#15 Ledum and Lyme with Tricia

In this episode you'll learn how to prevent tick bites and what to do if you get one.

See Tricia's blog https://aboundinginhopewithlyme.com/ 

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Melissa: Welcome to today's show. I'm really excited today to have a guest with me who has been blogging on her blog for five years and that is called Abounding in Hope with Lyme. Tricia is a wife, mom, homeschooler, and a Lyme blogger. Her favorite remedy is Arsenicum because it works like a charm for any tummy troubles that her family has. She also, of course, loves Ledum because it gives her peace of mind knowing that they can enjoy the outdoors without fearing getting a new Lyme infection. Tricia is a dedicated wife and homeschool mom who is passionate about learning holistic healing because she wants to help her family and her friends. She uses the past pain of living with chronic Lyme to offer hope to others who are navigating the confusing and scary waters of life with Lyme. So, welcome, Tricia, I'm so excited to have you with us today.
Tricia: Thank you, Melissa, thanks for having me, I'm really excited to talk to you.
Melissa: I would love to just start with your story, if you don't mind sharing, how you got to where you are and what happened in that.
Tricia: Okay, I was pregnant with my son, and this was back in 2007, I began having just really strange symptoms that I had never had before. I was having a lot of joint pain and fatigue, like beyond what you would normally have after having a baby, and actually my symptoms started while I was pregnant with him. I would go to the doctor and say, "My back is really killing me and when I go from a sitting to standing, I could barely move," which I knew was kind of weird because I had always exercised and took real good care of myself. She said, "Oh, well, you're almost 40 and it's probably just because you're pregnant." Every couple of weeks, I would have new symptoms. I started having very severe joint pain. I got to where I slept all day, all night, I just couldn't stay awake. By the time I had him, I was in like a level 12 pain everywhere and I couldn't stay awake. I couldn't hold him on my right side because my whole arm felt like it was broken. I began having trouble walking, cognitive issues, heart issues. I was going to all kinds of specialists all over the place trying to figure out what was wrong with me. It took about two years to finally get a Lyme diagnosis and I found out through going to a chiropractor, I had gone to a new chiropractor for my pain, and he said, "Have you been tested for Lyme?" I said,  "No." I didn't even really know what Lyme was. I thought you would just get a bullseye rash and get on medicine and you'd be okay. So I had never seen a tick and it just kind of blew my mind but I went and got a Lyme test through LabCorp and it was not CDC positive but my primary at the time recognized that you don't have to be CDC positive to actually have a Lyme infection. By that time I was late stage Lyme so 21 days of antibiotics were not going to help me but as I began treatment and started to feel a little bit better, I started realizing that two of my daughters had symptoms very similar to mine, but not as severe. So I began taking my girls to the pediatrician asking for Lyme tests. One daughter, her Lyme test came out CDC positive for late stage Lyme and the other daughter kept coming back negative but over the course of the next two to three years, all three of my daughters were diagnosed with Lyme. Two of them were clinically diagnosed, one of them had the Lyme positive and then after that my husband was diagnosed with Lyme and we all had many of the different co-infections and the reactivated viral infections that you can also get with a Lyme infection. My third daughter suffered tremendously from the time she was six years old until she was about 14 with PANS and I always have to look up what it stands for but it's similar to PANDAS, which is brought on by a strep infection. It causes rage, OCD, and anxiety. A lot of behavioral and sleep issues, a lot of gut issues. So she battled that for a very long time and that took me down the journey of actually finding a homeopath because the doctors that were helping us, the counselors that were helping us, kind of threw up their hands and there was nothing more they could do for her. Someone from church recommended that I go see this homeopath so I did and I really didn't know what it was. I didn't understand it, but at that point, I was exhausted, and I was desperate and I allowed him to treat her without understanding or researching and lo and behold, she started showing improvement, and she started getting better and to this day, she's doing wonderfully, but because of that transition for her, we moved our whole family's treatment to him and we all were able to heal under his care.
Melissa: Wonderful. Oh, my goodness, I'm so glad you found somebody. That sounds like a nightmare to have to go through. I took your class online, and I absolutely loved it. I bet that you're helping so many people that just don't know. They are where you were, and they have no idea what's happening so I really want to share what you're doing because I think that you're probably helping a lot of people.
Tricia: Thank you. I get a lot of emails. A lot of people reach out to me, mostly moms, my audience is mostly moms. Either they are sick or their children are sick, but many of them, the mom and a bunch of their kids are sick with Lyme disease and it's very confusing. During the spring and summer, I get overwhelmed with emails and messages from moms who found a tick, and they're panicking and that's why I created the "How To Treat a Tick Bite" course because all of the things that I tell them over and over and over, all these different people, I just put all that information in that course so I can say, "Here, go take this course. Everything's gonna be okay."
Melissa: I loved the course. I learned so much and it's affordable. So we're going to get to that. I love how you discuss how important it is to track your symptoms. That's exactly what we do. That's what I do in my practice. That's what we need in homeopathy. So are you able to speak to that a little bit? Why it's so important to track symptoms, maybe what kind of symptoms they would track?
Tricia: Sure. It's very important for diagnosis, but also treatment and really, if you have chronic Lyme, it's so important to keep track of your symptoms because you may not recognize that you're actually healing. You might get frustrated and think that you're never going to get better. But if you're keeping track of your symptoms, you can see a progression of healing in different areas of your health. So when it comes to getting a tick bite, I always recommend writing it down on the calendar when it happens, who got bit where it was found, like where the tick was found, or if there was just a bullseye found, and then keeping track of any symptoms, even if you don't think it's related. Because Lyme can manifest in so many different ways. And the reason this is important is because only 25% of Lyme infections will produce a bullseye rash. Most people think that every single tick bite if you have Lyme, there's a bullseye. And that's what my pediatrician told me. And the interesting thing is I took my three girls to my pediatrician every time they had a tick bite, a deer tick. And she kept saying, nope, they can't have Lyme unless they have a bullseye or a fever. And they didn't have either. And my husband and I never had a bullseye. My one daughter that had PANS, she had weird rashes on her leg. She was bit in her groin, she had weird rashes on her leg, but the pediatrician insisted it had nothing to do with the tick bite. And the reason that I am so adamant about this is because our children don't have to suffer like this. If we know and recognize the symptoms that go along with Lyme disease, if we pay attention to them and write them down, then we can help diagnose our kids. And that's what I ended up doing with my children. I ended up getting them diagnosed. Now, my whole history as far as health goes, my mom was a very natural mom. And she always kept a notebook on our health and she always wrote down even to this day. And so when I had my children, she said it's really important to write down fevers, it's, you know, whatever when your kids get sick if they have an accident. And because I was already doing that, and I talked about this, I think I talked about this in my course but it's definitely on my blog is how to keep a medical notebook. And I have a family medical notebook. And where I would write down every time my kids had fevers, sore throats, whatever it was. Fell off the bike, I wrote it down. And I was able to take my notebook into a Lyme literate doctor and show her and she was able to pretty much pinpoint when my girls got Lyme disease. And had my pediatrician been educated, she would have also recognized that. So I just, I feel like keeping, you know, a good health record is very important.
Melissa: So good, so good. And I didn't even know that. So I'm gonna have to go and find that, and your blog. And so I'm getting ready to start, well I am putting together a mentorship program. And in that mentorship program, I'm going to teach parents how to, and really encourage them strongly, to keep exactly what you're saying, a family medical notebook, and I'm gonna encourage them to get creative with it. But it'll be a keepsake. But in my mind it was going to be, they could make it beautiful and artsy, and it would be a keepsake they could pass down. And then, because in homeopathy, we can look back over at what our parents, happened with our parents would happen with our grandparents. And if we keep passing these notebooks down, that can really help future generations. But I didn't even think about what you're saying. That you could, somebody could present this to a Lyme literate doctor or a homeopath or a naturopath and say, and they could really pinpoint based on that timeline, what happens. That is such a great idea.
Tricia: Yeah, it can be easy to you know, I just had a Walmart notebook that had five sections in it. And then I had to add a section for my son when he was born. But I since then have created the Risk Management for the Homeschool Mom, which actually, there's just a tiny little section for homeschool, but the most of it is keeping a medical notebook,  having all of your important records and information in one place. And so I have that in my shop. But if you don't want to buy the forms already created, you know, just use a notebook. Just write down the date, write down the child. I have a section for each family member, that way I don't, I can track each family member separately. But, and I recommend that, I think that's easier when you're going to go back and look for things. But when my oldest daughter started having knee pain, we thought maybe it was from a bike accident she had when she was younger, and I went back and looked in that notebook. And sure enough, it was not the same knee. And that helped us diagnose her with Lyme disease, because she was having pain in her knee. So, you know, I just, I find it very valuable. But at the same time, you know, when you're sick with a chronic illness, it's important to track your symptoms, because you can, I would take my chart. I had Excel spreadsheets for everybody. But I would take that rating chart and take it to my doctor and show her the waxes and wanes of our symptoms. And that helps to diagnose different co infections because different co infections have, they all have different life cycles. So you're able to kind of pinpoint maybe what's going on there.
Melissa: So good. That's such great information. So next, I wanted to just touch on Ledum. you know, a lot of people know that Ledum is widely known for tick bites, and other insect and animal bites. So do you suggest that everyone take this when they get bit?
Tricia: Now, I'm not a practitioner. So I have to put that disclaimer in there. But as a mom, I do that, I give my kids Ledum. And here's what I do. And I don't know if I'm doing it correctly, because I'm still learning about homeopathy. But if I know my son has been out playing in the woods, we do a really thorough tick check. But I also give him a dose of Ledum because the possibility of missing a little tiny nymphal tick is very, very big. So I would rather go ahead and give him some Ledum, maybe for a few days, and just make sure that if he was bit by a tick that he doesn't contract anything from that. But that's what I've been doing and so far, so good.
Melissa: That's awesome. So, is testing the tick always necessary?
Tricia: That really depends on the person. If you would have greater comfort finding out whether or not that tick has something in it, then go ahead and get it tested. For me, because I'm so confident in my protocol for my family, I don't get my my ticks tested. For somebody else, like the people that I know that generally test their ticks, they don't feel comfortable using homeopathy or herbs, they want to get on antibiotics, but they don't want to take antibiotics if they really don't need to. So they'll send their ticks in for testing. So that's what that's kind of my advice. If you're very confident in your protocol, I don't find that it's very necessary.
Melissa: Wonderful. So, I totally agree with your teaching of antibiotics masking symptoms. Can you tell us how that happens?
Tricia: Well, first of all antibiotics are, they do have some anti inflammatory properties to them. So they can kind of cover up any symptoms that you might have. But when it comes to Lyme disease, if you have a late stage infection, the Lyme spirochaetes, are very smart and stealthy. And what they end up doing when they detect that they are being threatened, it's kind of bizarre, but they will group together into clusters, and they'll put like a biofilm or I call it a forcefield around themselves, and they protect themselves from the antibiotics. And so therefore, they're not dying. And as soon as you go off the antibiotics, you get sick all over again. So the best thing to do if you have chronic Lyme disease is really to avoid the antibiotics. I mean, I have been in this journey for 13, 14 years, and I have watched people do IV antibiotics, long term antibiotics, I was on them for four and a half years. I could never get off of them without having returned symptoms. So what a lot of Lyme doctors are learning now, especially in the natural field, is that it's more important to build up your immune system than it is to kill the bacteria. So therefore, antibiotics really aren't helpful because they're destroying your immune system. And my family and I, while we've recovered from Lyme, we're in remission from all of the CO infections and everything, we're still healing our gut because the antibiotics that we took were so harmful.
Melissa: Yes. Oh, my goodness, I can't, I didn't even think that far out. And I didn't know that people, you know, that had to keep going back on antibiotics. I also learned from your class that,  that ticks can carry much more than just Lyme disease. Can you tell us about some of the diseases, the other diseases, that they carry?
Tricia: Yeah, ticks are referenced as the dirty little needle or the toxic needle because they carry so many different things. They carry bacteria, they carry viral infections, they carry nematodes, and worms, and all kinds of disgusting things. So with deer tick, they're mainly Lyme disease, bartonella, babesia. It's important to know that there are over 300 different strains of Lyme. And there's 100 different strains in America. And we're testing for one. So, you might have Lyme disease and go get a Lab Corp test and find out that you're negative when, in fact, you might have a different strain of Lyme disease. And so it's, it's just important to know. Same thing with bartonella and with babesia. I live on the East Coast. My doctor at the time, the one that was treating with antibiotics, would not test my family for babesia. And the walone duncani which is a West, it used to be considered just a West Coast babesia strain. But my whole family had that strain and we had not been on the west coast. So there's, there's several different types of babesia. And some doctors might think that you can't have the West Coast strain if you're on the East Coast or vice versa. So it's important to know that. There's ehrlichia, mycoplasma, dog ticks carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. So all ticks carry something and whether or not it's Lyme is kind of a moot point because all ticks carry something that can make you ill. And they're generally, you know, the older they are, the more stuff they have in them. But, but nymphal ticks are very dangerous to because when I was researching when I first got Lyme, you know, I was told, Oh, if it's a female, it can infect you, but if it's a male, it can and if It's an adult, it doesn't really affect you. But if it's an nymph, or vice versa, if it's a nymph, it can't. But if it's a, and so there were all these, like, things. But honestly, the nymphal ticks, now they're, they're saying that they can actually get infections from the parent ticks. And I'm not like, you know, I'm not, I don't study bugs, but that, this is what I'm learning from some of the Lyme researchers out there. So I just say, if you have any kind of tick at all, you know, get some treatment. And really, homeopathy is the easiest, most effective way that I think you can do that.
Melissa: I agree. So, right now my son is in the woods, right here, playing. So I'm like, okay, you know, like I said, before we actually started recording, we moved out way, we're out in the country now, we used to be in the city. So the kids never got out in the woods and played. Now we're out here. I feel like it was just, God just dropped your course and your name in my lap. I don't even remember how I found you. But I loved your course so much. And when he comes in, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna follow your directions on your course and check him. But how could, how can we prevent tick bites? Or is that something that we should just take your class to learn about?
Tricia: Oh, I tell people all the time. I mean, take my class if you want more information because I do talk about how to set up your yard for a, you can't be tick free but you can, you can limit the number of ticks in your yard by doing certain things. And on my Instagram page and Facebook page, I'm always telling people how to protect themselves because it's so important. So my course is really just to have as a resource so that when you find that tick and it's late at night, you can just go to it and get the information. Plus I have a bazillion, you know, links for all kinds of resources to help. So when you go out to play, your kids are out to play, there's a lot of different things you can do. If, like, if your son hunts or if he likes to really be deep in the woods, you could spray his clothing down with permethrin and let it dry. And then once it's dry, it repels ticks for probably about three days. You can use insect spray, you know, I don't recommend DEET or chemical sprays. And what they're finding is that ticks are becoming kind of immune to chemicals. And I don't know if that's because of all the chemicals that are just in our environment. But they don't like essential oils. So there's some some particular essential oils that you can use. Lemon Eucalyptus is one of the most powerful. Geranium, you know, there's just some different things. I've got a recipe on my blog and in my course. And there's, there are natural, like in the hunting section at Walmart, there's some natural insect repellents that work really well. And one of the local doctors here did a tick sweep and did some tests on the different types of repellents. And some of the natural essential oil based ones worked much better. They don't last as long, so you have to spray them a little bit more often. But you know, you're using something safe for your kids and, and they work really well. But nothing beats checking for ticks. So when your children or you come in from hiking, you take all your clothes off, throw them in the dryer, including your shoes, so you don't want to wash your clothes first, you want to put them in the dryer for a good 20 minutes on high. That will kill any ticks that are on your clothing. I met a nurse who was drawing my blood one time for some labs that I was getting done when I was really sick with Lyme and she contracted Lyme from her husband's hunting clothes, because she would take them after he was hunting and put them in the wash. And I guess a tick had gotten on her. So it's important to put everything in the dryer and then do a really good tick check. Use a magnifying glass if you have to and use a mirror to check everywhere. And so that's really the most important prevention, is doing a good tick check.
Melissa: That is so helpful. Thank you for that. And you know, another thing about your course that I didn't know is how much I didn't know about ticks. And I think there's probably a lot of people out there. But you know what I found so interesting is, I didn't know how they actively look for their next meal. I also didn't know how soon infection can occur. I learned how to ID a tick. I learned the importance of a tick kit and how to build that. I learned about prevention and symptoms of Lyme and so many things. So I am just again, so, so thankful that you have spent your time just putting all these things together your blog. And I want to link all these things in the show notes - your blog, your Instagram, wherever people can find help. And then of course, your classes, again, were so helpful. So again, I just thank you so much for spending time with me today and helping my listeners in this way, and helping me in this way. And I just hope that, just like in my prayer before we started, I just pray that the Lord just bless your family, and continue to bless your family, and just protect all of us from going through the nightmare of Lyme disease.
Tricia: Yes, definitely. Thank you so much, Melissa. I mean, I, I put my heart into my blog and into my course because I, I have not forgotten what it's like to be a scared mom trying to figure out how to get help for my kids. And my heart and my passion is to help every mom out there be educated and understand these ticks are not like the ticks that our grandparents, you know, encountered. They are definitely different. I believe the environment, the chemicals, you know, that are in our environment, have really changed them. And so we need to be educated and we need to understand a little bit about them because it is a reality. And it doesn't matter where you live. I lived in, you know, a suburban home. And there were no woods really around us. But we love to go, you know, places to go hiking a little bit. But even in my little tiny yard, you know, where I used to live, our rabbit would come in with little ticks on her nose. So, you know, it doesn't matter how large your yard is, basically, you can, you can get a tick bite. So it's important to understand how to recognize that and, and what to do if you find one so that you're not afraid.
Melissa: That's so true. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Tricia: You're welcome. Thanks, Melissa.
Melissa: So friends, I hope that you'll go and check out her class and her blog. And I'll link all of that in the show notes. I really enjoyed her class, I learned a lot. And I feel more confident now that I'll know what to do and I'll be prepared if we find a tick or a tick bite. 
So now I would like to share with you this protocol that I've learned. And I'll link this in the show notes also. This will be in the transcription so that you can go and see it. So step one is, start with Ledum 200. And so this is taken every three hours for the first day, followed by twice daily for a week. This is then used twice weekly for a month, and then once per week for another month. Ledum is the number one remedy for any kind of animal bite or bug bite. If the bite was more recent, you know, in the last few weeks, then this method or this protocol should be extremely effective. If you think somebody in your family has Lyme that is older, then still follow step one and then add step two. But it's probably unnecessary to do step two if it's a new tick bite. Step two is Aurum Arsenicum 200, twice daily for one week, and in the same manner as Ledum in step one.  Aurum Arsenicum is a great choice for when poisonous infection arises. And this could be one of those times when it's an older tick bite. For much older cases, then you would add step three. Older cases probably are when illness has set in. So the remedy for this is Borrelia 30. It's also known as Lyme nosode 30. And that's 30c. It's used right along with the other remedies. And the protocol is to take Borrelia once per day for three days and then stop, for a total of three doses. This protocol states that this may need to be repeated every few months if the symptoms remain. In older cases of Lyme, we see arthritis, chronic fatigue, tingling, dizziness, and a lot of other conditions can arise. You should treat the presenting symptoms. So, if fatigue is the main presenting symptom, you should treat the fatigue along with the Borrelia. You should use something for fatigue like Gelsemium; Gelsemium is great for fatigue. There are others also. If arthritis is what has plagued you, then you would think of Rhus Tox, is a great one for arthritis. Maybe Rhus Tox 30 twice a day, or you could even try Rhus Tox 200 twice a day. You might mix that with Symphytum 200, and mixing with means taken at the same time in the mouth. If you have dizziness, you would treat that. So whatever symptoms are presenting with the older Lyme case, treat those specific symptoms.