Ticks and Lyme Disease: Western Medicine

Chapter 1: The Bite
Chapter 2:  The Next Steps
Chapter 3: The Basics of Lyme
Chapter 4:  Antibiotics
Chapter 5: ALL DONE (Western Medicine)

So...it is far past the time for an update on my Lyme disease, I suppose.

At my last appointment with her, after my positive test, my general practitioner requested that I schedule a visit with Infectious Disease Specialists. She felt unable to assist me further, and hoped that the specialists would be able to offer more advice should I need continued treatment for Lyme.

So, mid-July, I completed my full 6 week round of antibiotics and then had about two weeks off of them before I finally had my appointment at the local infectious disease specialist office.

Now, as I've said before, I'm not completely confident in western medicine. I also admit that despite my lofty ideals of equality for all, I have a personal bias against older white male doctors and I go into appointments with them assuming the worst.  "The worst" that I refer to is based on a few experiences I've had where a doctor refused to let me finish a sentence, or even answer a question he asked, or merely allow me to communicate my problem without his eyes rolling or dramatic sighs.  And I do truly promise, I was not at any point trying to push my preferred non-western medical views on him, and was just trying to relate the symptoms and issues at hand.  More often than not, I left the premises with the exact same medicine prescribed as was on the pens, notepads, signage, and tissue boxes in the waiting room - whatever drug they were actively encouraged and paid to endorse.

With a bit of a case of nerves backed up by an energetic shield, I visited the doctors in the last week of July.  I had my paperwork in hand, and was ready to be friendly and open, but not expecting to be offered the chance to be so.

To my surprise, the doctor and nurses were easy to talk to, and seemed pretty open and inviting.  But as I spoke to the doctor, I realized that he was listening to me but not believing me.

Even with my positive test result, he said that it was impossible that I had contracted Lyme in North Carolina.  Even with my swollen joints and fatigue, my appetite and brain fog - it just wasn't possible in his world.  He asked if I would be tested again, and I agreed.  That test was negative, and I received the results in the mail with a handwritten note from the doctor that said "I don't think you ever had Lyme."

*sigh*

Well, one way or another, one test or another, I can say that I have felt fine since I finished the antibiotics.  Whether or not he believes my rash, symptoms, or test results - I have recovered now.  I only hope that future patients of his are not disregarded in their time of need.

Back to my plants, back to my kitchen, back to my life.  Wishing you health and well-being:

Amber

Ticks and Lyme Disease: Antibiotics

Image from LymeDiseaseGuide.org

Chapter 1: The Bite
Chapter 2:  The Next Steps
Chapter 3: The Basics of Lyme
Chapter 4:  Antibiotics

Antibiotics are a mixed blessing.  Properly applied, they save many lives, and have extended the estimated length of life for those societies who have access to them.  But the regular over-use of them can be horrible on the body, and taking them unnecessarily can cause sneaky illnesses to adapt to them and become stronger.

Please don't get me wrong - I am so very thankful for the opportunity to have antibiotics.  This does not change that I hate they way that they make me feel while I take them.  Epitome of first world problems?  Yeah, I think so...but spare me a moment to vent.

I feel gross.  My billions of happy little gut flora are all miserable and dying, and my candida issues have flared up. I'm having to watch my sugar and alcohol intake.  I feel depressed, angry, moody, and just a wee bit stabby.

I'm tired, exhausted, fatigued, not getting enough sleep, even when I am down for 8 or more hours each night.  I have been living on candied ginger and carb-heavy foods because I am nauseous and that is all my body wants, which isn't helping make me feel any healthier.

I'm photosensitive, even more than usual.  Even before antibiotics, I have had to amp up my sun avoidance techniques, as I break out in hives from even being in direct sun for an hour.  Long sleeves and broad hats are required, but with the Doxycycline it only takes ten minutes of solid sunlight on my skin to cause me to break out and itch for days!

I'm angry and grumpy.  My patience levels are at an all-time low, and I've been grinding and clenching my teeth, biting my tongue to keep from snapping at people unnecessarily, and wanting desperately to turn to unhealthy escapes like too much beer, wine, or smoke to dull my feelings.  My poor puppy and human loves are so patient with me right now...hopefully they won't hate me when this is all over!

Okay.  Done with the rant...back to counting my blessings in order to ground, center, and go on with this process with a whole heart.

I've just picked up my prescription for a second bottle of Doxycycline, and if my updates on Lyme disease are coming slowly, please bear with me.  Healing is not always an easy process, but I'd rather walk through this fire now than allow it to slowly consume me over time, leaving me sore and broken in mind and body.

That reminds me, gentle reader, that I did not share with you the long-lasting potential psychological problems that Lyme disease causes in many chronic cases.  This is the article that made Eric and I stop and think twice about Lyme disease, as he is affected just as much psychologically as he is physically, and we had seen scant few references to what it can do to the mind.

Coming soon - Chapter 5:  Western Medicine

More Reading and References:

Breaking News in Lyme and North Carolina - 

UNF Researchers Make Big Discovery About Lyme Disease

"Dr. Kerry Clark, University of North Florida associate professor of public health, and his colleagues have found two species of Lyme disease bacteria previously unknown to infect humans in patients. These two Lyme disease species, Borrelia americana and Borrelia andersonii, were found in symptomatic patients living in the Southeastern United States. "

The psychological effects of Lyme disease, by Valerie Andrews, January 2004

Ticks and Lyme Disease: The Basics of Lyme

Chapter 1: The Bite
Chapter 2:  The Next Steps
Chapter 3: The Basics of Lyme

In this picture, there are three ticks under
my bodice that I don't know about yet.
Image by AnimazeGuy

So.  Before I continue the tale, let me explain why I went into this process already armed with a decent amount on knowledge about Lyme disease.

Over ten years ago, my love, Eric, was bit by a tick on his stomach.  We both recall the incident, as it is one of the first times I've had to remove a tick from someone.  The tick was pinched off with tweezers and then treated with antibacterial ointment, but the bite area still developed a splotchy rash that itched him like crazy for a few weeks.  Right around that time that the rash was fading, Eric became ill for a few days and had to take off of work.  We did not know about Lyme then, and so we assumed it was just the flu and just let it go on by.

Five years later, a friend's toddler became ill with Lyme after a large group camping trip.  She emailed everyone who had been camping with them, forwarding a few websites and checklists so we could educate ourselves about tick-borne illnesses.  Meanwhile, Eric had been dealing with ever-increasing issues that we didn't understand... TMJ, aching neck and shoulder muscles, fatigue, emotional exhaustion and mood swings, popping joints, regular cases of tendonitis, and more. As we read about our friend's daughter, and then through the checklists for Lyme, we realized that his condition reflected over 80% of the symptoms of untreated Lyme.  And Lyme disease is tricky...

“I began researching this and reading that the Lyme bacteria — Borrelia burgdorferi — can hide, change shapes, go dormant and create a biofilm to encase itself in order to survive in the body,” he said. “It’s the great imitator. It’s misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s, autism, arthritis, Parkinson’s, chronic fatigue, MS.” (Eric Huck, PennLive, "When Lyme disease symptoms stick around" Kimmel)

Once we put in more research and realized the situation at hand, we paid a visit to our doctor.  She was not up to speed on Lyme, and so ordered a blood test for Eric.  The test came out to be negative, but chronic Lyme tests have a high chance of false negatives and the doctor wasn't convinced that we needed to pursue further exploration.

Frustrated, and not overfond of western medicine to begin with, we turned to herbalism and have been treating Eric's symptoms and helping to keep the Lyme under control with Teasel root tincture and bitters (as guided by the suggestions of Matthew Wood and Lady Barbara).  Even though we are working to ease his symptoms, build up his immune system, and feel him good, clean food to keep him strong and healthy, there are some days where he has a really hard time.

Different perspective on treating and learning
about Lyme Disease, by Wolf Storl

Recommended Reading/Bibliography:

• Healing Lyme Disease by Wolf D. Storl


• The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using Plants as Medicines by Matthew Wood


• When Lyme Diseases Stick Around, by Carolyn Kimmel in PennLive, 1/30/2013


• Lyme Disease on Wikipedia


• Lyme Research Alliance website


• Lady Barbara's Garden website (she's my hero)

Next to come...my trip to the doctor, symptoms, fatigue, and more. 

Ticks and Lyme Disease: The Next Steps

Chapter 1: The Bite
Chapter 2:  The Next Steps

The days between getting the bite and seeing the doctor were not idly spent. I turned my mind towards healing, cleaning, purging, holy fire kind of thoughts.  Symptom-wise, I felt raw, tender, emotional, and physically fatigued.  I also felt like I could eat all day and never fill my stomach, so I had to watch what I was taking in so I didn't give up and go for junk foods all day.

To support myself nutritionally, I ate a mess of garlic and took shots of my fire vinegar (raw apple cider vinegar infused with cayenne peppers, garlic, and onion), as those are immune system boosters.  Knowing that the spiral-shaped Lyme spirochetes were moving into my muscles, I wanted to make it as difficult as possible on them and ensure that my immune system was in top condition!  I also increased my water intake and ceased all alcohol (sigh). It also meant more raw foods, more simple green foods, good clean fats and a generally supportive diet.  I drank a ton of ginger tea, and devoured anything coconut.

Anahata Heart Chakra by Rebelbam 

Medicinally, I began taking teasel tincture to keep the Lyme spirochetes out of my muscles and into the bloodstream, from where I could hopefully flush it out.  With that in mind, I also started taking regular doses of vitamin C and echinacea tincture, and also nettles tea to keep my kidneys flushed.

Spiritually, I could not ignore the placement of the bite.  My heart chakra is a guiding light to me, and I found myself feeling wounded, hurt, and betrayed that the bite was there, that my blood was taken, that this experience was inflicted upon me.  I sat in meditation and simple deep breathing at least once a day, generally when I found myself wrestling with flooding emotions.  My clothing was mostly white for those first few days, or at least the part touching my heart.  White being healing, cleansing, protective and reflective, white being pure and focused...green was a close second most comfortable color in that time, a gentle grounding energy that felt like sunlight filtering through green leaves onto my face when I meditated. I felt like I had to ask my Self for guidance on how to proceed to support my own healing.

When I went to visit my new doctor to ask about getting antibiotics for Lyme, I had fear.  Fear that she might consider me an internet-addicted, Web MD-using, overly-researched hypochondriac, or a weird, grass-eating hippie.  That last one is pretty true, but I really despise being scorned for taking my health into my own hands rather than leaving it to the professionals. I've had some bad experiences there that I don't wish to recreate!   But even my fellow grass-munching herbalists acknowledge that antibiotics are the best course of action for Lyme disease, especially right after the bite.

My fears were unfounded this time.  My doctor is a good listener, and even though the ring and rash no longer appeared around the bite, she agreed that it was worth it to prescribe me a week of antibiotics.  I picked up my Doxycicline, and began to faithfully take them twice a day.

The downside of antibiotics is the fact that they are pretty indiscriminate in their aim, and kill off friendly bacteria in the body as well as the invading ones...this can lead to candida issues, digestion problems, and a stressed-out liver.  So after apologizing to my happy little body ecosystem, I've cut back on sugar again, started taking acidophilus, and drinking liver-cleansing teas (Persephone's Tea) and lots of water to keep myself as balanced as possible.

One week down, hoping that was all it would take...

In the meantime, here are some resources if you want to learn more about Lyme.

http://www.ladybarbara.net/
https://www.facebook.com/TBDAlliance

Recent news:  NC Girl dies from tick-borne illness (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever)

Next....Chapter 3: The Basics of Lyme

Ticks and Lyme Disease: The Bite

Chapter 1: The Bite

So, I got tick-bitten in early April while camping at a renaissance festival.  On Saturday morning, I allowed myself to be chased down and slain by a few young knights and princesses with wooden swords.  To keep up the play, I died quite dramatically and rolled on the ground in defeat.

Image from Appalachian Mountain Club

Twelve hours later, I was finally done and bound for bed.  With relief, I pulled off my tight bodice and took a deep breath.  Rubbing my seamed skin, I felt a bump on my abdomen.  I called my husband over, and under the dim light of our camp lanterns we found a total of three ticks latched on.  There was one adult tick on my lower back, right near my tailbone.  There was another adult tick found on my abdomen, and there was one teeny, tiny, black speck of a tick right on my sternum, in the middle of my heart chakra. That one concerned me immediately, as larva or nymph ticks are the most likely to transmit diseases to their hosts. They were attached for most of the day, as far as I know - possibly more than 12 hours.  We got them pulled off, and collapsed into bed with exhaustion.

The next day was a busy one - we camped up our truck before a torrential rainstorm hit, and I felt a bit out-of-sorts and ill.  We drove the three hours or so home very slowly and carefully.  Once settled in our dry, warm house, I got ready for my shower and noticed that the bite area at my heart had developed a ring around it.

Now...I have studied Lyme quite a bit, enough to know what I was seeing.  Not every time, but quite often, Lyme shows itself first as a ring around the bite.  The ring is generally red, but mine was white. I called Eric over, and he confirmed that he saw it, too.  I made an appointment for my doctor for the following Wednesday.

Next to come...western medicine, herbalism, treatment options, antibiotics, and more.

In the meantime, here are some resources if you want to learn more about Lyme.

http://www.ladybarbara.net/
https://www.facebook.com/TBDAlliance

Next...Chapter 2:  The Next Steps