In this episode of the Life Beyond Lyme podcast, I discuss 7 of the most common symptoms of a Lyme disease flare-up and how to alleviate flare-up symptoms with nutrition, supplement, and lifestyle strategies.
I also wrote an article on this topic that I encourage you to check out!
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Episode Notes
- Study showing that acetaminophen reduces glutathione levels
- Study showing that glutathione is needed to support the immune response to Lyme disease
- Study showing that NSAID use increases the risk of chronic pain
- My article about the Lyme disease and leaky gut connection
- Mini-course by Lymph Love Club about how to perform self-lymphatic massage
- My article about the MCAS diet, including information about the low-histamine diet
Episode Transcript
Hi, this is Lindsay Christensen, functional nutritionist and expert on using nutrition and lifestyle to support healing from Lyme disease and complex chronic illnesses. This is the Life Beyond Lyme podcast, where I’ll help you navigate the confusing world of chronic illness recovery, so you can reclaim your health and live your life to the fullest. Each week, I’ll dive into a new topic related to chronic illness recovery. We’ll talk about health challenges such as Lyme disease, mold illness, and mast cell activation disorder, and how nutrition and lifestyle changes can help you heal. My goal with this podcast is to provide you with evidence-based and actionable information that will empower you in your healing journey. I hope you enjoy the podcast!
Hello, and welcome to Episode 4 of the Life Beyond Lyme podcast. In this episode, I’m going to cover some of my favorite tried and true nutrition, supplement, and lifestyle strategies that can help you recover when you’re dealing with a Lyme disease flare-up. Before we get started, please recall that the information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only, does not constitute medical advice, and is not intended to replace medical treatment. While I am a nutritionist, I am not your nutritionist. So please do consult with your healthcare provider before trying any of the strategies discussed in this podcast. All right, let’s dive into the topic of Lyme disease flare-ups and what to do about them!
Chances are, if you’ve been diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease or another chronic tick-borne infection, such as Bartonella, or Babesia, you’ve probably dealt with a flare-up at some point. The Lyme disease and tick-borne illness healing process usually is not a linear process, and for most Lyme patients, the recovery process includes many ups and downs including occasional flare-ups. Lyme flare-ups can be triggered by any stressor that really upsets your body’s homeostatic inflammatory balance. Some potential factors that can do that include taking a new antibiotic, for example, like a new antibiotic for Lyme disease, or possibly even an antibiotic for another reason. Taking a new antimicrobial herb or multiple antimicrobial herbs can sometimes trigger a flare-up. So can psychological stress whether that’s caused by stress at work, or at school, or even in your relationships. A lack of sleep can trigger a flare-up, especially if this lack of sleep continues over the course of multiple nights. And then hormonal fluctuations, especially in women can trigger line flare-ups too. This is something I’ve experienced myself, and many of my clients have experienced this as well. Hormonal fluctuations that may trigger a Lyme flare-up include the fluctuations in female sex hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone, that occur over the course of the menstrual cycle. Especially a flare-up may occur in the seven days leading up to the onset of the menstrual cycle.
And then also in some women, pregnancy can be a trigger for a Lyme flare-up to due to the very dramatic changes in hormones and hormone levels that are occurring during that stage of life. When a Lyme flare-up is triggered by Lyme or tick-borne illness treatment itself, it’s often referred to as a Herxheimer, or “die-off” reaction. And interestingly enough, I did some research into this and I found a scientific journal article that I’ll link to in the show notes for this episode, where there was actually a definition provided for a Herxheimer reaction. I thought that was pretty interesting! So, this paper defined a Herxheimer reaction as “a transient clinical phenomenon that occurs in patients infected by spirochetes who undergo antibiotic treatment. There’s a fair amount of jargon in there so in plain English, what that statement is saying is that a Herxheimer reaction is a reaction that occurs when we take antibiotics, either pharmaceutical or herbal that began killing off Lyme disease bacteria inside our bodies. When this killing-off process occurs, not only are we getting toxic byproducts and dead bacteria released into our circulation, but also our immune system may become more active as well. And both the release of toxic byproducts and the activation of immune cells can elicit an inflammatory reaction. So at its root, a Herxheimer reaction really is an inflammatory reaction that your body is experiencing in response to the dying off of these bacteria and other microorganisms that shouldn’t be in there.
The Herxheimer reactions experienced by Lyme patients are usually transient, but they can be very uncomfortable. For some Lyme patients, the Herxheimer reaction is longer; it may go on for a couple of weeks or more. So, while it’s short-lived, for some it can be longer for others. So this is why it’s really crucial that we have tools on board for helping our bodies detoxify and reduce inflammation during a Herxheimer reaction. And then Lyme disease flare-ups can also be caused by factors other than your Lyme treatment itself. And I just discussed a few potential reasons for that ranging from psychological stress to lack of sleep, to hormonal fluctuations.
A little insight into my journey here – personally, I’ve dealt with Herxheimer reactions caused both by line treatment itself and triggered by stress. And in fact, I used to be highly reactive to basically anything that I tried to take to address Lyme, whether it was an antibiotic or herbs, IV treatments, or sauna therapy. So, I’ve been there myself. So physical reactions to treatments were common for me. But stress has also always been an important potential trigger for lying flare ups in my body. A number of years ago, when I was still completing my undergraduate education and really still struggling with Lyme disease. At the same time, I had this really consistent pattern where at the end of every semester of college, I would have a major Lyme flare-up where my brain fog would get really bad, fatigue would become debilitating. I couldn’t read more than a few sentences in a textbook before I forgot what I had just read. And I think it occurred because of the buildup of psychological stress, you know, related to studying really hard and working really hard over the course of a college semester. And that would tend to blow up on me at the end of each semester. And then more recently to provide another example of a prominent factor that could potentially trigger a Lyme flare-up would be COVID infections. So back in September of 2022, I did catch COVID. And while I recovered from it fairly quickly, just in time to go on my honeymoon, actually, it did rev up some of the symptoms that I attribute to Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses that I have had to manage since then. So that’s another potential trigger. I have noticed that a lot of Lyme patients go into treatment with the perspective that having these Herxheimer or die-off reactions is inevitable. And while I think it’s good to be prepared for a potential die-off reaction, I would say it’s not inevitable and also going into treatment with that mindset may set you up for more significant negative reactions potentially. If you follow my work at all, you know that one of my major perspectives I take that I think is different from some other Lyme literate providers is that I think you should be able to live your life as fully as possible and feel your best, even while you’re going through Lyme disease treatment. So my perspective is you should be able to manage Herxheimer or die-off reactions during your Lyme treatment as well as you possibly can so that you can feel your best and function your best while you’re going through treatment and not have to wait until some ill-defined date in the future where your treatment will be done.
Incorporating nutrition, supplements, and lifestyle strategies to manage flare-ups is a key part of the process that will allow you to live well while you’re recovering from Lyme. So what are some potential symptoms of Lyme disease flare-up? Well, symptoms can really run the gamut. I’m going to highlight seven key symptoms that can occur during a Lyme disease flare-up, and then I’m going to talk a little bit more detail about natural strategies that you can utilize to address the symptoms and calm down those die-off or Herxheimer reactions related to a Lyme flare-up.
So, potential symptoms of a Lyme disease flare-up can include joint pain, as well as joint stiffness, inflammation, swelling, increased fatigue, brain fog, stomach pain, other gastrointestinal symptoms, such as constipation, headaches, and a sensitivity to bright lights, heat, noise, sense, and possibly also to medications and supplements.
A big mistake that I see people with Lyme disease make is that they embark on medical treatment for Lyme with antibiotics or herbs, IV therapies, etc. But they don’t have any strategies in place for addressing die-off reactions. In my experience, my personal experience as well as my experience working with hundreds of clients with Lyme disease, I found that this way of approaching things can make for a really rocky road with Lyme disease treatment. It’s really ideal to have a toolkit of strategies in place for addressing your die-off reactions, potential die off reactions, that is before you get started with Lyme treatment. Alright, so let’s dive into seven of the most common symptoms of a Lyme disease flare-up and some natural strategies that you can use alongside your medical treatment to calm down the symptoms so you can feel better faster.
Alright, symptom number one of a Lyme disease flare -up tends to be joint pain. And this can include sore and stiff joints, cracking joints, as well as soreness and stiffness in other parts of the body like stiffness in the neck or cracking in the neck could be another common symptom. The reason why the joints and connective tissues more broadly speaking can be impacted during a Lyme flare-up is that Borrelia burgdorferi, which is one of the members of the borrelia bacteria family that causes Lyme disease, really loves to hang out in the body’s collagen-rich tissues, including joint tissues. And actually this is one way that Borrelia can hide itself from our immune systems is by hanging out in collagen-rich tissues. So when for example, we start to take antibiotics or herbs that have the ability to kill off Borrelia, if it is in connective tissue, what can happen is that an inflammatory response can develop in those joints or other connective tissues, leading to aches and pains in those parts of the body.
There’s definitely a time and a place for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs, and things like acetaminophen for relieving pain and inflammation related to Lyme. However, these drugs are not without side effects. And I think a couple of these side effects are particularly relevant for individuals with Lyme disease. So in the case of acetaminophen for example, there’s research showing that acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol can deplete glutathione levels in our body, and research indicates that we really need glutathione as part of our immune response to fight Lyme disease.
We also need glutathione for managing inflammation levels and for detoxification purposes. So it’s very unlikely that taking acetaminophen once or twice, or even a few more times than that would cause issues but chronic use may lead to a chronic depletion of glutathione, which could potentially impair your Lyme recovery process. And then to provide another example, we know that ibuprofen, which is an NSAID, can promote leaky gut. Leaky gut is a condition in which gaps developed between cells lining the intestine. And when leaky gut occurs, it allows various substances inside the intestine, such as bacteria, bacterial toxins, food proteins, and other toxins to potentially leak from the inside of the gut into your bloodstream, also known as your systemic circulation. And when your immune system sees those substances in circulation, it goes on high alert and launches an inflammatory response that can actually contribute to chronic pain. So ibuprofen, while it can be helpful for short-term use, by triggering leaky gut it could potentially perpetuate pain. And then people with Lyme disease are also susceptible to leaky gut for other reasons. So this is a you know, very pertinent reason to maybe rethink using ibuprofen for joint pain management.
And then a third factor to consider with Ibuprofen is that there’s some recent research indicating that it may actually increase pain over the long term by interfering with pain resolution pathways in the body. So that’s pretty alarming. So what can we use instead of NSAIDs and acetaminophen for managing pain and inflammation? My number one recommendation would be to implement an anti-inflammatory diet that avoids foods that are common inflammatory triggers such as added sugars, refined carbohydrates, and industrial seed oils like soybean oil and corn oil, and canola oil. People who have food sensitivities may also do well removing the foods that they are sensitive to from their diets for a period of time to alleviate joint pain during a Lyme flare-up. A good example would be gluten. Gluten is a common inflammatory trigger for many of my clients with Lyme disease. So removing it for many of them can help, if they’ve been eating any of it, get inflammation and inflammatory symptoms like joint pain under check during a Lyme flare-up. And then there are a few supplements that can also be helpful for addressing drink pain during a Lyme flare-up including curcumin, CBD, and a special omega-three fatty acid derivative known as specialized pro-resolving mediators or SPMs.
Curcumin is a compound found in turmeric root. You would need to eat quite a bit of turmeric root to get a therapeutic amount of curcumin for joint pain. So typically, I like to utilize a curcumin supplement to help address joint pain. It’s important to look for a curcumin supplement that provides curcumin in a very bioavailable form, meaning a very absorbable form. So many of the practitioner-grade curcumin supplements on the market utilize technologies that make the curcumin more absorbable. And that curcumin in turn has a broad spectrum of anti-inflammatory properties in the body. And it’s been well-studied for alleviating joint pain related to rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. So it follows that there could be some joint pain relief potentially in the context of Lyme disease. And that is what I’ve found to be true in practice as well.
Cannabidiol, or CBD, can also be helpful for alleviating aches and pains, including joint pain [related to a Lyme flare-up]. It’s really important to go through a reputable resource for CBD supplementation, and to make sure that you’re consuming enough of it to have a therapeutic effect. I’m no expert on CBD. But typically I’ll recommend that clients look for a product that contains at least 50 milligrams of CBD per serving. A lot of the CBD products on the market, if you read the ingredients label closely, you’ll see that the product actually contains very little CBD, it’s almost a bit of a rip-off. So you just want to make sure you’re reading the labels carefully and picking a CBD product that actually contains an amount of CBD that’s going to have a positive effect on joint pain and inflammation.
All right, and then SPMs. This is the omega-three derivative that I was referring to earlier. SPMs are kind of a newer kid on the block for alleviating inflammation and pain. You can take them in a supplemental form. I won’t name names for SPM supplements here on the podcast, but if you have a healthcare provider who’s trained in functional medicine, you can ask them if they have a favorite SPM supplement. And if you’re a client of mine listening to this podcast, you’re welcome to ask me about it.
But basically, these SPMs are derived from fish oil, and they provide really potent anti-inflammatory effects that we don’t necessarily get just by consuming fish oil or fish alone. We would need to consume quite a bit of fish oil or actual seafood to get a sufficient amount of these SPMs formed in our bodies to reduce inflammation. So supplementation with these can be really helpful. Alright, let’s move on to Lyme flare-up symptom number two, which is fatigue.
It almost goes without saying but if you’re dealing with extra fatigue, more fatigue than your norm related to a flare-up, it’s crucial that you take time to rest. Cut extraneous stressors out of your life. Make sure you’re not taking on more obligations than you can realistically handle so that you can not only give your body a break, but also give your mind a break as well. That’s really crucial for recovery.
Optimizing your sleep is also essential for addressing Lyme-related fatigue during a flare-up. I think optimizing your sleep sounds pretty simple, but there are actually a number of things that people miss out on here that could potentially be significantly depreciating their sleep quality. One of those big factors would be caffeine intake. Many of us utilize caffeine regularly, especially during a Lyme flare-up to support our energy levels when we’re feeling really low energy. However, if you’re consuming that caffeine later than noon, you may still have enough caffeine in your circulation when you’re going to bed at night, it can interfere with your sleep cycles and reduce the restorative quality of your sleep. The quarter-life of caffeine is about 12 hours. And there’s some variance here, based on genetics and other factors that impact caffeine metabolism, but in general, it’s around 12 hours. So that means if you have caffeine at noon or later, you’re still going to have some in your circulation during the middle of your sleep cycle. And there’s research showing that that can interfere with the quality of our sleep. And even if you have no difficulty falling asleep after consuming that afternoon caffeine, by reducing the quality of your sleep, it may interfere with your energy over the long term. So I always recommend trying to cut off your caffeine intake by noon, as much as possible and especially during a Lyme flare-up.
And then another big factor to consider regarding sleep and sleep quality is making sure that you really have a solid sleep hygiene routine in place. That’s going to optimize your body’s ability to enter into sleep mode and get high-quality sleep. So some examples of sleep hygiene strategies to be cognizant of would include having a good wind-down routine before bed. That could include doing a guided meditation, wearing blue light-blocking glasses for one to two hours before bed to limit blue light exposure, reading a book before bed or doing something not on a screen, and then also making sure that your bedroom is as dark as possible and free of light pollution. Make sure that your bedroom is cool as well. All of those factors can help improve the restorative quality of your sleep so that you can get more healing bang for your buck from your sleep and in turn improve your fatigue.
Another supplement category that can help with fatigue caused by Lyme flare-up are herbal adaptogens. Adaptogens are a category of herbs that help the body adapt to stress and build resilience. And these really fascinating herbs work through a variety of mechanisms including improving immune function and improving mitochondrial function. Some examples of adaptogens include Asian ginseng, licorice root, schizandra, and Rhodiola. One of my personal favorite adaptogens for those with chronic Lyme and fatigue related to a Lyme flare-up is an herb called Siberian Ginseng, also known as Eleuthero. It’s one of my personal favorites.
A lifestyle strategy that you can try for alleviating Lyme-related fatigue is to support your lymphatic system. Fatigue during a line flare-up can be caused as we discussed earlier, by your body’s inflammatory response to toxins and bacterial die-off as the antibiotics or herbs you’re taking are killing off bacteria and other microbes in your body. And your lymphatic system is one of the main systems responsible for processing these dead bacteria and bacterial byproducts and getting them out of your body. Your lymphatic system is a network of vessels and nodes known as lymph nodes that circulate lymphatic fluid. This system also contains immune cells and some other substances that are part of your immune system. So when bacteria are killed off by something like an antibiotic for Lyme, they are ushered into your lymphatic system so that they can then be filtered from your bloodstream and ultimately disposed of. If you are going through a lot of killing with Lyme antibiotics or herbs, but not supporting your lymphatic system, the lymphatic system can become stagnant and that can really have a major impact on fatigue. Modalities that support lymph flow can make actually a really big difference in how fatigued or not you feel during a Lyme flare-up. Some of my favorite strategies for supporting the lymphatic system include dry skin brushing, which involves using a relatively soft bristle brush on your skin and applying a light pressure in specific movements that helps to stimulate the lymphatic system beneath your skin. Rebounding, which is basically jumping on us a trampoline can be helpful. So can taking regular walks. Walking helps to boost lymph flow by stimulating the skeletal muscles in your legs. And then receiving a professional lymphatic massage from a lymphatic massage therapist can be extraordinarily helpful, and so can self-lymphatic massage strategies as well. I’ll link to some examples of each of those things in the show notes.
One of the most notorious symptoms of Lyme flare-up is increased brain fog. If you’ve dealt with brain fog, it doesn’t really need to be defined because you know it when you feel it. Basically, brain fog is into diagnoseable condition, but it refers to that feeling of being foggy-headed, unable to think clearly. And then associated issues like you know, having a low productivity level at work, not being able to get your job done or complete your studies. Brain fog may be related to brain inflammation caused by Lyme disease and it may also have a connection to the gut, as well; the gut and brain are very tightly connected via the gut-brain access. So, things happening in the gut may drive brain fog and several of the natural strategies that I’ve already discussed, including eating an anti-inflammatory diet and optimizing your sleep can really make a significant difference in easing brain fog during a Lyme flare-up.
However, an additional supplemental strategy that can be useful is to take a binder. Binders are substances that bind to toxins in the gut. So basically, we consume them and they travel to our gut. Once in the gut, these binders can basically mop up toxins that have been released as a byproduct of bacterial die-off or other toxic exposures, essentially preventing those toxins from recirculating throughout our body and causing brain fog. Some examples of binders include activated charcoal, bentonite, clay, and chitosan, which is a substance actually derived from the exoskeleton of shellfish. So, you wouldn’t want to consume that if you’re allergic to shellfish. But there are many different binder options out there and oftentimes, they can be taken in capsule form, or as a powder and mixed with water and can be extraordinarily helpful for brain fog.
Another potential symptom of a Lyme flare-up is stomach pain. I would say the first thing to address here is your diet and make sure that you’re eating an anti-inflammatory diet. If your stomach is feeling really irritated, reducing your intake of acidic foods like coffee and citrus fruits and tomatoes may also be helpful.
And then certain herbal teas, particularly ginger tea and peppermint tea, can be helpful for soothing stomach irritation as well. So, you can often find these teas at the health food store. Traditional Medicinals is a good brand that I often recommend. Try consuming one or both of those teas. Something important to note is that if you have acid reflux or GERD, ginger and peppermint teas can both exacerbate that. So, you would just want to be wary of those teas if you’re dealing with acid reflux or GERD.
All right, so moving on to Lyme flare-up symptom number five, which is constipation. There are few symptoms that are more irritating and honestly awful feeling than constipation. And if you’re currently going through Lyme antibiotic or herbal treatment, constipation is a big no-no. You really need to be having regular bowel movements every single day during your Lyme disease treatment so that your body can “take out the trash” that’s generated when you’re killing off bacteria inside your body. So, if you’re struggling with constipation during your Lyme treatment, it’s really crucial that you get your bowels moving to the point where you’re having at least one bowel movement every day. I know the medical definitions of constipation will often say that going at least several times a week is fine. And honestly, I think that’s ludicrous. We really should be going every single day. So, some things that you can do to address Lyme-related constipation include increasing your fiber intake. I recommend trying to consume at least 30 grams of fiber every day. And that number may not mean a whole lot to you, so if it doesn’t, what I recommend doing is that you track your food intake in a free food tracking app, such as the Cronometer app for several days to see where your fiber intake is at. A quick hint: Many people are not eating 30 grams of fiber per day. Many people are eating far less fiber than that. So, this is a good modifiable variable for addressing constipation. Increasing fiber can be really helpful. And then to accompany that, I often recommend trying to drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily. Ideally, that’s filtered water.
Adding a magnesium supplement can also be useful because magnesium has some natural non-habit-forming laxative effects, meaning it can help draw water into the colon, also known as the large intestine, keeping stool hydrated so that it can be eliminated properly. Also, moving your body regularly is essential for preventing and resolving constipation as well because body movement affects your muscles all throughout your body, including your core that is going to influence gut motility. So being sedentary is a risk factor for constipation, and we want to just move our bodies in any way we can, even during a Lyme flare-up to help prevent constipation.
I will say if you’ve tried all of these strategies, and you’re still dealing with significant constipation during your Lyme treatment process, I strongly recommend working with a functional medicine provider who can help you get to the root of your gut issues, and address any other imbalances that may be driving that constipation.
All right, Lyme flare up symptom number six is headaches. Headaches can be caused by a number of different factors. Brain-related inflammation caused by Lyme and co-infections may be part of the picture. But something that can potentially cause headaches that we can modify through our diet are elevated histamine levels. Histamine has effects on the blood vessels in the brain. And high histamine in turn, can potentially trigger headaches for some people. And for those individuals, a low-histamine diet over the short term can be a helpful strategy for getting headaches for reducing headaches and getting them in check. A low histamine diet essentially is a temporary dietary intervention that reduces histamine in the body by limiting your intake of foods that naturally contain histamine. The critical thing to notice is that this diet should be used temporarily. It should not be a long-term strategy for most people. Examples of foods that are high in histamine that are omitted on the low-histamine diet include aged cuts of beef, such as dry aged steak, fermented foods, including fermented veggies like sauerkraut and kimchi and fermented dairy products like yogurt and kefir and cheese, alcoholic beverages vinegar, chocolate and cacao, cured meats, smoked salmon and canned seafood, bone broth, spinach, tomatoes, avocado, bananas, strawberries, and citrus fruits are all omitted on the low histamine diet due to their high histamine levels or potential to release histamine. It’s important to note these are all in general, maybe with the exception of alcohol, really healthy foods. And that’s why we don’t want to do this diet over the long term. So we’re really using it more as a short-term intervention to help lower our body’s histamine levels to address headaches. I’ll include a link with a bit more information on the low-histamine diet in the show notes for this podcast.
And then a supplement strategy that can be useful for addressing headaches caused by a Lyme flare-up is again, magnesium. In this case, I would use magnesium glycinate because that’s one of the best-absorbed forms of magnesium. In this case, we’re not trying to use magnesium as an osmotic laxative, we’re trying to use it to replenish our body’s levels of magnesium. The anti-inflammatory and regulatory effects of magnesium on blood vessels are part of why magnesium can be helpful for alleviating headaches.
Finally, Lyme flare-up symptom number seven that can occur is heightened sensitivities to various inputs, including bright lights, heat, scents (such as cleaning products, perfume, and dryer sheets), noise, supplements, and medications. If you’re feeling sensitive to multiple of these inputs, during your Lyme flare-up, listen closely because this next recommendation I’m going to give you is a really important one.
Basically, what may be happening when we experience these heightened sensitivities to various triggers during a Lyme flare-up is that our immune system is aggravated and inflamed, but also our nervous system is most likely veering towards this sympathetic fight or flight response. And for many people who’ve dealt with long-term health challenges, the sympathetic fight or flight response has chronically turned on and it is the dominant stress response. And when this stress response is turned on triggers that wouldn’t normally bother us or that wouldn’t normally bother a person who isn’t dealing with a Lyme flare up can become intolerable. My favorite modality for addressing these heightened sensitivities during the line flare-up is to use a modality known as brain retraining.
Brain retraining programs are based on the concept of neuroplasticity, and help shift our nervous system out of the sympathetic fight or flight mode into the parasympathetic, rest, digest and repair mode. The parasympathetic mode is crucial for healing. And it’s also crucial for reducing these heightened sensitivities. When your brain is in a fight or flight mode, it’s far more reactive to environmental factors, like bright lights and noise and, also to foods I might add, as well as medications and supplements. If you feel like you’re sensitive to everything, and you haven’t tried brain retraining, yet, I highly encourage you to give it a shot. By shifting your nervous system out of the fight or flight response into the rest, digest, and repair response, you can help ease your sensitivities to environmental inputs, not only during a Lyme flare-up, but also throughout the rest of your healing process and the rest of your life and really give your body its best opportunity to heal.
I think it’s important to note that brain training is not the same as mindfulness and meditation practices. Though many of the brain retraining programs out there incorporate aspects of mindfulness and meditation into their programs. Three brain retraining programs that I often recommend to clients include the dynamic neural retraining System, also known as DNRS, the Gupta program, and the Vital-Side program.
I hope this review of seven common Lyme flare-up symptoms and some natural strategies you can use to support your body help your body get through these flare-up symptoms has been helpful to you. Most of us will experience a Lyme disease flare-up somewhere along the way in our healing journeys. So, the more prepared we can be to handle these flare-ups, the more smoothly we can ease our bodies through the flare-up symptoms so we can feel better, faster, and live our lives more fully while we’re recovering from Lyme.
This episode doesn’t provide a comprehensive list of every Lyme flare-up symptom or every tool that you can use for that matter to address the symptoms. But I hope the symptoms and tools that I’ve highlighted will help you if you’re finding yourself in a Lyme flare-up.
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes. I would be so appreciative of that. It really will help me reach more people, a larger audience so I can help more individuals with Lyme disease, other tick-borne illnesses, mold illness and mast cell activation syndrome. So that concludes episode four of the Life Beyond Lyme podcast. Thanks again for tuning in and I’ll talk with you again soon!