Ever since I ever heard about lyme disease, I have had an immense fear of ticks. I’ve been bitten before (a decade or more ago) when I walked right into a nest of ticks in Honduras. No bulls-eye rash developed so I assumed I was fine. The bull’s eye rash does not have to develop for you to have the spirochetes that cause Lyme disease.
And when I found a tick on Bear’s belly last May on our beach trip (who ever heard of a tick at the beach, right?) I was a basket case for a long time. How the tick even climbed up to her belly that fast, (she was wearing a sundress) I don’t know. She never got the bull’s eye rash, so I thought she was free of Lyme disease and that I didn’t have to worry, but it did nag at me. All summer, and fall, and into January of this year, she kept having random fevers and rashes that would last a few days or so. Also, she was becoming more lethargic and really didn’t enjoy gymnastics anymore. She complained that her knees and legs hurt – a reasonable complaint if one is doing two to three hours of gymnastics in a row, twice per week – so one I kind of ignored. Frequent trips to the pediatrician were fruitless to find a cause for the rashes and fevers. However, I had a few friends who had gone to a homeopathic doctor and been found to have the spirochetes that cause lyme disease, so I figured, after the umpteenth random fever and rash, that it couldn’t hurt to take her to him.
The verdict: Bear has lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (her treatments to date have cleared the latter). Both are tick transmitted. Ticks carry more than one disease. In fact, they can carry worms, funguses, and a host of other nasty organisms. Yuck!
The homeopathic doctor mentioned how lyme could cause miscarriages as the spirochetes can cross the placenta. Wow. I needed to know if I had lyme, too. Could this one thing explain everything? I made an appointment for myself and J-jo. The result: we both have lyme. J-jo has never had a tick bite that I know of, nor a bull’s-eye rash, but mosquitos also spread the spirochetes.
Lyme and other tick diseases can mimic other illnesses, and the symptoms include many neurological issues like depression, foggy brain, confusion, short-term memory loss, loss of cognitive function, and fatigue among other things. These are all also things one experiences with grief. If I had gone to a regular doctor for these symptoms, I most likely would have just been told it was part of the normal grieving of losing the twins. Symptoms from these tick diseases (go look at the article for all the details), can worsen significantly after a traumatic, stressful event. Also, the spirochetes may be passed through blood transfusions (of which I had plenty during 2013).
If you are interested in finding out more about Lyme disease, I highly recommend Under Our Skin, a documentary about the disease. You can watch it free below (from Youtube). I recommend that everyone watch it (there’s no kick back to me for recommending it, either, but I feel so strongly about this disease now that it implicates me). Lyme is an epidemic and doctors don’t understand it. Moreover, many doctors are unwilling to recognize it. Furthermore, it’s very hard to diagnose and the treatments (antibiotics if you go the non-homeopathic route) aren’t always successful. I feel so blessed, that in spite of having spirochetes in our systems, the kids and I have hardly any symptoms compared to some of these people in the documentary. I pray that the homeopathy will remove all the wretched spirochetes and that I will have the courage to still spend time in nature.
My heart just dropped when I read that Bear has Lyme and then you. I have one friend whose daughter has Lyme and they are having a difficult time because the daughter is allergic to all the antibiotics. We went camping last summer and my friend discovered that her 2 year old son had a tick behind his ear. They tested to see if it carried Lyme but thankfully, it didn’t. I once found a tick on my belly when I volunteered for beach clean up day. Now I’m wondering if I have it too because all the symptoms you’ve listed are too familiar. Thanks for sharing the videos. I will have to do some research.
Just finished watching the video. I am sorry about your diagnosis. I hope and pray that it can be treated properly for both you and Bear.
Thanks, min. Thankfully, we do not have the symptoms to the extent of the people on the video. However, I am going through worse symptoms than I had before I started the treatment. The panic attacks last week were just dreadful. We are going a natural route and not using the harsh antibiotics mentioned in the movie.
Julie! You’ve GOT to be kidding- this is heartbreaking! I’ll be praying for you all. I’m glad you uncovered the mystery, though I’m sure it’s devastating all the same. 🙁
Thanks, Sarah. It is a double-edged sword for sure.
Julie! I am behind on my reading, so I’m just now reading this. Oh my! I had Lyme for most of my growing up years. As a child, there wasn’t as much research as there is now, and getting a diagnosis was very difficult. My heart goes out to you.
Are you going to treat it homeopathically? I would love to hear about your treatment plan. {{{hugs}}} i know how oh so hard this can be. But truly? Getting a diagnosis is a really good first step.
Hi Brandy! How did you get rid of your Lyme? Yes, we are treating all of us homeopathically. I started on Colloidal silver (its a natural antibiotic) along with homeopathic drops to boost my immune system. I’m into my second month and am on Colloidal silver, olive leaf extract, and new set of homeopathic drops. The herxing (detox effect) has been terrible. The first month was full of anxiety attacks and the second has been intense headaches, stomach aches, neck pain, and extreme fatigue. I could lower my doses and be a bit more comfortable, but I just want it out!!!
I didn’t know then what I know now about alternative treatments (plus I was a child, so I did what my parents told me 🙂 ) so I did years and years and YEARS of antibiotics. I am so glad you are able to treat it with these natural things! That is so great! I suffered terribly from the effects of the antibiotics (and I don’t just mean the herxing) — yeast issues, that sort of thing.
I hope you have great success getting rid of it this way! You will have to let me know. I would love to be able to say I know someone who successfully treated Lyme this way. 🙂
Right now, I am in the “It-gets-worse-before-it-gets-better-stage,” which is daily stiff neck and headaches, nausea, and extreme tiredness. It is all I can do to hold my head above the waters of daily living…. I hope I have great success too, lol! I will keep you posted.
Hello. I’m so sorry to read you & your family’s story about your struggle with lyme disease. I came across your site after putting a prayer request on Sarah Mackenzie’s lovely things blog & she directed me to you. I am a 34 year old wife to a wonderful husband & homeschooling mama of 3 precious little ones (6, 4 & 2 years old) who has struggled with chronic pain for the past 9 years. I went to many doctors & was misdiagnosed as having fibromyalgia. It stayed fairly stable over the years but with each baby symptoms increased including a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis digestive issues which I now know are related to my illness. In the past 2 years that pain went debilitating & as a result I’ve been left unable to sit for any length of time & unable to take care of my children & home full time without help. I miss so many things like simple pleasures of sitting next to my family in church, snuggling on the couch with them or even being able to travel even short distances. God has been very present through this struggle & it’s led to my finally getting a diagnosis to what has been harming me all these years which is lyme disease as well as multiple co-infections. I am under treatment both natural & now antibiotics as well but it hasn’t brought the relief from the horrible nerve pain I struggle with or other painful symptoms which I hope healing is coming from soon. Also my children & husband have all been exposed to this illness through me so we hope & pray that they will stay well also. I’m glad to hear that you & your family don’t have too many symptoms. It’s a huge step to get a diagnosis & be able to move forward with that.
I will be praying for you & your kids that the Lord will direct your doctor & bring abundant healing through your treatment. Could you please pray for the Lord’s mercy upon our family in bringing me to full health, protecting my family’s health & restoring me to the role of wife & mother that I long to be able to fully walk in again? God has been so faithful to our family in His grace in this journey & as a result my marriage, faith & bright little kiddos are doing well & I am so grateful for the prayers.
Blessings, Amber
Hi Amber. 🙂 I’m not Julie, but since I have a looooonnnnng history with Lyme, I thought I’d reply. One thing I wish I’d known back when I had Lyme — which I do know now — is that the body pain is usually caused by mineral deficiencies. The Lyme totally messes up your digestion, and so you don’t absorb vitamins and minerals like you should, and then your body is so sick that it needs MORE than ever. That is a terrible combo that leads to a totally depleted state.
Magnesium is the number one place to start when dealing with body pain. You can try supplementing with magnesium chelate (chelates are the easiest to digest and absorb, very important when dealing with the digestive issues), or you can also make homemade magnesium water or magnesium oil (same thing, two different names — google for an easy recipe) and spray it on your skin and rub it in like lotion. Put it on extra in the places that are hurting the worst.
Anyhow, this sort of thing really helped me, and I hope it might help you, too!
Brandy, I did not know this! Thanks for the input. Amber, I am working on an email for you.
Thank you for taking the time to comment Brandy! I appreciate your advice. I’ve definitely found that supplementing with magnesium has helped a lot with my muscle pain & soak with Epsom salts daily to further maximize the benefit! Your comment got me thinking about other minerals I may be deficient too… continuing to pray & move forward with each new piece of info I come across! What a blessing that you’ve found wellness after your own long struggle with lyme! Gives me hope! The battle with yeast is a tough one that I struggle with too even before I took antibiotics! Thank you!
Another piece of advice the naturopath gave me was to eliminate gluten and dairy as much as I could. This helped a lot.
Your naturopath sounds really great Julie! It’s nice to have a knowledgeable care provider! Thank you for sharing with me! One of the things I figured out when I first got sick 9 years ago was the food connection. My lyme has made me hypersensitive to food, chemicals & other environmental things. Wheat, gluten, eggs, soy, sugar & dairy are all foods that I haven’t been able to eat since I got sick because of the reaction I get all these years. After I found out about my lyme & started treatment last year I’ve been able to eat some goat’s milk cheese each day which has helped to put some much needed fat in my diet but I definitely feel best if I’m super careful with food!