M1 : Lesson 7.1: Infections, Lyme & Long Haul Covid
NEW! Update June 2023- New Lyme mini-course (webinar & ebook) just launched- FREE access.
the newly released Lyme (and other chronic infections) program
Additional Resources for Lyme:
TickBootCamp Podcast with Cathleen 09/2023: https://podcast.tickbootcamp.com/episode/8110b9fb/primal-trust-an-interview-with-cathleen-king
Transcript
1st, chronic infections. Lyme disease and co infections, including chronic viral, bacterial, parasite infections, and even long haul COVID. When the body is overwritten with stress hormones weakening the immune system, 1 becomes more susceptible to infection, and it can be very difficult for the body to effectively clear it. We often spend all our efforts trying to kill the pathogen. While our nervous system is too stressed to help us out with that goal, we forget that our own immune system is the most important player in the game.
And by addressing our nervous system, we directly help our immune function. Antibiotics and herbals can offer support, and strengthening our immune system through nervous system regulation is going to provide our best long term defense against viral and bacterial imbalances in our system. Antibiotics, Herbal’s and more, they cannot penetrate every cell of the body, but our natural immune system does have access to every part of our body. Yes. It can seem counterintuitive to improve our feelings of safety and calm and happiness when we physically don’t feel well or fighting an intense infection.
However, I cannot stress enough that the most direct path out of chronic illness is to create a sense of safety and well-being despite what our symptoms are. We have to engage the parasympathetic rest, safety, and repair system to heal from infection. It took me years trying to rid myself of chronic Lyme disease to believe that my most potent antibiotic was my mindset my emotional state, and my behavior. I thought I needed to get rid of Lyme in order to feel good, and it made me angry when my therapist would suggest that I would have a majority of my Lyme symptoms reduced through nervous system regulation. I rejected his advice for years.
In the end, he was right. As I regulated my limbic system and improved my vagal tone, my nervous system had more capacity to decrease the infectious load, detoxify, and I did indeed find my freedom from chronic Lyme disease. In addition, I want to share that I am not saying you don’t need to do treatments, but rather your treatments are much more effective when you’re doing your part by taking responsibility for your nervous system to the best of your ability. You will tolerate treatments better if you choose to use them. Some people even make a full recovery with nervous system regulation alone.
The way you create your treatment plan is up to you, but know that I believe that all treatments should include limbic system retraining and vagal toning as a foundational aspect of any protocol of chronic illness. In addition to infections like Lyme disease, I want to speak to the situation of long haul COVID or post viral infection. With post COVID illness, we are seeing symptoms like headaches, digestive issues, skin rashes, chest pain, rapid heart rate, blood pressure issues, and more. This is not just in your head, but the infection or the inflammation response did affect how your brain and your nervous system are functioning. And the good news is that we are seeing positive outcomes by implementing brain retraining and nervous system regulation tools.
3:24This applies to other post infection conditions too, such as Epstein Barr. Next up, we’re gonna discuss chronic pain.