Hi Roxanne,
We've actually already met on Linkedin. I'm glad you were finally able to get on the site! I'm glad that you've already read the "New to Lyme? Start here! " thread. I'm sure you will want to refer back to it from time to time as there is so much information there.
You have had many positive tests for Lyme, so there's no reason to not treat the Lyme. If you have other tick-borne infections though, you likely won't be able to heal the Lyme until they are treated. If you go to the symptom lists in the 'New to Lyme?' thread, you can get an understanding of which infections you likely have other than the Lyme- if you have any.
Don't beat yourself up for what you haven't been doing!! Start in the morning and start making small changes that you know are healthy and that you can keep going. Start with your diet. Don't eat actual 'junk food' tomorrow and drink some water! That will go a long way to getting you started in the right direction. Just stick to that for now. It's understandable that you don't want to cook when you are too tired to stand that long. You will need to work on that, but let's just take the next three days right now.
Detoxing needs to be started slowly for a lot of us, or it sets off a herx reaction, which can be very severe for some people, but most just find it hard to get through. It all depends on if your body can detox well or if it will struggle with it. We are full of tips and things that you can do if that's the case so don't worry.
I always suggest that members start off with the foot soak detox using the Epsom Salt and peroxide. Only use nicely warmed water and only keep your feet in the water for 7 -10 minutes until you see how your body handles that. If you have no increase in your symptoms, then you can either keep your feet in longer or increase the water temp a bit- but only a bit.
When I first started detoxing, even the basic beginning foot soak that I just told you about
would set off a 3 day migraine! This is why you need to take it slow in the beginning. You will work up to staying in the water 20 - 30 minutes and using very warm water eventually. Slow and steady wins this 'race'!
You will also want to look into getting a soft, natural bristle body brush for dry skin brushing. When people are this ill, they need all the help detoxing they can get - and the skin sheds toxins too.
Start taking those supplements that you ordered when they get there. It's a good start. You need to support your body as it heals.
You have to start the process of deciding what protocol you wish to follow to heal from these infections as well. There is no one that will heal most people. These infections hit our body's weak points hardest so we each need something a bit different. There are protocols that use abx (antibiotics), ones that use abx and herbs, and ones that use only herbs/homeopathy and other natural means to heal.
Most LLMD's now use both herbs and abx and of course, Naturopaths and other Practitioners use herbs, although some of them use abx as well now. In the 'New to Lyme?' thread, you will find a post about
other protocols - 3rd post from the bottom - but here is that link as well:
www.lymediseaseresource.com/Protocols.html Of course as you read, post and get responses you will begin to notice who uses what for their healing strategy and most members are happy to explain most any part to others.
As for the coconut oil, I would suggest that you only start with one tablespoon for the first week to see how your body handles it. I only use two tablespoons of coconut oil a day though. More than that is questionable about
how much it really helps.
It's best to not start more than one thing every two or three days though, that way if you react to something, you will know right away what it was. It seems that many of us don't react right away, it takes two or three days sometimes.
It's late, and I'm probably not making much sense either, fortunately we have such a great community here that you can ask all the questions you need and someone is going to help you find your answers most likely!!
One step at a time, and sometimes it only one day at a time, but you'll make it if you dedicate yourself to healing!!
