The Lyme Puzzle

I like to call my health issues a Lyme puzzle. It's rarely "just" Lyme disease. Lyme is just a piece of the puzzle. It may be a very big piece, but it's not the only piece. No one gets sick with chronic Lyme overnight. It may seem like it. You may wake up one day sick as a dog, and life isn't ever the same again. But the beginnings of it started weeks, months, or likely years before.

Our immune systems are extremely advanced. (I'm not going to get into the science of it, but pull up YouTube and look up how the immune system works. It's absolutely fascinating!) There's rarely one thing that overwhelms the immune system; usually, it's several things, a chain reaction of sorts. Our immune systems can become so overwhelmed that they can no longer fight. Many people with chronic Lyme have such impaired immune systems that they do not ever get sick, because their bodies can't fight viruses or bacterial infections.

Chronic illness is often described as an onion. You have to peel back the layers to get to the core. (My Lyme doctor prefers to call it a layer cake. She feels onion sounds too Shrek-like, ha!) No matter how you describe it, the sentiment is the same: there's several factors that contribute to chronic illness.

Examples of common "layers" include (but are not limited to):

• Mold exposure
• Parasites
• Heavy metals
• Reactivated viruses 
• Candida
• Allergies & food sensitivities 
• Autoimmune conditions

I'm no expert, but I believe the reason some people can't seem to get better is because they haven't confronted these other contributing factors. It's a mistake to focus only on killing Lyme when you haven't addressed the underlying issues or worked on strengthening your immune system. I also believe our diets should be considered a "layer" of chronic illness. I constantly see people in the Lyme groups I'm in say, "do I really need to change my diet?" The answer is YES. Your immune system will never recover and become strong enough to fight these infections if you do not give your body the fuel it needs. What that looks like varies from person to person, but usually includes more fresh fruits and vegetables and less sugar and processed junk. I think it's a huge mistake to downplay the importance of what you are putting in your body, especially when you're dealing with chronic illness. 

I myself have uncovered several layers thus far: Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, reactivated Epstein-Barr virus, adrenal fatigue, hypothyroidism, food sensitivities and mold exposure. But I keep listening to my body's signals and have an ongoing discussion with my Lyme doctor in case anything new pops up. I'm nowhere near healed, just taking it one day at a time, but every step I take, takes me one step closer to healing.