is available through Nutramedix or through your LLMD.

In Vitro Effectiveness of Samento and Banderol Herbal Extracts on the Different Morphological Forms of Borrelia Burgdorferi

by Akshita Datar, Navroop Kaur, Seema Patel, David F. Luecke, and Eva Sapi, PhD
Lyme Disease Research Group
University of New Haven

There is an alternative clinical treatment option gaining wide use, called Cowden Condensed Support Program, that utilizes several herbal extracts designed to eliminate microbes in Lyme disease patients. Richard Horowitz, MD, president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation (ILADEF), has prescribed this protocol for over 2000 of his patient and reports that it has been effective for more than 70% of them. The two herbal agents from the Cowden Condensed Support Program selected for this study are Samento (a pentacyclic chemotype of Cat's Claw [Uncaria tomentosa] that does not contain tetracyclic oxindole alkaloids), with reported antibacterial and antiviral properties, and Banderol (Otoba sp.), known to have antibacterial, antiprotozoal and anti-inflammatory effects.10-12 Both herbal agents are used during the first two months of Cowden Condensed Support Program, then in rotation with other antimicrobials for the duration of this 6-month protocol.

For further information about the Lyme Disease Research Group’s work, please listen to Dr. Eva Sapi in our Interviews with Experts series.

Reduce Lyme Symptoms by Nurturing Yourself

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-11-12T13:07:39-05:00

Along the streets in my neighborhood, colorful leaves lie jumbled in piles, trees are half empty or illuminated by unexpected shafts of sunlight to reveal tones of red, yellow and amber. The wind has a wicked bite, and suddenly the holidays are right around the corner.

Making plans to gather with family can be a source of joy or nervousness, or a raw combination of all sorts of emotions. Stress is a part of everyday life, but add in a spate of bad weather or a run of obligatory social events and it can be a recipe for real exhaustion, especially if you’re struggling with Lyme symptoms.

Naturally, during the fall & winter we tend to spend more time indoors, where we’re less likely to exercise or be exposed to natural light, and more likely to eat a little more. Most Lyme patients are familiar with symptoms of mild to moderate depression, and heading into the cooler seasons can trigger feelings of sadness or loss.

What are some simple ways to be good to yourself during this time?

One way to be proactive is to pay closer attention to what you eat. Dr. Andrew Weil’s food pyramid is a helpful visual chart. At the bottom are foods to eat more of. Start with a solid foundation of a variety of vegetables, which are rich in flavonoids and caratenoids that can help keep inflammation in check. Fruits and veggies both contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

When the wind whips around our house and the nights are long, I gravitate to the kitchen for comfort and creativity. Chopping vegetables for a pot of savory soup creates a rhythm and gives me a sense of order, which is something I seem to have developed a stronger need for throughout the process of healing from Lyme. Hot soup always tastes good and fills the house with delicious smells. I always try to buy organic when possible, and I’m blessed with a sister who lives nearby, grows amazing greens and keeps us freshly supplied.

Here is a list of ingredients that went into the pot last night:

1 yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
6 large leaves of fresh chard
3 potatoes
baked, leftover salmon pieces
3 cups of vegetable broth
Italian herbs to taste
3 drops of cayenne-based hot sauce
salt & pepper

Chop onions & garlic and quick-fry in a generous puddle of olive oil. Meantime, bring the broth to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Drop in chopped veggies, seasonings, hot sauce, and put the fish in last, since it’s already cooked and just needs to heat up.

Serve with a thickly sliced piece of bread, gluten free. Enjoy!

Lithium as treatment for Lyme-related depression

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-10-15T13:06:04-04:00

Tracy writes:

I would like to find research on lithium as a supplement for Lyme disease. I noticed in one of your posts that you took this your first year.

Both my LLMD and naturopath are in support of supplementing with it. It's helped me personally. I wonder if you have any research to suggest? I would like to share it with others to consider as an alternative to discuss with their medical professionals, but it seems without the research proof people are questioning it. (Perhaps as an alternative say, to Xanathx and Klonopin which cause detox stress on the body while we need instead to focus on clearing the Lyme bugs and neurotoxins.)

I hope you can provide info or suggestion where to further my research.

Dear Tracy, Thank you for your question.

I remember sitting in my naturopath’s office in agonizing pain, trying to follow his advice through my brain-fog. When he suggested lithium, my naturally cautious nature kicked in. “What is it?” I asked. He said, “it’s a mineral.”

In my miserable state though, lithium sounded to me vaguely sinister, like something out of an old Dracula flick, the mug of steaming potion given to the victims to keep them docile. Even worse, I knew that lithium was somehow associated with psychotic episodes and depression. Did this nice doctor simply think I was just losing it?

I’d told him about the phone that wouldn’t stop ringing, about hearing my dead father saying my name. I had told him that I couldn’t make heads or tails of any paragraph I tried to read, and that recently, I had remained in the same position in the same chair from sun up to sundown, because I could not decide what to do. (I confided that I thought maybe I’d died, and just hadn’t figured that out yet.) Depressed? I think any formerly healthy person who wakes up to find they can’t walk, talk, or think is entitled to a little depression. But I wasn’t sure whether taking lithium would firmly secure my insanity, or help me get through it.

With considerable relief, I can report that it helped me through the toughest time in my life. It is also inexpensive as I recall, and I didn’t find it at all addicting. I’m glad it’s also helped you.

Your point is well-taken that without the supporting research, there is reason to doubt claims. Fortunately for those who want more information about the use of lithium, there is plenty of science behind it. In my opinion it is not without risks and benefits, like other drugs, and should only be prescribed by a doctor. In future posts please watch for an interview with my naturopath, whom I have asked to share what he knows and point to further research. Here, for starters:

From an article in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2002:

The special usefulness of lithium lies in long-term prevention of recurrences of mania and bipolar depression and in reducing risk of suicidal behavior. Lithium also may be beneficial in recurrent unipolar depression and is an effective adjunct for treatment-resistant depression.

Reference:
Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2002, Vol. 10, No. 2 : Pages 59-75

Is Lithium Still Worth Using? An Update of Selected Recent Research
Ross J. Baldessarini, Leonardo Tondo, John Hennen and ,Adele C. Viguera
(doi: 10.1080/hrp.10.2.59.75)

And here are three articles from the British Journal of Psychiatry:

Lithium in Bipolar Mood Disorder

Monitoring Patients on Lithium

Use of antipsychotic drugs and lithium in mania

Learn more about Lyme disease treatments.

Educate & legislate: Sen. Charles Schumer on Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-10-02T14:37:00-04:00

Senator Charles Schumer in August, talking to the press about Lyme disease. His message is that we need to educate and legislate, and teach each other how to identify the symptoms early, before a treatable condition becomes a horrendous nightmare: chronic Lyme disease.

Schumer states that he is personally aware of the dangers of not treating Lyme disease immediately after contracting an infection. He says he was bit by a tick in the Hudson Valley, while inspecting a dam in the area. He sought medical treatment immediately, and says he was cured because it was caught early enough.

Senator Schumer’s comments, quoted from the Hudson Valley Insider, Aug 13, 2011:

“We need to bring Lyme disease and Babesiosis out of the weeds and better educate the public about how to keep themselves and their families’ safe,” said Schumer. “Lyme disease is a problem we’ve seen for decades, and Babesiosis is a recently growing issue in New York, but we haven’t done nearly enough at the federal level to tackle it. Tick-borne illnesses often go unnoticed for months, yet can be devastating for many victims and their families. The summertime brings about warm weather and school vacation, causing higher rates of infection in Ulster County and beyond. The tick is a little pest that can pose a big problem, and this legislation would boost research of Lyme disease and Babesiosis and increase education and awareness in the community to better fight these diseases.”

Just for the record, Senator Schumer states that “20,000 Americans are infected with Lyme,” which is a misleading statement, and probably also a grossly underestimated number. Lyme experts estimate the number of infections to be approximately 10 times higher, more like 200,000 annual cases. Mangled facts aside, it’s always good to hear and see an influential politician speaking out for Lyme awareness.

Educate and legislate!

More good reasons to go wheat-free

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-08-28T12:22:59-04:00

More good reasons to go wheat-free

Not only our physical health, but our mental health originates in our guts. People dealing with chronic Lyme disease symptoms have good reason to guard both of these states. I’ve been exploring why it’s so important to eat a healthy diet, and that means paying as much attention to what we don’t eat as to what we do. I’ve flirted with a gluten-free diet for months now, but something tells me that it’s time to give it up for good. At least for a month, and see how it goes from there. Want to plunge in and go gluten free for a month with me? Read on and think it over.

First of all, have you ever have a ‘gut feeling’ about something? Most people have. In fact we rely on those feelings to inform us in crucial ways. Our guts can warn us to get out of harm’s way, keep us from getting involved with business deals of a questionable nature, and alert us when a distant loved one needs our help.

When I ignore those feelings, I always wind up thinking I “should have listened to my gut.” You too?

Lately, my gut has been saying to cut out wheat. I’ve cut back on it, but haven’t ever gone without it for long. So I’m going to start tomorrow, as I’ve already blown it this morning with lox and bagels. I feel bloated. This is a disappointment, because I’ve been telling myself that I love lox on an everything bagel with vegan cream cheese, red onion, tomato and capers. However, this morning’s breakfast is still sitting in my gut, calling attention to the fact that it just isn’t getting digested right.

What can we expect to happen when we cut out wheat and gluten from our daily diet? Well, for one thing I expect my mood to lift. It’s fall, and I am in the school business. Every fall I get excited about new schedules, new people, new notebooks, you name it. I love school. But with the newness comes anxiety. And with the anxiety comes a sort of spirit-clenching mental habit of worry. Did this get done? Did that get done? You know what I’m talking about. Some things are under our control, some aren’t. So anxiety is usually generated out of what I cannot control. This stuff makes me moody. So perhaps a gluten-free diet will help me accept the things (and people) that I cannot change.

Another change I can expect from eating no wheat is a loss of puffiness. I have to say, that is something to look forward to. Chronic Lyme symptoms have kept me aware of the importance of taking anti-inflammatory supplements, such as liquid cod liver oil, and turmeric capsules. But still I often feel a little puffy around the waist and in my arms and face. Exercise helps, but the puffiness returns when I eat bread.

The biggest benefit that I can expect is an improvement in my mental clarity. Now that’s really exciting, considering that I deal with college students. When it comes to the information age, you can never quite keep up with the generation below you! They’re intensely savvy with computers and everything that I need to be. So, maybe I’ll be better equipped to keep up. I’m definitely looking forward to that.

If this works as well as I think it may, I might just go another month. Anybody game to try it with me?

Start where you are. Fight chronic inflammation.

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-08-21T12:29:45-04:00

Lyme disease is a thief. Chronic lyme disease symptoms can go on affecting a person’s life for many years. Given the complexity of receiving a correct diagnosis, a person with an undetected, underlying Lyme infection may instead be labeled with RA, fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, MS, ALS, or almost anything from a truckload of other conditions.

Meantime, life goes on. Friends and siblings get jobs, travel, go to grad school, fall in love. They get married, have babies, and not in any particular order. But for the person with Lyme those fundamental pathways, common fruits of life we for granted, may simply not be an option. Lyme has stolen years.

But enough of spilled tears, right? The wisest thing anyone can do is to start where you are. If you’ve had it with chronic lyme disease symptoms, take heart. Many others have been in your shoes. And they’ve gotten through it. Regardless of the time and opportunities missed because of Lyme, there are many people living happy, loving, productive lives again.

Exactly how the stealthy Lyme bacterial complex works is still under scrutiny. Scientists and doctors, some who are also personally infected with Lyme disease, such as Dr. Eva Sapi and veterinarian, Lyme and immunology expert Dr. Scott Taylor, toil to understand and find a cure for Lyme. One thing we know for certain is that Lyme is an inflammatory disease, and chronic inflammation is the root cause of many life threatening conditions, including Lyme.

Cortico-steroids are commonly given to Lyme patients by doctors without any knowledge or clinical experience in diagnosing chronic Lyme disease symptoms. The faulty logic goes something like this: the patient is experiencing distress, inflammation is causing the distress, steroids (usually Prednisone) will reduce the inflammation and thus reduce the patient’s distress. Not! Predinose will supress the patient’s immune system, causing it to tolerate the Borrelia bacteria instead of attacking and killing it. The Lyme infection is almost guaranteed to get worse, not better.

What can be done about chronic inflammation? Are there safe prescription drugs available, and does your LLMD know about them? What about natural alternatives? Aside from fish oil, are there other products we can take to reduce this silent killer? Does physical exercise really help people dealing with chronic inflammation? Or can it hurt? In my next post, we’ll delve into the various ways to treat chronic inflammation.

Healing from Lyme - Part 3

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-08-13T10:02:02-04:00

For several years, although I had worked my way to the point where I was well enough to work and follow a somewhat normal routine, I still doubted that I’d ever live a life of my own choosing again, where I wouldn’t wake up feeling like I had lead in my veins and my head wasn’t stuffed with cotton candy. Eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly are two important keys for maintaining my healthy state.

If you want to know how not to lie to yourself about your diet, try keeping a journal where you chart everything you eat. In one column write down the food you ate, and make a column next to it where you note how it made you feel. This is a very basic way to figure out exactly what you’re eating, not what you tell yourself you’re eating. Some doctors tell me that they have their patients keep a similar type of journal when they’re trying to identify food allergies.

My diet is made up of mainly vegetables, some tuna and wild Alaskan salmon, raw and stir-fried or steamed veggies & curry, some fruit, legumes, and breads or tortillas. Some of the bread I buy is gluten free and I like the pasta made from brown rice, but I am not particularly bothered by digestive issues, and regular bread works for me too. In general, if it’s wholesome food with not too many ingredients that I can’t pronounce or recognize, it works.

My current favorite food is a wrap. I love wraps because instead of bread, you’re using a thin tortilla, and you can pack them with all sorts of veggies and greens. Stir-fry is good for that too. A lot of vegetables taste excellent in a wrap or a stir-fry that aren’t that delectable when eaten raw or steamed. I don’t generally drink alcohol or eat sugar, although I will indulge occasionally in a beer or cookies, but not often. Alcohol and sugar pull the wool over my eyes. Literally. When I drink or pig out on sugary things I get Lymie. It’s awful to experience Lyme brain again. It’s so wonderful and amazing to have a clear head again, why go there?

I know you’ve heard this a million times, but remember to drink enough water! Liquids are needed to assist the lymph system. I drink water or tea all day long. Green, not black. Black makes me jittery. Coffee only as a treat very infrequently. Tea is alkaline, coffee is acidic and drinking it tends to make me feel chilly. Tea doesn’t do that.

Lately I’ve been drinking a lot of tea made from bamboo leaves. The bamboo leaf tea has about 350 mgs of silica per cup, it tastes great and also helps me sleep. This isn’t technically a real tea. It’s a tisane, or an infusion. Bamboo has the highest amount of silica, a basic mineral that our bodies slough off constantly in the form of dead skin cells, hair, and nail trimmings. Silica is the main ingredient in collagen, which is so essential to rebuild as collagen is destroyed by the Lyme bacteria.

Especially as we get older we need to be mindful of getting enough silica to maintain the levels we need for healthy hair, skin, nails and bones. Studies are showing that silica is the body’s delivery system for calcium. So if you have enough silica in your diet, the calcium can be delivered to the organs properly. As an interesting side note, studies are also showing that this tea can pull out the aluminum in the body and brain. Researchers are intrigued by this finding, and it may be quite useful in cases of Alzheimer’s.

Smoothies are a treat and a regular part of my diet. Delicious, fresh smoothies made of rice milk, berries, a banana and green food powder are very satisfying. Sometimes I put in protein powder if I’ve been working out particularly hard.

I’ve made other life style changes. The main one is that now I exercise religiously. I used to just dance and walk for exercise, but I wasn’t doing either with any sort of regularity. If it happened, it happened. Then about two years into my healing, my shoulder started to freeze up. I was so frustrated, because I was working really hard to clear up the nasty neurological, skin and heart problems I was having, and had begun to track some very good progress. Then one day I realized that I couldn’t move my shoulder and it was painful. It was disheartening. My partner suggested that I try some exercises, in particular push-ups. Hated those push-ups at first, but I was determined to fix this without drugs, and I did. It took about two years, but now my shoulder gives me very little trouble and I have full range of movement. That was the beginning of my now-regular exercise phase. I love working out now, but at first it was difficult. I hadn’t realized how out of shape I had gotten from being sick, and from my work life style, which is sitting at a computer all day (can you relate?).

I used an exercise CD at home for about a year before I had the nerve to join the Y and exercise in front of others. Then I decided to join a private gym that had something called a kinesis wall. Essentially, the kinesis wall is an apparatus with several stations that enable the user to get a rigorous, core-strengthening workout. Very much like Pilates. I took a weekly class with a very skilled coach, which got me started off on the right foot. I recommend classes instead of private coaching if you want to save some money. They’re fun, and also you meet other people, great for team spirit and camaraderie.

I’m fortunate in that I work at home. For the past 7 years I’ve been in charge of my own work schedule. That has been extremely helpful. If I’m honestly too tired to work I can take a nap. I can also stay close to the bathroom, which helps when you drink so much water.

My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering with Lyme and has to maintain a job where they have to leave the house every day. This can be a bear of an illness, and that life style can be merciless. If that is your situation, see if you can look into telecommuting, even part of the week. Staggering your work hours so you aren’t dealing with bad traffic patterns, a real stress-inducer, can help a little bit too.

So that’s where I’m at currently. Please tell me if any of this resonates, or helps to hear, or if you have an idea that you think could benefit others healing from Lyme. Do you keep a food journal, or an exercise journal? I’d love to hear about your journey and your results.

Healing from Lyme - Part 2

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-08-06T12:08:58-04:00

Before receiving the correct diagnosis for Lyme and coinfections, a dermatologist had put me on Prednisone to try and control my severe skin rashes. This was a nearly fatal mistake on his part. It marked a crisis point in my illness. I also received lectures by this doctor about how I “really should stop scratching myself raw while I was sleeping.” I wasn’t sleeping, and I knew he was wrong. The skin on my body wasn’t opening up due to scratching it. It was infuriating not to be heard.

He considered me a nuisance, because at each appointment I’d open my notebook and read another question from my list, which he wouldn’t answer. Bless his heart, as we say in the South. He wouldn’t even look me in the eye or talk to me. When he had something to say he addressed my mother instead, who drove me to these appointments and helped me get through them.

A doctor worth her salt who suspects that a Lyme infection is underlying will be the first to tell you that corticosteroids such as Prednisone are contraindicated. That means they are precisely what you do not want to do. The dermatologist who wouldn’t listen to my questions seemed to have no professional curiosity about my skin rash. If he’d looked into it, he might have saved me several terrible months of pain, and perhaps even several years of cognitive disorientation. Prednisone will replicate the Lyme bacteria. It will drive the bacterial complex further into the body and across the blood-brain barrier. That is what had happened to me.

In spite of the fact that my intuition urged me not to, I continued taking the Prednisone for 16 days (he’d prescribed it for 20). On the 16th day, I made the decision to stop although the dermatologist, and a couple of my dear friends, warned me not to. The doctor must know what he’s doing, they said. You’re seriously ill and you should listen to him. The mental stress and anxiety caused by going through this process, on top of the continuous physical pain, was nearly unbearable.

We’re conditioned to listen to our doctors, take the medicine they prescribe, and to take what they say as the word of God. From my current vantage point, I look back and wonder what on earth I was thinking. How could I have thought that this guy was helping me? He kept me coming back because he wanted to biopsy my skin rashes. But the rashes lingered and didn’t improve. He was ready to perform a punch biopsy on my raw skin. I’m grateful that he kept waiting for the rash to improve before he did. He knew that a biopsy would likely make the rash worse. Partly because I so feared having that punch biopsy and partly because I felt like I was in the enemy’s camp when I went to his office, I simply stopped going.

That’s when I found a naturopath, Tod Thoring, in Arroyo Grande, CA. It was like being introduced to an angel, and it was another turning point in my long battle. This time it was a positive one. This was the beginning my new life. I’d found Dr Thoring and lucked into a situation where he and a very smart group of Lyme experts were putting their heads together to try and help people in dire straits, like me.

Today I consider myself lucky in every way. But that said, I know I’ve also battled my symptoms with every ounce of strength I had. And without the support and love of my partner and my mother, I wouldn’t have made it. I’m ashamed to say this, but when I was in the acute stage, if I’d had a gun, I probably would have pulled the trigger. The pain in my skin and muscles was so severe, so constant and unbearable. Instead of letting me hurt myself, my partner handed me a paintbrush and some tubes of paint. He supported me emotionally as well as he could, and set me on a path to healing.

During the acute stage some of my other symptoms were insomnia, hypersensitivity to light (especially florescent) and to being touched. I couldn’t stand or walk without holding onto a chair or a wall. I was dizzy all the time. My brain wasn’t functioning well enough to work or write, and when reading, comprehending even a simple paragraph was an insurmountable challenge. During this time, in spite of my state, I began interviewing doctors who I thought might have some clue about how to treat Lyme disease. I was determined to help other people like me who I knew were out there, going through this horrible process and needing to hear what the doctors had to say about it.

Navigating the technical equipment and recording the interviews was hugely challenging. Once, I could barely hear the doctor I was speaking to, and couldn’t figure out how to fix it. I strained to hear her through the entire session while her voice came through like a little mouse in my ear. It wasn’t until after I thanked her and hung up that I realized I had put my earphone in backwards.

I ached to be held and comforted, but couldn’t stand to be touched. I felt extremely lonely and isolated. I had horrible mood swings. I hallucinated. Once, while in the bathroom, I heard my father say my name. He died when I was 15 years old, more than 30 years ago, but I instantly recognized his voice. I heard my telephone ringing and a little girl on the other end asking for someone who didn’t live there. That particular hallucination happened a few different times. Each time, the calls upset me enormously, and she always called when I was home alone. I couldn’t understand why this little girl kept calling back, insisting on talking with someone who didn’t live there. Weeks later, I realized that I’d hallucinated her and all the conversations we’d had.

In Part 3 I’ll outline my diet and exercise routine. I’ll also pass along advice and suggestions from some amazing individuals. You’ll hear more about the Lyme success stories I’ve heard along the way.

Healing from Lyme - Part 1

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-07-30T10:55:48-04:00

Q. I noticed in the article you said that your symptoms are gone and your health vastly improved. What did you do to get to that point and how long did it take you?

A. My healing journey is still ongoing, and since Lyme changed my perspective on pretty much everything, I’m always vigilant about the consequences of my everyday choices. I’ve learned how critical it is, when dealing with any serious disease, to approach healing from as many directions as possible. This is called an ‘integral’ approach and there are four general life areas that come under consideration. I’ll get into all four areas in this multi-part post.

First, I’ll give you the general picture of the medicines and supplements I took and still take. To begin with, my doctor put me on a treatment protocol of antibiotics including Omnicef and Zithromax. He also started me on a regime of homeopathics and vitamin supplements to support my immune system. Here is a partial list of the supplements that I took everyday for the first year:

probiotics
cod liver oil
bromelain
thymucin
lithium
dermaliq
CoQ10
quercetin/bromelain
copper
garlic
vit E
vit C
MSM
pekana
L lysine
Noni
liquid chlorophyll
zinc
psyllium

After six months, my doctor recommended that I stop the oral antibiotics and begin IV treatment with the antibiotic Rocephin. I had been through a rough time physically and emotionally, and though I felt better, I didn’t feel anywhere near 100%. In addition, I didn’t have health insurance, and I understood the cost of the IV and the new antibiotics would be around $20,000. Financially, my illness had already set me back in two fundamental ways. First, I hadn’t been able to work full time. And second, I had spent a great deal of money on the medicine and supplements needed already. It was a pretty disturbing place to be. My doctor was a naturopath, and typically did not treat illness with antibiotics. I knew my condition must be very serious if he thought I needed the Rocephin.

I had to decide what to do. After agonizing over it for a week or so, I chose not to go with the IV, but decided to start the Cowden protocol. There was no lapse of time between ending my oral antibiotic protocol and beginning the Cowden, an alternative protocol that I had researched, consisting of Samento, Burbur, Banderol and a number of other herbal tinctures that originate in the Amazon. These native plants have been used to treat malaria for a thousand years or more. I felt like I could make it work.

The Cowden routine worked very effectively for me, and although it took a long time (several years) I’m happy with the results. The cost, while not cheap, was a fraction of what the Rocephin IV treatment would have been. Currently I’m on a break from the Cowden protocol. About a year ago I tapered off of it, and began taking a low dose (3 drops 3 times daily) of teasel root tincture which I still take. I made this decision after reading about it and interviewing a couple of herbalist/physicians who had found it to be immensely helpful for their patients.

It took me six years to get to the point where I feel normal again. It wasn’t a quick trip. More like an excruciatingly slow journey. Normal, to me, means that I can enjoy my family and friends and take time for them. I can pursue my personal and professional goals and work long days if I so choose without crashing, I can sleep through the night every night, and I can exercise rigorously every day. I can make plans for the future.

In my opinion, exercise and diet are more important than anybody will tell you. I consider Lance Armstrong and all the athletes I’ve had the honor of interviewing for our Lyme success stories to be my solid gold role models.

Next, I’ll give a bit of backstory and talk about what happened before I found my naturopath. What can happen when the doctors don’t know about Lyme disease and prescribe the wrong medicine?

Gluten free cooking can taste good

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-07-23T14:57:49-04:00

Gluten is the protein in grains that makes bread chewy, the glue that makes it rise and holds it together. Increasingly, people dealing with Lyme disease symptoms are adopting a gluten free diet. Some LLMDs recommend it, based on the rise of increased gluten sensitivity seen in Lyme patients.

If you’re in an acute stage, it might be worth a try to eliminate gluten products for awhile. Avoid baked goods made from wheat, spelt, kamut, barley, triticale (a hybrid of barley and wheat) and rye. Especially if your stomach aches after you eat these foods.

However, bread is the staff of life. Changing your bread-eating habits can be an emotional, not simply a nutritional, issue. My partner makes the best french toast this side of the Mississippi. Since we struggled through our Lyme journey, he only makes it as a rare treat, and any resistance is futile. I sweeten it with fresh blueberries or strawberries instead of maple syrup (okay, maybe a dribble of maple syrup). I wouldn’t use sugar or syrup (sorry folks) if you’re experiencing symptoms. But I’ve discovered that if I only eat french toast as a treat, I can get away with it. These days, six years past my acute stage, I’ve returned to an old habit of relying on pasta for a yummy dish that cooks up quick after a long workday. I’m a vegetable fanatic, so my pasta sauce is crowded with fresh organic veggies whenever possible. Even though my symptoms are gone and my health is vastly improved, I’m still very careful when it comes to choosing what to put on my plate. Adopting a largely gluten free diet seems to work well for my whole family. Just takes a bit of adjusting, which is easy these days.

A few years ago, it wasn’t easy to find quick alternatives to gluteny products. Nowadays a lot of name brands offer GF products in the grocery store. Boxed mixes may tempt you because they’re fast and easy, but boxed food tends to contain too much salt, sugar, or other ingredients you may be sensitive to. If you possibly can, buy bulk from your grocery store. Try some of the alternative grains that you used to pass by in favor of the more familiar ones. I know I used to pass them by, simply because I was in a groove (more like a rut) and a little bit lazy when it came to trying new foods.

Recently I’ve been experimenting with more organic whole grains such as millet, amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa in our dinners. Couscous is traditionally made from semolina wheat, so it’s not gluten free. However, there is a brown rice couscous on the market which is indeed GF.

One of my favorites so far is quinoa, which cooks up extraordinarily quickly. I also love cooking in a wok, which takes very little time and transforms the air with the smell of hot, fresh veggies and warm spices. Pairing quinoa with stir-fried vegetables is fast and satisfying. It’s amazing, but lifelong habits actually can be transformed, and we can change our old emotional associations with that piece of buttered rye toast or whole wheat sandwich. It just takes a little doing. But the effort it takes to live a pain free, post-Lyme life where we are finally liberated from symptoms is worth its weight in gold.

Learn more about Lyme disease diet.

What’s your favorite gluten free diet food? If you eat mostly gluten free, have you seen, or felt an improvement in your health? Please feel free to share recipes! I’d love to hear from you.

What's wrong with conventional medicine (and what to do about it)

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-07-06T18:01:08-04:00

An insightful article on the Doctor-Patient Relationship written by Dr Lissa Rankin points out some of the specific problems created and intensified by our orthodox medical system. Rankin is searching for a more vital and meaningful way to relate to her profession, her patients and her role. In her post, she perceptively describes an enormous & paradoxical problem with what she calls Old Medicine. Lyme disease patients get to be unwilling experts in Old Medicine. Picture the doctor with his/her hand on the doorknob, nodding in your direction as you wait in your underwear on a cold table under florescent lights that are driving you mad.

From the patients’ perspective, you can boil it down to this: You want to be treated like a whole person, not a slab of meat.

From the doctors’ perspective, you want to practice medicine without losing your own health and/or being forced to put your soul on hold.

Dr Rankin shows how the rules of Old Medicine are intolerable, imposing unsustainable stresses on doctors and patients alike. She accurately describes the ways in which ways doctors get shafted in this system. Then she turns the tables, articulating how our current cold-as-a-spectrum ‘managed care’ feels from the patients’ perspective.

What’s wrong with conventional medicine and what can be done about it

Our medical system is flawed. The question is not how bad is it, or how thoroughly can we condemn it. The question is, can it be fixed, and if so, how?

Most people are aware that there are 2 types of medicine:
1. Conventional, which treats the illness.
2. Alternative, complementary, holistic, or integrative, which treats the whole patient.

However, there is also an emerging 3rd category: Integral, which includes the first two types and treats the physician as well. I’m old enough to remember when ‘health food’ stores were totally square. Now, Whole Foods, just one example, is a billion dollar business. Our collective consciousness around health issues is constantly expanding, although not as quickly as some of us would like. There is evidence that Integral medicine is being quickly adopted by health-care practitioners around the world.

Here’s why:

Using an Integral framework is like putting on a new pair of specs. It gives us a good look at the big picture without excluding the details. The Integral model recognizes that every event has at least four dimensions. They represent the perspectives: I, we, it and its. How does this apply in analyzing our medical system? Here’s how: Factors in all four dimensions affect both the cause and the cure of an illness. The all-too-often murky process of diagnosing and treating Lyme disease provides a classic example of why an integral medicine is necessary.

Four dimensions of medicine and why all four are important

1. Conventional medicine tends to strictly abide in only one of those four dimensions. It deals almost entirely with the physical organism using physical interventions: surgery, drugs, medication, and behavioral modification. Orthodox medicine believes essentially in the physical causes of physical illness, and therefore prescribes mostly physical interventions. Lyme disease, if caught early enough, can be greatly cured and controlled with antibiotics. The integral model doesn’t claim that this objective dimension is unimportant, only that it is just telling one-fourth of the story. (The Integral Vision, by Ken Wilber. p 92) Which leads us to the next quadrant:

2. Unprecedented interest in Alternative care makes it clear that many people (doctors included) recognize that our interior states, i.e. our emotions, psychological attitudes, imagery, and intentions, play a crucial role in both the cause and the cure of even physical illness. Conscious use of imagery, visualization, and affirmation have been scientifically proven to affect the management of most illnesses, and including these practices is increasingly more accepted in comprehensive medical care. (p. 92) Affirmations were extremely important to me while Lyme was in an acute stage. Repeating bits of positive phrases helped me focus my Lyme-addled brain and gave me a reason to believe I was eventually going to be alright, even though more than one doctor had advised me to go on disability, climb into a wheelchair and settle in for life. For me that wouldn’t have been life, but death.

3. However, this subjective dimension is still only one-fourth of the whole picture. Nothing exists in a vacuum, least of all human consciousness. We are embedded in shared cultural values and intersubjective factors that affect our state of health and our journey through illness. Cultural views and judgements affect us. In my interviews with Lyme patients over the years, I’ve noticed a significantly common thread, which is that we’ve all been told, at one time or another, that “it’s all in your head.” We may not give much credence to the dimension of cultural views, and yet our spouses’, friends’ and doctors’ subjective opinions about our health affects us (sometimes dramatically) whether we like it or not.

4. The material and economic dimension, causative factors in both disease and cure are rarely acknowledged. Yet, these factors are central to the issue, not besides-the-point. This is the Social system that delivers your medicine, sets the limits on your managed care, and accepts or declines your access to insurance. Are you wealthy? You may be fortunate enough to afford concierge medical care. Or are you in the economic class that is relegated to using the ER when things get bad enough? The Social system dimension or quadrant also includes your access to clinics and nurses and their availability in your region. In other words, if you can’t reach the clinic you need because you are too sick to drive or it is too far away, it cannot help you.

Integral medicine includes all four of the above dimensions. I’m inspired by doctors like Lissa Rankin, who intuit that Old Medicine only tells one-quarter of the story, and that in order to improve we must acknowledge the other 3 quadrants or dimensions. In the 100 perspectives we categorize our interviews, articles, and other info into all four quadrants. Integral medicine is gaining popularity around the globe, and Lyme literate doctors, because they have to deal with us Lymies on so many different dimensions of health, may be on the leading edge.

Dr. Peter Muran, Lyme Disease Management

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-06-12T12:49:39-04:00

I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Peter Muran this week about his approach to Lyme disease management, which he refers to as functional medicine. Dr. Muran practices Holistic Integrative Medicine in San Luis Obispo, CA, and specializes in diagnosing and treating immune system disorders and diseases such as Lyme. Functional medicine is about treating the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. To those of us who are aware of the role we must play in our own healing, this might seem like a no-brainer, but in Western medicine it is still quite revolutionary and new.

There’s a profound sense of relief that resonates deep inside when a trained and experienced medical doctor tells you, “there’s nothing stronger than what goes on in your own body.” It felt like music to my ears to hear this. Yes, we need medicine -- sometimes very powerful medicine indeed -- but our own miraculous bodies are often resilient and strong and capable of healing themselves, if only we let them.

The main point I came away with after our talk was that immune disorders can be managed if we take a whole person, whole life, approach. Healing from Lyme is literally a life-changing experience. I’ve said in the past that I’d almost rather have something easily diagnosable, such as cancer, instead of this mysterious condition that is so difficult to treat. Dr. Muran set me straight. Cancer is much harder to get over, he told me, more devastating overall to health. Lyme is treatable. We just might not want to make the effort to change in the radical ways it seems to insist on, but if we do, we can get better.

Have you ever had a doctor tell you that “diet has nothing to do with it”? I’m pretty sure I’m not the only Lyme patient who has ever heard that from a conventional doctor. I’m no expert, but I know a line of bull when I hear it. As it turns out, diet does have something to do with it. When I asked him to say a few words about our eating habits, and about the role of sugar, Dr. Muran offered some basic widsom: don’t live to eat, eat to live. Diet should always be nutritional. Become aware of how the foods you eat affect you. In other words, instead of ignoring that bloated sensation, recognize that your body is giving you feedback. When beginning to work with a new patient, Dr. Muran conducts food allergy tests to help distinguish food sensitivities from a reaction to bacterial infection.

During our hour-long conversation, he touched on subjects that are close to our hearts, including of course the astounding immune system and GI tract, diet and nutrition, exercise, the function and role of the body’s secondary responders: the hormones, cortisol, insulin, and adrenal. He doesn’t go into detail, but intriguingly also mentions the importance of the role of meditation.

We also talked about his approach to handling herxes. The Herxheimer reaction is a double-edged sword for Lyme patients, because we know it is generally a sign that the Lyme bacteria are dying -- good. But with that die-off, more symptoms or more severe symptoms may also emerge -- not good. Instead of pushing the patient and risking more stress to their system, his recommendation is to back off the newly introduced antibiotic or treatment causing the herx. Reduce it to a point where the patient can stabilize and continue to heal without additional stress.

On a personal note, I was surprised and gratified to discover during our talk that Dr. Muran actually played a central role in my own healing although I never knew his name. I lived in San Luis Obispo at the time I discovered I had Lyme, and the naturopathic doctor who treated me was new to the field at the time. I was aware that he was given guidance every step of the way by a group of Lyme experts in California. That group included Dr. Muran and Dr. Steve Harris, who incidentally are both featured in Connie Strasheim’s excellent book: Insights into Lyme Disease Treatment. Also included in the book are Dr. Lee Cowden and master herbalist Stephen Buhner, both of whom are featured guests in our own interview with experts’ series.

Listen to my conversation with Dr. Muran on managing Lyme disease.

For further information about Dr. Muran’s approach, please visit his website page on Lyme disease: http://www.alternativemedicinehealthcare.com/immune-health/lyme-disease.www.longevityhealthcare.com
Tel: (888) 315-4777

Safe mosquito & tick repellent

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-06-06T16:25:02-04:00

A friend dropped by with her 8-month-old baby the other day. We sat at the picnic table, enjoying the deep shade of the bamboo. She set the little guy down on the ground, buck naked, where he proceeded to crawl around and gleefully do what babies do best -- put everything into his mouth. As he sampled the bamboo leaves, I flashed on how much my relationship with nature has changed since having Lyme. In the past, I never would have worried about an occasional bug bite. I was like my friend in that respect, assuming that nature, in small doses, mostly can’t, or won’t, cause harm. Now I’m older, wiser, or perhaps just merely unluckier, but one thing’s for sure, I’m definitely much more cautious when interacting with the Great Outdoors.

Typically, I take any recommendation for tick and mosquito repellent with a grain. Either they’re full of poison or they don’t work because they’re ‘natural.’ However, I’ve been experimenting with a safe mosquito & tick spray repellent in my yard and around my house. It’s made of garlic juice. As an honorary Italian, I love the smell, but it does fade after a few hours. This stuff, Mosquito Barrier, is safe to use around people, fish, butterflies and birds, but it supposedly disturbs ticks and kills mosquitoes.

So far, I like the results but I’ve only been using it for a few weeks, so can’t tell if it’s made a huge difference. The baby didn’t get bit, so you can breathe a sigh of relief now. I live on a creek near a lake, so we’re no strangers to bugs. They’re part and parcel of our community, which is actually a certified wildlife habitat. We see no evidence of deer, but there are plenty of resident birds, geese, ducks, frogs, fish, squirrels and other critters (even reportedly a black bear) which means that ticks are probably here as well.

I’m aware that some people discourage deer with certain deer-repelling plants. Others put up fencing to keep deer out, which is a much more complicated and expensive proposition, but worthwhile, if it works. I picked up a citronella-scented geranium at the nursery and placed it by the front door, and I’ve got a truckload of garlic juice ready to spray in another week.

What are you using to repel ticks from your yard? Please share. I’d love to hear.

Debbie's success story in dealing with lyme.

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-05-07T13:52:57-04:00

Debbie Bassett reminds me of a friend I had in college, also named Debbie, who faced life’s twists and turns with a resiliency and sense of humor that welled up from some eternal energy source.
“At one point, all I could eat was baby food,” laughs Debbie. “I lost 25 pounds.” Neither of these statements are the least bit funny, but somehow throughout our entire conversation I found myself laughing right along with her. Gallows humor: a big relief when you’re dealing with something as serious as Lyme disease.

But it wasn’t this 40-something, mother of two’s ability to find the humor in the situation, so much as her strong intuition and intense need to know, that guided her to ultimately find the Holtorf Medical Center, in Torrance, CA, where she began treatment for Lyme.

The basic trajectory of her story line is familiar to many Lyme patients. Sickness, misdiagnosis, searching, then finding a doctor or medical professional who finally leads to a correct diagnosis and treatment. But treatment is often less of an ending point, and more of a start. I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but sometimes I have envied that people can get a clear diagnosis of cancer, and begin treatment for it, while Lyme patients may suffer for months and years without any definitive diagnosis. On the contrary, Lyme patients are often told they have to get a handle on their stress, take a chill pill, or seek a psychologist’s help for mental trouble.

In Debbie’s case, after landing in the ER twice due to headaches, being told by neurologists that nothing wrong could be found, she was handed subscriptions for Prozac. But she knew something was wrong. She told the doctors she suspected she had an underlying virus that they weren’t locating. It seemed unbelievable to her that “nobody’s taking the time to analyze the situation.”

Frustrated, sick, Debbie wound up in Scripps Hospital in San Diego, where she spent 3 days as doctors examined her, determining what they thought was the problem. They scheduled her for gall bladder surgery. It was then that she experienced an interesting turning point. I won’t tell you the whole story -- listen to her tell it.

Debbie’s warmth, generosity and sweetness is a balm capable of soothing the bruised souls of anybody who has suffered through Lyme. She says it is important to share her story so that other people know they are not alone, and that it is possible to pull through in one piece again, as she is doing. Currently on five different antibiotics, Debbie’s in full throttle on her healing path. Please feel free to contact her, as she wants to give her support to others who are going down the same road, dealing with Lyme. Her email address is:dbassett@earthlink.net

“It’s not an overnight journey,” she says. But with smart medical attention, patience and a sense of humor, we can heal.

Please join to listen to the interview.

Self-treatment for Lyme: Understanding your immune system

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-03-19T11:39:47-04:00

Do you self treat for Lyme? Many of us do, taking our cues from others who have found ways to regain their health and build their immune systems. Self treatment is necessary, I believe, even while under a doctor’s care. Diet and exercise routines, for example, may not be in your doctor’s radar. However, both play an important role in recovery. Speaking from my own experience, I advocate taking an integrative and many-faceted approach in treating Lyme.

But where do you start? I guess it’s always made sense to me to begin with the basics. When I was very ill with Lyme, I kept notebooks and schedules of my daily routines. I was so loopy that I was afraid I’d forget to take my meds or supplements without keeping track. Plus, I think the act of doing so made me feel useful and proactive in my own recovery, at a time when I really thought I was doomed.

What are your routines? What goes into your mouth at every meal? How much exercise do you get? Especially if you plan to treat yourself, it’s prudent to track yourself. Write it down. Not the food you say you eat, or the exercise you say you get, but in actuality.

Food sensitivities and allergies may show up as skin rashes and other problems, but the major concern when dealing with Lyme is chronic inflammation. Persistent inflammation caused by the Lyme bacterial complex can create long-term problems, but there may be ways to discourage inflammation through diet and exercise. The seat of the immune system lies in the GI tract. Besides keeping track of your daily routines, understanding the link between your gut and your health is a good place to start.

Dr Peter J Muran, MD, who practices Integrative Medicine in San Luis Obispo, CA, specializing in immune conditions such as Lyme disease.

There are approximately 100 Trillion bacteria in the human gut. Astoundingly, this represents 10 times more cells then what makes up the body. The presence of these bacteria has an immunological effect on the rest of the body. Under most circumstances, this immunological effect is greatly beneficial. However, disruption of this normal flora, if not tolerated, is inflammatory and can be significantly harmful.

Link between Chronic Lyme and CFIDS

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-02-26T14:19:22-05:00

Even well into my so-called ‘normal’ post-Lyme life, there are days, such as this, when regular routine tasks -- preparing and cleaning up after a meal, writing an email, grocery shopping, seem unbearably exhausting. Friends I confide in say they have the same feelings and that it comes and goes. We attribute this to a variety of causes, hormones, diet, children, our jobs and just plain ol’ getting older. Illness is also suspect, especially for those of us who have battled with fatigue due to Chronic Lyme (aka neurologic post-Lyme), and/or the syndrome we call Chronic fatigue.

More studies are needed to examine the relationship between these two potentially devastating diseases. A dear friend and neighbor of mine, an aging Southern writer appeared astonishingly frail and weak, but whose wicked sense of humor never rested, died last year after struggling for many years with CFIDS. In spite of her failing health it always seemed that her role in our friendship was to make me laugh. She succeeded. Mine was to give her news about the steps being taken to find a cure to what ailed us. If I could get her updated address, I’d email this article to her this morning:

Possible links between Chronic Lyme and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, are under scrutiny of experts including Steven E Schutzer, MD, and Brian Fallon, MD, the Director of the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center at Columbia University.

Scientists have discovered proteins in spinal fluid that can distinguish people with two mysterious illnesses that mimic each other — chronic fatigue syndrome and a kind of chronic Lyme disease.

Wednesday's study is small and needs verification. But specialists called it a promising start at clearing some of the confusion surrounding two illnesses with similar symptoms and no good means of diagnosis.

"It's a very important first step," said Dr. Suzanne Vernon of the Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome Association of America.

Lyme disease usually is cured with antibiotics, but some patients report pain, fatigue and memory or other neurologic problems that linger for months or years after treatment ends. This post-treatment Lyme disease shares symptoms that characterize chronic fatigue syndrome.

The new study analyzed spinal fluid from 25 of those chronic Lyme patients, 43 people diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and 11 healthy people. Using a special high-powered technology, researchers detected more than 2,500 proteins in each group.

Read the abstract of the study here.

Following up with Samento & Banderol

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-02-05T13:44:47-05:00

A reader commented that he has tried Samento and Banderol and didn’t get results. Another reader mentioned that ‘diet is everything.’ I feel so strongly about this and want to put in another pitch for taking personal responsibility in our own healing. I wholeheartedly agree that Samento and Banderol alone won't cut it. I wonder if antibiotics alone can heal us, and personally doubt they can do it all (unless the Lyme disease is caught early enough). I believe that in order to be effective healing agents, antibiotics, as well as herbal and other complementary therapeutics, should be positioned as part of a whole approach. That approach includes diet and exercise and a host of other factors that I’ve written about in ‘100 Perspectives.

My own history of healing from Lyme seems similar to that of the person who responded, LymeAngl, although I followed the Cowden protocol for four years (after treating for six months with powerful antibiotics), taking 30 drops 3x daily, alternating between Samento and Banderol.

LymeAngl’s point about diet being everything is critical in my opinion. I have had a healthy diet my entire life, but then went gonzo with healthy food, fresh organic juices daily, fresh sprouts and fresh dark green everything, such as spirulina, chlorella, and leafy greens when I learned I had Lyme. I maintained that frenzy of healthy food consumption long after my horrid symptoms and the ‘daily dizzies’ began to slowly fade. Today, 6 years after my diagnosis, I am a devotee of a clean diet and exercise and believe they are two very important branches of a healing path.

I have written here about slipping off the health food wagon, the results of which have been disastrous for me. Beer and wine don’t work. Sugar is the worst. Coffee I can handle very infrequently, but I stay healthy now because I pay close attention to my daily habits. I exercise MORE, not less, as I get older; I consume no sugar or alcohol, and I have never been a soda drinker. I drink more water than most people are probably able to (because I'm fortunate to work at home, near the loo). I hardly ever drink coffee but I do drink green tea. I don't have a sensitivity to gluten which is fortunate. My diet includes a fair amount of dairy but I stay away from cow milk, which has never worked for me. Goat cheeses, lots of herbs and spices, and as much fresh organic produce as I can swing. I read labels voraciously and have learned to attend pot lucks and dinner parties without caving in to peer pressure, while at the same time not devolving into a buzz-killing 'health food lecturer' about the evils of sugar. Everyone is aware of the dangers by now & they need to wake up and make their own choice. It does, however, never cease to amaze me how much actual junk food people can consume, all while fervently believing that their diet is perfectly healthy. I’m a people person, always have been, so people’s quirks and imperfections tickle me to no end, but sometimes it's just too surreal to witness how strong the disconnect can be between somebody’s words and their actions.

For example, the other day I sat and watched someone woof down a sugary maple scone and a cup of coffee with sugar & cream, while describing to me her newly found enthusiasm for ‘cleansing.’ When I pointed out that scones are probably not the best cleanse-food she pouted, saying she had to have SOME fun. Ridiculous. What's “fun” is living life the way you choose to every day, not strangling in the grip of your own unconscious habits, not being held prisoner by disease.

I'm convinced that the key to healing from serious disease is to approach it from as many angles as you can discover. Never give up.

Please read about my "100 Perspectives."

A Holistic Approach To Treating Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-01-29T17:55:24-05:00

Q. I was diagnosed with Lyme last July (2010) after several neurologists told me I had a motor neuron disease - ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). My family and I were thrilled to find out it was Lyme as at least it wasn't a death sentence. But after nearly 6 months on IV Rocephin and other antibiotics and many supplements and 5 IVIg treatments to modulate my immune system - I am still not feeling much better. I do have more energy than before the antibiotics but my speech is poorer, my body twitches when I'm still and I feel a sense of vibration in my hands and feet. I have some joint pain in my elbow and fingers, but it’s not too bad.

I really love my Lyme doctor she listens and adjust my doses at my monthly visit. I fill out a symptom list every day ranking my symptoms from 1 to 10. I go weekly to her office for my PICC line to be checked by a nurse and they draw blood at that time to check things. I feel taken care of -- but I never thought it would take as long as it’s taking.

I had read at some point that you beat Lyme with a more holistic approach - can you elaborate on that for me? I know there are alternative medicine doctors and I went to one once - and she told me to use certain Essential Oils by Young Living - I used them for a while.

A. Your letter brings to mind that aphorism: What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Many of the strongest people I know are dealing with Lyme.

Yes, I take what I consider an integral approach to treating Lyme. An integral approach requires more than just treating with medicines and supplements. It also includes getting regular physical exercise, eating right, tending to your psychological/spiritual needs through a regular practice of meditation, prayer, affirmations (whichever practice suits you best), and finally, seriously considering your network of support including your close loved ones on out to the social systems that are available to you: your clinic, nurse practitioner, doctor, as well as the money you must generate, and/or the insurance forms you must navigate, in order to access all of the above.

I started my treatment with antibiotics because I felt (and my doctor observed) that I had quickly devolved into a very low-functioning state. Every one of my systems was affected and going haywire. After 6 months of antibiotics, a period that I honestly find very difficult to remember, I came to a crossroads. I had reached a point where I could no longer financially afford to continue on the antibiotics. I was feeling better, but not spectacularly so. My doctor was not enthusiastic about my decision but he sympathized with my dilemma, and going on his advice that something would be better than nothing, I then prescribed myself a treatment consisting of herbal medicines and a continuation of the supplements that he had started me on. I embarked on the beginning of my second phase of treatment with some real moments of fear. However, I felt deep inside that I had no choice but to get well and although I was still unbearably fatigued after a full nights’ sleep and had many other Lyme symptoms that could have depressed me, I never, ever lost the willpower to fight and get well. I didn’t want to die, and I’m stubborn.

As the months wore on, I was finally able to put two sentences together again and resumed my work as a professional writer. I was fortunate in that way. If I’d had to go to work outside my home, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stick with the routines I had developed in order to stay on the wellness path. I required lots of sleep, little or no interaction with people outside my inner circle, long naps mid-morning, daily walks, blankets piled on my lap. I had to remember to take the supplements at their correct doses and times. And most critically, I had to have the luxury of being able to take my time on assignments. If the editors I worked for at that time had been able to see me at my computer, they would have wondered about my frequent pauses to stare at nothing, my complete spaciness and inability to stay on task! If they hadn’t been utterly disgusted by the ugly rashes on my hands and fingers, they definitely would have been put off by the stammers and slur in my speech. Luckily for me, they never knew, they were usually too busy to talk on the phone, and I was somehow always able to meet my deadlines.

I think many of us get to a point in our healing where we look into alternatives because conventional therapies either haven’t worked, they aren’t enough, or they’re simply not affordable or available. I’ve often thought that hey, if there’s something, anything, I can do to speed up this healing process, let me at it.

I’ve also read about the essential oils by Young Living and looked into them a little. At one point, someone gave me several tiny bottles of elixirs that I tried. Alternative doctors, alternative medicines, and holistic or complementary therapies are familiar terms, even to those of us who prefer Western medicine. But we often read about or hear these terms referred to without knowing or really understanding what is meant by them. We’ll explore and define these terms in subsequent posts.

All good wishes to you my friend.

Eat foods that warm you up

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-01-15T12:14:28-05:00

When the wind chill kicks in, snow falls and temperatures drop, warm up with good old fashioned thermogenesis. Some foods, when eaten, can help generate body heat. Depending on your palate, your preferences, and your ability to tolerate spices, for example, black and red pepper may appeal to you. Pepper stimulates the nervous system and your circulation.

A hot cup of ginger tea is comforting, and along with a pair of thick wool socks, can even help thaw your popsicle toes. Peel fresh ginger and slice it thin, add hot water and a drop or two of stevia. Curl up on your couch with a good book, and savor the moment. Read this article about 5 foods that warm you up.

In winter, it feels as though we’re purposefully being slowed down by external forces, such as bad weather and shorter daylight hours. Don’t fight the urge to stay indoors, sleep in and take naps if you can. Hibernate. You are not alone if you’re feeling antsy or a little blue. This is the ‘dead of winter’ after all, the time of year when average temperatures in the northern hemisphere plunge to their lowest. Be kind to yourself while you’re healing. Call your best friend and laugh. Watch a great movie. (Or a chick flick!) Make a handmade card for a child. Doing something -- even a small something -- for someone else is also a powerful healing act.

I like to remember one of my grandmother’s favorite sayings: When winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Genomes of 13 strains Lyme bugs mapped

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-01-09T12:22:07-05:00

Lyme can sure be a complicated puzzle. For example, knowing that Lyme is an inflammatory disease is one thing. But knowing what to do about that is quite another. My personal approach often feels scattershot: add turmeric to my supplemental arsenal. Take daily doses of quercetin. Drink water, exercise, avoid sugar. But doctors are far from being in agreement about therapies, and health websites and magazines are stuffed with pop advice. Some is helpful, some is contradictory or otherwise confusing.

But what can medical science tell us about dealing with chronic inflammation? There is actually good news in this area from a recent study.

Researchers have mapped the genomes of the 13 strains of bacterium that play the most prominent role in causing Lyme disease. This project may help us understand why a significant number of Lyme patients suffer with a chronic inflammatory response. The study may yield some answers to the problem of inflammation, an auto-immune response. More importantly, it may give us clues about what to do about it.
Apparently the discovery is exciting Lyme researchers because they have found that proteins on the surface of the Borrelia bacterium can signal the immune system by attaching to receptors on the surface of white blood cells. The white blood cells are the ones responsible for fighting off infection.
That tiny attachment triggers production of an external protein that traps and stops other white blood cells from controlling the production of antibodies. When this occurs, antibodies are churned out in large numbers, often non-specifically, which results in inflammation throughout the body.
Researchers conclude that through therapeutic intervention they may be able to detach that external protein, and thereby suppress the inflammatory response.
Here is the abstract of the article, online in the Journal of Bacteriology:

Borrelia burgdorferi is a causative agent of Lyme disease in North America and Eurasia. The first complete genome sequence of B. burgdorferi strain 31, available for more than a decade, has assisted research on the pathogenesis of Lyme disease. Because a single genome sequence is not sufficient to understand the relationship between genotypic and geographic variation and disease phenotype, we determined the whole genome sequences of 13 additional B. burgdorferi isolates that span the range of natural variation. These sequences should allow improved understanding of pathogenesis and provide a foundation for novel detection, diagnosis, and prevention strategies.

Consider the spirochete: a minute, ancient creature. And yet it can cause so much distress. Something so tiny and simple can wreck such collosol havoc. Now perhaps the discovery of this microscopic external protein, only recently become visible to scientists, can help bring about healing.

Has Lyme changed your mind?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2011-01-01T13:05:53-05:00

Every New Year's Eve I write down my goals for the New Year. Written lists have an uncanny way of materializing -- perhaps not as soon as we would like, or in the way we imagined, but all in all the act of writing down your goals for the coming year does seem to influence your ability to achieve them.

I also write down my goals for each month, putting them in a journal dedicated for that purpose only. I got my journal out today and looked it over, scanning to see the trajectory of the last five years since I've been dealing with Lyme.

My goals were strikingly immediate in the beginning, and health naturally became my number one priority. In the past they'd had everything to do with professional, financial, and relationship aims. But starting in 2005 my written goals became narrow and specifically focused on getting healthy. Common actions and abilities I once took completely for granted -- thinking clearly, talking without stammering, walking around the block, putting in a good day's work, sleeping peacefully, or waking up rested -- it all seemed very hard to imagine.

From the perspective of today, I look back at that time with more than a little fear. 'What if' questions start gathering in my head like storm clouds. What if I ever get that sick again? No matter how far behind you the illness gets, once a powerful antagonist like Lyme has twisted you like a rag and hung you out to dry, one is never the same. Revisiting my deepest wishes I'm amazed at how much faith I had managed to express. I kept my focus on positive affirmations. One month is a simple list of 10 goals, each a variation on the same theme of trust in my body's innate wisdom, in its ability to heal.

Please do not misunderstand. I'm not saying that I believe I healed from Lyme because I wrote down my goals. The point is, writing them down strengthened my resolve to work hard at healing. Going through the long dark passage of disease and emerging on the other side is one heck of a life changing experience.

The brain and all the systems of the body can be affected by the Lyme bacterial complex. But even when the brain has been affected there is hope. Further, there is the miracle of transcending brain changes and tackling new studies, such as learning a new language, an instrument or sport.

For proof and a shot of inspiration, read this New York Times article by Oliver Sacks:

This year, change your mind.

Merry Christmas

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-12-24T17:15:28-05:00

Dear Reader,

May your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, the angels protect you and heaven accept you!

May you have a peaceful holiday.

Good wishes for your full recovery,
Suzanne

I'm Dreaming of a Healthy Christmas...

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-12-18T14:23:40-05:00

Just like the ones I used to know.

Holidays are a mixed bag, aren't they? On one hand, they offer a break from routine workday (or sick-day) stress. On the other, they can cause even more stress. First, there's the family get-togethers, which wouldn't be so bad except it means putting up with Uncle Fred or cousin Irma, who want to engage you in an intense conversation about your Lyme disease symptoms (which you're trying unsuccessfully to put out of your mind for one evening), or they are insisting that you immediately make an appointment to see this really amazing doctor they found because (although they have done no research themselves) they don't believe your doctor is treating you correctly.

Or, and this is the more likely scenario, your friends and family are thrilled to see you looking pretty good, walking upright, tracking conversation with ease, so they totally ignore the fact that you are indeed sick. They proceed to put the whole year (or three, or five, etc.) out of their minds completely. Like a bad marriage, your illness gets pushed into the past so everybody in the room can feel more comfortable. Your mother or your dearest friend then proceeds to pour you a glass of wine, pass the See's chocolate, and swoon over little Chloe's sugar cookies which are decorated with more candy than you've seen all year.

You may be able to politely resist the alcohol and pass on the cookie tray, but with a sigh you glance over the traditional holiday foods piled high on the plate your dear ones have placed in front of you. And it smells so good. If you've been making a sincere effort to heal, you have been good for months. No sugar, no wine, no Girl Scout cookies for goodness sake. Why not indulge a little, you tell yourself. However, as anybody with Lyme can tell you, one night of sweet indulgence on sugar or alcohol can zap your strength for many days, bring on a dismal case of brain fog and trigger chronic symptoms such as skin rashes, headaches, and more.

As strict as I am with myself, even I find it difficult to resist holiday temptations. A colleague wanted to meet downtown at a local brewery the other day. I had my last beer on Halloween and it brought about a skin rash on my fingers and hands, my weakest spot and most pernicious symptom. I am not drinking beer anymore. And wine, which is said to be good for you, is still alcohol, it's still sugar, and although it's a lovely thing to share a toast with your dear ones over the holidays it can be done with mineral water. Discipline? Yes, you need it in spades. Determination too. But tell me, what more motivating factor do you need than your own recent experience with Lyme symptoms?

My life is no less joyful or rich because I am not sipping wine, ordering a slice of heavenly Tiramisu, or dipping into the candy bowl after dinner. In fact it's just the opposite. The quality and beauty of my life intensifies the more I tend to my health. This Christmas I'll lift my glass and toast to my loved ones' health. Perhaps it's a cliche that if you have your health you have everything, but it's true.

Happy holidays, everybody. May you have fulfilling work, understanding relatives, true friends, and a clear mind and healthy heart so you may enjoy them all. "Wisdom is to the soul what health is to the body."

New Lyme test for neuro symptoms

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-12-03T16:24:05-05:00

Like you, I've devoted a lot of my time and energy to figuring out how on earth to get better. "Be well" is my mantra, and I'm sure I'm not alone here. So when someone points me in the direction of research that's being done in the name of Lyme testing, I'm all ears. Here is something you might be interested in hearing more about as well: a new test for Lyme disease.

As we know, many people sick with a Lyme infection are routinely dismissed by medical doctors who aren't trained in diagnosing or treating Lyme as "crazy," or at best, "exaggerating." This type of reductive response from medical professionals can really sting. Nothing like being kicked while you're down, and from the very people you have turned to for help. I know how it hurts, and I've experienced firsthand the fearsome mental disorientation that this disease can cause.

I remember hearing my (deceased) father clearly saying my name. I jerked my head in the direction of his voice, fully expecting to see him standing next to me. I remember hearing the phone ringing, ringing, ringing, and each time I picked up, a little girl on the other end pleading to talk with someone whose name I did not know, someone who she swore lived there. I recall sitting in a chair all day for one entire day, afraid to move, practically afraid to breathe, for fear that movement would make the utter despair I felt inside even worse. It felt like standing, during an earthquake, on the brink of insanity, where even one small tremor would send me tumbling into the chasm below.

But I wasn't crazy. I had Lyme. I had an infection that was affecting my brain, and that's all. And I have gotten better. I continue to heal, and of course that is also my deepest desire for you. So what about this new test?

Evidently, there are neurological manifestations that have non-neurological root causes. It is important that doctors understand this when dealing with patients who present with neurological difficulties and challenges. The new Lyme test is capable of assessing whether someone has had "an immune response to the Lyme disease bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and whether the infection is currently active."

The test has been developed by Pharmasan Labs, Inc. in collaboration with NeuroScience, Inc.

From their website:

NeuroScience, Inc., by virtue of its name, has its foundations built on understanding the nervous system. Our understanding of the nervous system has led us to a point where, from a biochemical point of view, we must further consider the role hormones, cytokines, and neurotransmitters play, not as the messengers of individual systems, but rather as parts of a much larger picture. Our goal is to embrace a more global perspective on health that incorporates facets of neurology, immunology, and endocrinology. This newly emerging field has been defined as “neuroimmunology” and it forces us to rethink our approach to health and disease. Our adoption of the principles of neuroimmunology have resulted in an expanded menu of laboratory services that now include a wide spectrum of neurological, endocrinological, and immunological markers.

There are a lot of big words in that paragraph. Don't let them put you off. I think this test, this lab, may be onto something very important here. I'm looking forward to talking with their scientists very soon. Stay tuned for an interview, and meantime read up about their new Lyme test (and how you might use it), on their website.

Be well.
Think positively.
We can get better.

Managing chronic Lyme symptoms

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-11-12T17:41:44-05:00

If you have chronic Lyme, or post-Lyme symptoms, like I do, it's up to you to raise your awareness and change your behavior if you need to. You can't depend on your doctor to tell you to start an exercise program, give up sugar, stop drinking pop, and never touch a glass a wine. You have to make those decisions yourself. Okay, some doctors may counsel you to exercise, but speaking generally, they won't bother. It's not their job. It is their job to find the pathology and fix it, not to counsel you in preventing chronic illness.

Most chronic disease (perhaps including chronic Lyme) is a result of long-term behaviors, including diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors. This should come as no surprise. Habits may be hard to break, but if getting healthy is our goal, we do ourselves a disservice when we don't recognize the problems caused by our own repeated behavior. Complementary and Alternative medical practitioners, such as nutritionists, acupuncturists and nurse practitioners are generally aware of this. Many perhaps most, Western doctors are not.

My own experience has taught me this. Eating sugary food or drinking alcohol is one example. I've been living with so-called chronic Lyme for 6 years now. When I make the choice to eat those cookies, knock back that beer, stress out from overworking, or skip the gym for days on end, my body reacts. I can ignore the obvious cause and effect. I can attribute the flare-ups and Lyme-brain to the capricious Borrelia infection, or I can take responsibility for giving the infection an advantage. I can choose to recognize my own culpability, and next time the cookies are passed around or my friend wants to pour me a glass of wine, I can simply say no thanks. What may have begun with a Borrelia infection from a tick bite can be exacerbated by habitual behaviors that continue unchecked for years or even many decades. Nothing about chronic Lyme is simple. There is even controversy over calling it 'chronic Lyme.' But one thing seems clear. Medicine alone cannot cure a person suffering with long-term Lyme symptoms. We need to approach healing from multiple levels.

Success stories are published here for many reasons. We need the inspiration, the 'atta girl/boy' pat on the back, for one thing. For another, we want a recipe. 'How did that person do it? What protocol did she or he follow? If they can do it, maybe there is hope for me.'

Managing chronic Lyme disease is dicey, no question about it. But there are many ways to prevent the problems we know are lurking, by making intelligent choices and stopping behavior known to increase the problems. One way to begin raising your awareness around habits that may be hurting you is to see what the Lyme experts say about it. If you think for one minute that drinking alcohol is okay when you have a Lyme infection, just check out what Dr. Burrascano has to say about it.

Dr. Burrascano's bullet list for chronic Lyme:

CHRONIC LYME- Treatment Issues
• In chronic Lyme Disease, active infection may persist despite prior antibiotic therapy
• Relapses do occur and retreatment is often needed
• Repeated or prolonged antibiotic therapy usually is necessary
• High doses of antibiotics are needed, and blood levels should be confirmed wherever possible
• Antibiotic combinations usually are necessary
• Check for co-infections and immune status, and treat appropriately
• May need to rotate through different regimens based on response
• If the CD-57 count is not normal at the end of treatment, then continued illness or a relapse is likely
• May not cure the infection, and may need repeated or open-ended maintenance therapy
• Signs of persistence of infection:
– continued fevers, synovitis
– four week cycles, migrating symptoms
– PCR positivity and low CD-57 counts
• As symptoms wind down, I DO NOT cut the dose, for resistance may develop
• Aggressive supportive therapy is required- and search for any other possible cause of a weakened host:
– Toxin exposure, heavy metal poisoning, malnutrition, endocrine dysfunction, other illnesses, severe or ongoing stress
• Progressively increase exercise program as the symptoms of Lyme decrease
– Exercise is vital and required, or a full recovery will not occur
– Not exercising will increase risk of a relapse

* This post was modified by the editor on 11.24.10.

Have Lyme? Have patience.

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-11-07T09:32:06-05:00

Treating for post-Lyme or chronic Lyme infection may be highly controversial in the medical industry, but down here in real life it seems quite clear-cut: You have Lyme. You go to a doctor who treats your Lyme infection. You get better. After a time, you stop taking the antibiotics. You go back to work, to caring for your kids, to everyday life. You may or may not change your diet, your lifestyle, your stress levels. And then sometimes, not always, but sometimes years after the fact, the Lyme infection returns. Is further treatment necessary? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes the flare-ups continue and increase in intensity, driving you back to the doctor. Chronic or not, the label is not the essential thing. Treating the flare-up, or the return of the symptoms, is.

My mother raised five rambunctious kids. She tells me she often prayed for guidance. Her favorite prayer was: God, grant me patience, and give it to me RIGHT NOW! Patience is certainly a virtue in healing chronic or post-Lyme disease. But cognitively knowing it and embodying patience in everyday life are two different things.

Here in the mountains of NC, we've just received our first snow. Although I welcome the changing seasons, I find myself getting a tad anxious about the coming winter. It's hard to be patient when you have no control. And of course, who has control over the weather? Last winter was no picnic for people with Lyme. The cold weather poses many more challenges to people who struggle to keep their body temperature at an even keel. Plus, skin conditions that are common with Lyme and co-infections are exacerbated by winter weather, little sun exposure, and snug clothing.

Seeking personal inspiration and practical advice about treating Lyme, I looked back through our posts and conversations with healthy post-Lyme survivors. How do these people remain strong? Are they just made of different stuff? Do they worry, like I do, about tiny signs of Lyme's return, a sore that won't go away, a persistent itchiness. The occasional Lymie surge of dizziness that fades almost as quickly as it comes on.

Then I found Darryl Crews' advice about treating Lyme disease, which I want to share with you. I so appreciate his level-headed approach to treatment. Also, not surprised to see 'patience' right there at the top of the list:

1. PATIENCE, DETERMINATION, WILL POWER, DEDICATION, DISCIPLINE: Your chances of recovery are good if you happen to possess these qualities.

2. MEDICATION: Treat all known infections thoroughly with specific antibiotics. Treat aggressively until infection load is reduced to a point where the immune system can take over. Consider IV if you have neuro symptoms or fail to respond to orals. Learn to embrace herxes and avoid under treating at all costs.

3. DETOX: Address die-off daily to decrease toxins and reduce herx intensity. Consider using supps/herbs, sauna, Epsom salt baths, coffee enema, colonics, etc.

4. SLEEP: There's no such thing as too much. Quality deep sleep is a vital part of healing. Lyme causes fractured sleep. Auto CPAP is my all-natural sleep-aid of choice.

5. SUPPLEMENTS/HERBS: Daily support is required to assist the body with balancing nutrients, detoxifying and boosting your immune system.

6. EXERCISE: Thick blood harbors infections and toxins. Daily exercise will keep the blood flowing. Keep it basic for 10-15 mins twice a day (calisthenics, walk, cycling, swim, stair climbs or yoga.)

I especially like #4. My treatment routine includes meditation and deep breathing at night and again in the morning. Sleep is indeed essential, and these little habits help create the space for a good night's sleep.

I've come to accept that my approach to treating Lyme is unique, and if it's working, it's the right thing to do. But those dark clouds outside the window, that nippy breeze lifting leaves off the trees. What Lyme treatment approach can fend off cold weather? I'm still treating with teasel tincture and hoping it will help keep my body warm, as it has been doing for several months now. And come to think of it, it's lunchtime. A nice pot of carrot-ginger soup sounds perfect. Ginger is a warming food.

What is your attitude about winter? How do you stay warm enough and protect your skin? Lyme treatment, especially treating for chronic Lyme disease, is different for for everyone, but there is so much we can learn from each other.

The Best Lyme Treatment

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-10-30T16:46:20-04:00

You've just been diagnosed. Now what? The best course of treatment for Lyme may be the one your doctor prescribes. And it may be a combination of treatments that you devise or discover for yourself.

In another post, I asked readers if they had ever reached a crossroads in Lyme treatment. In comments and emails, the response was a resounding yes, people are doing quite a bit of experimenting with herbal and non-pharmaceutical remedies. Some work, some don't. What doesn't seem to change is the urgency that drives us to keep searching. A woman wrote me to say that she read about teasel on our blog. She decided to try it. A half a year later, she says that including a low dose of the herbal tincture of teasel is the single best move she's ever made in treating herself. She says it keeps her warm, which is a very good thing. An insidious side effect of Lyme infection is a lowering of the body's core temperature. The Big Lyme Chill. It's what makes some Lymies apprehensive about winter. We are already cold enough.

I'm trying teasel too. I began taking it in May 2010, a very low dose, which I had learned about through interviewing with Master Herbalist Matthew Wood. It is, so far, having a positive affect. But I'm a skeptic. I believe that it's not just one herbal tincture that is affecting my health, but a combination of factors. When I ask other people who have cured themselves of serious diseases to talk about how they did it, they seem to have a similar approach. I call it cross-training, and others have called it an Integral approach to healing. In a nutshell, my cross-training approach covers these four areas: experience, behavior, community, and the social systems where my resources can be found. Cross-training is a sports analogy. Getting healthy again after a terrible brush with death and a long illness takes the kind of commitment that pro athletes apply to achieving self-mastery, to winning, to beating the competition against all odds. It takes courage, and work. Not just teasel.

You may feel that you're not in charge of your own Lyme disease treatment. The medical community is certainly divided on the topic, as you probably are well aware. Just for the moment, let's turn away from the limitations of the government standards as we perceive them. Let's focus on the possible. Put it this way: What can you do to make yourself feel more in control of your progress? What small step can you take today? Maybe make a decision that you've been putting off, such as quitting sugar, or getting a second opinion from a nurse practitioner or a nutritionist, or starting a walking routine. Whatever it is, don't put it off. The best Lyme treatment is the one you can stick to, and ultimately of course, it's the one that works to restore your energy, your vitality, and your one precious human life.

Wanted: YOU to live a healthy post-Lyme life

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-10-13T17:04:09-04:00

"You know you don't have chronic Lyme disease anymore when you're ready to plan a trip."

I honestly can't remember (Lyme-brain) who said it to me, but that casual remark has been rolling around in my head a lot lately. I'm not exactly planning a trip, but my professional workload has increased exponentially this fall, and I am multi-tasking like a brand-new BlackBerry. I feel I actually COULD plan a trip, and that is almost just as good, if you know what I'm saying.

Chronic Lyme disease has been a way of life for five years, however, I got a wake-up call yesterday when I caught myself saying out loud, "I could never have multi-tasked like this when I had Lyme."

When I had Lyme.
When I HAD Lyme.

Such a lovely phrase! I could sing.

Let me back up for a second though and tell you: I have no medical proof of this statement. In fact, in all the years I've been looking into the problem of Lyme disease treatment and diagnoses, what I have discovered is evidence to suggest that a healthy post-Lyme survivor will probably continue to play host to the Lyme bacterial complex throughout their life.

So the question is, why do some people, regardless of their duration or methods of Lyme disease treatment, develop into healthy post-Lyme survivors -- and why do some people develop symptoms of chronic Lyme disease? It's a maddening situation.

I talk to many people involved in the medical and healing professions. When I first began conducting these interviews five years ago, I observed that many doctors had differing opinions about every aspect of Lyme, particularly when it came to Lyme disease treatment. I assumed that I would soon begin to hear the same approach being used by the doctors I interviewed. But instead, over the years I have noticed that all the experts have their own perspectives, their own opinions, their own approaches to healing Lyme. And Lyme isn't simple. Nothing about it seems to be simple, though much about it has certainly been oversimplified.

The answer to that question, of why do some suffer from chronic Lyme symptoms, while others seem to drift back into a post-Lyme level of relatively good health, is a mystery to me. I will keep asking the questions, and knock on wood in the meantime.

I receive a lot of letters from readers of this blog, and you are all in my heart every single day. My wish is for all of you to experience that unique and buzzing wonder that is a healthy mind and body: ready, willing, and able, to work, love, and live a normal life again. To surprise yourself one day soon by hearing these words come out of your own mouth: When I HAD Lyme...

And maybe you'll plan a trip too!

MDs aren't educated in nutrition - Drink water and drop sugar

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-09-08T15:27:24-04:00

She is a large, tall woman, obese, yet she's always there, running on the treadmill, stretching and sweating with the rest of us. Over the past year I'd noticed her, because our gym routines seemed to coincide. But she seemed shy and kept to herself, so I had never talked with her until one day last week. We made eye contact, smiled and said hello. I wanted to tell her that I'd noticed she was dropping the pounds. I realized that she was a lot younger than I had assumed. Probably still in her early 20s.

I told her that she was looking great, and she stopped pumping iron and grinned, blue eyes clear and sparkling. She thanked me for the encouragement, and I learned her name, Amy. As we talked, she told me that not too long ago, she'd been just about ready to quit the gym. Then a woman where she works (at the local hospital) started mentoring her about nutrition.

She laughed and told me that until recently, "I didn't know anything about food. I just ate what I ate."

I asked if she felt better. She praised her current state of health, saying that when she dropped the junk food and soda habit, and kept on working out, her energy increased and her moods improved, almost overnight. "I couldn't believe that what I was eating had so much to do with how I was feeling," she said. "Now I know," she said, flashing her beautiful smile.

I know that Amy's story isn't directly relevant to us Lymies. But her story is important because a lot of us simply "eat what we eat," without thinking about it, and don't even notice that nutrition has any bearing on our health, or on Lyme disease. We just don't know, until we know. Bad eating habits can depress our immune systems, damage our kidneys, clog our arteries and make us feel generally awful.

One thing that I learned from having been so ill, was that my body is a precious thing. I remember vowing to myself as I lay in bed for all those terrible months of acute Lyme pain, that if I ever got well again I would do everything in my power to stay healthy. In my mind, that meant vibrant, organically grown foods, exercise, laughter, continuing to develop my knowledge of nutrition and health, and loving myself as much as I care for my family and friends.

Doctors (MDs) do not get any training or education in nutrition. They do not get any training in preventative approaches. Their training is in treating us after they have diagnosed us as sick. We need to keep this in mind, and seek researched information on foods and drink that may harm us, or help us.

Junk food is a crime. We have a nation of obese, sick adults and children, and junk food is still legal. Please take a cue from Amy, friend and hospital worker, and "push the water," as she says. I had asked her what one thing she thought was making the biggest difference in her overall health improvement, and she had said "water." She drank sodas all day long before. Now she pushes the water, and it's making a big difference.

Are you drinking enough water? Have you dropped that addiction to sweets and junk? I wish it were different, but I believe that unless we take more control of our own diets and get smarter about our habits, we won't be getting better anytime soon.

On my reading list for the month: The Sugar Fix: High-Fructose Fallout That is Making You Fat & Sick

Nutrition & diet are essential - Interview with Ginger Savely

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-08-07T12:15:25-04:00

I had a very uplifting conversation with Ginger Savely the other day.

Ginger R. Savely, RN, FNP-C is a primary care provider who specializes in treating Lyme disease symptoms.

She has bachelors degrees in both Psychology and Nursing and graduated summa cum laude in her nursing class at the University of Texas where she was named Outstanding Graduating Senior. She has masters degrees in both education and nursing, and recently earned a doctorate degree in research.

Ginger is a member of ILADS, a prestigious group of world experts on the treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. She was honored by her peers by being selected to receive the 2004 Texas Nurse Practitioner of the Year Award. Ginger's clinic is called TBD Medical Associates and she is located at Union Square Medical Associates, in San Francisco. She can be reached at Ginger Savely.com.

It's great to get Ginger's perspective on nutrition, and as we talked about what Lyme patients can do to include diet and nutrition in their protocol, she mentions Dr. Royal Lee, who first recognized that processed foods cause many health problems. She points out that MDs are not trained in nutrition, and that in general, most interested citizens know more than their doctors about food and its effect on their health. MDs are trained to fix the current problem, not to counsel patients about eating a healing diet.

Patients looking for guidance in diet and nutrition generally cannot get it from their LLMD. Although there are exceptions, and many doctors do go on to study diet and nutrition as part of a healing approach, in general, MDs are just not trained to think in that way.

So, what's a Lyme patient to do?

To help her patients educate themselves about healing from Lyme disease, Ginger recommends that they read a book called The Fourfold Path to Healing, by Thomas Cowan. She says it's a must-read for Lyme patients. The 100 Perspectives that is available on this website is also a "cross-training" approach that I've taken for recovering from Lyme. Getting better requires looking at the bigger picture of health, and not simply taking the antibiotics prescribed by a doctor, even an LLMD.

Attitude is another part of the big picture that Ginger spoke with me about. Lyme symptoms often manifest in our emotions and mental states, and it is well-known that holding onto anger can be very damaging to the immune system. She discusses how she has observed that patients who hang on to anger or have bitterness toward the world can throw a wrench into their own healing process.

Listen to my conversation with Ginger Savely in the member’s portal.

How many vitamins are too many?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-07-31T11:03:59-04:00

We all know that suffering with Lyme symptoms can really push you to the edge. So when an expert says, "do this thing, e.g., take a handful of vitamins, and you'll feel better," we will go to just about any length to do that thing.

If you take upwards of 30 different supplements per day (or if it just feels like you do), and you are a bit depressed by the amount of time, money and energy you spend on them, then Ginger Savely, FNP, is on your side. She is on the hunt for products that give us "the most bang for our buck." Instead of taking 30 pills, you can get the same amount of supplements in just a couple of products such as Green Vibrance, which includes many of the vitamins we want in our healing diets, and fish oil.

Ginger is a nurse practitioner with a doctorate degree in research, who owns the SF clinic where she primarily sees patients with Lyme and Morgellons disease, of whom a high percentage also have Lyme. But Ginger's work does not stop there. She is a lifelong learner (and a former Lyme patient herself), who is currently enrolled in advanced courses in clinical nutrition and diet.

She began treating Lyme patients over a decade ago, and over the years gathered her recommendations into a pamphlet that she provides new patients. One patient, after looking over the material, told Ginger that she "sat down and cried," after reading it. She simply felt overwhelmed by the amount of things to take. She felt she would never be able to take all the supplements she needed to take.

Her patient's response made an impression, and Ginger then began to listen to her own gut instinct, and change the way she views diet and food. She says that instead of putting the emphasis on vitamin supplements in isolation, she now sees diet and food choices as a central component in healing Lyme disease.

Ginger has long suspected that the isolated vitamins we consume may not be the most efficient way to supplement our diets. And she readily admits she has been guilty of it herself, advising her patients to include vitamins recommended by popular research studies. Yet in her gut, she's always been curious as to just how effective these vitamin pills are.

Asking her patients didn't clear up the matter much. They would often say they took a long list of supplements, not because the vitamins made a difference in the way they felt, but because they were afraid to stop, just in case they might feel worse.

But Ginger's instinct has pointed her in a different direction. In terms of eating well to support a healing diet, she might say it's back to the future.

What does she advise her Lyme patients to do now? Get your healing supplements directly from the food you eat. Eat the old-fashioned way, by which she means the way we ate 100 years ago. Don't shy away from a little bit of animal fat, she says. The chronic illnesses that are currently such a problem in the western world, such as heart disease and diabetes, have come about since we started cutting "healthy" fats from our diet and replacing them with refined carbohydrates and refined sugar.

Eat the way your grandparents (or your great-grandparents) did. Whole foods, meat with a little fat on it (preferably grass-fed and organic), organic veggies. Above all, no refined carbs or sugar, which have absolutely no place in a healing diet.

On the occasions when Ginger does indulge in sugar, she feels "foggy" the very next day. She is a self-described sugar-holic, so she understands how difficult it is for some people to give it up. Yet after a few initial suggestions, she says, patients who agree to drop sugar from their diets seem to need no reminding. The body knows it will heal faster without it. After a couple of weeks of going without, it simply doesn't appeal to them anymore.

If you do eat sugar, keep it to the whole foods variety which at least includes a little nutritional value. Blackstrap molasses, unrefined honey may be tolerated by some people. Agave sweetener is processed in the exact same way that refined sugar is, and we have been "sold a bill of goods on that," she says.

If you don't eat sugar, antibiotics will have a better chance of working, and you may heal more quickly. Ginger observes that her patients who indulge in refined sweets do seem to take a slower route back to living a vibrantly healthy, post-Lyme life.

Ginger is featured in our Expert Audio Series. You can hear her interview for free by signing up for our LDRD newsletter.

Lyme doctor punished for helping children

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-07-24T12:11:23-04:00

Pediatrician and hero to many moms and kids with Lyme disease, Dr Charles Ray Jones is being "harassed" by the medical community for treating Lyme disease, says state Rep. Jason Bartlett (D-Bethel).

Bartlett sponsored a bill that was passed unanimously by Connecticut State Legislature in 2009 that protects doctors who treat chronic Lyme with antibiotics over extended periods. But although it may protect doctors in the future, it's not doing anything to protect Dr Jones right now.

"The law 'allow[s] a licensed physician to prescribe, administer or dispense long-term antibiotics for a therapeutic purpose to a patient clinically diagnosed with Lyme disease.'"

Jones has been ordered to hire a monitor to examine his patients charts every month, given four years of probation and smacked with a $10,000 fine. Jones expects the monitor may cost $2,000 - $10,000 per month. He says "it's hopeless," because he simply cannot afford it. But what really burns up his supporters is that the good doctor appears to be the mouse in a game of legal cat-and-mouse being played out at his expense.

In a New Haven Advocate article from July 13, Time Is Running Out For Controversial Chronic Lyme Disease Doctor Betsy Yalga writes,

"None of Jones’ patients has complained, he’s quick to point out, and none has been harmed by his treatment. He’s never been sued for medical malpractice. The charges against him have been levied by fathers involved in custodial battles over their children. In those cases Mom was in charge of treatment and Dad was in charge of payment and disputed the need for treatment. By complaining, Jones’ supporters say, Dad could get back at Mom and possibly skirt paying a costly medical bill. There were no allegations of harm done to the children."

Please listen to a brief interview with Dr Charles Ray Jones in the member’s portal.

Samento & Banderol found significantly effective in Lyme treatment

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-07-11T12:02:48-04:00

A tick-borne, multisystemic disease, Lyme borreliosis caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has grown into a major public health problem during the last 10 years. The primary treatment for chronic Lyme disease is administration of various antibiotics. However, relapse often occurs when antibiotic treatment is discontinued. One possible explanation for this is that B. burgdorferi become resistant to antibiotic treatment, by converting from their vegetative spirochete form into different round bodies and/or into biofilmlike colonies. There is an urgent need to find novel therapeutic agents that can eliminate all these different morphologies of B. burgdorferi. In this study, two herbal extracts, Samento and Banderol, as well as doxycycline (one of the primary antibiotics for Lyme disease treatment) were tested for their in vitro effectiveness on several of the different morphological forms of B. burgdorferi (spirochetes, round bodies, and biofilmlike colonies) using fluorescent, darkfield microscopic, and BacLight viability staining methods. Our results demonstrated that both herbal agents, but not doxycycline, had very significant effects on all forms of B. burgdorferi, especially when used in combination, suggesting that herbal agents could provide an effective therapeutic approach for Lyme disease patients. -- from article in Townsend Letter, July 2010

Samento and Banderol are found to be important herbal allies, in this study conducted by our friends at the Lyme Disease Research Group of the University of New Haven. In our interview with Eva Sapi, PhD, director of the graduate program in Lyme disease research, she promised that she was quite determined to find an effective agent that would "kill the bug -- and soon." So, this study is proof that Dr Sapi is following through with her promise. It is a hopeful note in the battle against the nasty bacterial complex we know as Borrelia burgdorferi.

Personally, I am very excited about these findings. Samento and Banderol have been my medicine of choice for several years. These herbal extracts have certainly been effective, helping me pull myself out of a painful, groggy nightmare and get my life back on track. Those two herbal tinctures daily, plus a host of other supportive supplements, a regular exercise routine, and a sugar-free, whole-foods diet, have made all the difference. Samento and Banderol have truly been my allies in this cross-training approach to healing.

Please read the entire article reporting on the study, which you can find on the website of the Townsend Letter, the Examiner of Alternative Medicine. The article is titled: In Vitro Effectiveness of Samento and Banderol Herbal Extracts on the Different Morphological Forms of Borrelia Burgdorferi by Akshita Datar, Navroop Kaur, Seema Patel, David F. Luecke, and Eva Sapi, PhD -- Lyme Disease Research Group, University of New Haven

Members, to learn more about the work of the University of New Haven Lyme research program, please listen to our interview with Dr Eva Sapi. You will also find more information about Lee Cowden, MD, and his herbal protocol.

Jessica Wojenski, teen on a mission to educate people about Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-07-03T11:54:18-04:00

As reported in the Hollis Brookline Journal, teenager Jessica Wojenski, who recently graduated from New Hampshire's Bedford High School, has struggled to recover from Lyme symptoms severe enough to keep her out of school much of her junior and senior years.

“There’s such a lack of awareness out there about this that unless you scare people into realizing, they’re never going to get it, even though I hate doing that,” Jessica told the reporter.

I know just how she feels, and you probably do as well, if you have suffered with debilitating Lyme symptoms. Jessica is dedicated to raising awareness of the complications the disease can cause. Evidently she did not show symptoms in the early stages, which is a problem that many of us deal with -- not even suspecting Lyme disease as a cause of our painful and disorienting symptoms until the disease has progressed beyond the early stages. Kudos to her, and we hope she continues to find support in her New Hampshire community, which is located in the hot zone for ticks and Lyme infections.

When you are first diagnosed, you can easily be overwhelmed by information about what to do. What will work, what won't? Who should you consult and who can you trust as a reliable resource?

I agree with Jessica, there is not enough awareness of the serious nature of Lyme disease out there. Like her, I contracted Lyme about 5 or 6 years ago, and my painful symptoms and treatment quickly made it impossible for me to live my life in a normal way. Since then, my mission has also been to help educate people about this disease through sharing my interviews with Lyme disease experts and people who are living normal, healthy lives again, post-Lyme.

My life is now back to normal, thankfully, and my hope is that yours will soon be too. This is a good place to start educating yourself and clear up any confusion. Our list of "10 things you need to know about Lyme," is available immediately, when you sign up for our free newsletter.

NIH develops more sensitive test for Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-06-26T11:17:55-04:00

Reported in the June, 2010 issue of Clinical and Vaccine Immunology:

New Test May Simply and Rapidly Detect Lyme Disease

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have developed a more sensitive test for Lyme disease that may offer earlier detection and lower cost. The details are reported in the June 2010 issue of the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted to animals and humans by deer ticks. A skin lesion at the site of the bite is one of the first signs of infection followed by potential neurological, cardiac, and rheumatological complications upon entering the bloodstream. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends a two-step blood test for diagnosing the disease, however, several limitations include low sensitivity during the early stages of infection, significant time and expense, and an inability to distinguish between active and prior infection.
In prior studies the luciferase immunoprecipitation system (LIPS) test showed promise at detecting a variety of infectious agents including viral and fungal pathogens. Here, LIPS was evaluated for its ability to detect antibody responses to Borrelia burgdorferi proteins in blood samples taken from a patient group (some healthy and some with Lyme disease) as well as a control group. Results showed that diagnostic levels of 98% to 100% were achieved using LIPS in conjunction with the synthetic protein VOVO.

"These results suggest that screening by the LIPS test with VOVO and other B. burgdorferi antigens offers an efficient quantitative approach for evaluation of the antibody responses in patients with Lyme disease," say the researchers.

(P.D. Burbelo, A.T. Issa, K.H. Ching, J.I. Cohen, M.J. Iadarola, A. Marques. 2010. Rapid, simple, quantitative, and highly sensitive antibody detection for Lyme disease. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 17. 6: 904-909.)

Biotoxins test and chronic Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-06-20T16:43:26-04:00

Biotoxins created by the Lyme bacterial complex and released into the body can cause chronic illness, even when antibiotics are killing the spirochetes. You will recognize these illnesses by their other names: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Sick Building Syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and depression.

People who cannot naturally eliminate biotoxins develop chronic illness. About 20% of patients with Lyme disease, due to their hepa-type, are susceptible to biotoxin illnesses. However, according to Dr Richie Shoemaker and other biotoxin experts, the toxins can be eliminated and good health can be restored.

From biotoxin.info: "Many physicians feel that diagnostic tests for Lyme are unreliable, due to differences between strains of the bacteria, and the potential for co-infections with Bartonella, Babesia and/or Ehrlichia. A team of researchers at Boston University Medical Center (Cartwright, Martin Donta) discovered and patented (US Patent No. 6,667,038) the Bbtox1 neurotoxin. They reported that the effects of Bbtox1 were consistent with that of botulinium and other cytoskeletal toxins. Even so, there are no chemical tests for the disease-causing toxin B. burgdorferi produces and releases into human body, even as antibiotics are killing the bacteria. Without such tests, the medical debate over whether or not Lyme can be quickly cured has surged in recent years, provoking frequent battles in which physicians have attacked each other's credibility and integrity (and in a few cases, even their medical licenses). All too often, suffering patients have been left in the middle, essentially ignored by doctors who contend that their long-term symptoms aren't the result of Chronic Lyme, but of 'Fibromyalgia,' 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome', 'depression,' or 'irritable bowel syndrome.'"

Testing for nervous system dysfunction can be done online. The Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) test is a pattern recognition test that Dr Shoemaker uses to help determine how the nervous system is functioning. According to Dr Joseph Burrascano, at least 70 - 90% of patients whose VCS test is abnormal feel better with treatment, while 30% of patients who test normal from the VCS test feel better with neurotoxin treatment.

When testing for Lyme infection, coinfections are often culprits that go undetected. Be sure to look for Bartonella or Babesia, which destroys red blood cells.

Dr Shoemaker and other Lyme experts agree that if you find elevated C4-A markers, and if symptoms are persistent beyond the initial antibiotic protocol that may indicate that a longer antibiotic treatment, possibly including intravenous antibiotic therapy, is needed. As he makes it clear in this video, you and your doctor will be the judge in whether or not you should use long-term antibiotics.

Tennis star beats Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-06-09T16:23:45-04:00

Beautiful and powerful tennis star Samantha Stosur faced her formidable opponent squarely. In 2007, she was struck down with Lyme disease, battling severe fatigue, skin rash, and other symptoms that ripped her off the path to stardom. Since that time, she has not only beat Lyme disease, but also proved herself as a force to be reckoned with on the tennis courts.

Why do athletes seem to have a superb ability to beat Lyme and other serious diseases? There are probably many reasons. We believe it has something to do with maintaining a positive mental focus on winning (putting mind over matter), and regular exercise, which warms up the body's core temperature. Although Sam was unable to exercise (or indeed, even take care of herself) while the disease was in an acute phase, she did return to training and competing as soon as she could muster the strength.

Athletes engage in a program of regular vigorous exercise which raises their body temperatures on a consistent basis, which induces sweat. The raised temperature heats up the body's environment, keeps the lymph flowing at a healthy rate, and kills off toxins and bacteria so they can be carried away in the sweat and washed off.

This is a recent story that probably didn't escape your attention if you are a tennis fan and you have Lyme.

Watch a brief interview with Sam.

Trust your doctor. Or not?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-05-20T17:13:54-04:00

Anyone in the medical profession deserves heartfelt respect. Most of us honor these men and women for serving humanity in the most fundamental way: Caring for the sick. But what do you do when your own doctor, the saint with a compassionate heart, won't listen, and you know something is wrong? This frustrating experience is common among people with Lyme disease.

Many people, doctors included, believe that a bull's eye rash is the definitive Lyme symptom. In fact, up to two-thirds of people infected with Lyme never develop a rash. When I say doctors I mean doctors from all fields. That includes GPs, Infectious Disease specialists, Neurologists, Dermatologists, Hematologists, Cardiologists, you name it.

It is a mistake to assume that your family doctor (or your dentist, for that matter) knows anything about Lyme disease or common Lyme co-infections, such as Babesia, Bartonella, or Ehrlichia. They will most likely tell you with some degree of confidence that Lyme is rare, hard to get, easy to cure, or that it simply doesn't exist where you live. This is old thinking, but you may be surprised how many people (doctors too) are not educated about Lyme, yet possess strong opinions about it.

Tick bites can occur without anyone noticing. They do not hurt. You may have never seen a tick on your skin, or you might have been told the ticks in your region don't carry Lyme. You might remember a tick bite, but you never developed the bull's eye rash, and wrote off the other symptoms as a bad flu, a touch of arthritis, or a passing case of tachycardia.

If you are symptomatic, and have been told that you don't have Lyme but you strongly suspect it, have your blood tested through the IGeneX laboratory. Obtain a second, third, or fourth opinion. Most people who are now successfully overcoming Lyme will tell you they saw 10, 20, 30 doctors or more before they found help.

In my own case, several Infectious Disease doctors I consulted with were quickly convincing themselves that I must have multiple sclerosis. Every cell in body and mind knew with absolute certainty that they were wrong. During that period, I had my blood tested at IGeneX, so I knew that they were wrong. These doctors saw the test results with their own eyes and did not trust them. However, I was in no shape to refute them. At the time I was extremely weak, unable to articulate my thoughts, speak clearly, and was essentially wasted from a horrible full-body rash (not the bull's eye, which actually might have been helpful in terms of their diagnoses).

Prior to my IGeneX test, the expensive dermatologist I consulted had prescribed Prednisone, and taking it (I later learned) was possibly the worst thing I could have done. The steroids explosively multiplied the spirochetes and drove them deeper into my body and brain. Finally I found a naturopath who believed my test results and had treated several patients who had Lyme and co-infections. He was my saving grace. He was hard to find, because I entered this illness naively, believing that all doctors knew best. I had no clue that I'd have to fight them for my life.

You may love and trust your family doc. And indeed, he or she may be saintly and have a heart of gold. But it's your life we're talking about. If your intuition is nagging you to get another opinion, listen to that inner voice. Your intuition is a highly sensitive and intelligent guide, designed to nag for purposes such as this.

The good news is there are educated Lyme doctors who can help you. However, you might have to make an effort to find them. In addition to IGeneX, check out these two new tests, the DNA test and the antigen test.

Healing Lyme Naturally

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-05-08T12:43:06-04:00

Healing Lyme Disease Naturally: History, Analysis, and Treatments
by Wolf D. Storl
Foreword by Matthew Wood
North Atlantic Books

In our interview with herbalist and teacher Matthew Wood, you may recall his mentioning a new book, Healing Lyme Disease Naturally, by Wolf Storl. Matthew wrote the foreword to this book, and talked to us about the role of the herb teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris) in healing Lyme. Dr Storl is an anthropologist and herbalist, as well as an engaging and prolific writer. He has published twenty-eight books, and his work has been translated into numerous different languages. He has also taught university courses in medical anthropology. As a result of a superinfection that resisted antibiotic treatment in an earlier illness he suffered, he was unable to take antibiotics when he discovered he had Lyme. For this reason, he was forced to turn to older methods of treating a serious disease. Dr Storl healed himself using teasel and supportive therapies, such as a light diet, exercise and hyperthermia.

This new book is not going to appeal to everyone. However, if you are interested in herbal medicine and lore, or if you're investigating alternatives to antibiotics, you may find it a captivating read, as I did. It will give you a comprehensive picture of Lyme and another spirochetal illness that resembles Lyme, and that is syphilis. (Matthew Wood and others have called Lyme "deer syphilis".) Through the wide lens of medical history, and illustrated with his own personal story, he shows us how these diseases have been viewed and treated in different cultures through time.

If you've become paranoid of picnicking by the lake, or you panic at the sight of a weird-looking spider on the wall, this book may help restore your sense of wonder about nature, and lose a little of the fear. After all, as he points out in a provocative examination of the advent of antibiotics after WWII, microbes are not the enemy. They are an integral part of us.

Early in the book there is a fascinating chapter about the stealthy make-up of the Borrelia spirochete. Research scientists have told me that the Borrelia bacteria is capable of dormancy, changing forms, and hiding from the immune system. I just never really understood quite how until I read this chapter, which explains the Borrelia bergdorferi and its "astonishing typical characteristics." Among them:

Depending on the conditions of their environment, borrelia can take on different forms. Besides the normal spiral or corkscrew spirochete form, they can cast off their cell wall and, held together by a thin pliable membrane, take on globular form. In this way, cell-wall-inhibiting antibiotics are rendered useless. In this spheric form (also called L-form) they are not recognizable for the immune cells; they have, so to say, no "features," no antigens, by which they could be recognized.
Borrelia can also encapsulate and go into dormancy within minutes. They seem to do this when their environment is polluted by antibiotics, for example. Until the environment improves for them, they can remain dormant for at least ten months without carrying on basic life functions such as metabolism or dividing. As long as they are metabolically inactive, antibiotics have no effect of them. The patient believes he has been finally cured, but then the symptoms rebound anew.
Borrelia can attach to host cell walls (mainly scar-tissue cells and even defense cells) and induce the cell to release its own digestive enzymes, which eat a hole in the cell wall. The spirochete then enters the cell, kills the nucleus, and wears the cell wall as a disguising cloak or mask. This is another way in which these terrorists of the microscopic world evade recognition by the immune cells.

Included in his telling of herbal lore and histories are intriguing ethno-medical stories. For example, did you know that at one point in the 19th century, doctors injected syphilitic patients with malaria? It seemed to help. About a third of the patients would get healed. Another third weren't affected at all, and the other third entered a long remission. Years later, in the 1930s, the medical establishment discovered why it helped: the malaria caused spiking fevers of 107 degrees, which killed the Borrelia bacteria. Hyperthermia has long been used by many different cultures to kill bacteria of all kinds.

Dr Storl raises and explores important questions, such as whether Lyme is a new illness, or an old disease that was diagnosed as other conditions. Aside from an examination of teasel and how it works in healing Lyme, dosages, preparation methods, and more, there are many practical tips included here, such as measures to take to protect against tick bites (essential oils such as cedar milk, clove oil, tea tree oil, peppermint oil and others may be effective when rubbed onto exposed skin areas), and an explanation of the way antibiotics such as doxycycline work.

Want a Lyme test that looks for antigens?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-04-28T17:14:40-04:00

"We have to go on," says Tom. "We can't change yesterday, but the thing that keeps us going is that sooner or later we're going to catch that bug in time, and save someone from going through this pain."

Tom was sick and suffering with mysterious symptoms for nine years before a test finally convinced one of his doctors that he did indeed have Lyme disease. At that point, he began taking antibiotics. In the first month, severe Herxheimer reactions made him even more ill than he had been without treatment, but he continued for five months. Three years later, he now feels better in most ways. Occasionally, he has bad days that he attributes to the Lyme bug, but feels that for the most part, it is suppressed.

"I thought I was dying," he says. Hit by a massive anxiety attack while driving through Kansas, he experienced such debilitating vertigo that he had to pull the car over to the side of the road. "Everything was spinning wildly around me."

"I had lost track of the number of doctors I went to for help over those nine years. One doctor in Massachusetts, who I knew thought I was crazy finally told me that he thought I was crazy. He told me there was nothing wrong with me, and recommended psychiatric help."

"He told me that he thought I was an 'attention-seeker'."

I said to him, "Look, doc. I'm a concert pianist and a concert organist. If I want attention, all I have to do is book a recital. I don't need attention from you."

The test that finally clinched the correct diagnosis for Tom is a special kind of technique called Flow Cytometry. It is available at the Central Florida Research Laboratory, located in Winter Haven, FL. Instead of looking for the antibodies that build up in response to a Lyme Borreliosis infection, the Flow Cytometry technique finds the Borreliosis antigens directly.

Since Spring 2007, the CFR lab has tested several thousand people for Lyme disease. Blood samples arrive from locations all over the globe, including all over Europe, where Lyme disease is known simply as Borreliosis.

In addition to testing people, CFR also tests animals for Lyme. Please refer to the CFR website for more information about the Flow Cytometric Lyme test for pets and people.

Central Florida Research Laboratory
Winter Haven, FL
Medical Director: Clifford H Threlkeld, DO, FCAP
Phone Number: (863) 299-3232
Fax Number: (863) 299-3355

Beautiful weather brings tick danger

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-04-20T11:34:28-04:00

"Go outside and play!" Sound familiar?

I grew up in a time and place where the accepted norm was to spend every possible moment out-of-doors. My mother gently objected to my lounging on the couch for hours, absorbing books by the stackful, whenever it was sunny and warm outside. But since I grew up in SoCal, it was ALWAYS sunny and warm. I did ruin my eyesight, so she was probably right about that. And although I read voraciously in the summer (and every other time of the year), I still managed to make it outside to swim and hike with friends pretty much every day as a kid.

So when spring comes tumbling in, bringing beautiful outdoorsy weather, should you still be sending your kids outside to play? Have things changed now that you are aware of the dangers of Lyme? Now that you know you and your loved ones are only one tick-bite away from it?

This spring, reports are already piling up in regional news, warning that this is likely to be a heavy tick season. The ticks are early and plentiful.

One suggestion for preventing Lyme is to advise your kids not to sit on the ground. Now, how realistic is that? For kids, part of the allure of playing outside is the opportunity to investigate the bugs and other critters crawling on the ground. And when you're little, how else can you eat your snacks, play tic-tac-toe in the dirt, examine the fluttering moth you just caught in your hands, if not sitting on the ground? And what about toddlers who are still getting their sea-legs, and end up sitting more than walking?

One thing that really bugs me is when I read, over and over in various articles, that ticks must be embedded for 24 hours or so in order to infect the person they bite. While that may be a comfort to read, there is no scientific evidence to support it. Prevention is the very best medicine, not wishful thinking.

Aside from prevention, early detection is still the most important thing when it comes to having been exposed to ticks. Bear in mind, tick bites don't hurt. This is because the tick injects a sort of anaesthetic with the bite that will numb the area, so you won't feel it. Perform regular tick checks on yourself and your kids, especially after time spent playing outside. Take the time to be careful and diligent. Remove ticks before they have a chance to get embedded.

And please tell everybody you know that tick checks are vitally important.

New Lyme test for early detection

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-04-10T12:02:22-04:00

Here's a piece of good news. If you live in the Lyme-endemic region of Milford, CT, you have a new option for testing. And -- unless you have Aetna -- your insurance plan should cover it.

Pathologist Sin Hang Lee, MD, and his team have developed a DNA test for early Lyme detection. Details are available in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology. The test is the first of its kind. I recently talked with Dr Lee about the new test, which has been in use at the Milford Hospital for about one year.

Early detection is extremely important. People who are diagnosed with Lyme in the early stage have a good chance of receiving treatment that will cure them, and they will have no further complications from the disease. The DNA test eliminates the false positives that are problematic in the traditional Lyme tests, specifically the Western Blot and the ELISA.

The test is good news for people in the Milford area who suspect they've been bitten by a tick. Reports from other regions in the NE, such as Portland, Maine, are already warning of an increase in tick bites this year.

According to the announcement of the new DNA Lyme test, "physicians at the Milford Hospital Emergency Center and Walk-in Urgent Care Center, who see about 40,000 patients a year, usually order the traditional antibody testing and the new DNA test for patients presenting with Lyme disease-like symptoms. Most insurance companies except Aetna will pay for the test."

Patients and physicians interested in information on this DNA test may call George Poole, manager of Milford Medical Laboratory, at 203-876-4496.

Listen to our interview with Dr. Sin Hang Lee about the Lyme DNA test.

Staying Lyme-free in an endemic region

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-04-03T16:00:02-04:00

"Almost everybody I know either has Lyme disease, or they know someone who is undergoing Lyme treatment," said my friend Dee, who moved to the Hudson Valley, NY just a few years ago.

She'd been telling me about her favorite pastime, walking with her dog, Daisy, through the woods near her small house.

"Knock on wood, I haven't gotten it yet. It's kind of shocking how many people have, but honestly, I don't think I've ever even seen a tick out there," she added. I could tell she was amazed at her good luck. "But the fact that I haven't gotten sick doesn't seem to make me more cautious," she went on. "In fact, I feel sort of immune to it." She paused, considering this idea for a moment.

"Are some people just more susceptible than others?" she asked.

While silently giving thanks (and feeling relieved) that my friend remains happy and healthy, I explained what I've learned from Lyme experts regarding our susceptibility.

Ginger Savely, RN, tells us that in her experience observing and treating Lyme patients, it's true that some people tend to attract ticks, just as some of us are mosquito magnets, and some never get bit. Other medical professionals, such as Dr Cowden and the late Dr Joanne Whitaker, who have studied Lyme, its testing and treatment for a lifetime, claim that the Lyme bacteria can be found in body fluids, such as tears, sweat and semen. Pediatrician Dr Charles Ray Jones, who is nothing short of a hero in many of his colleagues and his Lyme patients' estimation, says he has treated very young children who were infected by their mother while in vitro.

"The problem with being Lyme-free while living in a place such as the Hudson Valley," explained Dee, "is that you lose your fear. You don't take the precautions you know you should because it just hasn't happened yet."

Here are some precautions to take, if you plan to venture outdoors in this beautiful spring weather. Be sure to check your dog, too.

To reduce the risk of Lyme disease:

• Wear light-colored clothing and preferably long pants and long sleeves when in places where ticks may be present. This helps in spotting ticks that may be on clothes. Tucking pants into socks is also a very good idea.
• Perform a tick check every day so ticks can be removed before they have a chance to feed and transmit pathogens they might be carrying. Research indicates that a tick has to feed for at least 36 hours before it can transmit pathogens such as the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
• Consider the use of repellents if spending considerable time outdoors.

Source: New York State Health Department

PS: I asked Dr Eva Sapi, Director of Lyme Research at the University of New Haven, Connecticut, whether it was true, in her estimation, that a tick must be attached "for at least 36 hours before it can transmit pathogens," and she assured me there was no evidence to support that assertion.

Ever reached a crossroads in treatment?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-03-30T16:02:07-04:00

Have you or your Lyme doctor chosen to supplement or substitute your treatment using herbal therapies, homeopathic remedies, or other alternative treatments? Over the years, I've noticed that a fair number of people who are undergoing Lyme treatment at some point decide to switch to, or at least try, herbal remedies, traditional Chinese medicine, rifing, super-oxygenation, or other alternatives to conventional antibiotic treatments. It seems that a lot of us reach a crossroads at some point in our healing journey, and have to make an important decision.

In my case, I treated with heavy doses of antibiotics for six months, and over that time period I slowly emerged from the hell of the symptoms I was experiencing. I'd been diagnosed in a late stage of Lyme, and the treatment had been as hard on my body as the original symptoms, or even worse. Actually it was impossible to tell which was worse, the treatment, which made me re-experience the original symptoms, or the sickness itself. After six months of treatment I had returned to work and was feeling generally better, but was unable to continue antibiotics for financial reasons. I reached the end of that six-month period and although I was relieved to get off the antibiotics, my doc was clearly worried about a relapse. I kept up my herbal and vitamin supplements, which were super-expensive but proving to be well worth the cost. I was curious about Samento, so I started Dr Cowden's herbal antibiotic protocol as soon as possible after I took my last conventional pill. I've always been proactive regarding staying healthy, so getting enough sleep, regular exercise and eating a good quality Mediterranean diet are my staples.

For many reasons (not only financial), Lyme patients decide to try herbs, or many other types of treatment such as HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen treatment), rife machines, Vitamin C and salt, or other compelling treatments. For example, Matthew Wood, the renowned herbalist I spoke with a couple weeks ago, tells us he's treating Lyme successfully with the common herb, teasel, and that instead of killing the bacteria, teasel warms up the body's environment and lures the bacteria out from its hiding places to be killed off by the body's own immune defense system.

In some cases, people I've talked to say they simply had an inner compulsion to switch up treatments. Evidence exists to support changing types of antibiotics because the Lyme bacteria will grow accustomed to one type of treatment, and just stop responding to it.

How did you or your doctor respond when you reached such a crossroads in your Lyme treatment? If you made changes in your treatment along the way, how did your switch effect you? Has it been positive, challenging, or pushed you into a new level of healing?

Your Lyme treatment & supplement safety

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-03-23T17:57:00-04:00

Health insurance may be directly affecting your ability to get the medical treatment you need. A fair number of people who leave comments on this blog tell about the confounding experience of being rejected by their insurance companies. When a door slams in your face, whether you are in the middle of treatment or just beginning, your treatment choices are reduced or eliminated entirely. What then?

So now that the dust on the Congressional floor is settling, and the historic health care reform bill has passed, how will it affect your treatment? If your insurance company has refused to cover you for pre-existing conditions, will you now be able to reapply for coverage? During the coming weeks, we will be interviewing medical insurance experts who can help us understand the fallout from this historic passage.

Meantime, I want to call your attention to another bill under consideration, one that might also affect your treatment. I know I'm not alone in supplementing my treatment with vitamins and herbs. There is currently a bill in congress that, if passed, could change our ability to buy vitamins and supplements as common as CO-Q10, Vitamins D, C, and others.

The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 (S.3002), would amend The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act so the FDA would have absolute discretion to decide market availability of, as well as mandatory recall authority over, supplements. Some are calling this proposed act a prohibition of supplements.

We believe that consumer safety is of the utmost importance, and S.3002 has targeted products containing steroids and other illegal substances. However, the entire vitamin and supplements industry could as well be effected, with devastating results to small-company suppliers of herbal supplements, vitamins and to the people who buy those items to supplement their treatment.

As health advocate Stephen Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.N. puts it, "The problem with this bill is that its provisions are too broad, and don't specifically target the problems at hand.

We need the FDA to protect consumers against harmful products without smothering an industry that lacks the resources to comply with over-regulation. Coupled with greater FDA authority to decide which supplements are suitable for market, the new regulations create the potential for pharmaceutical companies to indirectly strong-arm smaller supplement companies out of business.

A more realistic balance between consumer safety and freedom in health care is possible through a more streamlined and carefully structured bill. S.3002 should not be passed as is, and public opposition could set the stage for closer scrutiny of any related supplement regulation."

Concerned about the future availability of supplements in your Lyme treatment protocol? Let your Senator know your opinion. Send an email or a place a quick phone call. Want to read the bill? Google the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 (S.3002) to view the .pdf.

Learn how to approach Lyme through holistic cross-training.

What's stressing you?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-03-20T17:04:00-04:00

Stress is believed by many to be a huge contributor of illness. Struggling with Lyme disease symptoms is stressful not only on your physical and mental bodies, but also on your emotions. And to top it off, even your own awareness of the stresses in your life can be a source of anxiety.

I remember when I was told that my Lyme-induced skin rash was nothing but a bad case of eczema. The nurse practitioner I'd gone to for help asked me in-depth questions about my rash, my diet, and my health history. She seemed puzzled that I was not the type who might suffer from eczema. I had never overused antibiotics, my Mediterranean-type diet included fresh greens and did not include sugar or alcohol. I was very much in love with my life-partner and running a small business that satisfied my financial needs, and which gave me time to spend with family and friends.

As I stood to leave, she peered pensively over her glasses at me and tapped her pen against her chin for a second. "You really must do something about whatever is stressing you out so badly," she said.

When I returned a blank look, she threw me a doctorly look and added, "think about it."

On the drive home, I soul-searched, but still couldn't locate a source of stress along the magnitude she was referring to. It wasn't as if I was living in a bubble, I had certainly had my challenges and bumps on the road of life. But at the time, things were going well. As a naturally self-reflective person, I felt a little embarrassed. Out of touch with myself. Was I making myself sick? By the time I pulled into my driveway, I had concluded that there must be something really wrong with me -- mentally and emotionally, not physically.

Months later, when a different doctor had my blood tested at IGeneX and I received a positive diagnosis for the Lyme infection, I felt that odd sense of relief familiar to many people with this disease. The illness, the mysterious symptoms, the long journey to a positive diagnosis, and the diagnosis itself is so hard-fought and hard-won. And finally, the physical and mental stress of treatment itself. It was a little like that old joke about the tombstone engraved with "I TOLD you I was sick!"

If you think stress might be a contributing factor to your illness (or like me, even if you don't), here are 7 things to do to eliminate or reduce tension and anxiety every day.

1. Set strong boundaries.

2. Take time for yourself.

3. Find areas of your life to maintain control.

4. Learn when to say "no, thanks."

5. Surround yourself with supportive and proactive people.

6. Ask for help when you need it.

7. Love yourself.

How do you deal best with the everyday stresses in your life, as you heal from Lyme? Please let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

Matthew Wood tells how teasel works

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-03-06T12:21:10-05:00

I feel great! It could be the sunshiny weather, or the fact that I am not Lymie anymore, having survived a recent herx. But I think what really lifted my spirits was talking with herbalist Matthew Wood, about the effectiveness of the herb teasel on Lyme and co-infections. I got a major energy boost from listening to him describe the way teasel works. After our conversation I immediately went to Amazon and ordered his book, The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using Plants as Medicines which has a comprehensive chapter all about this strong herbal medicine. I can't wait to learn more about it.

Teasel is considered a common weed that can frequently be found growing alongside highways. It is not an herbal antibiotic. Matthew explains that instead of killing the bacteria itself, it actually changes the environment in the body in order to engage the body's own capabilities to kill off Lyme bacteria. By warming the cells and muscles, it invites the Lyme bacteria into the bloodstream, where the body can then detox.

The detox or herx reaction from teasel is apparently a force to be reckoned with. In Matthew's experience, people using it as a part of Lyme treatment notice this reaction starting in about the second week of use. Only a very few drops of this powerful herbal tincture can cause reactions. He is well-known in herbalist circles for recommending low dosages, and tells about a woman who called him after treatment with the happy news that she could tell the teasel was working at a very deep level of healing.

Matthew's latest book was co-written with Wolf D. Storl. Wolf is a German man who writes about healing himself of Lyme disease using teasel, in Healing Lyme Disease Naturally: History, Analysis, and Treatments. It is due out from Amazon in April and can be pre-ordered.

Matthew lives and practices in Minnesota, and teaches about herbal wisdom all around the world. He is a Registered Herbalist and holds a Master of Science degree from the Scottish School of Medicine at the University of Wales.

LDRD members, please login to access interview.

Darryl Crews' Olympic Gold-style healing tips

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-02-20T10:30:02-05:00

Darryl's interviews are among our very favorite stories here at the LDRD. This guy walks his talk. When it comes to beating Lyme, he is as inspiring to me as any Olympic Gold medalist. Please listen to his updated story, if you haven't already heard it.

Some of you asked him to comment a little more about what it takes to get well. Here's what Coach Darryl has to say.

To me, getting well is a compilation of the following things:

1. PATIENCE, DETERMINATION, WILL POWER, DEDICATION, DISCIPLINE: Your chances of recovery are good if you happen to possess these qualities.

2. MEDICATION: Treat all known infections thoroughly with specific antibiotics. Treat aggressively until infection load is reduced to a point where the immune system can take over. Consider IV if you have neuro symptoms or fail to respond to orals. Learn to embrace herxes and avoid under treating at all costs.

3. DETOX: Address die-off daily to decrease toxins and reduce herx intensity. Consider using supps/herbs, sauna, Epsom salt baths, coffee enema, colonics, etc.

4. SLEEP: There's no such thing as too much. Quality deep sleep is a vital part of healing. Lyme causes fractured sleep. Auto CPAP is my all-natural sleep-aid of choice.

5. SUPPLEMENTS/HERBS: Daily support is required to assist the body with balancing nutrients, detoxifying and boosting your immune system.

6. EXERCISE: Thick blood harbors infections and toxins. Daily exercise will keep the blood flowing. Keep it basic for 10-15 mins twice a day (calisthenics, walk, cycling, swim, stair climbs or yoga.)

On another note…Be sure to tune into the Olympics for a bit of Visual Sports Therapy. Olympic athletes have overcome so much to get where they are and their stories are very motivating and inspiring. Beating Lyme requires the same drive.

Thanks for the kind wishes…all the best and full recoveries to everyone!

Darryl

Please also note: For further info about Darryl: WrongDiagnosis.com: Read about Darryl's misdiagnosis

And in addition, here's where Darryl goes for VO2 Exercise testing on his bike: Useful info throughout site.

Sweet seduction: Valentine's Day temptations

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-02-12T16:34:56-05:00

Whether you're snuggling close with your sweetie at the movies, or you doubt the merits of all this Valentine's Day mush, the challenges of a Hallmark holiday can strain the discipline of even the most determined person. When boxes of chocolates appear in every store window, and someone hands you a dish of Candy Hearts bearing messages such as "Be Mine" and "Tweet Me," how easy is it for you to just say no?

The emotional link between good times and sweet treats begins early in life. For some, candy or soda pop was the reward offered for being "good," quiet or out-of-the-way. For others, a piece of cake is sheer comfort. And heaven is a plate-full of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Later in life the pattern continues, reflected in the sensual language used to describe our desire for instant gratification. That gooey chocolate cake looks quite tempting. The box of See's isn't simply sitting on the table. It's trying to seduce you into peeling off the cellophane and lifting the cover.

Under certain circumstances, our resistance to sugary enticements can take on mythic dimensions. You don't want to hurt your lover's (or your friend's or your mother's) feelings, which seem to pivot on whether or not you accept their sweet offering. For some this is a willpower test of Biblical proportions.

Except when you have Lyme disease, and you know that indulging comes with a price. Remember how much it hurts to herx? That's all it takes. Just think back to the brain fog and headaches, or the last time your knees ached non-stop, or when even the satin sheets felt like sandpaper on your hypersensitive skin.

If you have an urge for some sweetness in your life, instead of splurging on a dessert try this: give yourself a present. A little luxury doesn't have to cost a lot, and it's a powerful way to help break a pattern you might have established in childhood. Sugar doesn't equal happiness. Buy tickets to a movie you've been wanting to see. Curl up with a new mystery novel and a cup of ginger tea sweetened with stevia. Call a friend. Rent a comedy. Pop some popcorn and pass it around, but when it comes to Valentine's candy, think about how really great you'll continue to feel if you simply say no thanks. And that will be the icing on the cake.

Wake up call: Lyme symptoms return

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-02-01T13:12:05-05:00

About six weeks ago I got a nasty wake-up call. My Lyme symptoms began to return. To cut to the chase, I am getting things under control again slowly, but it's been a trial.

Has that ever happened to you?

"It's a rotten deal" to quote my dear old auntie, but it's more than that. I'm trying to keep the perspective that most of all it's a powerful reminder about the importance of staying firmly rooted in my healthy routine.

I forget that I share my body and mind with a bunch of Lyme bugs. When I've got the situation under control, I kill them off slowly and without too much herxing, they don't act out, and I feel good. I can think and talk and walk and work and live and love, just like I was designed to do. The problems start when I forget (as I did six months ago) about the delicate balance I've got going on. Last year I was feeling so incredibly good, so Lyme-free, that I slowly let little things slip. I re-introduced some sugar into my diet. I let myself indulge in a beer now and again -- figuring it's got protein, B vitamins, minerals, magnesium, selenium, iron and it's a stress-buster in reasonable quantities. After all, I rationalized, it was surely not a recipe for disaster, right?

But then, following a few months of slippage, the perfect storm hit.

Literally. Our region was hit by snow-pocalypse in mid-December, leaving us without power for several days. It was cold. I was cold the whole time. We were snowed-in for over three days. My partner was dealing with a health concern of his own, which stressed us both out as we could not get out to get what we needed. In addition, I'd been sick with a flu prior to the storm, so my exercise routine was interrupted. I'd stopped taking a few of my mainstay supplements, and other stuff...you get the picture. When the snow melted and the power came back on I began to make up for lost time (or so I thought) by exercising twice as much, even introducing African dance classes into the mix, which, if you've ever done, is quite the workout!

Anyway, the symptoms have had a hay-day with me, the bugs have been partying, and I'm finally, but ever-so-slowly returning from the brink of a really painful six-week herx. My worst since I was first diagnosed in 2005.

The point is, we each have to determine what the right healing path is for us. For me, the two biggies are keeping up with my supplements and herbal therapies and not slacking on a sane amount of exercise. Also, it's about staying warm, as my body temp runs low, which is typical of people with a Lyme infection. Through trial and error I've also figured out which other things contribute to my personal homeostasis.

And I'm freshly vigilant for the Lyme bugs, who have somehow not quite managed yet to eat my common sense (completely). I'm not going to slip again.

Darryl is back--Listen to his success story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2010-01-09T20:17:56-05:00

Pro bike racer Darryl is counting the days to an upcoming race in April. Twenty-one months of hardcore antibiotic treatment are now behind him, including IV Rocephin, Zithromax and a go-round of Flagyl and Mepron last summer.

Since this new chapter of life began, Darryl counts among his athletic successes the "Beach and Back" fun bike race, a twenty-six mile, grueling uphill bike course that kept him "in the saddle" for four-and-a-half hours. I don't know about you, but I can hardly stay seated for more than one hour, and that's without peddling of course, without having to stretch and take water breaks. You can hear the surprise in his voice, and the satisfaction at his accomplishment as he describes the effort it took to finish that ride.

Darryl's impressive athletic achievements are no accident. A self-described "numbers guy," he has long been a devout record keeper, tracking his heart rate and other bodily systems with the eagle eye of a master coach. In fact, he is a coach, and takes his role seriously. A handful of Lyme patients have been lucky enough to come into Darryl's orbit, and he helps keep them on track with their Lyme-related needs. Knowing the hell that awaits someone with a positive diagnosis of Lyme disease, he aims to mitigate the bureaucratic and other various challenges that await them.

Some of Darryl's key points for beating Lyme:

Be a warrior. Don't allow anything to stop you from seeking treatment. Darryl saw 35 doctors before receiving a positive diagnosis for Lyme. He is passionate about standing up for yourself in the face of stubborn insurance company policies. His advice when your insurance company refuses to pay for tests and/or treatment that you and your doctor know are necessary? Appeal, and stay with it. Do not give up the fight. If you can't do the fighting, get someone who can fight for you until you can.

Be organized and monitor your progress. Keep your medical files together in one place. Statistics such as test results, enzyme counts, heart rate, weight and the dates of measurement are important, and so are their fluctuations. I love this--Darryl uses spreadsheets to track his numbers. Why didn't I think of that? Carefully monitor your progress. Keeping track of meds, supplements and foods on a spreadsheet is a great idea too.

Put yourself first. We hardly even need to mention this one. While it seems like such an obvious point, it is nevertheless quite difficult for a lot of people to pull this one off. Are you the main caretaker for a busy family? Find a way to take time for yourself every single day. Get enough sleep. It takes whatever it takes to get well. Your family might have to adjust, but rest assured they'll be overwhelmed with relief when you get better.

And finally, exercise, exercise, exercise. That's a direct quote. Even Darryl's mom (who also has Lyme) rides the bike he gave her indoors, in front of the telly. Do what you can to sweat out the toxins every day. Build muscle, which will help your immune system build strength. Darryl addresses this whole issue of exercise with compassion for those of us who suffer with crushing fatigue. He's been there too.

The really, really great news? Darryl's better!

Get your water bottle, jump on your stationary bike, hop onto your mini-trampoline and put on your headphones. Listen to Darryl's interview here.

Listen to the entire interview with Darryl for free!

Podcast - This is a long interview, so it may take awhile to load, please be patient.

Warm up with hot vegetarian chili

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-12-21T15:15:40-05:00

Lyme is an inflammatory disease. Following an anti-inflammatory diet can help reduce pain from many Lyme symptoms, such as rheumatoid arthritis and skin rashes.

In some stages of Lyme, you may not feel much like eating, or you may not know what to eat at all. Everything is so different, even your taste for certain old favorites. If you've altered your diet because of Lyme, sometimes you really just crave "normal" food.

Chili is hearty and healthy. It's nice and normal, and one of our favorite comfort foods around here. Here's the basic recipe. Trust me - it's simple and won't make you think too hard. Plus, it'll make your house smell great. Sometimes I switch out the peppers for carrots, or skimp on the chili powder. The herbs are the key to making this dish really scrumptious and satisfying. Add some simple corn bread and you've made a wonderful winter dinner.

Vegetarian chili

Ingredients

2-3 cans dark red kidney beans (drained)
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2-3 T olive oil
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic
3-4 T chili powder
2-3 T cumin
1-2 T fresh parsley
2-3 T oregano
1 1/2 cups of water
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Heat oil in large pot; saute onions until clear, then add celery, green pepper, and garlic; cook for 5 minutes or so. Add tomatoes (with juice; break the tomatoes into small chunks) and kidney beans; reduce to simmer. Add chili powder, cumin, parsley, oregano, water, cashews, and raisins (opt.) Simmer as long as you want. Garnish with fresh parsley or grated cheddar cheese (if you like cheese, try goat, which is easier to digest).

Happy Winter Solstice to everybody.

Here's to your health!

Tick saliva may hold key to Lyme vaccine

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-12-14T16:41:07-05:00

Erol Fikrig, MD, and other researchers at the Yale School of Medicine may be hot on the trail of creating a new Lyme vaccine.

What makes this Lyme vaccine different from the one that was taken off the market in 2002?

From a recent post on Science Blog.com

"Traditionally, vaccines have directly targeted specific pathogens. This is the first time that antibodies against a protein in the saliva of a pathogen's transmitting agent (in this case, the tick) has been shown to confer immunity when administered protectively as a vaccine."

Apparently the old Lyme vaccine "utilized just the outer surface proteins of the bacteria."

"The authors [of this study] believe this new strategy of targeting the saliva - the 'vector molecule' that a microbe requires to infect a host - may be applicable not just to Lyme disease but to other insect-borne pathogens that also cause human illness."

"We believe that it is likely that many arthropod-borne infection agents of medical importance use vector proteins as they move to the mammalian host," Fikrig explained.

If their scientific hunch proves correct, this study may also have positive implications for treatment of other illnesses that are spread by insects.

"Currently, we are working to determine if this strategy is likely to be important for West Nile virus infection, dengue fever, and malaria, among other diseases."

Treatment issues for children with Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-11-27T11:38:02-05:00

Dr Charles Ray Jones is a man with three ordinary names - yet he couldn't be any more extraordinary in his service to chronically ill patients, the children he treats every single day.

A reader sent a note last week that brought tears to my eyes -- the joyful kind.

Here is part of her note:

"My 11 year old is now under the care of Dr. Jones and is making incredible progress in his path to wellness. I appreciate what you are doing. Thank you for being willing to get the word out. What a frustrating journey this has been but I finally have my medical support system in place. It took a while. I was told by an infectious disease specialist in Maine that I was crazy and that my son was perfectly healthy. Dr. Jones is a saint and he has given my little boy his life back. He is again running and climbing trees and happy and bubbly...a far cry from last year at this time. I wish all of you the best and again, thank you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving."

Unfortunately, too many moms can relate to being told by a medical professional that there is nothing wrong with their kid, when the reality is that if Lyme bacteria is present, treatment could restore the child's health (and the mother's sanity).

Dr Jones has been called (by a colleague of his), "an international treasure - a courageous, selfless, inspirational, and outstandingly gifted clinician who has helped thousands of the most severely ill children with Lyme disease from around the world to regain their health and their lives."

Dr Jones talked with me a few weeks ago, about Connecticut Governor Rell's June 2009 decision to allow doctors to treat Lyme disease. He also talked about the significance of the recent IDSA Lyme treatment guidelines hearing in Washington, DC, and the future of Lyme disease treatment.

Listen to the interview in the member’s portal.

Readers write about Lyme brain

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-11-21T08:55:01-05:00

"Kmart" sent these comments in response to last week's post:

1 - I once lost my truck key on the job (gardener). I had three people (customers), for thirty five minutes, looking all over their house and property for it. I must have checked my pockets thirty times and even flipped out my front pockets like a rabbit. Yes (you all have done this) while just standing in confusion & embarrassment my stomach fluttered & face grew red as I had to suddenly admit that I found my key in my right front pocket while casually just standing there. Oops, my bad. There is still no way to explain lyme brain to others.

2 - Having read through the protocol, how in the heck is someone with stage 3 suppose to remember all that? I believe any attempt (at a protocol) is a good one for fighting Lyme. Seriously, there is no way I could stay on this as I am still looking for my keys!

***

Success stories usually, if not always, follow failure. The classic example is learning to ride a bike. If it took falling over nine or ten times before you finally got the balance thing down, than those nine or ten times were more about succeeding than failing.

Healing from Lyme has been sort of like that for me. Starting with getting a diagnosis, which doctors kept getting wrong. I've talked to people for the success stories who said that they went to more than 30, or in some cases more than 40 different doctors before getting a correct diagnosis!

It still makes me shiver to think about the dermatologist who wouldn't even look me in the eye while he was examining my skin rash. I'd brought in a notebook with questions I had jotted down, because I knew I wouldn't be able to remember them unless I wrote them down. The minute I opened it and read my first question, he stopped making eye contact with me! It felt as though he saw me as some sort of weirdo to protect himself against. I absolutely did not feel like I was in the supportive hands of a healer. Of course, it didn't help that I stuttered terribly whenever I tried to talk. He was one of the docs who had prescribed prednisone for my "excema." He was sure he was right. I was sure I was getting worse, not better. At that time I had no clue that the medicine itself was making my disease spread inside my body and brain, quickly rendering me unable to think, talk or keep my balance while walking.

Lyme brain can definitely be funny in retrospect, but I know it's absolutely terrifying when you've got it.

Whether your stories are humorous or scary (or both!), I invite you to share one of yours here. You can either email me directly: ldrd.support@gmail.com or put it in the comments.

All good wishes for healing to every one of you,
Suzanne

P.S. Kmart, I know what you mean about remembering the protocol. I kept notebooks full of schedules for when to take which antibiotic or supplement, to take it before meals, between, whether to take it with water or juice, or put it under my tongue, and how many drops of this and that, when to increase or decrease...It got to where I was either taking a medicine or writing about having taken it. Having Lyme is hard -- but healing from Lyme can be just as tough!

Working with Lyme brain - Under Our Skin

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-11-14T10:21:11-05:00

Under Our Skin filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson discussing his film on The Wrap.

I have to laugh now, because in retrospect it's funny, but at the time it was embarrassing. It's a memory of my interview with Andy, which I conducted a few years back before the Turn the Corner Foundation stepped in to help fund his film. I'm sure he didn't think much of the incident.

In our conversation, Andy was very gracious. He spoke eloquently about his sister's trouble with Lyme disease, and later, his feeling of helplessness when a close friend of his then discovered she also was suffering from late-stage Lyme. He'd been so moved to do something about the misunderstandings around Lyme symptoms and Lyme treatment, that he entered into the long process of making Under Our Skin, which is still gaining ground and helping the Lyme community to get the word out.

The embarrassing part was that in interviewing him, I couldn't get my phone recording equipment to start correctly. Lyme brain was so intense at the time for me, that I couldn't fix the problem. I had to hang up and call him back. I was too proud to admit that I was having a hard time that day. I couldn't tell whether it was the equipment or me who was glitching. However, Andy was incredibly kind and generous, and allowed me to reschedule our talk for later that day.

It wasn't the first time that had happened. A month earlier, I'd gotten through an interview with Dr Christine Horner, but I could barely hear her the entire time. My tinnitus was roaring, but that wasn't it. It was that awful, foggy Lyme brain again. It took away my ability to multi-task and hold two thoughts at a time. Normally I'm a fairly good troubleshooter, but there was no way I could troubleshoot and conduct an interview at the same time. It didn't even occur to me to ask if we could reschedule. When the interview was complete I hung up, and discovered that I'd put my earphone in backwards. No wonder she'd sounded faint the whole time.

These are not pretty memories.

However, remembering the bad times allow me to measure how far I've come back into balance. Using my brain is one of my favorite hobbies. I guess I'm grateful for all my Lyme experiences now, since I've come out on the other side, and can actually work my recording equipment pretty smoothly again...usually.

What about you? Care to share a Lymie memory? Please share your story in the comments!

Veteran's Day

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-11-11T12:38:41-05:00

This is Veteran's Day. Let's take a moment of silence and give thanks to all the veterans who serve our amazing country. In the UK, November 11 is known as Remembrance Day, and in other countries this is Armistice Day.

This post is dedicated to my dad, who served in WWII in the US Navy. Dad was a radio operator and spent many months undersea, working inside Navy submarines. He and mom raised five kids, and he never lost his love for the ocean. Miss you still, dad!

Harold "Bud" William Arthur (1923 - 1974)

Dr Cowden's updated Lyme protocol

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-11-06T17:20:31-05:00

Are you treating Lyme disease symptoms after having received a late-stage diagnosis? The problem for many of us who are healing from Lyme is that we know antibiotics are tough on our systems. While I have no doubt that longer term antibiotic protocols are key in killing the Lyme bacterial complex, I've talked to a lot of people who are either severely allergic to antibiotics, simply can't tolerate them after a long period, or have no health insurance coverage and can't pay out of pocket.

Which leaves us with what alternatives? It's very scary to hear your doctor tell you that in order to treat you for Lyme you must have antibiotics, when you a) can't tolerate them physically, or b), you can't afford them financially.

A friend of mine asked me about Lyme the other day. She'd heard that I'd been very sick and wondered if I was feeling better. It was such a huge pleasure to realize that I hadn't mentioned Lyme once to her, since we met a year or so ago. Speaking from my own experience only, I have found that treatment with a combination of methods, including behavioral changes, nutrition and diet and rigorous exercise has worked really well. Not as quickly as I'd like, that's for sure! But these days I consider myself to be living a healthy, Lyme-free life. In part, I achieved that goal with the help of Dr Cowden's protocol, using Samento and Cumanda and a host of other supplements.

Dr. Wm Lee Cowden says that he has discovered that “antibiotics do seem to work fairly well in a lot of patients. But, if they've had the illness for longer than six weeks, the chance of antibiotics getting rid of the infection, in my experience, is pretty unlikely, pretty remote. So, they're basically just guaranteeing that they'll stay on antibiotics for the rest of their life."

“The problem with staying on the standard pharmaceutical antibiotics long term," he says, "is that you kill off the friendly bacteria in your gut, and you cause an overgrowth of fungus in your gut, so then you trade one problem for another."

(The above quote is from my article on the effectiveness of Dr Cowden's Lyme protocol, in the Townsend Letter - The Examiner of Alternative Medicine, April 2007.)

PROTOCOL FOR LYME BORRELIOSIS From Wm. Lee Cowden, MD

Please also note Dr Cowden's condensed support program, updated February 17, 2009.

North Carolina recognizes risk of Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-10-25T17:41:57-04:00

Are you living in a state where the medical board--or worse, your own doctor--won't acknowledge Lyme disease?

Until recently, many North Carolina residents and physicians have presumed that the risk of getting Lyme within state borders was nonexistent. Casualties have included not only residents who contracted the disease, but also Dr Joseph Jemsek's Charlotte, NC medical practice. (Please note: Dr Jemsek moved his clinic to Fort Mill, SC in 2008.)

Dr Carl Williams performs disease surveillance for the North Carolina State epidemiology department. His office is in the tick-counting business. He says that unfortunately, the risk of contracting a tick-borne illness is nothing new in NC.

"Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is still a greater risk than Lyme in North Carolina, and you can catch both of them here," says Dr Williams.

Risk of Lyme disease in NC has now been officially acknowledged. "However," he adds, "skepticism is high because counts are low." That is, the numbers of confirmed cases of Lyme are still lower than cases of RMSF. There has been one fatality due to RMSF in North Carolina this year.

"As far as prevention goes," says Dr Williams, "there is nothing new to recommend. The same old tried and true methods are still the most effective."

Cooler weather is no deterrent to ticks, so he recommends that we stay tick-aware at all times of the year. "Just because it's January, for example, don't think you can't take precautions or don't need to. We want people to recognize that there are a variety of ticks here in NC, and that it's important to take care and adhere to preventative measures."

What are those tried and true methods?

"Use DEET on areas of exposed skin, and Permethrin on clothes. Perform tick checks when you come in from an area where you may have been exposed to ticks, and realize that even though you can significantly reduce your chances of getting bitten by a tick, taking these safety measures is really not a guarantee. There is no failsafe mechanism to guarantee that a tick will not get onto your skin, or attach to it."

Interview with Functional Movement Specialist Katherine Dowdney

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-10-18T18:03:54-04:00

I'm pro exercise! I never had a regular exercise program until I was healing from Lyme, and its perks and positive effects have been countless. It is one of those amazing gifts that's come from dealing with Lyme and chronic problems.

And, I'm so inspired by CJ Jaffe, Perry Fields, and all of the other athletes and exercise enthusiasts we've interviewed here, who have kicked Lyme and continue to integrate a rigorous exercise program into their schedule of healing.

But when we're talking exercise, just how much is enough? How much is too much? Should you start an exercise program without consulting your doctor or medical adviser? After all, getting stronger and getting well are the goals, not wearing ourselves out.

Recently, I had an opportunity to talk about these issues with Katherine Dowdney, a Functional Movement Specialist with a private practice as an exercise and rehabilitation coach. She describes her experience in working with people who suffer with conditions brought about by chronic illness. She talks about the problems and concerns we all face, such as how to choose a good exercise coach and just how far to push ourselves when we're really sick ora feeling out of balance.

Here is her bio and website:

Katherine Dowdney’s passion for anatomy and movement is evident in her teaching. She enjoys empowering clients to meet their personal fitness and wellness goals. Utilizing a combination of the Pilates method, yoga, traditional weight training, and additional corrective exercise modalities Katherine has a special interest in working with individuals with chronic conditions and pre or post rehabilitation. Katherine is a certified ACE personal trainer, a dual certified Pilates instructor through Peak Pilates and Balanced Body, an E-RYT 200 hour yoga instructor, an NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, and an AFPA Post Rehab Specialist. She has received training in experiential anatomy, pre/post natal Fusion Pilates, Sadhana Chi yoga, Children’s yoga, and Structural Yoga Therapy. She recently attended an 8-day training in Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors at Duke Integrative Medicine. Her interests are in mindful movement, pain management, and corrective exercise.

Katherine is a founding member of Moving Women Dance Performance Ensemble in Asheville, NC where she choreographs and performs as a modern dancer. Along with dancing and teaching movement science, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Sam, and their dog, Ranger.

Her website is www.blissful-body.com

LDRD members, please listen to the conversation with Katherine.

Vote for CJ! Our Lyme Hero

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-10-16T13:12:52-04:00

Need a shot of encouragement?

Some days we all do, and I'm glad to bring you an exciting piece of news about a young athlete and registered nurse whose story is chronicled on our Lyme Success Stories series.

Here is an update on CJ Jaffe, who remains a bubbling fountain of energy despite continued trials with Chronic Lyme symptoms. CJ is a triathlon competitor and one of our favorite success stories (read more about CJ's Lyme success story here).

We in the Lyme community don't have too many opportunities to get psyched about something fun. So, don't miss this chance to put a bit of excitement on your healing path. On November 22, 2009, CJ will be competing in her 2nd Ironman Triathlon with Chronic Lyme. More importantly, she will be raising money for the Turn the Corner Foundation to help fund further research.

Here's the fun part: You are invited to follow CJ online on the day of the race. Simply go to ironmanlive.com and click on "Athlete Tracker." Type in "JAFFE" and her stats will come up. So tune in, watch, cheer on CJ and get engaged.

Vote for CJ!

In addition, CJ has been nominated for the Ford Everyday Ironman Hero award, to be presented in front of a crowd of more than 5,000 people. If she wins, the prestigious award will help her build Lyme awareness. Plus, she would receive an extra $1,000 for her charity, the TTC foundation. Please cast your vote for CJ Jaffe for the Ford Everyday Ironman Hero award by emailing helen@nasports.com The more nominations the better!

"I have been feeling okay, considering being treated for the symptoms I have," says CJ. "But, I'm still focused on athletics and I am convinced that between athletics and keeping a positive outlook, it's saving my life. I think I'm going to continue on this road for a while."

There's more!

Stay tuned to the LDRD blog for further information about CJ's plans to launch CTJ, "Create The Journey," an athletic team -- local and national -- of athletes like her. People who are passionate about giving Lyme patients a reason to survive, while positively impacting society.

Call for Lyme success stories

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-10-10T12:21:53-04:00

I know from experience that when you're in the thick of an acute illness such as Lyme, all your energy is spent on getting better. The pain can be so constant and overwhelming that you lose sight of what being healthy is. You might not think you can get there ever again. Sadly, we know that this disease can sometimes take an irreversible tact. You don't have to search far to encounter grim stories of people suffering with Lyme.

However, many people do recover from this profound illness. I recently took a road trip with my significant other, attended a family reunion, and reconnected with friends I cherish. Life is so astonishing sometimes, so precious, that now I have complete days when I totally forget how sick I've been, and what a long, slow climb it was back to a state of health.

I've been collecting Lyme success stories almost from the time I was diagnosed, because I felt strongly that if someone else out there had healed from Lyme, then I could too. My parents brought me up to share good news, so I'm still gathering success stories that others can learn from and be inspired.

Have you recovered from Lyme disease? Are you well on your way to a healthy, post-Lyme life?

People take so many different paths back to living a productive life. Many are able to follow a Lyme-literate doctor's protocol until they're Lyme-free. Many aren't able to afford that luxury, and so they use a combination of protocols and techniques that seem to help. Some are on a strict diet, and they claim that it has helped them walk away from Lyme. Some use herbal therapies and devices such as the rife machine. And considering how bone-crushingly weary Lyme can make us, I'm always impressed by the numbers of people who swear that rigorous physical exercise played a central role in their healing. Many of the people we've interviewed in our Lyme success stories, such as Darryl, who races bikes and works as a professional Hollywood stuntman, talk about applying the mental rigor, discipline and intense focus they honed as a competing athlete, to the path of healing.

Walking away from Lyme is something we all desire to do one day. If you've been successful in doing so, please consider sharing your success story with others. You never know when something you say might trigger an idea in someone's head and help them turn their health situation around for good. You won't be telling other people what to do. You'll simply be relating your own experience, which is in itself, a powerful sort of medicine.

Contact me directly for further information about sharing your Lyme success story.

Thank you.

Video--how to repel ticks

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-10-03T20:09:24-04:00

The harvest moon is rising outside my office window at this moment. It's full and bright and lovely. I noticed our neighbor's garden is burgeoning with ripe green peppers and orange squashes that need to be picked and enjoyed. Gardening and me don't exactly fit very well anymore -- not since Lyme revised my priorities. I leave it up to braver folks than I, who aren't as paranoid of tiny ticks. However, I still love the idea of gardening, and I'm always interested in discovering ways to do it safely.

How to Repel Ticks -- powered by eHow.com

This eHow video, posted by a gardener, explains the basics about how to protect yourself and your kids from ticks. She recommends the usual precautions, such as covering up head to toe with multiple layers of clothing. Then she mentions something I hadn't heard before. She suggests that on your hands and face, and any other body parts that aren't covered by clothing, you put on oil.

Her reasoning is that although the ticks are nearly impossible to repel once they've gotten onto your skin, they don't like oil because it causes them to slip, or reduces their success at sinking their sharp teeth into your skin. She says any kind of oil will do -- olive oil, lavender oil, baby oil, etc. She mentions DEET, as well, for its effectiveness as a tick repellent.

She also recommends putting your clothing into a hot dryer as soon as you come in from the garden, woods, forest, or wherever you may have been exposed to ticks. She claims that if you put your clothes into the washing machine, you risk setting them loose in the house. However, the hot temperature of the dryer should kill them.

I think I need to ask Dr Eva Sapi or some of our other Lyme experts about these claims before I believe them wholeheartedly. In our last interview, Dr Sapi told us that the biology graduate students in her University of New Haven Lyme research program couldn't even keep the ticks away using DEET, as they went hiking in the forest for a tick-gathering field trip.

What do you think? Have you ever used this oil trick? Is it effective?

Lymelife--see it on DVD now

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-09-30T18:18:51-04:00

Lymelife has just been released on DVD. If you missed it in the theaters, buy it or rent it this weekend. First and foremost, it's a heartbreaking story about falling in love and growing up, funny and powerful and poignant. But it's also a story about someone with Lyme. Through the character of Charlie, the movie reveals the unflinching pain--both physical and psychological--that people suffering with Lyme disease experienced in that era.

Even in the Lyme epicenter of Long Island, NY, in the 70s and 80s, Lyme disease was generally considered a made-up thing. Pain pills were subscribed to people who were suffering. Their struggle with sanity and physical debilitation was sad and frightful for their loved ones to witness, but if you were sick and there was no clear reason for it, you were basically left to fend for yourself. The disease was suspected to be psychosomatic, which meant that you somehow brought it on yourself.

Actor and director Steven Martini talked openly with me about the personal nature of his film, which is largely autobiographical. Sparked from the depths of his first experience with true love, the film turns on his character's recognition that life unfolds in tenuous, often dangerous ways. His girlfriend's father is inflicted with this mysterious illness, and the young man is confronted with complexities he is barely prepared to comprehend.

Listen to my conversation with Steven Martini about his latest film, Lymelife.

3 keys to better sleep

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-09-26T15:25:55-04:00

When was the last time you got a really good night of deep sleep? Sleep is a soothing tonic for anyone suffering with Lyme symptoms, yet peaceful snoozing can be elusive when you're in pain.

3 keys to better sleep:

1 - Therapeutic massage. Gentle, healing touch can help you relax and get a better night's sleep. Massage is helpful in lowering the anxiety which naturally arises when you have Lyme symptoms. Just the simple act of being touched with compassionate intention can be healing in and of itself. Before you make an appointment with a professional massage therapist, talk over your situation with them. Be certain you can communicate your needs clearly. She or he should be made aware of your illness and your threshold for pressure.

The Bowen Technique, developed by Dr JoAnne Whitaker, is similar in principle to acupuncture. It is a type of gentle massage designed to unblock energy and help the body maintain equilibrium so that healing can take place. Many people struggling with Fibromyalgia and CFS/ME report that this technique has accelerated their healing. (Incidentally, Dr Whitaker is one of the experts I interviewed for the LDRD Interviews with Experts series.)

2 - Maintain a regular schedule. Go to bed and rise at the same time every night and day. Even on the weekends. This is a good health-habit to cultivate even for people who aren't sick. Former surgeon Dr Christine Horner, author of Waking the Warrior Goddess: Harnessing the Power of Nature & Natural Medicines to Achieve Extraordinary Health, which received the “Best Book of the Year” for 2005 award from the Independent Book Publishers association in the category of health, medicine and nutrition, strongly believes in the body's innate ability to heal from any disease. Dr Horner recommends going to bed no later than 10 pm and rising at 6 am each day. (Note: LDRD members, please read the transcript of my interview with her, or listen to the audio version.)

Keeping a regular sleeping schedule helps your body to regulate its other autonomic functions, eating and making bowel movements. All of this can lead to more effective healing therapy. In addition, I'm a big fan of afternoon snoozing, and I usually get in about 20 minutes to one hour, daily. I'm convinced that my napping habit saved me during the worst of my illness. However, if you struggle with insomnia, you might get better results at night by limiting your naptime during the day.

3 - Allow yourself time to wind down before bedtime. This is a personal challenge for me. I'm either online with work or friends, or deep in conversation with my favorite person in the world, my partner Evan. I'm also a natural night owl, so if you are too, I'm sure you can relate. It can be tough to find the discipline to slow down at night, especially if you aren't in the thick of the disease and your mind is back to working order.

Cultivating a meditation practice, simply using breathing techniques from your yoga class, or relaxing in bed with an inspiring book can do wonders. Don't exercise for up to three hours before bedtime. Avoid stimulating drinks--especially during the afternoon and evening. No alcohol. Take a warm bath, and listen to soothing music. Let your loved ones know that they can help by gently rubbing your shoulders or neck. Stretching your arms and legs slowly and methodically before you get into bed can signal your body that it's time to drop off into dreamland.

Making your own herbal tonics

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-09-23T17:03:45-04:00

Like any serious disease, Lyme has gifts hidden in its pockets.

For me, Lyme's gift has been its power to teach. I've often thought that since dealing with this pernicious disease, I've learned more about my own particular healing patterns than I ever wanted to know. I doubt if I would have learned so much about keeping myself healthy if I hadn't gotten so sick in the first place.

Since Lyme has become my teacher, I've gotten really interested in making my own tinctures and teas. If this is something you're into as well, I recommend watching the short videos on Youtube by mountainroseherbs.com. These instructional videos are clear presentations that can help take the mystery out of the process. By making your own herbal concoctions you can save money as well.

And while we're on the subject, please check out this recipe for arthritis massage oils by author and master herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner. In addition, see herbalist Leslie Tierra's wonderful massage oil recipes here.

ILADS training new Lyme docs Oct 24-25

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-09-20T15:04:49-04:00

Is your doctor Lyme literate? If not, suggest they get educated by the world's top physicians and researchers. Please tell them about this important upcoming gathering.

The annual 2009 Lyme Disease Professional Conference will be held on October 24 - 25 at the Gaylord National Resort in Washington, DC. The conference is an opportunity for Lyme-educated doctors and scientists to train the next generation of medical professionals interested in helping to improve the quality of care for people with Lyme.

ILADS recognizes that the growing numbers of people suffering with Lyme and other tick-borne related diseases can be helped immensely by educating health care professionals in every field. Last year's San Francisco conference was hugely successful, and this fall's lineup promises to be even better.

ILADS president, Dr Daniel Cameron, writes, "This ILADS conference also provides a forum for researchers to present their results in the emerging topic workshops setting or in the research workshop. Together the conference will provide the basis for the evidence-based treatment of Lyme disease."

Write lymedocs@aol.com or call 301 263 1080 if you have any questions.

Dr Burrascano's Lyme treatment guidelines

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-09-08T16:10:50-04:00

Looking for diagnostic hints and treatment guidelines? I want to call your attention to Dr Burrascano's Treatment Guidelines. Click on this link:

Advanced Topics in Lyme Disease

If you're struggling with Lyme, this no-nonsense PDF will give you a reference and perhaps even a place to start. Among other things, you'll find a list of supplements that may be very helpful, along with a reminder to exercise if at all possible. Gentle strength training is necessary to rebuild your muscles and help restore your energy level. In addition, exercise can raise the core body temperature and oxygenate the blood. The Lyme bacteria may be a tough bug to kill, but two things that can do the job for sure are heat and oxygen.

Dr Burrascano writes:

Despite antibiotic treatments, patients will NOT return to normal unless they exercise! This is because in most cases the chronic Lyme patient is deconditioned. More importantly, a properly executed exercise program becomes part of the treatment, as it can actually go beyond the antibiotics in helping to clear the symptoms and to maintain a remission.

What to eat on the weekend

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-09-05T13:40:01-04:00

I hope you're feeling well enough to join the fun this Labor Day weekend.

When everyone else reaches for chips & dip, reach into your picnic basket instead for these yummy snacks recommended for people on an anti-inflammatory diet:

Celery and carrot sticks, or radishes with hummus. Raw veggies are better for you at room temperature, and not cold straight from the fridge.
For a delicious protein snack, spread tahini or almond butter on rice crackers.

For breakfast, cook steel cut oatmeal. A generous dollop of coconut oil keeps it from sticking to the pan, and imparts a delicate sweetness to the oats. Try fresh spinach in the morning along with scrambled eggs. Greens are fresh and tasty, and will satisfy without giving you that over-stuffed feeling.

For lunch or dinner, soup and sandwiches are quick and casual.

Rye bread can be a tasty substitute for wheat bread, but read the ingredients to make sure there is no wheat flour. Good sandwich fixings include sliced turkey (or tofurky, my fave), avocado, tomato, ground mustard and goat cheese or feta. Feta is reportedly much easier to digest than cow cheeses. Add fresh chopped greens from your garden, or layer on the sprouts - use mung bean for a delectable crunchiness, clover, or broccoli sprouts.

If you're a soup nut like me, make a delicate butternut squash soup, or a fragrant tomato bisque. Fresh corn soup is also delicious paired with a spinach, beet, walnut and goat cheese salad.

Mexican food is fast and festive. Make fish tostadas, using tilapia or salmon, piled onto corn tortillas, with dark green leafy lettuce, ripe slices of tomato, black beans, fresh salsa and guacamole, if you like.

Lyme sufferers in need of help

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-09-02T14:33:30-04:00

I receive heartrending letters like these every week. Lymenet.org has a good forum, and I have urged these two to go there. If you have some sound advice for these predicaments, we welcome supportive comments.

Note: If you have thoughts of suicide, please call the Lyme Disease Hotline: 1-800-886-LYME (1-800-886-5963)

Hi,
My husband has Lyme disease, and we have health insurance with Blue cross/Blue shield through my job. My husband has been on IV for the past 3 months & is just starting to show some recovery. Now yesterday, 9/1/09, insurance says it will no longer pay, because this treatment is called "experimental IV". Has anyone else had this problem, if so what did you do? I am at a loss.

Hello,
I know I have Lyme, I was bit by a tick at age 4, and I am now 40. It has affected my brain, I have no sense of direction, I cannot remember anything anymore. My left arm feels like it has been cut off at my wrist making if difficult because I am left handed. I have boils on my face the size of golf balls, I can't go into public which being in sales isn't possible so I lost my job. The doctor has tested me for everything under the sun and I told him to test for Lyme. He did a IgG/ImG, something like that, and the blood test came back negative, so he said I do not have Lyme. I can't get out of bed. I now am having problems walking because of my left hip. Several years ago I was semi-diagnosed with MS because I had a case of Bell's Palsy. The tick that bit me in Maryland wasn't found for over 2 days. I was severely ill. My insurance has been canceled and I am losing control. I don't know what to do anymore. I have been thinking suicidal thoughts and am very scared. Please if someone could give me some advice on what to do next. I need some guidance in a really bad way.

Lymelife filmmaker turns pain into art

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-08-28T14:40:47-04:00

Actor, writer, producer, editor and composer Steven Martini's latest film is Lymelife. As one reviewer wrote, "Lymelife is a unique take on the dangers of the American Dream."

Steven and his brother Derick learned the craft of filmmaking while making Goat on Fire and Smiling Fish (1999), and wanted to "dig deeper" for their next film. The material they mined for Lymelife is largely autobiographical. Taking place in the late 70s, the story chronicles their childhood in the NE, a first searing adolescent love affair, and the dissolution of their family unit. Scott, 15, begins to see that nothing is quite like he thought it was.

In the story, Scott's girlfriend's father, Charlie, is inflicted with Lyme. In real life, Steven's girlfriend's father had Lyme as well. He watched her family try to deal with illness and found it terrifying. As Steven says, Lyme back then was considered mysterious, even psychosomatic. Sound familiar?

I got a chance to speak with Steven last week. He described the intensity of writing and producing this autobiographical tale. He talks about his creative process and his experience of making the film, and even tells what became of the real life character of Charlie.

Please listen to our conversation by clicking on the Podcast link below.

Ted Kennedy dies. Will insurance reform survive?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-08-26T17:10:18-04:00

Health insurance in the US is in the floodlights, especially with the news of Senator Ted Kennedy's passing. He carried the issue of health care insurance reform over the course of his long career in congress. Speaking up once again for this issue was, he said, his primary reason for fighting his illness last year. How will his passing affect the fierce fight for change?

Health care reform may end with passing of its torchbearer: Ted Kennedy
by Bob Graham, Insurance & Financial Advisor

From the article: Congress needs a Ted Kennedy to pull things together in the fall. Kennedy had the ability to cross aisles, to get Republicans and Democrats to join forces on key reform efforts. No one else had the power of Ted Kennedy to get Congress to act on these big-ticket items like No Child Left Behind, the American with Disabilities Act, voters and civil rights legislation, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Please share your thoughts on health insurance reform, as it relates to your experience with Lyme disease.

Listen to Tina Garcia's experience at the IDSA hearing

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-08-21T11:30:59-04:00

Patient advocate Tina Garcia is passionate about justice and fairness.

Disabled by Lyme in 2004, she soon discovered the injustices in Lyme treatment. Particularly, she was outraged to learn that patients in her position were frequently turned down for medical insurance coverage for the treatment of Lyme disease. Her own insurance requests for coverage were rejected as well, and like so many Lyme patients she had to pay for treatment out of pocket.

When Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal began the investigation into the IDSA standard of Lyme treatment, Tina submitted her rejected insurance claims to his office. However, her concern wasn't simply about her own welfare. Desire to help others inspired her to found the organization, LEAP Arizona, a Lyme Education Awareness Program. She began a dialog with the Assistant AG, which lead to her invitation to testify on July 30 at the historical IDSA hearing in Washington, DC.

Tina, who is still healing from Lyme, traveled to DC where she delivered her eloquent testimony to the hearing panel. On her website, you will find a link to listen to the IDSA hearing, and a copy of her testimony.

Tina spoke with me on Thursday, August 20, about her experience at the hearing. She describes the day's emotional highlights, in particular the presentations of Drs Ken Liegner and Steven Phillips. She also talks about her faith in the IDSA panel, who, in a matter of months, will be deciding whether or not to recommend changing the standard Lyme protocol.

I invite you to listen to our conversation by joining.

Anti-inflammatory diet for Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-08-17T12:26:17-04:00

I've been under the impression that medical practitioners, such as GP doctors and nutritionists, were familiar with the notion that inflammation is at the core of many diseases. However, it looks like the study of inflammation, and what to do about it, is newer than I thought. According to an Aug 17, 2009 article in the LA Times, Battling inflammation, disease through food, by Shara Yurkiewicz, medical practitioners are just beginning to put two and two together when it comes to inflammation and chronic disease.

"[Chronic inflammation] is an emerging field," says Dr. David Heber, a UCLA professor of medicine and director of the university's Center for Human Nutrition. "It's a new concept for medicine."

The article continues: "The theory goes that long after the invading bacteria or viruses from some infection [such as Lyme bacteria] are gone, the body's defenses remain active. The activated immune cells and hormones then turn on the body itself, damaging tissues. The process continues indefinitely, occurring at low enough levels that a person doesn't feel pain or realize anything is wrong. Years later, proponents say, the damage contributes to illnesses such as heart disease, neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease or cancer." LA Times article, 8/16/09

When you get a splinter, or a mosquito bite, or suffer an injury such as a broken bone, your body's immune system instantly responds to the pain and offense by sending more blood to the wounded area. The tissue swells and reddens while the healing work gets underway. While it's fairly easy to see a mosquito bite or detect a broken bone, chronic silent inflammation inside the body, which is what Lyme disease may cause, may go unnoticed for years because, as the article states, it occurs at a low level and doesn't hurt. The immune system doesn't switch off.

What can be done? Although more studies are necessary to determine the results scientifically, many people (including me) believe that their eating habits affect their health and can even help bring down chronic inflammation. Choosing foods rich in antioxidants is probably smart, and may even help you feel better while healing from Lyme infection. Antioxidants may slow down or inhibit the tissue damage caused by free radicals at the sites of inflammation.

The Mediterranean diet, for example, is high in antioxidants, including dark green leafy veggies, whole grains such as steel cut oats, nuts, oily fish such as salmon, and bright-colored fruits such as blueberries, pomegranates, dark cherries and raspberries.

Following an anti-inflammatory diet also means eliminating, or at least reducing food that can cause inflammation. Such foods include those with saturated fats, trans fats, corn and soybean oil, refined carbohydrates such as white sugars, red meat and dairy.

Neem oil and ticks

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-08-15T12:36:29-04:00

Q: Will neem oil spray kill the ticks on my dog?

A: No, it's not likely. Mature ticks are not usually affected by neem. However, neem oil has been reported to cause female ticks to lay sterile eggs. In addition, neem oil repels ticks. Use it to reduce Sparky's chances of being bitten in the future. Regularly grooming, shampooing and then spraying your dog with neem oil may greatly improve the problem of ticks.

Clean and spray your pet's bedding with neem oil too. Protecting you and your family from tick bites means thinking about all the opportunities the little critters have to encroach on your living space. Clean and spray all the spaces where your pets hang out.

Think of this as a long-term solution, however, and not an immediate fix. Be wary of ads that promise results. Neem oil has been shown to be effective only with certain types of ticks, and cattle and other livestock have been tested more than dogs and cats.

Dogs and kitties (parrots and ferrets) add immeasurable love to our lives. Unavoidably, we take our chances with the dangers they may carry when they run freely outdoors and in, sleep in our beds and lounge on our sofas. Keep an eye on your outdoor pet, making regular tick checks a part of routine grooming. If you've found ticks on your pet, please take them to see your vet right away. Our cats and dogs are vulnerable to Lyme and related tick-borne diseases. The vets I've consulted with say there is often a good chance for recovery, especially if the animal is treated with antibiotics as soon after infection as possible.

Educate yourself about ticks

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-08-08T14:58:54-04:00

Summertime is so inviting, the trails around my house are shady, green and cool. Summer is also time to pay close attention to the small dangers in the woods and grassy fields. If you hike, camp or hang out in the great outdoors, or know anyone who does, please pass on to this information about ticks and tick-borne diseases.

Everything you always wanted to know about ticks (but were too chicken to ask) is included in this handbook, the new revised edition prepared by Kirby C. Stafford III, PhD Vice Director, Chief Entomologist of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. It's an 84-page booklet that you can download as a PDF.

Tick Management Handbook

Clashing views at the IDSA hearing

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-08-01T13:44:17-04:00

Thursday's day-long IDSA hearing in Washington DC offered a fascinating glimpse into the opposing perspectives on Lyme disease treatment. Scattered into the testimony were flashes of tension and emotion. If you crave power point presentations, it was right up your alley. It was also an exercise in stamina for the participants. The entire hearing will be archived online for one year at idsociety.org.

As the hearing proceeded, I was most interested in the tension developing between the presenters' testimonies. For example, Eugene Shapiro, MD, a Lyme disease specialist at Yale University, stated that he thinks it is very important to engage in additional research about how to help persons suffering from medically unexplained symptoms. He also stated that in his view, there is "no scientific justification for changing current IDSA recommendations related to duration of antibiotic treatment of Lyme disease."

Then came Brian Fallon, MD, of Columbia Medical School. Notably, Dr Fallon began his presentation by stating that he is not a member of either IDSA or ILADS. He's a psychiatrist belonging to the American Psychiatric Association. In direct opposition to Dr Shapiro's statement, Dr Fallon referred to a blind study in which repeated antibiotic treatment has been found to be effective, yet is not recommended due to the risks. He also made it clear that repeated antibotics have been shown to be effective for the fatigue associated with Lyme disease. However, not for pain or any of the other symptoms related to Lyme.

Dr Fallon suggested that doctors could approach this risk factor by talking to patients about the risks. Discussing the risks of medications is something, he says, doctors do every day. He also mentioned that the testing has only been done on two specific antibiotics, and added that it might be a mistake to make recommendations based on those tests about antibiotics in general.

The most emotional moment of the hearing (that I saw) occurred when Dr Ken Liegner, ILADS member, showed a video clip of his patient Vicki Logan from June 22, 2001. Vicki had sought all kinds of treatment, according to Dr Liegner, in trying to deal with what he reminded the panel is still to be considered a "formidable pathogen." As the result of a misdiagnoses, she had been given coricosteroids early in her treatment. After all her treatment, spirochetes were found in her pericardium (the thin membrane that surrounds the heart).

The video was evidently recorded as Vicki lay dying in a hospital bed. She is so weak with advanced Lyme disease that you can barely make out the words as she says, "I hope that what happened to me will benefit others who wind up in the same situation." She also had words of praise for Dr Liegner, telling him on-camera that without his help she wouldn't even have lived as long as she did. It was a tearful moment for me.

I'm curious about your opinion. Does your doctor (or doctors) talk to you about the risks involved in the treatment options for Lyme disease?

IDSA hearing - message from Tina Garcia of L.E.A.P.

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-29T18:13:31-04:00

On the eve of the hearing in DC, patient advocate and panel member Tina Garcia sends us this message. I will be interviewing Tina very soon, so watch this blog - it will be posted for free to anyone who wants to hear directly from her what the hearing was like. Please feel free to forward the following note to any other Lyme groups who might be interested:

I just wanted to send out a huge thank you to all on Eurolyme and other groups who have shown me so much support! I am here in DC anxious to attend the Hearing!

I thought I'd write to let everyone know that the lime green ribbon campaign is being done in conjunction with media coverage of the Hearing and it is not a demonstration of any sort.

It is a way to get more media attention at the Marriott across from the Ronald Reagan Building, where the Hearing will be held. I am here and watching it all unfold and I assure you that it is an awareness campaign and not a demonstration. It is defintely not a campaign that will negatively effect the Hearing or offend the Review Panel in any way.

This is a very critical moment for the Lyme community, patients and docs. I would ask everyone to please focus strongly on the bond that we all share in this community and muster all the strength and courage we can to unite as a community. We must rise above the disagreements and conflicts that occur between advocacy groups and form a cohesive community of patients and doctors.

We must not allow our actions to be dictated by reactions to efforts that might make us stray from the path we are on. Let's unite and work together, for there is strength in numbers. United we stand -- divided we fall. We can stll hold on to the uniqueness of each of our advocacy groups, but at this crucial hour, we must be willing to work together and appreciate each other's uniqueness and admire each other's strengths and efforts to make a difference for all.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL GROUPS AND LISTS AND DISCUSSIONS ASAP.
I AM PRESSED FOR TIME, SO IF YOU CAN ALL FORWARD THIS MESSAGE FAR AND WIDE, I WOULD TRULY APPRECIATE IT! THANK YOU!

In Solidarity,

Tina J. Garcia
Lyme Education Awareness Program
L.E.A.P. Arizona
www.leaparizona. com
P.O. Box 2654
Mesa, Arizona USA
480-219-6869 Phone
480-830-2788 Fax

Interview with the extraordinary Dr Jones

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-28T13:40:27-04:00

Dr Charles Ray Jones is a man with three ordinary names - yet he couldn't be any more extraordinary in his service to chronically ill patients.

To quote Sandy Berenbaum's introduction at a 2008 University of New Haven celebration to honor Dr Jones, a colleague of his has observed that he is "an international treasure - a courageous, selfless, inspirational, and outstandingly gifted clinician who has helped thousands of the most severely ill children with Lyme disease from around the world to regain their health and their lives."

Dr Jones spoke with me about Connecticut Governor Rell's recent decision to allow doctors to treat Lyme disease, the significance of this week's IDSA hearing in Washington, DC, and about the future of Lyme disease treatment.

Listen to the interview with Dr Charles Ray Jones in our member’s portal.

Watch the IDSA hearing live online

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-26T16:52:40-04:00

If you have ever had trouble getting treated for Lyme disease, or you are interested in long-term antibiotic treatment of Lyme, you probably already know about this Thursday's hearing. If you don't, then you may want to tune in.

The long-awaited IDSA hearing on Lyme treatment is finally happening, Thursday, July 30, '09. You can follow the entire broadcast live online.

Panel member Raphael Stricker, MD, an ILADS physician, is one of the doctors included in our experts interview series. Several of the healthy Lyme survivors included in our Success Stories series have included his patients. Tune in to listen to what Dr Stricker has to say.

We plan to interview many more members of the panel soon, starting with Tina Garcia, a dedicated Lyme patient advocate.

Click the link below for important information about the IDSA hearing:
http://www.idsociety.org/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=14974

Eat your (fresh organic) veggies!

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-24T21:10:50-04:00

Summertime means fresh, organic veggies and fruits. I'm a sprouts fanatic. They're easy to eat and digest. I've always liked them, but even more so since I've been fighting Lyme. Sprouts are just so delicious and appealing.

On a sunny day it's nice to come home from the grocery store or farmer's market and toss together a mouth-watering salad of greens. You might add in fresh ripe tomatoes, peas, shredded carrots and/or beets, and top it with a handful of broccoli or clover sprouts and drizzle on your favorite dressing. I like to crumble bits of organic goat cheese on top too. Raw foods can be beautiful to behold, and so full of zest and prana. The nicest part is that afterwards, you don't feel sluggish. Just clean and energized.

Fresh, raw food diets have been used with success to ease the pain of many chronic diseases. But your body must be at a stage where eating raw foods can help boost your vitality, and not simply give it more work to do. During an acute stage of Lyme disease, raw foods may be too harsh to digest. Before you become a raw foodie, talk with your Lyme doc. If possible, consult a nutritionist who is educated about Lyme disease.

During early or acute stages of Lyme disease, your body might not be able to handle many raw foods. However, since raw veggies are rich in enzymes, they can be very beneficial in later stages of Lyme.

Sprouts, though, are a helpful food to eat during any stage of Lyme. You don't even have to go to the store or the market for these - grow your own!

Given the right conditions, teeny-weeny vegetable seeds grow into flavorful veggies. Sprouted broccoli, clover and radish seeds can contain many times the nutrients of the mature vegetable. Broccoli sprouts are one of my favorites because they contain sulforaphane, a long-lasting antioxidant that has powerful anti-bacterial qualities.

Going raw is a personal choice, up to you and your doctors. You can always add more leafy green vegetables to your diet without going totally raw.

Veggies with sulforaphane:

Bok choy
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Collard greens
Kale
Kohlrabi
Mustard greens
Turnips
Radish
Watercress

Find a Lyme doctor near you

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-21T14:34:19-04:00

Q: What should I do? I've had Lyme disease symptoms, but the time for early treatment has elapsed.

A: Contact a Lyme literate medical doctor near you. Please go to the Lyme Disease Association doctor referrals page.

Once you're on the LDA website, click on the link for "doctor referrals." Register using your email address. Once you've done so, follow the simple directions to find a doctor near you. The process doesn't take long and the directions are easy to follow. If you need a Lyme doctor, I urge you to find one as soon as possible.

You'll be asked whether you'd prefer a doctor who belongs to the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). Keep in mind that Infectious disease doctors (IDSA) may not have the knowledge it takes to treat Lyme disease, especially when it has gone beyond the early stages. Infectious disease doctors may also lack the experience that ILADS specialists can offer in diagnosing and treating Lyme.

ILADS member and Registered Nurse, Ginger Savely, has diagnosed and treated over one thousand patients with Lyme symptoms. She is confident that with treatment, you can recover from Lyme disease.

Many experts agree that if Lyme is left untreated, or if it goes under-treated, the disease can be debilitating and even cause serious threats to health and well-being.

If you need help, please use the link above to find a doctor who knows how to diagnose and treat Lyme now.

And meantime, please take advantage of the work we've been doing over the past few years, collecting Lyme Success Stories. Listen to the Success Stories here on our website. Many of them are available for free. All we ask is that you sign up for our newsletter in order to hear them. LDRD members, who help make our work here possible, have access to many more stories, and we're adding new ones all the time. These people are so strong and enthusiastic, I love listening to them. They hail from all walks of life -- young, not-so-young, men, women and children. They will help you find the inner strength and confidence you need at this point. Some of them have specific information about how they healed from Lyme. They talk about how they found their Lyme doctors, they tell which medicines they took, and some describe their nutritional plans, exercise routines, and more.

When we're sick, we need encouragement. We need to hear from other people who've been down the same road. Nurse Ginger Savely told me, during our interview, that she fully believes that people can get better, when given the right treatment, even if they've suffered with Lyme symptoms for many, many years. She sees it happening every day in her San Francisco clinic.

"My year in HELL"

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-20T12:40:20-04:00

It's Friday, and I wanted to share this with you all. One our readers, Kim Jones, gave us permission to post this happy note. If you're sick, take heart and know that there are many, many people who are beating Lyme:

It has been a year since a nasty little tick gave me the disease from HELL. But I am back among the living. And living well. Feeling better than ever! Something I did not think was possible a year ago. Some days were so hopeless and I was too tired to read in bed or walk down my driveway to get the mail let alone work or go out with friends.

I dreaded the full moon and nights of restless sleep and days of endless exhaustion. The joint pain was incredible and I could not think through the brain fog to function in any normal sort of way. I will forever look back on May 2008 as the beginning of my year in HELL.

Never mind the swirl of doctors and pills and tests that we have all gone through and the endless researching and reading to find an answer. I absolutely was consumed with finding a cure - I was not going to let this ruin my life. I was absolutely glued to my computer screen searching every LD site I could find.

Then later, when Under Our Skin came out (I bought an advance copy), I watched it over and over while I cried seemingly endless tears. But I refused to allow this to happen to me. Mine is a story of strength and perseverance and just plain stubbornness on my part. Even from the beginning I made my mind up that this THING was NOT going to get me. I was going to beat it.

And I have beat it. Thanks to self-determination, excellent nutrition, LOTS of exercise, and meditative positive thinking. Also, with support from my husband and an excellent local LPN, the only one in the medical community who would listen and help me with meds and support, and a team of online supporters.

I have WON this battle. I am symptom free now for over 3 months. No meds, no brain fog, no fatigue, no rash, nothing. I really am free of this dreaded disease. I now have my life back - whoooooooppppppeeeee!

Speak up for Lyme survey

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-20T12:39:42-04:00

Patient survey

Patient advocate Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA, of the California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA) will be testifying before the IDSA review panel on July 30. This survey, which takes about 5 minutes to complete, will be used to support her speech. Your identity will remain anonymous.

Lorraine writes:
You can get more information on what is happening with the hearing by visiting the CALDA website at www.lymedisease.org and visiting my blog there by clicking news and blogs and then Lyme Policy Wonk. You can also visit my blog by going to www.lymepolicywonk.org.

Please support the good work that CALDA does by becoming a member and helping us advocate for Lyme patient rights.

If you wish, you can watch the July 30 hearing live on the internet at the IDSA website (idsociety.org).

Dr Charles Ray Jones: upcoming interview

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-20T12:38:56-04:00

Coming soon: a very special interview with renowned Lyme expert Dr Charles Jones of Connecticut. Dr Jones celebrated his 80th birthday last month, and he continues to treat chronically ill patients. His life and work is a testament to caring and courage.

Here are a couple of links to help you read up on Dr Jones:

Dr Charles Ray Jones homepage
The State of Connecticut vs. Dr Charles Ray Jones - A Hangin' In Hartford - article by Rick Vassar, April 17, 2007

Please note: This interview will be posted for free access to everyone - not just LDRD members. As always, we thank our members for your support, which enables us to keep conducting and posting these interviews.

IDSA submits letter to Waxman

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-08T17:17:31-04:00

Things are heating up in Washington DC as the July 30 hearing approaches.

Below is an excerpt from a letter written on June 25, 2009 and sent by the IDSA to US Representative Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. In it, the IDSA makes clear that it opposes the bill regarding Lyme disease treatment (H.R. 1179), which was recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives.

Here is a partial excerpt:
We believe it is important that Members of Congress who are considering co-sponsorship of H.R. 1179 be fully apprised of IDSA’s view, which is aligned with the broader medical and scientific communities’ view, that the long-term use of antibiotics for the treatment of Lyme disease is unproven and potentially harmful to the patients being treated and to the public’s health (due to the potential creation of drug-resistant organisms).

Further, it is IDSA’s position that no reliable evidence exists that supports the designation of Lyme disease as a chronic disease. Two recent reviews -- one published in the New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med 357:14; October 4, 2007) and the other in the American Journal of Medicine (2008) 121, 562-564 -- give evidence-based assessments of Lyme disease diagnoses and the recommended treatments which substantiate our position.

Where are the articles on Lyme disease?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-07-06T16:13:42-04:00

Dr David L Katz, a medical doctor and blogger for Prevention Magazine, wrote this reductive "preview" of Under Our Skin last year. On the Prevention site, I posted my response to his claim that there is no such thing as chronic Lyme. In his article, Dr Katz admits that he hadn't yet the movie, yet he already had strong opinions about it. I went searching for his post this morning, but it has since been removed. There is very little trace of Lyme disease mentioned in his health blog. I am not singling out Dr Katz for criticism here. However, I find it curious that a popular magazine on integrative medicine doesn't seem to be concerned with Lyme disease anymore.

Here is an excerpt of his 4/25/2008 blog post, which he titled "From the (sub)Lyme to the ridiculous":

A Yale colleague and leading authority on Lyme Disease, Dr. Durland Fish, brought to my attention a documentary film, to be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, highlighting the devastation wrought by chronic Lyme infection.

The only problem with that is...there is no such thing.

The best available science indicates that chronic infection with Lyme does not occur. There certainly can be, and are, chronic symptoms after Lyme infection- but that is very different from chronic infection. Consider, for instance, that after a bout of polio, some people have a permanent disability. That does not mean they are permanently infected with poliomyelitis- we know for a fact they are not.

There is, unfortunately, a cottage industry in treating "chronic Lyme." That treatment often involves lengthy courses of antibiotics, long after evidence of active infection is gone. Some clinicians are probably engaged in this practice in a genuine, if apparently misguided, effort to help. Others- a far more serious transgression- may be exploiting patient desperation for profit.

As far as I can tell, the documentary on chronic Lyme will be in equal parts compelling, and misleading. The terrible plight of the patients profiled will, and should, tug at your heart strings. But the implication that these are cases of chronic Lyme infection is at odds with the scientific evidence.

Here is my response:

Unfortunately, the vast and often seemingly disconnected array of symptoms, which can include rheumatoid arthritis, arrhythmia, memory loss and crushing fatigue, often lead patients from specialist to specialist, who never choose to investigate whether an underlying bacteria, treatable with antibiotics, could be at the root of their patients' problems. These clinicians could as well be "exploiting patient desperation for profit." Countless people have been misdiagnosed and under-diagnosed with Lyme disease, subscribed medicines that replicate the Lyme bacteria, causing the patient further, and even permanent, harm.

Comparison of the Lyme bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, with poliomyelitis proves very little. The spirochetal bacteria that causes Lyme disease is able to evade the body's immune system, and it is scientifically well-documented that tests for Lyme infection are often inaccurate.

Perhaps a "cottage industry," as you call it, has developed for a good reason. People are suffering. Many doctors are unwilling to consider Lyme infection as a cause of their pain. Numerous medical researchers and physicians recognize that gaps exist in our current understanding of the Lyme bacteria. More scientific studies and more medical research is necessary.

IDSA announces presenters for hearing

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-06-29T11:07:46-04:00

IDSA Announces presenters for its July 30, 2009 Hearing of the Lyme Disease Review Panel
Posted June 22, 2009 on the IDSA website

On July 30, 2009 (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EASTERN), IDSA will hold an all-day hearing of its Lyme Disease Review Panel to hear testimony from patients, physicians and scientists on its 2006 Lyme Disease Guidelines. Individuals presenting and the order in which they will present follows:

* Tina Garcia, Lyme Education Awareness Program Arizona (L.E.A.P. Arizona, Inc.), Mesa, Arizona
* Lorraine Johnson, California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA), Ukiah, California
* Daniel Cameron, MD, International Lyme and Assoiciated Diseases Society (ILADS), California
* Phillip Baker, PhD, American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF), Bethesda, MD
* Ben Luft, MD, The State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY
* Allison Delong, ILADS, Providence, RI
* Barbara Johnson, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO
* David Volkman, MD, Nissequogue, NY
* Sam Donta, MD, Falmouth, MA
* Eugene Shapiro, MD, IDSA & Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven CT
* Brian Fallon, MD, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
* Sunil Sood, MD, Schneider Children's Hospital at North Shore, Manhasset, NY
* Ken Liegner, MD, ILADS, Armonk, NY
* Allen Steere, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
* Steven Phillips, MD, ILADS, Wilton, CT
* Art Weinstein, MD, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
* Raphael Stricker, MD, ILADS, San Francisco, CA
* Gary Wormser, MD, IDSA & New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY

In-person attendance at the hearing is by invitation only. However, the Hearing will be broadcast live, in real-time via webcast from the IDSA Website (www.idsociety.org/lymedisease.htm) and will be archived on the web for viewing at your convenience. Information on how to attend via webcast will be posted on the IDSA website no later than one week prior to the hearing.

Alternative Lyme treatments

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-06-28T11:32:35-04:00

A friend asked for some advice about her Lyme protocol. She doesn't want to take antibiotics and would like to attempt an all-natural Lyme protocol.

I reminded her that I don't give advice. I'm an editor, not a doctor, and besides, it seems to me that depending on what stage of the disease you have, the symptoms of Lyme and the specific quirks of our immune systems truly complicate the challenge. The more people I interview about their experience with Lyme and its co-infections, the more I find out that I don't know. You've heard that old saying about the moment you recognize that you don't know anything is the beginning of wisdom? It's like that.

Although many of the Lyme-aware doctors we've interviewed for the "Interviews with Experts" series prescribe antibiotics for Lyme disease treatment, many people dealing with this multistage illness have incorporated other protocols into their routine at one point or another. Herbal tinctures, nutritional supplements and oxygen therapy are good examples of alternative or additional treatments, and I've had reports of excellent results with various combinations of these. Rife therapy has reportedly helped a lot of Lyme patients as well.

I've written about Dr Lee Cowden's herbal protocol in a special issue about Lyme protocols in the Townsend Letter, and he's featured in our Experts series. I'm interested in hearing more about the results of Dr Richard Horowitz's protocol, because he incorporates some of the Cowden herbs, and we're looking forward to adding his voice to our series.

I told my friend that the best advice I could offer is to tune in to the experts, and also listen to a catalog of stories about people from all walks of life, rich and poor, old and young, who have battled the tiger and now live vital, post-Lyme lives. I believe everyone has something to teach us, and that everyone is at least partially right. It's our job to decipher what's right, and what works, for us on our individual healing journeys.

I have had profound results from Dr Cowden's protocol. However, when I was first diagnosed my doctor insisted that I take antibiotics, which I remained on for six months.

I'm moved by my friend's sincere quest to heal from Lyme without going the pharmaceutical route. So, I thought I'd post this question to you: Have you had significant and long-lasting results from purely herbal protocols, such as the treatments recommended by Dr Lee Cowden, or Herbalist Stephen Buhner?

Lyme docs OK'd to treat with long-term antibiotics

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-06-22T12:43:33-04:00

Governor signs bill, shielding doctors in treatment of Lyme disease

It's Monday, and I've got good news. Let's all acknowledge this nod of compassion in Lyme disease treatment and send thank you notes in support of this decision made by the governor of Connecticut.

The following is an excerpt of a June 21, 2009 article by Jack Sanders in the Ridgefield Press.com:

Governor M. Jodi Rell said Sunday she has signed a bill allowing doctors to prescribe long-term antibiotics in the treatment of persistent Lyme disease – outside of standard guidelines – without fear of sanctions from state health regulators if the patient’s clinical diagnosis of the tick-borne disease and treatment have been documented by a licensed physician.

“Doctors in Connecticut – the absolute epicenter of Lyme disease – can continue to do what is best for their patients suffering from this complex illness. I think most people know someone who has been infected,” Governor Rell said. “The bill also recognizes that Lyme disease patients must have the freedom to choose which remedy or regimen best meets their needs.”

House Bill 6200, which gained broad bipartisan support in the Legislature, was prompted by an ongoing debate in the medical community. Some health organizations have questioned the existence of chronic Lyme disease and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has cautioned against the long-term use of antibiotics. Some physicians were hesitant to treat patients outside the IDSA guidelines because of potential reprimands from medical boards and insurance companies.

“Doctors will have the right to use treatment guidelines based on their clinical experience and best medical judgment,” Governor Rell said. “This bill does not, however, shield any physician who provides substandard care.”

Lymelife

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-06-15T13:43:44-04:00

A ragged-looking deer roams through Charlie Bragg's backyard on densely forested Long Island. Charlie (superbly portrayed by Timothy Hutton) suffers from mysterious symptoms that prevent him from working, and torture him perhaps even as much as knowing his wife is dallying with her machismo boss.

It's the late 70s. Lyme disease is beginning to grab the attention of NE residents. Some of them observed a correlation between a tick-bite and a litany of disturbing symptoms ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to mental derangement. In Charlie's house, prescription bottles crowd the bedside table. He's taking penicillin, but we aren't clear how effective it is on his illness. Sometimes he seems almost normal, stringing up Christmas lights. Sometimes when he's alone, he writhes in pain.

He's not the same man I married, rants his desperate wife. His teenage daughter feels compassion, but she's powerless to help. Her own inner conflicts and the pulls and stabs of young adulthood are more than enough for her to handle. A hint of rot underlies the nice suburban constructs, which are coming to a head most visibly in the character of Charlie.

Some of Charlie's scenes made me shudder. As bad as Lyme disease is, and as frustrating as the controversies around it have become, at least we're not still living in the 1970s, when it was new. Some headway has been achieved since then.

Have you seen the movie? What do you think?

(Members, watch for my upcoming interview with Lymelife producer, writer and director, Steven Martini.)

Tell your Lyme story to Obama

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-06-09T12:58:28-04:00

We were asked to post the following message about telling our Lyme stories to President Obama:

One of our San Diego support group members has made contact with a Barack Obama volunteer who is also partly responsible for getting the movie UNDER OUR SKIN shown in San Diego. This is an excerpt from their email:

"Hearing your story yesterday when we talked, helped me to be even more inspired to bring the message of Lyme Disease and Health Care Reform to as many people will listen. I encourage you to help bring to light the plight of Lyme patients. This is a once in a lifetime moment when we can share our health care stories. The Obama administration is listening and they want to help. Please visit
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/healthcarestory to share your story and take the time to encourage all Lyme suffers in your association to do the same and then forward this message on to more Lyme sufferers. The more Lyme stories received the more likely they will get recognition at the federal level. Lyme disease so poignantly illustrates all that is wrong with health care in America."

Regardless of your political opinions, this is an opportunity to get extensive media coverage about LYME Disease, which can only be a benefit to those currently suffering, and hopefully prevent the future suffering of others.

Effects of Cumanda & Samento in treatment of Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-06-03T13:10:46-04:00

This is a really useful report, especially for those of us who are using herbal therapies to complement antibiotic treatment. It is Dr Richard Horowitz's findings on his use of herbs, such as Samento and Cumanda, among others, in treating patients who have Lyme disease and co-infections.

Herbs, Hormones & Heavy Metals: A study of CAM therapies in the treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease.

This tidbit is from the opening of his paper. Gave me a chuckle:

The History of Medicine
• 2000 BC Here, eat this root
• 1000 AD That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer
• 1850 AD That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
• 1940 AD That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
• 1985 AD That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
• 2007 AD That antibiotic does not work anymore. Here, eat this root.

Dr Richard Horowitz
4232 Albany Post Road
Hyde Park, NY 12538
845-229-8977

Chronic Lyme or not - Get educated

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-06-01T10:59:54-04:00

A national coalition of health care workers, policy makers and others, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), is attempting to educate Americans about the significance of the crisis in our current overall state of health.

The PFCD mission:

* The PFCD believes that rising rates of chronic health problems pose a significant and unsustainable burden on the U.S. health care system, and that the viability and strength of the system presently and in the future relies on a willingness to enact policies that help Americans better prevent and manage chronic illnesses.

The PFCD and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) do not categorize Lyme as a chronic disease. Therefore, it seems unlikely that this organization will help Lyme patients who continue to suffer with Lyme symptoms even though they've already been treated according to the CDC guidelines--a 30-day course of antibiotics.

However, if you suffer with chronic Lyme you may be interested in these six "unhealthy truths" about chronic disease in the United States, which I copied from the PFCD website:

* Truth #1: Chronic diseases are the No. 1 cause of death and disability in the U.S.

* Truth #2: Treating patients with chronic diseases accounts for 75 percent of the nation's health care spending.

* Truth #3: Two-thirds of the increase in health care spending is due to increased prevalence of treated chronic disease.

* Truth #4: The doubling of obesity between 1987 and today accounts for 20 to 30 percent of the rise in health care spending.

* Truth #5: The vast majority of cases of chronic disease could be better prevented or managed.

* Truth #6: Many Americans are unaware of the extent to which chronic diseases could be better prevented or managed.

If you consider yourself ill with chronic Lyme disease, one "healthy truth" to embrace is to get better educated about how to manage your illness. I realize that it's the toughest job you can take on, especially while you're sick. Believe me, I know because I've been there. Although the status of "chronic" or "Post-Lyme Syndrome" may not be easily or quickly determined by the policy makers, your health is what counts here.

Get educated about ways to manage your health, such as eating foods that will nurture (organic greens and proteins), not harm you (refined sugar).

LDRD members, login to listen to Lyme experts.

Chronic Lyme disease is just a name

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-29T16:43:27-04:00

When I was very sick with chronic Lyme, the scariest thing was not the agonizing pain in my skin and muscles, not that my shin skin had deteriorated into raw meat, and not even that I had trouble walking and could barely talk without stammering.

The scariest thing, the thing that blew my mind was that the infectious disease doctor I turned to for help REFUSED to treat me for Lyme. I had tested positive, yet she stood there shaking her head, insisting that I must have MS instead. She basically blew off the positive Western Blot and ELISA tests.

The doctor breezily observed my skin rash, which had become so severe that I had developed a staph infection that put me in ER, and told me, "You are too late."

Huh? I couldn't think very clearly because of the brain fog, but this response just sounded utterly wrong to me. I was speechless.

She then dashed off a prescription for corticosteroids, which she said was my last hope. I took them, and the Lyme bacteria multiplied rapidly. Needless to say, my condition went from bad to worse.

I was in terrible shape when I staggered up to the window in her clinic and requested my medical files. My legs could barely hold me, and my hands and voice were just as shaky and weak. I had begun seeing a naturopath who advised me to retrieve my records from the ID doctor's office and take them with me. He treated me for Lyme with antibiotics and a host of supplements to support my liver, kidneys, my whole body. He also informed me as gently as he could that Prednisone, the steroids I'd been prescribed, are contra-indicated when the Lyme bacteria is underlying. I must have seemed to him like the walking zombie that I felt like. Looking back, I wonder if he ever thought that I was too late as well.

As it turned out, I was not "too late." I was at the wrong doctor. An ignorant doctor -- one who needs to be educated about Lyme and doesn't even know it. I got better. Lyme symptoms are still a part of my life, and I still watch my health like a hawk. It has been a lot of work, but I'm stubborn and lucky and willing to work hard. I have no doubt that today I'd be very ill, confined to a wheelchair and on permanent disability, if I had listened to that ID doctor. Instead, every day is a miracle. I've achieved some of my wildest dreams, and I share my life with friends and family who are more precious than gold.

Now, of course, I also realize that my story is unfortunately not unusual among people with Lyme.

People who get better, even if it's only 90% better, often turn their heads and never look back. Who can blame them? But I don't want to forget. If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone I love, my brilliant nieces and nephews, my mother, my life partner, my favorite teachers. More people need to be educated about Lyme, and controversies over what to call it -- whether it's chronic Lyme disease (CDL), or Post Lyme Disease Syndrome (PLDS), stand in the way of the badly-needed education about Lyme. Stephanie, whom I interviewed last week for the LDRD Success Stories series, mentioned she had just completed her degree as a registered nurse one month before she discovered she had Lyme. In her years in medical school, not one course instructor had even mentioned it.

I hope that as more doctors are educated, more will recognize that Lyme is a multi-stage disease, like syphilis (over which there is no controversy), and the controversy over late-stage or chronic Lyme disease will fade. By whatever name you call it.

Add spice, reduce inflammation

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-27T14:13:43-04:00

Do you have an appropriate Lyme disease diet?

Low-grade or chronic inflammation accompanies a bacterial infection such as Lyme disease. Chronic fatigue and lethargy are produced when the body is busy fighting infection. Reducing inflammation is key in regaining vitality and healing. It's smart to include foods in your diet to help achieve those goals.

Help your body reduce damaging inflammation with the following:

* Eliminate refined sugar and processed foods
* Reduce stress in your daily life
* Get enough early morning sunshine

Add some spice to your life -- specifically, turmeric and ginger -- to help reduce inflammation. They are both part of the same family of plants.

Turmeric is used to lend mustard its yellow color. It is used frequently, though sparingly, in Indian food. The active substance, curcumin, is a powerful, yellow dye that will stain countertops and plastic food containers. It's also a well-known anti-inflammatory. Turmeric can be taken in capsule form or you can sprinkle it onto your food. I like it on my eggs for breakfast, or added to the stir-fry veggies we often cook for dinner. A general rule of thumb is to use about a teaspoonful or less in cooking. More than that will make your food taste bitter.

Ginger root is the underground stem of the ginger plant. The powder and the grated root are often used in cooking and baking. Ginger has medicinal qualities, and due to its anti-inflammatory element has long been used to aid in arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Among other uses, ginger is antibacterial, and effective as a digestive aid.

Nearly all of the people we've interviewed for our Lyme success stories have said that modifying their diet has improved their health significantly.

* What changes to your lifestyle and diet are helping you heal from Lyme?

Stephanie's Lyme Story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-21T15:21:20-04:00

You would never detect disabling pain in Stephanie's calm, cheerful voice. She sounds energized and prepared to face the future, confident that the protocol she's on will help her fully recover from Lyme. Although she feels better now, the 39 year-old has endured many years of suffering and misdiagnoses, including two years when she was confined to bed. She had recently graduated as a registered nurse when she discovered that her mysterious symptoms indicated that she had Lyme.

Her course instructors in medical school "never even mentioned Lyme disease," she says. "You'd think they would know something."

Stephanie and her husband want to have a couple of kids, but wish to wait until she gets the all-clear signal from her Lyme doctor. The illness has been tough on the couple financially. She lost her medical coverage because she could not continue to work outside her home, and she estimates that their total out-of-pocket expenses have topped $100,000. As a newlywed when she first discovered how sick she was, she's definitely looking forward to leading a fuller life with her husband.

"He's still looking forward to the 'in health' part of the marriage vow," she laughs. "He's done the 'in sickness' part."

She is optimistic about the future, now that she has been in treatment for six months with Dr. Daniel J. Cameron, MD , of Mount Kisco, New York. Dr. Cameron is the current president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS).

Initially, doctors explained Stephanie's symptoms as being caused by a Brown Recluse spider. They told her that nothing could be done except bed rest. However, as she slowly began to put together the pieces of the Lyme puzzle, she eventually recognized that she had most of the classic Lyme symptoms, including rheumatoid arthritis and unbearable fatigue. Fortunately, her research led her to Dr. Cameron.

LDRD members, please log in to listen to Stephanie's story, and hear details of her antibiotic protocol and other supplements she has found helpful.

Reduce your chance of tick bite

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-20T11:12:42-04:00

Learn about tick bites.

• Avoid likely tick-infested areas such as wooded, bushy areas or places with high grass and leaf litter - especially from May through the fall, when ticks are most active.

• When in likely tick areas, wear insect repellent with 20 percent DEET or more.

• Light-colored clothing helps you spot ticks more easily. Also, wear long sleeves and pants, tucking your shirt into your pants and you pant legs into your shoes.

• Before going indoors, perform a tick check on yourself.

• If you find any, use a fine-tipped tweezer to remove. Grab the tick close to the skin, and do not twist or jerk.

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

MSNBC prints story of Lyme suicide

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-19T10:51:18-04:00

MSNBC has posted a heartrending story by NBC news producer John Baiata about the suicide of his beloved sister Sue, who could no longer bear the pain she suffered from chronic Lyme Disease. Our thanks goes out to the Baiata family and to MSNBC for sharing this painful story. I urge our readers to drop them an email thanking and supporting them for helping us bring this issue to the greater public.

I know I'm not the only one of us who was moved (to tears) also by the overwhelming number of intense responses to the story. Among them was a statement by Pat Smith, reminding readers that children are at the greatest risk for Lyme, and that a valuable bill in support of Lyme disease research is still mired in political muck. Here is a partial quote of her comment:

"Another Congressman, Christopher Smith (NJ), who introduced the bill, HR 1179, said last year on the floor of the House, regarding Lyme disease, there is a "cover-up.” We echo that 1000 times over. MSNBC, I hope you will put all the power and resources you possess behind exposing that cover-up soon, as children ages 5-9 and 10-14 are at the greatest risk of acquiring Lyme disease, and the prevailing attitude is allowing government agencies to remove children from mothers who are having them treated with ANTIBIOTICS for Lyme disease by LICENSED physicians.

Meanwhile, our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the Baiata family. Many of us have experienced preventable suffering and tragedy due to this disease. However, the tragedy is usually not due to Lyme disease itself but to politics, cover-up, vested interests, and bias, often a much bigger threat than the Borrelia burgdorferi organism causing Lyme disease, which we could overcome if the cover-up were exposed fully in the light of day."

- Quoted from MSNBC.com article by John Baiata, All she lost: My sister's battle with Lyme disease, from a comment made by Pat Smith, President, Lyme Disease Association

Salt and chronic Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-15T20:04:19-04:00

Are you getting enough salt in your diet? Salt is essential for all animal life (except land plants). Too much or too little can cause havoc in the body. Studies report that as much as 80% of dietary salt comes from packaged and can foods, and from eating out. It's easy to take in an excess of salt by consuming fast foods, as restaurant dishes are often overloaded with salt.

A lack of salt can be just as harmful as too much, as this elementary mineral is necessary for maintaining the balance of bodily fluids, helping transmit nerve signals, keeping muscles functioning properly and creating healthy blood and lymph.

Many chronic Lyme patients don't eat out due to their illness, and most of us go through at least a short period feeling absolutely yucky enough to keep us out of the public and away from restaurants. A lot of us stay away from packaged foods as well, eating fresh veggies and organic foods as much as possible.

If you eat a diet that is deliberately salt-free, how do you know you're getting enough of the stuff?

Be wary of misinformation

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-11T17:40:25-04:00

Aside from ticks and tick-carrying deer in our front yards there is something else we must be vigilant about: Misinformation.

For example, one piece of advice I've read in a number of places says that you won't get Lyme disease if you pull a tick out of your skin before it's been there for 24 hours. These articles usually do not name their source of information, instead saying, "latest medical research indicates that..."

I wouldn't be so sure. I asked Eva Sapi, Ph.D., who directs the graduate studies in Lyme disease research at the University of New Haven, about this claim. She said there was no evidence to support the "24 hour" rule. She added that personally, she knew field researchers who had contracted Lyme from a tick that had only been embedded for a couple of hours.

Lyme Disease Pictures

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-08T14:33:12-04:00

I can now stand to look - objectively view a photo of a tick, or glance at pictures of a bad rash on someone's leg or neck. However, the last thing I could stomach when I was very sick with Lyme were Lyme disease pictures.

My universe consisted of my bed and my computer. Both were necessary for survival and healing. I slept. When I was not trying to sleep or in too much pain or too dizzy, I sat at the computer and researched Lyme disease. Can you relate?

A large percentage of the skin on my hands, arms and shins was hamburger. I quickly learned not to search for "Lyme rash" or "bull's-eye rash." I couldn't bear looking at the images on the screen. Way too close for comfort.

Sleep. High-quality food. Antibiotics. Supplements. Physical exercise. Time. Love. Liberal doses of these ingredients have miraculously repaired my body and brain, and now I can look (when I must) at a picture of a tiny tick, even though I still squirm at the sight.

Support while detoxing

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-05-02T16:47:56-04:00

With all the talk about Swine Flu, there's an abundance of common sense about how to stay healthy making the rounds on the Internet, such as washing your hands regularly and supporting the immune system. Immune support is as central to keeping the flu bug away as it is in healing from Lyme disease. And one important step in keeping healthy is detoxification. Detox is part of the one-two punch in Lyme management (along with antibiotics) that RN Ginger Savely describes in our experts interview series. But what happens when you try to detox too quickly?

Anyone dealing with Lyme is painfully familiar with stressful "Herxheimer Reactions," which occurs when toxins - Lyme bacteria - in the body die off faster than the organs of elimination can handle. Learning how to manage Herxes is important yet tricky business. Essentially experienced as an increase in symptoms, Herxes can include nausea, headaches, brain fog, vertigo or mood swings, bringing more stress to an already stress-loaded system.

Some experts and patients say the Herx just comes with the territory, that it's unfortunately one of the crummy things that Lyme patients must endure in order to get better. However, others claim that painful Herxes are more likely to occur when the organs of elimination lack sufficient support. For example, Jean Reist, RN, claims that the intensity of a Herx can be reduced and in some cases eliminated altogether. How? By supporting the lymph system, an important part of the immune system and a major player in elimination. The lymph must be maintained in order to carry toxins away from the cells. An act as simple as drinking plenty of water each day and routinely jumping on a mini-trampoline can help move the lymph, and reduce the effects of a Herx.

The organs of elimination include the liver, the bowel, kidneys, skin and lungs. Yes, deep breathing, which is used in meditation and yoga practice, is a way to remove toxins from your lungs, so remember to support your body in healing by taking a deep relaxing breath.

Vegetarians with Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-04-27T18:22:48-04:00

When I interviewed Jean Reist, RN, for our Lyme experts' series, I could hear the angst in her voice. She worries that her vegetarian patients do not get enough protein. As she explains, the lymph system doubles as a grocery delivery-person and trash collector in our immune system. The lymph carries the nutrients to each cell, then turns around and carries the trash away. Without sufficient amounts of protein, the lymph cannot do its job and the system gets slogged down.

Reist's Pennsylvania clinic is located in the heart of what many consider a Lyme epidemic, and a significant number of the patients she treats for Lyme disease are vegetarians. Her chief concern is that many patients calling themselves vegetarian don't actually eat many vegetables. According to NAVS , the North American Vegetarian Society, a vegetarian diet can factor into radiant good health. However, getting enough iron and protein takes some knowledge and a little mealtime planning. It's easy for people to make the mistake of assuming that the absence of meat in the diet equals a healthier diet. Not true--especially if it means they've stopped eating meat and simply replaced it with pasta, potatoes and bread.

Generally speaking, vegetarians seem to benefit from an impressive amount of health advantages, such as lowered risk of heart disease, fewer cases of chronic disease and Diabetes Type 2, and on average, they live longer. However, eating a vegetarian diet doesn't automatically guarantee better health. Reist strongly suggests that her patients add eggs, cheese or fish to their diet as they struggle to heal from Lyme.

If you're a vegetarian or vegan with Lyme, how do you know you're getting enough protein? Do you include a wide array of veggies in your diet, and do you include legumes, which are rich in iron?

Why should you share your success story?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-04-14T19:35:15-04:00

Not too long ago, I was unable to think, walk, talk or write due to the Lyme bacteria attacking my brain and speech centers. When I think about how hopeless and helpless I felt then, I can hardly believe it. So thoroughly has my life turned around for the better that it's hard to conjure even a wisp of memory of the dread and fear that enveloped me. I wasn't myself.

I've recovered, fortunately, and now find that my experience is very typical of people who've recovered from Lyme. We don't want to think about the dark days, don't care to recall them. Living an engaged and vibrant life again is an experience more precious than gold. Who wants to remember a brush with death from a Lyme infection, when there is still a lot of living to do? However, those of us who have recovered (or are in the process) can do more good by sharing our success stories than by slamming the lid down on that sick, shadowy time in our lives.

Lyme is the fastest growing vector-borne illness in the US. Each day, more kids and more adults -- from every walk of life -- are experiencing the harrowing mental confusion and searing pain that can accompany this multi-stage disease. Lyme disease-educated doctors are in short supply, and even amid increasing numbers of people diagnosed with Lyme, a cloak of mystery and misunderstanding still surrounds this illness and its treatment.

Lyme has proved to be a very personal disease, affecting each of us differently and to varying degrees. However, sharing our personal experiences is a valuable way to help. What works for you may not work for another person diagnosed with Lyme. Yet hearing about your struggles and listening to the elation in your voice can work a world of wonder for someone who is hurting.

We collect Lyme success stories and share them with the people who need them most. If you're beating Lyme and you want to tell others, please feel free to contact us.

How to hike & garden: Tick-free

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-04-11T12:05:54-04:00

Ticks are incredibly resilient critters. They have lasted for millenia due to their wily survival tactics. We're not required to admire them for this, however, we should be as determined in our efforts to avoid them as they are persistent in going after their goals--namely, a warm meal and a ride.

How do you avoid ticks? In particular, how do you avoid them in tick havens such as the US NE region, and pretty much anywhere that constitutes wilderness (including the parking lot at work, if there are hedges, grasses, trees or bushes nearby).

Are you like me? Since being struck down by Lyme and making the long, slow climb back to health, I've really lost my taste for hiking and gardening, activities that were a constant of my pre-Lyme life. However, I don't want to be afraid of the outdoors, and I know you don't either, especially this time of the year when the air smells like flowers and tulips are blooming in the colors of little girls' Easter dresses.

Taking precautions on a hike can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. You may want to stop short of duct-taping yourself head to toe, as the mother does to her son in the new movie, Lymelife. Wear white or light colors so ticks can be seen easily and eliminated a.s.a.p. Use a strong repellent. Tuck your socks into your pant, and check yourself (and the kids) when you get home.

Gardening, for me, has moved indoors. Growing plants is just too fun to give up altogether. On walks through my neighborhood I admire the results of other people's green thumbs, but here at home I get great satisfaction from growing sprouts. Not only do you get quick results, you can save money on the store-bought varieties, and guarantee freshness. Broccoli and clover are the house favorites.

So here are the main points: Wear white. Tuck your pants into your socks. Perform tick checks thoroughly after you've spent time outdoors. Grow sprouts. Don't be afraid of the big bad tick. Just outsmart it with your own wiles and tactics.

Happy spring!

Review of Lymelife

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-04-06T12:20:30-04:00

Lymelife is categorized as a comedy, however, it's the sort of black humor that scorches because it strikes a chord. Charlie (Timothy Hutton) is depressed and on antibiotics for Lyme disease. Here's an excerpt of film reviewer Rob Nelson's critique of the movie, which previewed at the Sundance Film Festival last fall:

The film centers on thin, 15-year-old bully magnet Scott (Rory Culkin), whose older, bulkier brother, Jim (Kieran Culkin), prepares to ship off to military duty, and whose longtime crush, Adrianna (Emma Roberts), reluctantly begins to return his timid gaze.

Adrianna's pill-popping father, Charlie (Timothy Hutton), shoots self-made targets in the woods with a rifle, dressed in suit and tie.

Alec Baldwin plays Mickey, Scott's father, whose underappreciated wife, Brenda (Jill Hennessy), duct-tapes her youngest son from head to toe to protect him from Lyme disease. Periodic cutaways to wandering deer and the real or imagined threat of wood ticks -- not to mention scenes of believably harsh marital bickering -- serve the pic's point that these frightened, emotionally starved people, kids included, are animals at best.

Read the entire review of Lymelife from Variety online.

Lyme goes to the movies

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-04-04T11:56:51-04:00

Can it be a good thing when characters in movies and soap operas have Lyme disease? Yes. Getting the word out to movie fans and soap opera devotees can help shape and inform public opinion. Martin Scorsese produced Lymelife , starring Alec Baldwin, Cynthia Nixon and Timothy Hutton. The film will be available on Netflix, and is scheduled to be released on April 17, 2009. The story takes place in the NE in the 1970s:

15-year old Scott Bartlett's family life is turned upside-down after an outbreak of Lyme disease hits the community spreading illness and paranoia. Scott's parents -- a workaholic father, Mickey, and an overprotective mother, Brenda -- are on the verge of a divorce as his older brother Jim is about to ship off for war. Complicating matters, Scott has fallen in love with his next door neighbor, Adrianna...

Stories are powerful conductors of information. They portray genuine emotion and can move people to action. Of course, the appearance of Lyme on TV and in the movies may give some false information as well. We can almost count on a certain degree of misinformation being transmitted through fiction regarding Lyme disease, which is confusing enough to understand in real life. I had to laugh at the recap notes for TV's long-running soap, The Young and the Restless, as Kay was suspected of having Lyme disease on Wednesday and received a diagnosis on Thursday. This is particularly funny since I think of soaps as a medium where characters can remain pregnant for at least a year.

What are your thoughts on these stories? Are they doing a service, or adding to the misinformation about Lyme disease? Tell us what you think.

Top US Athlete beats Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-03-21T10:04:48-04:00

From the time she was three years old, Perry Louis Fields has wanted to be the world's fastest runner. Now 30, the US Track and Field competitor says she's training at the top of her game. What makes her athletic success so sublime? Perry's torturous encounter with Lyme disease in 2003, which she says she has now beat.

"I’m not only healthy," says Perry. "I’m healthier than I was before I was bitten (no kidding!). My training and racing proves that. I’m the fastest and strongest I’ve ever been."

Beneath Perry's easygoing persona and her honey-toned Southern accent, she has a fiercely competitive nature. After enduring a miserable four or five month period of powerful antibiotics, she decided to quit the conventional route and devote what little energy she had to researching and finding "the cure," as she calls it. Although her symptoms "made every day a nightmare," she willed herself to begin taking baby steps toward getting back to her goal of running again.

With the dedication and steel determination of a true winner, Perry achieved her dream of not only running, but training as a pro once again.

"What Lance Armstrong did for cancer, I hope to do for Lyme disease. I have sometimes told myself that I wish I had cancer rather than Lyme. Someone with terminal cancer may feel otherwise, but I’m truly upset that the research on this disease is so inconclusive. The treatment for Lyme is inconclusive. It’s like nobody has had any experience with it at all, yet hundreds of thousands of people get it every year (I think that number is more like millions.)"

LDRD members can login and listen to Perry tell her inspiring story about beating Lyme. For Perry's website, please go to beatlyme.com.

Become a LDRD member and listen to dozens of interviews with both Lyme experts and ordinary people like you that struggle with Lyme disease.

New Lyme book by PJ Langhoff

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-03-11T20:01:20-04:00

“The scientific community is not listening to patients, and these books offer a chance for our voices to be heard,” says PJ Langhoff. The latest book was written after studying thousands of documents, mostly accessible via the Internet — an information resource often used by patients when seeking answers for health issues, for which they are heavily criticized. “We are not a hysterical bunch inventing illness by way of electronics, we seek answers. The idea that Lyme disease is not serious or chronic, that it is easily curable in all patients after antibiotics, or even that current diagnostics are accurate, is ridiculous,” says the author. “The book illustrates that current research easily refutes those holding a restrictive, minimalist viewpoint, and any guidelines that may help to promote that mindset.”

Read the full press release here.

Lyme epidemic causing healthcare crisis

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-02-26T13:07:27-05:00

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb 24, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- An ongoing battle over the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, is pitting doctors against doctors, prompting health insurance companies to deny medical claims at an alarming rate, and leaving suffering patients stuck in the middle.

Read the full press release here.

Legislative Forum Announcement

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-02-20T23:07:34-05:00

This Lyme legislative forum will provide education about the various ways Congress works and an opportunity to share your ideas and concerns. Meet other leaders from across the country and create a national dialogue on Lyme and tick-borne disease. This is a forum and everyone is encouraged to participate. This event is for anyone who wants to represent their Lyme community. What you will learn about the legislative process will be useful in your state activities, as well as our national efforts.

Please respond to the survey with YOUR ideas. We want to include everyone’s concerns and suggestions in the discussion. Also, please respond as quickly as you can. We can keep the preferential Holiday Inn rate only until the 27th of February.

Date: March 28, 2009

Keynote: Congressman Frank Wolf

A ONE DAY SEMINAR FOR LYME LEADERS: PLANNING AN EFFECTIVE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM FOR LYME & TICK-BORNE DISEASE RELIEF

Sessions include:

- Experienced former Congressional aides and Lyme Leaders

- Understanding the Legislative Process and the Need for Hearings

- Appropriate Goals and Objectives in the U.S. Congress

- Substantive Issues in Lyme Legislation and Congressional Solutions

- IDSA Guidelines Review Panel Input Process & April 27th Hearing

- Presenting a United Front Sessions will be facilitated by20faculty of the

George Mason University, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

(ICAR)

Your ideas on what we need from Congress and how to achieve it are welcome. Submit your suggestions at http://www.NatCapLyme.org/LegForum
or call NatCapLyme at (703) 821-8833; (301) 980-6788 or (703) 435-2080.

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Holiday Inn, Ballston

http://www.hiarlington.com/

4610 N Fairfax Drive, Arlington VA 22203, 1-800-HOLIDAY (1-800-465-4329)

Reserve by February 27 for the NatCapLyme Special Promotional Rate of $85.

Anti-inflammatory diet can help

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-02-14T16:50:15-05:00

Inflammation is an immune system response to stress and toxins. Our bodies deal with Lyme infection by sending more blood to the irritated areas. The main features of inflammation are redness, swelling and pain.

It's difficult to eliminate the borrelia bacteria, so inflammation results, causing pain and wrecking all sorts of other havoc. On top of that, we must deal with the psychological or physical stress caused by the pain. And aside from the toxins that accompany and make up the borrelia bacterial complex, dealing with environmental toxins is generally a daily effort.

Antibiotics and herbal protocols are excellent help, but what else can be done about inflammation? This is where some people with chronic illnesses turn a critical eye on their diet and nutrition. And many claim that an anti-inflammatory diet can be a huge help in maximizing their healing protocols and helping to alleviate the intensity of Lyme symptoms and flaring herxes.

So, you're starting to feel a little normal after such a long fight with Lyme. Don't surrender to that deep dish cheese pizza! (Of course, a little treat now and then does the body good.) Steam delicious veggies instead, such as Swiss chard, kale, or mustard greens. Fix organic brown rice or rice noodles to go with them. If you can tolerate it, a bite of organic dark chocolate can make a yummy dessert.

Watch this blog for interviews with nutritionists and herbalists who work with Lyme patients, and delectable recipes for an anti-inflammatory diet. Remember, you don't have to change the way you eat forever -- you just have to give your body a break for a while, so your immune system response can strengthen. Eliminating foods made with wheat and dairy -- or at least, limiting them -- may boost your energy and reduce inflammation and pain.

Bring testing into the 21st century

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-02-06T13:44:22-05:00

How many times have you wondered why the flawed technology of the Western blot and the ELISA are still the standard test for Lyme? Hasn't anyone figured out a better, more sensitive test by now? New research is being done with twenty-first century technology, such as genomics and proteomics. More sensitive tests mean that greater numbers of people infected with borrelia would have a chance to begin treatment before Lyme enters the later stages. A person who tested negative for Lyme with the Western blot may actually test positive when tested for certain protein markers.

Pamela Weintraub, author of Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic, and senior editor at Discover Magazine, pulls no punches in a recent post about the IDSA's choice of panelists. The panel that has been assembled seems likely to merely reaffirm the old guard, and not consider new University-based scientific research.

"As someone who has traveled the country for six years interviewing these scientists to write my book, Cure Unknown, I can tell you unequivocally that many of the top researchers at the top institutions in the world do not think the original IDSA panel got it right," writes Pamela.

"Are recommended treatment protocols truly curing most of those with early, invasive borreliosis, as IDSA contends?"

"The answers won’t be found in the twentieth-century technology of the Western blot, by today’s standards crude yet still trotted out by IDSA as evidence absolute that they are right. (The Western blot for Lyme is so flawed that even its major manufacturer says he has found numerous "band" patterns more accurate than the one in use today.) Instead of relying on flawed 20th century technology, we must look to the science of the twenty-first century, including state-of-the-art genomics and proteomics that allows for the sequencing of every gene and protein involved in every stage of Lyme. With evidence of this calibre we won't have to fight over the truth: We will know what's going on."

Stay tuned for more LDRD interviews with top researchers, such as Dr. Eva Sapi of the University of New Haven. Dr. Sapi directs the graduate studies program for research into Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

Lyme review panel members stir concern

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-01-29T18:39:35-05:00

At last, the IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America) has selected members to review the guidelines for the treatment of Lyme disease. Lyme awareness groups are alarmed at the placement of Carol J. Baker, MD, as the committee chairperson. Notably, there are also no ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) members on the review panel.

Lynn Shepler, MDJD, shares her concerns:

CAROL J. BAKER, MD, head of the new committee formed as a result of AG Richard Blumenthal's investigation, is Past-President of IDSA, and lists her chief interests as "VACCINOLOGY," "CLINICAL TRIALS," AND "VACCINE POLICY." She has published "more than 100 articles on vaccine research."

Dr. Baker is also a member of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Was Dr. Baker a member of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices of the CDC at any point when past or future Lyme disease vaccines have been discussed --- formally, or informally?

The team she is part of at "The Center of Vaccine Awareness and Research" in Houston, Texas describes itself as "dedicated to improving the health of children from infancy through adulthood by promoting vaccinations and educating families and health care providers on all available vaccines."

Uh, does this include the Lyme vaccine(s)? Dr. Wormser's principal conflict of interest was that he was consulting to pharmaceutical companies on Lyme disease vaccines --- something he knew about and refused to disclose to IDSA administrators.

Dr. Wormser was head of each of the two IDSA guidelines on Lyme disease that have been issued. In my personal opinion, both versions of the IDSA guidelines have been biased in favor of vaccine commercialization.

By my reasoning, the need to deny the existence of persistent infection is part of the drive to commercialize Lyme disease vaccines that are not otherwise ready for market. Persistent infection is an important scientific problem that needs to be solved before any vaccine trials can be done. Instead, Wormser et al simply lie, and maintain the patients are sick with "something else."

So, instead of Dr. Wormser, we have a prominent vaccinologist, and former President of IDSA as the head of the committee? On the face of it, I find this very alarming!

(Please post this information to any Lyme disease discussion board to educate patients about the possible biases on the part of members of this new committee).

Following is a list of Lyme review panel members:

Carol J. Baker, MD,
Chair Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX

William A. Charini, MD
Peabody, MA

Paul H. Duray, MD (retired)
Westwood, MA

Paul M. Lantos, MD
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC

Gerald Medoff, MD
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO

Manuel H. Moro, DVM, MPH, PhD
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD

David M. Mushatt, MD, MPH & TM
Tulane University School of Medicine
New Orleans, LA

Jeffrey Parsonnet, MD
Dartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, NH

Cmdr. John W. Sanders, MD
U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment, Peru

Stevia poses no health risks

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-01-23T21:12:23-05:00

When you have Lyme, you can't do sugar. Some people can't tolerate honey, either. So how do you sweeten your tea? What do you put in your oatmeal? Stay away from Splenda. It's a bad alternative to sugar and may even cause a relapse of your symptoms (see the post on Jean Reist, RN for an example of Splenda's negative effects on Lyme patients).

The answer is stevia, a plant-based sweetener that has been popular in Japan and other countries since the 1970s. Stevia has been available in the US, however, it hasn't been promoted as a sweetener. Its status has recently changed. Watch for products made by Coca-cola and Pepsi to containstevia, which recently been vindicated by the Food and Drug Administration and found to pose no health risks.

"The [FDA] agency has granted the all-natural sweetener status as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) after Cargill and Merisant Company achieved a process called "Self-Determination of GRAS Status".

Valentine's day is closing in, and you can't get far from the heart-shaped boxes of sugar candies that are popping up in every store. If you've got a sweet tooth, be strong and ignore that chocolate urge. Be good to yourself while you're healing. Go get somestevia and try a couple of drops in your morning tea or steel cut oats. If you've never used it before, be forewarned: the stuff is strong! Go light. Couple of drops will do.

Expert Interview Series: Carol Fisch Part 2

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-01-17T12:56:31-05:00

We've just uploaded Part 2 of the interview with expert Lyme disease researcher, advocate and activist Carol Fisch. Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Laboratory Science, Carol discusses her experiences studying and teaching about the bacterial complex, Borrelia burgdorferi. Her students often ask her to give a simple explanation of Lyme. Below is a bit of her answer. For a more in-depth discussion please login and listen to the entire interview.

A simple explanation of Lyme disease in not possible, as Lyme is not a simple disease. It is not just an infection with Borrelia burgdorferi the causative agent of Lyme disease. We are dealing with an illness complicated by multiple infectious agents; many of them are immune suppressive.

The immune system has difficulty in detecting the organisms that cause Lyme due to multiple factors, not least of all, its ability to change shape in order to survive -- surely one of its best tricks.

From the moment the Borrelia burgdorferi complex enters the body, it has the ability to clock itself into our own DNA proteins. When hit by anything threatening its survival, it can go into cell wall deficient (CWD) stages or into the cyst stage, where it is protected from antibiotics and the immune system. An activated immune system, where the body is trying to find an enemy and can't, leads to reactivation of Herpes Virus 1 - 6, and auto immune issues.

Katy's story: Teens & Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2009-01-09T14:15:54-05:00

Katy says the hardest thing about having Lyme is that nobody understands.

She has trouble with word recall. She is susceptible to low blood sugar crashes. She is 15, and like so many others Lyme patients, at first her doctors misdiagnosed her condition, believing instead that she had a viral infection such as mononucleosis or Epstein Barr.

For six months Katy struggled against crushing fatigue and a painful skin rash, trying her best to keep up in school. Medications for the ailments doctors thought she had were only making her sicker. Her skin rash became so acute that her parents began to suspect their daughter might have contracted a flesh-eating virus. Fortunately, her grandmother, a registered nurse, listened carefully to her complaints and suspected that it might be Lyme. Her grandmother insisted Katy see a Lyme specialist. Katy's prognosis changed for the better when she received a correct diagnosis and subsequently began treatment with Dr. Chandra Swami, of Heritage, Pennsylvania.

Adults dealing with Lyme find it to be an alienating and frightening experience, but try being a teenager with Lyme -- and on top of that, a high-energy competitor. Katy excels in running and cheerleading and she is avidly honing her journalism skills and other pursuits. Her aim is to be a broadcast journalist, and in fact she is currently the "weather girl" for the local news station, which airs at her high school. Short-term memory loss isn't something that a young person should have to deal with. Imagine trying to survive the rigors of a normal school day!

For example, one day at school after diligently producing a video project and forgoing lunch, Katy experienced a vicious attack of low blood sugar. Recognizing that she'd better eat something immediately, she took out her sack lunch.

A school administrator snapped that she wasn't allowed to eat lunch sitting where she was. "Should I let all 900 students eat their lunch in here?"

"All the other 900 students don't have Lyme disease," countered Katy, put in the terrible position of having to defend herself for being ill.

One of the problems, says her mom, is that Katy looks great. She's vibrant and rosy-cheeked, and appears perfectly healthy. There's really no way for her teachers and school administrators to tell, simply by looking, that she struggles with painful symptoms every day.

Members, please login now and listen to Katy tell her story. Just wait until you hear what her lunchtime video project was all about, and why it was so engrossing that she forgot to eat. This young woman is a genuine inspiration.

Become an LDRD member an listen to all of our success stories and interviews with Lyme experts.

Give yourself a pain break

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-23T18:53:31-05:00

Illness doesn't take vacations. You don't get to clock out for long weekends of R & R. There are no breaks, no furloughs, no specific date you can circle on the calendar, flipping the pages and counting the days. Dealing with Lyme is a full time gig, especially when your symptoms are acute or you're in the midst of a flaring herx.

Since nobody at Lyme Headquarters is going to pop their head out the door, shake your hand, and tell you to go home and put your feet up, we need to remind ourselves. Take the opportunity to take a break. The whole world celebrates at this time of the year. Being sick now feels a bit like being the kid at boarding school with no parents coming to pick her up for summer. So even if you feel lousy, you're in pain, you wish you could formulate a complete sentence without forgetting what you were talking about...take time out. I've done it, and you probably have too, so I know it's possible.

When I was in an acute stage, bedridden and miserable, pain-breaks were few and far between. I learned a couple of tricks, a little mental prestidigitation. One was to watch funny movies and laugh. Out loud. Belly laughter is more than physical, it's a state of mind. It takes complete control of your attitude. It's really hard to be miserable and laughing at the same time. And for those few precious moments, I didn't feel the pain. In fact I felt happy, normal, and like everything was going to be alright.

Another trick I discovered, which isn't a trick but really more of a visualization, is to imagine another person, someone you either know or don't know, who is suffering worse than you. Sadly, we don't have to look far. Hold a picture of that person in your mind, take a deep, relaxing breath, and as you breathe out imagine all the pain and sickness draining from them. Whenever I do this, I can vividly imagine that other person smiling and rosy-cheeked, and I instantly (even if only for a moment) feel better too.

A doctor friend of mine tells me these little tricks are very healthy. She says they can even help break the cycles of pain involved in many chronic illnesses, cycles known as the pain cascade.

So take a pain break. Get on the phone to a long-lost friend, or e-mail them if talking is too tiring. Send e-mail notes to all your loved ones wishing them a happy holiday -- e-mail is less expensive and less work. Cut and paste. Watch a comedy on TV or rent a funny movie and let yourself get caught up in the silliness. Find a kid and tell them a knock-knock joke. I bet they'll have one for you, and it just might make you feel better.

We'll be here after your break, to wish you well, as always.

Happy holidays, everybody. Cheerio.

Immune system support

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-21T19:57:36-05:00

A few subscribers have said they're curious about my own particular healing protocol. We all know that there's no silver bullet where Lyme is concerned (although we wish) and that what works for your cousin or someone on your Lyme forum may not work for you, and vice verse. So keep that in mind. For the record, I feel great these days -- nearly normal (what a concept! Was I ever?). My routine is a blend of Dr. Cowden's and master herbalist Stephen Buhner's Lyme protocols, with a handful of other stuff thrown in for good measure. I get enough sleep, eat organic vegetables and fruits, try to exercise every day, and take probiotics.

One thing that I've learned from my own experience, as well as from talking to Lyme specialists and others who are healing, is that when you take antibiotics you must replace the friendly bacterial flora in dryour gut. Otherwise, "you can cause problems for yourself that are just as harmful as the Lyme symptoms themselves," says cardiologist and Lyme researcher Dr. Lee Cowden, whose herbal protocol for Lyme disease has helped many people. Even long after you stop taking antibiotics, probiotics can assist in bringing balance to your intestines. The intestines play a central role in the human immune system, and getting better is in many ways dependent on supporting the immune system.

So I want to mention something else I also take daily, a lactobacillus-based supplement that supports my immune system. I take 2 to 4 capsules daily, more if I feel stressed. It's called Del Immune V. A friend of mine sent me some when I first got diagnosed and I haven't been without it since. She takes it religiously too, as part of her protocol for hepatitis C. I have seen its effect on her, and the stuff is good. It seems to banish dark circles under her eyes, and best of all it seems to help lift her back to her natural wise, warm and witty self.

Although I haven't taken pharmaceutical antibiotics for two years, I've continued to take this high quality probiotic from Bulgaria. Although I may run out of other supplements and let them slide from time to time, I try to never go without Del Immune. It's made from a strain of lactic acid bacteria -- lactobacillus -- more precisely known as Lactobacillus rhamnosus, DV strain. The lactobacillus is cultured, then digested with natural enzymes that are an exact match to the enzymes in the human intestine, creating a product that is made of cell wall fragments containing pieces of cell DNA.

No silver bullets, but smart choices. Like eating organic and treating your tummy, and your immune system, with care.

Expert Interview Series: Carol Fisch

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-19T16:59:05-05:00

Carol Fisch is Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Laboratory Science. She is also a stealth pathogens researcher, teacher, and, as she also suffers from Lyme disease, an advocate and activist for those suffering from stealth pathogens and neuroendocrine disorders. In her outreach education, she explores the possibility that people with a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are dealing with a bacterial complex that also causes Lyme disease, among other illnesses.

"Most medical professionals, when speaking of Lyme disease, are typically referring to an outdated and over-simplified version of the disease that was once taught and believed that the main causative agent being dealt with was the Borrelia spirochete. We now know there are many agents involved," explains Carol.

"Many patients given a CFIDS or Fibromyalgia diagnosis, or a Gulf War Syndrome or Neuroborreliosis Complex (Lyme disease) diagnosis, are dealing not only with a spirochetal disease that causes multiple damage to the host but a very complex organism that causes multiple damage to the host. It is indeed a very complex organism within itself. Borrelia burgdorferi is one of the players in Neuroborreloiosis Complex."

Carol says she would like to see the medical community work more harmoniously together in an effort to find answers to the complicated challenges of these illnesses. She is hopeful that such unity is possible and imminent. As she says, "we have a long way to go but in working together hopefully we can come up with answers that help all of us to live healthier and more productive lives."

Carol's experience includes having been a medical laboratory advisor for tick borne illness testing. She is well-versed in microbiology, immunology and parasitology and has an excellent understanding of Cell Wall Deficient Organisms (CWD). I spoke with Carol about the significance of her work and research on Dec 11, 2008.

Members can log in and listen to the interview.

Let's Get the Lyme movie on Oprah

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-14T12:32:52-05:00

Dr. Mehmet Oz of the Oprah & Friends Network aired a 45-minute interview with director Andy Abrahams Wilson and medical correspondent Kathy Fowler on his nationally syndicated talk radio show November 26, 2008. Dr. Oz, a renowned surgeon and health expert, said "I was so moved!" and called Under Our Skin "a beautiful film...a whole different way of thinking about reporting on health."

Moved as he was, Dr. Oz expressed interest in trying to get Under Our Skin on Oprah, where he is a regular guest contributor. But first, in order to gauge viewer interest, Dr. Oz and Oprah need to hear from you. Here's what you can do -- and please remember to praise Dr. Oz's coverage of the issue and the film.

So now we know that we are on Oprah's radar... that is a big deal. But so far, there has not been an impressive enough response to Dr. Oz's show.

We need more. Get your friends, family, co-workers, doctors, nurses, anyone and everyone you know to write Dr. Oz. There are Lyme groups around the world - everyone needs to be passing this info along and getting everyone to email in. Can everyone post it everywhere.. email in. Ask friends and other people who know what you are going through to contact Dr. Oz.

Getting on Oprah would be a very huge deal.

Here is the info again to Email Dr. Oz.

Also, you can leave comments on Oprah's community forum.

Memory games

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-12T14:25:34-05:00

One Lyme symptom I really hate is the word-finding problem. You know how it is. You're talking to a friend and suddenly the word you're looking for seems to have been sucked into a black hole. It's not merely gone -- it's non-existent. Frustrating, huh? The good news is, you can improve your word recall by playing memory games. It doesn't take long, maybe 10 or 20 minutes a day. As with physical exercise, when you're consistent you see improvement.

Wordjuxtapoz.com, lumosity.com and mybraintrainer.com offer different types of memory games, ranging from easy to very difficult. With practice, you can improve your brain processing speed and other cognitive functions. Games are addictive!

You don't have to go online, of course. Take that puzzle-in-a-box down from the shelf, dump out the zillion little pieces on a card table and pull up a chair. Our family always has at least one puzzle going around the holidays. It's a comfortable way to pass a rainy day together. Improving your concentration and recall by focusing on detail is an active, healthy way to participate in your healing journey. And you won't be thinking about Lyme bugs.

Natural-born killers

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-11T11:22:50-05:00

There's a spot of good news in Lyme research this week. Scientists trying to ferret out the role of NK (natural killer) T cells in white blood cells know that dysfunctional or deficient NK T cells seem to lead to autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis -- the kind that plagues the knees of many chronic Lyme sufferers. It seems that these natural-born killer T cells play a big part in helping to clear out bacterial infection. Read on:

RESEARCHERS FROM LA JOLLA INSTITUTE AND ALBANY MEDICAL COLLEGE IDENTIFY CELL GROUP KEY TO LYME DISEASE ARTHRITIS

Research Shows Important Role of NK T cells in Fighting Lyme Disease

SAN DIEGO – (December 3, 2008) A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology and Albany Medical College has illuminated the important role of natural killer (NK) T cells in Lyme disease, demonstrating that the once little understood white blood cells are central to clearing the bacterial infection and reducing the intensity and duration of arthritis associated with Lyme disease.

Click here for the full press release.

Getting enough protein

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-05T15:44:18-05:00

Jean Reist, RN, tells me she is concerned about her vegetarian or vegan Lyme patients. She worries that they aren't getting enough protein, which is crucial in a healing diet. Protein, she says, is required to maintain a fully-functioning immune system. Being one of those people who hasn't eaten red meat since 12th grade when I ditched school to sit and scarf down Macs and fries with my buddies, I listen carefully when I hear Lyme specialists discuss the need for protein.

Protein works through the lymph system to help carry nutrients to your cells, and carry away the waste. Jean says she practically begs her patients who won't touch meat or fish to consider eating an egg or a slice of cheese. Her concern is that many people who call themselves vegans and veggies often fail to educate themselves about alternative sources of protein. Instead of eating a balanced diet, they simply consume more pasta and grains: more carbs.

Carbohydrates increase inflammation, which is exactly what we Lymies are trying to avoid. So although it's very easy to fix up a plate of spaghetti with a quick and tasty marinara sauce when you're cold and tired, it may only exacerbate your Lyme symptoms.

Meat, cheese and fish is all good, if it works for you. However, many health and diet professionals believe it is possible to get enough protein on a high quality vegan or vegetarian diet. You must educate yourself. Protein is available in foods such as phytoplankton, beans and kelp. Mmm, right? I know some of you don't consider phytoplankton food, unless you're a Baleen whale fitted with a special feeding mechanism.

Although I haven't consumed fast food since high school days, I am not a vegetarian. I have a weakness for salmon and goat cheese. I do take supplements, however, like so many people dealing with Lyme, and because I know that protein is a must for keeping my immune system in check, phytoplankton capsules are high on my list of daily requirements.

If you're a vegan or vegetarian, how do you get enough protein? I'd love to hear from you.

Lyme bugs crave sugar

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-12-03T14:29:19-05:00

Lyme bugs love sugar. However, Lyme symptoms may flare if you help yourself to the enticing cookie buffet. Cravings for certain foods, such as holiday desserts, are emotional, not physical. A plate of sugar cookies and a steaming mug of hot cocoa goes so perfectly with gray skies and long winter nights, right? Lyme disease, and any chronic disease, re-educates us about our cravings and appetites. Sugar makes the bugs happy and carbohydrates can increase inflammation. Lyme forces us to reconsider what makes us truly feel good. What foods add value to your healing? What foods subtract from it?

Sometimes we think we're choosing a healthy substitute when we're actually only making the problem worse. Tod Thoring, ND, recommends that you work with not just one doctor on your healing journey, but several. If possible, consider consulting a Lyme-literate nutritionist or naturopath.

Jean Reist, RN, who treats Lyme patients at a Pennsylvania clinic, told me that one of her patients decided he'd quit sugar, although he was addicted to Coca-cola. She'd informed him that his daily habit would keep him from healing, and that was enough to help him quit cold turkey. He got well enough to return to work, so he went back to his construction job. However, he missed his daily fix, so he picked up some Diet Coke and swigged it down.

Within days, his energy was totally drained and he was feeling sick again -- too sick to go back to work. His Lyme symptoms returned. He dragged himself back to Jean's office and told her about switching to Diet Coke. She told him that although it didn't contain sugar, it contained an artificial sweetener called aspartame, which is also sold as NutraSweet. The effects of substitute were even worse than regular sugar.

If strings of Christmas lights and gently falling snow make you want to bake a pumpkin pie, think about the Lyme bugs. They want more sugar -- don't let them have it. Although the herbal sugar substitute stevia is not sanctioned by the FDA as an artificial sweetener, many people use it in place of sugar. Try some in a cup of hot green tea, with a thin slice of fresh ginger. Ginger has long been promoted by herbalists for its overall soothing and warming effects. It may not replace the hot chocolate, but it will help take the chill off the cold winter nights.

Members, please visit the Interviews with Experts page for interviews with Tod Thoring, ND, and Jean Reist, RN.

Dr. Oz interviews Under Our Skin filmmaker

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-11-24T14:52:33-05:00

We received a flood of comments about Oprah's interest in Lyme disease. She's listening! And now there's someone you'll want to listen to as well.

You can hear Oprah's Dr. Oz this week on XM Radio as he interviews filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson, whose Lyme documentary Under Our Skin is helping turn the tide of attention toward this controversial and misunderstood disease.

The show airs Wednesday, November 26th at 1 a.m. 7 a.m. and 6 pm EST. Oprah and Friends producers say people who don’t subscribe to the satellite radio can also listen by going to http://www.oprah.com/radio and clicking on the “Free 30 Day XM Radio Trial.” Register and you can listen online.

HBOT for Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-11-19T16:57:44-05:00

Like many serious diseases, Lyme disease causes an oxygen deficiency. One very distressing symptom is often called "air hunger," and it can make you feel like a fish out of water. No matter how deeply you breathe, you just can't seem to get enough air.

Increasing the available oxygen is a must for healing. Any sort of exercise that increases your oxygen intake seems to be invaluable for beating Lyme, and most of the people I've interviewed who are healing or healed from Lyme engage regularly in physical exercise, activities ranging from brisk walking, running to swimming and vigorous biking.

Some people use Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as an adjunctive Lyme treatment. HBOT administers oxygen at high atmospheric pressure, saturating the body with oxygen and increasing the total available amount. To receive a treatment, you climb into a chamber where pure oxygen is delivered at three times the normal atmospheric pressure.

Among US doctors, HBOT is controversial, although it has been commonly used for many years to treat burns, injuries from car accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation and other sorts of trauma. It has also proven valuable in treating people with AIDS and HIV, and others who suffer from opportunistic infections resulting from immuno-suppression.

HBOT is widely used in Europe and other countries to treat people suffering with multiple sclerosis, those who are recovering from strokes, and people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. Although HBOT is still controversial in the US, it is gaining acceptance and used by conventional and alternative doctors.

Have you used HBOT as an adjunctive Lyme treatment? If so, I'd love to hear about your results. Please drop me a line.

Lyme documentary filmmaker's speech

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-11-18T13:31:18-05:00

When filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson began making his Lyme documentary, Under Our Skin, he was driven by compassion and curiosity, two potent characteristics that led him to uncover the stories of many people who were struggling in silence. By winning the Vision of Hope Award from the prestigious Turn the Corner Foundation, Andy hopes the film will lend its weight to the collective tipping point needed to bring Lyme disease to the forefront of public awareness.

"My being was changed irrevocably by what I witnessed: suffering, injustice, and deafening silence. And above all: the courage of so many to persevere, to fight for life amidst the eclipse of light: the pain, fear, loneliness, and the mantra ‘It’s all in your head,’ " he says.

Read the full text of Andy Abrahams Wilson's acceptance speech for his Vision of Hope award on the Under Our Skin blog.

Joe's Lyme success story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-11-14T14:28:26-05:00

"I beat Lyme. I'd like to share my story," wrote Joe. To someone hurting with Lyme symptoms, could there be any sweeter words than those?

Joe's story filled me with inspiration. "Don't give up hope," he says, and he should know.

Although he now resides in Europe, he grew up in a region of the US where ticks are a part of everyday life, especially for a kid with a dog. Sick during his childhood with mysterious symptoms that he was eventually told he had outgrown, he struggled with chronic pain many years later. After a vacation in Barcelona, he became very ill and dragged himself from doctor to doctor, as one after another refused to treat him for Lyme. He was desperate and suicidal during the roughest period, which lasted six years. At the end of that time he discovered a newly established Lyme treatment clinic in Germany, the Borreliose Centrum Augsburg, and his life took a dramatic turn for the better.

At the clinic, his recovery from Lyme officially began. He was placed on three months of IV antibiotics, but not a "cocktail" blend that some US Lyme doctors use. Immediately, he began feeling better. In addition to antibiotics, doctors at the clinic engaged him in several types of the supporting therapies, including infrared and oxygen treatments. He also uses the powerful herbal therapies from Stephen Buhner's book, Healing Lyme.

Today, Joe has returned to the working world. The terrible six year period now seems surreal to him. "It's an intense pain that doesn't go away, and nobody can understand it," he says. "It's confusing for the person who has it, trying to explain it to their friends and their employers."

Joe feels strongly that people who heal from Lyme should follow up with their doctors, so medical professionals can better track which Lyme treatments are working, and which are not. He has talked to doctors who tell him that often patients leave their care and never update the doctors about their condition. Unfortunately, it's easy to find stories of people suffering from Lyme disease, yet less common to hear about those who are healing and engaged in vital and productive lives again. There's plenty of bad news on the web. This is why we collect and share success stories.

LDRD members, listen to Joe tell his success story here. And please keep your eye out for an upcoming interview with Joe's doctors at the Borreliose Centrum Augsburg.

LDRD members can listen to the interview with Joe by logging in. Learn more about becoming a member.

Under Our Skin filmmaker honored

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-11-07T15:11:18-05:00

Congratulations to filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson, who is being honored this week at a Turn the Corner Foundation event in New York City. Andy's heartwrenching and eye-opening documentary film, Under Our Skin, exposes the medical establishment's frequent dismissal of people suffering with Lyme.

From the press release: Turn the Corner will present the Vision of Hope Award to Andy Abrahams Wilson, Producer/Director of Under Our Skin, a film that investigates the shocking human, medical and political dimensions of Lyme disease, for his efforts to raise awareness for chronic Lyme disease. Leading Lyme-literate physician, Bernard D. Raxlen, MD, will receive the Humanitarian Award for his dedication to treating patients with tick-borne diseases, including Lyme.

"TTC is doing important work for the Lyme community, and has been a great force behind Under Our Skin," said Andy Abrahams Wilson. "Thanks to our joint efforts, the mainstream medical establishment can no longer ignore or marginalize chronic Lyme disease and its sufferers."

Andy is a featured expert in the LDRD's interview series.

The Lance Armstrong of Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-10-31T15:03:25-04:00

Caryn "CJ" Jaffe is pure bottled sunshine, a powerful and amazing model for those of us who are sick and determined to get better. She calls herself the Lance Armstrong of Lyme disease. Although she is "bombarded with Lyme symptoms every day," she's worked hard and prepared to compete in an ironman event on Saturday, November 1. What's the lesson for the rest of us? We can do it too. Maybe not race in an ironman, however, we can find the inner strength to set a big goal and then work to reach it, no matter what obstacles are in our way.

"I found out my bib number is 81 (no idea how I ended up with such a low number...it doesn't mean anything but it's kinda cool!)," she told us. "People can go to ironmanlive.com and search for me by name or bib number on race day, 11/1/08."

"I am starting to get very emotional about being a part of this race," says CJ. "I honestly never thought I could make it back to being this kind of an athlete. It truly is a miracle of sorts. I cannot wait to race. Just to get to that starting line is leaving me speechless. I am excited to see what the journey holds during and afterwards!"

Please follow CJ's race online, and forward this story to anyone you know who could use a shot of inspiration. I recently interviewed CJ for our Lyme Success Stories, so members can also listen to her tell her remarkable story. This little firecracker is also going to make a huge explosion with the book she's writing about her struggles with Lyme disease and her grit and determination in fighting her way back to an active life, one that even Lance Armstrong would be impressed by!

It's no coincidence that many of the people who are beating Lyme are dedicated to regular physical exercise. Ask your Lyme-aware doctor about starting an exercise program that is appropriate for your condition.

Ready...set...get better!

Beating Lyme takes courage

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-10-10T21:56:36-04:00

Advocating for yourself requires courage. For years I've suspected that chronic Lyme patients have got to be some of the gutsiest people around. After listening to the personal success stories of a number of people who are beating Lyme, it appears that courage is an ingredient they have in common.

For example, Darryl tells about his fierce battle with Lyme symptoms, his struggle to find adequate medical help, and ultimately, his success. As he explains, he makes a living as a professional athlete, racing bikes and working for the studios as a stunt man.

Stunt work is dangerous. These guys and gals deal with a gamut of risky activities, such as faked accidents, explosions, and racing away from the scenes of television crime. It's safe to assume that a stunt guy would have guts.

But imagine the courage it took for Darryl to lose the physical ability to work, to have to begin advocating for himself without any help from friends or family members, to fill out form after form of insurance information. To live alone on disability for a period of three years. And all the while, to endure the intense symptoms that we've all experienced in varying degrees, thanks to this pernicious disease.

Of course, you can easily imagine his situation, because yours is probably not so different from his. You may not be a stunt guy (or gal), but your struggle has undoubtedly been just as difficult.

Are you beating Lyme? I would like to hear--and share--your success story. Write to me here.

ILADS to train more doctors

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-10-03T19:38:20-04:00

As you are probably all too well-aware, we have a desperate need for more Lyme disease specialists. Driving or flying thousands of miles to see a Lyme literate doctor is not a luxury that most of us can afford.

According to this article in MediLexicon, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) has started a new training program to teach more doctors how to diagnose and treat chronic Lyme disease. With financial assistance from the New York-based Turn the Corner Foundation, the program aims to train 100 doctors over the next five years.

"With more than an estimated 200,000 of cases annually, Lyme disease has become the leading epidemic of our time," said Dr. Daniel Cameron, ILADS board president and internal medicine physician. "We need more physician-scientists who will be the future leaders in the treatment of Lyme and associated diseases."

Many physicians are not aware of the complexities of tick-borne diseases, and patients with Lyme symptoms are too often misdiagnosed, under treated or simply dismissed. The disease now known in the medical community as the Great Imitator can be a superb mimic of a hundred other conditions, especially if it hasn't been treated correctly when in the early stage. This is due to the complex nature of the Lyme bacteria, which has the capacity to hide from the body's immune system in order to protect itself. Doctors who are trained to recognize and treat Lyme symptoms will help increase awareness of the disease.

The ninth annual ILADS 2008 conference will be held on October 18-19 in San Francisco. Entomologist Willie Burgdorfer, who discovered the Lyme bacteria we know as Borrelia burgdorferi or Bb, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker. Several hundred physicians from across the globe will be in attendance. For Lyme researchers and medical specialists who treat Lyme patients, the conference offers an opportunity to collaborate and learn about each others' work.

Tell Oprah your Lyme story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-30T19:45:42-04:00

UPDATE: The link for Dr. Oz has been removed by Oprah.com.

Oprah is interested in Lyme disease. Apparently the Lyme documentary, Under Our Skin, is getting under hers!

Click on the link below and tell your Lyme story to Oprah's Dr. Oz. If you want somebody to actually read it, keep it short, around 100 words. That's not a lot of room. Just include the date you were diagnosed, how--and if--you found a doctor to treat you, and what you're doing for Lyme treatment.

Dr. Mehmet Oz is professor and vice chairman of surgery at Columbia University in New York City, director of the Cardiovascular Institute and founder and director for the Complementary Medicine Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He is a regular contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show and Oprah.com.

Darryl's Lyme success story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-26T19:24:34-04:00

Darryl is a professional athlete. He races mountain and BMX bikes, and works as a stunt man in Hollywood. When I asked how he would classify his story, he didn't hesitate to call it a success. "I'm 100% better," he says, confidently. You can hear the relief in his voice. Talking about his future, he mentions his work and racing, but it's clear that suffering for so many years with undiagnosed Lyme has influenced his outlook as well. He's now devoted to telling his story wherever he can, and is passionate about helping others.

LDRD members, listen to the interview with Darryl.

Learn about becoming a member and listen to the interviews.

Lyme patients take the fight to DC

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-25T11:01:33-04:00

A bill that would direct 20 million dollars toward Lyme disease research is being held up by committee. Lyme patients showed up by the dozens this week on Capitol Hill to show Congress that increasingly, people are exposed to serious tick-borne diseases and are in dire need of more doctors who are educated about Lyme disease treatment.

Joe LeBlanc, Director of the Central Virginia Chapter of the National Capital Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Association emailed an optimistic note yesterday from the Congressional Briefing. Joe reports that there was "standing room only" at the meeting, and despite the focus on the financial crisis, the briefing went very well. Now, we have to keep on top of our congressional representatives to keep up the momentum.

A big thank you to Joe and everyone who traveled to the Hill to speak up on all our behalf!

Stephen Buhner's DIY massage oil

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-19T20:17:57-04:00

For a treat, I asked herbalist, author and teacher Stephen Harrod Buhner to share a simple DIY recipe to help ease arthritis pain. Not only will it help reduce the pain, it smells wonderful! Plus, it's easy to make with simple ingredients you can find in a good healthy grocery store or co-op. And as the weather turns crispy heading into fall, a soothing massage will warm achy joints.

Stephen's book Healing Lyme, is much appreciated by many Lyme patients who can't tolerate antibiotics, or who suffer from chronic Lyme disease, have already reached their limit with standard Lyme treatment, or are simply looking for an alternative to Western medicine. He's a wonderful ally to have as we journey through our various healing paths. These are Stephen's recent books:

The Secret Teachings of Plants:
The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature
(Bear and Company, 2004)

Healing Lyme: Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borrelosis and its related Co-infections
(Raven Press, June 2005)

Stephen Harrod Buhner's Arthritis massage oil formula:

Use essential oils and a carrier oil. Stephen says he normally uses olive oil as a carrier, though a lot of people prefer jojoba, which is lighter and less fragrant. The amount of essential oil used in the mix can be adjusted up or down depending on personal preference.

1) 8 ounces olive oil (or jojoba oil)
2) 1/4 tsp each of the following essential oils: juniper, lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, German or Roman chamomile. (Alternatively, you can use peppermint, ginger, thyme, geranium)
3) Mix well.
4) Put into glass bottle, keep protected from sunlight.
5) When needed just pour a bit into the hand and massage into the affected area.
6) Let it work, takes a little while for it to penetrate the tissues.
7) Do not take internally.
8) Do not get on sensitive areas - i.e. eyes, reproductive organs, etc. or any areas of abraded skin.

Stephen Buhner's website is called Gaian Studies. He's featured in our experts interview series, talking about the challenges to Lyme diagnosis and treatment, and discussing his herbal approach to healing. Join here to listen.

Relief for painful joints

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-18T13:39:40-04:00

One of the most common Lyme disease symptoms is achey knees, fingers, and other painful joints. If you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, you may find relief with moxibustion, which you can create with the heat from a lighted, tightly wrapped bunch of dried mugwort. Moxa is mugwort.

Author, Herbalist and acupuncturist Lesley Tierra, whose arthritis massage oil formula I've posted here, says many arthritis sufferers find relief from moxibustion. To use it on your knees or fingers, light one end of the moxa stick by holding it over a candle, or with a lighter. The flame will go out but the stick will still be burning, like hot coal. Hold the cool end and aim the hot end of the moxa over the achey place, close enough to feel the heat. Be careful not to touch the moxa to your skin. I've been using it on my aching knees for about ten minutes at a time, once a day. Sitting quietly for a few minutes and appreciating the soothing warmth flooding my joints has also helped remind me to slow down during a busy work week.

Moxibustion is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to warm a patient's skin and stimulate qi, the life force. You can obtain a moxibustion bundle from an acupuncturist, which is where I got mine. It's about the same size as a cigar, and while I think it smells a whole lot nicer than most cigars, it does create a fair amount of smoke and incense while burning.

Send your doc to SF

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-16T21:33:39-04:00

When I was receiving Lyme disease treatment in California, where I lived at the time of my diagnosis, my family doctor was a naturopath who had studied with ILADS physician Dr. Raphael Stricker and others with CALDA. I was extremely fortunate to have his expertise as he helped me battle the fight of a lifetime. In turn, he said he felt lucky to have the expertise, experience, and excellence of these Lyme specialists behind him.

Your doctor doesn't have to live in California to attend. People from all over the country are planning to go. Help us spread the word about the CALDA Lyme conferences coming up in San Francisco. To sweeten the pot, here's a way for him or her to get reimbursed for a portion of the cost:

From the CALDA website:

CALDA will reimburse up to $800.00 out-of-pocket expenses for any actively practicing MD, DO, ND, NP or PA in any state to attend the annual conferences put on by the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) and the Lyme Disease Association (LDA). CALDA grants are limited and are only available to those qualifying professionals who are attending the conferences for the first time. Preference will be given to persons currently engaged in treating tickborne infections and who plan to attend both conferences.

The 2008 ILADS and LDA conferences will be held on October 17 – 19 at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. Please check the ILADS and LDA websites for details and to register at: www.ilads.org; www.lymediseaseassociation.org.

Jerry's Lyme success story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-12T17:27:00-04:00

"Work with your doctors, be your own best advocate. Do research, and get a second, third, tenth opinion," says Jerry. "There is life after Lyme disease."

For Jerry, the difficulties of Lyme are a thing of the past. Although it took its toll on every day life, and his marriage couldn't hold up under the strain of the illness, he now leads a full, happy life. He's active and loves his work as a professional consultant, and proud of his two daughters, both college graduates. However, for several years during the 90s, Lyme was a force to be reckoned with.

In 1994, he and his family went for a weekend at their cabin in upper Lake Michigan. Upon returning home, he spotted a tick buried in the skin on his ankle. Over the next weeks and months, he experienced painful, swollen joints, especially his knees and fingers.

In January, 1995, Jerry was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Aside from joint pain his symptoms included severely bloodshot eyes and blurred vision that came and went. As a well-educated Lyme patient, he got used to toting a large notebook of his own to his doctor visits. A particular combination of antibiotics seemed to finally make the difference, especially when his doctor was willing to give him the winning combo for a whole year, as Jerry requested. He endured the repeated Herxheimer reactions in order to stay on the medicine long enough to fully eradicate the Lyme infection. But his problems weren't over yet. The next year, while Lyme was still active, he was also diagnosed with coronary artery disease.

While Jerry is not overweight, is an avid exerciser and non-smoker, his cardiac problems led to two different bypass operations and several angioplasties. To this day, he and his cardiologist wonder whether the Lyme infection had anything to do with his heart problems. Jerry believes that a lot of his health problems began with the tick bite.

The elements of this story are familiar, although in some ways Jerry's story is quite unusual. For example, over the entire course of his disease, his treatment was covered by a generous health insurance plan through his employer. I told him he was luckier than most. He agrees.

In March, 2007, he got a Golden Retriever to accompany him while pheasant hunting. One day, he took the dog for a run while riding his bike. A half a block from home, the dog bolted...the story continues.

LDRD members can listen to Jerry's interview. Learn about becoming a member.

$25,000 for Lyme research

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-11T16:51:42-04:00

I'm pleased to pass along a bright spot of news for chronic Lyme disease sufferers. According to an article in today's MarketWatch, researchers at a biotechnology company were gifted by an anonymous donor with $25,000 towards a new study to try to unlock the mystery of Lyme disease. Why do antibiotics only cure some cases of Lyme?

Researchers at Viral Genetics, Inc., are hoping to answer that question and more.

The article continues:
Research on chronic Lyme Disease, including symptoms related to the central nervous system and arthritis, has generated inconclusive and controversial results. Some researchers contend Lyme is driven by chronic infection and recommend patients be treated with antibiotics for the long term. Others support the hypothesis that the disease is the result of autoimmune T-cell activation that occurs subsequent to the initial infection or after the infection has cleared.

"Our hopes are that the information acquired from this very important study, may act as a bridge between those who contend that Lyme Disease is an active chronic infection and those who feel it is an autoimmune trigger. The answer to this question is of great importance for all those suffering in the Lyme community. Only through this information can we begin to formulate more successful treatment regimens for the chronically ill," said Dr. Steven Harris, co-investigator, Associate Professor Stanford University.

Going for Gold in spite of Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-08T12:46:53-04:00

23-year-old champion archer Mel Clarke of Great Britain was asked what it meant to be preparing for the Summer Paralympic Games in Bejing, which opened Sunday.

"The honor to represent your country at that level, it's incredible. I didn't think I was going to have the opportunity."

Lack of confidence in her athletic ability was not the reason for Clarke's doubt. Rather, it was a tick bite that had resulted in Lyme disease.

In 2003, Clarke was paralyzed and partially blinded by Lyme disease. She was told she'd never shoot the bow again. Since age 11, she has used a wheelchair due to arthritis. A fearless competitor, she rejected the notion of giving up her dream of gold. Instead she worked hard to heal from Lyme's brutal symptoms and recover movement, sight and agility. Three and a half years ago she began training for the 2008 Paralympic Games.

The Summer Paralympics began in Rome in 1960, for athletes with physical, mental or sensory disabilities. They are held in the same host city as the Olympic Games, and run by the same organization. They begin three weeks after the Olympics closing ceremony. "Para" is from a Greek word for "alongside," and is not related to "paralyzed."

Mel Clarke currently holds 20 county records, 10 national able-bodied records and eight world records. In addition to going for the gold in Bejing over the next few weeks, she is also eagerly anticipating competing in her home turf in the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Chronic Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-05T16:49:28-04:00

Chronic Lyme disease is controversial. It is what appears to affect those of us who still suffer from Lyme symptoms after finishing a standard IDSA recommended dosage of antibiotics. In some cases, chronic Lyme manifests in Lyme patients who received antibiotics for treatment, but weren't given a strong enough dose for a long enough time.

Some Lyme symptoms seem almost livable. Tinnitus, for example. Talking from personal experience only, I can live with it. This is not to say that I like it. On the contrary. I'm a classically trained musician, peculiarly sensitive to noise. You know those people who wince at the out-of-tune piano at the community concert? That would be me. I'm not exactly proud of that, just sayin'. So, losing my hearing partially to tinnitus has really sliced into my enjoyment of natural sounds. The tinnitus might go away some day. For now, it sure seems chronic. There are metallic crickets playing at varying volumes inside my head, 24/7.

Other chronic Lyme symptoms are far more serious. For example, medical evidence suggests that rheumatoid arthritis is one result of untreated, or undertreated Lyme disease. As many as 60% of people with untreated Lyme may develop chronic arthritis.

Central nervous problems, such as facial paralysis and meningitis are said to occur in 10 to 20% of people who are undertreated or never treated for Lyme.

Heart symptoms occur in a small percentage of Lyme patients. A jumpy, pounding irregular heart can vary the gamut from being not at all bothersome, to very scary. The jumpiness can occur either because of an infection in the heart, or an electrical conduction that requires the patient have a pacemaker implanted.

Chronic Lyme is controversial because doctors don't all agree that these long-term symptoms of Lyme are indeed still considered Lyme. Whatever you call them, they need to be tended to.

Deer ticks and other critters

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-09-01T13:00:23-04:00

"My dog has Lyme. Could I get it from her?"

No. If you are bitten by a tick, you may get Lyme. Your dog cannot give it to you directly. However, you may both get it from the same infected tick. Being bitten by a tick that crawled onto you when you were snuggling or letting her sleep on your bed is more likely. Ticks don't jump, like fleas. They crawl.

These ticks and others can be vectors for Lyme and other bad diseases. Vector means they are animals that can carry disease to humans.

* Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis)
* Western Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes pacificus)
* Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum)
* Avian Tick (Ixodes auritulus)

Search Term: Lyme disease tick.

According to Eva Sapi, PhD, biologist and director of the Lyme research program at the University of New Haven, Connecticut, the ticks collected in the NE region of the US this year have shown a higher percentage of Lyme infection than in the past. Not only are there greater numbers of ticks than in the past, they're also more likely to be carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme bacteria.

Your dog, cat, or horse might inadvertently share a Lyme-infected tick with you. Do be careful and perform regular tick checks all over your body whenever you've spent time with them. If you rarely venture into the woods or onto the seashore without slathering your body with DEET, and make your kids stay in your own yard to play, you may not think you are putting yourself or your loved ones in harm's way. Unfortunately, it's tougher than that to steer clear of tick habitat. Lyme researchers tell me there are plenty of ticks in our own yards, not just in the wild. Where we live in North Carolina, deer regularly walk along the side fence, where they're nicely hidden by the dense woods in the lot next door. I only spot them when I'm spacing out while staring past my computer monitor, out the office windows. One time I thought I saw a whole section of tree branches move away from the tree. On closer inspection, I realized with a start that I had been looking at a beautiful buck with a giant rack. Deer are survivors. They are excellent at adapting to living in urban areas, and they are often covered in ticks.

I'd love to have a yard full of guinea fowl, who find ticks a tasty treat to eat. However, they're super noisy and I'm afraid they'd drive me and the neighbor, who is also a writer and works at home, batty with their cry.

Tell me what you do to avoid (or control) ticks?

Lyme disease in dogs

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-26T13:46:37-04:00

Are you and your dog both at risk for Lyme? It's terrible to think so, yet those energizing hikes through the forest that you and your canine pal adore may be putting you at a greater risk for infection. Even if you're not a frequent hiker, you know how man's best friend loves to rummage through the bushes around the edge of the yard and snuffle through piles of leaves. Hedges and leaf piles are prime hiding spots for ticks.

Lyme is endemic in the northeastern US, and increasing incidences of the illness are being reported in northern California and the Pacific northwest. Dogs living in other parts of the country may be at less of a risk for exposure. But before you allow yourself to believe your dog is out of the woods (so to speak), bear in mind that Lyme infection has been reported in every state.

Lyme in dogs manifests differently than in humans. When bitten by an infected tick, 30 - 50% of people will develop a skin rash and flu-like symptoms. However, dogs are not likely to develop symptoms for many weeks or months. Your dog might exhibit signs of arthritis from painful joint inflammation, or he might run a fever. Your veterinarian can prescribe a course of antibiotics such as doxycycline or Amoxicillin, which many dogs respond well to. As in humans, all the bacteria may not be killed with this course. Long term or chronic Lyme may or may not be a problem for our beloved buddies.

According to an article by Wendy C. Brooks, DVM, DipABVP Educational Director of VeterinaryPartner.com, dogs do not tend to develop neurologic or heart issues.
However, kidney disease may occur in response to stimulation by latent pathogens over a long period of time.

Preventing Lyme infection might be possible with the use of powerful tick repellents and collars. However, even if you use these agents you should take the time to check your dog daily for ticks whenever you think there has been exposure. There is no hard evidence to prove that a tick must be attached for 48 hours before it can spew its Lyme bacteria into the animal on which it's feeding. If the tick is disturbed while feeding, it may dump its toxins into the bloodstream of the host animal.

If you find a tick on your pet, grasp the tick firmly but gently with a tweezers and pull it straight out without twisting or turning it.
Never suffocate the tick by putting anything on it, such as Vaseline or soap. Doing so may cause it to unload its bacteria before you remove it.

The bad news is that diagnosing Lyme disease in dogs is as tricky as it is for humans. Spirochetes are notorious for being able to hide masterfully from the host's immune system. Therefore, detecting antibodies to the Lyme bacteria is nearly impossible. If you and your vet suspect that your furry buddy might have Lyme, the good news is that a 2 - 4 week course of antibiotics should bring your pet relief from symptoms quickly, within 48 hours.

Marguerite's Lyme story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-22T18:03:39-04:00

"It's been a rollercoaster," says Marguerite, who began looking for a Lyme literate doctor when she first contracted the disease many years ago. She had just experienced the death of her second husband. She had two adorable puppies, and was active in church, taking yoga, working and staying physically fit when she discovered she had Lyme disease. Living in the heartland of Lyme in Fairfield, Connecticut, she was bitten more than once.

She got herself to an infectious disease doctor the minute she detected a tick bite, and was given short courses of doxycycline, which she now suspects were not long enough. She even received the controversial Lyme vaccine, which was only available for a brief period of time due to its ineffectiveness.

This is a frustrating and familiar story: Marguerite's Lyme symptoms began as flu-like feelings and migraine headaches. Her severe low back pain and neurological challenges made it very difficult to work, even though her company allowed her to work from home. She developed apnea, insomnia, painful swelling in the joints and more. She's gone to three infectious disease doctors who she says won't even listen to her positive test results for Lyme. Today, she uses patches for pain control, and is actively looking for a Lyme aware doctor to treat her.

We wish you well, Marguerite!

Members can listen to Marguerite's story. Please consider joining the LDRD.

How to find a Lyme doctor

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-20T17:07:54-04:00

Currently, there are two standards of treatment for Lyme disease. If you have Lyme symptoms, or suspect you may have Lyme, please contact a Lyme literate medical doctor, or LLMD. Go to the Lyme Disease Association doctor referrals page.

You'll need to register using your email address, and follow the simple directions to find a doctor near you. It doesn't take long and it's easy to do. If you need a Lyme specialist, we urge you to find one soon.

Infectious disease doctors (IDSA) may not have knowledge of Lyme disease, and may lack the experience that ILADS specialists can offer in diagnosing and treating Lyme. ILADS member Ginger Savely, RN, has treated over a thousand patients suffering with Lyme symptoms. She says "you can get better!"

If Lyme is left untreated it can be debilitating. The good news is you can get better. Find a doctor who knows how to diagnose and treat Lyme now.

CJ's Lyme success story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-19T11:58:57-04:00

"You've gotta hear this!"

That was the subject line in CJ's note to me the other day. Turns out she was right -- I did. I just hung up this minute from our conversation, and I'm still smiling. She's one of those sunshiny souls that just can't help but affect people that way. What does she do for a living? She's the office manager of a trapeze school. Not your normal occupation, but then CJ isn't your average person. Actually, she participates in ironman competitions. Does she still have Lyme? Yes. Does she let it bring her down? If she does, she's not letting it show.

CJ's success story, like everyone who has struggled to defeat the disability that can accompany Lyme disease, comes at a price. She was misunderstood and misdiagnosed for a long time. As a teenager, she attended music camp where she concentrated on her highly developed skills as a flautist. Gifted on both the flute and piccolo, and disciplined about practice, she was headed for a life of professional music.

However, a tick bite that she got at camp stopped her in her tracks. She called home, begging her puzzled mother to let her leave early. Her mom knew something was seriously wrong.

CJ's story takes many jogs and unexpected turns. She falls in love, marries, then deals head on with an unsupportive spouse (a bastard and a s^%#head, to quote her precisely). And the most remarkable thing happens. She finds inspiration in a nine-year-old leukemia patient facing two years of chemotherapy. She is a nurse. At his bedside, she tells him that she's going to run in a charity race on his behalf. He looks at her, asks "can you run?"

LDRD Members can login (to the left) and listen to CJ's story.

Become a LDRD member and get immediate access to all of our audio interviews.

Who inspires you?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-11T10:44:54-04:00

I'm a huge Amy Tan fan. If you haven't read her novels, you're missing out on some super funny and insightful stories. Read this and whet your appetite. I remember when I found out shortly after my Lyme diagnosis that Amy Tan also suffered for years from misdiagnosis and severe neuroborreliosis. Reading her story, I hung on every word. Of course, I had to read s-l-o-w-l-y. At that point, it often took me hours to comprehend one page of information. I determined that if the brilliant Amy Tan could slip so low and still pull herself out, I could too. She knew how tough it was. You know how it is. I don't want to be in this club, but since I have no choice I'm going to look around and find someone to inspire me.

Musician Darryl Hall was diagnosed with Lyme the same week I was. I feel solidarity with him. Another fabulous novelist, Rebecca Wells, has Lyme. We've got some great role models. GW Bush has had Lyme, and the White House doctors say he's fully recovered. Alice Walker, another amazing writer whose work I've always loved, has had Lyme disease. Just knowing we're not alone, and in fact, we're in some pretty good company, makes me feel a smidge better. Tell me, who inspires you?

ABC Great Lyme Debate - Part 3

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-06T15:47:48-04:00

Part 3 of ABC's Great Lyme Debate.
Families and whole neighborhoods have contracted this debilitating disease.
Watch how experts gather ticks on a collecting expedition.

Please watch and share this educational video, and drop a note of thanks to journalist Kathy Fowler at ABC, for calling attention to Lyme disease. Our comments matter.

ABC covers Lyme debate - part 2

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-04T16:33:43-04:00

Watch the video

* Lyme disease tests are often misleading
* Lyme symptoms can mimic hundreds of other conditions
* Many Lyme patients do not receive a correct diagnosis until the Lyme bacteria has had a chance to replicate throughout their body

Does your doctor know how to test for Lyme? Is he or she Lyme aware? ILADS physician Dr. Raphael Stricker told us in an exclusive LDRD interview that the conventional Lyme tests have a "coin-toss sensitivity," meaning that you could get the same results if you just flip a coin.

Do you have to go outside IDSA recommendations to get the answers you need? The woman in this news story considers herself virtually cured of Lyme, after two and a half years of antibiotics therapy.

Are some conventional doctors beginning to understand that these tests, developed over 30 years ago, are outdated and inadequate?

Watch this brief news story on the great Lyme debate. Journalist Kathy Fowler continues the 3-part investigation. Leave your comments here and also send drop her a note at lyme@wjla.com Please share this link with others you know are concerned about Lyme disease symptoms.

ABC covers the Lyme Debate

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-02T11:51:28-04:00

* Is Lyme disease an unrecognized epidemic?
* If left untreated, will it become chronic?
* Can Lyme be treated with long-term antibiotics?

Or do you believe, as IDSA docs do, that the Lyme epidemic is nonexistent? Is chronic Lyme disease all in the patients' head? Are long-term antibiotics dangerous?

These questions simmer at the heart of the great Lyme debate, which is played out every day in decisions made by IDSA doctors on one hand, and ILADS physicians on the other. The IDSA is currently reviewing its treatment guidelines.

Who's correct? Where do you stand? Anyone who has ever been doubted by their Infectious Disease doctor, and all of us whose lives are affected by Lyme will want to watch this three part story.

ABC News covers the Lyme controversy. Take a look. If you appreciate this report, please take a moment to call or email ABC and let them know. Our opinions as viewers matter to them.

Deer and mice survive Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-01T20:59:19-04:00

What should we take with a grain? Advice.

For example, I just read this: if your cat spends time outdoors and is acting lethargic, ask your vet to test for Lyme disease.

Um, buddy, I don't know about your cat....

I'm being a little facetious here. Of course it is wise to keep an eye on your pet. Our felines are strictly indoor beasts, so I worry less. However, if you've got a dog or a horse, a ferret or even a lazy outdoors cat, do what you can to protect them. Not only can Goldie or Jake fall sick from Lyme himself, he may also bring ticks, and their Borrelia burgdorferi poison, home to you.

Deer and mice, and many other critters, do not get sick from the Lyme bacteria for some reason. Deer can travel many miles in their lifetime, playing host to any number of vile little ticks, who can often be found around their neck or ears. When an infected tick bites a deer, the deer becomes part of the cycle. It doesn't get ill but it harbors the bacteria, which is then passed on to any uninfected ticks who come along to feed.

We can try, but we can't get rid of ticks. In fact, as the biodiversity of our environment shrinks, the tick population is exploding. And so are the numbers of ticks who are already infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, according to Dr. Eva Sapi, director of Lyme research at UNH, Connecticut. Deer and mice and the ticks they carry don't have as many natural enemies as they once did. Plus they're incredibly adaptive to change. These animals can survive in terrain that many of their predators cannot. Dr. Sapi says that another factor in the higher numbers of infected ticks may be the warmer temperatures in winter. Tick populations that used to die off in freezing temps now winter over.

Reputable Lyme researchers like Dr. Sapi and Dr. Alan MacDonald are working to figure out how to kill Borrelia burgdorferi, and how to cure Lyme. We hope you'll listen to these two skilled scientists, as well as the other Lyme experts who have participated in our Interviews with Experts series. Although the explosion of the tick population is unfortunate, it's also resulting in more media coverage on Lyme disease, and more money for researching Lyme as a serious disease.

We'll continue to scope out the most reliable, professional Lyme specialists available, and record them here for you.

Now, I'm off to wake up my lazy cat. Time for her to earn some kibble and catch this flying bug...

Borrelia Burgdorferi, Lyme bacteria

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-08-01T11:44:45-04:00

Borrelia burgdorferi, or Bb, is the notorious bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Bb is just one of three hundred strains of spirochetes worldwide. Other strains of spirochetes cause diseases such as relapsing fever and syphilis. Bb is a spiral-shaped microscopic organism that can scoot around inside the body by rotating in place, like a corkscrew. After its host, the tick, downloads Bb into the bloodstream of a critter or a person, the spirochete can leave the blood stream and invade the tissues and organs.

Although it can cause such frightful, wide-ranging symptoms, to glimpse this tiny pathogen requires a powerful microscope. The Bb spirochete is infinitesimally small. According to the Lyme Disease Foundation in Connecticut, as described in the book, Beating Lyme, it would take fifteen hundred of them laid end to end to equal one inch. "If bacteria were laid side to side, one hundred thousand Lyme bacteria would be required to equal one inch."

Willy Burgdorfer, PhD, was the entomologist who discovered the Lyme microorganism. Scientists honored Dr. Burgdorfer by naming the Lyme spirochete after him. I've just received a copy of Beating Lyme: Understanding and Treating This Complex and Often Misdiagnosed Disease, by Constance Bean with Lesley Ann Fein, MD, MPH. I think I'll pour myself another cup of green tea, settle in and read some more. Chances are you already know some of what's in the book, since Lyme patients tend to read voraciously in order to get educated about symptoms and treatment. We're adding book reviews to the LDRD, so keep an eye out for more news and expert recommendations.

Hear it from Lyme experts

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-25T23:41:35-04:00

Remember your second grade teacher telling you to use your 'thinking cap'? When I was in an acute stage of Lyme, searching for reputable sources of practical information online, I realized quickly that I was going to need to turn on my thinking cap when listening to people who meant well, but who weren't qualified medical experts. Where Lyme disease symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment are concerned, more information -- and unfortunately, more misinformation -- is becoming available every moment. Although forums and communities serve a noble purpose, and help reassure you that you're not alone, forums can also be a source of misinformation.

What you need more than anything, especially when you're weak, is to know that you can get better. I remember being so deathly ill (and also so ignorant about this disease), that I burst into tears of relief when my sister told me, over the phone, that a woman she knew had beaten Lyme, and was traveling, working, and living a perfectly happy life again. My symptoms were so painful, and my daily life and routines were at that time centered on Basic Survival 101. My world had shrunk to the point that I really couldn't even imagine living a 'normal' life again. Well, over the past three years since my diagnosis and treatment, my life has totally changed, but it's all for the better. As you may very well know, going through treatment, suffering Herx after Herx is not fun. It has never been easy. It's a slow road. I genuinely wish I could tell you there is a magic bullet that could set your life right again, or snap my fingers and make your pain disappear. However, there's no single pill that can do that for someone with an advanced stage of Lyme. Not yet. As you can hear our from our interviews with top Lyme disease research scientists, however, they are fervently devoted to finding a cure very soon. So keep your fingers crossed. When it happens, we'll tell you all about it!

Our mission here is to record real people's Lyme success stories, and interview world-class Lyme aware physicians so that you can hear them tell it like it is, and get the scoop directly. No mediators, no advertisers. This is the sort of meaty, practical information I hungered for when I first learned I had Lyme. We're grateful to be able to document all of these stories. Every one of our stories is important, each of them adds a small piece of the puzzle of Lyme and adds to our ability to heal. Listening to Rick's story, Karol's, and the others is one surefire way to fill your heart and mind with hope. And listening to the ILADS doctors and other medical practitioners in our 'interviews with experts' series is one very good way to learn, from reputable sources, how to get better. Because it may not be easy, but believe me, when you put on your thinking cap, as Ginger Savely, RN, who has treated a thousand Lyme patients at her clinic in San Francisco says: "You can get better!"

Become a member and get immediate access to the Expert Interview Series and the Success Stories.

Rick's Lyme success story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-23T12:37:36-04:00

Rick, an active sports-lover, was married and starting a family. He was a runner, a cycler and a swimmer. His northern California lifestyle was the type most people can only dream of. "I would water-ski, snow-ski, do anything I pretty much wanted to, looking back. Then I'd hang out with my family, get into the car on the fly, and still have energy on the weekends," he says.

One day he woke up with a frozen shoulder. He was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Although Rick had been tested for Lyme, the tests had come back negative. His RA doctor told him, "Lyme doesn't exist in California. It's probably not that. You just need to consider that you have arthritis. Then he added, right in front of my wife, 'you have to trust the experts to help make you better,'" says Rick. He laughed. "I'm in sales," he explains. "Whenever I hear somebody say 'trust me,' I know I'm going to get f****d."

His RA doctor recommended surgery, which he had. The pain was still unbearable. He was sent from doctor to doctor and no one knew what the problem was. He spent over $25,000 in medical tests without receiving any answers. He was placed on medications that never seemed to help, and only made things worse. At one point, he was popping sixteen Advil per day, eight in the morning and eight at lunch. At night, he self-medicated with wine. The entire time he was sick, he hid his painful symptoms from everyone he worked with, and never complained, even to his wife. But he wasn't getting better and knew he couldn't go on like that.

Finally, at his wife's suggestion, he realized that he had to trust yet one more doctor. He had Googled "Lyme + doctor" and found a clinic in nearby San Francisco. He walked into the office of ILADS physician Dr. Raphael Stricker. When Dr. Stricker told him he had Lyme, he was flooded with intense relief. After only three weeks of treatment, his symptoms began to disappear.

Rick now considers himself to be about 90% better, and he's been able to return to some of the activities he loves. How did having Lyme change his life? In so many ways, he says. Specifically, his empathy for other peoples' hardship and pain. "My family says I'm nicer now," he adds, laughing.

LDRD members, you can listen to Rick tell his entire story in the members area.

Diet, exercise and sleep

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-22T15:37:04-04:00

Are you like me, a list-maker? Nothing satisfies like crossing something off your to-do list. Here's a list that I wrote for myself, but I haven't crossed anything off yet because I'm still doing them.

3 areas where you can help yourself while healing from Lyme disease:

1. Diet. Eat only healthy, whole organic foods whenever possible. Choose more fresh veggies, more alkaline foods. Read all packaged food and drink labels before you buy. I know that the mere mention of spaghetti and garlic bread makes you salivate, however, reduce (or eliminate) your intake of pasta and carbohydrates. They break down into sugar in your system. Sugar will feed the Lyme bacteria you're trying so hard to kill. Drink plenty of pure water, it will help you detoxify and stay alert. Drink green tea instead of coffee - you have no tolerance for coffee now anyway.

2. Exercise. Yeah, I know. You're too pooped to pop. Your eyelids suddenly gained five pounds each and came slamming down like little garage doors. However, the top Lyme experts recommend daily exercise...to help increase your energy level. That's right! Run, dance, ride a bike. Walk. Jump on your mini-trampoline. Most Lyme patients feel about as strong as melted butter. Build muscles. You'll gain strength, and being strong will also build your confidence. Unless you're in an acute stage, start sweating. Every Lyme patient tells me that regular exercise makes them feel better, even when they felt so wobbly they could barely manage to drag themselves around the block.

3. Sleep. While you're deeply snoozing, each one of your cells is being repaired and replaced with a new healthy cell. You need more rest than you think. Who cares if you need 10, 11, 12 hours of sleep? It takes what it takes. Go to bed by 10 pm. If you can't sleep, meditate. Meditate anyway. It helps you gain perspective. Then first thing upon awakening, take a shower (dry brush first, to help slough off icky toxins excreted during the night). Brew a cup of hot green jasmine tea. Sip while sitting in the morning sun. Stretch. Yawn. Pet your cat. Hug your significant other. Breathe deeply. Give thanks.

Lyme Expert Interview Series.

Waiting room - Lyme story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-18T16:37:48-04:00

I was sitting in the crowded, stuffy waiting room, when the guy seated across the aisle started talking.

"I got a rash all over my chest," he said to no one in particular. "They gave me the wrong blood pressure medicine," he continued. "Can you believe that? I can't sleep, it itches so bad." He went on explaining the details of his story and the painful rash, eventually reaching up as if to unbutton his shirt to prove it. I buried my nose in my magazine. The man stopped, looked around to see if anyone was listening. No one was. He leaned toward me. "What's wrong with you?" he said. "You don't look sick."

My long skirt hid the white gauze bandages wrapped around both shins from ankle to knee. Beneath the gauze, the skin on my legs was hamburger from a mysterious rash that had been getting worse over the course of the past eight months. I'd been practically living on an alkaline diet, including lunches of delectable dandelion greens, and downing numerous turmeric capsules, since a holistic doctor had told me that I had eczema. I didn't drink, smoke, and I could count on one hand the times I'd taken antibiotics in my entire lifetime. I wasn't the type to get eczema, and that diagnosis had taken me by surprise. Even so, I religiously followed the doctor's suggestions. Still, I'd had no luck with the nasty rash. When the pain became so vicious that I could no longer even walk, my boyfriend drove me to the ER. Before walking into the waiting room, I'd spent the weekend on IV antibiotics. The ER docs informed us that I had almost died from a staph infection on the verge of going septic.

The man may not have noticed the cane leaning next to my purse. I smiled weakly. "I don't know," I shrugged. He narrowed his eyes, as if I was withholding something he deserved to know. Then he nodded and sat back.

My heart leaped at odd intervals, like a fish jumping in a shallow stream, making it hard to catch a deep breath. The one fan circulating in the room didn't do much to relieve the stuffiness. The dull headache I'd had for a week seemed worse under the florescent lights and the blaring TV high on the wall. An attendant in a green tunic appeared from the hallway and glanced at her clipboard. When she called my name, I stood and steadied myself with the cane and proceeded to walk as well as I could toward the hall. Vertigo gripped me, making me lose my balance. I almost bumped into the knees of the man with the rash. "M.S.," he muttered.

I stepped on the scale in the hall. The attendant adjusted it and recorded my weight. In the doctor's office, she took my blood pressure, handed me a hospital gown and left the room. I sat on the stainless steel table under the glare of the florescent lights, and waited again. So this is what public health care looks like, I thought. What was wrong with me? I had always been healthy, was always the one to choose carrot sticks over potato chips. On top of that, I was happily in love, and even starting a new business. In a million-zillion years, I never dreamed I'd be in this position. But here I was, in a small California coastal town, in the middle of my life, in such a weakened state that I could barely recognize the thoughts swimming through the thick fog that had descended in my brain.

Diagnosing Lyme: Lies & half-truths

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-17T17:19:35-04:00

It irks me to see inaccurate info about Lyme on health-oriented blogs. For example, I just read the sentence: "Lyme is completely treatable. No need to panic," and now I'm really bugged. No, I don't want everybody to panic. However, it's just such unfounded casualness about Lyme that creates the illusion that one needn't seek a Lyme aware doctor's advice right away, at the first suspicion of Lyme symptoms or the presence of a tick bite. There is absolutely no evidence that the person making the claim has any awareness of just how dangerous, and multi-stage, Lyme can be when left untreated.

The same blogger also cavalierly states that "a characteristic bull's eye rash will show up within 3 to 30 days." GRrrrrr! Not true. Up to 50% of people with a Lyme infection will never show signs of the circular, red skin rash. Diagnosing Lyme is a tricky thing, part art, part science. Even ILADS doctors differ in their approach to diagnosing Lyme. I skim the blogs like a watch-dog, looking for useful information. I'm vigilant. I can sniff out a lie about Lyme faster than you can say "neuroborelliosis."

How is the blog-skimming public supposed to become informed, with half-truths and lies circulating so freely? The mis-truths and misinformation all stems back to the opinion of the CDC -- in the form of the IDSA -- that Lyme is not a serious disease. I am really looking forward to following up on the results of the antitrust investigation into the IDSA's guidelines for the treatment of Lyme. Stay tuned. I'll be posting whatever I sniff out right here.

NY Times article on Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-16T15:56:25-04:00

There's a lot to admire about Jane Brody's recent NY Times article on Lyme disease, A Threat in a Grassy Stroll. It will inform some who haven't ever heard of the disease (yes, they're out there), or people who had heard of it but know squat about it, such as my Aunt Louise, who called to offer her condolences after I was diagnosed. ("Unfortunately, nothing can be done, dear. Eating rosemary is supposed to help.") The article may even throw a wrench in the common nonsense that Lyme is "hard to get, and easy to cure," a myth that originally began where? With an article in the NY Times, by Gina Kolata.

Perhaps what I appreciate most about Brody's piece is that alongside the statistics and experts she quotes, she offers her own personal observations. After presenting the simplified version of the IDSA's and ILADS conflicting views on treatment, she says, "Although I cannot state with authority which side is correct, I have encountered enough previously healthy people who have suffered for months or years after initial treatment to suggest that there is often more to this disease than 'official' diagnostic and treatment guidelines suggest." The article's meta-text is twofold. First: Don't believe everything you read. And second: Don't discount your own observations.

My problems with the article are fairly nit-picky, and my bias in support of ILADS makes me frustrated to see this global organization of highly-educated physicians and researchers referred to as "a nonprofit medical group," but okay, they are a nonprofit medical group. I also think it's a little weak on Brody's part to suggest the ISDA simply agreed to revise its Lyme treatment guidelines, since in fact the IDSA faced criminal charges of antitrust if they refused to do so. Furthermore, Eva Sapi, PhD, director of Lyme disease research at UNH, says that even 40% DEET wasn't strong enough to repel ticks when she and her students ventured out on their tick-collecting walks through Fairfield County, CT. She recommends permethrin-saturated clothing instead. And Dr. Sapi says that ticks have been known to transmit bacteria after only one or two hours -- not the 24 hours that Brody says the vile little critters need.

Some of these transgressions, even if they're small, can spread damaging half-truths to the overall message about Lyme. The truth is, it's a serious disease. Easy to get, and hard to cure. The lucky ones are cured following the simplistic guidelines of the IDSA. But the numbers of sick people who don't get better on that protocol tell a different story. In all, I have to say it's exciting to see good reporters talking about Lyme, bringing their own observations into the mix, and not simply mouthing the words of the CDC.

Listen to the experts themselves, and use your own good judgment.

Beating Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-15T12:21:54-04:00

Before Karol, a diagnostic technician, received a correct diagnosis for Lyme disease, she saw 14 doctors over a four year period. One after the other, these well-educated (though ignorant about Lyme) physicians tested her for many conditions. Karol lives in Texas, and according to the region's doctors, "you can't get Lyme in Texas." So, they searched for the cause of Karol's pain and sickness. Early on, she did get tested for Lyme, but since the test was negative it was ruled out and forgotten. She could have a brain tumor, they suggested. She might have multiple sclerosis. Whatever the reason for her seizures and dizziness, the doctors never suspected Lyme.

One day, she happened to catch a nurse practitioner on the television news, talking about the difficulty of diagnosing Lyme disease. Listening to Ginger Savely, FNP, Karol made the decision to go and see her. "I wasn't very optimistic," says Karol, about receiving a diagnosis. After all, it had been four years. When she did get positively diagnosed for Lyme and began antibiotic therapy, she was thrilled. "That's weird, I know, to be so happy about having a disease," she says. However, the affirmation gave her the strength to fight it. Like so many of us, she found the experience of not-knowing, for so many years, to be almost as debilitating as the disease itself.

Karol now describes herself as 95% better. Listening to her story is both familiar and uplifting. She's a testament to patience and persistence through suffering and confusion. She talks about the ways that Lyme changed her life. Her attitude is upbeat, and she believes that positive thinking has a definite place in her personal healing journey.

LDRD members can login and listen to Karol's story.

Broccoli sprouts for healthy healing

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-12T17:59:08-04:00

Fresh organic vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds are good for you (have you heard?). Raw food diets have been used successfully in curing and easing the pain of many types of chronic illnesses. However, before you fill your plate with only raw ingredients, you should ask your doctor (or better yet, a nutritionist well-versed in Lyme disease) if you're at a stage where eating more raw foods could help boost your healing energy. One naturopath I spoke with advised that during an acute stage of Lyme, raw foods may be too hard for your body to digest. He did suggest that in later stages of Lyme, the enzyme rich foods would be quite beneficial. Sprouts, however, got a big 'thumbs up' at any stage of Lyme.

We're investigating the varying opinions on the benefits of raw food in a healthy healing diet. Since this is such a big subject, let's start small. Consider the lowly sprout. You know how tiny seeds, jammed with nutritious compounds, grow into scrumptious vegetables. Sprouted veggie seeds such as alfalfa, clover, and radish can contain many times the value of the mature veggie.

So which is better for you? Broccoli sprouts or mature broccoli? A study of the tiny, peppery-flavored broccoli sprouts done in 1997 at Johns Hopkins discovered that they contained 20 times more sulforaphane than mature broccoli. Both the sprouts and the fully-grown vegetable (which, by the way, we love steamed with a spot of Bragg's) contain high levels of sulforaphane, a long-lasting antioxidant with anti-bacterial and anti-cancer qualities. Be an organic gardener and grow your own baby veggies. Broccoli sprouts are easy to grow right in your own kitchen. Eat them around their peak of potency -- when they're about three days old.

Whether you go raw or not, it's always a good idea to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Eat more broccoli and other cruciferous veggies, in order to benefit from sulforaphane. Write these tasty foods on your grocery list: Bok choy, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, turnip, radish and watercress.

Herbs for Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-08T15:36:49-04:00

I recently got the opportunity to talk with Dr. Lee Cowden about using herbs for Lyme. His core Lyme herbal protocol, which he is continuously refining, has helped so many Lyme sufferers, including our editor (that would be me). I'll post the interview soon in our members' area so you can listen to the conversation. Dr. Cowden is one of my heroes in the Lyme wars, particularly because he devotes a great deal of his time teaching other physicians how to diagnose and recognize Lyme in their patients. I told him I would like more information on two of the herbal remedies he uses. In particular, Enula and Serrapeptase.

Enula is used for addressing at least one of several common Lyme co-infections. The powerful antimicrobial defense tincture contains an extract of elecampane. Nasty pathogens such as microfilaria and worms gang up to create the co-infection Babesia, which is, unfortunately, more the rule rather than the exception in many Lyme patients. Many of doctors I talk to refer to ticks as little sewage plants; whatever icky sludge they contain gets dumped into our bloodstreams when we're bitten.

Serrapeptase is a proteolytic enzyme, derived from silkworms, who use it to dissolve their chrysalis. Enzymes dissolve organic matter such as cysts and inflammation. They're often used in treating rheumatoid arthritis, even as an alternative to steroids and ibuprofen. Such a potent anti-inflammatory agent can be very useful in keeping your knees happy, and reducing the stress from arthritis pain. However, with enzymes, timing is everything. Take Serrapeptase between meals, leaving at least an hour on either side of eating. Do this so that the enzymes won't use up their healing power by digesting your food, instead.

Listen to the interviews with Dr. Cowden and other Lyme specialists.

20,000 cases? Sorry, you're wrong

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-06T17:16:35-04:00

Dear ABC Good Morning America,

Thank you for running the story on Lyme disease. However, I would like to challenge your reporters on one point. The number of new cases of Lyme per year is said by Lyme specialists to be ten to forty times higher than the 20,000 quoted by the CDC, and the number used in your report. Gross misdiagnosis and under-diagnosis is due in part to the notoriously inaccurate tests for Lyme that are currently in use by most infectious disease doctors in the US. These tests are the Western Blot and the ELISA.

The Lyme compound consists of the spirochetal Borrelia bacteria, plus any number of mycoplasma parasites and other pathogens. This compound is a particularly stealth bacteria that is able to evade the body's immune system, therefore protecting itself from the attack of antibiotics by drawing up a shield around itself, and hiding in various cyst forms throughout the patient's body and brain. The common tests for Lyme do not account for the sophisticated nature of this bacteria, according to researchers at the University of New Haven, Dr. Alan MacDonald and Dr. Eva Sapi.

Another reason for the misdiagnosis is the fact that no two Lyme patients present symptoms in the same way. In addition, it is not known how long the bacteria may lie dormant.

The irksome fact that the process of writing the IDSA treatment guidelines have been found to be in violation of the law has created quite a stir with patients of this devastating disease. The most profound problem is the existence of two standards of care for Lyme, which directly affects patients' health insurance and coverage of long-term antibiotics. ILADs physicians have told me that there are thousands of scientific models proving that Lyme can go chronic if undertreated or left untreated. The IDSA has ignored that scientific evidence. This is the heart of the Lyme debate.

Lyme story airs!

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-04T13:30:48-04:00

According to Brooke Landau, Lyme activist and TV news reporter, television stations listen and respond when they are deluged with requests from viewers to air stories about a specific topic. Viewers are their bread and butter. Please take the time to comment on the ABC website to let them know you appreciate the story they aired this morning about the documentary film, Under Our Skin. Here's my comment to them:

Thank you, thank you for bringing this growing epidemic to light. However, as many have already noted, the majority of people suffering with Lyme disease never saw a tick bite, and never had the bull's eye rash. In addition, the tests for Lyme have what one physician refers to as "coin toss sensitivity," meaning that if you toss a coin, you get results that are just about as accurate as using the ELISA or the Western Blot for testing positive. According to ILADs physicians I have interviewed for the Lyme Disease Research Database, the CDC has a long history of ignoring scientific evidence for the existence of chronic Lyme disease. Thanks to CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the IDSA is now being forced to review its Lyme disease treatment guidelines. People who are suffering with Lyme due to misdiagnosis, under-diagnosis, and simple ignorance have long been forced to become their own health advocates, often at a time in their lives when they are extremely sick. I applaud you for airing this segment on the Lyme controversy, yet I am disappointed to see that your reporters did not bother to investigate the accuracy of the numbers of new cases of Lyme reported each year. As someone else commented, that 20,000 quote is hideously underestimated. Next time, I hope you have the courage to quote numbers that are closer to the actual truth.

In the Lyme documentary Under Our Skin, filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson (Open Eye Pictures) exposes the cruel dismissal that the medical establishment frequently gives people who are sick and suffering with Lyme. The film opened in April at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. Andy is featured in the LDRD's interview series.

Good Morning America, where's the Lyme story?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-03T11:15:37-04:00

Where's the story? I know I wasn't the only one who was sorely disappointed to see that Good Morning America did not air the Lyme segment. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that due to a programming snafu, they rescheduled. Please use this link to the ABC News contact form. Let them know that you - and your family and friends - all want to see it.

Lyme is making headline news

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-02T13:06:06-04:00

A book and a film. How many times have you read a book, or seen a film, that shook your world view, opened your eyes, that made you take a second look at something you thought you understood. As a smart, sensitive person you've probably had that experience all throughout your life. Now is the time to pick up (and share) a phenomenal new book and go see a mind-expanding documentary film. Both deal head-on with the controversy surrounding the growing epidemic of Lyme disease. Be sure to watch the coverage on Good Morning America, ABC News, on Thursday July 3. It's important to let them know you're glad to see a story about Lyme on the mainstream news! Post your responses to their discussion on their website: http://abcnews.go.com/gma

Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic, is science journalist Pamela Weintraub's new book about her family's innocent decent into the living hell of Lyme, their tribulations and subsequent conquest over this grueling disease. According to Kaja Perina, editor in chief of Psychology Today, "This is an important and unforgettable book, destined to make a lasting contribution to the field of investigative health journalism.”

In the Lyme documentary Under Our Skin, filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson (Open Eye Pictures) exposes the cruel dismissal that the medical establishment frequently gives people who are sick and suffering with Lyme. The film opened in April at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. Andy is featured in the LDRD's interview series.

Lyme disease controversy on Good Morning America, ABC TV

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-07-02T11:19:20-04:00

Lyme disease controversy to be discussed on Thursday morning July 3, Good Morning America , ABC TV.

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE:

FROM DR. BRANSFIELD

Hi,
The movie Under Our Skin and the book Cure Unknown have awoken interest in the Lyme disease debate. Good Morning America will be showing a news story on the Lyme disease controversy Thursday morning between 7:30 and 8:00 AM. This came up on short notice and I was filmed late
yesterday. Someone from the opposing IDSA school of thought was also filmed in the Washington area.

Best,
Bob

Robert C Bransfield, MD, DFAPA, PC
225 State Route 35
Red Bank , NJ 07701
Phone 732-741-3263
Fax 732-741-5308
Email bransfield@comcast. net
Website www.MentalHealthand Illness.com

Psychology Today on neuroborreliosis

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-06-09T12:32:41-04:00

Lyme disease can affect every system in the body, including the brain. So what happens when a doctor you respect tells you that your unbearable pain is all in your head? Read this hair-raising account of one family's journey to hell and back, in the latest issue of Psychology Today. In their story, you're bound to recognize parts of your own.

Read the article in Psychology Today.

Become a member and listen to the experts directly.

SELF writer describes Lyme nightmare

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-06-09T12:30:05-04:00

In the June 2008 issue, SELF magazine contributing editor Tula Karras vividly tells her story of misery and confusion before finally receiving a correct diagnosis of Lyme disease after suffering eight years of symptoms. Somehow she pulled through, keeping her obviously brilliant writing skills intact. Blessings to Tula! And kudos to SELF for printing this honest piece of writing about the challenge of Lyme.

Learn more about the benefits of becoming a member.

Lyme disease prevention

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-06-03T11:34:21-04:00

I don't like thinking about ticks. You don't like thinking about ticks. We don't like anything about the little buggers, least of all the fact that when you're outdoors on a lovely summer day, you must think about them! However, protecting yourself, your kids and your pets can give you a sense of control and actually help prevent infection or re-infection from a tick bite. Here are two ways to make you feel a bit safer from Lyme this summer.

First, check your body thoroughly (and teach older children how to check theirs) when you've been hiking or picnicking or doing anything outdoors where you suspect there may be ticks lurking. Give special attention to the area around your ankles, the backs of your knees, your waistband and your armpits. Ticks start out low to the ground and climb up. Shower when you get home, but remember that ticks do not wash off. You must remove them with a tweezers. To remove, gently grab the tick as close to the skin as possible, and pull straight out without twisting or turning. Some people recommend squeezing fresh garlic juice directly on the bite immediately. Antibiotic cream may work as well. Place the tick in a plastic baggie for testing.

Second, eliminate the habitats ticks love in your yard. Ticks don't like to hang out in the middle of the yard unless there are tall grasses to climb. They do like the moist, shady areas around the perimeter of the yard, ornamental plantings and gardens. Ticks like leaf piles. Rake leaves and get rid of them. Keep shrubs trimmed and cut off low branches. Have a professional spray the perimeter of your yard. Do a bit of research to see what types of tick control insecticides are recommended for use in your area. Tick killing agents are not as toxic to humans as they once were.

Read more about preventing lyme disease.

Become a member and gain access to the expert audio interview series and other resources.

Parasites and Lyme symptoms

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-06-03T11:31:39-04:00

Lyme disease symptoms are not only caused by the Borrelia bacteria. Co-infections from other bacteria transmitted through ticks, such as mycoplasma and parasites are also responsible. Antibiotics kill bacteria, but not parasites.

Dr. Eva Sapi, director of Lyme research at the University of New Haven, Connecticut, went online to search for information about a particular parasite with the official name of microfilaria nematode. There she found a European website with pictures of the microfilaria, and discussion about a protocol for treating Lyme with salt and vitamin C. Prior to stumbling across the website, she did not know about that particular protocol.

Although she is pleased and surprised to discover that patients have gotten help from the protocol, she expressed some concern that we in the US are behind in Lyme research. Apparently the salt and C protocol is treating a parasite connected with Lyme disease that researchers in the US haven't even begun to isolate.

"I talked to Lyme patients and some of them, like you, are very familiar with the protocol," Dr. Sapi told me, "and said that it even helped them tremendously."

We invite you to become an LDRD member so that you can listen to the full interview with Dr. Sapi, as well as other Lyme specialists.

Breaking News: IDSA guidelines under scrutiny

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-05-07T13:20:09-04:00

"Serious flaws in the IDSA's process for writing its 2006 Lyme disease guidelines" have been revealed during an antitrust investigation conducted by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Reassessment of the guidelines must now take place with an outside arbiter and a "conflicts-free panel." The subsequent hearing is also required to be broadcast live on the IDSA's website.

Turns out it's not nice -- or particularly legal -- to stack the panel with people who stand to make loads of cash from drug and insurance companies, Lyme disease diagnostic tests and patents. Stay tuned for developments. It's bound to get wild in the coming weeks and months, especially with IDSA-loving Dr. Gary Wormser shrugging off the investigation and calling it "absurd." Conflicts? What conflicts?

This significant turn of events could soon impact your ability to get proper treatment. Meantime, we'll continue to interview physicians who specialize in Lyme and who can give us the inside scoop and help us understand the ramifications of the reassessment.

Please become a member to hear upcoming interviews with Lyme experts on this issue.

Read the IDSA's press release.

Lyme tests are inaccurate

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-05-06T15:58:38-04:00

Raphael Stricker, MD, talked with me last week about the pros and cons of the existing Lyme tests. As it turns out, there are mostly cons.

Dr. Stricker was the president of ILADS from 2005 to 2007, during which time the organization grew to nearly 400 members and accomplished a great deal of work on the behalf of Lyme patients, including the establishment of the guidelines for the treatment of Lyme.

The Western Blot and the ELISA tests are inaccurate. "They have 'coin toss sensitivity,'" Stricker says. "Which means if you flip a coin you get the same results as doing a commercial test.

"The current AIDS test has a 99.5% sensitivity, which means it misses one in two hundred AIDS cases. So, compare one out of every two Lyme cases that are missed? One in two hundred AIDS cases. I mean, that's a pretty big difference," he says. "What we need in Lyme disease is a test like the AIDS test, that is that sensitive, and that accurate."

You can listen to the interview as a member, please join

Obstacles to killing the bug

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-04-28T12:18:19-04:00

Eva Sapi, Ph.D., who teaches molecular biology for graduate students and does Lyme disease research at the University of New Haven, Connecticut, has one goal. "To kill the bug," she says. "And not in ten years, not even in six months, but soon!" She and her team of medical researchers are intent on figuring out why the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, the bug that causes Lyme disease, is so difficult to eradicate.

Lyme disease cases are increasing, and Sapi says she fears this year will be a bad one for ticks, and stresses the importance of prevention. Field research conducted this spring has yielded a disturbing find in her region, she says. The number of ticks carrying the infectious Borrelia bacteria has increased to 60%, up from previous years' 20-30%. She says one possible explanation for the increase could be changing temperatures. Recent mild winters may not have not dropped temperatures sufficiently long enough or frigid enough to kill the ticks.

Sapi is frustrated by the political controversy surrounding Lyme, saying that in her previous research into cancer, such obstacles were not a problem. Unnecessarily harsh criticism of her scientific findings having to do with the Borrelia bacteria has limited the number of publications where her research can be reviewed. However, significant support is increasing from other areas. Grants offered to ILADS from the Turn the Corner Foundation are currently helping fund Sapi's department at University of New Haven for research projects that hopefully, ultimately will help her reach her goal. And soon.

Dr. Sapi spoke with us on April 27, 2008. Members, please keep an eye out for our conversation about her research, to be posted soon to the Lyme Expert Audio Interview page.

Scientific evidence ignored

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-04-26T19:33:33-04:00

If you are struggling with late stage Lyme disease symptoms, the last thing you need is anyone telling you there is no such thing as chronic Lyme. Yet that is what doctors, many who seem genuinely interested in helping their patients, are doing.

Doctors who defend the IDSA's guidelines for the treatment of Lyme -- thirty days of antibiotic therapy -- as sufficient say there is no scientific evidence to prove that Lyme disease can enter a chronic stage. However, Ginger Savely, RN, FNP, who treats patients with Lyme, says that thousands of animal studies do offer scientific evidence that Lyme bacteria survive beyond the recommended one month course of doxycycline. Yet these studies are overlooked by the IDSA.

"Of course, we can't do the same kinds of experiments on humans as we can on animals. So just because we don't have the human studies out there, the IDSA always wants to ignore all the many, many animal studies that there are, basically just saying, well, those aren't people," says Savely.

Two approaches to Lyme symptoms

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-04-22T13:04:30-04:00

Ginger Savely, RN, FNP, who treats people with Lyme disease symptoms and other tick-borne diseases, says, "I always tell my patients that the approach is from two angles. One is to decrease bacterial load, by giving antibiotics to kill the bacteria. The other is to strengthen the immune system."

Detoxing and boosting the immune system must go hand in hand in the successful alleviation of Lyme disease symptoms. "Because if the immune system isn't functioning very well," says Savely, "you can give a person all the antibiotics in the world, they're not going to be able to fight the infection."

Savely says her approach is realistic, considering the complicated nature of the Lyme bacteria, which has the capacity to hide and evade the body's immune system for an unknown amount of time. The twofold approach can take time and effort, yet she says the hard work eventually pays off. "Hopefully, the bacteria levels decrease to a point, where the newly strengthened immune system can take over and keep the infection at bay," she says.

Become a member and listen to our exclusive audio interview with Ginger Savely and other Lyme specialists.

Lyme disease symptoms in families

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-04-21T16:23:09-04:00

RN and Lyme expert Ginger Savely says similar Lyme disease symptoms frequently show up in members of the same family. In her experience treating patients with Tick Borne diseases at health care clinics in Texas and San Francisco, CA, some families seem to be more keenly susceptible to falling ill from a tick bite. Genetic disposition may play an important part.

The Borrelia bacteria does not affect all people to the same degree. Lyme disease symptoms vary from person to person, but family members may present similar symptoms. And some may not get sick at all, exhibiting a stronger genetic resistance to succumbing to the infection.

"It is always impressive to me how many people do have this infection that are totally fine. Many times, I will check family members that are still healthy, and they actually test very positive for the disease, although they have no symptoms," says Ginger. The bulls eye rash is not always present.

Ginger, a member of ILADS, follows their guidelines when treating Lyme patients. That means sticking with antibiotic therapy for as long as it takes. For certain patients, such as those who have suffered with Lyme disease symptoms for decades, treatment has taken up to four or five years. Neither Ginger nor her patients mind that treatment must be prolonged. As she says, "it does pay to just keep plugging along, and keep treating. Because eventually people do get better."

Read about the Expert Interview Audio Series and listen to the interview with Ginger Savely.

Doc examines Lyme & Alzheimer's link

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-04-11T16:49:16-04:00

Lyme disease symptoms can look a lot like other diseases' symptoms, not the least of which is Alzheimer's. In late-stage, or tertiary stage of Lyme, the bug has infected the brain. It may be hard to distinguish between the symptoms of somebody with late-stage Lyme, and somebody suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Such was the case of Paul Christensen, who was diagnosed with Lyme, treated, and then released from Stony Brook Hospital. Paul was a firefighter, yet he struggled for eight years with mental deterioration after his diagnosis of Lyme. Finally, he died due to Alzheimer's.

Paul's wife suspected that there was a strong link between her husband's diagnosis of Lyme and his death from Alzheimer's disease. If there was a connection, she was determined that other people should learn about it, in the event that it might help reduce their suffering. So, after Paul died she urged medical researcher Dr. Alan MacDonald to investigate her husband's case.

Dr. Alan MacDonald is a featured expert in the 'Interviews with Experts' series, which you can access here. In the 30 minute audio interview, he tells about the well-documented Christensen case, and he describes what he and other researchers are doing to understand the Lyme bug, so we can eradicate it.

Lyme is weird, spirochetes are crafty!

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-04-11T15:46:13-04:00

Lyme is weird. Spirochetes are crafty. Lyme disease symptoms can look different in everyone, because infection can occur in any system of the body. Some people never see a tick, yet they develop symptoms, go to the doctor and get antibiotics. Others can't persuade their doctors to even test for Lyme -- even if they caught the nasty little tick in the act, and display the classic symptom of a bull's eye rash. A significant number of people don't read their own symptoms right (like I said, Lyme is weird. Who can blame them for not suspecting it?) Therefore, they may not discover they've got Lyme (if they're 'lucky' enough to test positively for it) until the disease has reached the late stage. By then, according to some Lyme literate docs, the bug is very tough to catch, and v-e-r-y resistant to being killed.

What if, even after you test positively, and your doc is ready to treat you, you're turned down by your insurance company? And anyway, let's not pretend that only people with health insurance get Lyme disease. What do you do when you're sick and you're not insured? It's no secret that antibiotics are prohibitively expensive. Some herbal treatments that appear to be quite effective are less so, but if you aren't able to afford to see a Lyme literate doc in the first place, where does that leave you?

That leaves you right where untold numbers of struggling sick people find themselves: On your own. Left to your own devices. And here's the rub: Lyme brain! Anybody with this disease understands what a cruel joke the universe seems to have played. At the very moment you need your mind the most, your critical thinking faculties are all fogged up. What's a Lymie to do? Find smart people who've been down this path and ask a bazillion questions. Here's a shameless plug for our 'Interviews with Experts' series. Tune in and listen up. We've all got a lot to learn.

Persistent Lyme disease symptoms to be studied

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-04-04T17:56:58-04:00

Some people think Lyme disease symptoms are "all in your head." Others experience persistent challenges, including severe fatigue, cognitive disorganization and arthritis, and argue that in spite of their having completed antibiotic therapy the Lyme bug is still making them sick. Regardless of your position on whether or not chronic Lyme exists, the question remains: Why do Lyme disease symptoms persist, in some patients, beyond the recommended course of antibiotics prescribed by the CDC?

A recent study conducted at the UC Davis Center for Comparative Medicine offers assurance that scientists are attempting to answer that question. According to a news release distributed by UC Davis News Service on March 31, researchers found residual amounts of the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria lingering in the DNA of laboratory mice, after the infected mice had completed antibiotic therapy. Apparently the research suggests that although residual bacteria can be detected, there is no evidence that it is causing inflammation or disease. However, the study shows that it may, in part, account for persistent symptoms. According to lead researcher Professor Stephen Barthold, "this may explain why some Lyme disease patients recover slowly following antibiotic treatment, exhibiting what has been termed 'post-Lyme disease syndrome'."

Fortunately, we can look forward to further investigation into the cause of chronic Lyme symptoms, and perhaps even one day discovering therapies to stop Lyme's devastating effects. "The results of this study do set the stage for controlled laboratory research investigating potential therapies for persistent Lyme disease infections," researchers at the Center for Comparative Medicine say.

Read more about Lyme disease symptoms.

Keeping kids Lyme free

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-03-31T17:45:13-04:00

When you were little, your mom probably strapped your sandals on your feet and dressed you in shorts before she sent you out to the backyard to play. Now, if you live in a region where Lyme is rampant, and you're aware of the trouble caused by Lyme disease symptoms, you're likely to cover up your kids from head to toe and spray them down with bug repellent before sending them outside.

Although you may feel the need to take more precautions if you live near wooded areas where deer that harbor ticks roam, the reality is that ticks are found even in urban neighborhoods. Anywhere grasses or shrubs grow, ticks can hide. Ticks need warm-blooded animals or people to give them a ride and a hot dinner. They cannot get around very far by themselves, so they hang out on the tips of branches, leafy bushes, grasses, and hop on when they sense a convenient critter walking by.

Lyme disease is a growing endemic, and prevention is the best medicine. Keep your kids protected when you send them out to play, and make sure older children are taking precautions, especially as they head out to the woods and trails for hiking and playing.

Alzheimer's and Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-03-14T17:43:29-04:00

Alzheimer's and Lyme share many symptoms, an unfortunate circumstance that can result in misdiagnoses for elderly people whose caregivers suspect senility. The Alzheimer's Disease Association lists changes in mood or behavior, disorientation of time and place, and an inability to concentrate among the warning signals of the disease. Symptoms may also include problems with abstract thinking and difficulty performing familiar tasks, such as buckling a belt or preparing a simple meal.

Brain dysfunction or dementia, what used to be called 'senility', are commonly recognized as disabilities that afflict older citizens. Other potential signals of Lyme are joint pain, dizziness, and muscle aches, which are common complaints among seniors. For generations, the prevailing notion has been that old people simply tend toward absent-mindedness, arthritis and fatigue. Therefore, older people's symptoms are less likely to signal anything out of the ordinary to a doctor or health care practitioner. Doctors may easily miss the warning signs of Lyme, instead giving the patient a catch-all diagnoses such as Alzheimer's, heart disease or lupus. Seniors have been misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's, when the real problem is Lyme disease.

Antibiotics are prescribed to kill the Borreliosis bacteria, the bugs that cause the effects of Lyme disease. However, undetected by medical professionals, the patients are unlikely to get the medicine they need. Without proper treatment, Lyme can have devastating effects.

Neem Oil For Pets

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-02-29T15:58:32-05:00

How do you keep your pets safe from Lyme? Your pup longs to wiggle in the grass and charge after squirrels through the brushy hillsides. Now that spring is almost here, your little bud will be expecting more outdoors time. Thank goodness for dog parks, where you can let him run around with his doggy pals and burn off some of that exuberance. But in all these scenarios, you worry about his exposure to ticks. Read more about Lyme in dogs.

If you're looking for a natural or botanical alternative to harsh chemical pesticides, you might consider shampooing your furry friend with a pet shampoo containing Neem oil. The Neem is one of the trees in the magnificent Mahogany family, and the oil is made by pressing its seed kernels. Neem oil smells bitter, like garlic.

Neem oil is an excellent moisturizer with medicinal and insecticidal qualities, as well as potent antibacterial and antiseptic properties. It has been used with success to repel or kill fleas and ticks. It also kills mange mites, and will protect your pup from biting flies and mosquitoes. However, it is non-toxic to mammals, birds, bees and earthworms. So, let your dog out to enjoy a spring romp, and remember that keeping him safe from ticks enhances your chances of staying protected from Lyme and other tick-born diseases.

Spring Cleaning Helps Prevent Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-02-25T15:57:29-05:00

'Spring' and 'cleaning' are two concepts that fit together just right. Ticks that carry Lyme disease do not like clean spaces. Thoroughly cleaning both indoors and outdoors around your house or property can help you feel more protected against ticks. Wild animals are potential carriers of ticks and Lyme. Mice, skunks, squirrels, opossums, feral cats and dogs who roam around looking for a snug hideaway in the cold may squeeze through crawl spaces in your attic or basement.

With the vernal equinox now three weeks away, it's time to bring out the buckets and brooms. While you're sprucing up, keep the following three steps in Lyme prevention in mind.

* Deny access to host critters. Replace torn screens on vents and windows. Plug holes in walls with caulk or concrete. Reduce the gap in doorway thresholds.

* Sanitize your indoor space. Clean floors and carpets, thoroughly clean area rugs and upholstered furniture. Toss out infested pet bedding.

* Clean up your outdoors space. Remove all debris such as leaf and wood piles. Steam or vacuum spider nests.

Peppermint soap is reported to be a strong natural insect repellent. Use it in your daily shower and also while cleaning up your pet's bedding. While cleaning outdoors, always wear protective clothing and take extra precautions against the creatures, such as snakes and insects, that you may stir up. A little Lyme disease prevention goes a long way as anyone with Lyme disease symptoms now knows.

Lyme vaccine in development

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-02-21T17:59:51-05:00

On a frigid day in February, this article from the Czech Republic's online newspaper, the Prague Daily Monitor, provides a warm note of hope. All we have to do is hang in there for seven years:

Czech producer may have Lyme vaccine in 7 years
By ČTK / Published 21 February 2008

Olomouc, North Moravia, Feb 20 (CTK) - The development of a vaccine against Lyme disease (borreliosis) will take at least seven years though scientists from the Olomouc-based institute already have its formula, Evzen Weigl, head of the Immunology Institute of Olomouc university, told reporters Wednesday.

The Lyme vaccine is being developed by a five-member research team in Olomouc in cooperation with colleagues from the Bioveta pharmaceutical company in Ivanovice, south Moravia.

Bioveta director Libor Bittner told the Ekonom weekly in January that the vaccine is being tested in the Czech Republic and Germany and the results of the tests are expected by July.

"This information has become a media hit, but it has been slightly distorted. So far we have just a prototype of the vaccine, and only on the basis of preclinical trials' results we will seek a strategic partner for the production," said Weigl.

He added that a veterinary version of the vaccine was planned first.

"In the best case, the vaccine might be available in seven years," Weigl said. The vaccine development has continued for 13 years and cost several million crowns. Up to five research teams are working on this task in Europe, Weigl added.

Some 4000 people get annually infected with borreliosis, an infectious disease transmitted by ticks, in the Czech Republic. In 2006, 4370 people caught the disease in the country, which has been the highest figure in the past ten years.

Bioveta, founded in 1951, produces veterinary immunologicals and pharmaceuticals. It exports its products to some 40 countries.

Bioveta has already produced vaccine against Lyme disease for dogs.

The vaccine against encephalitis, another tick-borne disease, has already been developed.

Lyme Disease Mistaken for MS

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-02-17T17:58:53-05:00

Getting a correct diagnosis for Lyme disease is a significant step toward getting treatment, yet countless patients are misdiagnosed from the start. Here is a recent account of a North Carolina man who self-diagnosed, after having been put on medication for multiple sclerosis. The article below is from the Raleigh Newsobserver.com, February 19, 2008.

Patients push boundaries of Lyme disease debate.
Two factions hold opposing views on prevalence of tick-borne disease.

Jean P. Fisher, Staff Writer

Even as mounting evidence suggests the state may harbor more tick-borne illness than records indicate, patients with symptoms that match Lyme disease say doctors continue to turn deaf ears to their complaints. They say people are needlessly going untreated or misdiagnosed, leading to advanced illness and even disability. Read more about lyme disease diagnosis.

Dave Tierney of Cary thinks that's what happened to him. Plagued with unexplained fatigue, muscle aches, eye pain and other problems for years, Tierney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year. In June, he left his job as a pilot with Delta Air Lines and began getting long-term disability benefits.

But after researching his symptoms on the Internet, Tierney became convinced he had chronic Lyme disease. An infectious disease doctor and a specialized laboratory test confirmed it. After three months of intravenous antibiotics, Tierney finds his Lyme symptoms much improved and he is back at the controls of an airplane.

"I could have been on MS medicine for the rest of my life," said Tierney, who returned to work this month.

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/

Guineafowl eat ticks

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-02-08T14:26:29-05:00
In 1992 in New York, Christie Brinkley was concerned about her daughter playing outside in what was known to be an area where tick numbers were high. So she enlisted the aid of her congressman, who initiated a commissioned study to investigate the effectiveness of Guineafowl as tick controllers. Guineafowl, originally from Africa, are feathery foragers with an unusual cry that sounds like "buckwheat, buckwheat!" These critters' diet includes about 90% arthopods, which means they eat ticks. The Duffy study illustrated that Guineafowl could indeed play a significant part in keeping tick numbers down.

Raising Guineafowl takes an effort, but it may be an option if your environment permits. The birds prefer to range throughout an open area, not woodsy, of about three to five acres. They make a loud noise when they're threatened by predators such as hawks overhead or the neighbors' dogs, and your local zoning codes must allow for them.

Guineafowl, like watchdogs, are good at raising an alarm when strangers approach, yet unlike dogs they will not attack. They will eat snakes and other noxious insects besides ticks, such as spiders and mites. If your circumstances allow and if you like the idea of controlling ticks through enlisting the aid of a flock of friendly little birds, Guineafowl can be an important weapon in the battle against Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Causes of Lyme disease other than tick- born?

Hunting deer won't eradicate Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-01-22T14:25:02-05:00
Each Tuesday and Thursday through the end of February, the sound of sharpshooters hunting white-tailed deer will echo through the neighborhoods of suburban New Jersey. The deer overpopulate, eat the trees, and pose a traffic hazard. They also spread Lyme disease.

Intelligent management of the deer population is necessary for many reasons. However, it isn't prudent to assume that by killing the deer we can eradicate the spread of Lyme. Preventing the spread of Lyme disease, which is believed to be caused by the bite of a Ixode tick, is more complex than getting rid of the deer. While it's true that deer make excellent hosts, roaming and foraging in the brush where ticks are likely to be waiting for a ride, it is also a fact that even if the deer population was to altogether disappear, ticks would continue to survive simply by looking elsewhere for their immediate needs.

Birds, mice, and other rodents make a perfectly acceptable meal ticket for the lowly tick, who isn't picky. A tiny tick can only move within a limited space: about a nine foot range. Ticks generally occupy a space from the ground up to about three feet, clinging to grasses and brush, which is why it is important to wear protective clothing and use caution when you walk or hike through forested areas. They are intent on finding a host who can give them what they need to survive, and any convenient warm-blooded animal who ventures close enough to offer a ride and a hot supper will do. It doesn't need to be a deer.

lyme disease and fatigue

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-01-14T16:14:21-05:00
Do you get enough sleep? Or are you like so many people, getting by on just a few hours of shut-eye and rushing to begin your daily activities directly after the alarm goes off. In a sleep-deprived culture, surrounded by colleagues and friends who are running on coffee and bagels, it can be hard to tell when your level of fatigue is simply status quo, or if it's crossed the line to become a genuine symptom of Lyme. The garden-variety droop that comes with a busy life and a few nights of deprivation is generally a temporary problem. You can catch up and revitalize your adrenal glands with a couple of deep-sleep nights and a daytime nap or two.

On the other hand, bone-crushing fatigue, the kind that is symptomatic of Lyme, is hard to ignore. Your activities are limited because you just don't have the energy. You go to work, come home, fall asleep on the couch while waiting for dinner to cook itself. You go to bed early and try to sleep in till the last minute, but you don't wake up refreshed. You can't catch up. In fact, even after a good night's rest it can feel as if you hadn't slept a wink. You can't wash your face or tie your shoes without sitting down. In many cases, you may not even be able to hang on to your job, unless you're lucky enough to work from home.

Since that sort of fatigue is associated with a number of illnesses, including chronic fatigue syndrome or CFIDs, fibromyalgia, mononucleosis, and Lyme disease, medical testing is imperative to help you and your doctor ascertain why you are so tired. The tricky nature of the Lyme bug can make it difficult to eliminate Lyme as a possibility, even if you test negative. Your best bet is to find a doctor who is experienced in detecting Lyme disease symptoms, so that your overwhelming fatigue doesn't get ignored and written off as simple exhaustion.

Medical pro explains link between protein and healing

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-01-08T15:13:07-05:00
You know it's important to eat protein, but do you know why?

According to Jean Reist, R.N., one good reason to get sufficient amounts of protein in your diet while you're healing from Lyme is to keep your lymph system working effectively. The lymph, or lymphatic system, is a major part of the body's immune system. Protein is necessary for transporting trace minerals through what is known as the extracellular matrix within the lymph system. Imagine the matrix as the white of an egg that's just been cracked open. You don't want it to congeal, as an egg white does in a hot pan, because it would get clogged up with toxins. You want your matrix to stay loose, efficiently transporting nutrients to the cells, and transporting that toxic waste away.

Vegans and vegetarians often eat soy products to boost their protein intake. Yet Reist, who treats Lyme patients in her Pennsylvania clinic, worries that the patients who eat soy may risk getting too much copper in their diets. Soy is high in copper, and evidence suggests that patients trying to heal from Lyme must also get rid of an overload of metals, including copper, mercury, lead and aluminum. She asks her patients to consider eating animal protein such as eggs, fish or whey while fighting Lyme.

Reist observes that vegetarian patients sometimes eat a lot of pasta and grain, which may be easy to prepare, but are high in carbohydrates. She says that for Lyme patients, loading up on pasta and grain instead of protein is not a good idea, for many reasons. For example, the grains wash away magnesium, and she says that Lyme patients tend to have a magnesium deficiency. In addition, carbohydrates drive inflammation, and as you probably are already aware, a big part of overcoming Lyme is fighting the accompanying chronic inflammation.

Jean Reist, R.N., participated in our ongoing expert audio interview series, which is available online for LDRD members.

DOH wants your Lyme story

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2008-01-04T12:02:31-05:00
Want to tell the Pennsylvania Department of Health about your personal experiences with Lyme disease treatment? The Lyme Disease Task Force wants to hear from you. Linda Wales, co-leader of Lyme patient rights group NYPenn Lyme Disease Support Group, posted this letter to the editor of the Star-Gazette.com this morning:

Task force seeks input on Lyme disease
January 4, 2008

It is time for Lyme disease patients to be heard.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health established a Commonwealth Lyme Disease Task Force in 2007 to examine issues and draft recommendations regarding Lyme disease. It was decided feedback from Lyme disease patients is needed. NYPenn Lyme Disease Support Group received notification this task force will host a public hearing from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Keystone Building, Hearing Room 1, on Forster Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Harrisburg, Pa. Everyone is welcome; there will be question-and- answer sessions.

They recognize how important it is to receive a wide range of feedback and realize it would be impossible for many Lyme sufferers to attend. Therefore, letters explaining experiences with tick-borne diseases will be accepted through Jan. 31.

Please send to Dr. James Rankin, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Room 933, 7th and Forster Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120 or fax to (717) 772-6975.

Questions may be directed to Dr. James Rankin by telephone at (717) 787-3350.

Lyme disease is quickly becoming a serious health problem in Pennsylvania (and nationally). If you choose to remain silent or think you need to do nothing because someone else will, the Department of Health could believe it is no big deal and may drop the issue.

Linda Wales
Co-leader, NYPenn LDSG
Millerton, PA

ILADS advises treatment options

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-28T17:25:15-05:00
Daniel J. Cameron, MD, MPH, the president of ILADS, has recently voiced concern over the Connecticut Department of Public Health's decision to discipline Dr. Charles Ray Jones for treating chronic Lyme patients with a standard of care beyond the IDSA's recommendations. As he explains in his speech of December 18, 2007 in Hartford, CT, at the Connecticut State Capitol Building, ILADS is disturbed by the actions of Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Robert Galvin, who has stated that the department would not initiate cases against physicians who treat chronic Lyme disease, yet allowed the case against Dr. Jones to proceed.

In his speech, Dr. Cameron announced that he is appealing the the CT Department of Public Health to drop the case against Dr. Charles Ray Jones. He advises that the scientific and medical communities need to leave treatment options open in order to better understand controversial issues such as Lyme disease.

Some of the folks I know who are suffering with Lyme disease say they are only equipped to patch their lives together on a daily basis with the help of long-term antibiotics. These people deserve to have treatment options that allow them to gain back a quality of life, and qualified doctors who can advocate for them without fear of disciplinary action.

Lifelyme conference in January

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-22T21:21:50-05:00
We would like to share the following with you, regarding an upcoming conference for doctors and others dealing with Lyme and other chronic illnesses.

Dear Friend,

Lifelyme is pleased to announce we are jointly sponsoring a one day Lyme conference at the Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, Florida on January 19th, 2008. Enclosed is a copy of our brochure. If you would like us to send you additional brochures please email or call me.

The title of our conference is:
"Similarities and Paradoxes in Chronic Illnesses".

This conference is bringing together some of the top Lyme and CFIDS doctors to share the latest information on these diseases. Registration can be made on the Internet at the University of South Florida website set up specifically for this purpose.

Go to: www.cme.hsc.usf.edu/lyme

This is a medical conference jointly sponsored by University of South Florida Medical College, Morton Plant Mease and The Lanford Foundation - Lifelyme, Inc. CME - Continuing Medical Education credits are being offered for health care practitioners. Please share this information with your physicians.

Registration fee: $150.00 Les Roberts Author of the Poison Plum will be selling/signing books at the event!
Fee includes a Buffet Lunch at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort

Questions or Additional Information call:
The Office of Continuing Professional Development
(813-974-4296) or (800-852-5362)
or email: jahartfi@health.usf.edu

Looking forward to seeing you at the conference.

Warmest Regards,

Sandi Lanford, Founder/President
The Lanford Foundation - Lifelyme, Inc.
(850) 906-9108
www.lifelyme.org

Foods for winter

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-20T19:28:49-05:00
Traditionally, winter time is for retreating, going within, and restoring your health. Sometimes I think of dealing with Lyme as being in an extended winter, because chronic illness does encourage a person to become more reflective and conservative, energy-wise. The point of winter is to conserve energy, and build up your reserves for use while the days are short and nights are long. If you can, go to bed earlier and sleep in later. Hibernate, like the bears. Winter is not generally a time for extravagant activity, instead, the long evenings invite time for reflection, and for setting your health goals for the year ahead.

Eating foods that help keep you warm will also help you achieve better balance, and support your immune system. Curries and salsas, though they may seem to be warming foods, are eaten in countries with warm climates, to help induce perspiration and cool the body. What is important now, especially if you're healing from Lyme, is to eat foods that help keep your body temperature normal.

Delectable, fragrant soups simmering on your stove can cheer up long, dark nights, and in addition, are warming and help keep the body's inner fire burning. Include a variety of grains with your winter meals, potatoes and other root vegetables, along with leafy greens, aduki and black beans, winter squash, walnuts, and a bit of meat - if you eat meat, that is. Greens are always important, and many people healing from Lyme employ raw foods with great success. However, during the coldest part of the year you should avoid raw salads, in fact in some schools of thought it is said that in winter, all foods should be cooked.

Thanks to Lesley Tierra, L. Ac., Herbalist, for the above information which is gleaned from her book, The Herbs of Life: Health and Healing Using Western and Chinese Techniques.

Arthritis oils for massage

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-20T19:26:53-05:00
Winter is here, and with it, bone-chilling weather that can make your achy knees feel worse. Fortunately, herbal oils can make them feel better, especially when applied with regular massage. Rheumatoid arthritis, a frequent symptom of chronic Lyme disease, responds well to massage. As a bonus, these oils will also help take the bite out of the bitter cold.

Below are two possible formulas for arthritis oils from renowned herbalist Lesley Tierra's book, The Herbs of Life: Health and Healing Using Western and Chinese Techniques. (The Crossing Press: 1992) Use externally.

* Use equal parts: bay, eucalyptus, mugwort, rosemary, fresh grated ginger and cayenne. Add 1 tbsp medical grade turpentine oil (turpentine is sap from the fir tree) and 1 tbsp rosemary oil for every cup of oil.

* 1 tbsp camphor oil, 1 tbsp peppermint oil, 1 tsp rosemary oil, 1 tbsp juice from fresh grated ginger, 1 tbsp clove oil, 1 tsp eucalyptus oil.

Zeolite and Dr. Cowden's therapy

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-14T18:43:48-05:00
Chelation therapy helps detoxify the body by removing heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury. This type of therapy is commonly used in treating lead poisoning and heavy metal toxicity, but is not supported by conventional doctors as a way to help patients heal from other serious conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, autism, and Lyme disease. However, some alternative medical practitioners and patients claim to get significant results with chelation. Cilantro and alpha lipoic acid are among the natural chelators used by many people seeking to remove low-level poisons such as mercury and lead, which can be transmitted from a polluted environment, from their systems.

Zeolite is another substance used as a chelator. What is it? Zeolites are natural minerals formed thousands or even millions of years ago, that work as other chelating agents do, absorbing metals from your system, and drawing them out so your body can eliminate them. When the body's immune system is supported its natural healing mechanisms simply work better.

Dr. Lee Cowden, a renowned physician who treats Lyme patients, and spends much of his time and energy teaching other doctors his method for treating Lyme patients, emphasizes the necessity to detoxify the body of metals in order to thoroughly treat Lyme disease and prevent reinfection. He recommends Zeolite as a chelator. You can now order Zeolite through Nutramedix (http://www.nutramedix.com), the company that offers all of the herbal supplements listed on Dr. Lee Cowden's core protocol for treating Lyme.

Cardamom Treat

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-13T19:01:21-05:00
Cardamom seed is a warming, fragrant spice. Herbalists believe it can help with problems associated with the spleen, stomach, lungs, and kidney. Many Lyme patients find it to be helpful in aiding digestion and eliminating lung congestion that can cause coughs and colds. Headaches, so frequently associated with Lyme disease, are sometimes caused by poor digestion and stagnant food in the stomach. When you are on antibiotics or even herbal therapy, you may need help calming your stomach and digestive tract.

For a yummy winter treat that will soothe your tummy and counteract mucus congestion in the lungs and sinuses, core a hard pear, drizzle honey into the opening and sprinkle in a teaspoon of cardamom powder, then bake it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Adding cardamom powder to milk and fruit neutralizes the mucus-forming properties.

Dealing with Herxes

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-10T15:33:58-05:00

Herxing occurs when your body reacts to bacterial die-off, usually as a result of taking antibiotics. The herx itself isn't considered dangerous to your health, but it can be extremely unpleasant. Your body is cleansing itself of toxins, a crucial step. The problem is that this cleansing process stirs up symptoms and makes you feel sick. Doesn't seem fair, does it? Frequent or intense herxes can stress you out, and when you're healing from LD you need more stress like you need another hole in your head. However, herxing can help Lyme patients understand what's happening to them, and some folks say that observing their herxes helps them monitor the effectiveness of their therapy.

The naturopath I consulted while in the critical stage of Lyme agreed. He suggested that I use my herxes as a guide or measurement of sorts. When I was on antibiotics, a period of about six months, it was difficult for me to distinguish between a herx and the Lyme disease symptoms themselves. I came to the conclusion, at that time, that it didn't matter which was which. They were both equally devastating, and all I could do was deal with them the best way I knew how. I wasn't at liberty to lower my dosage of abx, because according to my doctor the Lyme bacteria were likely to replicate and get stronger if I did.

Some Lyme patients say they don't herx on certain protocols, such as Steven Buhner's herbal protocol, for example. Conventional antibiotic therapy does seem to cause intense herxing, which some would say is a good sign because it indicates that you're killing the bug. I found that there were several different ways to deal with a dismal, stressful herx that accompanies chronic Lyme.

Here are just a few:

* Number one: Drink more clean water all day long, even if you think you're already drinking a lot of water. That will go a long way toward flushing out the toxins.

* Number two: Have a bowel movement every single day. Get that stuff out of there!

* Another is to drink the juice of a lemon, straight. You can also blend a whole lemon with one or two tablespoons of olive oil, put the mixture into a glass of water or juice, and drink it down.

* Dry brushing is another favorite of mine for ridding your body of toxins. However, you can't use this method if your skin is rashy, because you may make it worse. If you don't have a rash, brush your dry skin gently toward your heart each morning before you shower. This method really helps your lymph system kick into gear, and toxins that have accumulated during the night wash away down the drain.

* Take a spoonful of vegetable oil, such as olive oil, first thing in the morning. This method is as yucky as it sounds, but it works for me. Hold the oil in your mouth and swish it around, but do not swallow it. After a minute, spit it out and rinse your mouth.

* Exercise, if you possibly can. (This also helps with #2 - the bowel movement.) Sitting around is one of the worst things we can do. We have to move the body, and assist the lymph system in its critical job of carrying nutrition to the cells, and carrying the garbage away. Jump on a rebounder for five minutes in the morning, and five at night, if that's all you can manage. It will really help.

* Watch a hilarious movie, or a stand-up comic you like. When you're laughing, your body's immune system kicks into high gear. You'll also find that your whole attitude improves, and you'll sleep better at night.

Herxing and finding the balance

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-06T15:44:24-05:00
How do you tell the difference between a herx and Lyme symptoms? A herx, aka Herxheimer reaction, is many things to many people. When you're suffering, it doesn't seem to matter whether the cause is a herx or symptoms that are acting up. You just want them to stop. When you are infected with the Lyme bacteria, your body is loaded with toxins that react within your body's multiple systems and make you sick.

You have to kill the bugs and get them out of your body. Detoxifying, therefore, is a primary aim in healing from Lyme, but unfortunately, detoxing can also make you sick. When you're healing from Lyme you must try to find the balance between killing the bugs and keeping the herxes under control, so it doesn't feel like they are trying to kill you. Finding that balance is like surfing a giant wave. You must be hypervigilant, sensitive to your environment, and able to react as elegantly as possible to the perpetual changes that encompass you and carry you along. Although, as anybody who has ever suffered the stress and pain of Lyme symptoms or herxes would say, I'd rather be surfing.

It seems that herxing (often accompanied by a rash) can be triggered by a number of different factors. Stress, change of medication type and an increase in medication dosage (either herbal or pharmaceutical medications) are a few examples. Those in the Lyme community (albeit, an unwilling yet blessedly generous group of humans) deal with herxes in a wide variety of ways. That's the subject of my next post.

Until then, hang ten.

Lyme lowers body temperature

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-12-03T15:56:24-05:00

Lyme disease lowers body temperature.

Staying warm in the winter can be more challenging when you're fighting Lyme disease. You may even notice your symptoms increasing after you get a chill. When you wake up to a frosty morning, reach for a steaming hot cup of herbal or green tea to help shake off the fatigue. Add a slice of warming ginger. Lyme bacteria thrive in cool body temperatures, and many people suffering with LD actually have lowered body temps. That's why it's so important to get regular exercise and choose your beverages and foods wisely.

One of the nicest things (okay, sometimes the ONLY nice thing) about snowy weather is the occasional Snow Day. When I lived with roommates, and the snow happened to be piling up on a weekday night, we'd get up early and begin our Snow Day vigil at the kitchen table, where we could keep an eye out the front window. We'd make a big pot of coffee and tune into the local radio station to listen for the list of school closures, since we were all teachers at three different schools. I always wondered why I'd start to get chilled after my second cup.

One of the problems with coffee is that it cools your body, instead of heating it, like some spices and herbs will. For a real burst of warmth, add just a touch of cayenne. If you need sweetener, try agave nectar or a drop of stevia, not sugar, which is a no-no when you've got Lyme. Staying warm and healing is your goal through the chilly winter months.

Lyme Disease and depression

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-11-26T13:09:46-05:00
Depression. It isn't all in your head. Some of the symptoms related to the brain and nervous systems that have been observed in Lyme patients are headache, tremor, facial paralysis (Bell's palsy), tremor, burning or sharp stabbing sensations, numbness, irritability, dementia, and mood swings. Depressing, huh? Yet not all Lyme sufferers experience all these symptoms. Clearly, they are not only related to Lyme; they may also be indicative of another condition. Especially during the holidays, it can be tough to manage the stress brought on by financial pressures, travel, and a busy social calendar.

If you're healing from Lyme, you must slow down and nurture yourself first. Stick your regular routine as much as possible, and cut down on work if you can swing it. Cook nutritious meals, get plenty of sleep if you can, and cultivate a practice of relaxation through gentle Tai Chi, yoga, meditation, or deep breathing. If you're a mom, or accustomed to being the caretaker, it can be difficult to ask for help, but you need to get over that. Recruit help from your family and friends. This is a good time to learn how to ask for assistance when carrying in the grocery bags, making beds, or tidying up for your relatives' visit.

Brain and nervous system involvement is usually a sign of late stage, or what is referred to as chronic Lyme. Get professional medical help if you suspect you may have Lyme, even if you have not tested positive for it. Most of the tests for Lyme disease are notoriously unreliable at this point. If you are unusually depressed, or your mood swings are worsening, and you also have some of the other symptoms associated with the disease, such as crushing fatigue, fever, rash, or arthritis, it is very important to consult a Lyme-literate doctor with experience in recognizing Lyme symptoms.

In the meantime, nurture your spirit as well as your body. Spend time with folks you really love. Rent funny DVDs, look for the humor in your everyday situation. It's there, even in our suffering. Take inspiration from other people who have survived serious diseases and recovered to live happy lives. Above all, during the holidays and beyond, don't let depression get you down! Bear in mind these wise words: This too shall pass.

Lyme symptom-free

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-11-24T13:23:15-05:00
I am finally back to living a normal, Lyme-free life. There were days that I never, EVER thought I'd get here, but it's happening. I'm upright, I'm productive, and I'm getting on with it. I'm relatively symptom-free. Sometimes, like this morning when the birds are singing and I can smell the yummy omelets that my sweetie is cooking in the kitchen, I feel absolutely great. (Or maybe that's the Holy Basil) However, there are no magic bullets. There has never been a day when I woke up and thought, "Hey! I'm all better." Getting over Lyme is not like getting over the flu. It takes time. A lot of time. It's been two and a half years since my diagnosis, and more than three since I began to deal with mysterious symptoms.

A tiny muscle in my left eyelid is twitching, but I'm going to chalk that up to staring at this computer screen.

I took the herbal tinctures from the Amazon for about a year. Dr. Cowden's protocol worked really well for me. Currently, I'm taking a very high quality colloidal silver and a host of other helpful supplements. In October of 2006, I had a month-long herx that manifested as itchy rashes on my shins and ankles. That was always where the worst of the rashes had been, for the two years prior. I kept taking the herbs, but I was nervous that the rash might worsen, so I wasn't increasing the doses like I wanted to. I struggled with the decision to increase the doses and take my chances with more herxes, or just step back and take small amounts until I got over it and felt like I could risk a herx. I didn't increase the doses for about two months, then in about February I started increasing, and I didn't break out or feel Lymie. So I slowly started to increase more and built up to the full dose, then stayed on it until about September.

Since October of 2006 I have had no major breakouts, no problematic rashes, and every day I feel incrementally better. Symptoms, good riddance.

Diagnosing Lyme Symptoms

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-11-16T14:24:22-05:00
Due to its many symptoms and its ability to mimic numerous other illnesses, Lyme disease remains tricky to diagnose. The bull's eye rash, with which the infection is frequently associated, is by no means the only symptom to be aware of. Indeed, only a relatively small percentage of people infected with the bacteria known to cause Lyme ever present with the bull's eye rash. Other symptoms include fatigue, fever, headache, joint pain, a rushing or jumpy heart, and an extreme sensitivity to bright lights, especially florescent lighting. Symptoms do not all appear in all Lyme patients, and they may present at different stages as the disease progresses.

Lyme is a multistage illness, and the first-stage symptoms mentioned above can all be mistaken as signs of another ailment. Joint pain can pass as arthritis, headache may be associated with other triggers such as workplace stress, eye strain, or menstruation. Fatigue is a universal problem, as many people suffer from lack of sleep, and when overcome by tiredness, tend to push themselves beyond a healthy limit with the assistance of caffeine. Because brain fog is primarily caused by a lack of sleep, there are many people who walk around each day trying to function normally while feeling mentally fuzzy. Thus it becomes confusing to discriminate in order to obtain a diagnosis. When is mental confusion, or the inability to make clear decisions, caused by a fatigue, and when is it part of a bacterial infection?

In advanced stages of Lyme, or in cases where the bacteria has affected the brain, called neuroborelliosis, inability to concentrate, memory loss, brain fog, speech problems such as stammering, and hallucinations are all potential symptoms, all of which, again, do not appear in every Lyme sufferer. Hallucinations can be expressed through any of the senses. They do not always manifest as visions. Some people hear voices or sounds which aren't there. Others feel sensations, such as a raging fever, when in actuality their body temperature is normal. Additionally, disorientation or a sudden onset of paranoia can be a symptom of this stage of Lyme disease.

There is no question that speech disorders, severe mental fog, and these other symptoms are upsetting and frightening. Yet once a clear diagnosis has been obtained, a Lyme patient can begin to heal using a multi-branched approach, including whatever is deemed needed by the patient and his or her team of medical support personnel. Painful and often torturous Lyme symptoms can be alleviated with effort and commitment to healing. Many Lyme sufferers eventually find themselves balanced and virtually healed from Lyme, often as a result of using a wide array of healing approaches, including pharmacological antibiotics, herbal and nutritional supplements, physical exercise, and mental and emotional support. Through heroic effort and a will to commit to their own healing, many people who have experienced even the severe and disorienting symptoms of neuroborelliosis have recovered from Lyme disease.

Ticks carrying lyme disease active in fall

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-11-09T12:29:36-05:00
Lyme disease treatments vary, and so do medical experts' opinions about which treatments are the most effective. Many physicians and Lyme sufferers advocate a balanced approach to treatment, emphasizing the importance of a high quality diet, supplements, exercise, plenty of sleep, and a positive mental attitude in addition to herbal or pharmaceutical antibiotics. Evidence suggests that the spirochetes, the agent that carries the disease throughout the body, are more effectively eliminated when a variety of treatments are employed. The bacteria are likely to hide in cyst form throughout the body's organs, such as the brain and the heart. When treatment is varied, either in type or timing, the bacteria are more likely to be "surprised," unprepared for attack, and thus killed.

Lyme disease attacks every level of the body, so it makes sense to use a multilevel approach to treatment. While seeking treatment, especially if you are drawn to exercise outside during temperate fall weather, bear in mind that this season is rife with risks for those of us who live in the western US. Adult western ticks are active in the late fall and winter. Many Californians are unaware of the potential for contracting Lyme disease, remaining under the false impression that it doesn't occur on the west coast.

Those who hike, bike and walk in the woods and on the scenic California trails are not the only ones who should be vigilant. Ticks who carry and can transmit Lyme disease can be found in urban and suburban neighborhoods as well as in the mountains and meadows. They are bloodsuckers, dependent on passersby for a living. They aren't picky whether the warm-blooded creature who passes is a dog, a mouse or a human, just as long as they can hop on. Ticks can only move around in about a nine foot circumference on their own. In order to get a warm meal and a ride, the tiny critters -- about the size of the period at the end of this sentence -- climb to the tips of grasses, waving their legs and waiting. You are wise to consider seeking treatment for Lyme disease if you suspect a tick bite, and have any of the common symptoms associated with the illness, such as fever, overwhelming fatigue, skin rash, and joint stiffness. Seeking early treatments for Lyme disease raises your success level in dealing with, and healing from, this serious bacterial infection.

Autumn leaves and Lyme disease anxiety

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-11-06T15:17:51-05:00
A picture arrived in my inbox this morning, my friends' adorable one-and-a-half-year old son playing in a giant pile of freshly fallen leaves. His chubby cheeks are rosy and he's smiling like an imp. But the picture made me itchy and uncomfortable. Immediately, I thought of Erythema migrans, or "bull's eye rash," which is a common symptom of bacterial infection in the early stages of Lyme disease. The rash is caused by the bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. The Bull's eye rash appears as a red, slightly itchy skin rash with a clear, or whitish central area. However, Erythema migrans is not always a symptom present in patients with Lyme disease.

Lyme disease symptoms don't always show up in the form of a rash, although many people believe the bullseye rash is the most common type of symptom. Other symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, and arthritic pain in the joints. Many people pass off the fatigue and headache as common exhaustion from an overly-busy schedule. The disease is stealthy, not always directly signaling that something's wrong.

Ticks naturally thrive during the warm summer months, but due to warmer weather in the fall and winter, it is still crucial to check for ticks, many of which carry the Lyme disease bug, AKA Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium. In many cases, the evidence suggests that if a tick is found on the body, its removal within 24 hours can prevent it from downloading its toxins into the skin. After a long struggle with Lyme disease and its crushing symptoms, my enjoyment of some of life's simple pleasures has been tainted, such as a picture of a cute little nature imp in a pile of leaves.

Healing Lyme Disease with Art

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-10-05T18:01:19-04:00
When I was super sick, a couple of years ago, I had constant skin pain, the medical term for which is severe neuralgia. I'd never experienced such horrid, continuous sensations. If someone had handed me a gun, I might have shot myself. Fortunately, I didn't get my hands on a gun. I picked up a paint brush instead. I only had enough energy to paint for short durations of time. I chose a small project that took me about three nights to complete, and spent about a half an hour each night painting. During the brief time that I was actually painting, I became completely absorbed in my work. I concentrated fully on how the paint looked on the brush, watched it with wonder as it came slowly off the brush and onto the canvas, curving in direct response to my idea of a design. Astonished, each night I would experience the pain returning as I put away my paints and cleaned the brushes. What was going on?

I called an artist friend, and she corroborated my suspicion. Art, or to be specific, any creative act, heals. Those few precious pain-free moments saved me. Eventually, the moments stretched out and now I live without pain. Looking back, I recognize that the full-on concentration I poured into that small art project created a break in the pattern of stress and pain that had become part of my moment-to-moment experience of living.

Stress is a big challenge when you're healing any serious or chronic disease, and Lyme patients must learn strategies for coping with it in a positive way. It's not as if stress is going to go away -- as everyone knows, it's a natural part of living. Out of despair at the realization that he could not heal me, and that he must accept the fact that I had to heal myself, my partner brought home paints and paintbrushes. I have a background in art, and yet until it was a life or death situation, I had no clue how the practice of painting -- of focusing on one simple creative act -- could help me begin to heal. So how do you deal with it?

One smart way to get a handle on stress is to cultivate a regular meditation practice. Sitting down, calming your mind, and focusing on your breath is something you can (usually) handle even when you're sick. It is a challenge to meditate when you're scared, or in pain, or when a coherent thought can't easily navigate your brain fog. But meditation needn't be long or grueling. Shoot for short sessions. Even sitting and clearing your mind for one minute is helpful, if that's all you can muster. Try going for five minutes next time, fifteen the next. One or two times a day has been proven to help the mind to learn more quickly, and integrate new information more efficiently. You don't have to follow any specific format in order to benefit from meditation practice. You can paint, like I did. Some people merely focus on their breath moving in and out. When the mind wanders, as minds will do, simply become aware of this fact and gently bring the focus back to the breath. This type of focus can't be underrated in terms of helping you get off of the pain train, even momentarily.

Common mistakes in diagnosing and treatment

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-05-15T13:56:12-04:00
Deliberations and contestments continue over successful treatment of Lyme disease. Due to the difficulty of getting a correct diagnosis shortly following the initial infection, Lyme patients commonly do not seek treatment until the symptoms become painful. Not everyone gets the bullseye rash! At the present, most physicians do not know how best to diagnose Lyme. If you or a loved one are suffering from symptoms you suspect may be associated with the disease, it is very important to seek a Lyme disease expert. Incorrect diagnosis, and subsequently, inappropriate subscription medication, can lead to serious complications for the person with an underlying infection due to undetected Borrelia bacteria.

Lyme disease in the family dog

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-04-29T15:55:36-04:00
Your dog is your little buddy, your furry kid. Nothing compares to the love your puppy has for you. You want to keep him or her as healthy and happy as you can. Lyme disease in a dog can be a devastating ordeal, not just for your dog but for you and your whole family. People frequently report that their main exposure to Lyme probably occurred because the family dog inadvertently brought a tick into the house.

Herbal protocols for Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-04-17T14:01:12-04:00
Lyme researchers and medical experts say herbal protocols such as Dr. Lee Cowden's are helping people who suffer with Lyme disease. Clinical studies have tested the effectiveness of a Peruvian herb that by now you've probably heard of: Samento. Other herbs from South America, Cumanda and Burbur, are also currently undergoing a clinical study for their effect on Chronic Lyme. These herbs are imported from Peru and available for use. If your doctor hasn't heard about them, ask her or him to investigate. Read more here.

Many people are finding that these herbal tinctures are safer to use and more effective than antibiotics, with the benefit of not having side effects. Dr. Cowden believes that detoxification of the body is just as important in long-term healing as finding and following a protocol that works.

Treatment of Lyme and CFS with Samento

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-04-04T13:54:16-04:00
Medical research reveals Lyme disease and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to share not only similar symptoms, but in some cases identical gene expression as well. In my conversation with Dr. Andrew Wright of the UK, he said he thinks that CFS is caused by a bacterial infection, and in many cases it seems to be the same bacteria, Borrelia, that is at the root of Lyme disease. He discussed the success of Samento, his preferred treatment of both illnesses, and his desire for more medical studies to be conducted on the long-term treatment of Lyme and CFS with herbal antimicrobials. As Samento has no effects, is safe and more well-tolerated than antibiotics, he says it's his first choice for treatment. Read more here.

Suspecting Lyme disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-03-29T13:39:42-04:00
Lyme's ability to mimic hundreds of other conditions complicates diagnosis of the disease. When is a skin rash just a skin rash? When it is cause for concern about Lyme disease? What types of rashes are suspect? Clinically diagnosing Lyme can be a complex process requiring intuitive, educated, Lyme literate physicians who won't simply dismiss seemingly unrelated symptoms.

Lyme research ignored by mainstream medical community

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-03-12T09:52:38-04:00
I recently interviewed Dr. Andrew Wright near Manchester, in the UK, who brought up an interesting fact about Lyme disease and the way it is contracted and spread. He cited a study that was done in New Guinea that found a majority of the population, 70%, were infected with Lyme disease. Since there are no ticks in the area, Dr. Wright and other medical practitioners and researchers wonder how these people are becoming infected.
Read more here.

Definitive Lyme test and Samento

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-03-01T10:51:29-05:00
Tests for Lyme seem to be deliberately confusing. Is there a definitive test or isn't there?

Dr. JoAnne Whitaker, Eleanor Fort and Lida Mattmann, PhD, have patented one. The Q-RiBb, which tests for antigens instead of antibodies is definitive because it locates actual Lyme bacteria in the body. Through the Bowen Research Lab in Florida, these physician/researchers have tested hundreds of people and found Lyme bacteria to be the cause of numerous misdiagnoses, among them MS, ALS, Parkinson's disease, fibromyalgia, CFIDS, rheumatoid arthritis and cardiac arrythmias. Dr. Whitaker has reason to suspect that Lyme is a pandemic that is being repressed by the medical-industrial complex.

People who have been misdiagnosed and subsequently treated for Lyme disease are getting well. The Lyme pathogen is hardy, tenacious and difficult to kill, but medical doctors with the courage to help their patients heal are finding holistic protocols that work. Samento, Cumanda and other Peruvian herbs, which have only become available in the US since 2001, are rising in popularity among the Lyme population, many of whom are quite sophisticated in finding ways to heal from a disease that the conventional medical community is too frightened to acknowledge.

For information about Samento and Cumanda, click here

Click here to join the LDRD and listen to our interview with Dr. Joanne Whitaker and many other Lyme literate physicians

Ticks love warm winters

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-02-27T16:50:40-05:00
Unusually warm winters make it easy for ticks and mosquitoes to survive. Although this is not generally the time you would think about protecting your dog or cat from ticks, these creatures can appear during the winter in surprising locales. If your local climate is warmer than usual for the beginning of January, you might consider treating your pets with a tick repellant. Be sure to check your pet's paws and coat thoroughly, lest she or he bring any of the little hitchhiking critters into the house.

If you allow your pet to sleep on your bed, take extra measures to keep them from introducing any tiny friends. Ticks can be as small as a piece of ground black pepper. They are extremely difficult to detect. It's better to apply tick repellant to your pet to be on the safe side. Check with your local pet supply store or veteranarian for an insecticide that is safe enough for your furry pal.

Lyme disease symptoms: Is herxing necessary?

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-02-15T11:43:48-05:00
Lyme disease symptoms are also referred to as Herxheimer reactions or herxing. Would you herx if you discovered you didn't need to? This is a question that Jean Reist, R.N., asks her patients to take to heart. Jean, who has treated hundreds of Lyme sufferers through her PA clinic, Journey to Wellness, has discovered that when Lyme patients tend to proper lymph system drainage they don't experience the stress of a herx. Jean discusses her findings in an audio interview as part of the Interviews with Experts series on the LDRD.

Herxheimer reactions, the healing crisis experienced by Lyme sufferers as a result of a die-off of Lyme bacteria, are a major source of stress for Lyme patients. Simply put, the more effective the medicine in killing the spirochetes, the greater the herx. Killing Lyme bacteria is a curious business. Agonizing pain and the recurrence of symptoms is often used as a measure for the dosage. In general the rule is: If you're herxing to a great degree, back off on the medicine. If you're not herxing at all, you may not be taking a high enough dosage. Each patient will react differently to treatment, and with a wide variety of alternative treatments available, it may take some time and experimentation before you find the right dosage.

Proper lymph drainage can facilitate the healing of Lyme disease and help reduce or even eliminate Lyme disease symptoms altogether. At the first sign of a herx, Reist advises, drink copious amounts of water, exercise, and reach for a detoxifying tonic herb such as Burbur or Parsley. Each organ in the body has a lymph "neck," which is where blockage can occur. Therefore, it's very helpful for the patient to work with a health care practitioner who can help you locate the blockage. The next step is to work on unblocking, which can be achieved in a number of ways, Reist says.

You can hear the entire interview as a member, join now and listen.

Stephen Harrod Buhner's book, "Healing Lyme"

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-02-03T16:50:21-05:00
Stephen Harrod Buhner's book Healing Lyme.

I think probably the most difficult thing Lyme patients have to deal with is the lack of understanding in the medical community and how they're treated by the medical community. So many of them are told it's all in their heads. So many of them are misdiagnosed. So many of them are told that after they do a regular course of antibiotics they should be well, and if they aren't, well, then that's their problem, it's something wrong with them, mentally.
- from my interview with Stephen Harrod Buhner, Nov 30 2006

If you're weary of being reduced by the medical-industrial complex and its outdated myths about Lyme infection and treatment, listen to Stephen. Buy his book. It's like a breath of sweet, fresh air.

How totally refreshing to hear his point of view, based on intensive research into Lyme and the spirochete, after so many eyeball-rolling physicians try to diminish their patients' own experience of illness by swatting it away like a fly. Buhner is an expert on indigenous and spiritual traditions, a master herbalist, teacher, and award-winning author of ten books about herbs and sacred plant medicines. Plus, he comes from a long line of healers and he's sublimely articulate about the Lyme infection, the spirochete and what he calls the "Lyme Wars."

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with him about his research and hearing his thoughts on Lyme activists, whom he considers an exceptionally sophisticated population. That's you, baby.

Want to read more? Stephen Harrod Buhner Interview .

Healing lyme with herbs

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-01-30T13:47:00-05:00
At this point in time, antibiotics are the clearest choice for killing spirochetes, with some caveats. Many people think of herbal approaches to treating Lyme borreliois as "experimental." The term is meaningless in relation to Lyme disease. With Lyme infection everything is experimental. -- Stephen Harrod Buhner, Healing Lyme: Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis and Its Coinfections

The spirochetes are scavengers. They're adept at feasting off of their host and creating endless suffering from eating in their "favorite restaurants," as Stephen Harrod Buhner says: our knees, our skin, our hearts. In his book, this master herbalist and psychotherapist who writes about sacred plant medicine gives a keenly intelligent overview on Lyme disease, offers a core protocol for healing Lyme, and goes into detail about the many herbs that have acted as potent healers across time and tradition. His unique protocol is being followed by patients and physicians alike, either in conjunction with antibiotics or alone.

Stephen writes cogent and in-depth explanations about this natural healing protocol. He generously agreed to take part in the unique "Conversations with Experts" special feature on the LDRD website. Do yourself a favor: Listen to my interview with Stephen here.

Investigation into the October IDSA rulings

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-01-15T15:45:09-05:00
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, in an unprecedented historical move, has begun an investigation into the recent IDSA rulings regarding treatment for Lyme.

Click here to read the press release, which includes the President of the Lyme Disease Association (LDA) Pat Smith's statement of support. Let's all make sure Mr. Blumenthal knows how thankful we are that he's doing the right thing and tell him he's got our support.

Write to him at: attorney.general@po.state.ct.us

Q-RiBb is here

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2007-01-02T10:41:53-05:00
Q-RiBb, the newly patented Lyme test, is starting to get the kind of coverage it needs to become well-known. The word on the street is that the test was formally introduced at the Lyme conference in Philadelphia in October. Over 9,000 people have been tested this way. In sharp contrast to the lengthy wait (two or three weeks or more) for the results of the unreliable Western Blot, all of them received their diagnosed with Lyme in just one day!

The difference between the two tests is very easy to understand. The Western Blot tests for antibodies. The Q-RiBb tests for antigens, the bug itself. Simple.

O, Thank You!

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-12-27T13:41:06-05:00
Okay kids, the thing we really really need is publicity, right? Acknowledgement and assistance from the medical profession and others. Well, here's Oprah to the rescue. It's a genuine pleasure to see the first ever national ad that calls attention to this national endemic.

Please check out the powerful ad from the Turn the Corner Foundation in the November issue of Oprah magazine, and then take just a moment to e-mail a thank you note for running it. Oprah has the potential to help break this story wide open. Isn't it about time?

Here is the link to e-mail your thanks O magazine for running the ad:

http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/omag_wehear.jhtml

PBS interview with Kathleen Zabawa

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-12-21T12:39:52-05:00
Here's something I know you're going to want to see. Watch this PBS interview presented in Houston last week (Nov 3 2006). It's excellent. Kathleen Zabawa has Lyme and really tells it like it is. She's a brave patient and an advocate for us all. One of her most important points is that Lyme needs publicity. Did you know that there are less than 100 doctors in the U.S. who are even Lyme literate?

Watch it now and then send it to your family members and friends; it will help them understand you and all the weird symptoms. It's fantastic. I'm off to send a thank you note to this woman and the host of the show. There is hope for understanding and hope for healing! We've just got a lot of work to do.

The only thing that saddens me is that it doesn't look like Kathleen has tried Samento or Cumanda, and I've interviewed Lymies who are symptom-free and healthy again because of these powerful, effective alternatives to antibiotics. I wish I could snap my fingers and get everyone with Lyme to try them. But until their doctors recommend them, people are often reluctant to try anything new. Does that make sense, though, when the doctor knows less about Lyme than you do?

On the horns of an abx dilemma.

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-12-07T14:28:02-05:00
We know that antibiotics do help Lyme patients heal, although doctors have observed that abx do their best work when people start taking them soon after becoming infected. Many docs are advocating for the use of long-term abx in the case of chronic Lyme. They feel there is no other way to deal with it. No question, antibiotics are the modern miracle medicine, an irrefutable symbol of civilization. But the medical truth is, long-term antibiotics may do more harm than good.

If you're one of those people who never experienced Lyme disease symptoms until the stress of a life-changing event set it off, you may have been given abx long after you caught the bug. Are your chances of healing from Lyme now reduced? What are the alternatives to abx, and why should we give them a chance?

Read entire article here.

300 Protest IDSA guidelines

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-12-01T13:48:18-05:00
Among the protest signs held up by attendees was a little boy's that read, "All I Want For Christmas is My Medicine."

Reporter Liz Anderson of the Journal News in Westchester, PA, covered the rally which took place on November 30:

Protesters cheered Dr. Joseph Burrascano, vice president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, which supports the use of long-term antibiotics in some cases and has called on the IDSA to retract the recommendations.

"If they weren't so seriously flawed, I would say it was a joke," he said of the guidelines. He urged those at the rally to fight back "by uncovering the truth."

Read the entire article here.

protest the IDSA guidelines

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-11-24T13:45:53-05:00
Read this comprehensive article published in Danbury CT that cuts to the heart of the matter:

Nov 28 2006 6:39 AM
Lyme disease activists to protest
By Robert Miller

THE NEWS-TIMES

Area Lyme disease activists, dismayed by recently released treatment guidelines for the illness, will go public with their protest Thursday, rallying at Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y., where the lead author of the guidelines works.

"They're highly restrictive,'' said Dr. Steven Phillips, a Ridgefield physician who is the former president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. "I just cannot understand why they've chosen to ignore all the data on this.''

"They were worse than we expected,'' said Maggie Shaw of the Newtown Lyme Disease Task Force.

"In a word, I think they're a disgrace,'' said Dr. Raphael Stricker of San Francisco, who is the current president of ILADS. "They're not relying on best science. They're relying on their opinion.''

The guidelines are so controversial that Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has intervened. His office is now investigating whether the group that wrote the guidelines, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, is a monopolistic organization trying to shape treatment of the tick-borne disease without allowing other treatment options to emerge.

"It's a medical issue but also a patient issue,'' Blumenthal said. "Their guidelines limit very severely the types of diagnosis and treatment available to patients. In a way, that's anti-competitive.''

The national guidelines issued by the Infectious Diseases Society of America recommend that doctors give patients with Lyme disease 10 to 28 days of oral antibiotics to treat the disease, with another month allowed for persistent symptoms.

But the guidelines -- now posted on the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- deny the existence of chronic Lyme disease, saying there's no medical evidence that the bacteria that causes Lyme survives antibiotic treatment.

It also emphasizes using either the characteristic bull's-eye rash or blood tests to help correctly diagnose the disease -- two methods Lyme activists say can lead to Lyme cases being missed.

Diana Olson, spokeswoman for the infectious diseases society, said the 14 doctors who worked on the guidelines -- led by Dr. Gary Wormser, an infectious disease specialist at Westchester Medical Center/New York Medical College -- studied more than 400 published medical reports on Lyme disease before coming to their conclusions.

"This is the best science has to offer,'' she said.

Olson said the society could not take into account things like patients' anecdotal accounts of their Lyme disease treatment in writing the guidelines. Nor, she said, did it concern itself with whether insurance companies would pay for treatment outside those guidelines.

She also said that guidelines are just that, and that patients and doctors are free to find different treatments that work best for them.

She also said the society is cooperating fully with Blumenthal's office.

"In our experience, we've never heard of this kind of investigation,'' she said. "But we stand behind our methods and our recommendations.''

But Lyme activists and doctors who support a more liberal approach to treating the disease said the new guidelines are highly restrictive, not allowing doctors any latitude in treatment.

Perhaps the most contentious point is whether chronic Lyme disease even exists.

Many Lyme patients and their doctors contend the standard treatment for Lyme disease sometimes fails, or never gets administered to begin with.

When that happens, they say, the bacterial spirochete that causes the disease can re-emerge in the body, causing a bewildering array of symptoms -- including arthritis, chronic fatigue, heart problems, memory loss, depression, and neurological disorders including loss of sight and hearing.

To treat these symptoms -- and those of several other tick-borne illnesses, which can overlap -- these doctors recommend several months or even years of antibiotics, often using a mix of drugs.

The infectious disease society, however, said that these symptoms are "nonspecific'' and associated with many other illnesses, not Lyme infection. They also caution that there are medical problems -- including the development of drug resistance -- that should lead patients to avoid long-term antibiotic care whenever possible.

But Phillips of Ridgefield and Stricker of San Francisco said this approach ignores the hundreds of studies that now show the Lyme bacteria can bury itself in muscle tissue, lie dormant, then re-emerge.

"There (have) been 18,000 papers published on Lyme disease,'' Stricker said. "So saying you're looking at 400 means you've only looked at 5 percent of the research."

"The evidence just continues to grow and grow on this,'' Phillips said. "To ignore a whole section of this research, as if it doesn't exist, raises questions for me.''

Because of the prestige the infectious disease society carries, Lyme activists say insurance companies will now be even more adamant about refusing coverage beyond 28 days of antibiotics -- something, they say, that has already begun.

They also say the new guidelines will stifle new treatments, because doctors will fear they'll be disciplined if they step beyond the guidelines.

"This isn't theoretical,'' Blumenthal said. "It will come down to a matter of dollars and cents.''

Contact Robert Miller
at bmillernewstimes.com
or (203) 731-3345.

Getting Enough Sleep? Effects of Sleep on Lyme.

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-11-11T10:28:29-05:00
According to sleep researchers, a lot of us aren't getting enough hours in dreamland. If you have Lyme disease you're likely to have weird sleep patterns. Some nights you're out the minute your head hits the pillow – or even before that! Other nights you toss and fidget while the cats and dogs and everyone else in the whole neighborhood snoozes peacefully. We need to get adequate sleep if we expect to heal from this disease. While our bodies sleep, important cellular work gets done. Healing happens. The myriads of smart biological micro-elves that make up our amazingly intelligent bodies tend to the repair work that they cannot do while we're awake. Our bodies need at least 5 hours and usually no more than 8 hours of good solid sleep to make us better.

The time you go to bed is important too. Our bodies follow inner patterns known as circadian rhythms. I've noticed when I stay up past the witching hour – midnight – and sleep until after 9 a.m., I don't feel as rested as when I go to bed by 11 p.m. and wake up around 7. Dr. Christine Horner, who teaches how to use Ayurvedic practices to heal from cancer and other serious diseases, feels that we should go to bed by 10 p.m. and rise after 6 a.m. to maximize the potent healing force of sleep.

If you're a night-owl like me, 10 o'clock sounds really early. But for the sake of healing more quickly, let's make a promise, shall we? Whenever we can, we'll go to bed earlier than usual, lounge like housecats, and read a good book for a little while, then doze off. The world can turn without us. Our elves have work to do. Let's help them do it.

All In Your Head

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-11-02T16:24:36-05:00
File this under the heading It's All in Your CDC Study:

This week, researchers for the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) published a study that may go a long way towards validating Lyme disease sufferers who have been dismissed or ignored by their medical doctors. The study states that Lyme disease results in acute long-term disorders, or as authors Jill A. Livengood and Robert D. Gilmore Jr. write: “...the organism is able to evade the host’s immune defenses and mobilize to various host tissues eventually resulting in arthritis, carditis, and neurological manifestations."

While this study may impact physicians' attitudes toward patients (let's hope it's a positive impact), it can't undo the damage done to myriads of Lyme sufferers over the years whose doctors have hovered in their examining rooms with one hand on the doorknob, rolled their eyes and muttered, “it's all in your head.”

Thank you, Livengood and Gilmore.

Qigong and Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-10-31T15:25:53-05:00
If you are like many people and would rather have a root canal than exercise, listen up. In Chinese traditional medicine and complementary medicine, there is a belief that in order for us to stay healthy or to heal from disease, we need to maintain balance. One of the simplest ways to do this is with a bit of daily exercise. Qigong is a simple and easy way to help your body regain and maintain balance. You may know that Qigong is an ancient exercise that hails from China. Qi, or chi, refers to the life-force or energy. Increasing your qi leads to healing, but bear in mind that you must also practice patience with yourself, because healing probably won't happen all in one day. Create a simple, pleasant space where you can practice your daily routine. Express your determination, kindness and compassion for yourself and your unique healing path.

You can practice these gentle exercises by yourself in your living room, or maybe you're the type of person who needs the support and camaraderie of a group. Figure out what feels right to you, then just set your mind to following a routine. Dedicate yourself to healing. Asians have used these exercises for over 5,000 years to maintain health in mind, body and spirit. Qigong is only one form of exercise that you can do to help alleviate stress, increase your blood circulation, and calm your mind. I find that Qigong, like yoga, helps calm my mind. I recognize that I'm dealing with a serious illness that has changed my life, my relationships and my daily routines in every way. Anxiety is a natural result of all these changes. Anxiety arises when I feel my healing going two steps forward, one step back. A daily routine of calm and focused physical exercise helps me release the fears and find balance, literally and metaphorically.

Learn more abour exercise and it's effects on Lyme disease as a member.

Craving Sweets? Sugar and its effects on Lyme

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-10-17T13:24:26-04:00
I recently met a very sweet Coloradan named Bea who was diagnosed with Lyme disease about a year and a half ago. Same time as I was. (Coincidentally, also the same time as singer Daryl Hall was, but that's a blog of a different color.) Anyway, Bea told me that after six months of taking antimicrobial herb supplements she's healthy, finally, after a terrible nine year battle. She said she's also changed her diet. I asked her what the main change was. “I used to love Little Debbie's and ice cream,” she said.

Sugar is bad for our health. Pretty much everyone knows that. So why do we continue to eat it? Well, it's in more foods than you may know, including bread, breakfast cereals, peanut butter, mayonnaise and ketchup. Do you eat microwaveable meals? They're full of added, refined sugars. Why? Sugar is addictive. Giant food corporations know that if they can hook someone on the sweet stuff they've got a steady stream of cash flow from the junk food junkies.

One of sugar's major effects on our bodies is to raise the insulin level. As a result, it suppresses the growth hormones and depresses the immune system. Lyme bacteria feasts on sugar and replicates, while the sugar also destroys the body's natural defenses against disease. Sugar is what to eat if you want to stay real sick. Just ask Bea, who is a healthy survivor of Lyme disease. “Now I understand that sugar feeds the Lyme bacteria,” she told me. “So I don't eat that stuff anymore.”

Take An Interest In your Health

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-10-02T13:23:18-04:00
Headlines. Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh at them or cry. Yesterday's stuck with me. It was like medical news version of the common one we see in every woman's consumer magazine: Doctors Say Exercise and Eating Less leads to Weight Loss. Yesterday's headline was something like: Study Finds that People Who Take an Interest in their Own Health Likely to Heal Faster. Well, duh!

When I brought this up at the dinner table (yes, we ignore the rules about what can and cannot be talked about at dinner around here, and come to think of it, we don't even eat at a table, but never mind), I was reminded that in fact, many people don't take charge of their own healing. Not only that, but in our culture taking on responsibility for your own healing is a revolutionary act, a heroic act. A lot of people expect the doctor to make them better, presto change-o. Take this magic pill. Don't worry that the doctor doesn't even bother, to tell you what it is or what the generic name of it is, what the adverse side effects might be or even how long to continue taking it.

We live in a culture where we're unaccustomed to taking responsibility for our health. But healing, just as all art and acts of creativity, is way too important to be left solely up to the professionals. I love the advice I got from my Naturopath for healing Lyme disease. He recommended gathering a small group of medical advisors and consulting with them for the maximum of quality information. Imagine your healing journey as a road trip, he told me, and these advisors are in the car with you. Who do you choose to have along for the ride?

Expiration dates count.

Lyme Disease Research Database — 2006-09-21T12:02:16-04:00
Expiration dates count. Be aware of outdated information on Lyme disease research websites. It's astonishing to me how many doctors' and medical authorities' websites are still confidently proclaiming that Lyme disease can only be spread by ticks. I've only been researching this disease for a little over a year but it appears clear that ticks alone are not responsible for the epidemic of Lyme disease. The Lyme-literate doctors I've spoken with are convinced that only a small percentage of cases of Lyme are spread by ticks. There seems to be a lot of evidence to suggest that all blood-sucking insects are capable of carrying the bacteria that causes Lyme. One scientist I interviewed who researches Lyme stated that every single mosquito she had tested, from California to Florida, tested positive with the bacteria.

When searching online for good information on Lyme, it's crucial to keep in mind that medical research is dynamic and ongoing. This disease is a highly underrated epidemic, and the physicians who test their patients for it and diagnose it are not always able to publish about their results immediately. Old and out-of-date information about this disease seems to be prevalent on the web. Yet cutting edge information is available for those who are careful to critically screen the quality of information they find.

Screening out noisy rubble and finding good information about Lyme is like panning for gold. Many websites are helpful, some more than others. Some websites were once relevant, but now they're outdated. Look for the most updated discoveries to find what you need to know. This evening, I was reading through the site of a popular health advocate I once met and whose products I have used, to my great satisfaction. Her website, however, was stacked with information about Lyme disease that dates back to 1996. Over just the past year or two, the discoveries about new, successful treatments for Lyme are hopeful and deeply encouraging, but a person reading this health advocate's site would never get that impression. So watch the expiration date on the information you take to heart. Lyme patients find out quickly that it is to their advantage to get quality and timely research.