Getting Healthy
My First Hope for You
It’s hard to believe that it took over 15 educated practitioners and over 10 years to figure out that I had bacteria in my body that caused me to want to blow my head off every day because of the pain, frustration, anger, resentment and self-loathing.
If you suspect that you or a loved one has Lyme Disease, my first hope for you is to find a doctor who understands what you are going through and sees the whole picture.
For me, it was my 9:00 A.M. appointment on July 12, 2012 with Dr. Eboni Cornish in Reston, VA.
Up to that point, it was so much wasted time, energy and medications chasing after one misdiagnosis after another.
My best advice to you?
- Research
- Attend Lyme Self Help Groups
- Prepare to travel to find a Lyme doctor
- Choose ILADS-educated doctors
- Choose naturopaths
- Ask questions
- Contact me
Healthy Options
The list of medications I have taken over the 12+ years would fill a college notebook.
Finding the right combination of medications can be a (mind-blowingly frustrating) journey unto itself. You can read about my experience and see my medication lists in They Didn’t Know.
While I cannot prescribe pharmaceuticals, what I’m about to share with you is just as vitally important to your whole health:
Being proactive about your health is the best mindset you can cultivate.
Clean Diet
Your body and mind are under attack. We now know there is a direct link between gut health and immunity. Poor eating habits and heavy regimens of antibiotics will only wreak havoc on your intestinal tract, leading to a weakened immune system.
It’s time to clean up your gut.
Clean diet. No sugar. No smoking. No drinking. Learn more about and practice good nutrition. Consult with a dietician on a clean diet that works best for you.
Research supplement companies and ask at Lyme meetings about what other people take and why. Don’t eat/drink anything that cause inflammation, add an organic probiotic, keep hydrated with bottled water and eat organic as much as possible.
The best advice I can provide in this arena is to follow the treatment plan of your integrative practitioners who prescribe your nutraceuticals (herbs, tinctures, et.) and understand that whatever you eat, drink, apply to your body will affect your progress in treatment.
Therefore, eating clean, drinking clean, utilizing healing herbs, getting enough sleep and proper exercise will help you recover faster. The acronym KISS – keep it simple stupid, should always be in the back of your mind. Your body is fighting a mystery (or enigma) and the more we can fuel it correctly, our bodies will be able to adjust and correct itself.
Explore Alternative Healing
Taking charge of your health also means experimenting with therapies you may have never previously considered before your diagnosis.
Acupuncture. Chinese cupping. Massage therapy. Herbal therapy. Kaballaha. Infared therapy.
I have always appreciated eastern medicine and integrative therapies because they focus on the core issues rather than symptoms of your issue. Meditation is a very good practice to participate in because it stills the mind, body and soul. Prayer and spirituality should also be included in the healing practice as well.
Most people today look to their physicians for cures, are able to find help and stay inside of their gilded box. Personally, I was able to muster up the courage and unlock and step outside my box and find not just answers but honest-to-God cures for my co-infections.
Simple things like going for a walk to oxygenate my body, sitting in the morning sun to receive Vitamin D, going to bed early to get the appropriate amount of rest needed and stop watching television and fueling my brain by reading a book and (writing a book).
Yoga and Functional Pattern practice will calm the shen, the Chinese word for spirit, and help detoxify your body. Swimming allows me to move more freely with less pain and sweating in a sauna not only helps me with detoxifying but also helps with weight reduction. Please remember the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind. They affect each other, both negatively and positively.
So, if you need to see a therapist, see a therapist and if you need to see a chiropractor, do so. Healing starts from within and, in my experience, being open to utilizing all types of therapy is imperative in the treatment of Lyme.
Exercise
“Exercise? But I am in pain and fatigued all the time.”
Light-to-moderate exercise can be its own medicine, helping to alleviate depression, strengthen the immune system, and help ease joint and muscle stiffness. For me, exercise connects me to the strength I need to show up every day to live with this disease.
Swim. Walk. Work out with light weights or bands. Find the types of exercises and routines that best fit you. Consider seeing a physical therapist to structure exercises and activities that work for you.
Mental Health Therapist
The emotional and mental weight of dealing with Lyme disease can be overwhelming.
It’s a disease that doesn’t show on the outside, and because of that, you’re likely to experience doubting (and not-so-supportive) family, friends and others in your social circle.
The constant chronic pain and fatigue. Mounting medical bills. Social isolation.
And there’s a whole lot of hateful self-talk.
There’s bacteria and a virus in your head. It wants you to quit.
You need a really good therapist to help you address the mental health challenges, preferably a therapist who has worked with clients with Lyme disease.
There are many ways to get connected to a qualified mental health therapist. Ask for referrals from any of your medical providers, Lyme support group, or social network. Go online. Send emails. Make phone calls. Whatever it takes, be sure to find this critical member of your extended support team.
Finding the right doctor
In order to find the right doctor, you must know what is causing problems. In other words, it is a double-edged sword. I spent weeks, months, years compiling my symptoms, relying on my years working in hospitals and frequenting the medical libraries searching for clues.
While attending a western clinical class at the Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, NY, we discussed Lyme and this is when all my puzzle pieces fell into place. This is what worked for me but for someone who is starting their journey, the best way to find your way to the best possible practitioner is word of mouth.
You may want to ask your Primary Care Consultant but you also may want to search for Lyme Groups in your area, contact ILADS, contact gardening groups, call your congressman and do not leave any stone unturned.
Lyme presents itself in many different ways; neuropathy, chemical sensitivities, memory loss, hearing loss, weight gain/loss, fatigue – you name it – it’s all the same animal.
Start with writing down all your symptoms and prepare to go on a quest to find connections of things that appear to have no relationship at all but do. Know you are not alone. Prepare for high costs for Lyme treatment. Then start calling people, organizations, doctors’ offices to start your journey for the right practitioner to help. Whether you find a nurse, MD, OD, or naturopath, you will feel it in the pit of your stomach when you find the healer. Most importantly pray and always ask for help when you can.
Most people love to help, they really do. Don’t sell yourself short, there is light at the end of the tunnel.