Lyme Intro: What You Need to Know About a Puzzling Illness
Photo by Erik Karits on Unsplash
Lyme disease could be something out of a sci-fi movie.
It’s a debilitating illness caused by bacteria from tiny, blood-thirsty, sightless creatures that hunt you down just by the smell of your breath. These creatures, of course, are ticks.
Thanks to environmental factors, tick populations are exploding worldwide. And with more ticks, Lyme disease is also on the rise. [1] But finding a practitioner experienced in testing and treating this multisystem illness remains very difficult.
You could be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for months, if not years...which only allows the disease to progress.
In this article, I’ll discuss the facts you need to know about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. I’ll also detail my approach to diagnosing and treating Lyme disease and how it could help restore your health.
What is Lyme Disease?
Vector-borne illnesses are caused by organisms (vectors) that transmit disease-producing microorganisms. Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the U.S. [2] It’s usually caused by the spirochete (corkscrew-shaped bacteria) Borrelia burgdorferi.
Borrelia commonly make their home in the salivary glands of ticks. When a person or animal is bitten by an infected tick, the Borrelia spirochetes make their way into the blood of their new host.
Other Borrelia species have been shown to cause similar illnesses as well, such as Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia miyamotoi. [3-4]
Many people think Lyme disease is limited to the northeast part of the U.S., but it’s been detected in all 50 states.
The black-legged or deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) is responsible for the majority of Lyme transmission in the Midwest and East Coast. The western black-legged tick (Ixodes pacificus) is responsible for transmission on the West Coast.
B. burgdorferi-like organisms have been found in other biting insects like mosquitoes and flies. [5] But the jury is still out on whether they are capable of transmitting the bacteria to humans.
How Common is Lyme Disease?
The CDC states that there are about 30,000 confirmed cases per year. But it is likely cases are underreported as the current testing methodology for confirming Lyme disease is very poor.
The reason for this is that after the acute phase of illness, Borrelia don’t appear to circulate in the blood. Instead, the spirochetes use their corkscrew shape to burrow deep into tissues where they can evade their host’s immune system.
In 2018, most cases reported to the CDC were diagnosed in the summer and in white males either 5-9 years old or 55-69 years old. [6]
In my practice, I’ve seen Lyme disease transcend demographics – children, adults, females, and males have all been diagnosed with the disease.
Is There Lyme Disease in Washington State?
Yes, ticks carrying B. Burgdorferi have been found in western Washington. [7]
Is Lyme Disease an Infection or an Immune Problem?
Infectious disease experts dispute whether chronic Lyme disease is a true infection or if the symptoms are due to an exaggerated immune response.
Many pathologists invoke Koch’s postulates, four criteria used to establish whether a microorganism causes a disease. The four criteria are:
The microorganism must be present in every case of the disease. It must be absent in healthy individuals.
The microorganism must be isolated from the host with the disease and grown repeatedly in a lab.
The disease must be reproduced when the lab-grown bacteria infects a susceptible host.
The microorganism must be re-isolated from the new host and matched to the original microorganism. [8]
If you follow Koch’s postulates, Lyme disease is not a true infection.
I believe that it’s likely a combination of both.
Like many of my patients, you may have tried long-term antibiotic therapy with no improvement. If so, I believe your symptoms could be due to a hyper-sensitized immune system or “persister” cells (see “Chronic Symptoms Even After Antibiotics?” section below). The treatment approach needs to address this problem specifically.
I’ve seen many cases involving immune hyperactivity resolve without pharmaceutical intervention. Lyme disease is likely much more common than what is reported, and many “unexplained” symptoms could be due to having been bitten by an arthropod (tick, mosquito, fleas, etc.).
Signs & Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Since there are distinct phases of Lyme disease infection, we can break down symptoms according to the specific phase.
Acute Symptoms
The acute phase begins when you’re bitten by a tick and lasts until 30 days afterwards. [9]
The most classic sign of acute Lyme disease is a bulls-eye rash, but 20-30% of infected people never develop a rash. [10,11]
Other main symptoms are:
Fatigue
Chills
Sweating
Fever
Headaches
Joint pain
But again, even these symptoms do not occur 100% of the time. Many cases of acute Lyme go undiagnosed because:
1. People thought it was a “summer cold”.
2. The tick didn’t attach or embed into the skin, so it wasn’t seen. Or the bite was in an area not usually visible like the buttocks or hairline.
3. There was no rash.
In many cases, Lyme disease is easiest to treat in its acute stage. But when left undiagnosed and untreated, the infection spreads and progresses to the chronic phase.
Chronic Symptoms
Chronic Lyme symptoms are very different – there is no consensus on one set of symptoms, but many people experience the following: [12-17]
Numbness
Tingling
Facial drooping
Arthritis that wanders to different joints
Knee swelling
Dizziness
Shortness of breath
Shooting or zinging pains
Heart symptoms
Depression
Mood alterations
Difficulty thinking
Anxiety
Insomnia
...and many others
Lyme disease is often called the “great imitator.” [18] Its symptoms mimic many other chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and fibromyalgia. That’s why so many patients go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years.
Chronic Symptoms Even After Antibiotics?
Many who have been treated with antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease have ongoing or recurring symptoms. This could be due to “Borrelia persisters” – elusive and multi-drug tolerant forms of Borrelia. [19]
In a paper by Rudenko et al., the authors presented data that show “Borrelia persisters” can survive long-term antibiotic therapy. [19]
Clearly, the standard Lyme disease treatments aren’t enough to eliminate B. burgdorferi and restore your health.
What Are Lyme Co-Infections?
Ticks and other arthropods contain other microorganisms besides Borrelia. The main ones we look for are Babesia, Bartonella, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Rickettsia, Mycoplasma and Ehrlichia. These pathogens have their own set of symptoms and like Borrelia, are often hard to diagnose with standard blood tests.
Babesia
Babesia are malaria-like parasites that infect your red blood cells. [20] Although it’s most commonly transmitted by an infected tick, you can also get it through a blood transfusion. [21]
Like B. burgdorferi, Babesia species suppress your immune system and can impair clearance of other parasites. [22]
Symptoms of babesiosis include:
Fear
Anxiety
Air-hunger
Profuse sweating
Heart palpitations
Chills
Insomnia
Bartonella
Bartonella bacteria cause bartonellosis in humans. It’s transmitted by a vector – usually fleas, lice, and ticks. Animal scratches and bites can also transmit Bartonella. Cat scratch disease, for example, is the transmission of B. henselae from a cat’s scratch.
Pain is the most common symptom of bartonellosis, but you can also experience:
Alternating mood (anxious, then flip-flop into depression) and other neuropsychiatric disorders
Sore throat
Urinary symptoms (ex: frequency or chronic bladder pain)
Loss of appetite
Heartburn [23-24]
Mycoplasma & Chlamydia pneumoniae
Mycoplasma and Chlamydia pneumoniae are both bacteria that produce symptoms similar to those of Lyme disease. Because of their similarities, it can be difficult to distinguish between Lyme disease and an infection with either of these bacteria.
An infection of either of these species alone is typically mild. You may not even have any symptoms. However, their dangers come in when they are co-infected with B. burgdorferi. They can affect your lungs, liver, brain, kidneys, skin, and heart.
Signs of M. pneumoniae and C. pneumoniae infections include:
Upper respiratory infections
Arthritis
COPD
Asthma
Neurological disorders
Atherosclerosis [25]
Rickettsia
Rickettsia species are transmitted by the bites or infectious fluids of ticks, lice, fleas, mites, chiggers, and mammals. [26] In their acute stages, rickettsial infections mainly have flu-like symptoms, such as:
Fever
Chills
Rash
Nausea
In later stages, patients can have lowered white blood cell count and elevated liver enzymes. [27]
Ehrlichia
Ehrlichiosis is a bacterial infection in the white blood cells. This bacteria is found more commonly in the lone-star tick. [28] Flu-like symptoms are common during the acute phase. Other symptoms include rash, low white blood cell counts, and clotting issues. [29]
Lyme Disease Testing & Treatment
Standard blood tests for Lyme and co-infections are barely better than nothing. They lack sensitivity – the ability for a test to give a positive result when a patient has the disease. [30] Other testing methods like the Immunoblot are more sensitive than the standard ELISA and western blot. I’d be happy to discuss these testing methods with you during your visit.
The standard treatment for Lyme disease and its co-infections is a 2- to 4-week course of antibiotics. This works for some patients. However, most of the patients I see have tried this with no improvement in their symptoms.
A Different Approach to Lyme Disease Treatment
Treating chronic Lyme disease and/or co-infections is like trying to get to the center of an onion – you can either peel the layers carefully or cut the onion.
The problem is, you are the onion, so we must proceed only as fast as your body lets us.
If it was as simple as putting you on antibiotics or strong herbal antimicrobials, treating it would be quick and easy. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.
I strongly believe a healthy body has no room for disease. That’s why I focus on six main areas to help you optimize your health.
Here are my Six Main Micro Pillars of Health:
1. Toxin and Toxicant Identification and Reduction
I use a variety of different diagnostic methods – both traditional and complementary – to identify the cause of illness, such as:
Routine blood work
Heavy metal testing
Autonomic Response Testing
Mycotoxin testing
Hypercoagulation assessments
Hormone tests
Chemical toxicity profiles
GI function testing
Toxin and toxicant load reduction is specific to the patient. If you don’t reduce a high pathogenic load, your immune system may not work properly because it gets “side-tracked” with hidden infections.
2. intake Optimization
What you eat and drink is foundational to your health.
But there is no one “correct” diet for people with complex chronic illness. Many “healthy” diets actually increase inflammation.
You and I will work together to choose a diet that reduces inflammation in your body. If we agree that a more guided approach would be better, I will refer you to a nutritionist I trust and have worked closely with.
3. Immune System Regulation
In many patients, their immune system becomes hypersensitized to stimuli that it should tolerate. Some patients develop chemical sensitivities to fragrance, gasoline, laundry detergent, or other everyday products. Others may become sensitive to a wide variety of foods, greatly limiting their food choices and nutrient intake.
If you have chronic Lyme disease, you could also be prone to toxin accumulation within your cells. I will discuss different options with you to help regulate your immune system.
4. Advanced Emunctorology
An emunctory is an organ of elimination. Your liver, kidneys, lung, gut, skin and brain are all emunctories. If your emunctories are not working in an optimal way, you might notice chronic constipation, acne or skin issues, brain fog, or chronic cough. I will discuss remedies and at-home lifestyle modifications with you to reestablish proper drainage and detoxification.
5. Microbiome Recalibration (The Gut-Brain Axis)
Your body is made up of roughly 37 trillion human cells. But your gut bacteria outnumber your cells by 10 to 1. This means your body is more bacteria than it is cells.
The health of your gut microbiome has profound effects on other organs.
If your gut microbiome is imbalanced, it can affect the brain. Research shows that there is “bidirectional communication” between the gut and the brain. [31] This means improving gut function can help improve brain function and vice versa. [32] I’ve seen clinically that improving brain function improves gut function and motility.
I use a variety of methods to recalibrate the microbiome, including:
Diet
Herbs
Probiotics and prebiotics
Brain retraining
Prescription antimicrobials when necessary
6. Cofactor Allocation
In patients with chronic complex illnesses, their mineral and nutrient status is often poor. I use a combination of clinical experience, lab tests, and autonomic response testing to decide what is lacking. My goal is for your body to get most of what it needs from whole foods with support from a few supplements if needed.
Find Hope After A Lyme Disease Diagnosis
If you’ve been suffering from chronic Lyme disease for several years, it can be easy to lose hope. No medications seem to work. You miss work, school, family events, or meet-ups with friends. Nobody seems to have any real answers for you. In the meantime, you just feel worse and worse.
Chronic Lyme disease requires a different approach. And I can help. I’ll work with you to reduce your microbial burden and restore your health using natural, non-invasive approaches.
Learn more about becoming a patient or complete the New Patient Inquiry Form to get started today.
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The product(s) mentioned in this article are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information in this article is not intended to replace any recommendations or relationship with your physician. Please review references sited at end of article for scientific support of any claims made.
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