Inflammation | Diagnosis Unsolved

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Is It Really Lyme?

By swollenmystery On October 8, 2012 · 13 Comments

I was going to title this post, “There and Back Again” because of all the traveling back and forth from Des Moines to St. Louis lately but I didn’t want to risk any copyright infringement on The Hobbit. Not too long ago, a friend recommended I take a look at a book called The Accidental Cure, by Dr. Simon Yu, MD. With a gracious offer to borrow the book for a couple weeks I decided to read it in between classwork and see what it was all about. I didn’t expect to find so many references to nutrition and holistic approaches to healing in a book authored by a doctor trained in traditional medicine. The book is easy to understand and I got a good sense of Dr. Yu’s unconventional methods of practicing medicine pretty quickly. I was enlightened to read that he looks at the whole picture when seeing a patient, and takes a holistic approach to treatment, whether by traditional medicine or alternative therapies. I was also pleased to read about his experience with nutrition, Lyme and dental issues. Since my Lyme disease diagnosis a little over a year ago, a new symptom appeared as I began treatment with natural treatments (Samento, Enula, Banderol, Houttuynia, ACS200 Silver). Second to the inflammatory arthritis in my knees, I began to experience pain in the left side of my lower jaw. It started as a minor pain near the spot where a wisdom tooth had been removed [...]

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Sweating Through the Gears

By swollenmystery On October 12, 2011 · Add Comment

With chronic Lyme disease, there are some days you get to the point of frustration where you begin to doubt your treatments and wonder what is working and what isn’t. Today is one of those days. No, I take that back. This month is one of those months. Consistently, I see clues of healing: better, consistent bowel movements; more fluctuation in my knee swelling; normal weight gain; and overall feeling of more strength. Yet I continue to debate whether I’m taking a step backward or moving forward, not knowing whether the increased pain, fatigue or swelling is due to herx reactions and bacteria die-off in my system or my infections getting out of control again. Through the ups and downs, I feel like I’m learning. It seems as if my lymphatic system is what’s holding me back. I’m beginning to wonder if my lack of movement (due to aches and fatigue) is a double-edged sword. Could a lack of exercise stall my lymph nodes and cause a backed-up system, creating more toxins to spread, and therefore more discomfort and pain? One of the hardest things for me to do over the past few years has been to sweat. When I do sweat, I feel better and see changes in my knee effusions afterward. When I work out, or have my knees or neck massaged properly, I tend to see more change in the amount of fluid in and around my knees. This leads me to believe I need [...]

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On The Right Path, But Not Out Of The Woods Yet

By swollenmystery On June 21, 2011 · 8 Comments

This weekend I completed (celebrated) finishing three months of a detox protocol for healing my gut naturally. While I’m not completely going back to the way I used to eat, I am going to start re-introducing more foods besides raw vegetables and bone broths. I feel like it’s graduation day. Welcome to life in post detox! Yes, it’s affected me that much. It’s so exciting to see the progress, even though it’s slower than I hoped at times. But I consider this detox protocol successful because it was designed to heal my gut, eliminate built-up antibiotics and other medicines I’ve taken over the years, and therefore allow my immune system to start to function properly again. I truly believe I’ve seen that happen over these last 12 weeks. The first signs were changes in bowel movements as my stools became more frequent, softer, and normal. Then after two months I finally began to see changes in my knee inflammation. For the last year both of my knees have always been swollen (a lot), even while on Prednisone for so long. This was the first time my knee effusions have shrunk to almost to normal size. Now from week to week I’m noticing my knees still flare up but usually one at a time and the swelling tends to be isolated to only one knee instead of both. Overall, walking, getting up and down from a seated position, and walking stairs have been so much easier, too. Even though [...]

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Detox Protocol: 2 Months Complete

By swollenmystery On May 27, 2011 · 2 Comments

Living with Lyme isn’t easy. And I’m beginning to think I must be a little crazy to attempt to heal from it naturally. I have now successfully finished week 8 of my detox/healing protocol and swiftly moving into week 9. Since beginning, I’ve been able to add bananas, molasses and coconut oil to my green smoothies now that my digestive system and colon has shown significant improvement. They really help aid those bitter greens each morning and make downing each one more tolerable. Last week I was able to sparingly introduce some sardines and salmon too. Never having tried sardines in my life, I was pleasantly surprised how mild and tasty they were. Or perhaps they’re deliciousness comes more from my lack of eating solid foods lately. Either way, I welcomed the addition with delight. I’ve also experimented with the ingredients that go into each smoothie. Some days I add several huge handfuls of spinach, some kale, cauliflower, red bell peppers along with freshly juiced lemon and ginger. Other days I toss in random mixed red and green lettuce, various types of chard, arugula, broccoli or alfalfa sprouts, pea shoots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage. Each day I try to add some avocado, coconut oil, banana and blueberries or strawberries along with a dash of molasses for flavor. The smoothie making process is a bit of work each morning, but knowing it will take some time gets me to bed earlier each night, and results in a better [...]

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Diagnosis Solved?

By swollenmystery On April 22, 2011 · 2 Comments

During the past three years I’ve developed an enormous amount of skepticism, caution and indecisiveness when it comes to the medical world. I’ve felt that every path has led to a dead end. Often the treatments I experienced have made my symptoms of inflammatory arthritis worse. Yet I now look back at those events as learning experiences. Perhaps God was showing me something, giving me knowledge and experience with those events for a purpose. A purpose which I may never understand. But that’s ok. Through an unexpected chain of events, meeting new people, finding new doctors and growing closer to Him, I finally have a diagnosis. Last week my western blot test came back CDC positive for lyme disease. Along with that I tested positive for several coinfections including Bartonella, Chlamydia Pneumonia, Mycoplasma and HHV6. Wonderful? Yes! In fact, I’ve never been so happy to have a diagnosis. A diagnosis that can be treated. Better yet, a diagnosis that can be treated with a possibility of complete remission! So that’s it. I have lyme disease. More specifically chronic lyme disease, as it’s apparently settled in for quite some time. The greatest part of all this is knowing what to treat and having confidence that there is an end in sight. So what will I do with this blog now that I have a diagnosis? I will continue to post progress during my treatment. I’m continuing the natural detox protocol while introducing other all natural treatments aimed specifically at [...]

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About Me

I'm a freelance web designer with a background in graphic design. I'm also a part-time nutrition student. When I'm not creating or designing, I'm studying nutrition. When I'm not doing either of those I'm usually eating or talking about food. I've been interested in health and fitness for a long time but it wasn't until I became seriously ill with a mysterious chronic autoimmune condition in my early 30s that I realized how intricate and complex the human body is.

Along my journey to healing from chronic illness and Lyme disease, I discovered that eating healthier has improved my life the most. This blog is not just a journal of my progress but is also intended to help anyone that might be suffering from an autoimmune illness. My goal is to learn how to support the body's natural healing process holistically so that it has the resources to fight off illness the way it was designed. As I learn more every day, I write about my journey here at Diagnosis Unsolved. Read more about how all this started and my story here.
-Brad Linberg-
Now Reading
Planned books:
- The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food by Kaayla T. Daniel
- Recipes for Repair: A Lyme Disease Cookbook by Gail Piazza, Laura Piazza
Current books:
- Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price
- Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin
- The Salt/C Plus Protocol for Lyme Infection by M. Fett
- Seamus Mullen’s Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better by Seamus Mullen
- The Candida Cure: Yeast, Fungus by Ann Boroch
Recent books:
- The World’s Healthiest Foods, Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating by George Mateljan
- Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dict by Sally Fallon, Mary Enig
- Accidental Cure: Extraordinary Medicine for Extraordinary Patients by Simon Yu
- Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pamela Weintraub
- The Top 10 Lyme Disease Treatments: Defeat Lyme Disease with the Best of Conventional and Alternativ by Bryan Rosner
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Is It Really Lyme?

Sweating Through the Gears

On The Right Path, But Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Detox Protocol: 2 Months Complete

Diagnosis Solved?

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Good Sites about Health, Lyme and Living

About Me

Now Reading

Planned books:

Current books:

Recent books:

Lime Disease – Story of Recovery

Is It Really Lyme?

Sweating Through the Gears

On The Right Path, But Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Detox Protocol: 2 Months Complete

Diagnosis Solved?

Tags

Categories

Archives

Good Sites about Health, Lyme and Living

About Me

Now Reading

Planned books:

Current books:

Recent books:

Lime Disease – Story of Recovery