Lyme Disease Prevention and Treatments

I know a lot about Lyme disease prevention and treatments because of personal experience.

I was bitten by a deer tick on our honeymoon!

At the time, I was wearing the top rated natural tick repellent spray, but obviously it wasn't enough. The tick was well embedded after a long hike.

There was no rash, no fever, no reason to believe anything more lasting had happened, but over the following months I developed strange symptoms

It's a miserable experience. I hope you will use what I've learned to protect yourself and your family.

Rules for Fighting Lyme

1. Have a partner to do tick checks.

I was lucky that I was on my honeymoon and we were giving each other back massages or we never would've found the tick. I'd already taken a shower and checked myself, but it was firmly attached at a spot I couldn't see.

2. Do a tick check as soon as possible.

The longer it's attached, the more bacterial transfer. Unfortunately, mine had been there for several hours. We should've done a thorough tick check immediately after returning from the long hike. Wearing long pants and light colors may help with Lyme disease prevention, but they can still find a way to bite you if they're really hungry!

3. Save the tick or tick parts and have them tested.

Lyme disease was the last thing on our minds on our honeymoon. I wish I'd known that we could've had the tick tested. Yes, it costs something, but being sick costs a lot more!

4. Know the symptoms.

I was looking for a bull's eye and rash but that only happens in about 30% of people. In July, I started waking up at night with a tingling in my arms and hands. I thought I was sleeping wrong on the new mattress and cutting off circulation. It wasn't until the pain got worse that I actually went to a doctor. And I most likely would've been misdiagnosed as having arthritis or something else if my friend hadn't told me about how her husband's disease started the same way.

5. Study the enemy tactics for Lyme disease prevention.

If you have Lyme disease and start to do some research, you'll soon know more than most doctors. Do you know what "herxing" is? Do you know about the cyst form of spirochetes? Lyme behaves much differently than diseases like the flu or strep throat.

These are the books that have been most helpful to me:

• Healing Lyme: Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis and the Coinfections
• Insights Into Lyme Disease Treatment
• The Top 10 Lyme Disease Treatments: Defeat Lyme Disease with the Best of Conventional and Alternative Medicine
• When Antibiotics Fail: Lyme Disease and Rife Machines, with Critical Evaluation of Leading Alternative Therapies

Lyme Disease Treatment

There was a very interesting 2011 study by Sapi et al that I found on the CanLyme website where the research indicated that most antibiotics make Lyme disease worse by causing it to go into the cyst form and hide deeper in the body. I tried one round of protein-synthesis inhibiting antibiotic since my case was discovered so early and it was worth a try.

Available on Amazon

I read about rife machines and different herbal protocols and decided to try the one described by Stephen Buhner in Healing Lyme.

I haven't looked at a copy of the second edition that came out in 2016, but I was following the updated protocol from his website, so I'm guessing that is what is in the updated book.

The more people I talk to, the more variation I hear about symptoms. The disease expresses differently in different individuals, so naturally the best treatments are going to vary, too.

The basic Buher herbs are what worked for me, plus a couple of additional supplements:

• Natural Vitality, Natural Calm, The Anti-Stress Drink - absorbable form of magnesium for muscle spasms and twitching
• Trace Minerals Research, Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM, Blueberry - for joint health
• Alive! Organic Whole Food Complex Vitamin C - for the immune system
• Paradise Herbs, Resveratrol - increases circulation and helps fight Lyme
• Source Naturals, Cat's Claw - increases N57 killer white blood cells
• Wobenzym N, Healthy Inflammation and Joint Support - enzymes to dissolve proteins of dead Lyme bacteria and increase circulation
• Nature's Answer, Astragalus Root Extract - acts as a Lyme disease prevention by boosting the immune system

Or click here to view them all in one shopping cart and decide exactly what you want.

Remember, this is only what worked for me. You need to do your own research and decide what's best for you!

Lyme Disease Pregnancy

Right around the time I was diagnosed, I realized I was pregnant! I had 3 doses of the antibiotic before I realized it, and it was a powerful type that is not to be taken if pregnant or if you could become pregnant. I had a miscarriage a little over a week later at 5 weeks, 4 days. As heartbreaking as that was, it was not totally unexpected.

I had a hard time going back to the treatments and herxing because I felt so great while I was pregnant. Those hormones really helped the Lyme symptoms! As the treatments started to work and turned on my immune system, I became even sicker than I was before the miscarriage.

It's difficult to find others dealing with the pregnancy and Lyme disease combo, but from what I've heard so far most women do feel better while pregnant then experience a relapse after delivery. To read about an exception see Sara's blog. She was very sick yet still delivered two beautiful boys.

The hardest part is finding a treatment that is safe to do while trying to conceive and while pregnant and nursing. I am on some milder herbs and enzymes that are considered safe. I believe these will also help protect the baby from getting Lyme through the mother and later act as Lyme disease prevention through the breastmilk.

There hasn't been a lot of research because it's unethical to test pregnant women, but I believe that Astragalus Root Extract is a Lyme disease prevention that can be taken during pregnancy. Research it for yourself. It's working for me.

Update: Yes, got pregnant again and had a healthy baby via a natural homebirth!

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