What do you make of this?

[LaurenK]

I was thinking of starting my son on the GAPS diet, invented by Natasha Mcbride. I was reading her FAQ and Lyme disease came up. Here's what she wrote. Wondering what some other parents here make of it:

 

 

LYME DISEASE

Many people are coming to the GAPS diet with or after having been treated for Lyme

disease. What are your recommendations for these individuals?

I recommend that you follow the Introduction Diet. If you find it too difficult, then

implement the Full GAPS Diet first; you may be able to do the Intro diet later. The

standard treatment for Lyme disease is antibiotics, lots of them. So, the gut flora in these

people is damaged and needs restoring

.

Is the GAPS diet enough to eradicate Lyme disease or do we need to do something else

to deal with this infection?

Lyme disease is fashionable at the moment, as our medicine goes through fashions all the

time; all sorts of problems are blamed on Lyme disease today.

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria of the family Borrelia which are transmitted by ticks.

The natural hosts for ticks are wild animals, such as deer, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits

and other animals. Borrelia has been in existence for a long time, possibly longer than us,

humans. Yet Lyme disease has become so common only recently despite the fact that

contact with wild animals is very minimal in our modern urbanised populations. So, what

happened? A very big thing happened in the recent few decades: our immune systems gotcompromised by our modern life-styles and the environment which we, humans, have

created. A good demonstration of this is what is happening to the bee population in the

industrialised world: the bees are dying out. They are dying out from a couple of

opportunistic infections, which they used to be resistant to only a few decades ago. Why?

Because their immunity has been compromised by all the spraying of the countryside

done by our modern agriculture. We, humans, are no different. When your immune

system is not working properly, you become susceptible to all sorts of infections, which

used to be harmless.

People who suffer from chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, peripheral neuropathy,

autoimmunity and other degenerative conditions, recently blamed on Lyme disease, are

immune-compromised. The fact that Borrelia has been discovered by our science does

not mean that it is the answer to these problems: when the immune system is disabled, all

sorts of microbes can be at work, many of which we have not even discovered yet. And

indeed antibiotic treatment for Borrelia does not eradicate chronic degenerative

conditions, despite the fact that tests may show that this bacterium is gone. Very powerful

antibiotics are used to treat Lyme disease, often intravenously and long-term. Antibiotics

are not harmless! Healthy bodily flora is the most essential factor in keeping your

immunity healthy. Antibiotics will destroy that factor very effectively, making your

immune system even more disabled, making you even more vulnerable to Borrelia or any

other pathogen.

So, if you suffer from a chronic degenerative condition and had a positive test for Lyme

disease, don’t rush to have antibiotics. What you need to rush to do is to restore your

immune system. Number one intervention is the food you eat! If you have digestive

symptoms, follow the GAPS Nutritional Protocol. If your digestion is OK, follow the

Weston A Price-type diet. As your immune system starts working again, it will deal with

Borrelia and lots of other microbes, which you don’t even need to know about. A good

percent of people, who test positive for Borrelia, have no symptoms and are healthy and well. Why? Because their immune systems are working properly! And make no mistake:

well-functioning human immune system is infinitely cleverer, than any doctor or

scientist!

The only exception is a fresh Borrelia infection from a recent tick bite (which was tested

and identified as such), which manifested with typical symptoms of a fresh Borrelia

infection: erythema migrans (a typical circular skin rash) in combination with flu-like

symptoms of fever, malaise and aching joints and muscles. A course of antibiotics in this

situation is sensible. While taking antibiotics take all the essential steps to boost your

immunity with diet and protect your gut flora with a good quality probiotic. Following

the GAPS diet or the WAPF-type diet will restore your immune system long-term.

The question about eradicating Borrelia: why eradicate? If somebody did a study of

testing everybody for this parasite, they may find that the majority of the population has

it, just as the majority of the population has H pylori in their stomachs. We do know that

about 70-80% of people who test positive for H pylori are healthy and have no

symptoms. Should we try to eradicate H pylori in all of them, exposing them to powerful

antibiotics? Absolutely not! Vast majority of microbes on this planet are not our enemies,

they are our friends! What every one of us has to do is to find a balance, a harmony

between the myriad of microbes living on us and inside us and our immune systems. So,

focus on feeding, nourishing and nurturing your immune system, rather than killing,

attacking or eradicating anything.

[MichaelTampa]

Agree with all of it except that long-term problems she listed along with lyme can be fixed with diet. Sure that is important but things can get so bad with lyme and the other accompanying insults she mentions that just diet is not going to do it. The digestive situation can get so bad that the body cannot take what others might take from good food, and so healing is not going to take place from food and nutrition when the body can't even use that. (I would add, as an extreme example of this, the child of the poster on this board who cannot even eat and instead is/was getting nutrition from IV.) I couldn't make any headway that way until something more specific towards lyme is given. I did that with abx and herbs and other things all at once, and there are plenty of very substantial lyme treatments that are not abx. So I don't want to say abx is necessary, but I do want to say very substantial/dramatic treatments are going to be necessary in many cases, well beyond just diet.

Edited December 29, 2011 by MichaelTampa

[SSS]

Some individuals have their own set of beliefs on how to cure/get rid of/it was never really there, it's truly something else/

Lyme disease.

 

Here, the article indicates she believes it is food and diet alone.

Andrew Cutler, and the AC chelation folks gang, believe it is all mercury and you just need to chelate for 3 years and the body will be fully restored, no problems left.

Others believe strictly constitutional homeopathy will be the cure all.

 

I've (for my dd) have done all 3 things (couldn't chelate past 5 weekends tho- exploded with bacteria/pandas)

Did full on strict food protocol for a solid 2 years, and worked with 2 of the best homeopathics available-

and here we are with Lyme and co-infections treating with antibiotics, herbs, many immune system support supplements, the best, healthiest food I can get in,

and about a $300 a month probiotic bill.

 

So, I don't know. Maybe the other avenues may work for some, didn't for us.

The LLMD is the last house on the block here.

[sf_mom]

We've cast the net far in hopes it will all make a difference.

 

Like S & S said......... some believe they can cure with just antibiotics, just diet, just minerals, just herbals, just detox, just the right cranial adjustments, just the right internal PH balance, just treating viruses, just treating mold, etc. In our experience its been little bit everything and not one thing has been the complete answer. Healing takes time. Its a balancing act of what feels appropriate, what is doable, expense, Dr.'s, how your child is impacted (infections, viruses, mold, food allergies, environmental toxin) and what is working.

 

We have found comfort in the integrative LLMD approach and their willingness to address every aspect of the immune dysfunction. I recommend reading the book 'Insights To Lyme Treatment' to understand the different approaches to treating and to help you determine what suits your situation. I read it when our family was first diagnosed and it helped direct us to a good Dr. I recently reread the book after 16 months of treating and so much more resonated with me..... my knowledge of the illness has grown along with our experience of treating.

 

Good luck. A specific diet has been helpful but not the complete answer for us.

[Familyof5]

Absolutely everyone has their own experiences. So here is what I think (and have experienced), indoor mold toxins have exploded in the last few decades causing more autoimmune illness. Because we have built homes that are so air tight it has allowed indoor mold toxins to flourish without typical "outdoor" mold competitors. This has genetically altered the indoor toxins and made them stronger and more potent and harmful to our health. More so than most people are ready to embrace. Chronic exposure to these toxins (from birth on for our children) compromise our immune systems so that we are not able to handle bacteria such as lyme, strep, we develop food intolerances that inflame our immune systems such as gluten, lactose, corn, etc. That is why making all these changes and casting the net wide helps us get better, but never completely well. I have had to be fanatical about removing mold toxins from my life in order to heal. Then all the other problems seem to resolve---slowly (3 years) but we are making very strong progress and haven't been healthier in years. I believe mold is a huge contributor to autoimmune illness, and mold is almost always invisible.

 

Summary = I think mold is a larger culprit (if not the #1) to these illness than most people consider.

 

Just my personal experience.

[SSS]

Familyof5, may I ask:

Did you and your family also have positive Lyme and co-infections?

Did you all have to treat for that, as well?

Thank you.

[Familyof5]

I was the first in the family to realize I was ill and I searched and searched for help from many different doctors. The llmd I saw said I tested positive (western blot) and was ready to begin treatment when in casual discussion I told him about the mold in my office. When I told him about mold, he pulled the prescription back and referred me to an environmental doc in Maryland. So, I never was treated for lyme, but would have been had I not mentioned my mold exposure.

[SSS]

Thank you for sharing all of your mold knowledge and helping others with it-

awesome your family is better.