Lyme, You are Getting On My Nerves!

Seriously. Lyme on my nerves. Literally. And figuratively. Six months of the diet restrictions, mega-vitamins/supplements and here you are still. Rearing your ugly head. My hands are weird again.

Everyday is a constant battle of making sure I am taking care of myself enough or I get out of whack.  I'm a mom, an elderly care-giver, and a yoga-teacher who takes care of many, so sometimes its hard to be so focused on my needs. So its been challenging to say the least.

This disease changes and morphs so fast its hard for the body to keep up.

This nerve thing lately. I am blaming it on sugar. I have been cheating and having a few yogurt pretzels here one day, a couple small cookies there the next day. Other than my one daily cheat sometimes though, no sugar, or even honey. Ugh! Lymies love that sugar.

The weirdness in my hands and feet is a deal-breaker. I am a yogi. So this is particularly disturbing.

So I turned to my guru. I ask, "natural remedies for nerve-damage due to Lyme disease." 

Low and behold my google guru tells me: "Mycoplasma, a cell wall deficient bacteria and a common Lyme Disease co-infection, can actually carry part of the host's cell membrane on their surface when it leaves nerve cells.  This leads the immune system to believe that the host's antigen is a threat and it attacks its own host in what is known as an autoimmune response.  The immune system attacks the myelin sheath causing further nerve damage." Source

Nerves that are damaged can't effectively conduct electrical impulses. The result is numbness, tingling, pain, weakness and burning sensations.

The good news is that peripheral nerves, the ones running to my toes and fingers, possess the ability to regenerate and heal themselves. Phew.

My guru tells me that St. John's Wort could help. 

St. John's wort is known for its ability to repair nerve damage and reduce pain and inflammation. As an added bonus, it's supposed to be helpful for treating depression. Heck, a little more happy power won't hurt.

Less than a day after starting St. John's Wart, the feeling in my feet and hands started to come back. A week later and I'm feeling almost back at peak performance with my hands. Here I am, fingers just flowing freely without the dumbness I was starting to get with them.

I am so thankful for effective natural remedies, and the ones who came before me that figured them out. I really don't want to go back on antibiotics, that seem to reduce effectiveness over time.

Namaste

The Domestic Yogi

PS I order a lot of my herbs online at www.iherb.com. If you use my code GQJ111 you will get $10 off your first order over $40, or $5 off smaller orders.