I have decided to share a very personal account of my recent and ongoing health challenges in the hope that others who are in the same boat may benefit.
Despite leading a very healthy lifestyle including a wholefood diet, getting plenty of exercise, minimising exposure to EMF's and Earthing myself whenever possible my health has really nosedived over the past 12 months. I have suffered a wide range of seemingly unconnected symptoms including chronic fatigue, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, fungal infections, inflamed gut/digestion issues, thyroid issues, parasites, extreme mood swings and an indescribable feeling of being very unwell nearly all the time.
While many of the symptoms began gradually over the past few years, these last six months have seen them compound to such an extent that I thought I must be dying. It seemed quite ironic that someone who had dedicated much of his life to natural health and healing could become so sick. In my quest to regain my health I have spent thousands of dollars on health practitioners (both medical and alternative), tests and supplements all to no avail as my health has continued to decline at an alarming rate.
I was beginning to feel pretty desperate when finally, in July this year (2013) I visited an integrative doctor, who also happens to be a personal friend from my raw food days. Dr Sandeep Gupta's practice is in Woombye on the Sunshine Coast and he was the first GP in Australia to offer Earthing products to treat his patients.
After Sandeep had analysed all the tests and looked at all my wide range of confounding symptoms he asked me if I had ever been bitten by a tick? I guessed he was considering the possibility of Lyme disease, of which I knew almost nothing, except it was a bug often delivered via atick bite. I also thought it was only contracted in the USA. As it so happened I have had several tick bites some of which made me very ill including one that was so bad I ended up in hospital. Mind you these tick bites happened between 25 to 30 years ago.
Sandeep ordered some blood tests that were sent to a specialised lab in the US (IGenex)and I began researching Lyme like my life depended on it. After I watched a very good documentary about Lyme called ""Under our skin"" I was convinced (well before the blood tests came back) that Lyme disease was the root cause of virtually all my health issues. It took almost a month for all of the results to come back and sure enough on the 2nd of September (my 52nd birthday) I tested positive for the Lyme Borrelius bacteria infection plus several co-infections. Despite the implications of this diagnosis I was hugely relieved. I now knew what I was dealing with and could take more effective action.
I consider myself very lucky for two reasons:
1/ That I actually had a doctor how knew about Lyme and tested for it with the best tests at the best lab. (Most people with Lyme never get diagnosed as the medical establishment in Australia and elsewhere are in almost complete ignorance or denial about it - simply put most doctors are not taught to test for Lyme or other chronic stealth infections. If doctors do test for Lyme disease they often do an ineffective test that returns more than 50% false negatives! While 15,000
Australians have tested positve for Lyme, Lyme experts estimate there are at least another 200,000 out there who are un-diagnosed!
2/ That despite probably having Lyme for up to 30 years my health has held out until now and I can still work and exercise most days. Chronic Lyme creates lots of inflammatory problems in the body, so Earthing myself could really be holding symptoms at bay. Many people with Lyme disease are not so fortunate, ending up bedridden, in wheelchairs or walkers or at worst dead.
Lyme disease (including it's co-infections) is known as the ‘great imitator’ as it can mimic or cause a huge range of problems.
These are just a few of them:
- Schizoaffective disorder
- Multiple sclerosis
- Bell’s Palsy
- Amylotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Thyroid disease
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Lupus
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Fibromyalgia
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
- Bipolar disorder
- Addison’s disease
- Depression
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME
- Autism
- Chronic heart failure
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Restless Leg Syndrome
This list makes my symptoms seem pretty mild. Many people with the above illnesses may have Lyme disease and unfortunately some will die a slow crippling death without ever knowing what hit them.
Another strange thing about Lyme is that people who have it often look quite well despite their suffering. If their GP's don't suspect Lyme, it is often assumed that their symptoms are psychosomatic and they are referred to a psychiatrist.
Doctors who are on the cutting edge of Lyme disease believe it is not just delivered via ticks - other possibilities include mosquitoes, sexual contact, blood transfusions and more.
Lyme disease is a new medical frontier so don't expect your GP to be up to speed with it. Doctors are not taught about how to effectively detect or treat Lyme and other stealth infections in med school. If your health or a loved ones health has been deteriorating for no known reason (with some of the above mentioned symptoms) it may be worth seeking out a Lyme literate doctor (see resources below). It could be the difference between years of suffering and a premature death or a cure.
Yes, when treated properly people with Lyme can and do get better. The most common treatment includes antibiotics, which for chronic Lyme patients can take months or years to work. I have opted to treat mine with a more natural regime (including powerful anti-microbal herbs), called the Cowden Protocol . It could take from 6 months to many years for me to effectively treat Lyme - it has the ability to hide within cells, organs and connective tissue and can survive months or even years of antibiotic treatment.
Lyme disease is a vast and complex subject and I have only given a very brief overview here. There is also a very political side to Lyme including the Australian governments denial that it exists here. But that's another story...
Here are some of the best Lyme resources I know of:
- Under Our Skin - Lyme documentary. Watch the full doco on YouTube HERE
- International Lymes and associated disease society - this is where the cutting edge of Lyme research and support can be found http://www.ilads.org/
- Lyme disease association of Australia - http://www.lymedisease.org.au/
- Karl McManus is an Australian who died needlessly from Lymes disease because the doctors he saw did not know how diagnose or treat him. His widow started a foundation in his name to raise awareness http://www.karlmcmanusfoundation.org.au/
Invisibly Ill - a documentary about Lyme and other stealth infections in Australia - the editing is amateurish, however, the interviews and content are excellent. Watch the trailer HERE
While this is not a Lyme specialist organisation you may also be able to locate a Lyme literate doctor through the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) http://www.acnem.org/modules/mastop_publish/
If interested you should be able to find a Lyme literate doctor through one of the Australian websites listed above.
Stay well, Anand
