Question for Those Who Have Recovered! Food and Diet.

Hi all,


For those of you who have recovered and have been symptom free for a fairly long time, did you go back to eating foods that you ate before you were infected? Like gluten, sugar, dairy, etc. Did they have any effect on you?

I'm wondering when and if it's okay to add certain foods back into the diet. And how much of what to eat how often. I'm having a difficult time with the restrictive diet, especially around the holidays. I was just wondering what your experiences were like.

Thank you!!


Amanda

Thanks, Traveler!

Maybe you can clear this up for me, because I've heard mixed reviews.

Even after you are healed, you always have a chance of relapse? Like, you still have Lyme even after you are symptom free? I've heard from some people that you can fully eradicate the bacteria and from some that you will always have it.

It was actually my LLMD who said that you can get rid of the bacteria. This may be his opinion, but I will ask him during my next appointment why he thinks that and his experiences with past patients who have recovered.

My daughter Heather was "cured" in 2010. Since then she had a hormonal issue about 2 years ago, and a mold problem that I believe opportunistically caused problems in her neck and shoulder areas because of an Atlas (C-1) problem. Other than that she has been very well and robustly healthy.

She has since moved to a desert area when she transferred to a different college. She will now swim year round outside in the fresh air and sun.

She was never CDC positive while she was sick, but since then she has been tested twice a year, and has been as positive as it is possible to be!

Heather was tested and shown to be very allergic to both glutens and dairy in 2008. She has eliminated both of these allergens from her diet since that time. She has been very conscientious most of the time since she was tested. She cheated for a whole week when she developed the hormonal issue and totally crashed. She ate huge amounts of sugars, glutens, and dairy and dearly paid the price for it! Since then she has only allowed a moderate indulgence during 2 meals a year. She says that she believes that she is quite a bit less sensitive to those allergens, but that she still feels it the next day.

She has high goals for her swimming, and is willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to reach them. That will carry her for now. Here is my take on all of this. I have explained to her that she will always carry some pathogens in her body, and that the most significant variable is how she takes care of her immune system. By this I mean the amount of suppression that she exerts upon it such as emotional state, diet, sleep, physical exertion, environmental toxins, etc.

She has returned back to her college swim team for practice. Over the last 4 days she swam 15,000 yards a day during 4 hrs spread out over 2 practices a day. That is 8.5 miles a day for 4 consecutive days! This is the kind of thing that does worry me a bit because it is outside of her control. Undoubtedly if she were to get sick again, most forum members would assume that she got bitten by a tick again, but my take on it is different. My assumption is that the pathogens will always be in her body, but that it would not be a classically defined "relapse". Every human being on earth has a physical/emotional/spiritual limit that, if exceeded, will lead to illness. My only requirement with her is that she do everything within her power to protect herself. We cannot control some other things in life.

I cannot tell you what to do. I have told Heather that if she does not do everything that is within her power to stay healthy, then she is playing Russian Roulette, and that we will NOT pay for that ever again. I say all of this as a loving Father that has incurred a huge financial burden because of her illness. I would consider her to be a fool if she were to adopt a lax lifestyle at this point. This means that she should continue to be gluten, dairy, and sugar free indefinitely, except for rare occasions. We have asked the advice of several LL physicians from various medical perspectives and they agree with my perspective. Have I been clear as to how I feel about the issue?

P.S. I also agree with Traveler's comments!

Don

Post Edited (Heathersdad) : 1/1/2016 12:28:27 AM (GMT-7)

Giving up on gluten was the most useful change to my diet. And no processed sugars, but fruit is fine.
I tried to go dairy free but i only achieved loss of weight and nothing else. The german clinic where i am getting treatment from told me the same thing: no gluten but you can eat dairy if your stomach is up to it.

So i reintroduced dairy, initially goat kefir. Goat dairy is much easier to process than cow. Goat milk also contains caprylic acid which is very good antibacterial and antifungal.

Now i have no problem drinking cow milk, but i try to avoid processed/homogenized milk, i only buy non-homogenized milk from grass fed cows. I don't think avoiding dairy makes much sense, to be honest.

I also eat A LOT of coconut butter, like 50-75 grams a day. It is excellent for lyme, coconut contains monolaurin, which is anti-spirochetal, it also keeps candida pacified, and it is a good source of saturated fats when we can't eat many foods with fat in the first place.

Meat i only eat turkey and chicken, i eat salmon and tuna sometimes, but need great caution with these as they can have heavy metals, and that can be a HUGE problem when you have lyme.

At least one meal per day has to be raw vegetables, or at least a meal where the main stuff is vegetable salad. I eat my coconut butter with gluten free bread and a huge bowl of salad from all sorts of veggies.

I also start my day with 2-3 glasses of juice: pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, banana, apple, orange. I add turmeric. If you have an active Bartonella infection Buhner says in his coinfections book you should drink a lot of pomegranate juice as it helps stop Bartonella's inflammatory agenda.

I also have a special protein drink from the german clinic, very rich in L- amino-acids, i take it as a shake with unsweetened almond milk, twice a day. L- amino acids are important for : restoring gut health, restoring lost muscle and collagen tissue, energy, and for stopping Bartonella do more damage.