If you are unable to attend the festival, you can watch "The Quiet Epidemic" HERE between Oct 6 - 17th.
Thank you Lyne Light Foundation!
The Lyme Light Foundation provides grants to children and young adults for their battle against Lyme disease. They are also helping to raise awareness about the disease.
Here is a trailer for the documentary, “The Quiet Epidemic”, that they helped fund. There is a screening this Saturday at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Below the trailer is a link to their website for further information, including they way young people can apply for a grant to help fight Lyme.
Here is a link to their website for further information, including they way young people can apply for a grant to help fight Lyme.
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JV’s recent Facebook post about Lyme:
I’m not sure if you saw the CEO who shared that his 22 year old daughter took her life after her battle with #Lyme. In a People Magazine article published Friday, he explained that after fighting through physical symptoms, Lyme was doing things to her brain that she could no longer endure.
As someone who is currently battling Lyme, I can tell you that most people that try to escape this world are not doing so because they are depressed. It is because of the daily torture that this disease puts the individual through. The physical symptoms are brutal, however once these microbes cross the blood-brain barrier, what it does to the brain cannot really be put into words.
I wrote a blog this weekend to try and explain some of what it does. I also explain why her brain was most likely being affected by more than just Lyme. I currently have multiple infections that are active—each can affect the brain in different ways. Most people with Lyme have multiple infections that have emerged at once.
Interestingly, but not coincidentally, many people that got Covid are also suffering from brain damage. If you do an online search right now of “Covid 19” and “brain damage”, you will pull up countless articles published by multiple, reputable news outlets. You will also find that millions of people have been unable to return to work due to ongoing neurological symptoms since this virus hit the world.
What we are learning is that various microbes (bacteria, parasites and viruses) that we pick up in our lives, stay in the body forever. One example is the Zoster Virus that causes Chicken Pox. It lives in your spinal cord for life. Under the right conditions (usually a weakened immune system), it can re- emerge as Shingles. Another example is the Epstein-Barr Virus that causes mono. 90% of us are carrying EBV. Again, this lives in us forever. As long as your immune system is strong, it will keep the virus under control. However, for many, the virus will lead to many types of cancer and diseases. We’ve also learned this year, with 100% certainty, that it can lead to MS. The same will be true for Covid. It will stay in the body. We have yet to see what this virus will lead to.
So what do these viruses have to do with this young woman having Lyme? The answer is, EVERYTHING! Despite what the medical community has been telling us about Lyme, it too lives in the individual forever. Lyme (from a family of bacteria called Borellia) is a highly intelligent microbe. It can take the shape of a corkscrew and dig deep down into the tissue of multiple organs, including the brain. It can change shapes and create a protective biofilm in order to protect itself. It communicates on an intercellular level to become resistant to antibiotics and to evade the immune system. Any doctor that says these tiny microbes can be eradicated by antibiotics lacks all understanding of the complexity of microbes, many of which have evolved over millions of years. We have to understand that all microbes (bacteria, parasites, viruses) are adaptive. If we think we have put down any microbe, including the Covid Virus for good, because we all got a vaccine, we are being naive.
Again, what does one microbe like a Lyme bacteria have to do with another microbe like the Covid Virus? They are both in the category of microbes that can do us great harm. I’m sure you know we are all filled with healthy microbes that help our immune system. It’s our immune system’s job to keep the damaging microbes under wraps. But what happens when the immune system is triggered by a major “event” and it loses the upper hand? At this point, other microbes like Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, EBV etc can re-emerge. When they do, they can systematically break a person down. The crazy thing is, some of these microbes work with one another—feeding off of the host. You might have heard, I lost 70 lbs in a matter of months due to muscle wasting and a dysregulation of multiple systems.
As humans, we have invited these damaging microbes into our bodies by the way we live personally and as a whole on this planet. There has been a lot of research dedicated to this reality. I’ll save that for another post. What matters is, we are in this situation. And we better figure out quickly how to manage these multiple microbes. Antibiotics will not be the answer much longer because science is learning that the microbes are becoming more and more resistant. The WHO reports that antibiotic ineffectiveness is a turning into a global crisis. Vaccines can only do such much to put a bandaid on viruses. And we all know that pills are made to cover symptoms, but usually are not getting to the root cause. Pills usually lead to more pills. By the way, I’m not arguing that medications have not saved millions upon millions of people from suffering. I’m also not saying that our medical system hasn’t saved millions upon millions of people. I have been prescribed synthetic medications during this journey—some helped and some made me much worse. I am, however, saying our medical system is going to have to undergo a major shift in diagnosis and treatment. They will have to study the role that microbes and/or multiple microbes play in the proliferation of conditions and diseases. And they will have to learn more about what CURES the body, rather than what makes symptoms go away. Just because symptoms go away doesn’t mean the microbe’s potential has.
It’s my belief that we will have to go back to the way that microbes were dealt with thousands of years ago. It sounds crazy but there are natural things on this Earth that can protect us against microbes. The right combination of these things (depending on each individual’s pathogen load) will help return to our bodies to homeostasis. That’s where we need to fund more research! In fact, around 50% of pharmaceuticals are derived from compounds first identified or isolated from herbs/plants, with many others trying to mimic their effects. When it comes to actual botanicals that counteract or kill harmful microbes…the microbes are almost never able to build up a resistance to them. Can someone tell me why we keep pushing for more synthetic drugs when the answers exist inside of this Earth? $$$
You can read more about all of this on my recent blog post titled “Lyme and Suicide”. You can also read about what common “events” can trigger multiple latent microbes to re emerge. And you can read about some of the things this poor 22 year old girl was dealing with as these microbes attacked her brain. I know, because I experience them on a daily basis. And like most patients with neurological “Lyme” and co-infections, I often think that I can no longer live with this.
All my love and sympathy to the families that have lost loved ones in this battle. Although I hate going through this, I’m thankful that I am because it raises my level of compassion for others.
A million thank you’s to everyone that has given me hope on this journey. I can’t tell you how many times a message has come through right as I’m at the door of giving up. As I mentioned on my blog post, I’ve learned a lot on this journey. What matters most are the things of a spiritual nature. I’ve learned that hope is one the things we can give others that are trapped in darkness. Every time this happens it colors the soul of the person that gave it. Life is def a two-way exchange. I got to live here a little longer and you got brighter!! That’s amazing!
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This post is based on my personal journey with Lyme and other infections. It is based on my own, personal endless research into the subject. Although the knowledge I have gained comes from other doctors and scientists that are diving into the role of microbes and their relationship to illnesses, I am NOT a doctor. This post should not be a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your doctor about your symptoms.
If you are having thoughts of suicide please reach out to someone by dialing 988. As of July 2022, 988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
photo: getty images