When I got back from my 3 weeks at Paracelsus al Ronc in Switzerland (more on that soon) it just so happened that many of the clients I saw in the first two weeks were working with me on Lyme Disease. Quite a few were coming in for their first follow up, after having started a comprehensive nutrition, supplement and lifestyle protocol with me before I left.
I am always happy when my clients do well, which means I am happy a lot! But Lyme is such a complicated, devastating illness, and so many people go through years of pain and frustration before getting well.
The good news is that they CAN and DO get well. I don’t mean just a little better, able to function. I mean fully, wholly, happily healthy. Why not? We are resilient beyond measure. We are designed to heal.
Here are just 3 examples from those clients.
“Jimmy” is a bright and adorable 6 year old. A year and a half ago, they pulled a tick off his groin area, and even though he had a bullseye rash (only about half of people do) the ER said it was a mosquito bite and refused to treat him. His knees were swollen, his legs hurt, he was very pale, with dark purple under his eyes, he couldn’t sleep through the night, and he was tired, forgetful and lethargic, not exactly the norm for a 6 year old boy. He started writing his numbers and letters backwards, although he had good days and bad. He also had a chronic deep cough.
Two months later, he is a different child. His knees don’t hurt, his memory is better, the cough is just about gone. His mood is better and he sleeps through the night. He was chatty, playful, and gregarious, the way he’s meant to be. Onward!
“Bella” is a woman in her 60s who’s been dealing with Lyme since 1989, but had a bad resurgence of symptoms last summer, despite years on antibiotics. Her symptoms never completely went away. She had terrible anxiety, brain fog, night sweats, fatigue, reflux, urinary issues and more, and never felt rested. She had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia as well as Borellia and Babesia.
She came back 6 weeks later and triumphantly shouted “I am BETTER! My head is clearer than it’s been in years. I feel less Lyme in my nervous system. I can stand to be in a room with other people, or a a busy store, without being overwhelmed. If we stopped here, I’d be happy for the rest of my life.” Of course we aren’t stopping there, because not everything is better yet. Oh, and she lost 8 pounds.
“Carol” was diagnosed with Lyme one year ago, and did rounds of Doxycycline, both orally and IV. She was doing okay until a month before she came in, when she was overwhelmed with aches, pains, head and neck aches and what she called “swishing” in her head. She had serious brain fog and vertigo, enough that it sometimes incapacitated her.
5 weeks later, she announced “The swishing is gone. That’s a lovely thing!” She has no headaches, and she is less tired. She dropped 10 pounds, a “pleasant surprise” since she wasn’t even feeling hungry with her new food plan.
I could go on. There were so many happy clients…
And I know some of you are hoping I’ll tell you exactly what they did to improve, and I wish I could, but it’s not like that. My clients are so successful because everything I do is customized for each of them.
For Lyme, I work with a collection of about 80 possible supplements to come up with exactly the best, right combination for each person, each time. (Those are just the Lyme-specific supplements. I have hundreds more.) I like to re-evaluate every 4-6 weeks, as things change. I check food sensitivities, which can also change as we heal the gut and address inflammation. I check heavy metals and other toxins. If you’re in my office and know your blood type, I can use the Oligoscan, a medical device that gives accurate, instant readings, through the skin, of heavy metals, minerals, mineral balance ratios, and much more.
Sometimes it’s right to go after the “bugs”. Other times it’s better to build the immune system, or work on drainage and detox via the kidneys, liver, skin, etc. As I said in my interview with Stacy Shuman of Well-Scent a few years back, it’s a dance.
But the bottom line? Healing is possible. We are resilient beyond measure. All you need is the right guidance, information and support. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, and don’t settle for anything less.
Fran Sussman Holistic Services 