Thankfully I had the bulls eye rash. It didn’t itch or hurt and it disappeared on it’s own in a few days. I checked for ticks and couldn’t find any. I hadn’t been in the woods or even outdoors. I don’t live in the country. I live in the 25th largest city in the United States.
Almost half of those with lyme disease do not get the bulls eye rash and end up misdiagnosed years later with multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, alzheimers, chrons, fibromyalgia, depression, lupus, etc. It’s not yet recognized as a chronic disease by the CDC and they say you only get it up north too and a few weeks of antibiotics is all you need! If it’s not recognized, you can’t test or treat it with help from your insurance company or find a doctor who’s got the balls to go against the CDC. Even if you do test it’s highly unreliable. Thankfully as a nurse I had met several patients before I got sick who knew they had lyme and had to go out of state for treatment, and by that point of course it was already too late. Without those patients I probably would have just followed the 14 day antibiotic guideline the CDC recommends that wouldn’t even touch lyme in a dog let alone a human. The CDC also says the incidence is 0.1% in Tennessee, yet I meet people almost everyday who have it or know someone who does.
Before I found help from a lyme literate MD I had extreme fatigue, electrocuting nerve pain, memory loss, headaches, joint pain, brain fog, you name it. A few years later I’m still suffering from the side effects of months of antibiotics, but not the lyme symptoms and my life has changed for the better. I no longer eat processed garbage and my diet revolves around organic produce, free range eggs, and mostly things I’d never heard of a year ago. I can finally look back at this ugly time in my life and be thankful for how it’s changed me.
You probably think lyme is something only hikers, campers, or outdoorsmen get; I am none of these and certainly never will be. If you haven’t seen “Under Our Skin” I highly recommend it. Jessie Ventura also has some interesting theories on Plum Island near Lyme, Connecticut related to the origination of lyme disease if you’re curious.
Before you slather yourself and your children in deet or permethrin did you know it’s absorbed right through the skin into the bloodstream where it makes it’s way to our central nervous system affecting our motor skills, memory, and learning? Permethin is a suspected carcinogen as well as endocrine, liver, reproductive & neurotoxicants. Keep your family and pets safe with a spray bottle of 1/2 water and 1/2 tea tree, rosemary, peppermint, and eucalyptus essential oils. Dr. Mercola makes a great natural spray too. Planting citronella, mint, and rosemary in the backyard seem to really help. Chickens help eat the bugs too if they’re allowed in your neighborhood. For other natural products check out my recommendations here.
Emily Smith RN-BSN
Holistic Health Coach
