June 12 Update

Happy almost summer. My favorite season!

First - an update on where I am. Currently headed to Charleston, SC for a long weekend to visit friends. Ahh the stuff I have to pack to bring with me to keep my body feeling good. Here is how I pack self-care items to ensure I have everything I need just in case. Pre Lyme, I would bring allergy meds and an inhaler and be on the go. Post Lyme, here it is:

• POTS stuff (So POTS can be an expression of the tick borne illness. Babesia and bartonella both can express as POTs because the infection acts as a neuro toxin and can wreck havoc on your nervous system, and for me this is exactly what happened. While these symptoms are much better now I am in treatment, they can still flare and when they do, it's extremely debilitating. So when I travel, I focus alot of how to prevent and manage if this happens. So I pack:

  • Electrolyte tabs, salt chewables, compression stockings.

  • A hot water bottle. This can be very soothing at night if I have a hard time sleeping. I use this often.

• All daily medications and supplements- which is alot. I don't bring all the bottles I only bring the quantity I need otherwise I would need a suitcase for them!

• Mast Cell stabilizers - more on this in another post, but this is quercitin, vit C, extra zrtec, pepcid, motrin, benedryl.

• Digestive aids

• Detox support - charcoal, chlorella

• Sleep aids - just in case. It is not unusual for me to get insomnia when I travel. I have to be very prepared for this. I bring all kinds of RX, ambien etc, in addition to benedryl and magnesium. If I could I would bring TCH gummies, because these WORK.

Also -

• Milton and King just launched a nature inspired wallpaper series. I love it. Considering if this fits in my house somewhere.

• Otzi the Ice man with Lyme disease - one of the first bodies to be identified with Lyme disease, only 5300 years old! This may defy conspiracy theories that the Lyme bacteria was created in a lab. But btw, just because he has Lyme in his system does not mean he suffered with symptoms. I have no opinion whatsoever on how Lyme originated but I find this very interesting. If Lyme bacteria has been around this long, why are cases seemingly rising? Could it be that our immune systems are getting weaker and weaker so therefore we are just sucumbing to the infection more now than before? Our weakened bodies just can't fight it? This is very curious.

• Joy as a radical act - A recent article on finding joy from Tricycle magazine.