The New Year Brings Lyme but It Can Also Bring Welcomed Change

​A new year is definitely a chance to start with a clean slate.  Unfortunately some things such as our struggle with Lyme Disease will be carried over into the next year but it's no reason to continue with old ways.  We can implement changes on our own that can alter our destiny.

The concept of a new year only exists in our heads but can work as a psychological advantage.  Use it to understand your fight better and find resources to assist your recovery.  As the old saying goes, if you want to see change, be the change!

​1. Be More Aware and In Control of Your Mood Around Others

There is no doubt that Lyme Disease and its co-infections affect our mood but something that is not well known is that you can control it.  It'll take a lot of will power and self awareness but with practice, one can learn to bite their tongue or even turn their mood around completely.

A lot of us feel guilty after we lash our at a loved one because we know deep down it really wasn't us.  The duration of the struggle, debilitation from symptoms and frustration with being misunderstood are more reasons than you'll ever need to justify your mood.

You're not going to be able to control your mood every time and it's totally understandable.  Your circumstances warrant it but give it a shot and start small.  The next time you socialize, be cognitively aware of yourself and see how well you can subside the manifestations of Lyme.

2. Find a Doctor that Can Help You

We must remember and retain that doctors are human just like you and I and don't have all the answers.  Every doctor is different and practices what he has been taught and learned from experience.  Just because you're seeing a doctor doesn't mean you're receiving the appropriate treatment

If you feel that the doctor you've been seeing for the past 6 months is not helping you get better, seek out another.  You have that choice.  I've heard stories of doctors treating Lyme patients with such disrespect and even making the patient feel guilty for being treated.  No one should be succumbed to those type of circumstances.

Many doctors will refuse to treat someone for Lyme Disease simply because their test results come back negative.  Sadly many doctors have the old school notion that chronic Lyme Disease doesn't exist.  This is a very dangerous person to discuss your health with because they are completely wrong and your health hangs in the balance.

The best doctor to find for treating and diagnosing Lyme Disease (clinically) would be a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (L.L.M.D.) or a Naturopathic Doctor (N.D.) who specializes in Lyme Disease.

3. Make Dietary Changes

If you're battling Lyme Disease, your diet plays a huge role in how well and fast you recover.  The general Lyme community feels that cutting out gluten, dairy and most sugars, if not all, is the appropriate diet for healing from Lyme.

Eating wholesome and raw foods is so beneficial to our body because they contain untainted vitamins, minerals and living enzymes which are essential for life.  It is surely easier said than done to change your diet but start small.

Try replacing cookies with an apple or a grapefruit.  Eventually these small steps will add up and believe it or not, your body will become use to your dietary changes and will not longer crave certain food.  In fact, you may even embrace the raw power of whole foods and wonder you never considered it in the first place.

4. Open Up and Be Honest with a Friend or Family Member

Being misunderstood occurs as often as our symptoms do but that doesn't mean we can't be honest with people.  You can never feel guilty as long as you stay honest and truthful with people.  Even if the other person shuns your words, you know that you told them the truth and that is all the satisfaction you need.

Maybe your ambiguous words have really confused a friend.  Maybe that friend really does want to know what is wrong with you and can be understanding.  Maybe they could careless but that was and will never be in your control.  It's not your job to determine someone else's emotions.  They will do that on their own just as you have.

Telling someone what you're going through can lift a huge weight off of your chest and possibly open the door for more support.  Remember, you're not looking for sympathy.  You just want people to understand what you're dealing with. That's all it is.

5. Join a Lyme Disease Support Group -- Online or in Person

So you weren't able to achieve any more support from opening up to those around you.  Does that mean you should head into the storm alone?  Not at all!  When you're struggling with something personal, it is best find people who are going down the exact same road as you.  There is no greater feeling during a time of despair than relation.

There are plenty of support groups online and in local towns consisting of people who are struggling with and who have beaten Lyme Disease.  How inspirational is that to meet someone who use to be in your shoes and over came the odds?  How comforting is it to know that you're not alone in this fight and never will be?

Reach out and see what kind of people you find.  Many of us have lost all support from friends and family and how normal is that while having Lyme Disease!  It's never a reason to tackle it alone.  We are human being.  We are social creatures and we need to know that someone can hear our voice.

6. Give Yourself a Purpose and Create a Sense of Worth

Losing a job, letting go of college aspirations and losing a social life can really make you feel nonexistent.  A reason for this continued feeling would stem from not wanting to let go of what we've always known.  None of us want to stray into the unknown, especially unwillingly but it seems that is the case.

Let go of what was and create a new normal, a new purpose and a new reason for existing.  Having Lyme Disease doesn't all have to be bad.  Our circumstances force us to see many aspect of our life through a different perspective and you should take full advantage of it.

Try picking up a new hobby such as cooking!  If you have to work on your diet, this is the perfect excuse to do so.  Learn how to create new dishes and impress yourself with what you never though you'd accomplish.  In doing so , you will create a sense of worth to at least yourself and that is the greatest feeling to confirm a reason to exist.

7. Understand What You're Going Through

Surely if there is one person that should understand what you're going through physically and mentally, it is you!  Traversing the unknown can spawn a lot of unnecessary fears and as all of us know, doctors don't always have the answers.  This doesn't mean that the answers don't exist, you've just exhausted your immediate resource's knowledge.

In life, you never stop learning and having Lyme Disease is more of a embrace the ability.  There is such a wealth of knowledge and information about Lyme Disease that can be learned by one person.  There are people that have beaten Lyme Disease and who wouldn't want to understand how they did so?

Consciously teach yourself what is plaguing your body and how.  Understand what needs to be done to kill the menace and reclaim your life.  When you acquire an understanding, the unknown becomes the known and in turn, your fears lessen that much more.  You set the course for recovery. 

8. Accept that You Have Lyme Disease

This resolution is for those who understand beyond a reasonable doubt that they have Lyme Disease but just can't come to terms with it.  No one wants to leave the life we knew so well involuntarily but you have to understand that your current predicament was and will never be your fault.

What can be your fault is the attitude you put forth.  Accepting you have Lyme Disease is the first step in healing because without acceptance, you only have denial and with denial comes the inability to progress.  Progression is the imperative you need to heal yourself.

Be honest to yourself.  Lying to yourself will hurt you in the short term and long term.  It can delay treatment and ultimately lead you down the wrong road.  Whether you accept it or not, it exists and your acknowledgment of such a disease will only put you on the right path.  You have nothing to lose but an ailment that has lingered for far too long.

9. Get a Positive Test Result for Lyme Disease

We all know how difficult it is to get a positive diagnosis but I can't stress enough how consoling it is to read a positive Lyme Disease test.  All of your thoughts that could only be interpreted as crazy become valid.  All the guessing can be put to rest and progression can initiate with a treatment protocol if you have not begun one already.

It can definitely bring a sense of closure to a long duration of uncertainty.  Treating yourself for Lyme Disease with a negative test result can feel like a shot in the dark especially if you're not feeling any better.  Strive to achieve a positive test result and confirm to yourself what is reality.

10. Stay the Course

The fight to reclaim what was once yourself is no doubt a long and tedious one but it can't be done unless you stay the course.  Many people who have Lyme Disease end up quitting their treatment protocol simply because they feel it's not helping them.  If this is the case, find another method!  You must carry on and not give up simply because one method did not work for you.  What works for one person may not work another.

Patience and persistence is the key to defeating Lyme Disease and losing either could spawn an unachievable outcome.  You must know and understand that Lyme Disease is not an over night fix and could take anywhere from 6 months to a few years.  Such a duration could surely warrant defeat but only if you allow it.

The strength to carry on with your treatment protocol will come from within.  This struggle is unlike anything you or I have ever faced in our lives but the intended results are not out of our reach.  It is up to you to bring the fight to fruition and stay the course!  I know you have it in you.