Do bad habits and poor diet prevent lyme from getting worse or mask symptoms?

I am asking because I am not sure. I do not know much about detoxing or lyme diets and that's why I am wondering.


I was bitten in March of 2014 and started having real bad anxiety and feeling disconnected really bad like I was not in my body and was dizzy all the time, I couldn't concentrate on anything but what I was going through and my symptoms, I couldn't look at people or even the tv cause it scared the hell out of me(that was really weird), and the fatigue was horrible as well among other issues that were really bad, this all happened a month after the tick bite.


Through the next three months after the tick bite I was not eating much and lost about 20 pounds, symtoms continued to stay really bad with no improvement, I was taking magnesium and a multi vitamin but I was not really detoxing aside from drinking lots and lots of Water, I also drank about 10 cups of assorted teas a day. I should mention that from may to the end of July I had mono, I was diagnosed with mono spot, and then retested at the end of July and it was negative so that is when the mono went away.


After those 3 months went by, on August 1st I decided I was so depressed and my anxiety was so bad I decided to go out to the bar with friends and I got pretty drunk, I had a darn mean hangover the next day, but I noticed something.


After that I started getting back into drinking and smoking a lot (cigs) and eating very poorly and my symptoms were getting much better and subsiding, I was not being healthy at all although I was still drinking about a gallon or so of water a day. I was not on treatment at the time at all and I am still not on treatment or using herbs or anything at all.


My symptoms continued to get a bit better gradually from August to now, and the only symptoms I really go through at the moment are slight disconnectedness, just feeling a bit weird, a bit of anxiety, and occasional other issues that usually subside after a few days or if I don't think about them.

Like I said I still do have some symptoms but they are sooooo much better than they were before, and this all started getting better when I went back to heavy drinking(only once a week though) and eating poorly, I didn't do it on purpose I was just so depressed and I wanted to feel normal and good again so I went to eating poorly and drinking once a week and things just seemed to get better.


So I am confused, did my bad habits prevent lyme from getting worse or what? I should mentioned I wasn't even diagnosed with lyme by test, I just figured I had it cause all my symptms and weird things I never had in my life started a month after getting the tick bite.

So I have no idea, is my lyme going to get worse? Do I still have Lyme?(if I do have it?) did my bad eating and binge drinking once a week prevent the lyme from getting worse or symptoms from getting worse? I am so confused and still have so many questions after all this time.


Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, because I am so confused still and have no idea what to think or where to turn at this point, thanks everyone, again I am not trying to say anything asinine I am really just confused by all of this.

Post Edited (Dolph ziggler fan) : 1/8/2015 7:44:27 PM (GMT-7)

Hey Astro thanks for the reply, I actually haven't had a drink in a while because I knew it was not doing me any good, and feel decent since stopping, but my diet is still poor and I am not on any treatment or anything, I must say that my symptoms did get gradually better, although I still have some that are more minor-moderate now more than anything although occasionally they act up bad, and I still have the minor constant brain fog/disconnected feeling, but it was really bad before months ago, I will say it did get better gradually as well, still confused about it all though

Yes, I agree with astroman that it's just your luck Dolph ziggler. No way does bad diet and alcohol help. I think maybe you would have gotten better even faster if you hadn't turned to your bad habits.

Although there are men on this forum that suffer greatly, I wonder if women just are more vulnerable to lyme than men in general. My husband, for example, tested clearly positive to lyme not on Igenex, but just on a stonybrook test, had no symptoms except for a tiny numb toe that lasted a few days. He did get sick more often last winter, but that was it. Didn't treat, and nothing ever happened - and believe me, he drank plenty! He actually cut back his drinking for health reasons - starting to plan to run a marathon. Then you have my cousin, upstate. His wife got severely ill like me, and he just had a few aches and pains. They both tested positive. Makes you wonder.......

You Know Chapelle, that is something to wonder definitely, I have been sick Mainly psychologically, although I do have the issue where my heart will beat slowed or fast there is really no inbetween, even tho doc said I had a good ekg? I don't know but yea it is something to wonder, I'm still confused by the whole thing myself. I don't feel normal by any means, but I don't really feel at 30 percent like I used to, now on a good day I am about 70% so it's odd to me.

I am trying to make changes by stopping drinking, tying to eat better(the best I can with what money I have) and I am just trying to stay a bit positive about it all, I have been tested twice for lyme with Elisa and both came back negative(I know it is a cruddy test,lol) I can't do much of anything that costs too much or too expensive right now, but I am at least trying to make some lifestyle changes and also incorporating at least 20 minutes of exercises a day to stay active, where else should I go from here? Can't see an LLMD at the moment cause I do not have the funds at the moment.

Were you ever treated forthe tick bite? The drinking probably is just distracting you, if you start a healthy life style you will notice a difference.

I was only treated with 2 weeks of doxy back in May, you know the whole 100mg two times a day and you're "cured" bull. That was te only treating I ever had. Man this is one depressing disease, how come cause of one little bug bite our lives have to be altered forever? This just ain't right man, not right at all, now I read stories about people dying from the stuff now my anxiety is even 10x higher, ugh this is messed up. Don't mean to get depressing here, I just think it's ridiculous for anyone to have to put up with this.

First of all, sorry you're going through this - it can be a bit depression, you're right, but at least we all have each other!

A couple of thoughts...

Given that your symptoms are mainly psychological as you said, perhaps the tick that bit you was carrying one of the other co-infections and not lyme itself? Unfortunately even with tons of doctors and testing and all of that it's really hard to know for sure either way.

I've noticed similar things, when I take steps back from treatment and "live a little" (translation: indulge in all the crap that I know is bad for me) my symptoms do ease up a bit but I don't think it's for a very good reason...

...kind of a catch 22 of this disease - feeling worse usually means getting better (herxing)...by the same token, sometimes feeling better means getting worse. Personally I think that when you eat poorly and don't sleep well and drink and smoke and overall tax and stress the body, you're suppressing your immune system's ability to fight this disease, meaning letting it take a stronger foothold, reproduce more, and creating a better environment for the bacteria to thrive.

It is so tough sometimes though, to choose to do the things that feel worse but are good for you in the long run, especially when it seems like doing all the wrong things gives you some relief!

There is a lot to be said for still enjoying your life while sick, just make sure when you do indulge it's really worth it - I try to only indulge in "bad" things when I feel like the benefit outweighs the risk.

Good luck!

I would find a llmd, get re-tested, some of the tests might reveal if you are still making antibodies, if you still have high antibodies... you still have lyme, or could still be infected, best case scenario: you are still healing and need to give yourself time to heal, worse case: you still have it... understand that if you have anxiety, alcohol and tobacco use magnifies anxiety and it takes a long time to heal from lyme... also the lyme bacteria goes into many different forms... making that low of a dose of doxy not as effective and only prevents bacteria from multiplying, stay away from bad habits, yes I am a hypocrit as im trying to quit smokung completely... i still smoke 3 cigs a day! Lol but its bad for everyone especially us when we need rid our bodies of toxins! Good Luck

Right Agreed traveler! Lol I kind of debated with myself after that! Not all people who have lyme show anything on the tests but the tests like an igenex might be helpful in telling where the infection stands, all in all Lyme sucks!

Right! Or past infections... its so darn complicated, and frustrating! Its so over looked too!

Okay well now I am 1000% sure the lyme is still there, as last night my arm and hand were twitching the whole night like crazy. I know it's from lyme because what else could it be from? I can't see an LLMD right now as I said cause I am too broke for it but I could prob start on a cheap herbal protocol so I will have to look into that, I do have a lot of doxycycline but I do not want to take abx without being under supervision of a doctor first. I'll have to see what I can do.

Dolph, go to Lymetap.com, I havent read. Into it but ypu mightbe able to get some financial assistance, check into it... like I said Im not sure how or if it works but i came across it while researching