Using Essential Oils for Lyme Disease

Essential Oils are diluted natural oils from specific medicinal plants. They have been used for 6,000 years, beginning with the ancient Egyptians (Young, 2006). Jars of Clove and Frankincense were found during the excavation of a Pharaoh's tomb and after thousands of years, these oils still had all of their constituents and were perfectly intact (Young, 2006).

Each Essential Oil is extremely concentrated, with 40 million trillion molecules in each drop. There are 100 trillion cells in the human body, so each cell becomes covered by 40,000 molecules (Stewart, 2006). In many cases, it only takes one of these molecules to support the cell in whatever way the specific Essential Oil is meant to (Stewart, 2006). Each Essential Oil has anywhere from 200 to 800 chemical constituents in it which the plant produced from sunlight, air, and soil nutrients (Young, 2006). The three building blocks of Essential
Oils are oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, which are the same elements which the body is made from (Young, 2006). It is because of this that Essential Oils work so well with supporting the human body's healthy functioning (Young, 2006). The Essential Oils of plants are basically the chemicals which they produce to support their own health, killing infection and keeping systems working properly, and these natural chemical substances have similar benefits for humans and pets (Young, 2006).

Many physicians around the world use these benefits of oils to treat patients for a variety of health problems (Young, 2006). France especially uses Essential Oils and is the world leader in their extraction and guidelines for their use (Young, 2006). It is no wonder that while the World Health Organization (WHO) rates France's health system as number 1 in the world, the United States rates as number 37 (WHO, 2000).

Only material with low Atomic Molecular Units (AMU) can pass through the tissue of the body and brain (Stewart, 2006). The blood brain barrier is the most efficient barrier in the body, only letting molecules less than 800-1000 AMUs in and out of it (Stewart, 2006). All Essential Oils are less than 500 AMUs so they can pass through any tissue in the body without entirely relying on the circulatory, nervous, or lymphatic system to get into the body (Stewart, 2006).


Essential Oils are high in Phenylpropanoids, Monoterpenes, and Sesquiterpenes among other other things (Stewart, 2006). Phenylpropanoids are effective in fighting bacteria, viruses and fungi, and cleaning the receptor sites of cells so that they can work properly (Stewart, 2006). Monoterpenes have been found to reprogram miss-written DNA which results in disease such as cancer (Stewart, 2006). Sesquiterpenes deliver oxygen molecules to the body and also reprograms miss-written DNA (Stewart, 2006).

Because of the power of the constituents in Essential Oils, they have proved to the best help for my Lyme Disease. If you look at the main causes of Lyme Disease, it is bacterial infection and lowered immune system. The most of the symptoms are caused by the body's inflammatory response to the infection. Because of this, I have specific oils which I have used for Lyme Disease in general, and then specific ones for my own symptoms. I use:

• Oils which have high antibacterial constituents, such as Clove oil to fight the infection
• Oils which increase the immune system including Grapefruit
• Oils which reduce inflammation such as Cobaiba
• Oils which support the heart including Frankincense and Fennel
• Oils which balance the neurotransmitters (which are made in the gut, but stored in the brain) including the stomach supporting oils Digest blend, Dill, Fennel, Peppermint, and Coriander, and brain supporting oils including the Brain Gem blend, Helichrysum, Frankincense, Peppermint, Orange, Lemon, and Grapefruit. 
• Oils which support the emotions and fight depression, Frankincense, Orange, Grapefruit, and Fennel. Rose is excellent for this as well, but I have not yet used it.

These Essential Oils have supported my body so well, that despite my having Lyme Disease for 14 years, I have regained more of my health than I ever thought possible. Recently, my frequent heart palpitations and episodes of tachycardia have stopped after using Frankincense and Fennel for two months. Two months and these symptoms which have plagued me for years have stopped! This has literally been an answer to prayer for me.

I have used several company's Essential Oils, but with some of them I had no notable health benefits, and with others, they only gave me headaches. I have since learned that some companies distill their oils using pressure or too much heat, which destroys much of the constituents such as the monoterpenes discussed above, leaving only fragrance. Other companies cut the Essential Oils with cheaper oils which have no medicinal benefits. It is only Be Young Essential Oils which I recommend using. Be Young is one of the only Essential Oil companies which adheres to France's EOBBD (Essential Oils Botanically and Biochemically Defined) standard for Essential Oils.

The EOBBD is the best standard because it ensures that:

• All plants which are distilled for their oils are:
• Grown in nontoxic, chemical free soil
• Are the specific variety of any given oil producing plant which has the most healing constituents
• Harvested at the peak of their medicinal potential
• Distilled in a way which keeps all of the plant's healing constituents intact
• Distilled long enough to extract all of the healing constituents
• All Essential Oils are:
• Packaged in proper light reducing bottles
• Never cut with other oils to reduce costs
• Never mixed with waxes or chemicals to change chemical testing results

Be Young Essential Oils are the best in my opinion, and if you are interested in learning more about them, I suggest the Facebook page Kingman Be Young Essential Oils and Dianne's Be Young Essential Oil Blog. If you would like to try some essential oils to support your own health, I reccomend www.myyoungoils.us.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at beck.help@gmail.com.

Kelly

Stewart, David Ph. D, R.A. Blood Brain Barrier. Raindrop Messenger. Vol. 1, No. 1, Jan. 2006.

World Health Organization. World Health Organization Assesses the World's Health System. WHO Press Release. 21 June 2000.

Young, Dana Ph. D. Your Body Speaks Volumes... Are You Listening? Health News. Health News International Inc. Vo. 14. No. 7. 2006.

Lyme Disease Treatment Options

In modern medicine, there are two main schools of thought concerning the treatment of Lyme disease. The first began in 1996 when the CDC implemented a two step testing process, starting with an ELISA or IFA screening and proceeding to a Western Blot test (Harris, 2008). It was suggested that a two week treatment of antibiotics would cure patients of Lyme , and that if symptoms persist, the dose is usually upped to one month. However, there has never been a study demonstrating that even a month of antibiotics can cure chronic Lyme Disease (ILADS, 2009).

The second school of thought is that longer treatments of antibiotics are needed to cure Lyme disease, especially chronic cases (ILADS, 2009). The International Lyme and Associated Disease Society holds to this treatment, and while I believe that ILADS is doing great work and is key to people's education about Lyme disease, prolonged antibiotic treatment is where my agreement with them ends.

Prolonged antibiotic treatments can be extremely dangerous to the body. Dr. Lawrence Wilson divided the adverse effects of antibiotics into nine categories:

1. Antibiotics contribute to cancer as shown by a 2008 study of 3,000,000 people. Those who took took multiple antibiotics over eight years showed up to a 37% increase in cancer to those who took no antibiotics. Another study showed that the incidents of breast cancer doubled in women who had taken 25 prescription of antibiotics or had been on antibiotics for over 500 days in a 17 year period.
2. Allergic reactions can occur due to sensitivity to the drug or the chemical colors and other additives. While this is rare, people have died from antibiotic allergies.
3. There are over 300 kinds of bacteria in the human intestines which support healthy digestion and provide vitamins to the body. Wide-spectrum antibiotics derange the normal ecology of the intestine.  This can cause parasitic infection, vitamin deficiencies, loss of minerals through diarrhea, inflammation of the gut, malabsorption syndromes and development of food allergies due to defects in intestinal function. 
4. Antibiotics kill those bacteria which are susceptible to them, but lead stronger bacteria to mutate into resistant strains such as MRSA. 
5. Antibiotics impair the immune system. People treated with antibiotics later develop more infections due to a retarded immune system.
6. Overgrowth of Candida Albicans, a natural yeast in the body, can occur when beneficial bacteria is killed by antibiotics. Overgrowth of Candida Albicans can lead to yeast infections, diarrhea, more serious intestinal infections from other organisms, and death.
7. One of the major risk factors of Chronic Fatigue is repeated antibiotic use.
8. Nutrient loss and deficiency are caused by the beneficial bacteria loss in the gut and diarrhea which is common with antibiotic use. 
9. Antibiotics treat effects, not causes. Healthy people are not susceptible to infection and disease. It is only when imbalance strikes the body that infection finds a home. Treatment with antibiotics do not search for or treat the imbalance leading to the infection (Wilson, 2009).

It is because of these dangers of antibiotics that I have refused to take any for several years now. I have found that when the body is supported, it is capable to destroying only the harmful bacteria while keeping the balance of everything else. I turned to Alternative Medicine and will never turn away. 

There are many types of Alternative medicine including Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Homeopathy, Hoshindo, Yoga and Reflexology. The most powerful help for Lyme disease that I have found is Aromatherapy's use of Essential Oils. 

Essential Oils are basically the concentrated essence of particular medicinal plants. The oil of plants are up to 70 times more potent than the herbs which come from those same plants. Dry herbs can loose 90% of their medicinal properties while Essential Oils, when distilled properly, keep all of their constituents and properties. 

Because of a lack of standards for Essential Oil production, improper distillation often occurs, damaging the constituents which make them helpful to the human body. The best standard is the EOBBD (Essential Oils Biotanically and Biochemically Defined) from France. Be Young Essential Oils is the best company I have found and strictly adheres to the EOBBD standard.

I've been using Essential Oils for years now, and Be Young Essential Oils since 2009. Be Young is by far the best I've ever come across and is now the only EO company I'll use. The medicinal benefits of Essential Oils have given me the best turn in my health that I have ever known. 

Read the next article to learn more about what Essential Oils are, how they work, what they the body do, and how to use them to support your own body's fight against Lyme Disease.

References:

Harris, Steven Dr, Williams, Lynda Dr. Lyme Disease 101 Interview with Dr. Steven Harris and Dr. Lynda Williams.Radio interview KVMR 89.5 FM. 2008.

ILADS. Basic Information About Lyme Disease. International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. www.ilads.org. 2009.

Wilson, Lawrence MD. Beyond Antibiotics.The Center for Development. www.drwilson.com Dec. 2009.

How to Be Properly Diagnosed

After going through eleven years of doctors not knowing why I was sick, I've picked up some tips for doctor visits and have researched Lyme disease diagnosis in particular.

My number one tip, which borders on a pet peeve, is that your health is your responsibility. Doctors can be a wonderful help for you, but your body needs you to pay attention to it. It was only when I decided to listen to my body and help it that I started walking on the road to recovery which has lead me here. My number one tip:

• Your health is your responsibility.

If you are not feeling well, I highly recommend keeping a sick journal. Every time your body tells you something, write it down. You are the only one who can feel what you are feeling, so document everything. This is helpful for three reasons:

• You might forget something important.
• After a long wait to get in to your appointment you will be stressed and will have limited time to see the doctor. Being organized helps with both of these.
• You will notice patterns in your health which are key for Lyme disease diagnosis.

Knowledge is power. I truly believe that more people need to know how the body works. 99 percent of what I've learned about health and my own body was not taught to me in school or college. I learned it from being curious and wearing a hole in my library card. If you want to feel better, start by knowing your own body. In my own health, I've found that understanding the following has been truly priceless:

• The ten body systems and what each does
• How the immune system works
• How the nervous system works
• How the circulatory system works
• How the brain works
• What hormones and neurotransmitters are
• The effects of stress on the body
• Nutrition's effect on the body. The Weston A. Price Foundation has the best information on nutrition.

Knowing these things gives you a basic understanding of one of the only things you can't replace: your body. It isn't hard to learn these things. Just make sure that your sources are legitimate, such as textbooks or articles from medical journals, and that they are up to date. Go ask a librarian for help if you don't know where to start. I used to be a librarian and we love research.

If you think you may have Lyme disease, and you are looking for a diagnosis one way or the other, here are some tips for finding a good doctor that I've picked up:

• Talk to your friends and co-workers who have been really sick to see if they know a good doctor. Sick people know what and who have helped them.
• If a doctor doesn't listen to you or doesn't respect you, RUN! They can't help you because they will never know what's wrong with you.
• If a doctor can't explain what he or she is doing or why, RUN! For whatever reason, they won't give you the info you need to make educated decisions about your own health.
• If a doctor looks at the clock more than they look at you, RUN! They are not concentrating on you, and you don't need half thought through advice.
• If a doctor thinks that he or she knows it all, RUN! They stopped being students and are not prepared for the unexpected, so they will be blind to many options.
• The best doctor, in my experience, is one who wants to have a conversation with you about your health, is willing to let you challenge their ideas, will research what they don't know, will respect the fact that you've done your own research, and who understands that they are just human, taking care of themselves as well as others.

Once you have your information and have a doctor you can trust, don't forget the following in the doctor's office:

• You are not an idiot. You are there for a reason and deserve to be listened to and taken seriously.
• If you feel a little better in the office, that is because of adrenaline. You were not miraculously healed by the doctor's aura, you were nervous and got some emergency power from your adrenal glands.
• Have your sick journal with you and ready.
• Talk to the doctor about what your body has been telling you, and always trust and fight for your own intuition.
• If you aren't satisfied with what the doctor is telling you, challenge them to think outside the box and dig a little deeper.
• The doctor's education does not nullify your own experience and research. 

If a doctor doesn't know anything about Lyme disease, tell them what you know and want. For example, I told my doctor the following:

• I had had most of the common Lyme disease symptoms chronically for at least five years, some for ten years.
• ELISA screening is very inaccurate.
• A rash is not always present after infection (I couldn't remember having one at that time).
• I wanted them to look into clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease rather than testing.

If you feel hopeless after a doctor's visit, don't give up. Try someone else or try something alternative. You don't need a diagnosis to feel better. There is hope out there with Alternative Medicine which supports the body's ability to heal itself without a diagnosis. I found that hope and will pass it on in later articles. However, I really like having a diagnosis because I understand why I suffered for so many years. If you are like me and want to know for sure, I hope these tips help you.

Kelly

Why Lyme Disease is Misdiagnosed

There are three main reasons will Lyme disease is so often misdiagnosed:
Confusing Symptoms
Ineffective Testing
Ignorance

Confusing Symptoms
Suppose for a moment that you are a doctor. A patient comes to you with complaints of ten symptoms. Eight of these fit perfectly with a common ailment, so you prescribe some medicine for them, thinking they will get better. However, they come back telling you that they haven't gotten better and now they have fifteen symptoms. You run a few test and find something out of the norm, so you prescribe something to them again, hoping you got it right this time. The patient keeps coming back and is getting irritated. Everything you try fails even though everything you learned tells you that the treatments you give should work. It is at this time that you have the choice of not believing the patient or digging in deeper and looking for answers where you may not have looked before.

Because Lyme disease imitates so many other illnesses, its no wonder that unless a doctor is familiar with Lyme, that is not the first thing they think of. This is frustrating for the patient because they can start to loose faith in the doctor, and frustrating for the doctor because everything they were sure of doesn't work.

If a doctor is willing to dig deeper into the problem, there is a good chance they will look into Lyme disease since Lyme awareness is growing. However, if a doctor chooses to take the easy path of not believing their patient, the results can be worse than neglect.

Ineffective Testing
In 1996, the CDC developed a two tear system for diagnosing Lyme using the results of a screening test, ELISA, to determine if the second test should be administered (Harris, 2008). The problem with this is that in early Lyme disease cases, ELISA is only about 70 percent sensitive, and in late Lyme disease, it drops to only 30 or 40 percent sensitive (Harris, 2008). So, if the diagnosis of Lyme stops after a negative ELISA test, many people who have Lyme disease will be missed.

The Western Blot test is more thorough, and DNA testing can be helpful when done properly, but there is no foolproof test for Lyme disease as of yet (Harris, 2008).

One problem with the DNA test is that some doctors take a blood sample to test (Harris, 2008). This may not be accurate because the shape of Borrelia burgdorferi is spiral so it moves through the tissue easier than through blood, and it avoids the blood stream because of the oxygen in it (Harris, 2008). So, by its very nature, Lyme disease is not easily found in the blood. A better location to take a DNA sample is in the bladder or using urine according to Dr. Harris.

There are 5 different subspecies of Borrelia burgdorferi, 100 different strains in the USA, and 300 different strains in the world (ILADS, 2009). Most doctors that I spoke to did not know this. If a test is created based on one strain of one subspecies, then what will guarantee that it will be effective finding another strain of another subspecies? There is no absolute testing method for Lyme disease. The best way to be diagnosed is based on clinical observation and discussion (Harris, 2008).

Ignorance
Just since the time that I was diagnosed, awareness of Lyme Disease has at least tripled. When I started researching Lyme disease four years ago, there was very little our there, and the doctors I spoke to only had a vague story book idea of what it was. Through the years I've seen better research come out, better organizations show up, and more and more people on the street who know what Lyme disease is.

As encouraging as this is there is still a lot of ignorance. Not one of my doctors ever thought of Lyme disease. It was my sister and my research that gave us the idea that it might be Lyme, and we were blessed enough to have a doctor who listened to us, did her own research, and diagnosed us. Most people just don't know about Lyme disease, and even some who do still have very old ideas about diagnosing and treating it. Though I was finally diagnosed, I was treated ineffectively and faced relapses until I did my homework and turned to Alternative Medicine.

I challenge anyone who has, or knows someone who has Lyme disease to do their homework and see exactly how screenings work, and what treatments do to the body.

Disclaimer: This information is purely for educational purposes.

References:

Harris, Steven Dr, Williams, Lynda Dr. Lyme Disease 101 Interview with Dr. Steven Harris and Dr. Lynda Williams.Radio interview KVMR 89.5 FM. 2008.

ILADS. Basic Information About Lyme Disease. International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. www.ilads.org. 2009.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease

I've heard Lyme disease referred to as the Great Imitator, and the Disease of a Thousand Faces. My personal pet name for it is Death by a Thousand Cuts. Anyone who has had Lyme disease knows how accurate these name are.

Lyme disease induces such a large immune reaction in the body that difficulties arise all throughout the body, even if the bacteria is not present in a particular area, trouble can occur there (Harris, 2008). I've always understood this as the body kind of having a civil war. Damage can be done in every body system, and because of this, Lyme disease is commonly misdiagnosed.

According to Dr. Steven Harris, symptoms are very unique to the patient, however, there are a few symptoms which most Lyme patients complain of:
migrating pain 
migrating arthritis
inflammation
muscle pain
muscle twitching
headaches
major "earth pulling me down" fatigue
and major sleep disturbances

Although the rash associated with Lyme disease is well known, 50% of patients proven to have Lyme disease don't remember a rash (ILADS, 2009). While a rash is a common symptom, the lack of a rash does not rule Lyme disease out.

Lyme disease has been misdiagnosed as MS, ALS, Fibromialga, Parkinson's, Chron's Disease, Arthritis, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and more (Harris, 2008).

Because the bacteria can pass the blood brain barrier, many patients also develop ADD, Mood Disorders, Bipolar, and Psychosis (Williams, 2008). These symptoms can sometimes occur before physical symptoms do (Williams, 2008). When a patient is being treated for Lyme, the psychological symptom can worsen, and when that happens, patients can become depressed, detached, and walk away from treatment (Williams, 2008).

Personally, Lyme disease caused arthritis, syncope and other heart problems, weight fluctuations, insomnia, persistent and vivid nightmares, major stomach pain, horrible fatigue, memory loss to the point that I didn't know my name when I woke in the mornings, trouble concentrating, chronic nasal infections, chronic bronchitis, low blood pressure, and some bipolar tendencies.

I have found that many doctors won't even consider that a person has Lyme disease if they don't remember a rash, or if they come up with a negative ELISA test. The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) stresses that a rash is not as important for diagnosis as most doctors think, and that the ELISA is too inaccurate to solely rely upon.

The importance of clinical diagnosis is why I was misdiagnosed for so many years. Many doctors didn't seem to want to believe that a little girl was as sick as she claimed. I encourage anyone who is sick to listen to and believe what their body is telling them. Learn from my mistake. Don't stop trusting yourself or searching for answers.

Disclaimer: This information is meant for educational purposes only.

References:

Harris, Steven Dr, Williams, Lynda Dr. Lyme Disease 101 Interview with Dr. Steven Harris and Dr. Lynda Williams.Radio interview KVMR 89.5 FM. 2008.

ILADS. Basic Information About Lyme Disease. International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. www.ilads.org. 2009.

Lyme Disease Facts

Lyme Disease is known scientifically as Lyme borreliosis and is an inflammatory disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Hercogova, 2001) and other bacteria which are carried by ticks (Harris, 2008).

Lyme disease manifests itself as a multi symptom disorder in the skin, and other organs including the joints, nerves, heart, eyes, etc. (Hercogova, 2001).

Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in Europe and the USA (Hercogova, 2001). There are 5 subspecies of Borrelia burgdorferi, and in the US there are over 100 different strains, with over 300 strains worldwide (ILADS, 2009). Because of all of these different strains, creating one common antigen against Lyme Disease impractical (Hercogva, 2001). The different strains can also lead to different clinical manifestations of Lyme (Hercogva, 2001).

Borrelia burgdorferi is shaped like a corkscrew, so it moves easier through tissue than it does blood (Harris, 2008). This means that it can get into every organ and even into the cells, eventually passing the blood brain barrier, which is a protective screen of cells which only let selective material in and out of the brain (Harris, 2008). 

Less than 50% of people with Lyme disease remember being bitten by a tick, or develop a rash (ILADS, 2009).

The ELISA screening has been proven ineffective, missing 35% of proven Lyme disease cases (ILADS, 2009).

The best way to diagnose Lyme disease is clinically, using patient history and symptoms as a guide, and only relying on tests as a back up and confirmation (Harris, 2008).

Disclaimer: All information given is purely for education purposes.

References:

Harris, Steven Dr, Williams, Lynda Dr. Lyme Disease 101 Interview with Dr. Steven Harris and Dr. Lynda Williams.Radio interview KVMR 89.5 FM. 2008.

Hercogova, Jana MD, PhD. Lyme borreliosis. International Journal of Dermatology 2001, 40, 547-550. Blackwell Science Ltd. 2001.

ILADS. Basic Information About Lyme Disease. International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. www.ilads.org. 2009.

Why I Choose Alternative Medicine

In my life, I have worked with and for many doctors and am good friends with several of them. Through this I learned that doctors are just people. They have bad days when they don't really want to be at work, and they get so tired that they can't think straight. Why then does our culture put so much weight on their shoulders and so much stock in their opinions? I have heard people speak of doctors as though they were gods with absolute control over people's lives. I used to think that if a doctor says it, it must be true. I thought this until the day I wrote the following in my diary:

"Lord... its really starting to get to me. I am angry... I'm not mad at you or any of the doctors I've seen. I'm mad, furious, at myself. I am the one who knows what I am feeling. I've known that something wasn't right for years but brushed it off as paranoia. If I don't trust my senses and believe my intuition then who will? I have to stop being such a coward when it comes to what I believe. I'm very angry."

As much as I respect people who go into the medical field trying to help others, I've been told by many doctors that I didn't know what my own body was going through. It took me loosing all of my health to figure out that I knew my body better than any doctor did.

It was with this realization that I did research on my own and discovered how modern medicine doesn't have as many answers as I thought it did. Modern medicine is sick care, not health care in my and many other's opinions. It treats symptoms and can very seldom cure anything.

However, with the use of foods, chiropractic, and my favorite, Essential Oils, I was able to give my body the tools it needed to rebuild itself. The body is completely capable of healing itself, and every cell is replaced within nine months. So, I began giving my body the tools it needs to rebuild healthy cells in nine month intervals. I found that my body did more to heal me than any doctor ever did. All I had to do is supply it with what it was asking for. My body tells me everything that it needs through pain, fatigue, sleep troubles, and so many other signs. Instead of blocking those messages with drugs, I listen to them. Once I started listening, all I needed to do was learn what to do with what I'm told.

I found the answers I was looking for with the Weston A. Price diet, Essential Oils, and more. If you are to the point where you listen to your body, and you want to find out what you can do to support it, I'll be sharing what I learned, so follow this blog and learn how Alternative Medicine can help you give your body what it needs to fight Lyme disease and more.

Kelly

My Lyme Disease Journey

Imagine a little girl with so much energy and joy in her that she can't even stay still when she sleeps. Her days are spent outside chasing insects and running wild on her family's acreage. She only resigns herself to sit down for school or to draw.... and even then, her legs are wiggling so wildly that she often got bruises on them from banging the chair legs.

Now, imagine this girl a few years later laying in bed with no color to her cheeks and no spark in her eyes. She has been struggling for the past two minutes to gather enough strength to stand up to get some water. She finally slides her  legs off of her bed, sits up, and holds tightly to the sheet with her hands and closes her eyes because a strange cold feeling just swept through her legs and her heart skipped a few beats. She clenches her leg muscles because she was told to do that when her blood pressure got too low. She stands up and slowly walks out to the hall, where she gets dizzy. The corners of her vision become black and creep together until she is blind. In the few seconds it takes to fall to the ground, she opens her eyes wider to try and see, but nothing is there before her. Then, thoughts become fuzzy and she isn't conscious when she lands on the carpet. Her eyes open a few minutes later and her mind is a blank slate. She doesn't even know her own name. As she thinks about it, still laying on the floor, she begins to remember that it starts with a K. She thinks, "Maybe if I try to remember someone talking to me I'll know....." But she can't seem to remember people other than vague images, no words they say are there in her mind yet. At last, after she has sat up for a few minutes, not knowing what to do with herself, she remembers that her name is Kelly.

That is my name, and this is my story. I grew up on my family's land at the foot of a mountain. I loved the life I had there, and oddly enough, I wouldn't change one moment of the story you are about to read. Little Kelly was full of life, strength, and health: perhaps too full of it. My favorite things to say were, "I know," and "I'm fine." I've learned that its OK to not be OK, and that I didn't know a thing about my limits.

I was eight when I had my first tick bite, but many more would follow as we lived on that land. The deer from the mountain would climb down and visit us when there was a drought, which is common in the desert. Our dogs would get ticks, and of course, I was always hugging and petting and playing with the dogs, so ticks became an irritating part of life which I was willing to put up with to play with my four legged friends. My mom took me to the doctor because she was afraid I could catch something from the tick. I don't remember everything that the doctor said, but I remember that it was a very short visit and afterwards my mom was angry because the doctor didn't really say anything or give her any information.

About six months later I developed a rash all over my body, from head to toe. My mom took me to the doctor again and I was pronounced to have an allergy to polyester since my shirt was about 60% polyester. However, this doctor didn't run any tests, and didn't even consider my mom's concern that it could be related to my occasional tick bites. He dismissed the whole idea as an over protective mother grasping at straws. However, he was a doctor, so we thought that diseases from ticks must be uncommon like he said, and I just stopped wearing polyester until years later I did it just to prove him wrong. I have tested his theory many times, and I never have a reaction to polyester. This rash was the tell tale Lyme Disease rash which some people develop after being infected.


As a little girl I was far ahead in school and was learning musical instruments, foreign languages, and history very quickly. I couldn't learn enough! However, after that rash, it was like my mind couldn't concentrate, remember, or grasp the things it used to. I still did well in school, but I couldn't do what I had done before... just instinctively and quickly understand things. I gave up learning Spanish. I developed arthritis which made me have to give up learning my instruments. I would practice the flute and end up in tears because my fingers hurt so badly. I couldn't hold the violin because my neck and back ached. I gave up my music. I quit high school all together for awhile because I was too sick to do any of it.

I was so sick that I lost everything important to me except for two things: my faith and my family. One night, my sister and I were both having insomnia, a common Lyme disease symptom. Both of us were sick, and tired of being so. We prayed together, and not five minutes later we remembered when we started getting sick all the time, about the drought that year, and about our tick bites. We remembered hearing that Lyme disease came from ticks, so we got on the computer and researched it. We found a Canadian site with a questionnaire. It had about 70 symptoms and it said, "If you have more than twenty of these symptoms chronically, you may have Lyme disease and should visit a doctor." Both of us had more than 50 of the symptoms chronically. With a new hope, we told our Dr. about our suspicions. She didn't quite believe us, but didn't see the harm in treating us with antibiotics. In two weeks, my arthritis was gone and I could play my flute again.

Healing has taken many years, but every month is better than the last. To treat the damage done to my heart I turned to alternative medicine. I could barely walk a dozen yards without having tachycardia after treatment, so I learned flow yoga to give my heart exercise. It was slow enough to not push me too much, but got me into shape enough to walk. Then, I discovered the power of nutrition and started eating a heart healthy diet. I was getting better, but then my health started to slip away again. I found out that one treatment of antibiotics is not enough to cure someone from Lyme disease, because the bacteria will hide dormant in tissue and come out after the antibiotics are gone. Even worse than this, the antibiotics can turn the bacteria into an L-form bacteria, which is far more dangerous. At last, I discovered essential oils. This has, by far, given me the most significant turn in my health. Frankincense gives my heart what it needs to beat properly, and several other oils like Peppermint, Lemon, Clove Bud, and Oregano oil help my body expel the remainders of Lyme disease from my tissue. I also use Olive Leaf Extract which is a powerful, natural, immune booster.

This has been my journey with Lyme disease. I have been broken and blessed with a new life and new appreciation for the power of what is naturally here for us to use. The body has the ability to heal itself. All I had to do was give it the tools it needed to do the work.

The following articles will take you step by step through what Lyme Disease is, what it does, how to be properly diagnosed, the treatments available to you, and how to change your lifestyle to keep the disease out of your life for good. All information is taken from peer reviewed medical journals, health magazines, or interviews with doctors, and will be cited and referenced. 

I hope you find the information you need.

Kelly

The Purpose of Lyme Disease Support

I am starting this blog because my mother, my sister, and I all have Lyme disease. Even though we have been treated, I still say have instead of had because Lyme disease likes to hide out in tissue and come back again like a zombie on some horror movie who just won’t die. I am not a doctor, and I hold no credentials to convince anyone to listen to me, but I do have first-hand knowledge of living with and managing Lyme disease for fourteen years and I have dedicated many of those years to researching the disease and possible treatments. 

I am happy to say that except for the occasional difficulty with my heart, I am more like the little girl I was before catching Lyme than I ever thought possible. This is in large due to my research and application of Alternative Medicine and especially Essential Oils. I want to pass on the hope I was given to anyone who has or believes they have Lyme disease.

In this blog, you will find articles about: 

• My Lyme Disease Journey  
• Why I Choose Alternative Medicine
• Lyme Disease Facts
• The Symptoms of Lyme Disease
• Why Lyme Disease is Misdiagnosed  
• How to be Properly Diagnosed  
• Lyme Disease Treatment Options 
• The Best Relief I've Found For Lyme Disease, Be Young Essential Oils
• Why Modern Medicine Fails to Cure Lyme Disease
• Why Alternative Medicine Works for Lyme Disease
• Hoshindo, a Way to Enhance Oil Treatments for Lyme Disease
• Oxygen Therapy  
• The Healing Power of Yoga for Lyme Disease  
• The Secret Weapon Against Lyme Disease, Food  
• Lyme Disease in Dogs and Other Animals
• Help for More Than Lyme Disease  
• The Emotional Scars of Long Suffering  
• Know Your Enemy - The Tick 
• Know Yourself - How to Prevent Being Exposed to Lyme Disease
• And More

Having Lyme Disease causes great suffering, but if you have it or suspect that you do, know that you don't have to suffer forever. There are treatments which are affordable, people who care, and hope of a future free from pain and fatigue. Lyme Disease Support will give you the resources to take your healing into your own hands and find people who can give you the tools you need to do so.