Lyme Defense & Intensive Immune Support
In 2015, I started to see our family doctor because I had been struggling and couldn’t figure out why. Blood work revealed that I was a mess, but not beyond repair. Some adjustments to my diet and a year later I had corrected some serious imbalances seen in previous tests - but I still wasn’t better. Then the headaches came; Intense bursts that lasted less than a minute, but felt like an ice pick was driven through my skull. Sometimes this was followed by fairly intense headaches for the day, sometimes just the baseline headache that I had most of the time. Severe joint pain and muscle spasms were the next lovely addition. I also started to notice that my thoughts were jumbled and I was forgetting more than usual. Walking uphill became a challenge and I constantly felt like I was dragging my weight behind me in a sled; but I continued to write this all off as stress. After all, we had a lot going on.
Just to settle life down some, we decided to sell our house and build a new one. By this time, I was forgetting complete conversations and, at points, not being able to maintain consciousness during them. Surprisingly, I not only maintained my job, but had advanced my career, even being awarded a Leadership Award for my contributions to the company in the previous year.
That summer I visited my osteopath for treatment of severe sciatic pain. It was my fourth visit in a couple months or so and it ended with the dreaded question: Had I ever been tested for Lyme Disease. He was so convinced that he sent me out with a test kit. Sure enough, a month later, the week that we moved into our new house, I tested positive. We sent my bloodwork for further tests and received another definitive yes. Glad to have answers, and with a pretty positive attitude, we started treatment.
I have been a firm believer in the power and advantages of using natural products for most of my life, so much so that Janet and I started this business in 2015 (yeah, with 2 infants and a 9-year-old). I started my first organic garden in my early 20’s and continue gardening that way through this very day. Naturally, my treatment would be based on my beliefs.
What we came to find out shortly into treatment is that my body was highly sensitive to many treatments. We tried quite a few different remedies and herbal protocols at different strengths but in each case, I began a spiral of worsening symptoms very early on. The symptoms became so intense that I was unable to hold it together any longer at work. I was a Director at a credit agency and I would be in meetings and not be able to follow anything that was going on. My employees, my employer, it didn’t matter. Words escaped me, I was exhausted, in pain and now I was putting people that depended on me potentially in the path of an oncoming train without even realizing it. I needed to do something drastic and I needed to do it now. My doctor recommended that I try antibiotics and even though I was reluctant, I was desperate. In the same week I went out on medical leave.
The first antibiotic that I took made me feel like I wasn’t even in my body, but I pushed on hoping that a hard push through some sickness would bring me out the other side on the road to recovery. Well, I was wrong. Nearly three months later I was sicker than I had ever been. What now? I stopped all treatments except for a base treatment of medicinal mushrooms and Japanese knotweed to gently try and nudge my system along and heal from the wrath of pharmaceutical antibiotics. By this point hope had run out and I was near the point of giving up - but fortunately it’s just not in my nature.
Our love of nature had taught us quite a bit about medicinal mushrooms and foraging for materials that we made medicine out of for ourselves. I shifted my perception and focused on what I knew – supporting my immune system using wild mushrooms and plants. I started building my own treatment plan with the help and guidance of my doctor. It started with a base tincture of 3 mushrooms; Chaga, Turkey Tail and Hemlock Reishi. Added to that was Japanese knotweed, an herb well known in the herbal community as a must have against Lyme, and in the rest of the world as an invasive species that needs to be eradicated. I monitored my dosages and continued to explore options that I had access to. Physically, I continued to push as much as I could, though walks in the woods were about all I could muster as pushing too hard led to a horrible next day and quite possibly next week. These walks are where the Birch Polypore came into my life. A little research pointed out that this could be a good addition and significant contributor in my treatment, so into a tincture it went. We were then blessed with a find of the Comb Tooth. This mushroom is in the same family as Lion’s Mane, well known for its cognitive and neurological benefits. At this point it started to feel much like nature was speaking to me, trying to help. I knew I was headed in the right direction, even if my body was telling me otherwise.
Although the following months were absent of improvement, they were also notably absent of deterioration. Minor flare ups here and there from pushing too hard or the occasional attempt at additional treatments was pretty much the extent. I was stuck in a baseline of headaches, joint and muscle pain that made walking difficult and a cognitive deficit that led me astray and lacking focus. Was I getting used to being sick? Would my health ever get better? These are questions that would sneak in and I constantly fought away. I will get better.
That next summer, my father was building a new house. I was still unable to work so I spent a few days a week helping as much as I could. This was the first time that I felt I was able to push myself, both physically and mentally. Exercise, to the extent that I could do it, was not sending me into a herx reaction – I was amazed. Pushing a little more as summer went on, I kept up on my tincture blend – up to 40ml per day depending on how I was feeling. Maybe I was on to something.
Late that fall we had entered the market and craft show season for our business. Janet had done all of this in the previous years, and most of everything else during my battle. This year was different. We ended up double booked on a Sunday and she couldn’t be in both places at once. That day was my first day meeting and greeting people that were looking to work with the powers of nature to heal themselves. I knew this story well and felt a chapter of my life close behind me as I stepped into a new one. Almost as if I was off course and nature gave me not only the sickness that would redirect my life, but the means to heal it and the knowledge to help others. After all, change is uncomfortable.
As I continued to improve, I worked more events. At one event I was having a discussion with a customer about our mutual battle with Lyme. As I described to her the process that I went though, what I used and how I used it, she had one question: Do you offer it for sale? I was the only person to use it so I had not considered it as a product. After some more successful testing on myself and others, we have decided to offer this as a blended product.
What is in this tincture blend and what we added it for:
Chaga – Probably the most well-known medicinal mushroom for its immune support, anticancer, anti-inflammation and antiviral activities.
Turkey Tail – Immune support, one of the world’s most thoroughly studied mushrooms for anticancer and anti-tumor capabilities.
Hemlock Reishi – Immune support, improved liver function and detoxification, anti-tumor and anticancer.
Birch Polypore - Immune support, anti-inflammatory, has been found to fight the bacterium Escherichia coli and other harmful bacteria, antiviral, anti-tumor, anti-parasitic, antiseptic and soothes nerves and fights fatigue.
Lion’s Mane - Found to be a stimulator of nerve growth synthesis and has been investigated as treatment for Alzheimer’s and the potential for nerve regeneration and increased brain function. High anti-oxidant values.
Japanese Knotweed – Immune support, antibacterial, enhances blood flow, anti-inflammatory, cardio-protective, crosses the blood brain barrier to benefit the central nervous system.
We hope it puts you on the path of healing that you’ve been looking for. It did for me.
*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. Consult your physician before beginning any herbal treatment.*