Lyme and Severe Food Sensitivity

Hi all,

First post for this Lymy!

I've been having severe reactions to food and I would like to know if anyone else has similar symptoms. It seems that most of my symptoms go away when I stay on a Candida-type diet (pretty much no carbs except from vegetables). I take my diet very seriously and mostly eat organic vegetables, a little bit of lean meat, healthy fats from nuts/seeds/coconut oil/flaxseed oil/fish oil, and kombucha daily. On this type of diet, my thinking returns about 80% to normal, my body doesnt ache as much, my vision clears up, i can concentrate, i have less mood swings etc.

Then..the most recent ocurrence, I was eating perfectly for two weeks feeling pretty well, and got suckered into a few pieces of cheese while at a friends house to dinner. about 30 mins later I crash like a freight train. I can barely drive home, my vision is blurry, i feel hopeless, depressed, my body hurts, im misreable. It feels like im back to square one.

I know a lot of these symptoms can be Candida related. Sometimes I start to believe maybe I just have Candida since eating triggers all this nonsense but I know thats probalby not the case as I was confirmed Borrelia and Babesia by Igenex. I've noticed that this effect is the worst when I have dairy, but I have been food allergy tested and it shows nothing significant for dairy.

Thanks for reading my story! Best wishes and health to all.

Something similar has happened to my husband. He was just recently diagnosed with Lyme. We also eat very carefully - all organic and grass fed meats. If he strayed from the diet due to a business dinner or travel, he would come home looking all puffy and miserable. He developed an itchy rash on his head/scalp when he ate certain vegetables - kale, collard greens. Almonds also sent him into an itchy frenzy. And he couldn't tolerate chicken at all. When he would eat it, he would literally be up all night feeling "toxic" - his words. Since he has started treatment, he's been able to eat greens and almonds with no problems. He is less puffy and miserable if he has a speck of gluten or dairy. He hasn't had the guts to try chicken yet. It's weird. We never thought his symptoms were related to Lyme but it's crazy how they have begun to disappear with treatment. Everyone reacts differently I guess.

Good luck with your treatment and I hope you get some relief from your food sensitivities soon!

Hi FloridaLymeGuy

I have a lot of food intolerances and allergies. I can eat certain things until a certain quantity: my tolerance limits fluctuate: e.g. more stress = lower tolerance. I can for instance eat 1 egg every 2 or 3 days, when I eat more, I get sick. When I'm under stress, 1 egg every 4 to 5 days will be better in those circumstances. I can't eat tomatoes, but I have less problems when they are sun riped and organic, and even less when I'm stress free, like on a holiday.
It's a trial and error thing...

It might be good for you to get tested for food allergies, then eliminate those foods. I live in Belgium, but my dr sent my blood to the US to get tested. The lab he used was US BioTek (I am in no way affiliated to this lab, this is just out of personal experience).

My sister has a severe casein allergy, she feels really sick for 5 days whenever she makes the mistake to eat something with whey in it (when eating out or at a friend's house).
These are just a few examples, but it'll give you an idea of what can happen.

MarieLS

Hi FloridaLymeGuy!!
Welcome to our community!! You've been given such great advice already that I don't have much to say, only wanted to stop by and say, Welcome!!!

I too am someone that with Lyme, I have a lot of issues with foods, and I even developed an allergy to soy and MSG, but with careful planning, I can avoid even those things. So hang in there!

Oh, I didn't see you mention if you were using an ILADS trained LLMD or not?

Achievinggrace - I have talked to my doctor about it and she prescribed me nystatin. However, she does not give to much advice about eating and herbals so I have had to do my own research. I have been incorporating some anti-candida supplements with my diet including caprlic acid, pau d'arco, allicin, and kyolic. They seem to help some.

cappuccinocurls- It's interesting that I had oral thrush due to antibiotics for strep throat i was perscribed way before lyme was even on my radar. I think that's why I believed I had it for so long and the feeling has stuck with me even after my Lyme/Babesia diagnosis

Traveler - that seems like way worse food allergies then me! I am seeing a LLMD who perscribed me the antibiotics I am on now. Progress has been slow with the antibiotics until recently I was placed on levofloxacin which I believe has helped the most. I'm guessing that means I have Bartonella as well!