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How does one detox for Lyme disease? 

The conversations regarding Lyme disease have been exploding in the gut health community. So today’s episode is focusing on the topic.

Detox for Lyme Disease (Episode 99 with Dr. Bill Rawls)

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What is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is caused by a corkscrew bacteria known as bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.

Its shape gives it the unique ability to burrow deep into tissue and dig its way in, which is part of the reason this infection can be so hard to fight off.

It often hides deep in connective tissue, such as joints, which is part of the reason it can cause symptoms such as joint pain.

Since b. burgdorferi does not hide in the bloodstream, and instead in the tissue, most of the conventional tests are highly inaccurate.

Blood tests used by conventional doctors such as the western blot blood test are known to miss Lyme in 50-80% of patients.

Lyme Disease Symptoms

Lyme disease causes a wide range of symptoms. 

Here are some of the most common symptoms one might experience:

• a rash at the point of infection; may become clear in the center and look like a target or bull’s-eye
• fever.
• headache
• extreme fatigue, and other flu-like symptoms
• joint pain and stiffness
• other muscle aches and pains
• swollen lymph nodes
• brain fog

Besides these early signs and symptoms, as the disease progresses, Mayo Clinic says patients may experience things like:

• rashes on other parts of the body
• neck pain or stiffness
• muscle weakness on one or both sides of the face
• immune-system activity in heart tissue that causes irregular heartbeats
• pain that starts from the back and hips and spreads to the legs
• pain, numbness or weakness in the hands or feet
• painful swelling in tissues of the eye or eyelid
• immune-system activity in eye nerves that causes pain or vision loss

Lyme Disease Diagnosis

As I’ve already stated, 

Blood tests used by conventional doctors such as the western blot blood test are known to miss Lyme in 50-80% of patients.

Dr. Rawls confirms this as well.

​The best practice is to get an early diagnosis and to treat it immediately.

And this diagnosis is typically from symptoms and the likelihood that the patient has been exposed to infected blacklegged ticks.

Lab testing is a simple blood test which tests for antibodies, but again this is not always accurate. The two main reasons as given directly from the CDC include:

• Infection with other diseases, including some tickborne diseases, or some viral, bacterial, or autoimmune diseases, can result in false positive test results.
• Some tests give results for two types of antibody, IgM and IgG.  Positive IgM results should be disregarded if the patient has been ill for more than 30 days.

Chronic Lyme Disease

During the episode, Dr. Rawls discusses both acute and chronic Lyme disease. He mentions that our current healthcare system focuses on acute vs. chronic Lyme disease. And, he makes note, that this is the wrong approach for the long term.

The way to true wellness is by addressing the root cause. 

He says that, in his own experience, Lyme lays dormant in many people. 

And this could go back to both early detection and unreliability of testing for tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease.

Treating Lyme disease

There are many ways to go about the treatment of Lyme disease, but Dr. Rawls’ best suggestion is to understand the idea that Lyme treatment isn’t as effective if we’re not addressing the underlying causes.

And not addressing those underlying causes results in the condition becoming a chronic disease.

He states on the episode,

Disease doesn’t happen in a silo.

Dr. Bill Rawls

​He then also states, 

Cellular stress is the root of all illness.

Dr. Bill Rawls

To that extent, here are some things he mentions to consider for addressing it all.

1. Dietary changes
2. Addressing slow motility
3. Detoxing your entire life:

• heavy metals
• mold in the house
• getting more sleep
• exercising
• using an infrared sauna to move blood
• assisting with herbal therapy (they mesh well with our body; help to balance the gut)
  • Turmeric
  • Rhodiola
  • Ashwagandha
  • Cat’s Claw
  • Chinese Skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis)
  • Andrographis

And here are more ways, with regards to the above for one to consider on their personal journey with healing Lyme disease:

1. ​Taking epsom salt baths.
2. Calming the nervous system.
3. Taking the right nutritional supplements for boosting the immune system. These might include:
   1. Magnesium
   2. Grape Seed extract
   3. Vitamin B-complex
   4. Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil)
   5. Probiotics
   6. Mushroom extract (Dr. Rawls mentions Reishi in particular)
   7. Turmeric
   8. Olive leaf
   9. Vitamin C
   10. Coenzyme Q10
4. Opening up the detoxification pathways

Sources: HERE, and HERE

And, of course, with Lyme disease or any other chronic illness, one of the best ways to support your body from a holistic standpoint is to boost the immune system.

With Lyme disease, your immune system weakens over time, making it less able to fight off acute infections.

Wrap-Up

As always, a huge goal for this show is to connect with even more people. Feel free to send an email to our team at podcast@agutsygirl.com. We want to hear questions, comments, show ideas, etc.

Did you enjoy this episode? Please drop a comment below or leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Bio: Dr. Bill Rawls

As a 4th-generation physician, Bill Rawls, MD has dedicated his life to medicine.

But when faced with a personal health crisis in his late forties with Lyme disease, everything changed.

In his quest to regain his health, Dr. Rawls was confronted with the limitations of conventional medicine and knew he had to find his own path to restore wellness.

For the past 15 years, he has extensively studied the science behind herbal therapies and new sustainable approaches for protecting health.

Today, Dr. Rawls shares the revelations that helped him and thousands of others reclaim their lives.

Dr. Rawls is a leading expert in integrative health and Medical Director of Vital Plan, a holistic health and herbal supplement company in Raleigh, NC.

He is the best-selling author of Unlocking Lyme, and his most recent book, The Cellular Wellness Solution: Tap Into Your Full Health Potential with the Science-Backed Power of Herbs.  

If you liked this podcast episode on detox for Lyme disease, you might also enjoy:

1. Food Sensitivities {Episode 38 with Erin Holt}
2. Complete List of Common Digestive Issues
3. Cellular Healing {+ Diet Food List} {Episode 56 with Paola Xhuli}

Xox,
SKH