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Posted 7/29/2015 5:34 AM (GMT 0)
Has anyone healed from Lyme WITHOUT following a strict diet ( no sugar/flour etc...) ? I started off good for a month but it's so hard to keep it up 24/7. Help.
Posted 7/29/2015 6:27 AM (GMT 0)
Hi LimeyinPA
Welcome to the forum! We're so glad you found us.

If you haven't ​yet​, it would be helpful for you to start with reading through the thread at the top of the forum titled,"New to Lyme?...Start here!!", as it is packed full of important information, symptom lists, helpful links and pdf's, how to detox when one has these infections, information on probiotics and much more.​


I do understand how hard it is to stick with such a restrictive regiment. Most will disagree with this but....IMO all you can do is the very best you can....and find a great LLMD or LLND. Let them know what you are struggling with. It was mentioned earlier in a post today that craving sweets can be a sign of yeast issues. Those are common due to the treatments we are on.

I'm in Northern California/the Bay Area and I get bread, muffins, even pizza crust from a allergy friendly bakery. They are very common all over the country now because so many kids have dairy, egg, and gluten allergies. You could try googling allergy free or friendly bakery. They all use rice flour as the main flour. I've also ordered King Arthur's flours gluten free mixes from Amazon or directly from King Arthur's flours. I use rice milk instead of milk and flax seed eggs instead of eggs and they come out great.

I'm no gluten, wheat, eggs, dairy (except for goat), beef, most nuts and on and on. While that's very limiting I was able to find really good substitutes for everything I needed.

I'm sure others will add their thought but since I'm a night owl on the west coast I didn't want to leave your post unanswered.

Janet
Posted 7/29/2015 7:22 AM (GMT 0)
Diet is very important
Posted 7/29/2015 12:45 PM (GMT 0)
I think diet is key. But that said, I don't doubt that some people can recover from these illnesses without following such diets. It probably depends on each person's individual pathogen load and genetic makeup.

What I think though is that not following the diet reduces your chances of making the strongest recovery possible. Not to be a taskmaster for the diet, I just think it's one of those things that can really help.

Also, the diet can help reduce possible complications from abx, like yeast issues etc.
Posted 7/29/2015 12:47 PM (GMT 0)
Also if the diet is too hard to do I'd recommend trying a slow wean instead of cutting everything out at once.
Posted 7/29/2015 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
While I agree diet can play a big part in our healing, it's more important to stay away from things that don't agree with your body than to stick to any "Lyme diet".

If you suffer from leaky gut pretty bad - it has it's own diet.

If you have Candida or any other yeast/fungal issue, they have their own diet too.

But - I had a 40 yr old infection and still healed with only staying away from sugar - but that's because ingesting sugar ends up making my intestines cramp for days. I did use exclusively raw goat milk too - and made all my own dairy products, cheese and butter included, but otherwise, I ate healthy, but like most Americans, without any fast foods.

My diet is much more restrictive now that I discovered I have a soy & MSG allergy.

The most important part is to realize you have to give your body the things it needs (through good nutrition) to heal from an incredibly complex infection. Abx alone doesn't usually do it unless you have caught the infection very, very early on.
Posted 7/29/2015 2:44 PM (GMT 0)
I think what traveler says is important, there really isn't one monolithic lyme diet. But avoiding sugars seems to be a core principal that stretches across the various lyme diets. Also, our bodies are so different, the variety of factors including current pathogen makeup, genetics, food intolerances makes it so that you have to figure out what works best for you.
Posted 7/29/2015 6:29 PM (GMT 0)
Everyone has been so helpful. Thank you.
Posted 7/29/2015 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
I know that you have to stay away from alcohol with this disease. The top doctors all agree that you are not going to get better if you drink.

I don't drink anymore and don't miss it.

I read somewhere that spirochetes soaked with alcohol are WAY more toxic than they would be without alcohol.

Don't know if that helps but I would avoid alcohol completely.
Posted 7/29/2015 7:04 PM (GMT 0)
what about coffee? I know I shouldn't obsessively worry about that but sometimes I think I should focus on cutting back on my coffee but I love it soooooo much. I like to think I'm doing everything possible to get better.
Posted 7/29/2015 7:50 PM (GMT 0)
I know that I am allergic to diary protein, egg and soy. I'm sure ore will chomp if I can ever get back on the elimination diet. But I searched on the web at one time and found a site where the guy had taken recipe books and modified them to be no egg, no dairy, no whet, no gluten and no soy. He also tried them out and tweeked things until they tasted as good as the original.

Unfortunately I can't lay y hands on the link right now, but when I find it I will post it.

In the meantime here are some recipe books that might help:

Free For All Cooking Jules E Dowler Shepard (no gluten, egg, dairy, soy but check the icons because some recipes may have one of the above). I like it because he tells you different ways to substitute because different cooking methods need different substitutes.

Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking Cybele Pascal (no gluten, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish and sesame) She also has a baker's handbook.

Have a good day.
Posted 7/29/2015 9:00 PM (GMT 0)
I have to wait for my appointment with a very well recommended LLMD till September, but in the meantime they told me to eliminate sugar, dairy and alcohol, so I'm guessing those are the most important.
Posted 7/30/2015 1:40 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Sebreg,

I don't drink coffee anymore, but my doctor say a cup of organic coffee doesn't really hurt most people.
Posted 8/1/2015 3:34 PM (GMT 0)

sebreg said...
what about coffee? I know I shouldn't obsessively worry about that but sometimes I think I should focus on cutting back on my coffee but I love it soooooo much. I like to think I'm doing everything possible to get better.


While I agree with Bluebyyou that one cup of coffee doesn't hurt most people - if you have adrenal issues it will. So it all depends on your adrenal health as to whether to avoid all caffeine or just cut back.
Posted 8/1/2015 4:16 PM (GMT 0)
thanks for the info guys! it's so tricky, when I start herxing hard (a herxing bender that can devolve into over a week of gripping pain, insomnia, anxiety) I use more coffee, it is the only thing that relieves the pain and provides a brief respite from the torture and allows me to briefly focus on other things than my pain/anxiety! not ideal obviously but truly helpful.

And of course I need to find ways to avoid the herxing benders in the first place, but this all a bit of trial and error as I work in the new meds. The super artemisinin triggered a nasty herx for me these last days. It's a med I've taken before w/o much effect, but I think taken in combo with my other meds at a high dosage level really hit me square in the jaw! I was digging up all sorts of old school symptoms (knife pain in lymph nodes, pain at back of head).

I slept terribly, but my anxiety seems better today (hopefully stays that way), I cut back my meds and hopefully can reset my feet and then I can work my way into super art with more caution. There really is no easy path with all this stuff! I really gotta bust my chops to earn every ounce of health back ha
Posted 8/1/2015 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
haha, "bust your chops..." True!

I can't tell you how many times I've turned to coffee while treating...then I think oh, no, I'm hooked AGAIN....then it's a fight, do I drink it and enjoy? Am I messing up anything?

At this point I'm off it, but miss it....

However, to the original question about diet, I think it's huge! At least for me I notice a difference. But it was a process... Like everything with Lyme, can't shock our systems too much.
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