I've been through over six months of pretty hard core antibiotic treatment and naturopathic treatments and have my next doctor's appointment a month from now. From what he said at my last appointment, he'll start tapering me off of my medications and we'll see what happens. Because of the side effects of the high amounts of drugs I've been on, at points during my treatment I haven't known if it's the medicine that has made me feel sick, the bacteria, or the die off of killing all of these bugs and not getting them out of your system. So it's hard to know where you are at until after you've come off of the medication.
But since the middle of May, I've felt a difference in my health. I've had more energy and many of my symptoms have decreased. What a blessing! I did a 10 day juice fast in May and like last time, when I juiced for 10 plus days in December, I am amazed at how well I feel during and after the fast. My doctor said juicing won't cure lyme disease but that the oxidation for my cells is very beneficial and wants me to juice a week out of each month. I'm on day 2 today and I really am amazed at how much better my body feels when I'm juicing lots of greens! I still find it hard to juice fast each time I've done it, despite knowing how beneficial it is!!! Last month I tried and struggled. There's no substitute for great food. But I'm happy I'm on day 2 and feeling strong.
Last year after I was diagnosed, my dearest friend, Jo'el, introduced me to doTerra oils as a treatment method for healing Lymes. At the time, although I was really interested in a natural approach to treatment rather than using antibiotics, I really wanted a LLMD to follow me and walk me through treatment and neither my doctor, nor the naturopathic doctor I consulted via Skype in the US, were familiar with treating Lyme with essential oils. They suggested I "mop up" with oils at the end of my treatment.
Yesterday I watched a 2 hour talk given by a doctor on how essential oils are used to treat lymes. It was so informative. I already have all of my oils so in the next week or so, I'll start with his recommended regimen. I feel I'm ready for this approach.
There's a lot of unknown with lyme disease. Can it be cured? Do you go into remission? It isn't so clear cut and it's hard to know if your body has been completely cured/cleared of the bugs. As testing is unreliable there's not a definitive test to take to determine how you are. My doctor said the best way to know if the treatment has helped is to base it on how you feel and symptom management/reduction.
So at this point, I've seen improvement in several areas. One of my biggest fears was how the tx would affect my stomach as most of you know, I've suffered from years of digestive issues. Praise God, my stomach for the most part has been FINE! I also think my brain fog has improved as have several of the cognitive difficulties I was having. I've been happy to see my stamina has picked up and I'm less fatigued. At the moment my biggest struggle is my "itcy" arms. Each night my arms will itch to the point of me scratching them until they bleed. It is relentless and ice (in the middle of winter!) is the only thing that helps somewhat.
I'll continue to lead a really healthy lifestyle that will give my body the optimum chance to heal itself and fight off infections. In some ways I can be thankful because this disease that I likely contracted back in 1998 has contributed to me becoming one of the healthiest people I know, I always joke that I'm a very healthy, "sick" person. I have learned so much along the way which is a wonderful gift I can give to Simon, Gracie, and Andrew. And the last several months of treatment and thus, detoxing (saunas, exercise, dry skin brushing, juicing, lots of fun supplements) have finally forced and allowed me to slow down, which is nice. My diagnosis and treatment prompted me to enroll Gracie at a Montessori preschool and she's absolutely thrived there. Her teacher said she's definitely a smarty pants and is sailing through the curriculum. In the middle of the night a few nights back, I heard her reciting, "Mmm is for monkey, Bbb is for baby....." I love to see her learning new things and enjoying her friends. She's beginning to attempt to write her name. And after so many years of having at least one child attached to my side, I am really enjoying the new freedom and chance for a bit of solitude!
A friend gave me a verse a few months ago which I still struggle to put into practice each day, but believe is absolutely the same thing God's been whispering in my ear for a long time. As I start to feel better, it's easy for me to get ahead of myself - but for now, I still believe this is the season of rest.
"In quietness and trust is your strength." Isaiah 30:15
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| Me and my sister-in-law, Jenny, on a walk along the beach. |
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