A Letter on Lyme
Hi All,
First off, I’m so sorry that you’re here. That is assuming that if you are reading this, you or a loved one is suffering from significant health issues. Battling lyme is not something that I would wish on anyone. I am praying for you and praying for a full recovery. Please believe me when I say it does get better.
(*None of what I say is medical advice & I always recommend that you consult your doctor before making any decisions.)
I’m happy to share all I’ve learned over the years - the good, the bad, and the ugly. This first piece will cover symptoms & getting diagnosed. The following piece will be a breakdown of what, in my opinion, is the best method to treat lyme: Bee Venom Therapy. Since getting diagnosed with lyme, I have also been diagnosed with pernicious anemia, lupus, epstein barr virus, mycoplasma pneumonia, fibromyalgia, hoshimotos, mast cell activation syndrome, and celiac disease. I’m hoping the list ends there, but am afraid it doesn’t. My lab work is suggestive of other inflammatory conditions, and on top of that, recent appointments & imaging are pointing towards endometriosis. I’ve gone through hell & back with mold, spent years focusing on gut health and am currently striving to heal my nervous system. Hear me when I say: Lyme is a wrecking ball. It wreaks havoc on your body. This is why it’s so important to treat it and avoid the domino effect.
What to do if you find a tick on you?
Step 1: Remove the tick. Step 2: Overnight to a lab that will test the tick for diseases. If it comes back positive, head to urgent care and get on antibiotics right away.
Lab that I’ve used to test a tick: Tick Check
$ Saving Hack: If there are multiple ticks on the same person, you can send them all in under one test. You won’t know which tick carried what, but you will know if any of them were carriers of something.
If you find a tick on you, don’t panic. In a sense this is good news - it’s so much better than not knowing you got bit. Oftentimes, folks don’t see or feel the tick and it takes so long for them to look into lyme. Often not until strange symptoms start appearing later down the road and they’ve exhausted many other possibilities. If you catch it right away, antibiotics will do the trick.
If you wait too long and don’t treat with antibiotics, the lyme spirochetes will create biofilms that protect the lyme bacteria from antibiotics. (Let me repeat that: antibiotics will not kill late stage lyme disease. Some doctors will suggest IV antibiotics or just being on antibiotics for long periods of time, even life. Lyme is smart & that’s not going to work.) I’ve also tried treating with many herbals and tinctures recommended by naturopaths- they unfortunately did not work either and cost me a ton.
Let’s clear up a few common myths when it comes to getting bit:
Lyme disease HAS been found in all 50 states
You won’t always get a bulls eye rash (but if you do that’s a tell tale sign!)
Nymph ticks can be as small as a pencil tip… good chance you’ll never see them
There is no minimum bite time for them to be able to transmit infection
There isn’t just one type of tick that carries disease. They’ve even found tick-borne diseases in other blood sucking bugs (horse flies, mosquitos, etc)
Ticks excrete something when they bite you making it so you can’t always feel them (gross, I know.) It’s important to visually check yourself/your kids for ticks.
What about a diagnosis?
Getting a proper diagnosis for Lyme disease can be a challenging and frustrating journey, especially due to the limitations of standard testing. Many conventional doctors rely on the Western Blot test, which often produces false negatives. This is particularly true for chronic or late-stage Lyme, where the bacteria can evade detection. The Western Blot test is a very outdated method of testing.
The gold standard for Lyme testing is IGeneX. IGeneX uses a broader range of bands and more advanced methodologies to detect Lyme-specific antibodies, increasing the chances of a correct diagnosis. The downside is, it’s an expensive out-of-pocket test.
Lastly, I’ve had personal success and heard of others finding muscle testing (done by a chiropractor/applied kinesiologist) to be accurate in picking up tick borne illness. It’s a little “out there,” but can serve as a great and more affordable starting point, if not more.
Bottom line: If you suspect Lyme disease, advocate for yourself and don’t give up on getting the diagnosis. I had many doctors tell me there was “no way I had lyme” and refused to even test me. Turns out I do indeed have lyme, and much more.
What are some common lyme symptoms?
Headaches, Neck stiffness, Brain fog, Fatigue, Muscle and joint pain, Swollen joints, Numbness or tingling in the extremities, Bell's Palsy (facial paralysis), Heart palpitations or chest pain, Shortness of breath, Dizziness, Vision changes, Sensitivity to light and sound, Mood swings, anxiety, or depression, Sleep disturbances, Gastrointestinal issues
I have lyme, now what?
Well, let me tell you about the bees. (No, not the birds and the bees. I’ll leave that one to your parents.) Bee Venom Therapy was not my first choice of treatment. In fact, it sounded so out-there and crazy that for years I brushed it off. However, after countless doctors, failed treatments, money and the worsening of symptoms I am so grateful that I was led back to it. Many believe that lyme is a ‘chronic’ illness with no cure, just ways to manage symptoms and if you’re lucky get into remission. That is not true! Bee venom kills lyme. It’s a way to completely eradicate it from your body - meaning you don’t have to worry about it flaring back up or as mother, passing it down to your child through birth. Head to my next blog to learn more about BVT and how to get started.
