THE PAIN OF NOT LOOKING SICK

  When you suffer from an invisible illness things are more challenging because you need to deal also with the pain of not looking sick. It feels awful being in pain, living in pain and not being believed. When you have to constantly explain yourself and convince others that your sickness is real and you are not  hypochondriac, it is a horrible feeling.   Take a look at my photo above. At a superficial glance, there’s nothing wrong with me. I look just fine! That’s where everyone is wrong! Little you or others know about the war going on under […]

LYME DISEASE DIET AND ITS BENEFITS

LYME DISEASE DIET Most of the Lyme literate physicians recommend to Lyme suffers to change their eating habits and switch to a Paleo diet. What is a Paleo diet? You may have heard about it, or its benefits, but you still can’t grasp what it really means?   Basically, the Paleolithic diet is deficient of gluten, dairy and sugar, which are the main culprits for causing inflammation in the body, feeding the spirochetes or suppressing your immune system. Yeast is also something that you should avoid as well. The Lyme Disease diet is a mix of the Paleo and Candida […]

RISK OF LYME DISEASE INCREASES WITHIN CANADA

The federal government allocated last year only $4 million for a research program meant to develop improved Lyme diagnosis, testing and treatment. Despite the fact that the Canadian health authorities have noted an increased number of cases of Lyme, the changes are not noticeable at all. Nowadays Lyme disease seems to get more recognition than the previous years. (Not thanks to the government though!) It’s all due to the Lyme sufferers who turn to the media. The pace is still incredibly slow. Yes, people hear more often about it, may learn a thing or two, but those who are directly concerned need […]

FINDING THE SILVER LININGS OF LYME DISEASE

When you are fighting Chronic Lyme Disease, there is no doubt that your life has seen a dramatic change due to your illness, that your priorities changed. Facing the harsh reality of being diagnosed with a chronically illness unleashes feelings of denial, fear and grief. You feel robbed of your best years. Your sense of identity and purpose, your perceptions and perspectives about the world shift. You see life through a different lens.   It is an unrealistic expectation to keep an optimistic outlook while you are dealing with chronic pain, burning under the skin, flares, fighting anxiety or depression. If that was […]

WHEN LYME MEETS MS – INSIGHTS OF A CHRONICALLY ILL COUPLE

  In the Internet era, we often read or hear sad stories about how chronic illness destroys relationships. It is a painful topic that no one really wants to discuss about, because they will have face the ugly truth straight into the eyes. It takes guts to be candid about the difficulties of caring for a chronically ill spouse.   It also takes a lot of finesse, patience, empathy, compassion and commitment to deal with a chronically ill spouse or significant other. Sometimes one needs magician skills to run through the hoops of a moody, depressed partner. The staggering divorce […]

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO LIVE WITH AN INVISIBLE ILLNESS LIKE LYME DISEASE?

After more than a decade of being sick, I still get asked within my circle of friends or by extended family members how come I am not cured yet. Or why don’t I look sick like other Lyme patients they have seen in the news? Some insist on recommending me a either specialist or a home made remedy meant to bring me some relief, while others dive in pure oblivion and tell me Lyme is not real.   A few years back, I used to  get annoyed by these comments. I was disturbed by the fact they were not able […]

TICK BORN DISEASE WORKING GROUP MEETING BRINGS HOPE TO LYME PATIENTS

  The lack of scientific progress regarding Lyme disease has created a lot of frustration within the Lyme community. Lyme patients are tired of being patronized, discounted and dismissed. Thanks to the Tick Born Disease Working Group changes are going to be made. Within the two-day meeting  of the HHS Federal Tick Borne Disease Working Group held on December 11th and 12th, on Washington D.C., vital questions were addressed.   Here’s a bullet point summary of the meeting:   DEVELOP ACCURATE DIAGNOSTIC TESTS Develop tests capable of recognizing all stages of the infection and the co-infections Discard the two tier testing […]

WHAT DOES A LYME PATIENT WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?

Have you ever wondered what’s on the Christmas wish list of a person who is chronically ill? What could he possible ask Santa for? Would his wish list look similar to yours?  Let me start by saying that the correct answer is not snow. Nor ice, nor a gift or a warm pair of socks! He doesn’t dream of any of these.   What a lyme sufferer really wants is to get well and leave behind this bad dream. Since getting a cure for Lyme is not a viable option (yet!), his second wish for Xmas is recognition. It may […]

LYME MOVIES

  GRACE NOTE  is a recently released short movie (November 2017), based on true story, featuring Tracy Mulholland, Yael Grobglas, Jake Stormoen. LYME ON THE RISE  reveals the stories of two Lyme sufferers who have been misdiagnosed for years. The video manages to  link their illness to the environmental changes we are currently experiencing.     UNDER OUR SKIN 1 (trailer)  a 2008 documentary about Lyme Disease. UNDER OUR SKIN 2 -EMERGENCE (trailer) a 2014  documentary raising more awareness about Lyme Disease.   UNDER OUR SKIN (Director`s cut)    

HOW TO HELP YOUR LYMIE FRIEND COPE WITH THE HOLIDAYS

For a Lyme warrior, every single day is a struggle. Holidays bring additional stress, as they lost their enjoyable feeling and glory. The holiday gatherings  turned into a source of misery, a reminder of a distant life that a Lyme sufferer can’t no longer enjoy. Battling Lyme, chronic fatigue, depression, pain and so on, leaves one drained, with no desire whatsoever to attend a social gathering. Though it doesn’t mean that things have to stay this way or there is nothing that you can’t do about it. That being said, here are twelve tips on how you can make your friend(s) […]