Good place to start: what should/shouldn't I be eating/drinking?

Until I can absorb and learn more about some of the advice given to my previous post, I will start from the beginning with my diet. After I get a good grip on that, I will be asking advice on the next step. I will take one step at a time. Next, I will try an get some input on how and who I can go see to find out what I have in my body for toxins, sounds like to me just getting some of these toxins out of the body is a big part of the process. I have to start simple, that will work best for my Lymes brain. Thank You.

As far as the detox baths, I have always heard to use warm water, and not too hot. Somewhere there's a link to some info that gives an exact temp, I think it's under the "new to Lyme? Start here" link.

I learned that I had to take it very slow with the detox baths. Many have suggested starting with a foot bath. Yes, for some the detox baths can be too much. I know I had a major increase in symptoms after my first few baths, which is of course very frustrating. So I switched to foot baths every other day, and did a detox bath about once a week. Now I can do the baths about every 2-3 days and it helps, it doesn't make things worse anymore. Keep in mind I'm not on abx yet, and everyone seems to be different in how they respond to detoxing. I use Epsom salt and hydrogen peroxide in every bath, and sometimes I add cayenne pepper and mustard seed.

As far as the diet, WWJD20 already mentioned no sugar. I've read to cut it out completely, but I have also heard that fruits low in sugar are okay... blueberries, granny smith apples, grapefruit, raspberries, blackberries and avocados. I would be curious to know what others do about the fruits. I would personally have a hard time cutting fruit totally out of my diet!

I've also heard that cutting out gluten and dairy is recommended.

I would suggest lean meats and fish for protein, and as WWJD said, lots of greens!

One last thing I'll mention is that probiotics are essential if you're taking abx. Since abx kill all the bacteria, you need probiotics to restore the good kind. Plain yogurt is good, but if you choose a supplement I've recently learned to get the kind the requires refrigeration. These are supposed to be the most helpful in restoring and maintaining the good bacteria in the gut. I've also heard good things about something called "Green Vibrance", but it's a bit pricey for my budget so I haven't personally tried it.

I can say that my stomach feels much better already, and I just started probiotics a couple weeks ago. I actually don't have the kind I mentioned yet. I wanted to use the ones I'd already purchased first, but I'm anxious to try the "cold" strain to see if the results are even better.

I also take Magnesium and Milk Thistle. I have had elevated liver enzymes in the past (as many with Lyme do). Milk Thistle is good for liver detox. I believe the Magnesium is good for muscle pain and spasms. I haven't been taking it long, but I do believe it helps a little.

I agree 100% that optimism plays an important role in the healing process. I also agree that the Internet can be a scary place. It's hard to know who to believe and who to trust. I was very overwhelmed at first, but I've learned to just take it all in and try to make the best decisions I can for myself. I really hope the diet and detox are helpful for you!

taysdad,

You received a lot of good dietary advice here. Hopefully you have access to good clean water. Fluoridated and chlorinated water is a no no!

I would also like to affirm that greens are important. In general, try to eat as many uncooked organic fruits and vegetables as possible. Cooking destroys the natural enzymes and reduces the food to a lifeless state. Your body requires energy-laden living foods to fuel its energetic processes.

Have you ever been tested for gluten or dairy intolerance? If you are allergic to them, that issue will serve as an immune suppressor, which you definitely do not need!

Don

Its tough....all of it! Diet, cures/protcols, pain, fatigue, and pile it all on a foggy brain.

Its a good thing we will all be better people when were healed.

Our diet and self awareness will always be stronger than most.

If you can afford it, goat milk products are a good choice. It's the only milk that is considered healthy by Chinese Medicine doc's and Homeopathic doc's. I make my own goat milk kefir and really love it!

Giggle! There's lots of adults that just can't bring themselves to drink goat's milk, so you have lots of company there! I actually think a lot of that has to do with fresh, raw goat's milk tastes a lot like 1/2 & 1/2 for starters, since it still has it's cream! The cream stays mixed in with the milk until it's almost ready to sour - it's naturally homogenized.

I'm not much of a milk drinker, but it's all I use when ever I use milk, make kefir, yogurt, cheese, and butter. I raised my kids on fresh goat milk and I've been amazed at their health -especially since I was infected with who knows what all tick-borne infections while I was pregnant with them both.

The molecules of the milk are actually smaller than in cow's milk
- making it much easier to digest. As you said, Don, it's also closer to human milk which also makes it much easier to digest.

Actually, goat's milk is good to give to any baby, human or animal! It's the most tolerated milk there is!

Sugar weakens the immune system, adds to yeast overgrowth, not to mention the lyme bugs thrive on it! Stay away from all the fake sugars as well. The only sweetener any lyme patient should be using is Stevia, which is an herb that is made into powder or liquid form. All other sweets are a no-no, including many fruits and restricting carbs should be done as well. The reason we cannot have sugar is because it turns into glucose in the body.. and its the glucose that is not our friend. Carbs are a no-no because they are broken down to glucose in the body. The body doesn't understand the difference between "natural" sugars, carbs, or white sugarcane. It is all processed to glucose. Even fruits can contain an obscene amount of sugar...again, it becomes glucose. However, the fruit that contains a lot of fiber, makes up for the sugar to some degree. You can have fruit at the end of a meal, never on an empty stomach. Safe fruits are grapefruit (although eat it 2 hours before or after taking meds, as it may interupt enzymes in the liver from metabolizing medications), lemons, limes, tomatoes and avocados. You can have small amounts of pears, apples, strawberries, and cantelope. Not allowed are oranges, watermelons, bananas, grapes, and fruit juice.. Also limit starchy vegetables such as potatoes, rice and beans. Pasta is also a bad idea. As all of these things are high on the glycemic index and thus turn into high sugar (glucose) levels in the body. Good luck to all, and sorry to be the bearer of bad news..