A hand showing the number four indicating the second pillar of healing lyme - kill bacteria

Kill Bacteria: The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme

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So this is the part that you may have been waiting for. Perhaps you’re surprised that the part where you kill Lyme bacteria didn’t come first. However, I learned the hard way that jumping straight into dealing with the bacteria without establishing a good foundation leads to uncontrolled herxing. It’s not pleasant. And it’s not necessary, either.

The Pillars

The Fourth Pillar of Healing Lyme: Kill Bacteria

When I first began rifing for Lyme using my ESP101, I had no idea what to expect. It seemed as if everyone out there who chose rifing and frequency medicine was using a different type of device. This was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it meant that people who use a Doug Coil machine recover and go on to live their lives. A curse because finding those people became very difficult! 

And that’s the thing with treating Lyme, people often forget to ask a very important question. “How long have you been treating with that protocol?”. If the answer is years and years…. why aren’t you better yet?

My Early Experience

So let’s rewind 3 years. I’d moved back into my parents’ house because I couldn’t manage alone anymore. I’d tried antibiotics, herbal antimicrobials, diet, lifestyle and ‘mindset’ as treatment options and nothing had worked. The most I’d achieved was a few periods of brief symptom remission, in which the Borellia had gone into cyst form. 

Glenn had just finished building the first ever prototype of your ESP101 and I just… gave it a go. 30 seconds on 864hz. Absolutely no clue what we were doing. The following month was just absolutely miserable. MY bacterial load was high, my body was toxic and not doing anything efficiently, and I just went straight in with a highly effective treatment (for far too long!). Lesson learned.

This is why it’s so important to prepare your body for Lyme treatment by *reducing inflammation*, *rebuilding & supporting* what Lyme damages and *detoxing*.  Without laying a good foundation and creating a supportive framework, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle (like I was!).

How To Heal Lyme: Kill Bacteria

Lyme Disease is a massive, systemic infection. Whilst many people can contract Lyme and their immune system deals with it straight away, many more don’t. And if Lyme symptoms are affecting your life enough for you to be reading this, then it’s safe to say that you fall into the latter category, and you need to kill bacteria.

There are generally two groups of people with Lyme infections. Those that get bitten and become very sick, very quickly (like me) and those whose immune systems manage to keep on top of it, but have years of niggling health issues until it comes to a head (like Glenn).

Once a good foundation and framework has been laid, you’ll be noticing that some symptoms are more manageable and your body feels like it’s managing better. And now it’s time to begin killing bacteria.

And that's the thing with treating Lyme, people often forget to ask a very important question. "How long have you been treating with that protocol?". If the answer is years and years.... why aren't you better yet?

Rifing for Lyme: How Does It Work?

If you want some very in depth, scientific explanations of how a Doug Coil actually kills bacteria you can click here and here. Otherwise, read on for a more high level understanding!

A Doug Coil machine, like the ESP101, generates a very strong magnetic field across a copper coil. The power output is massive, meaning you generate around 5000 volts (this just means it is incredibly powerful). All that energy goes into the magnetic field.

Now, this magnetic field is constantly growing and collapsing. This is called flux. If the magnetic fields grows and collapses 800 times a second, it has a frequency of 800 hertz. 

We know that everything vibrates. Atoms, electrons, molecules, even you as an individual person has a resonant frequency. Do you know what else does? Borellia. 

When you take a form of Borellia that has a resonant frequency of 864hz, and you excite it in this incredibly powerful magnetic field, set to 864hz, what happens? It vibrates and vibrates, continuing to build energy until the cell membrane ruptures and the bacteria dies. 

It’s often compared to an opera singer smashing a glass with her voice.

How Does a Coil Machine Differ to Other Types of Rife Machine?

Simply put, no other rife machine uses magnetic fields in flux. There are a variety of contact devices which administer tiny electrical currents and some use various fluorescent light bulbs. This has always baffled me, because using magnetic fields to initiate vibration is a field of science that’s well documented, well understood and any scientist would see the theory and results. No one can claim that it’s woo. 

The other thing that distinguishes a coil machine from other types of rife machine is the success rate. People get better when they rife for Lyme with a coil machine. That could also be why there are so few of us in the Lyme community – people get better and go on with their lives. They leave the Facebook groups, they stop following on Instagram and they no longer go to conferences.

That’s why I decided early on, as soon as I knew that coiling was the answer, that I would stick around to shine a light for others.

Recovery Timelines When Using a Coil Machine

0-6 Months

The first six months of rifing for Lyme with a coil machine are tough. They feel like one long herx, and there were times when I wondered whether I’d made the right decision. The reason they are so incredibly hard is because coiling doesn’t trigger cyst form. 

Borrelia is exceptionally good at detecting when it’s under threat. It does this by sensing chemical changes in the environment – so when you take antibiotics and antimicrobial herbs, you’re tipping off the bacteria that it needs to protect itself.

Cyst form is a form of dormancy. When Borrelia is in cyst form, you often get a degree of symptom relief. However, as soon as the environment is Borrelia friendly again they come out of dormancy and begin wreaking havoc once more.

There is no biological way for bacteria to detect a magnetic field, which means that you are treating much larger swathes of bacteria at a time. This of course leads to worse herxes. Magnetic fields also target colonies living within biofilms, which can uncover layers of infection that are contained.

Long story short – it’s hard, but incredibly effective.

6-18 Months

After 6 months, most people experience a sudden uptick in their quality of life. This is down to having cleared significant chunks of the bacterial load. They are able to coil for longer sessions, and the herxes are less intense. However, it’s at this point that lots of people begin experiencing old symptoms resurfacing. This is a good thing, because healing Lyme is like peeling an onion. When you’ve dealt with one layer, it’s time to deal with the next.

During this time I was finally able to start considering the prospect of living in my own place again. My energy levels were a little more consistent. 

18-24 Months

At this point, I was living along again. I’d gone from someone who was bed bound and who needed help dressing & showering to someone living a normal life. Here is where the real work on the mind & spirit began, too. I continued to coil and the herxes were much more manageable – indicating that the bacterial load was diminishing. But I still had symptoms like crashes, flares & energy problems.

24 Months Onwards

At this point in my journey I coiled infrequently, and only usually when my body was under stress and I was experiencing relapses. However, as I sit here writing this, 3 years after my treatment began I can’t remember the last time I needed pain killers, or to say no to plans because I didn’t have the spoons. 

The only remaining indication I have of a health issue is the Lupus that developed as a result of Lyme. But even then, my last round of blood tests and exams showed that my autoimmunity is decreasing. 

My Top Tips for Choosing a Protocol

When it comes to choosing a Lyme treatment protocol, my number one top tip is to seek out people who have successfully recovered. Whilst it’s incredibly important for people to share their healing journeys for encouragement and support, there is a difference between someone who is healing and someone who is healed.

Next up, be consistent! Pick a protocol and stick with it. Jumping around and trying new things will never give your body a chance to heal. Healing Lyme is a marathon, not a sprint.

And finally, avoid practices that are harmful to your body. Gentle does not mean ineffective.

A hand showing the number three indicating the second pillar of healing lyme - detox

Detox: The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme

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Detox is something that’s talked about a lot in the Lyme community. So much so that there are some advocates of detox being the only thing you really need to tackle Lyme. As someone who’s recovered from Lyme, I don’t think that paints the whole picture though. That’s why it comes in as pillar number 3 in the The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme.

The Pillars

The Third Pillar of Healing Lyme: Detox

In the early days of my treatment, I obsessed over every little decision I made and attempted to micromanage my body’s detox capability. All that did was hinder my healing. Why? Because there is such a thing as too much, even when approaching Lyme treatment with a holistic approach.

Allopathic medicine typically aims to treat symptoms rather than root causes. It’s what leads us to take a pain killer every time we have a headache, take some antacids for heartburn and go on the contraceptive pill for painful periods. You pop a pill and the problem goes away. (Or rather, the problem is masked). Conversely, holistic healing aims to correct the imbalances which either cause or allow illness to thrive. It’s easy to assume that if someone is advocating a holistic approach to healing Lyme that they aren’t subject to the pop-a-pill mentality.

However, pop-a-pill mentality is alive and well in the holistic health community. It’s not solely limited to doctors prescribing drugs to supress symptoms. And I frequently see it when people talk about detox. And let me tell you, as someone who has recovered from Lyme – obsessing over every tiny thing is not helpful.

Ego vs Intuition

If your body wasn’t detoxing, you wouldn’t be alive. 

Your ego does not need to hijack your body’s intuition. It is detoxing every day, every night and it’s been doing it your whole life. You don’t need to take dozen of supplements every day and spend every waking moment dry brushing and rebounding.

Is that to say that your body doesn’t need a helping hand? Not all all. As we looked at in the Second Pillar of Healing Lyme, Lyme causes some significant changes in your body. But there’s a huge difference between giving a helping hand and behaving as if your body can’t do anything on its own.

I speak from experience when I say that you do more harm than good by doing too much. 

Striking the Right Balance

So how do you strike a balance when it comes to detox? The first thing to remember is that just because a supplement is herbal or natural doesn’t mean it’s safe to take in large quantities or for a long time. Taking too many different supplements can actually make your body work harder to process them.

The second thing to remember is that your detox capability is primarily made up of your lymphatic system. That’s because the endotoxins released when you kill bacteria are released into your bodily tissues. These are then ‘mopped up’ by your lymph, brought to lymph nodes to be filtered and then excreted. This means that a good, reliable way to approach Lyme detox is to address a sluggish lymphatic system. However, many people focus heavily upon taking binders like charcoal, which work only in the gut, not the lymphatic system.

After addressing a sluggish lymphatic system, ensuring that you’re giving your liver a helping hand is the next step. This can be done in a few simple, gentle ways.

And let me tell you, as someone who has recovered from Lyme - obsessing over every tiny thing is not helpful.

How to Heal Lyme: Detox

So now we know: detox is an incredibly important part of healing Lyme, and the reason is because your detox system becomes overwhelmed and sluggish. The way to address that isn’t with dozens of supplements a day, but through some moderate, targeted supplements and lifestyle changes. I know it would be really convenient if you could just take that supplement labelled as a ‘detoxifier’ or ‘binder’, but it just isn’t as simple as that.

Herbal Options

The absolute king of lymphatic tonics is Red Root. This unassuming herb will rapidly treat swollen glands and the associated sore throat, help your body process the endotoxins from a herx and filter out bacterial debris that triggers your immune system. And let me tell you, it’s been used by indigenous people for millenia and it’s inexpensive.

Honestly, one of my pet peeves is companies that sell expensive ‘all natural’ detox blends which are essentially just charcoal with some added magnesium. Why? Because they simply don’t work, and you supposedly have to take them for months on end (and pay for the privilege). Health should not be reserved for those with cash to burn. Period.

Next up, we’re looking to support the liver with a tonic herb called Milk Thistle. You’ve probably heard of this as something to take after overindulging. For good reason! It’s a wonderful herb that aids the liver in producing the right amount of bile (very important) and it’s incredibly protective of liver cells. I often see an aversion to common herbs like this, because of a belief that something so common could be useful for such a complex issue as Lyme. But again, there is reason why Milk Thistle has been used for millennia – don’t underestimate the medicine the Earth freely offers!

Psst... Are You Seeing A Trend Here?

By using herbs that act as tonics, we are supporting what our body is naturally doing, rather than trying to hijack it with herbs and supplements that will force a response. Take for example the use of Milk Thistle versus the use of coffee enemas. They are both designed to do the same thing – stimulate bile flow. However, an enema also strips the mucus lining of your large intestine and causes massive irritation resulting in a (sometimes explosive) bowel movement.

Milk Thistle gently helps your liver, but we are conditioned by Western Medicine to believe that something gentle isn’t as effective as something harsh. Plus, carrying out enemas gives you some sort of ‘result’, which is interpreted as being a success. However, stripping the protective mucus lining of your bowel leads to leaky gut syndrome, poor nutrient absorption and can exacerbate food intolerances and histamine issues.

Lifestyle Options

Supporting your body with detox during Lyme healing is mostly about your lifestyle. Why? Because whilst your detox pathways are sluggish, it’s important to not overload it with additional environmental toxins.

There is an entire community built around moving towards a low toxin lifestyle which is closer to nature, less harmful to the environment and avoiding certain man made chemicals which can overload the body. This involves looking at what you put on your body (beauty/hygiene products), in your body (diet) and in your home (cleaning products).

What You Put On Your Body

It’s no secret that many beauty and hygiene products contain a lot of man made chemicals. They make them feel nice, smell nice, apply smoothly and last longer. And for most people with a functioning immune system and good detox pathways this isn’t a huge problem. But when you have chronic Lyme (and likely Mast Cell Activation Syndrome) these can overwhelm your system. Your body is already busy enough trying to deal with a massive Lyme infection, so having to process these environmental toxins is an additional burden which tips the scale against you.

What You Put In Your Body

Diet is a huge component of managing what toxins your body has to deal with. But the problem is that every body is different. There is no such thing as a Lyme Disease Diet (regardless of what some people will tell you). Why? Your body chemistry is unique to you. A diet that makes your friend feel amazing might make you feel rubbish. I can put my hand up to that one! I stuck to a plant based diet for years believing it was the answer… but ultimately it didn’t suit my body. Now I eat a (mostly) vegetarian diet. It’s simple and not fashionable, but it’s what my body loves!

So I can’t tell you what diet to follow, but I will tell you that your body talks to you. Listen. A diet that’s working for you will feel good. Now having said that, there are a few food types which are known to cause inflammation in people whose immune & lymphatic systems ae under pressure.

What You Put In Your Home

Cleaning products, I’m looking at you! We live in a world where we’re obsessed with products that kill 99.9% of bacteria… forgetting that most of the time, you don’t need to wipe out every kind of bacteria. In fact, rising rates of childhood allergies have been linked to children not being exposed to a wide array of bacterial species early on. Plus, many of these cleaning products contain ingredients that are at best, irritants, and at worst, highly toxic.

Of course, when preparing meat, fish or when food has gone rotten, something to kill bacteria is necessary. But for cleaning up general spills and dirt, you simply don’t need that kind of firepower.

Did You Know...?

There’s a difference between a cleaner and a disinfectant. A cleaner contains a detergent which is designed to break the bonds between the surface and the dirt, allowing you to easily remove the dirt, whereas a disinfectant is designed to kill bacteria/viruses.

Most people are using disinfectants for cleaning tasks, when they could be using a much gentler, non-toxic option.

Other Helpful Practices

Dry body brushing is a wonderful way in which you can support your body during detox. Body brushing actively stimulates lymphatic drainage, which helps to move lymph around the body. This prevents stagnation.

Infrared saunas are also an incredibly effective way to aid in detox and well worth the investment. They help to increase blood circulation, which helps to oxygenate the tissues throughout your body. This is through a process called vasodilation – widening of the tiny blood vessels throughout your body. This brings more oxygenated blood and lymph to these areas, aiding your body’s ability to carry away unwanted substances and toxins.

Holistic Options

It would be remiss of me to not mention the non-physical aspects of detox. Everything is linked, and this is no different. Whilst you’re reducing the number of environmental toxins in your life, looking at your relationships and inner world is also important. Now is a good time to release those parts of your life that could be blocking your physical and spiritual healing.

The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme: Detox

So there you have it. The third pillar of healing Lyme – Detox. The main lesson I learned when I was healing Lyme that detox is much less about supplements and more about lifestyle choices. What toxins are you introducing to your body that could be taxing you already overwhelmed body? In which areas can you reduce or remove these toxins?

A hand showing the number two indicating the second pillar of healing lyme - rebuild support

Rebuild & Support: The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme

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Lyme Disease takes its toll on many bodily systems & processes. Whereas most of the symptoms suffered with Lyme Disease are down to *inflammation*, the body’s inability to bounce back is often due to your body being unable to generate a ‘normal’ response.

Any good Lyme Disease treatment protocol should include practices aimed at rebuilding and supporting those compromised systems. Without this element, your treatment is likely to be more uncomfortable and long-lived than it should be. This is the pillar that provides structure and support to your healing, and is the second step in the four pillar approach.

The Pillars

The Second Pillar of Healing Lyme: Rebuild & Support

Have you ever put up a tent without using poles or pegs?

Because rebuilding & supporting what Lyme has damaged is just like the poles and pegs of that tent. It provides the framework that your body needs to heal Lyme. And when you don’t give your protocol this framework, healing Lyme is complicated by constantly having to battle against your own body.

Have you been discouraged by herx reactions that seem to last weeks? Do you have worsening quality of life despite a consistent protocol?  (Excluding the first six months of rifing Lyme – which are generally tough). If the answer is yes, then it’s time to look at how you can support your body outside of killing bacteria.

Aiding lymphatic drainage prepares your body for getting through a  herxheimer reaction. Helping your body rebuild collagen means that you can reduce some of the physical changes in your joints. Getting a good sleep routine again aids your body in dealing with the symptoms of chronic fatigue. The list goes on.

Why Is It So Important?

Lyme Disease treatment can be as bad, if not worse, than Lyme Disease itself. This is because of the dreaded *herxheimer reaction*. When spirochetes die, the cell membrane ruptures. This releases their cell contents into your body, which is a type of endotoxin. (The same thing happens with all spirochaetal infections, including syphilis).

These endotoxins then flood your tissues and set off a massive inflammatory response. This is an unavoidable part of healing Lyme. It’s a miserable, but necessary, part of healing. Whilst many people claim that you can avoid herx reactions completely, I would instead question how effective a treatment can be without triggering a biologically proven reaction.

Unfortunately, along with causing ongoing *inflammation* in the body, Lyme scavenges nutrients from your tissues and slows down many of your bodily systems. However, these are things that you can do something about, giving yourself an easier time when the herxing starts.

Whilst many people claim that you can avoid herx reactions completely, I would instead question how effective a treatment can be without triggering a biologically proven reaction.

Replacing What's Been Lost

Borrelia needs nutrients in order to live & reproduce – which is all it cares about. As a bacteria, it lacks the metabolic pathways necessary for making these nutrients itself so it takes what it needs from your body. This is achieved in two ways. Firstly, Borrelia hijacks your own cells and ‘steals’ nutrients (that is a huge oversimlifcation). Secondly, the bacteria secretes inflammatory cytokines to break down your collagenous tissue into a sort of ‘soup’ which it can then absorb.

Anyone who tells you to avoid certain foods, supplements or even the sun to ‘starve’ the Borellia quite simply doesn’t understand how Borellia works. It will obtain what it needs to survive from your tissues, and starving yourself of vital nutrients will ultimately make your quality of life much worse, and possibly cause the Borrelia to start attacking different tissues.

However, there’s no need to go overboard and begin taking a long list of herbs and supplements. A good quality multivitamin along with some additional vitamin C & vitamin D is an excellent starting point. (Here’s a list of my top 10 supplements for Lyme). Additional needs can be addressed as you go through treatment, but you don’t need to take dozens of supplements every day unless your doctor tells you to. Remember, the symptoms from Lyme are primarily caused by your own immune response to the bacteria, rather than the bacteria or what it does.

The Great Slow Down

With Lyme Disease your body is overwhelmed. Your immune system is on high alert, you may even possibly be suffering with autoimmunity, and everything becomes sluggish. That’s due to a range of factors – the disease itself, lack of movement, poor sleep, depression & anxiety, secondary conditions etc.

Aiming to Rebuild & Support your body includes helping to get some of those sluggish systems working a bit more efficiently. Not only will it help you to feel a little better, but it gives your body the space and support it needs to handle herxing.

How to Heal Lyme: Rebuild & Support

So now we know: rebuilding and supporting your body includes replacing what’s been lost to the infection and gently helping your bodily systems to work more efficiently.

Herbal Options

The Joints

There are many wonderful herbal options that are gentle, inexpensive & helpful to your body during Lyme treatment. For collagen loss, an oral collagen supplement can be useful in helping your body rebuild lost collagen in the joints and skin. MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is sulfur-containing compound which is found naturally in plants, and has been proven to reduce joint pain. It inhibits collagen breakdown, which is especially important in Lyme Disease.

The Gut

A good probiotic is a must for people with Lyme, along with a balanced diet that suits your own body. This is because your gut is so important for overall health. Not only is your gut an important part of your detox capability, a healthy array of gut bacteria help to reduce gastrointestinal symptoms associated with Lyme. Your gut is also responsible for creating most of the serotonin you need, meaning that it plays a huge role in mental health as well.

The Lymphatic & Detox Systems

Keeping your lymphatic system running smoothly is another important aspect to consider. Your lymphatic system is responsible for removing the bacterial waste, filtering it and sending it for excretion. A Red Root tincture (at least 1:3 strength) is a wonderful lymphatic tonic which can be used when you’re herxing or you have swollen glands.

Aiding the liver is another good practice. When herxing, Milk Thistle tones & strengthens the liver, as well as protecting the cells of the liver from damage.

The Central Nervous System

If you have a neurological presentation of Lyme, it’s important that you visit your doctor for scans and nerve conduction tests. This will show if there are any lesions present and treatment can begin if so.

Thankfully, many people with Lyme don’t end up with measurable nervous system damage – but that doesn’t make the symtpoms any less bearable. An excellent herbal addition to your protocol is ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) has been shown to help reduce pain, tingling and prickling sensations – known as neuropathy. It’s an antioxidant that is found naturally in some foods as well as being made by your body. However, remember when we were talking about how Borrelia hijacks your cellular metabolic pathways? ALA production suffers in Lyme, making this a useful addition to your protocol. 

Lifestyle Options

One of the most significant things that Lyme Disease takes away from you is movement. The human body is designed to move, and being sedentary causes all sorts of issues to build up. But how can you get moving when you have Lyme? By throwing out all your expectations of what exercise looks like and focusing solely on gentle movement. 

The lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump in the same way that the cardiovascular system does (namely, the heart). Lymph moves around the body and relies solely on your muscle contractions to move to and from lymph nodes. Lack of movement stagnates this process, hindering your body’s ability to detox.

Holistic Options

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the concept of Qi describes the flow of energy around the body. This is an important factor to consider when looking to rebuild and support what Lyme has damaged. I have personally benefitted greatly from acupuncture on my healing journey, and I recommend it to all who are open to it. It aims to restore unhindered flow of life force, which is useful as illness causes blockages. Remember, healing Lyme is about more than just the physical.

The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme: Rebuild & Support

And there you have it. The most forgotten aspect of healing Lyme, yet one of the most important pillars. Neglecting to focus on rebuilding what Lyme has damaged is like trying to put a tent up without poles and pegs. It provides the structure and support your body needs to get on with the real work of healing Lyme.

A hand showing the number one indicating the first pillar of healing lyme - reduce inflammation

Reduce Inflammation: The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme

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Lyme Disease is a complex, systemic disease which can develop quietly for months or years before you finally have a diagnosis. It affects nearly every bodily system and successfully evades both your immune system and antibiotics. So when you’re adopting a Lyme Disease treatment approach, you should be mindful of the complexity of Lyme – taking a long course of antibiotics simply doesn’t cut it.

Western medicine has successfully instilled a ‘pop-a-pill’ mentality in our heads. We are so used to being prescribed medication for anything and everything, and the problem with many medications is that they treat the symptoms, not the cause.

Got a headache? Stop your brain registering the pain signals with analgesics.

Got heartburn? Take a pill to neutralise stomach acid.

Got insomnia? Here, have some addictive tranquilisers.

Now, I’m not against allopathic medicine, far from it. It’s a life saving gift to the world. But I do think that we pop pills far too quickly without giving thought to what imbalance is actually causing the symptom.

The Pillars

With this in mind, approaching Lyme Disease treatment needs to incorporate more than just killing the bacteria, especially if you’ve had Lyme for more than a few months. You also need to reduce inflammation, rebuild & support what Lyme damaged, and detox.

Read on to find out how I healed from Lyme, and how you can too.

The First Pillar of Healing Lyme: Reduce Inflammation

When I first started treating Lyme, I jumped straight into hardcore, let’s kill some bacteria mode. And do you know what happened? I made myself worse for about 6 weeks. I didn’t have anyone to tell me to hold fire and approach my healing in a structured way – “shooting in the dark” doesn’t even begin to cut it.

Inflammation was running rampant in my body. All my bodily systems were overwhelmed. I was just generally not prepared for the additional inflammation that comes from herxing. Lyme had taken its toll on my body and the truth is that my body was simply not prepared for Lyme treatment.

So, how do you begin to prepare your body for Lyme treatment? The first step is to reduce inflammation. Imagine renovating a house. Now imagine that house still full of furniture & clutter. That’s going to make efficiently renovating nearly impossible! Reducing inflammation clears the space for renovations to begin.

Why is Reducing Inflammation so Important?

Inflammation is behind nearly every unpleasant Lyme Disease symptom. It’s behind the chronic pain which doctors can’t explain, the joint pain, the neurological symptoms, the gastrointestinal issues, the sensitivities, the sleep issues, you name it. If your doctor can’t explain why, you can bet your bottom dollar that it’s inflammation.

When inflammation runs rampant in your body, it quite simply makes you feel wretched. Additionally, the very process that you have to go through in order to heal (i.e. herxing) causes inflammation. It’s a raw deal. But I speak from experience when I say that reducing inflammation is the absolute key to improving your symptoms and reducing a herx.

I speak from experience when I say that reducing inflammation is the absolute key to improving your symptoms and reducing a herx.

Lyme Inflammation is Chronic

You can’t talk about inflammation without talking about cytokines. Cytokines are proteins that are secreted by the cells of your immune system (like your white blood cells which fight infections).

The sole purpose of cytokines is to tell other immune cells to do something. That something is to create varying forms of inflammation. The first cytokine triggers the next cell to produce a cytokine, which triggers the next cell to produce a cytokine, and so on. You end up with a snowball effect.

In a healthy body, inflammation is controlled, targeted and short lived. It’s a completely normal and vital part of your immune system. However, in Lyme Disease, the inflammation becomes chronic.

How Does Inflammation Become Chronic?

In an otherwise healthy body, a cytokine cascade is short lived and controlled. It generates the right amount of inflammation which allows your immune system to fight off the foreign invader. When you have a cold, the runny nose, sore throat and high temperature are due to a cytokine cascade, and those are the things that make your body inhospitable to the cold virus.

In this instance, it’s your own white blood cells that secrete the initial cytokines. They come across the foreign invader, recognise it as a threat, and start off the signalling process. When the threat has gone, the white blood cells stop producing cytokines and the cascade ends.

Inflammation becomes chronic when the initial upstream cytokines in the cascade aren’t switched off. They keep being produced, so the resulting downstream inflammation keeps growing and growing.

Why Aren't Upstream Cytokines Switched Off in Chronic Lyme?

There are two reasons why the upstream cytokines aren’t switched off in Lyme Disease. Firstly, the threat never goes. Borrelia is exceptionally good at evading your immune system, but in the process it leaves cell fragments and traces. These traces continually trigger your immune cells – they know something foreign is there but they can’t find it. So your own immune system is generating more and more cytokines.

The second, and most important, reason is that borrelia secretes cytokine of its own. As long as you have active infection, the borrelia is releasing cytokines. The borrelia relies on inflammation to break down your collagenous tissue – its food source. Reducing and interrupting that cytokine cascade has two benefits – it reduces your symptoms and it makes Lyme’s job harder!

How to Reduce Inflammation from Lyme Disease

Healing Lyme: How to Reduce Inflammation

Reducing inflammation requires a multi-pronged approach. But please don’t confuse multi-pronged with complex and expensive. Some protocols that I see are exhausting to just read through! Plus, I have serious doubts about whether they are actually possible to follow if you have, you know, a life and responsibilities.

I firmly believe in not hijacking your own body by trying to micromanage every little thing your body does naturally. It’s about offering a helping hand rather than hopping in the drivers seat. And some simple changes, additions and subtractions can go a long way to reducing inflammation.

Herbal Options

Herbal cytokine inhibitors were a game changer for me. The herbs actively inhibit or modulate those first cytokines in the cascade, which massively reduces the resultant inflammation. I recommend them to everyone, regardless of how you choose to treat Lyme. Check out my post on how to make it from Red Sage, Kudzu & Chinese Skullcap.

Epsom Salt baths are often overlooked as being too simple, but this is another method which shouldn’t be overlooked. Low levels of magnesium has been linked to chronic inflammation, but supplementing magnesium has been shown to lower the inflammatory blood marker CRP. This is massive. Magnesium is also absorbed much more efficiently through the skin as opposed to oral supplements, where it can end up irritating the bowel. So not only is an Epsom salt bath a potent pain reliever, it actively fights inflammation in the body.

Lifestyle Options

It may seem counterintuitive (and the last thing you feel like doing), but movement helps with chronic inflammation in a very important way. The human body is designed for movement, and when it doesn’t move it stagnates.

Lymphatic drainage suffers, oxygenated blood isn’t brought to muscles as effectively, and you will rarely end up taking deep, cleansing breaths which has many other benefits too.

Another important area to consider when reducing Lyme inflammation is your diet. Many people with Lyme have food sensitivities and intolerances – this is a direct result of inflammation. Your body is so overwhelmed and your immune system so frazzled that it interprets perfectly ordinary foods as a threat. It’s important to remove these foods from your diet. It’s not forever! I had to cut out gluten, dairy, sugar and animal products. But now I can enjoy whatever I like. 

The Holistic Approach

If you follow me over on Instagram, you’ll know that I’m a huge advocate of the mind-body-spirit link in healing Lyme. And let me tell you, meditation is an incredibly useful tool to reduce inflammation. So many clinical studies have been carried out showing the direct impact meditation can have on inflammatory blood markers.

But wait! I often hear people exclaim that meditation just isn’t for them – sitting still for ages just isn’t something that works for them. And that’s okay. But did you know that passive meditation is only one type? If sitting still isn’t your thing, I highly recommend the Wim Hof breathing method. It will make you feel empowered, flooded with energy and like you can take on the world. And best of all, it involves precisely zero visualisation or sitting still.

The Four Pillars of Healing Lyme: Reduce Inflammation

So there you have it. The first part in a four part series summing up the most important lessons I’ve learned about healing Lyme. Simplicity is key. The overriding thing I want you to take away from this is that you don’t have to spend hundreds on supplements every month, you don’t have to meticulously manage every moment of your day to follow your protocol more complicated than rocket science, and you don’t have to drink celery juice every morning. I know that there are just so many voices shouting this, but I have suspicion that once they do recover, they will also realise that a lot of it is unnecessary, expensive trimming.

A woman looks in the mirror contemplating chronic lyme recovery

Chronic Lyme Recovery: In Between Sickness & Health

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Too often, chronic Lyme recovery is seen as binary. You’re either sick or well. Unhealthy or healthy. But I find myself in the in between. I’ve healed the Lyme infection, but my body still has some recovery to do. Lyme was the hurricane that devastated my body for years. Lupus, joint damage, fatigue, and pain are the aftermath. I’m cleaning up that damage, and continually facing new layers of my recovery. In my last post I talked about how the way you view recovery has a profound impact on your chances of recovery. In this post I want to talk about claiming your health when you find yourself in the in between.

The In Between: Liminal Spaces

In cultures throughout the ages and across the globe, the in between has been honoured as a part of one’s journey. It’s only been recently (the last 200 years or so) that in the West we seem to have collectively forgotten this important bit of our experience. We’ve become obsessed with being either/or, sick/well, healthy/unhealthy.

I see this played out on social media, where you see accounts which are either a window into being chronically ill, or are by people who recovered, experiencing no symptoms, ever.

None. Nada. Zip.

I struggled with this for a while because I wanted to be true to my experience, but I didn’t know how to do that. I wanted to show that chronic Lyme recovery is possible, but also be honest about where I’m at. But the truth is that I felt shame. I felt shame that I still experience symptoms, whilst I’m helping others. I felt shame that I was calling myself healed but still having some bad days.

What Is a Liminal Space?

Liminal comes from the latin word limen, which is a threshold. Being in a liminal space means being between something that we once were, and something that we are yet to become. However, in order to fully pass through, you need to release what you were.

A graphic showing the definition of the word liminal

Anthropologists talk about liminality regarding rites of passage. It’s that time of ambiguity and disorientation when the rite of passage is occurring. The participant no longer holds their pre-ritual status, but they haven’t yet transitioned to the status that the rite of passage confers on them. In some cultures, an interrupted rite of passage is seen as gravely dangerous for the spiritual health of the participant, who would become stuck in the in between.

The Thresholds & Chronic Lyme Recovery

I’ve found that chronic Lyme recovery is similar. You first have to pass through the first threshold of getting sick, and accepting it. Then, once you’ve treated Lyme, you have to pass through the second threshold between being sick and well.

There is a huge amount of information and support available for people passing through the first threshold, but very little for those ready to pass through the second threshold.

It’s important because here is where the work begins on repairing the damage Lyme left behind. To move through the liminal space into full health, you need to let go of the labels and identities of being a sick person. You’ve got to stop clinging to the doorframe, to the identity of being sick, to walk over the threshold. And not many people discuss that.

I see so many people in that place between sickness & health that can’t let go of the old to make way for the new. I get it. And quite frankly, I think it’s part of the process. But if you’re ready to start letting go of your sick identity and stepping into your well identity, you’re in the right place.

The First Threshold

The first threshold appears when you first get sick. I thrashed around that doorway for a while. I didn’t want to accept that my body was struggling, that my abilities had changed and that the course of my life had been altered. Logically, I had accepted that I was sick. I knew I had Lyme Disease, Arthritis, Lupus, CFS and a host of other issues. But I hadn’t accepted it.

I would do my best to appear ‘normal’ to as many people as possible. I would arrange social plans, which I would inevitably have to cancel. However, I wasn’t communicating the why to my friends. They experienced me as a flake. And my relationships suffered. Some ended.

I would push my body to extremes at times, in a perverted attempt to prove that I was fine. I would crash frequently, and then try to hide it.

In my pursuit of connection, I chose relationships that were harmful to my mental & spiritual health. They were emotionally unavailable, sources of great pain and not feeding my soul. Why? A healthy, emotionally available relationship would take energy I didn’t have, and honesty I wasn’t willing to bring.

I was clinging to the doorway, refusing to walk through.

Finally walking over the threshold and passing through that liminal space finally let me fully accept my chronic illness. I began to own the fact that my life, my body, my plans had all changed. In many ways, that’s a dark place to be. I let myself fall back into the darkness. I experienced depression and grief in ways I didn’t know were possible. My life became small.

Fully accepting my chronic illness allowed me to truly begin the healing work though.

Spending that time fully identifying with it, living it and honouring it gave me many tools to continue my healing journey.

What Did I Learn?

I learned that my worth is not less because of a chronic illness.

I learned to do away with shame and stigma associated with disability.

I learned healthy boundaries.

I learned how to prioritise my needs above others’ wants.

And here’s the kicker: I couldn’t have skipped that step. All of those experiences were completely and totally necessary for me to get to the other side.

The Second Threshold

On the journey of chronic Lyme recovery, you’ll get to a point where you’ve started living life again. Your treatments are no longer causing the debilitating herxes they once did. You can tolerate old foods again. Your flares and crashes are becoming more infrequent. Spoons are more abundant.

It’s at this point that you’re being invited to gently loosen your hold on the sick identity, to make room for the well identity. So many people reach this stage but are too frightened to let go that they just remain in the in between. Hovering on the threshold.

I get it. It’s scary to let go of the identity that’s been your shield for so long. You’ve probably adjusted to living with chronic Lyme, and you’re probably scared that you’ll never be well again. You’re scared of hoping for a Lyme-free future only to have it blow up in your face. You might also be scared that letting go will mean letting go of the support you’ve got.

How to Begin Making Space for Healing

You don’t have to change your life up overnight. That would be unrealistic. But what you can do is begin to make some space for healing, to clear some blockages that may be holding you back from chronic Lyme recovery.

Ditch the Labels

Words hold unimaginable power.

In the early and middle stages of chronic Lyme, it’s incredibly important to be able to accept your health struggles. With that usually comes some form of owning it by using descriptive words like disabled, chronically ill, Lymie or sick. But when you’re ready to start moving into wellness, it then becomes important to not continue labelling yourself with words that you no longer identify with. Why? Because you bind yourself with those words, and it makes it all the harder to move forward.

A good way of doing this is to swap “I am..” for “I am experiencing…”. For example, you move from “I am sick” to “I am experiencing sickness”. You move from being a sick person, to being a person who happens to be experiencing some sickness in this moment. Subtle, but powerful.

Quit Fortune Telling

How do you know you’ll always be sick? Do you have a crystal ball?

Chronic Lyme recovery can feel like a mountain, and part of that is fear around always being sick. But in the same way that fully experiencing your chronic illness is important for accepting it, letting some hope grow is important for moving into wellness.

What can really help here is to actively seek out the stories of those who’ve healed themselves. There are many wonderful Chronic Illness Warriors out there sharing their journeys and battles and opening a window into their lives, and those stories are hugely important. But there are also people sharing the hope of recovery. And if all you’re seeing when you scroll social media are the stories of those who are in the acceptance phase, you risk giving yourself a skewed view.

Expand Your Healing Horizons

Now is the time to begin looking at your mental and spiritual health. You’ve done so much hard work on healing your body, but we are more than our bodies, and ill health has more origins than only the physical.

Trauma shows itself in many ways, through stored pain, dysfunction and blockages.

Chronic Lyme Recovery: Final Thoughts

Moving from sickness to health is a journey that’s filled with ups, downs, mountaintops, and valleys. Unfortunately, it’s never a straight line from A to B. However, feeling like you’re in between sickness and health isn’t a failure – it’s an important rite of passage. You’re being invited to take some serious steps towards leaving your old life behind and step into wellness. I’d love to hear what you think though – what part of your healing journey are you on? The acceptance stage, or letting go stage? Let me know in the comments below!

A picture of legs and a notebook

Can Lyme Relapse? A Recovered Lyme Warrior Weighs In

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There are two schools of thought when it comes to life after Lyme. Some people believe that once you’ve successfully treated the Lyme, it never comes back. Others believe that you can’t fully eradicate Lyme from the body, but that successful treatment reduces its numbers to levels where your immune system can keep in check. Physical trauma (like illness or a car accident) and emotional trauma can cause it to re-emerge. So, can Lyme relapse?

What is a Lyme Relapse?

A Lyme Disease relapse is when, after a period of being largely symptom free, you have a resurgence of old symptoms. Often, you can go from feeling well to extremely sick in the space of a few weeks. You feel as if you’ve been catapulted back in time. There is usually a trigger of some kind; an experience where your body is put under more stress than normal.

Typical triggers include an acute illness (like a virus), a physical accident (like a car crash) or emotional trauma (such as the loss of a loved one, a separation or other heartbreak).

It’s thought that these triggers can cause your immune system to ‘drop the ball’ briefly, allowing a supressed Lyme infection to begin replicating and growing in the body.  This of course feeds into the theory that a Lyme infection never truly goes away.  

My Experience of a Lyme Relapse

Earlier this year, I caught a nasty virus (you know the one). It was a long, gruelling illness which led to me being in bed for 5 weeks, followed by months of slow recovery. About 5 months after falling ill, I started to notice an aggressive resurgence of old Lyme symptoms. I was having a relapse.

I immediately kicked off my old treatment protocol using my ESP101, treating once per week. And to my surprise, I started experiencing awful herx reactions again. However, it only took me two months of treatment to get back on track.

What Does This Mean?

If Lyme can relapse, does this mean that you’ll always have it? No, I don’t believe so. My personal take on this is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Let’s dig a little deeper!

Theory A: If you’ve treated Lyme, then you should never relapse.

People who adhere to this school of thought believe that if you have a relapse of Lyme symptoms that you aren’t healed and your treatment hasn’t worked. The reason I don’t like this approach is that it’s all or nothing thinking. It treats health and recovery as binary – you are either sick or well. The truth is that healing is not linear. It’s full of ups, downs, bends and twists. This viewpoint also neglects the fact that after a years long infection ravages your body, you need time to repair the damage caused. You may also have secondary conditions that need addressing, such as autoimmune disease.

Healing is a dance between the mind, body & spirit. Chronic illness affects all aspects of our human being. In my personal journey, I’ve often reached a plateau in my physical healing because I was being called to address mindsets that were holding me in a place of illness. Once I had worked on those mindsets, I was able to begin progressing with physical healing once more. Similarly, I would reach points in my journey where I needed to address my spiritual health, and in particular energetic blockages that were holding me in sickness.

This is what it would look like to adhere to this viewpoint. Pretty depressing, huh? You remain sick for an extended period of time, hammering away at a Lyme Protocol when what you really need is to repair the inflammation and residual damage Lyme left.

A timeline showing recovery from Lyme Disease when not treating secondary conditions
Theory B: You can never heal Lyme Disease; you can only achieve remission.

I believe that many people choose this belief out of fear. Lyme Disease is a terrifying illness which wrecks lives. Believing that it will always be with you means you can protect yourself from feeling the joy of being healed and experiencing a potential blow in the future when you may relapse.  

The problem with this viewpoint is that it neglects the space between being symptom-free and fully recovered. It’s in this space that relapse is possible, because there may still be lingering traces of infection in the body. Lyme Disease affects nearly every bodily system. Often, people with Lyme develop serious secondary conditions, such as autoimmune disease. There may be mechanical joint damage present. Perhaps rampant inflammation in the central nervous system has led to lingering neurological issues. You might also still experience chronic fatigue.

Lyme Disease is the anchor that holds all the secondary conditions in place. Once you’ve treated Lyme, your work is not done: It’s time to focus on repairing the secondary damage that chronic Lyme caused. And in my opinion, this is where people go wrong. They assume that they are still sick with Lyme, and they continue with the same Lyme protocol. They don’t recognise the shift in their body’s needs and therefore aren’t able to shift their approach to suit.

Here’s what this viewpoint looks like: not so hopeful, is it?

A timeline showing Lyme Disease recovery when you believe you will always be sick
Theory C: Full and Total healing is possible, but you need to address persistent secondary issues after the Lyme is dealt with.

One year after contracting Lyme Disease, a rheumatologist flagged that my blood tests were abnormal and that they signalled something autoimmune occurring. Another year later and I had Lupus. I made the decision that I would do what was necessary to manage the Lupus, but once I treated the anchor (Lyme), the Lupus would resolve. It just so happens that in January 2019, 5 years after contracting Lyme, my blood tests are showing that my autoimmunity is reducing. In other words, the Lupus is resolving.

I always took the same approach with co-infections. I knew I had Bartonella. But I also knew that countless healthy people contract bartonella every year and recover without any intervention in around 3 weeks. The only reason my body couldn’t fight it off was because, you guessed it, Lyme was the anchor. I focused all my energy and focus onto treating the Lyme, and I ignored the many loud voices telling me to focus on co-infections.

I find myself in the space between having treated Lyme, and fully healing the damage it left behind. If I adhered to viewpoint A, then I would still be hammering away at the Lyme protocol and doing little to repair residual inflammation and autoimmunity. If I adhered to viewpoint B, then I would be settling in for a lifetime of sickness, because this would be my lot now.

A timeline showing Lyme recovery when you treat the Lyme and secondary conditions as separate

Can Lyme Relapse? Final Thoughts

Relapse happens. It happens most in the end stages of treating Lyme. Usually some layer of dormant infection has been uncovered – and promptly getting back on treatment usually resolves it quickly. I don’t believe that any of us are doomed to a lifetime of Lyme Disease – healing is possible and within your reach.

The original maker of the Doug Coil (Doug MacLean) has remained Lyme Disease free for 20 years. I am living a normal life again, with occasional flares of secondary conditions. Where are you in your healing journey? Let me know in the comments below!

Lyme Biofilms

Let’s Talk About Lyme Biofilms

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Lyme biofilms are one of those topics that seem to raise more questions than answers. Some people believe that they are the key when healing from Lyme and others don’t think they’re a big deal. We think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

What Are Lyme Biofilms?

Most people are familiar with the concept of an acute infection. Ear infections, tonsillitis, pneumonia. Acute infections are characterised by the fact that bacteria exist as single, independent cells (the scientific name is planktonic). Planktonic cells are easily killed by an appropriate antibiotic.

However, when an infection is chronic, like Lyme, the bacteria can organise themselves into biofilms (the scientific name is sessile aggregate). This is one of the many ways in which Borrelia can evade our immune system. In fact, one of the dominant hallmarks of a biofilm is an extreme tolerance of antimicrobial agents.

Lyme biofilm vs antibiotic resistance

As you can see from the above graphic, there is a significant difference between antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial tolerance. Antibiotic resistance is an incredibly serious consequence of populations overusing antibiotics, where the bacteria genetically mutates to withstand the antibiotic. Antimicrobial tolerance is a mechanism whereby bacteria creates a physical shield between itself and the antibiotic. It’s the difference between having waterproof skin and putting a rain coat on!

Bacteria in a biofilm act collectively to secrete an extracellular matrix. This is the sticky substance that makes up a biofilm. It’s made from proteins, DNA & sugar molecules. It’s this ‘working together’ that allows Borrelia to survive what other bacterial infections can’t.

The Role of Early Antibiotic Treatment

Often, if someone receives antibiotic treatment immediately following a bite, a Lyme infection can be eradicated. This is mostly due to the fact that the spirochetes have not had a chance to begin evading the immune system, and are behaving as a planktonic infection. They are found in the blood stream and have not yet colonised deeper tissues beyond the reach of antimicrobials (such as connective tissues in the joints & central nervous system).

How to Treat Lyme Biofilms

After reading up about what a biofilm is, you’d be forgiven for thinking that eradicating them should be at the top of the treatment list. However, I’m going to encourage you to hold your metaphorical horses for a moment.

There are generally two approaches found with regard to biofilms. The first being to go nuclear on them through the use of either pharmaceutical or herbal ‘biofilm busters’ and the second to deny their existence.

Here at TOWL, our treatment approach is holistic & intuitive – which means that you should be listening to your body and responding accordingly during treatment. We don’t believe in pumping your body full of every supplement and drug in an attempt to get better – because more often than not, that will be counterproductive to your healing. We advocate a four step plan in our approach for a reason. It’s easy to follow, inexpensive and it puts your body firmly in the driving seat.

Whilst I appreciate the thinking behind the use of biofilm busters (hitting it all at once) I find this to be unhelpful for a number of reasons.

Why I Don't Rate Biofilm Busters

The main reason I have never used biofilm busters, and why I don’t recommend them to people at our clinics, is because your body is going through enough!  Remember: biofilms are not the only way that Borrelia evades the immune system. You will often have other pressing symptoms of a neurological or arthritic nature caused by bacteria that is much more actively damaging tissues. This is as opposed to the semi-dormant state in a biofilm – still scavenging nutrients and releasing cytokines but not necessarily eating through your cartilage, for example.

I simply do not see the point of disturbing pockets of infection which will just make you feel worse and put your already struggling body under more strain. Once you reduce your overall bacterial load, your own immune system can begin working effectively and will naturally deal with biofilms.

Using a Coil Machine

The beauty of using a coil machine is that it doesn’t trigger the defence mechanism of the spirochete (it doesn’t cause a chemical change in the environment which can be detected). Therefore, following a proper coiling protocol aimed at reducing the overall bacterial load will naturally reduce biofilm colony sizes as well as tackling other, more disseminated pockets of infection.

Treating Biofilms: My Top Tips

Treating Lyme Disease is like peeling an onion, and the old adage slow and steady really does come into its own here. Adopting a ‘hit it and quit it’ mentality will only result in one thing – the mother of all herxes. It will probably cause so much inflammation in your body that you are actually setting yourself back. So take it slow, listen to your body, and trust the process!

What are your thoughts on biofilms? Have you ever tried biofilm busters? I’d love to hear from you – let me know in the comments below!

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Treat Lyme Inflammation

How To Treat Lyme Inflammation

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Inflammation is like fire: When it’s contained in a fireplace it provides warmth and comfort. If it runs wild, it’ll burn your house down. Out-of-control inflammation is responsible for many of the symptoms we experience as part of Lyme Disease. As such, any protocol must incorporate methods to treat Lyme inflammation.

Lyme Disease Diet

How To Choose a Lyme Disease Diet

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Ever wondered how to choose a Lyme Disease diet? You’re not alone!

With there being so many anti-inflammatory diets out there it can be overwhelming to decide how to proceed.

In today’s blog post we look at some of the guiding principles behind a Lyme Disease diet and give you some useful tips on deciding which diet to go for.

Exercise With Lyme

How To Exercise When You Have Lyme

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Exercise. For some, this conjures images of bodybuilders, marathon runners and mountain climbers. Perhaps it’s choosing to walk instead of drive, spending some time gardening or even going dancing. Whatever it is that you associate with the word exercise, one thing is certain: exercise is important. The human body is made for movement, and we suffer when we live sedentary lifestyles. But how do you exercise with Lyme?

First, lets take a look at the reasons why exercise is important. What does it actually do to the human body? And more importantly, what happens when the human body doesn’t get enough?

Strengthen Muscles

Weak muscles lead to poor posture and increased pain levels. A lot of the generalised pain we can experience is exacerbated by muscle weakness.

Improve Lymphatic Drainage

The Lymphatic System is the highway connecting our detox pathways. Movement is the only way to improve it.

Improve Brain Health

Exercise stimulates the release of proteins needed for brain health.

Avoid Cardiac Diseases

All cardiac specialists recommend exercise as part of a preventative protocol. Exercising the heart muscle has positive effects.

Moderate Flexibility

Some people with Lyme need to increase flexibility, and others need to moderate flexibility as they are hypermobile.

Increase Blood Oxygen Levels

Low blood oxygen levels cause breathlessness/air hunger, headaches, brain fog, restlessness & fatigue.

Improve Sleep & Mental Health

Melatonin and serotonin production are directly compromised as a result of cytokines triggered by the presence of Borrelia. Exercise can help to counteract this.

Improve Insulin Resistance

Many with Lyme have issues with insulin resistance. Exercise is an important part of healing your endocrine system.
Lymph

The lymphatic system is similar to the cardiovascular system in our body. It’s made up of a system of vessels which move lymph – this is a major component of our detox pathways. As the lymph flows round our body, it carries white blood cells to areas that need them, and carries away dead cell tissue and pathogens to be excreted. Your lymphatic system is the highway of your detox system. If you have a traffic jam on the highway, it affects the flow of traffic everywhere else.

Whereas the cardiovascular system has a pump (the heart) to move blood around the body, the lymphatic system does not. It relies solely on the movement of the body to pump lymph. When your lymphatic system is sluggish, your immune system will be affected, your detox ability will be compromised, and you tend to feel sluggish and lethargic

Blood Oxygen Levels

Spirochetes, and especially Borrelia, are exceptionally sensitive to changes in oxygen levels and will respond defensively by either entering cyst form or altering their gene expression. Short story: Lyme does not like oxygen rich environments. Now, increasing your overall blood oxygen levels through exercise and the use of an infrared sauna won’t cure Lyme, but it’s an important factor to consider when making lifestyle changes. It will also improve many symptoms, help with fatigue and give you a general boost.

Brain Health

We know that Lyme affects the brain and CNS. Exercise has been shown to increase the size of the hippocampus – the part of the brain associated with verbal memory and learning. It also stimulates the production of growth factors which affect the health and survival of brain cells. Whereas lack of exercise will not cause brain issues itself, it is again a tool that be used to boost overall brain health and improve the dreaded brain fog.

Exercise With Lyme Lymphatic

The Problems We Face

Problem One

In an active, chronic Lyme infection, pretty much every single one of those bodily systems is compromised in some way. The most obvious hurdle being the crippling fatigue that many of us face. When I was at my lowest point, I could barely make some toast or walk to the next room, let alone exercise.

Problem Two

There are many well-meaning people out there giving advice to people with chronic illnesses. A quick google search on how to exercise with Lyme results in being told to do an hour of low resistance weight training, or walk 10,000 steps. I don’t know about you, but that’s just plain discouraging.

The Result

What you end up with a severely compromised body, and the impression that the exercise you should be doing is far beyond your capabilities. This is especially poignant if you led a very active lifestyle pre-Lyme. I used to go to the gym 5 times a week and loved powerlifting. It took me a very long time to adjust my expectations of what exercise now meant.

How To Exercise With Lyme

Now we have an idea of what we’re trying to achieve from exercise with Lyme, let’s dive in to what you may be able to do, even on your hardest days.

Rebounding

Rebounding is gently bouncing on a mini trampoline, or even whilst sitting on an exercise ball (if you’re unable to stand). It’s a very gentle exercise, but it has been shown to improve the flow of lymph around the body. The simple up/down motion is responsible for this. You’re relying solely on gravity to do the work for you, and it shouldn’t be a strenuous activity. In my worst times, this was often the only exercise I could do – 5 minutes a day.

Yoga/Pilates Stretching

Yoga comes from the ancient Indian medical system called Ayurveda. Thousands of years ago, people worked out that certain body stretches were beneficial in a number of ways. Pilates is a more recent addition but most of the stretches are originally yoga stretches. You’ll also notice that if you’ve ever been a gym goer, the stretches you need to do post-workout are also originally yoga stretches. The slow, steady pace of this type of stretching is also an excellent way to practice mindfulness meditation.

When I was at my most unwell and bed-bound, I utilised a type of yoga called Yin Yoga. This form of exercise focuses heavily on breathing (which will help those blood oxygen levels) and gentle stretches that can be done lying down. It’s brilliant for when you have very little energy.

I have since moved onto Hatha & Ashtanga Yoga, which are considerably more active than Yin Yoga, but still are relatively gentle on a struggling body.

I plan to move to pilates as my health continues to improve. Pilates is typically a lot more taxing on the body as it incorporates a callisthenics component (where you use your own body weight against you).

An Important Note On Flexibility

Many people with Lyme suffer with joint stiffness, and incidentally there is a very high number of Lyme patients who also have ‘frozen shoulder’. Pushing these stretches to the point of pain should be avoided at all costs.

Many others with Lyme also have hypermobility, which has strong links to autoimmune conditions. If you fall into this category, please ensure that you educate yourself on proper alignment. You should never be overextending your knees, elbows, wrists or spine. Just because your body can do it, doesn’t mean you should! In this case, you should be careful to avoid stretches designed to ‘open’ joints, and focus on stretches that strengthen the surrounding structures. People with hypermobility have often had dislocations, and strengthening will help your joints stay where they’re supposed to be – in your sockets!

If you would like a video of my routine, let me know in the comments below!

Qi Gong

Qi Gong comes from the ancient Chinese medical system, typically called Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is another example of how an ancient culture worked out that certain stretches and movements had positive effects on the body.

Qi Gong is a slow, easy exercise which is also brilliant for practicing mindfulness. However, it is a standing exercise and requires a degree of muscular strength & stability, which may be too taxing for those of us who are struggling.

Walking

Walking is simply one of the best exercises you can do, if your body allows it.

As we mentioned above, the human body is quite literally made for movement. Walking is also basic, but an excellent ‘functional’ exercise. It will help to maintain mobility in joints, strengthen muscles, raise your heart rate and oxygenate your blood. The bonus is that it’s also free!

Even if you can only make it round the garden, or to the end of your road, I would encourage you to try to incorporate a little walking on days where you have some extra energy. 

How To Exercise With Lyme: My Top Tip

It’s time to stop beating ourselves up for what our body can’t do, and start celebrating what it can do!

And if all you can do is some gentle stretches whilst laying in bed, that’s a win. 

There’s also something to be said for fresh air – sometimes, opening a couple of windows and letting the breeze come in can do wonders for a sluggish mind and reluctant body.

 

What do you think? Do you do any exercises that I haven’t covered? I’d love to hear from you – let me know in the comments below!

how to rest when you have lyme

How To Rest When You Have Lyme

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Rest is important. It’s a universally understood truth. Rest is even more important when you have Lyme.

The longest recorded time that a human has gone without sleep is 264 hours, or 11 days. That came with major issues, such as hallucinations and paranoia. However, let’s say that this extreme example of sleep deprivation is one end of the scale, and the other end of the scale is an adult who consistently gets 7-8 hours of sleep a night. What about the many people who sit somewhere in the middle – rest deprived and showing the signs?

The problem is, how many of us have actually been shown how to rest?

What Is Rest, Anyway?

It’s easy to think that rest consists of the time you spend sleeping at night, which poses some issues. If we begin to look at rest as something that we allow and prepare for throughout the day, then we stand a much better chance. This is because when our daily lives are not conducive to sleep at night we set ourselves up to fail.

Physical rest, although important, is only a small part of getting the rest we need. I like to think of a good night’s sleep as the result of laying the groundwork in my daily routines.

Types of Rest

Physical
  • Sleep
  • Inactivity (sitting, laying)
  • Learning to say 'No'
Mental
  • Emotional Regulation
  • Enjoyable Activities
  • Stress Management
The Importance of Mental Rest

If you’ve been reading our blog for any length of time, you’ll know that here at TOWL we advocate a holistic approach to healing. That means that we don’t rely on a single tool to fight Lyme, but we use a variety of techniques to restore the body. The same applies to rest – if you don’t ensure that you have mental rest then you will struggle to get good physical rest.

The most important aspect of mental rest is the emotional component. When we are stressed or angry, cortisol (the stress hormone) begins to circulate. High levels of cortisol have multiple negative effects on the human body. These include blood sugar imbalance, immune system suppression & gastrointestinal problems. The purpose of cortisol is to funnel glucose (energy) to muscles and increase the heart rate, triggering the Fight or Flight response. From an evolutionary perspective, this is extremely useful when faced with a tiger, but not so useful when faced with consistent work or family stress. It’s vital to manage your stress levels.

A Quick Note on Mental Health

Having a chronic illness is hard. Depression, anxiety and irritability are all common. However, many of us also heap guilt upon ourselves for feeling that way. We beat ourselves up because we can’t do what we used to do, we feel guilty for needing help, we feel shame for being ‘lazy’. All this leads to a vicious cycle of stress, guilt & shame which has our hearts pumping, minds racing and bodies on high alert. Be kind to yourself. You’re dealing with a debilitating illness which can affect every bodily system. It’s completely understandable to feel down at times. And if depression or anxiety get too much, please seek help from your doctor or an organisation like Mind. There is no shame in having a helping hand, either through medication or talking therapy.

Psst… Speaking of helping hands, feel free to sign up to our newsletter. You’ll also get a handy copy of our Habit & Herx Trackers to aid in tracking.

Strategies for Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation is so integral to giving yourself the rest that you need. With intense emotions come some potent hormonal changes which fire the body up. Which is the complete opposite of what we need.

Effective strategies will vary from person to person. You’ll need to experiment a little to find what works for you but here’s a few ideas to get you started:

  • Mindfulness App
  • Gentle Yoga/Stretching
  • Bath or other comforting activity
  • Deep Breathing
  • Journalling

Routines

Routines are incredibly important for someone with Lyme, for both mental and physical reasons. Your routines prepare your mind and body for a certain activity or state. Routines can become a self-care ritual, vital to your mental health on those days when all seems lost.

Morning Routines

Your morning routine could be as simple as washing your face, brushing your teeth, getting dressed and having a cup of tea or coffee. Keep it simple and something you know you can manage most days. Following a simple routine every morning will prepare your body & mind for the day. This is especially important on those days when you’re struggling and need to go straight back to bed as it provides you with a mental break between night-time and daytime.

It may be a struggle on some days, but in my experience following your routine on those days is even more important. There is also the added benefit of shoring up your mental health – it really is wonderful what a simple act of self-care can do.

Evening Routines

Much like your morning routine – be consistent with your evening routine. It has a huge impact on mentally preparing you for sleep.

This is also a great time to take a little bit of time to yourself, to show your body & mind some care.

Sleep Hygeine

I don’t know about you, but the instruction to avoid all screens for 2 hours before bed is really, really difficult to stick to. Our whole lives are usually in our phones. The problem is that the artificial light given off by phones & laptops has been shown to interfere with our brains natural ‘power down’ routine, which is tied to light levels.

The key is to find replacement activities for those last couple of hours of the day. Reading, crafting (if that’s your thing) or some calming TV is better (the light from a TV is not as disruptive as your phone/laptop). Since I started putting my phone on Do Not Disturb every night at 10pm I’ve found I fall asleep quicker and have deeper sleep.

Another aspect of Sleep Hygiene is ensuring that your bedroom is conducive to sleep. Your room should be cool and have good air circulation, and you should ensure that you get total darkness at night.

 

How to Rest with Lyme: My Top Tip

Finally, and most importantly, ensure that you go to bed & wake up at the same time every day. If you adopt anything from this article – let it be this! We rely heavily on hormones such as melatonin and cortisol to go to sleep & wake up. Having a consistent sleeping pattern is the single best thing you do to influence this. There are obviously exceptions to this. Life has a habit of happening and some nights I go to bed/wake up later. Someone with Lyme will likely feel the effects of a routine change more intensely than an otherwise healthy person, though.

What do you think? Do you have any daily routines that help you to establish a rest routine? I’d love to hear from you – let me know in the comments below!

Lyme Disease Alternate Diagnoses

Lyme Disease: Alternate Diagnoses

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In our last article, “The Difference Between Tiredness & Fatigue” we touched upon how Lyme is often misdiagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia. Whilst this can be frustrating and downright depressing, there is a silver lining when you receive alternate diagnoses.

Getting the NHS to acknowledge Lyme Disease in any significant way has been a long struggle. If it weren’t for charities like Lyme Disease Action tirelessly campaigning, we would be in a much worse state. The new NICE guidelines released in 2018 are an improvement on the old guidelines, but there is still a long way to go. There are far too many people living with chronic Lyme who desperately need validation, support and effective treatment.

As it stands, Lyme Disease is recognised in the initial, acute stage after being bitten. There’s good evidence that if the 28-day course of doxycycline is started early that it can be effective. With the tireless efforts of charities and organisations to raise awareness of Lyme, it is hoped that more people are recognising the signs early and obtaining antibiotic treatment.

Nevertheless, this still leaves swathes of people suffering the long-term effects of this debilitating disease. If you’re lucky, you may receive a diagnosis of Post Treatment Lyme Disease, but of course, this depends on you having a positive NHS test as well as an agreed NHS diagnosis of Lyme Disease.

Post Treatment Lyme Disease

PTLD is a ridiculous diagnosis in the eyes of many people with Lyme. Let’s take a look at the symptoms:

  • Fatigue
  • Generalised Pain
  • Joint & Muscle Pain
  • Development of secondary autoimmune, neurological or arthritic conditions

It all sounds very familiar, doesn’t it?

It is very common for those with Lyme to go on to develop secondary conditions such as:

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Inflammatory Arthritis
  • Autoimmune diseases: Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sjogren’s, IBD
  • Functional neurological disorders that are similar to MS in presentation

When rejecting these alternate diagnoses and pushing for recognition of Lyme Disease, patients are often labelled as psychologically unstable and recommended for counselling. Understandably, this causes even more distress.

I believe that most people need to go through a stage of trying to get a Lyme diagnosis, in part because having confirmation of the disease can feel like a necessary first step in treatment. I went through this myself. I was bitten, and after 3 weeks the bullseye rash appeared. I was fortunate enough to know that a bullseye rash was associated with Lyme and went to my doctor. The first doctor I saw literally laughed at me, gleefully telling me that it wasn’t Lyme Disease. What ensued was weekly visits to my GP pleading for antibiotics as my symptoms quickly progressed from the ‘summer flu’, to excruciating headaches, pain in my joints and heart palpitations.

Eventually, a GP prescribed a course of Doxycycline. I ended up in hospital the next day with what I now know as a massive Herxheimer reaction. In the following weeks I ended up in hospital another two times, both times with chest pain. Even after all this, the doxycycline was stopped after a mere six weeks.

I experienced some symptom reduction after the antibiotics ended, most likely due to the spirochetes being forced into cyst form. I decided to pursue the herbal Buhner protocol over the next 8 months. I achieved a degree of remission, although I never got back to 100%. 18 months after the initial bite, I had a massive relapse and the herbal protocol just wasn’t working for me anymore. At this point, we began researching coiling.

I have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Connective Tissue Disease & Lupus. Having gone from a perfectly healthy woman to someone with so many health issues after an insect bite is frustrating. My health is slowly improving though, and I’m on the road to recovery.

My Relationship with my Doctors

When I stopped mentioning Lyme to doctors, I found that I was able to access varying degrees of support. The atmosphere switched from verging on hostile to open and friendly. Now, when I talk to doctors, I refer to my Lupus diagnosis. I quickly realised that the support I needed, like pain relief, flexible working and other prescription medication was readily prescribed to someone with Lupus, but not someone who has Lyme.

Using an NHS diagnosis can feel like a cop out, and the indignation we can feel at being ignored can be difficult to supress. But instead of fighting the tide, it can pay dividends to work with the system. For example, you may need to apply for a blue badge due to mobility issues. A local council would not consider Lyme Disease to be a qualifying condition, but Fibromyalgia and some autoimmune disorders are.

Similarly, there are times when pain relief is desperately needed in order to function. A GP would be highly unlikely to prescribe something like tramadol for Lyme Disease, but when you also have the very real conditions of Fibromyalgia or an autoimmune condition, pain management is an important part of living with a chronic illness.

The last thing I would want is for anyone reading this to think that I’m taking the side of the medical profession, which has caused untold pain to those with Lyme. However, by working with the medical profession you will be able to access a lot more support and care that could drastically improve your day-to-day life.

I’d love to hear from you – have you been diagnosed with alternate conditions by your doctor? What are they? Let me know in the comments below.

9 Month Update

9 Months into Coiling – How It’s Going

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I began coiling in February 2018. At that point I was basically bed bound, with no life to speak of. As a 28 year old, I struggled immensely with knowing that this illness has stolen what should have been some of the best years of my life. The times when I felt well enough to go out and do something, fledgling friendships faded as I just wasn’t able to maintain them. This illness can be so isolating – like looking through frosted glass at a life unlived.

The first 6 months of coiling were hell. The herxes seemed never ending, and at times I wondered if I was just stirring up layers of the infection for no reason. Additionally, when I began coiling, there was no readily available information about how to design a protocol and what to expect. I gritted my teeth and experimented.

Around the 6 month mark, it was like finally stepping out of the fog and into sunlight. I finally began to see some small, yet significant, improvements. At the 9 month mark, I’ve seen a gradual but steady improvement, along with a gradually changing symptom picture.

Coiling Time & Herx Length

I’m now up to around 6-8 minutes per session. Once I’d hit the 6 month mark I tentatively began coiling my upper back and head. I’ve stuck to around 30 seconds in those areas as I’ve had some powerful neurological herxes.  

The herxes vary but the average duration is around 3-4 days. This is worlds different from the start of treatment. The main difference I’ve noticed since coiling my head is that many of my early neurological symptoms have come back with a vengeance. This includes neuropathic pain (tingling, burning, stinging pains) along with intense psychological symptoms, including anxiety.

A quick aside on psychological symptoms: It’s well understood that Lyme can have an impact on our mental health and manifest as anxiety, depression, rage, obsessive thoughts and more. Part of looking after ourselves is looking after our mental health. If at any point you feel overwhelmed or have thoughts of harming yourself, please contact Mind or The Samaritans. Don’t struggle alone, and remember there’s no shame in getting a helping hand - either with therapy or medicine.

Crashes

Many people with Lyme are also diagnosed with M.E. (Chronic Fatigue) and Fibromyalgia. These diagnoses are what doctors give you when everything else has been ruled out – so they aren’t really conditions that can be diagnosed, but rather they are syndromes. Syndromes are typically a collection of symptoms that don’t have any other cause. Some of the main overlapping symptoms of M.E. and fibromyalgia are profound, incapacitating fatigue, sore throat, swollen glands, muscle/joint pain, impaired memory/concentration & bowel complaints. Sound familiar?

Folks living with M.E. & fibromyalgia (and Lyme!) experience crashes. In medical terms, it’s called Post Exertional Malaise. Essentially, it’s an increase in fatigue and other symptoms after exerting yourself. Managing your energy budget reduces the number of crashes you have, but most importantly, crashing is an excellent indicator of your healing journey.

The crashes I’d experience after any activity or exertion has lessened so much to the point that they’re not the huge daily consideration that they once were. Whilst I’ll often find myself more fatigued the day after something out-of-the-ordinary, such as an afternoon out, I no longer find myself bed bound for days at a time. When my Lyme infection was untreated and in the early, gruelling months of coiling, I could crash for days after as little as putting a few loads of laundry on. My tolerance for physical exertion has increased exponentially. Am I at the point where I can go back to the gym? Not yet. Do I believe that I’ll get there? Absolutely!

My Abilities

My stamina for normal activities is still fairly low in comparison to a healthy person, in that I’m still not living a ‘normal’ twenty-something life. Rebuilding my social life takes some planning. I’ll often know that an activity or outing is all I can handle in any given week – but it’s one more activity a week than I managed a year ago! At the beginning of November, I managed to go out for small activities (like coffee or popping to the shops) five days in a row, which was a huge milestone for me.

Immune Function is Returning

Some of you may have noticed that my 9 month update is coming a little late – and I’d planned to have this edited, proof read and uploaded for mid-November. Unfortunately, I caught a viral illness for the first time in years. However miserable those 3-4 weeks may have been, I was also quite happy about it.

Many people with chronic infections don’t exhibit normal cold & flu symptoms. This is because our immune system is busy focusing on what it deems to be the greater threat, so when a virus invades our body we don’t mount a typical immune response. Remember, all those horrid cold & flu symptoms are actually caused by our immune system attempting to kill the virus. Runny nose, sore throat, inflammation – they’re not caused by the virus itself.

So whilst I was in bed experiencing the first cold in years, I was also doing a regular happy dance that my immune system was able to respond normally.

What To Expect

After 9 months of gruelling treatment, I’m finally starting to get some of my life back. Looking back to the early months of treatment, I wish I’d known that this was coming. At the time, there wasn’t a blog like this and I certainly didn’t know anyone who was treating with a coil machine. I just had to ride it out and hope for the best.

When you first begin coiling your upper back & head, expect some intense neurological herxes. This is why we recommend only coiling your lower body for the first 6 months. This will reduce your overall bacterial load, allowing you to then focus on specific areas. Even though you aren’t coiling your head in the first six months, you will see a reduction in neurological symptoms due to the reduced bacterial load.

I’d been virtually bed bound for a very long time before beginning my treatment journey. Now that I’m able to start having a social life, I’m finding that I have to overcome the mental hurdle of just not being used to it. It’s been a long time since I headed to the pub in the evening, for example. Sometimes, I find myself reluctant to go, not because I’m too fatigued or have pain, but simply because I’m used to getting into bed at around 9pm!

Chronic Fatigue is a huge part of managing a journey from Lyme Disease, and I’d love to hear from you about how you manage your energy budget. Let me know in the comments below!

Lyme Protocol

Building a Protocol

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Building a Lyme Disease protocol can be an overwhelming task. There are just so many options out there and many, many strong opinions. Here at Ticked Off With Lyme, we believe in following a proven Treatment Approach which aims to reduce symptoms and prepare your body for Lyme treatment. 

So, once you have a good understanding of the Treatment Approach, there are two components to a Lyme Disease protocol. These are:

  1. A supportive protocol
  2. A bacteria killing protocol

This post is all about number 1 – building a supportive protocol.

What's A Supportive Protocol?

A supportive protocol includes everything you do, except killing bacteria. It will include things you do on a daily basis (supplements) and on an ‘as needed’ basis (epsom salt bath for painful joints). Above all, a good supportive protocol is one that you remember to do and that you can record to see your progress.

The number one problem that I experienced is that Lyme doesn’t make it easy to remember to carry out a protocol and that recording symptoms and herxes can be overwhelming. It’s no wonder, given the brain fog and pain Lyme creates on a daily basis.

That’s why I created the Habit & Herx Trackers. They help to remind you to do the things you need to do, like taking herbs, and they also provide a record that you can look back on to see your progress. Best of all, you can get my trackers completely free when you sign up to our mailing list.

Check out our Top 10 Supplements for Lyme to get you started!
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Taking supplements and herbs are only part of the story. Establishing good habits is essential for successful Lyme treatment
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In the early days it can be hard to see your progress, but by keeping records you'll not only be able to track how you're improving, but you'll also start to understand patterns
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Decide

There are thousands of suggestions out there for supplements, herbs and treatments. Here at Ticked Off With Lyme we take a very specific approach when it comes to a supportive protocol: it must build up and not further compromise the body’s ability to heal.

For this reason, we tend to favour herbal supplements over pharmaceutical extracts that often have side effects and can tax the liver. For example we’d choose Japanese Knotweed over Resveratrol extract; herbal cytokine inhibitors over NSAIDs. This is because herbal medicine aims to re-balance the body to allow it to heal itself, but pharmaceuticals are often only aimed at suppressing symptoms.

Does this mean we’re against pharmaceuticals? Absolutely not. I have relied on prescription painkillers at points in my journey, simply because without them I was unable to function. But it was a decision that I made based on the pros and the cons. 

Ideally, you’ll be looking for supplements, herbs and habits that do the following:

  • Reduce inflammation in a gentle way
  • Manage symptoms
  • Improve self-care
  • Deal with the emotional effects of a chronic illness

Check out our top ten pick for supplements here.

establish

Establishing good habits is a hugely important part of a supportive protocol. Supplements and herbs can only go so far to support your body to health. My favourite example is the person who takes a daily probiotic to improve gut health, but then chooses to eat McDonalds every day. The probiotic needs to be combined with the associated habit in order for you to get the maximum benefit.

Lyme comes with its fair share of blockers to good habits though. Brain fog makes it difficult to remember what you did in the last 10 minutes, let alone whether you took your herbs. Fatigue can mean that rebounding is the last thing you feel like doing, but having it pinned up on your fridge waiting to be crossed off can somehow motivate you.

That’s where my Habit Tracker comes in. It helps you to list out your chosen healthy habits, and acts as a nice reminder to complete them.

MAINTAIN

Maintaining a record of your habits and herxes can seem like a dreadfully boring idea. However, it will  pay off as you progress through treatment. 

It can be really tough to see how you’re improving. The daily struggles of Lyme and herxing can often make it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Being able to look back and see that your herx length has reduced from 2 weeks to one week is just so valuable.

Keeping a good record of the habits you’ve completed alongside when you’ve treated helps you to see how your habits affect herxes. It also helps you to understand how you react. When you first start coiling, your herxes may seem completely random and unpredictable. Six months in though, and you’ll have a really good idea of how you’re going to react to most scenarios. For example, you’ll know that you’ll need 3 days to recover after coiling your abdomen before being able to go out for dinner. Or that the busy weekend will need around 4 days to fully recover from. It’s at this point in your treatment that you can really start to live again.

My protocol

To get you started, here’s a breakdown of my supplements, herbs and habits.

Daily Supplements & Herbs

Milk Thistle

Probiotic

Curcumin

Alpha Lipoic Acid

CBD Oil

Chinese Skullcap

Red Sage

Kudzo

Red Root

Daily Habits

Body Brushing

Rebounding

Drink 2L Water

Plant-based meals

'As Needed' Supplements & Herbs

Activated Charcoal

White Willow

Devil’s Claw

Boneset Tea

Smilax Tea

'As Needed' Habits

Infrared Sauna

Epsom salt bath

Magnesium oil spray

Do I get it right 100% of the time? Nope! I still enjoy the odd glass of wine, or some Oreos. Sometimes I go to bed too late or I just generally push myself too much. The key is that I’m maintaining a favourable balance. It’s not about perfection. Its certainly not about a complex, unacheivable protocol made up of expensive, obscure components!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Here at Ticked Off With Lyme, we’re all about providing information that’s clear, simple, and most importantly achievable. So tell me, are you interested in tracking your habits & herxes? If so, I’d love to hear from you – let me know in the comments below!

Coil Machines

Are Coil Machines Safe?

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Can coil machines damage healthy tissue?

This is a question I’m asked a lot. It’s a good question. I go into a lot of detail in my post about Resonance, but for those not wishing to delve into all the scientific principles behind coiling, this post is for you. To demonstrate the safety of using a coil machine, we’re going to look at its similarities with an MRI machine.

An MRI scanner and a coil machine have two things in common. Both generate a magnetic field, and both expose the body to frequencies.

THE SHORT ANSWER

The magnetic field strength in an MRI scanner is much, much stronger than the field generated by the ESP101. In an MRI it’s around 30,000 Gauss. The magnetic field strength generated by the ESP101 is 400 Gauss. For reference, the magnetic field strength of the earth is about 50 Gauss.

The frequencies you’re exposed to in an MRI scanner are around 10 million hertz. The ESP101 works with frequencies up to 2000 hertz. For reference, you’d be exposed to around 20,000 hertz by being near a decent sound system at a concert.

Given that human beings can be in an MRI scanner for long periods of time, and attend concerts and festivals without experiencing tissue damage, it shows that the magnetic field strength and frequencies used by the ESP101 cannot damage healthy tissue.

The magnetic field strength and frequencies that the ESP101 use are carefully selected to target the microorganisms responsible for Lyme Disease. Remember: the smaller and simpler the structure, the less energy needed to resonate it. It doesn’t get much smaller and simpler than bacteria! Surrounding tissues just won’t be affected. It is also worth mentioning that studies have investigated the effect of magnetic fields on the human body – and have found no risk.

THE MORE DETAILED ANSWER

Most of us will have either had an MRI scan, or know what one is. It’s an extremely useful diagnostic tool that gives the doctor a view inside your body. Bones, organs and other tissues are all visible on the scan. You lay down on the table, get moved into the tube and are told to stay very still. When the machine is active, it’s extremely loud. You’ll be given headphones to protect your ears. If you pay attention, you’ll notice a very loud banging sound. That banging is the magnet being powered up and generating a magnetic field. Every time you hear a bang, the magnet is powered and a powerful magnetic field is created.

Before going into the machine, you would have had the body part ‘secured’. If it’s your foot, it will look like a big boot. If its for your head, it will be a head and neck cage. Its easy to assume that this is simply to hold you still, but this is actually a receiver, which records frequencies.

Essentially, what an MRI scanner does is very similar to a coil machine, albeit on a much larger, more powerful scale. The aim of an MRI scanner is to vibrate molecular structures and measure how they respond. The MRI only aims to vibrate molecules, not destroy them. In order for a molecule to be destroyed, it needs to be consistently vibrated at its resonant frequency until it ‘falls apart’. This is why an MRI doesn’t reach the frequencies required to disrupt human tissue (these would be very, very high frequencies).

When molecules begin to vibrate in the body, the receiver measures how they respond when the magnetic field collapses. Each tissue in the body will respond differently due to its molecular makeup, which is how doctors can see your liver, bones and heart clearly on the scan. It’s also how an MRI detects growths in the body – because the growth will respond differently to the magnetic field than the organ in which it has grown. Clever stuff!

A coil machine is different in that it applies a constant magnetic field to the body. When certain frequencies are used, it causes certain molecules in the bacteria to vibrate at resonance, until they fall apart. Have you ever seen an old washing machine just ‘fall apart’ because a brick’s been thrown in? It’s like that.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it. The human body can be exposed to much higher frequencies and much stronger magnetic fields with no ill effects on human tissue. Human tissue is a much, much more complex structure than bacteria and microorganisms and requires huge amounts of energy to even vibrate – and this can’t be produced by a coil machine.

Has this helped you to understand how coil machines work? I’d love to hear from you – let me know in the comments below!

Picture of Antibiotics

Antibiotics for Chronic Lyme – Help or Hindrance?

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The typical Lyme Disease treatment approach usually focuses on killing alone. Often, there is very little attention to anything else, with the exception of a perhaps recommending a probiotic with antibiotics. The problem with this is twofold: antibiotics for Chronic Lyme just aren’t that effective, and Lyme & Co does damage to every system in the body which needs to be repaired for real healing to take place.

The Three Stages of Lyme

There is lots of evidence that a prompt course of antibiotics in Early Localised Lyme can often be effective. Early Localised Lyme is the very stage of the disease, straight after the bite. In 30% of cases, a bulls-eye rash may develop. In this stage, the bacteria has not colonised areas of the body and exists primarily in the blood. Oral doxycycline can often eradicate the infection at this stage.

The next stage is called Early Disseminated Lyme. This happens several weeks after the bite, once the bacteria has started to colonise areas in the body. Typical symptoms include:

      • Chills
        Fever
        Swollen Lymph Nodes
        Cold & Flu-like symptoms
        Stiff neck
        Headaches
        Fatigue
        Muscle Aches
        Bell’s Palsy
        Numbness/Tingling
        Meningitis
        Cardiac abnormalities

There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that antibiotic treatment in Early Disseminated Lyme can reduce the severity of symptoms in later, chronic Lyme. This is my experience.

The last stage is Late Disseminated Lyme, or Chronic Lyme. This can occur weeks, months or even years after Stage 1 & 2. It depends on how well your immune system can manage the infection. Symptoms of Chronic Lyme include:

      • Fatigue, which can develop into CFS
        Arthritis, including damage to joints
        Migratory Arthralgia, which is joint pain that moves around
        Headaches
        Short term memory issues
        Mood disorders
        Cardiac issues, such as abnormal rhythm
        Numbness, tingling & pins & needles
        Autoimmune diseases, such as Lupus and Connective Tissue Disease

Unfortunately, this is not an exhaustive list. Chronic Lyme is nicknamed The Great Imitator as it is often misdiagnosed as many other conditions.

Picture of AntibioticsAntibiotics for Chronic Lyme

Many people don’t even find out they have Lyme until they are well into the Late Disseminated stage. By this point, Lyme has colonised areas in the body and has moved out of the blood and into the collagenous tissues. Biofilms have likely been established and spirochaetes can be found in a variety of its life cycle stages (cyst, L-form, spirochaete).This is one of the reasons why testing is often inaccurate.

In our society we are so conditioned to believe that there’s a pill for every ailment. We’re taught that an infection must be aggressively killed by antibiotics. Big Pharma markets toxic medicines that do nothing more than suppress symptoms, leaving the root problem to go unchecked. How many Lyme sufferers have been palmed off with antidepressants and painkillers?

For most with Chronic Lyme antibiotics offer symptom suppression. Soon after stopping the treatment, symptoms come back with a vengeance. Many people, myself included, have experienced the same thing when treating with herbal antibiotics. This is because Lyme will react to a hostile environment by switching into cyst form, and re-emerging once conditions are favourable.

Antibiotics Trigger Defensive Manoeuvres

When Borrelia spirochaetes encounter a hostile environment, they revert to cyst form. This protects them from both antibiotics and the patient’s immune system. Studies have shown that not only can this cyst form be induced by exposing the spirochaetes to adverse conditions such as antibiotics, but that some cyst forms exist within human cells. Scientists believe this could be the reason why Lyme Disease can be so persistent, even with aggressive antibiotic treatment.

Another study showed that antibiotics do indeed reduce the number of spirochaetes, but at the same time increased the number of cyst forms. These cyst forms then reverted to spirochaete form once they were no longer under threat. In some cases, the number of spirochaetes was lowered to a virtually non-existent level, but cyst numbers increased massively. This would explain a reduction of symptoms which come back once antibiotics are stopped. When choosing to take antibiotics, the question needs to be asked: What if all it’s doing is sending the bacteria into hiding?

When To Use Antibiotics

We know that early treatment with antibiotics can eliminate Lyme or reduce the severity of the disease, so taking a sufficient course of doxycycline (400mg per day for 6 weeks) is the best thing you can do if you’ve just been bitten.

If you are experiencing cardiac issues – see a doctor and receive antibiotic treatment. The same goes for any other life threatening complications. Antibiotics are an amazing scientific breakthrough and they have saved many, many lives. However, long-term antibiotics are also damaging. They not only kill bad bacteria, but eradicate beneficial bacteria. They are not the answer to everything, even though pharmaceutical companies would have us believe we need to pop a pill for every illness.

The Alternative to Antibiotics

One of the reasons I settled on Rifing was because it is impossible to alert the bacteria that they’re actually being killed, therefore preventing cyst formation. Bryan Rosner covers this in his book, “When Antibiotics Fail: Lyme Disease and Rife Machines“. As an introduction to Rifing, I highly recommend it.

You see, bacteria requires a chemical change in the environment in order to react. This is because all cells primarily communicate chemically. When using a coil machine you are applying an electromagnetic field and resonating the organism at its resonant frequency. This causes the bonds between atoms to break, rupturing the bacteria. It’s the perfect stealth treatment because the bacteria don’t know they’re under attack.

Some individuals claim that Lyme can become ‘aware’ of frequency treatment, or can change their resonant frequencies – but this is impossible. You can read more about that here. The truth is that cells of all kinds are constantly dying – this is called apoptosis – and is a normal and controlled part of its life-cycle. This applies to all human cells, bacteria and viruses. This cell death does not trigger Lyme into cyst form, and neither does Rifing.

I’m certainly not against the use of antibiotics for early Lyme, or even for individuals with crippling symptoms who need suppression of the infection in order to function. I do believe there is a better way though – a way that doesn’t cripple our bodies whilst not doing much to eradicate the infection.

Have you ever taken antibiotics for Lyme? What was your experience? I’d love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments below!

Sources:

Patel, R. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2000.
University of Maryland Medical Center: “Lyme Disease and Related Tick-Borne Illnesses.”
Lantos et al, 2013. “Persisting atypical and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi and local inflammation in Lyme neuroborreliosis”
Sapi et al, 2011. “Evaluation of in-vitro antibiotic susceptibility of different morphological forms of Borrelia burgdorferi”

 

Rife Machine Power - Wattage

What’s Watts Got To Do With It?

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Wattage. It’s a number that’s thrown around fairly often as a measure ofRife Machine Power. The problem is, it’s just not great at showing how powerful a coil machine is. In What A Coil Machine Is (And What It Isn’t), we learnt about using atuned circuit to boost both the voltage and wattage of our machine to create an exceptionally powerful magnetic field.

When a manufacturer lists the wattage of the Amplifier as a measure of power, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s because they aren’t using atuned circuit. Take a closer look and you’ll notice that the machine won’t have a capacitor box.

Tuned Circuits

What they don’t tell you is that when you aren’t using atuned circuit, you get substantial power loss due to something called impedance. Impedance is a quality of the coil which ‘resists’ a change in current. So what does this mean in real terms? Let’s say you’re going to use one of these machines (without capacitance control) and it had a 2000 watt amplifier. When you run that machine you’ll only get around 900 watts output. That’s due to the impedance.

Now let’s look at what happens when you use the ESP101, which uses atuned circuit. We use a 2000 watt amplifier, which is boosted to 22,500 watts. And what about impedance? This is atuned circuit, and therefore the resistance is insignificant. In other words, it’s completely overwhelmed by the power output. (A quick mathematical aside: this happens when the inductive and capacitive reactances are equal in magnitude but cancel each other because they are 180 degrees apart in phase. This is a well established scientific principle when using a tuned circuit). That’s the sort ofRife Machine Power you need.

The Resonance Curve

Resonance Curve

Here’s a picture of the Resonance Curve. The orange line shows what you get with a circuit that’s not tuned. The blue line shows what you get with atuned circuit. When you have atuned circuit (which is therefore resonant), the amplitude becomes increasingly bigger. This boosts the power to a whopping 22,500 watts, and as the voltage across the coil is also boosted to 1500 volts, you end up with a seriously powerful magnetic field. For the ESP101, that equals around 302 Gauss.

When you don’t have atuned circuit, you’re getting around 900 volts and likely around 30 volts. Will a magnetic field be generated? Yes! Will it be producing the frequency you want? You bet. Will it kill some Lyme? Sure. Will the magnetic field it produces be able to penetrate to the deeper layers of infection? Doubtful.

So often, I hear of people who have been rifing for 5, sometimes 10 years, and who are still sick. They report herxing, and some improvement, but they’re never quite able to kick it completely. This is down to the machines they’re using. Have a look at Doug MacLean’s story – he had cured his Lyme within two years and has not needed antibiotics or any treatment in nearly 20 years. If that doesn’t say something, I don’t know what will.

I’d love to hear from you. Have you heard about how wattage isn’t the full story before? Let me know in the comments below!

Coil Machine - Copper Coil Wound

What a Coil Machine Is (And What It Isn’t)

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Conducting a quick google search will yield seemingly endless results about all the different types of Rife machines you can buy. Most of these claim to be a variation of a coil machine. We’re not going to have a look at every single one today, but we are going to dive a little deeper into coil machines. The original coil machine was coined the Doug Coil, because a chap called Doug MacLean built it.

It was so named because a copper coil is used to create the magnetic field you need to deliver frequencies to your body. The machine was built using established electrical and mechanical principles – and most importantly, it works. It utilises a coil, a capacitor box, frequency generator and a suitable amplifier. Unfortunately, many machines with a copper coil neglect some of these components, making it less effective, yet still use the label ‘coil machine’.

In this post, I want to take you through some scenarios, starting with how a coil machine built to Doug MacLean’s specs works. Then, we’ll have a look at what happens when you remove or change the various components. I think this is so important to cover, because all of the success stories I’ve read of people recovering from Lyme have resulted from the use of a proper coil machine. The average timeline for this is 1.5-2.5 years.

What do you need to achieve with a coil machine?

Before we get into the nitty gritty of a coil machine, we need to understand exactly what it is that we’re trying to achieve. And essentially, we need to create a changing Magnetic Field of sufficient strength, so that it can penetrate the human body and cause bacteria to resonate.

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Inductance and Resonance are the key scientific principles that should be taken into account, because these principles determine how strong the magnetic field is.

Inductance

Electromagnetic Inductance is the production of an electromotive force across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field.

In simple terms, this means that you can generate more power (measured in volts) across a coil when you apply a changing current (as opposed to an unchanging current). The changing current is achieved by using a signal generator which produces a sine wave – where there is a constant change between positive and negative.

The inductance of a coil is a passive property, which means that once you have wound a coil, its inductance doesn’t change. This is important to remember for when we talk about resonance.

Resonance

We’ve already had an in depth look at resonance as it relates to a microorganism. Any engineer or physicist would tell you that in order to resonate an object, system, or organism, that you need to also resonate your circuit at the same frequency. This is called a tuned circuit. There’s even a formula to work it out:

Resonant Frequency formula

What this formula shows is that there’s a relationship between frequency (f), inductance (L) and capacitance (C). All three need to be aligned properly for the circuit to be in resonance, so you can get that all important high strength magnetic field.

Frequency

The f in the formula stands for frequency. If you are looking to run 864 Hz for your session, you would need to ensure that your machine is set for 864 Hz. We know how to calibrate the machine using the formula above – and as both the inductance and frequency are known – the capacitance is the thing that needs to change. On the ESP101, you do this by setting a series of switches on the front of the box.

What Happens When These Components Aren’t Present?

No Coil

If your machine has no coil, you’re unable to create a magnetic field. Occasionally you’ll come across machines using a plasma tube, but that’s beyond the scope of this article. Hopefully the machine you’re looking at has a coil, in order to be called a “coil machine”!

No Frequency Generator

Some set ups allow you to connect your machine to other devices, such as YouTube videos of specific frequencies. Whilst this would work in theory, the issue is that you have absolutely no assurances that the frequency you’re getting is the frequency you want. Using a lab certified frequency generator is the best and easiest way to ensure accuracy. And the best thing is, you don’t need a top of the line frequency generator used in labs! A standard one costing £50 is more than sufficient.

No Amplifier/Wrong Amplifier

Without an amplifier, you’d simply have no power output. And with no power output, you’d have no magnetic field! We also need to remember that with a tuned circuit we’re getting immense power output. This is around 1500 volts across the coil and 20,000 watts output. The amplifier we choose must be able to withstand that – and must have thermal and output overload protection.

No Capacitor Box

This is by far the most common mistake I see when people try to build a coil machine. It’s such a shame, too!

Think back to our formula earlier – we need to be able to change the capacitance in order to get a tuned circuit. No tuned circuit means a much weaker magnetic field.

Will a magnetic field be generated? Absolutely. Will it be sufficient to kill some Lyme? You betcha! However, it’s doubtful that you would successfully eradicate the whole infection due to the lack of magnetic field strength.

So why do so many build coil machines without a capacitor box? Well, the capacitor box is the most expensive and complex part of the kit. It requires an engineer to build, too. The whole circuit needs to be properly calibrated, down to knowing the exact inductance of the coil.

But you can think of this way. Using a coil machine without capacitance control is like putting a mini engine in a pick up truck. You’ll be able to drive around, but you won’t be able to tow anything or go off road with it – because the mini engine has limited power output.

So, let’s recap:

  • A proper coil machine will have a coil, frequency generator, amplifier and capacitor box
  • Your machine needs to be in resonance to create the all important high strength magnetic field
  • Machine’s which don’t have a capacitor box will have a much weaker magnetic field

What do you think? Had you heard about a tuned circuit before? I’d love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments below!

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What Resonance Is (And What It Isn’t)

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Whenever I speak to people about Rifing, I’m amazed by the number of theories that come pouring out. So, if you’ve ever turned to Google for some answers and felt like you ended up through the looking glass, I don’t blame you. Some unscrupulous individuals take advantage of this confusion to sell theories and products that are based on half truths, and others cling to these theories because to let go would be too scary.

Here at Ticked Off With Lyme, we’re passionate about giving you clear, easy-to-understand information about rifing to enable you to make informed decisions about your treatment. Once you’ve got a good understanding of what rifing is, you’re able to push away all the hype and gain control over your treatment.

This article will cover:

    • Frequency
    • Resonant Frequency
    • Resonance
    • How frequencies are delivered to the body

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An Introduction to Frequency

Frequency indicates ‘how many’. Imagine you’re holding the end of a long piece of rope, and you begin to move it up and down so that it forms a ripple that looks like a wave. Now imagine tying a small piece of ribbon around one part of the rope. What you’ll see is that piece of ribbon moving up and down, up and down whilst the ripple is formed. The ribbon is moving from the highest point (the peak) of the wave, down to the lowest point (the trough) and back again.Frequency is a measurement of how many times that ribbon moves from the peak, to the trough, and back to peak in one second.

So, what happens when you move your hand up and down faster? More waves are formed on the rope, and the ribbon is moving up and down faster and completing more cycles per second – this means that the wave you are creating has a higher Frequency .Frequency is measured in Hertz, or Hz for short. The higher the number of Hz, the higher the frequency.

You may hear people talking about subsonic frequencies (0-20Hz), audio frequencies (20Hz-20kHz, ultrasonic frequencies (20kHz-100kHz), and radio frequencies (anything above). These are just names for ranges of frequencies. Interestingly, all the frequencies you will need to fight Lyme fit well within the audio frequency range, up to around 2000Hz. Some machines claim to use frequencies much higher than this, in the radio frequency range, although there is no in vitro evidence of this being effective.

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Let’s have a look at ‘resonant frequency’

Resonant frequency has a few interchangeable names. It is regularly referred to as the natural frequency, and in terms of Royal Raymond Rife’s work, it is the Mortal Oscillatory Rate (MOR). All terms are interchangeable and mean exactly the same thing, however there is a great deal of misunderstanding around what the MOR is, and vast array of definitions, and so for this article I’ve chosen to use the term resonant frequency.

You’ve likely heard a lot aboutresonant Frequency. You’ve also likely heard a lot of contradictory and confusing statements about resonant frequencies, too. Many manufacturers would have you believe that this is a new concept that applies only to Rifing. You may have been told thatresonant Frequency is something that can be manipulated, altered or changed. The truth is thatresonant Frequency is an established, well-understood scientific concept.

Everything in the universe vibrates. This applies to atoms and molecules, and to larger structures like bacteria. The frequency at which something vibrates is called it’sresonant Frequency, or sometimes it’s natural frequency. Resonance has many applications ranging from building washing machines to satellite launchers. However, many would have you believe thatresonance applies only the use of rife machines, and unfortunately the term is frequently misused. It is presented as a complex principle, relating only to frequency treatments and that only the manufacturer has unlocked its secrets. Confusing jargon is mixed in with sales hype, which overwhelms and bamboozles.The simple truth is that in all these cases, the definition of resonance and its application is simply incorrect.

Let’s look at some facts aboutresonant Frequency.

resonant Frequency doesn’t change unless the substance itself changes. This is because it is based on some passive factors, such as mass and stiffness. Let’s look at water for a second. Some would have you believe that you can rife a glass of water, ‘imprint‘ another frequency on the water, drink the water and receive the ‘healthy‘ frequency.Water is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. A water molecule will have a specific molecular mass, period (the mass of the three atoms). You can only change the mass of a water molecule by adding or removing atoms – which means it’s not water anymore. It may be O3 (ozone) or H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), but it’s not water! Additionally, you can only make this sort of change to a molecule through a chemical reaction, and not via an electromagnetic field.

The stiffness of a substance relates to how strong the bonds between the atoms are. Take another look at the picture of the water molecule. The lines between the hydrogen and oxygen molecules represent the bonds between them. In order to separate the three atoms, you need to apply more energy than the energy bonding them together, just as if you’re taking a magnet off the fridge. The stronger the magnet, the harder you need to pull (the more energy you need to apply). This is what’s meant by the stiffness of the substance. When you have a more complex structure, like a bacteria, you have lots more atoms, and many more bonds. When a structure is more complex, with more atoms and more bonds, it takes more energy to break them. Take a look at this glucose molecule – you can see that there are more bonds to break, thus requiring more energy.

I want to take a moment to talk about machines and therapies that claim to detect and read the frequencies emitted by pathogens. Any physicist or engineer will tell you that the process to work out a substance’sresonant Frequency is a purely mathematical one, relying on many complex formulae. This is because there is no device capable of reading the miniscule output created by a single celled organism. With regards to Lyme disease, frequencies have been found through trial and error (but have been observed in vitro). Be aware that even though these therapies use the termresonance that this is not, in actual fact, a demonstration ofresonance. You should question very carefully exactly how such a device claims to read these frequencies when the best scientific minds in the world have not been able to do so.

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So what’s resonant frequency got to do with Rifing?

In order to fully understand how a Rife machine works, we need to understandresonance. When you excite an organism with its ownresonant Frequency, it causes the organism to resonate. Do you see that there’s a subtle difference there? Great, let’s look at whatresonance is then.

When a system, or a substance, is resonant, it takes very little input power to get a high output power. Imagine you’re pushing someone on a swing at the park. It takes quite a lot of effort to get it going, but once the swing gets going, you barely have to push at all to keep the swing going at the same height. If you kept using the same power input (you kept pushing as hard) the swing would eventually end up swinging over the top. It’s similar with a rife machine – you are exciting the organism at it’s own natural frequency, but we do not reduce the power so the organism becomes resonant, and ruptures (likened to the swing going over the bar). So, when an organism reachesresonance, you are applying the same amount of power, and the vibrations ‘take on a life of their own’ and keep vibrating with ever greater power until it ruptures.

Have you ever seen an old washing machine ‘walk across the floor?’. When a washing machine does this, it’s because the system has achievedresonance, due to the vibrations of the drum. The vibrations have ‘taken on a life of their own’ and get stronger and stronger with the same power input. How is this stopped? By either changing the mass (a heavier casing increasing the mass of the system) or the stiffness (by applying internal brackets to increase the stiffness of the system). When that’s been the done, the drum will continue to vibrate, but that will no longer match theresonant Frequency of the case – and you end up with a washing machine that stays put! The great thing aboutresonance is that bacteria are unable to change their mass or stiffness, so are completely vulnerable to Rifing.

We’ve all heard the analogy of the opera singer smashing a glass when singing the right note. This is because the glass is being excited at it’s natural, or resonant, frequency. When you cause a substance to vibrate at itsresonant Frequency, and therefore cause it to resonate, the bonds holding the substance together can’t withstand the force of the increasing vibration, and break. Do you think that if the opera singer sang the same note (the same frequency) but much quieter, it would still break? It wouldn’t, would it? So now we need to ask ourselves what else is at play here.

If the singer sings a C note, which has a specificFrequency, once very loudly and again very quietly, what’s changed? They are both a C note with the exact same frequency. It is theamplitude of the wave, which is the measurement from the crest of the wave to the baseline. It’s essentially ‘how tall’ the wave is. Theamplitude of a wave is related to the energy which it transports. The loud C note will have a much greateramplitude (therefore energy) than the quiet C note. The higheramplitude is needed to excite the glass. You could even think of theamplitude as being similar to how much force you push the swing with in our earlier example.

So, in order to cause an organism to resonate, we not only need to take into account theresonant Frequency of the organism, but we need to apply the correctamplitude to the wave in order for it to be effective. This brings us onto our next topic – where we’re going to look at how we deliver these frequencies to the body with the correct power.

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How frequency is delivered to the body

At this point, we understand whatFrequency means, what aresonant Frequency is, and whatresonance is. We also know that simply creating aFrequency is not enough to kill an organism, and that we need to ensure that the correct energy is applied to cause it to resonate. This part is determined by your machine.

There are several different types of energy. Let’s have a look back at the opera singer/wine glass analogy. This uses sound energy. When we speak, shout or sing, we cause pressure changes in the air using our vocal chords. In the human ear, the ear drum vibrates because of these pressure changes, and this is then translated by the brain into what we know as sound. Sound is not an appropriate energy to use for Rifing, because it has a fairly low energy which is absorbed by human tissue very easily. Imagine placing a pebble on top of a jelly. The jelly represents human tissue and the pebble represents the pathogen. Now imagine using your finger to wobble the jelly back and forth. This motion represents the changes in air pressure and how it affects the body. You’ll notice the pebble doesn’t move very much at all, because most of the motion is absorbed by the jelly. Sound won’t work.

Some machines use plasma. This is a light tube which flashes on and off at the setFrequency. Many would have you believe that it is light which is transmitting the energy here, but it is in fact because the motion of on/off is creating a spark which generates a weak magnetic field. This brings us nicely on to the topic of electromagnetism, and why it’s how both Rife and Doug MacLean chose to build their machines.

Both Tesla and Maxwell demonstrated that magnetic waves penetrate everything, including the earth. This is the defining hallmark of electromagnetism. Electromagnetic waves can pass through the human body with very little energy loss. So, in order to deliver the desired frequency to our body, we require an electromagnetic field to do so. This magnetic field needs to be the correct strength so that theFrequency has the correctamplitude to excite the pathogen intoresonance. How can we do that? We achieve that through ensuring that the Rife machine has the correct components and is calibrated correctly.

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Theories and therapies that claim to utilise resonance (but actually do not)

Whilst this is by no means an exhaustive list, I’ve included the most common misconceptions I’ve come across regarding resonance as it pertains to Rifing:

  • Any device or therapy that claims to detect and identify the resonant frequency of a pathogen or organ, is not utilising resonance in any way. We now know that it is impossible to detect the miniscule amount of energy produced.
  • Any claim that the human body can ‘shut out’ frequencies as a defence mechanism are not discussing frequencies in the scientifically recognised way. We now know that electromagnetic energy passes through all substances, as shown by Tesla & Maxwell.
  • Any claim that bacteria can change their frequency in order to evade treatment. We now know that resonant frequency is determined by molecular mass and stiffness, and that one or both of these would need to change for the resonant frequency to change. This would mean the substance has changed into something else.
  • The claim that there are healthy/unhealthy, good/bad, harmonious/inharmonious frequency ranges and that pathogens somehow choose to exist in these ranges. Pathogens are not drawn to or choose certain frequencies, their frequencies are set and defined by established scientific principles.
  • The claim that you can boost for example, your liver function, by using the resonant frequency of liver cells. We now know that to expose a structure to its resonant frequency will result in the structure itself becoming resonant and vibrating at ever higher amplitudes – resulting in destruction.

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Conclusion

We’ve made it to the end! Well done for sticking with me – there’s a huge amount of information here. Hopefully, though, you feel as if you have a better understanding ofresonance. For the next article, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at what a Rife machine actually is and how to ensure that yours is capable of producingresonance.

Got comments or questions? I’d love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments below!

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3 Months into Rifing – How It’s Going

by with No Comment

Three months ago, Glenn completed the build for my ESP101. Without much information at all to go on, we selected 864hz at random from the list of Doug’s frequencies, I held the coil to my abdomen and we switched the coil on for 30 seconds. That resulted in one of the worst herxes I’ve ever had, and sent me into a tailspin for over a week! We quickly realised that 30 seconds was far too long for somewhere like the abdomen. I’ve learnt a lot over this short period of time, and I thought I’d share some of this knowledge so you don’t have to make the same mistakes I did!

Time Matters

It can be so tempting to crank up the coil and run with it – but please, don’t do this with a Doug Coil! The power output is much higher than other rife-type machines on the market, so don’t be fooled by the stories of people Rifing for hours a week, or overnight. You cannot do that with a Doug Coil. As we know, herxes can be dangerous which is why we must manage them carefully and always err on the side of caution.

Start with 10 seconds on any given frequency. Wait for a few days to see what kind (if any) herx develops. It can be so tempting to crank it up and go for it, especially because you’ve just got your coil and you’re full of desperate hope for that elusive remission, but please resist the urge!

Different Frequencies, Different Reactions

You may find that some frequencies you try produce little to no herxing, whereas others can floor you in unexpected ways. Keep a diary of what frequencies you’re Rifing on, for how long, and the symptoms of your herx (if one develops). When you look back over your diary, you’ll start to see patterns and have a good idea of which frequencies work for you and what to expect. For example, I now know that if I rife on a Lyme frequency I’m likely to have a herx which causes arthritic pain and anxiety and ramps up over a few days, whereas Rifing on a Bartonella frequency will floor me immediately with abdominal pain, nausea, dizziness and fatigue and tapers off over a few days. Which beautifully brings me onto the next point:

Varying Types and Degrees of Herxes

The more you rife, the more you can anticipate how your body will react. As I mentioned above, I’m now able to plan my rife sessions to fit in with life (as much as Lyme itself allows). Here’s an example:

It’s Wednesday. I’m able to work from home on Thursday and Friday this week, but I have a few conference calls and tasks that require brainpower, and I also have a couple of errands I need to run at the weekend. I choose to rife on Lyme frequency that I know produces arthritic pain, anxiety and some headaches. It hits me a day or so after Rifing, but the pain responds well to pain relief. This means that come Saturday, I’m able to run my errands and keep up with my work on Thursday and Friday, whilst getting rest in between.

It’s another Wednesday. I’m going to be working from home Thursday and Friday of this week but my workload is light, and I’ve cleared my weekend. I choose to hit Bartonella on 753hz – I know that within 10 minutes I’ll be feeling the herx, and the next couple of days at least will be tough with virtually no energy and all the hallmarks of a Bartonella herx. I’ve cleared my weekend and batch cooked some meals, as well as tidied the flat in preparation for this – which means I can truly rest and give my body what it needs.

Being able to anticipate your herx allows you to get some much-needed control over your treatment.

Strange Sensations

I’ve had some pretty bizarre feelings during my Rife sessions, which at first were a little alarming – after all, I had no frame of reference at all for ‘normal’. Here’s a list of some of the things you may experience on different frequencies:

  • Vibrations – particularly your hands when holding the coil
  • Tingling around sinus area which can feel almost like post nasal drip
  • Sudden onset of nausea
  • Shooting pains in extremities
  • Building tension throughout whole body

You will have some Rife sessions with no sensation at all, and you shouldn’t judge a frequency’s benefit based on whether you feel anything immediately. When you do have some weird goings on all it means is that you’re targeting Lyme & Co in a different way. However, if anything becomes too uncomfortable, stop immediately. You don’t win any medals by continuing.

Occasionally you will experience what can only be described as a flicking, pinging or snapping sensation, much like being pinged with an elastic band. When this happens, STOP. You have hit a biofilm and you must take it slowly. Allow the herx to pass and run that frequency again for a short period of time. When you hit a biofilm, you’ve disrupted a colony of bacteria which were happily tucked away, but are now in defence mode. You can read more about biofilms here.

So tell me, if you’ve also been Rifing a while what have you learnt? Or are you completely new to Rifing and want more information? Let me know in the comments below.