This picture is everything “Lyme related” I needed to pack for our trip. I felt compelled to share this, not because I’m complaining butI hope it will encourage EVERYONE to be vigilant about protecting yourself from ticks.

I don’t want anyone to ever have to deal with any of this! Believe me, you don’t want to experience this mess. Tick population is expected to increase as global warming intensifies, more ticks = more Lyme Disease. If you do get bit, see a Lyme Literate doctor immediately. They will treat you correctly and minimize the chance of developing last stage Lyme Disease.

Since my diagnosis over two years ago, I’ve been able to lead a relatively “normal” life. This included working, and traveling. I’m grateful I didn’t experience extreme neuro-Lyme symptoms, or intense fatigue. I’m also extremely grateful my insurance covered part of my treatment. I live far from my family, and typically try to visit them twice a year. Each trip I have to lug my Lyme medications, and supplements with me.

I’ve been on various treatment protocols, all involve lots of supplements. I take roughly 40 pills a day. The backpack I carry is full of my “drugs.” I have to bring a small, soft, cooler because my probiotics need to stay refrigerated. Prior to may diagnosis, my backpack had books, and extra space for whatever I might have bought during my trip, that’s a novelty now!

My current trip is 12 days, I purchased two, extra large pill containers. In addition to the pills, I’m carrying six herbal tinctures (1 oz bottles of liquid herbs), a powder formula to support my GI tract, and a huge bottle of prescription Mepron (an anti-malarial drug that hopefully is killing my Babesia). Mepron is a liquid medication, so I carry measuring spoons to administer the correct dosage. It has to be taken with breakfast, and dinner. It’s embarrassing to pull out a big bottle of medication while dining out, and serving up my bright yellow syrup! This nasty medication is turning my teeth yellow, it’s the one I dislike the most! I also have residual browning of my teeth from Doxycycline, that’s very frustrating too!

I try my best to stick to my regime while traveling, here’s what I need fit in everyday.  In the morning, I start off  with a glass of water, I eat breakfast, and stagger my antibiotics during my meal to help avoid a stomach ache. I usually have a small serving of yogurt with my GI support mixed in. After breakfast, I pour myself a glass of water kefir, and start taking my pills.

After lunch, I take my herbal tinctures. I have to take 20 drops of each, and wait five minutes in between. Since I have six, that takes 30 minutes.

At dinner, I repeat the same medications I took at breakfast, and an hour or so after dinner I try to get my second dose of herbal tinctures. That second dose may or may not happen, and thankfully my doctor said not to stress if I only get them in once a day. During breakfast and dinner I need to have a decent amount of fat, because Mepron needs it to be effectively absorbed.

I seriously don’t know how I did all this while working! When I think about it, I rarely did because work didn’t allow breaks to take everything. I’ve improved a lot since not working, because I actually have time to follow my protocol.

That’s my “fun” Lyme protocol day in, and day out. I really look forward to not having to maintain it to feel good. I want to get back to the good old days of having my backpack full of books, and fun things while traveling. I’m over carrying an entire pharmacy with me!

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Go to http://www.tickencounter.org to learn on how to protect you, and your family from ticks. Don’t think it can’t happen to you!

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