Living With Eden's Treasures

Lyme Disease is a scary very debilitating disease. More and more people are becoming aware of this and the realization that it could happen to them after finding a tick bit on can be very overwhelming! Many don’t know what to do after a bite, how to test (or how to read the tests), or how to prevent or treat Lyme. I want to help shed some light on options you could do if you get a bite.

I’m going to share my favorite ways to boost your immune system and natural options to fight Lyme before it has time to get going! I’ll also be sharing some need to know info about Lyme itself. The longer you wait the more difficult the fight could be. The more you know and faster you act the better!

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DISCLAIMER I am not a doctor or other medical provider. This post is for educational purposes and not to treat, diagnose, or cure any health condition. The information provided through out my website including this post have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to be a substitute for the professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by your own Medical Provider. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Before we talk about what to do if you get a tick bite let’s discuss some things about Lyme. Keep in mind not all tick bites give you Lyme but… well… we will get to that in a minute.

Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria called  Borrelia burgdorferi. It can also be caused by some of the other subspecies of Borrelia like Borrelia mayonii. There are usually, if not always, also co-infections of other bacterium, viruses, and parasites contracted when someone gets Lyme disease.

I’ve heard multiple Lyme specialist say you will always have at least one other co-infection in addition to Borrelia burgdorferi when you get Lyme disease. It is just part of the tick’s microbiome.

I have also heard Lyme specialist say that you get an infection EVERY time you get bit by a tick. It is just the way it is. They have infections in their saliva as part of their microbiome and you will get infected when they sink their little grubby mouths into you.

BUT that doesn’t mean you will get a bad infection like Lyme disease with every tick bite. Most infections are not super bugs and easy for your immune symptom to fight off without you noticing a thing.

You get an infection EVERY time you get bit by a tick. It is just the way it is.

Ok So there’s some myths about tick bites and Lyme.

Myth #1

A tick has to be bit on 48-36 hours to get Lyme

This isn’t true at all. A tick can give you Lyme instantly if it had just been feeding on another mammal. There also has never been a study that found the minimal bite time required for transmission, from my understanding.

I was reading about some myths recently and read that 20% of UNFED ticks had the bacteria for Lyme in their saliva already, meaning it is ready to go right when you get bit basically. Notes were also made about studies not taking into account how much the ticks had to climb to get to the bite site and that overstimulation would affect transmission as well.

I want to address the overstimulation… This is really important for knowing for how to remove a tick

There are many things people do to get a tick to back out of the skin and release on its on or kill it. It may sound like a great idea if you can get it to release on its own.. then you know the “head” isn’t stuck… correct?

Well not exactly… so suggestions range from people using essential oils.. all natural and good so sounds good… to burning the tick with a match to rubbing alcohol and more. These things aggravate the tick which does cause it to usually back out but do you know what happens when a tick gets aggravated? It vomits before backing out. This means if there is an infection you will get a higher dose of it due to getting vomited into and not just saliva being involved.

Do you know what happens when a tick gets aggravated? It vomits before backing out. This means if there is an infection you will get a higher dose of it

This also goes for using tweezers or other pulling methods including your fingers if you are putting pressure on the abdomen of the tick. It can aggravate it or actually squish the bodily fluids from the abdomen right up into your bite. GROSS 🤢

Sooooo how do you remove a tick safely?

You can use tweezers just you want to make sure you are as close to the skin as possible so you are on it’s head only and not on the body so you don’t risk squeezing the abdomen. Pointed tweezers will be safer than the flat ones.

But my favorite tool for tick removal is a tick twister. Now some things say they are not safe but that is because of people not using them correctly and using the wrong size and or placing it over the abdomen.

They are meant to slide in-between your skin and the tick so that the only thing in the groove is the part the tick has in you. People often call this the head but it is more like barbed teeth like mouth parts, not the actual head. When you use a tick twister correctly no pressure or aggravation is on the tick and you slide right between the skin and tick and simply twists and the tick comes right out.

You’ll want to make sure you get a set with multiple sizes so you can get off the little ticks too. This is the one we have. They are not expensive and come with 2 sizes.

My favorite tool for tick removal is a tick twister

Myth #2

If you don’t have a bullseye rash you don’t have to worry about Lyme

This isn’t true!

Actually majority of people with confirmed Lyme disease didn’t even see the tick that bit them and only 25% or less (depending on the study) got an erythema migrans (bullseye) rash. So you have a 75% or more chance of getting Lyme without having a bullseye. You don’t have to have any rash at all to still have Lyme.

Not only that Lyme can also cause other rashes Including blue rashes that look like a bruise. Last time I got Lyme (That I know of) I actually got a bullseye rash that the circle was like a bruise and the center red.

If you would like to learn some more Lyme myths check out this page for more common misunderstandings…

Now that we have talked about some of the misunderstandings let’s say you have a tick bite and you don’t have a rash and you are sure that it was bit on for less than 24 hours but you know that really doesn’t mean much… so what do you do? Do you just assume you’re fine?? Do you go to the doctor and get tested?? Do you get the tick tested? What do you do??

Well you can get the tick tested. I personally have not done that before because… we get so many tick bites here that we would go broke doing that but you can find more info here with testing ticks through IgeneX.

IgeneX is a tick infection specialty lab (testing humans too) doing all the the kinds of tick infection testing. Actually for most Lyme doctors it is the only lab they will use to run a Lyme test on their patients since the other labs are not very sensitive and have removed the most sensitive parts (bands) of the western blot test (IgeneX includes all bands) making it VERY common to get a false negative with most tests since they are using labs like Quest ect.

So that moves me to the next part… should you get tested?

A positive Lyme infection is very unlikely to show up on a test if you test before 2 weeks after the bite and it may take even longer than that. Many knowledgeable doctors know that and won’t waste your time and money testing you that early. But some doctors will and then tell you your results were negative and you are fine.

THIS DOESN’T MEAN YOU ARE FINE!!!

Early Lyme disease is easier to test for than chronic Lyme disease but not that early.

Chronic Lyme disease is hard to test for since Lyme weakens your immune system and the tests are based off your immune system plus like I mentioned above the most sensitive parts have been removed from the standard tests and the sensitivity isn’t high enough at standard labs. You can check out more info here on the different tests and which are more accurate from the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society

Now with the knowledge that you shouldn’t get tested for 2 weeks then you should just sit around and wait… right???? WRONG!!!

The faster Lyme is taken care of the more likely to have success and not deal with long term symptoms.

Lyme is a super bug that has many ways to be drug resistant and evade your immune system. One of those ways is it goes intracellular. Your immune system doesn’t really go inside your cells and most of the medications to treat Lyme also do not go intracellular either. So this is a nice little place for Lyme to hide out and party and have babies without much if any interference. You do not want Lyme to leave the bite site and head inside your cells!

One of those ways is it goes intracellular.

So how long does it take for that to happen? According to doctors I’ve heard at Lyme seminars they say it takes 2 days to 2 weeks for Lyme to get inside your cells. That timeframe depends on the person’s immune system.

From what I understand if you get a bullseye rash then it has already left the bite site and is traveling away and most likely into your cells. Waiting for a rash to appear means your battle will be harder.

So if you are sitting there waiting for 2 weeks to get a test done or waiting for a rash and you happen to actually have gotten Lyme from that bite and then you still have to wait for the results to come back you are past that timeframe to protentional prevent the invasion into your cells. This is all allowing more time to pass by that could make your fight a lot harder once you get a positive result.

Now I am not saying don’t get tested but I am saying you should be doing whatever you can to boost your immune system and help fight off whatever you can while you are waiting to be on the safe side.

Here are some of my family’s favorite supports.

I’ll start with some fighters

Biocidin® LSF

Biocidin® LSF is an amazing broad spectrum all natural HERBAL antibiotic and antimicrobial solution formulated for Lyme Disease and Lyme’s co-infections.*

It is unique in that it is has been put through a liposomal process making it fat soluble. This enables it to go intracellular where your immune system and most other products, natural or pharmaceutical, can’t go.*

Make sure you take notice if it is the regular Biocidin^® or the Biocidin^® LSF if you go to order this one. They are the same herbal formula but only the LSF has the liposomal process and according to their website “Research shows the migration of liposomal Biocidin^® LSF across the cell wall (transcellular absorption) is 74% higher than Biocidin®”*

According to Biocidin Botanicals

-“Contains 18 professional grade botanicals for biofilm cleansing, healthy digestion, detox & immunomodulation.*”

-It helps clear away biofilms (a snot like substance that the Lyme bacteria makes and hides in to evade your immune system.) Most antibiotics and natural support can not penetrate this biofilm leaving the bacteria able to live and multiple unharmed for long periods of time. Another big reason Lyme is hard to treat)*

-Clears out the bad guys while enhancing your beneficials (the perfect combo) *

-“Useful in addressing occasional gas, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea.*”

So a little story about that last bite with the bullseye I shared above. I had already been bed ridden with Lyme for four years and at this point I had improved a little bit so I could take slow short strolls around the yard occasionally.

We went to a friends house and I was out in their yard and I don’t know if I got the tick there or at our house but either way I found a tick bit on my leg the next day. I think it was another day later (probably 2 days since the bite) the bite was hurting me… It felt different than the normal itchy like tick bite.

I had just started taking Biocidin^® recently before this new bite and was on a very low dose as that is what was recommended to me by my doctor. I was to slowly work up so I didn’t herx too much.

I got this idea to put Biocidin^® on this bite topically. I had asked my doctor about that and she had not heard of doing that before but it wouldn’t hurt… well probably 5 hours later I realized something… the bite had STOPPED hurting probably right after I put it on.

While that may sound good it didn’t to me! I quickly thought oh no!!! This is for infections. It isn’t an antihistamine and at that moment I went to look at my leg and there was the bruise styled bullseye looking back at me! I took a picture and sent it to my doctor to double check my thoughts and she sent me back an answer to my question of “is this considered a bullseye”… Her answer was “😱 yes”…

This reinfection threw me for a loop and that is a long story for another day but wanted to share about it helping topically as well. So now we put Biocidin^®LSF on our tick bites whenever we get one.

Click here to see the recommended dosage guide. They have the children’s dose which goes off weight and at the bottom of the guide it tells you how to start slow with children and work up to the upper dosages

Silverbiotics®

Silverbiotics® is another favorite in our home but this silver is special. We use this every day and when we accidently run out and have to use our homemade we can definitely tell a difference and symptoms start flaring. And that is with our silver generator suppose to be one of the best on the market.

Silver is a natural antimicrobial. When nano silver is in contact with bacteria and fungus it will adversely affect cellular metabolism and inhibit cell growth inhibiting multiplication and growth of the bacteria and fungi.*

One of the lovely things about using natural antimicrobials is they bring balance. What happens after people take an antibiotic a lot of the time? They often end up with thrush/yeast infections. With the natural options they are antifungals as well.

Here is some of what Silverbiotics® website has to say…

Independent studies have shown SilverSol Technology to be up to 10x more effective than products containing up to 3,000ppm silver. SilverSol Technology works by using multiple modes of action to keep your cells healthy. It is made with nano silver particles that have a positive ionic charge that are ready to support immune function within the body. Probiotic friendly—Does not inhibit the growth of good, healthy probiotics. Others can harm good probiotic bacteria with as little as 3ppm.*

Now that we have discussed some fighters lets get to some boosters

In general do anything you can think of for boosting your immune system. Here is the vitamin c we use daily. I make a yummy drink with it. And here is the Vitamin d supreme with K that I use daily. You can use immune boosting teas and up your garlic intake. Use lots of citrus and fresh greens. Just what ever you can think of you have on hand.

In addition to those things here a few others I’d like to share. With 70-80% of immune cells being in the gut we want to make sure we are supporting the gut.

70-80% of immune cells are present in the gut

Mentabiotics®

Mentabiotics® is a comprehensive probiotic, prebiotic, and phytobiotic blend designed not only to boost gut well being but also mental well being. I didn’t mention this above but Lyme can really do a number on your nervous system and also your gut.*

At Amare they formulate their products with key strains of probiotics that have been shown to not only affect gut well being but mental well being too. They also pick very specific prebiotics, which is the food for the probiotics, selecting the ideal prebiotic for each of the probiotic strains present. This allows them to get the ideal food sourse to have exactly what they need to thrive. They also put phytobiotics which are nutrients that nourish the gut brain axis (the actual nerves and cells that communicate between the gut and brain.)*

Here is from Amare about the Mentabiotics® formula

MentaBiotics® Sugar Free provides gut support through our MW3™ Prebiotic Proprietary Blend, which is specifically formulated to feed the bacteria in our MW3™ Probiotic Proprietary Blend.*

MW3 Probiotic Proprietary Blend

Our blend contains unique and specific probiotic strains targeted to enhance overall mental wellness.*

MW3 Probiotic Strains:

Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011: Promotes healthy stress response by lowering cortisol exposure and improves GABA neurotransmission.*

Bifidobacterium longum R0175: Enhances calmness by decreasing feelings of anxiousness indices and improves cognitive function.*

Lactobacillus helveticus R0052: Improves mood by supporting a healthy neuro-inflammation response and increasing serotonin.*

MW3 Prebiotic Proprietary Blend

Our MW3 Prebiotic Proprietary Blend provides optimal gut support by feeding the specific mental wellness probiotic strains found in our MW3 Probiotic Proprietary Blend.*

MW3 Prebiotic Fibers:

IsoFiber™ (Iso-Malto-Oligosaccharides) — Contains a combination of naturally occurring prebiotic plant fibers that are clinically shown to improve the growth of specific probiotic strains featured in Kids FundaMentals™ and now MentaBiotics® Sugar Free!

Bimuno^® (Galacto-Oligo-Saccharides) — Resets and increases friendly gut bacteria, maintains immune health, supports healthy inflammation functions in the body and supports your microbiome balance. It’s a highly effective and natural way of increasing preferred bacteria in your gut. Bimuno plays an important role in feeding Bifidobacteria probiotic strains.*

SunFiber^® (Galactomannan Fiber) — Helps improve the growth and vitality of beneficial bacteria, including Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus.*

-Get $10 off your first order with this link

Fundamentals

You can also get the Mentabiotics® in the Full Gut, Brain, and Vagus verve support protocol called the Fundamentals pack. This protocol contains 3 products to work on the brain, gut, and vagus nerve even deeper than just the Mentabiotics® alone.*

-$10 off first order click here or using the coupon code: 49389

GBX FIT

GBX FIT is a revolutionary probiotic that was nominated for probiotic of the year last year. It helps with balancing cortisol levels and so much more.*

It is the first Quadbiotic using very specific strains of all of its biotics for a very unique powerful probiotic! This would be a good option to help with the stress of the infection or if stress is already high for you.*

It is VERY common for many chronic Lyme patients to have had some big stressful event before Lyme hit them hard. Stress weakens the immune system and let’s things like Lyme get their happy little selves a partying around your town.

GBX FIT is advertised to help with weight loss… cool thing is it is not a weight loss pill but brings balance and if someone doesn’t need to lose weight but wants the other benefits they won’t lose weight.*

My 6 year old has been taking this and it has helped massively with Lyme flare seizures… for him this is amazing!! Before starting GBX FIT to help with his cortisol levels he would have seizures about every 3 weeks. After starting this he had 1 that was VERY mild just a few days in but then went 14 weeks before having another and then he hasn’t had one since!!!*

Here is a little break down of the very specific strains of biotics and their functions.

The Probiotic- helps with bloating and inflammation*
The Prebiotic- helps with cravings and help you to feel full and perfect food source to feed the probiotics*
The Phytobiotic- help with cortisol/stress signaling in the body.. affects mood, sleep, stress, and energy*
The Postbiotic- clinically shown to help with weight loss… especially belly fat*

Click here for $10 off your first order.

Detox Binder

G.I. detox+

G.I. Detox+ Is another favorite that I use everyday! It is a broad spectrum binder.

Binders stick to toxins like magnets and pull them straight out of you and into…. ummm…. the toilet. This helps keep your kidneys and liver from being overburdened since they don’t have to deal with the detoxing.*

Many detoxes stir up toxins from the tissues which then puts them in the blood stream and the liver and kidneys then have to work hard to process. With a binder it is gentle.*

Not all binders can bind to all toxins but this blend is broad spectrum binding to many things.

You do want to make sure you take this on an empty stomach.

It will bind to your food or medicines so make sure you wait 2 hours after eating or drinking anything but water before taking and then wait 1 hour before eating or drinking anything but water after taking it. Then you’re good to go!

Lyme (along with other infections) produce toxins as their umm…. poop basically… for things like Lyme and mold the toxins they produce are neurotoxins and can get to the brain and wreck havoc. You don’t want that flowing around in your body. Binders can be a help. But also as Lyme dies it releases a lot of toxins. So no matter what stage you are in with Lyme you will want to have a good binder on board.*

Ok I have not tried this one but many friends highly recommend

Ledum Palustre

Ledum palustre is a homeopathic support. Many friends have told me this is something they keep on hand for tick bites and with looking online there are homeopaths saying this is their step 1 for an acute Lyme infection. I don’t know a lot about it but with what I have heard I didn’t want to leave it out in case it is a good fit for you.

We have hit a lot of areas to help support the immune system and fight off some bad guys all while promoting the good guys and detoxing the junk out. I hope you found this helpful.

If you have any other suggestions please share below! I would love to hear about them.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.