If you are a Lyme disease patient in the middle of progressing through the illness, you’ve probably been through a variation of the following scenario.

Some time ago, you started experiencing a range of nonspecific, hard-to-explain symptoms that caused you to seek help from your regular doctor. He or she put you through a battery of tests that didn’t reach any clear diagnosis, so you continued testing for years or even decades. At some point, you were diagnosed by a doctor who was more versed in Lyme disease, and you heaved a sigh of relief. Now you knew what you’re dealing with, so now you could treat it and get it over with. The problem is you’ve been on a range of treatments, and your doctor only seems to be trained in antibiotics, pharmaceutical pain relievers and mood enhancers. Most of these things have only brought about short-term improvement or haven’t worked at all; and some of them have caused symptoms of their own. Your symptomology is either plateauing or getting worse, which is causing you to feel upset. Your doctor notices this and suggests you see a psychiatrist. Now what do you do?

Instead of giving up, here are a few things to examine on your own to see if they may be causing a treatment block that can be removed to help you get to where you want to be.

1. STRESS: Most holistic practitioners understand that the following three forms of stress can not only cause disease in the body, they can also thoroughly block treatment improvement.

Physical stress: A powerful injury to the body, a concussion or a trauma from a car accident or fall can cause a healthy person’s immune system to go offline until the injury is healed. If any of these things happen in the middle of treatment, they can block the effectiveness of the treatment until the injury has been addressed.

Chemical stress: Ingesting toxins from an unhealthy diet, being exposed to toxins like heavy metals, mold or rotten food or being exposed to viral, bacterial and/or parasitic infections can all cause disease, and they too can impair treatment if a patient is exposed in the middle of an illness.

Emotional stress: Intense stress at a job, the death of someone close to you or disruptions in your finances can all impact someone so intensely that it can bring down the immune system. Remaining in a constant state of emotional distress, grief or panic will make it almost impossible to heal until the issues are addressed.

2. DETOXING: Expecting treatment improvement while ignoring toxin buildup caused from die-off action is like continuously filling a balloon with air and not expecting it to burst. Various toxins are released during the pathogen destruction that happens in most treatment. Over time, it can lodge in a patient’s fat cells and tissue, causing long-term symptoms even after a patient discontinues treatment. Special efforts need to be made to remove these fat-soluble toxins, but if a patient is regularly detoxing during treatment, the patient can stay on treatment with less discomfort.

3. DIET: Most patients understand the importance of diet during treatment. However, certain foods can block treatment and bring about symptoms of their own. Refined sugar and dairy products are both inflammation-causing, mucus-forming and have been proven to feed a variety of pathogens. Processed foods that have artificial ingredients can cause symptom crashes, and processed grains like wheat, corn and soy can trigger further sensitivities. Alcohol consumption can block certain treatments while promoting intestinal yeast.

4. ENVIRONMENT: Where the patient spends the majority of his or her time can have a large bearing on treatment success. Patients who live or work in moldy environments or buildings that emit chemical toxins or excess electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) can suffer from extra symptoms and treatment plateaus. Similarly, patients who spend most of their time around hostile co-workers, relatives or significant others can suffer from similar symptoms. The remedy is to remove the patient from these situations before symptom improvement can be expected.

5. PARASITES: If you’re a Lyme patient who has plateaued or feels “stuck” in your treatment, well-known doctors like Dr. Lee Cowden and Dr. Jay Davidson point out that internal parasites can hinder your improvement and should be addressed before trying to move on in treatment. Intestinal parasites are one of the common culprits in creating symptoms and blocks during treatment, and they are much more widespread than most people realize. Patients who experience extended digestive distress, bouts of diarrhea or constipation, bloating after eating, stomach pain and discomfort and strong fatigue directly after a meal should consider treating parasites. Effective treatment should last at least three consecutive months and should include binders, enemas and ways to expel the parasite bodies, eggs and toxins they generate.

Healing from chronic Lyme disease often requires looking beyond standard treatment and addressing underlying blocks. By reducing stress, supporting detoxification, improving diet, optimizing environment and addressing parasites, patients may create the conditions needed for deeper, more sustainable healing.

Gregg Kirk is an author, energy healer and Lyme disease advocate who runs a clinic in Darien, where he incorporates herbal treatments to help patients with Lyme disease. Connect at LymeRecoveryClinic.com and GreggKirk.com. See ad, back cover.

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