Before Lyme

As I said, I think it takes a certain environment for an infection to become chronic.

All growing up we ate the Standard American Diet.  We had something very heavy in simple carbohydrates and high in toxins at every meal.  We made and ate about 2 cakes a week, in a family of five, and went through M&Ms as if they were going out of style.  We would buy 2liter sodas by the 6pack.  We ate cookies like crazy.  Krispy Kreme donuts were amazing…or so we thought.  Over the years though, my stomach would strongly tell me that 3 was too many.  As I got sicker with Lyme and the yeast issues, I could only eat 1/2 a doughnut without getting nauseous.  We were sugar addicts!!!

In utero…My mom had to be placed on IV ABX several times, because she was hospitalized 4 times with kidney infection.  I was exposed to antibiotics while in the womb.  Antibiotics are toxic and weaken the immune system.  My mom also had had a mouth full of amalgams for years by the time I was in the womb…and up to 2/3 of the mother’s heavy metal toxicity is dumped into the firstborn child according to Dr. Klinghardt.  My younger brother was probably born with Lyme, so I do believe the antibiotics were good in that it prevented my getting Lyme congenitally.  Though I feel very strongly that I was born with bartonella, since those antibiotics do not deal with this intracellular parasite – and it simply was not a problem until later when my system was compromised by other factors.

Genetics are a factor… My HLA DRB DQB types (there are 2 sets for each person…) as interpretted by Shoemaker, author of Surviving Mold, show that I have 13-3-52A, a fairly rare multisusceptible gene.  This means there are many things like mold, MRSA/MARCoNs, other biotoxins, that my body cannot properly deal with.  My second one is 15-6-51 which is a Lyme susceptible gene.  Double whammy.  Having these genes does not mean I cannot get well, it just means that my body has trouble detoxing and needs help at times.  I’m sure with Love, prayer and God’s catch system of epigenetics…it’s just fine.

Also, it needs to be considered that my dad is very sensitive to mercury, so even mainstream medicine is quick to say “no mercury” for him.  He also had amalgam fillings.  The extreme sensitivity to mercury needs to be considered for the children of a mercury sensitive person, right?

I was born by C-section.  I do think this also is a factor in how well the immune system functions.  Mom always said that my cry was different…as if I was really, really hurting.  Mom feels I was just being manipulative…but I wonder about how manipulative any newborn is, and if the cry could really be “different.”

When I was a toddler, I managed to get lose from the buckle of the seat I was in and I fell out of a buggy.  I hit my head very hard.  My pupils were unequal in size and I was vomiting.  I was taken to the ER but released in a few hours though, it had “cleared up.”

I received all the routine childhood shots for someone born in 1989.  I had a reaction to the DTP vaccination as a toddler.  I slept for 16 solid hours afterwards and mom could not wake me up.  The pediatrician said it was a reaction to the pertussis component, and instructed that I be given the DT w/o P.  Nonetheless, my records show that a year or two later I was given the full DTP by a different pediatrician.  Interestingly, on an antibody titer drawm in Oct. 2009, I did not build enough antibodies to pertussis to be immune.  I do know now that the ingredients in these vaccines must have been a stress to body, and considering the previous…and the reaction to the DTP vaccination, that obviously, mercury, aluminum and formaldehyde from all these vaccines were things to consider.

I believe I got mono when I was 4.  I remember the whole family getting a flu with the most horrid sore throat, that lasted for like 2 weeks, not just one.  I also remember a great big mixing bowl being full of prescriptions for everybody!!  It was crazy.  There was a lot going on in our life at that time.  We had just moved to NC, or were getting ready to move.  It is all vague to me, but I remember the feeling of not being able to keep up.  As I look back, I realize the mono would come back repeatedly.  I would have a throat so sore it felt as if it should be bleeding.  Then it would go away.  I had consistent fatigue issues as a child.

I began having horrible Spring allergies at age 5, our first Spring down south since I was 2.  I slept through spring in kindergarten, as the Benadryl completely knocked me out.  Thankfully I was a natural reader and didn’t get behind.  I have suffered seasonal allergies from that time until I was 18, when the yeast load in my body was beginning to be dealt with.  I think the mono set me into having spring allergies.  Some years they were so bad I had to take a week or two off of school.

My brother had documented food allergies to peanuts, milk, MSG and corn.  I was definitely allergic to blue food coloring.  Often its not just one family member who has allergies/sensitivities…but several.  I look at pictures of myself when I was younger, and I had the rosy red allergy cheeks.  They weren’t as bad as my brother’s allergy cheeks, but it was visible.

I remember the days at school between the ages of 5 and 9, but I don’t remember much about being at home.  I remember a few things that I didn’t like.  But there were major issues between my mom and dad boiling up around that time.  Perhaps this family stress, which was taking all of mom’s energy had more to do with getting sick with Lyme than it had to do with being bitten by anything.  Thankfully the family stresses decreased significantly with my Dad’s salvation when I was 10 y/o  but I was already chronically ill by that time.

This was after beginning to be sick with Lyme, but nonetheless I  consider it a factor.  Somewhere at 10-12 y/o I received the chickenpox vaccination…  None of us had contracted it naturally, so mom decided we needed the vaccine.  My brother got sick with atypical pneumonia only a week later…We think it was caused by the vaccine and probably some really dirty water at Emerald Point.  This was also right around the time that Lyme settled into my joints and the headaches took a turn for being much more severe.

So I think all these things together set up the terrain for Lyme disease and coinfections to make a slow advance on my health and eventually take it over.  It is interesting to note that I already had chronic mono (duration = 5yrs) by the time I became ill with Lyme symptoms, and then I suffered from both.

So working on fixing the terrain… 🙂