....can you provide some details on your diet and exercise while you under went treatment?
I am curious if there is something I am doing wrong. It is going on two years of treatment with really no improvement.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I went to the gym regularly. Some days my husband had to take me there and I did very little. I'd lift weights and lie on the bench between sets. Sometimes I was so bad I'd just go for a walk. But, I did move regularly. I think it's critical.
Diet = healthy, whole food and no sugar. Hardly any processed food.
Posted by richedie (Member # 14689) on :
Six, can you give more details on diet?
Posted by c3mom (Member # 16412) on :
The major one thing that helped me was the Cold Laser. Do a search here, some people have had great success with it. Also,have you supported your adrenals, detoxed and I assume you eat healthy.
Have you seen anybody else besides an LLMD for your diet and nutrition?
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
When I was sick I couldn't eat much because of my GI issues. I made a lot of smoothies with whey protein and frozen fruit. I couldn't eat veggies unless they were over-cooked, but I ate good food made from scratch. I ate a lot of eggs with gluten-free waffles back then because it was one of the only solid foods my stomach would tolerate.
My diet now is more complete. I usually eat kefir with Super Seed (Garden of Life) and whey protein for breakfast. I always have a latte, my treat for the day.
I make soups from scratch. Healthy meals that include organic meats, eggs, fresh or frozen veggies, organic pastas, good bread, etc.
I tend to eat several small meals or snacks all day long. I think this helps the adrenals, I just do it because that's how I like to eat.
Snacks in my house are often things like a good corn tortilla chip from Whole Foods, salsa, guacamole. Or some healthy crackers with herbs and grains with hummus. We also go through a lot of spinach dip and artichoke spinach dip that Whole Foods makes fresh.
After eating like this for so many years, I don't even like processed foods or sweets anymore.
Posted by richedie (Member # 14689) on :
Well, thanks! I apprciate your time. I found I have a slight sensitivity to gluten, corn, soy and peanuts. UGH! Some of those I love! I am not a big meat eater so now I have less to eat. I miss my oatmeal.
My doc says avoiding these might help my immune system. I have doubts.
Tonight I was so upset....I ate half a gallon of icecream and a huge slice of cheese pie at easter dinner.
Posted by thomasx (Member # 13431) on :
I haven't changed my diet at all, really. Perhaps a little less sugar. I have started more exercise recently and that I think has had a positive effect.
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
Well, with a slight sensitivity, a slice on a holiday probably won't set you back .... though a half gallon is a LOT!!! Avoiding allergens seemed to help me. As I healed, I noticed the sensitivity went away.
There are gluten free oatmeals .... I used to use McCain's when I was gluten free for two years.
Posted by Sick Tick (Member # 23003) on :
I second what six said re exercise and healthy diet. Lots of water and added just a little lemon to it. Good natural supplements, and that has been about it for me....last antibiotic (for Lyme, anyway) was August, and steady improvement ever since....my only leftover symptoms are the head humming, fullness, ringing occasionally, and rare numbness one side of my face...and these are only in the AM and PM, and are mild most days. These may be related to inflammation or some nerve damage.
Posted by Alana (Member # 14077) on :
Rich, have you read about the Schardt protocol?
Diflucan is taken daily for a period of time (I've heard anywhere between 30 - 60 days) and then a penicillin is taken for a month. You keep alternating until symptoms resolve.
You could still be symptomatic because of candida brought about by months/years of abx treatment.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
You'll never know if you're well or not if you have candida. The symptoms of Lyme and candida overlap a lot.
So maybe you're mostly well, and now your body is fighting candida only?? It's possible!
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
I am better, knock on wood. I gave up sugar when I was diagnosed and started abx two years ago. Over a year ago I also gave up red meat. I stay away from processed food, never drink, seldom had any kind of carbonated drink. I eat whole grains, fruit,nuts, seeds, vegtables, organic milk, cheese, yogurt, unsweetened juice and fish and chicken. I use honey to sweeten things.
I ride horses almost every day. It is very good for the nervous system and I love it. Before I was sick I rode two to three horses a day. When I was sickest I did not ride for weeks at a time - up to a month when I started treatment. Then I was so tired I could just sit on one of them. I still huff and puff when I ride but i am enjoying myself again. Some days I can ride two horses. The bartonella gave me anxiety and I gave up riding my biggest most erratic horse, without realizing why I felt so threatened by him. He was retired for a year - then I recently decided to try to ride him again. I still feel apprehensive so I am not 100%. I used to take a dance class which was a great way to work out without feeling like it was work.
Posted by richedie (Member # 14689) on :
nefferdun....I eat a lot like you!
My doctor looks at my tongue and says I don't have candida issues. Go figure. However, it is not a true test. I might follow the Body Ecology diet for a few weeks. Apparently people who have candida issues and follow that diet get reliefe within days.
I know some always saying they just ate meat and veggies. I am not a big meat eater though. Then all the nutritionists I see tell me the opposite. Now, with Lyme out of the picture....I am well versed in nutrition and would be fine. Lyme and taking abx throws a monkey wrench into it all for me
Every study I have read up on shows that vegetarians have much higher levels of the good bacteria and far less of candida. I am not a vegetarian but I eat little meat.
I know I can get gluten free oats as I have some here.....now. However, hte oats showed some issues as well. What next?
The symptoms of Lyme and candida overlap a lot? So what am I to do then??? Does that mean if Candida takes over and Lyme is gone...you will have the exact same symoptoms as with Lyme? For example, my left arm is in horrible pain and has been from the beginning. Does that mean the Lyme could be gone but Candida is now causing the same arm pain?
Schardt protocol? I saw a doc when this started who had me on Diflucon for two months and I saw no change. He didn't mention penicillan though. How does that protocol help with Babs and Bart????
Posted by Alana (Member # 14077) on :
LD and candida share many symptoms. Not sure whether candida would be causing your arm pain tho.
The Schardt protocol does not include taking abx WITH the diflucan. Why did the doc originally put you on diflucan when you began having LD symptoms?
As for the coinfections, the Schardt protocol doesn't address them. I'd continue treating babs with artemesia and mepron for awhile w/o an abx, while rotating the diflucan and penicillin. Not too familiar with bart, but IMO would avoid abx for that should you decide to pursue the Schardt protocol. Perhaps there are herbals for bart?? And if/when the LD is shot down, it might be easier to treat these coinfections.
IMO, there's nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain by giving it a shot. Just remember tho that diflucan is hard on the liver, so it would be a good idea to take supps that support the liver, like milk thistle (ask your LLMD for specifics). Diflucan can also react with certain meds, so do your homework if/when you opt to try it.
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Six,
Did you drink coffee at all when you were on antibiotics and recovering? Or when you were doing the Bionic 880?
I saw you said now you drink a latte a day...wondering if that means you didn't before, or you did.
I drink coffee everyday....just like you said, I feel like it's my treat. It would be hard to give up.
I interpret Dr. B's guidelines as saying no caffiene that interferes with sleep, so I figure if I do it early in my day it is okay. But sometimes I wonder if I should cut it out. I don't want to! Posted by Brussels (Member # 13480) on :
I never heard of a chronic lyme sufferer that didn't fight candida in the long term. Even without taking abx (or little abx), I think every single person I know fought candida sooner or later.
It seems both are like co-infections (borrelia and candida) or they thrive in same sorts of environments. Any GI symptoms can be both or still other problems.
So yes, definitively, candida can be a problem. If you don't have candida despite having got chronic lyme, you'll be the first person I ever heard of!
Many still don't know, but they almost certainly react to anti candida diet + killers if they try!
I had loads of digestive problems while with lyme and so did my daughter. Not only lyme but many bad infections cause problems in the GI tract. Depending on the situation, our diet keeps changing.
Anyway, on the long term, sugar can't be good. Nor processed wheat or flour. So we avoid these as much as we can. Of course, sometimes, it is hard, but we don't have lyme anymore!
During lyme or any infectious disease, no matter what treatment you do, if you don't do a good diet, you usually don't get well fast (or not for long).
Energy is usually 'low' if diet is wrong.
I am not a big meat eater either, but when you have not other alternatives (anti candida diet, for example), meat is great. I don't I eat meat in quantity, but I do eat it still.
Besides, for meat, the only good meat is organic. It costs much more than non-organic meat, so I can't buy it in great amounts.
Another thing that helps digestion is to separate foods in different meals. I try not to mix carbs or sweet things with high proteins (meat, milk, eggs).
The logic is: high proteins and fats are digested in the stomach, they need acid...
...while carbs and sweet stuff are digested in the intestines, and need a basic milieu.
So they need OPPOSITE kind of environments to be well digested.
Mix both at once and you get gas, undigested foods, less energy, more chance to get candida and 'rotten' food inside your GI tract.
so meat and potatoes, meat and rice, meat and spaghetti, or cheese and spagheti, cheese with potatoes, all these are bad combinations. Add some sweet soda there, you got a bomb!
That is what we do, we try to separate meals into:
2) carbs + sweet fruits. If I add a salad here, I won't do it very acid, mostly with a bit of olive oil and that's it.
Veggies can go with both, in my feeling. Best though to add them with number 2 meal.
If one can't digest uncooked meals, it means bad problem in the GI tract. GI needs healing first.
Having said that, I'm almost a year without lyme, or lyme treatment. I take bits of dark sugar or honey every day now. I still though avoid most processed foods as much as I can.
As for exercise, I only do pilates here and then and walk up and down the hills / mountains. I do that regularly. Irregularly, I still do jogging or swimming or play badminton. During lyme, I felt low energy, so didnt' do much.
![[shake]](graemlins/shake.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)