6 Tips to Get You on the Right Track

Many people who suspect themselves of having Chronic Lyme Disease feel helpless, confused, and frustrated on which direction to head in; and they have every reason to be.  The circumstances Chronic Lyme Disease places a person under forces them to begin considering their own opinion as opposed to their doctor's in regards to their health.

​This list will help you take that opinion and act upon it in an appropriately effective manner for initializing your road to recovery from Chronic Lyme Disease.

1. Rule Out All Other Major Possible Health Issues

The symptoms of Lyme Disease can mimic the symptoms of many other serious health conditions (i.e., vitamin deficiencies, multiple sclerosis, etc).  Many people who unknowingly have Lyme Disease are by standard procedure being tested by their doctors or physicians for suspected serious health issues; usually not Chronic Lyme Disease.  In turn, the patient with these debilitating symptoms is left with the records of their many recent health tests, but still no indicative answers explaining the cause of their mysterious health condition.  

Many people are unsure when to actually pursue a Lyme Literate Doctor during their initial testing phase of serious health conditions with their physician.  There most likely will be no written or spoken words indicating specifically when a person should head in the direction of suspecting Chronic Lyme Disease.  There is however a threshold or point during the initial testing that will clearly permit a person to suspect they have Chronic Lyme Disease.  When a doctor uses such phrases as:
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• "I'm sending you to a professional" 
• "It's all in your head"
• "You're just stressed" or "You have anxiety"
• "There is nothing wrong with you"
• "Stop asking me about Chronic Lyme Disease"

You've been given the green light to accept that you most likely have no major health issues besides possible Chronic Lyme Disease, and you should seek out a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor or Lyme Literate Naturopathic Doctor.

2. Determine If You'd Prefer a Holistic, Conventional, or Integrative Treatment Protocol for Chronic Lyme Disease

This is really a personal choice heavily influenced by a person's personal beliefs and experiences.  Neither choice is more right nor wrong than the other but each one has their advantages and disadvantages.  It is also important to remember that people have put their Chronic Lyme Disease into remission both holistically and conventionally

​3. Set Up an Appointment with an L.L.M.D. or L.L.N.D.

It's time to get the ball rolling and the first objective after you cut ties with your current treating physician is to set up an appointment with a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) or a Lyme Literate Naturopathic Doctor (LLND); depending on your personal preference for treatment.  Unfortunately these doctors will not be easy to find or locate due to their illegal practice of a disease that is considered to be nonexistent by the medical community.  These godsend doctors can be found though if you look in the right places.

• Use Tired of Lyme's 'Find a Lyme Physician' page
• Many online forums have threads dedicated specifically to the request of an LLMD and LLND. (MDJunction.com, Lymenet.org, etc)
• Contact the International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) directly
• Ask local people you meet on online forums who their treating physician is

Remember to not just seek out any LLMD or LLND as not all of them are truly authentic to their claim.  There is a lot of money to be made from people who have Chronic Lyme Disease and their desperation only makes it easier.  Be sure to ask these 7 questions to help determine if the Lyme Literate Doctor you're planning to see is bona fide.

4. Get Tested Through IGeneX

This is an objective that you can initiate on your own and be way ahead of the game when it comes to your appointment with your Lyme Literate Doctor; which may be as much as a couple months away.  A good Lyme Literate Doctor won't just diagnose and treat a person suspected of having Chronic Lyme Disease on laboratory results alone.  They will also clinically diagnose based on the symptoms a patient is experiencing.  But if you show up on your first appointment with a positive Lyme Disease test in your hand, you've taken the guessing work and precarious nature out of diagnosing your condition.

IGeneX is a laboratory located in the United States specifically designed for testing Lyme Disease.  It practices many laboratory techniques for testing a specimen that the mainstream laboratories don't.  In turn, it has a reputation for being more accurate but never claiming 100% accuracy.  IGeneX is the first, if not the only choice of labs on the list of laboratories used by Lyme Literate Doctors for receiving a circumstantially accurate diagnosis.  Here is hows to get tested through IGeneX:

• Call IGeneX directly at 800-832-3200 and request that a test kit for Lyme Disease be sent to your residence (the test kit is free)
  
• Set up an appointment with your family physician and ask them if they'd be kind enough to withdraw your blood for this test

Your doctors office will most likely ship the blood samples for you as a professional courtesy but if not, drop them off at the nearest shipping company that IGeneX has provided packaging for.  IGeneX prefers that blood samples be shipped to them early in the week (i.e., Monday or Tuesday) as possible; within 7 days is critical.  If you live outside the United States, call to be sure that IGeneX services your location as they do service the international community.

5. Change Your Diet

The appointment with your Lyme Literate Doctor is still some time away but that doesn't mean you can't get started on healing yourself.  Food used to a tool bestowed by nature for helping the body heal by providing the right and essential minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, enzymes, etc.  It is now a joke as it has been tainted, distorted, and processed in such a manner that actually benefits the progression of disease.  When the body becomes ill, it has specific demands in order to give itself the best chance of avoiding death.  Wholesome food is one of them.

To break down your Lyme Disease diet even further, it is best to avoid any gluten, dairy, and sugar.  These specific foods and food constituents are generally accepted by those battling Chronic Lyme Disease, and even Lyme Literate Doctors, to be an delayer of healing from Chronic Lyme Disease.  Each Lyme Literate Doctor will have their own unique diet for battling Chronic Lyme Disease but the general idea should remain.  Changing your diet is the single most important objective for sustaining good health a person can accomplish without having a medical degree.

6. Reduce Your Stress

Stress is an inevitable part of being a biological creature.  Much like inflammation it serves a beneficial purpose in acute dosages, but when it becomes chronic, it begins to compromise the body's ability to effectively sustain good health.  All animals experience stress but human beings specifically have intentionally subjected themselves to unprecedented forms and levels.

Stress is designed to protect a living creature when a threat to their life becomes imminent.  This stress is short lived, depending if the creature survives, and causes no long term health effects.  Human beings on the other hand experience this stress but at a continuous and ever growing level.  As a result, our bodies begin to feel the affects and no system do we need more compromised at this point in time than the immune system.  In fact, it may have been stress that allowed a once dormant and well controlled infection to rise and take hold within the body.