How Lyme Disease Impacts Your Adrenals

Lyme disease can be a temporary source of poor health. However, it can also impact your body very strongly, causing long-term poor health. If you’re experiencing symptoms over a long period, then it’s time to look at some other causes like adrenal fatigue and gentler strategies for health.

01:38 - What is Lyme Disease?
02:32 - Chronic Lyme
03:38 - Adrenal Glands
04:50 - Adrenal Fatigue
06:26 - What can you do about it?
07:54 - Paradoxical and sensitive
10:30 - Supplements

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Transcript

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 0:07

Are you experiencing chills fatigue, fevers, headaches and a rash? Do you find that your muscles and joints ache and you can't figure out why? How about if you've been bitten by ticks lately? Or are you in an area where ticks are known to live? Lyme disease is rampant in the modern world. It used to be confined to specific regions. But in recent years, this has all changed. This is the Dr. Lam Show and today we're going to be talking about Lyme disease, and its connection to adrenal fatigue. I'm Dr. Jeremy Lam. I'm a integrative practitioner. I also specialize in internal medicine, and I'm an expert in holistic care of chronic illnesses.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 0:52

I'm Dr. Carrie Lam with a background in family medicine, anti aging, and integrative medicine. I'm very passionate about nutritional health and lifestyle medicine. Before we get started, we just want to ask you to please like and share if you enjoy or subscribe for more videos that we put out so that we can be more visible to those who need it. Let's take a look at Lyme disease, what it is, how to help you, and how it's connected with adrenal fatigue. Lyme disease has a lot of overlapping symptoms with adrenal fatigue. But first let's talk about Lyme disease. What is it Dr. Jeremy?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 1:37

It's a tick borne disease and has been growing in number of cases. Normally, it's just in the north east of America, but it's been spreading worldwide. Wherever there are ticks there is a risk of Lyme disease. There are very few people who can detect Lyme disease, but the classic symptoms such as a bull's eye rash, fever, fatigue, etc. And by the time that people have been diagnosed with Lyme disease by their doctor, it's usually by history taking, and then by blood tests, and then they are put on antibiotics. If it's done while they're young, while you catch it on early on, then most people actually recover. But there's a small percentage of people that do not recover. And these are the people that develop chronic Lyme.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 2:32

Chronic Lyme is a state where your body continues to have to fight these pathogens, they're in the body. They like to burrow very deep, it's very hard to get rid of. And even though their levels might be very low in your system, they can wreak havoc. So you might think that, well, if I take antibiotics, the chronic Lyme should go away. A lot of times even antibiotics might not target these pathogens fully. Therefore they burrow deep into the body where they can stay dormant for a long time. At such a low level, it escapes detection. So the toxins that the pathogen secretes can attack the body and cause inflammation causes an immune response. And you know, the good news is that most people have a built in mechanism to be able to deal with this stressor. And that's called your adrenals. So Dr. Jeremy, how is the stress response from the adrenals related?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 3:39

The adrenal glands produce the key hormone cortisol, which is your main body's anti stress hormone. And so you know, athletes even use cortisol injections because it reduces inflammation, balances your immune system. So when the body is faced with toxins such as Lyme, it automatically puts out cortisol. You don't have to ask it to and naturally does this. And the cortisol rises when the body's more stabilized, and then the aches and the pains go away. Then cortisol levels go down because it's job has been done to reduce the inflammation. The problem is when you allow the body to keep continuing to get exposed to these toxins month after month, year after year, and failure to really nurture the adrenals. What happens is a soldier that keeps fighting the same battle over and over again. We get tired without adequate rest and without adequate nutrients to support the adrenals then the adrenals become fatigued and a many convoluted symptoms come up.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 4:48

So adrenal fatigue symptoms can look like hyperglycemia, sleeplessness, low blood pressure, being tired, having heart palpitations at rest, and waking up in the middle of the night, feeling weak and hungry all the time. Any of these symptoms can kind of come and go and can suggest adrenal weakness. So if a person has chronic Lyme or neuro Lyme, where they've been on antibiotics for a long time, that can affect your gut health, and therefore also your adrenal weakness. A lot of the patients that we see have been on chronic antibiotics for a long time for chronic Lyme. We see that their GI system gets affected which can also lead to the adrenals becoming weaker. If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, you've been on antibiotics for a long time, you still not feeling better and with their chronic Lyme, you want to think if it's affecting your adrenals as well. So if you're struggling with this, and you can get the help you need, talk to her our team 714709 1000 Give us a call because we're knowledgeable, we can help support you even while you're going through Lyme disease treatments. So Dr. Jeremy, we talked about how adrenal fatigue and Lyme are connected, but what can people do about it?

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 6:24

The key thing to understand if you're dealing with chronic Lyme is not about fighting Lyme anymore. It's about a way to give your body everything it needs so that the body will do the work for you. That not only includes the adrenal system, but the detox system the Neuroaffect Circuit. And it's not really about patching approach either. It's not just about taking supplementation to strengthen the adrenals. It's about nurturing the adrenals, almost cuddling your whole system and giving the adrenals the right tools. And this is tricky because most people don't understand these concepts. If they know and if they understand the importance of the adrenals they just go and buy herbs like ginseng, rhodiola, ashwagandha, green tea, matcha, and then these just stimulate the adrenals in order to have less fatigue. Then they eventually start to feel better, but they are not really addressing the underlying problem and so it eventually gets worse.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 7:29

One thing that I do see from chronic Lyme patients is that they are generally very sensitive. A lot of times they try certain supplements and herbs, and it has a paradoxical reaction to their body. So what does that mean Dr. Jeremy, if someone is paradoxical, and they can't tolerate some of the treatments that they are trying to undergo.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 7:53

Yeah, like you said, oftentimes, we do see a lot of the cases where they end up feeling worse, even though they've gone through the proper treatment. That means your underlying constitution is much weaker, whether that is the adrenals, whether that's your detoxification circuit, ultimately, that needs more further investigation and challenges. Whether there's MTHFR, that's not working, maybe the garbage disposal in the house in the kitchen is just not working properly. And you have to make sure that garbage disposal is working before you throw other things in, or else is going to overflow and make things worse. So ultimately, again, if that's the issue, then maybe we focus on detoxing the body. And it has to be even in a gentler way, because you can't detox too hard as your body can crash even harder.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 8:44

So for those that are very sensitive people that crash with supplements, make sure they asked the doctor, what is the right thing and you start one at a time and you don't want to just do the big guns right away. You have to really gauge where your body is. And if you are very paradoxical, even with detoxes, then maybe something like low dose immunotherapy, which is to help your body build immune tolerance to the Lyme bugs, whether it's Borrelia burgdorferi or any other tick borne illnesses, there are low dose immunotherapies that you can do sublingually to help your immune system build tolerance to these bugs. As you can do it homeopathically and very gently so that you can tell if it makes a difference or not.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 9:39

And so a stronger adrenal is important for fast line recovery. So that's the over aching philosophy when it comes to healing the body and the adrenals is that you want to make sure that your underlying constitution is strong and if it's not, then you try to strengthen it and use other modalities like Dr Carrie has mentioned to get your body back on the right track. So if you call 714709, for 1000, for a free initial phone call with our staff, you can get expert guidance and support on that journey. Those will help ensure that you don't end up suffering from symptoms and problems and self navigating yourself. That's the hardest part. There is hope for you, you just have to make sure that you're under the right practitioner following the right guidelines. And so to talk about supplements, we also have to talk about supplements that you have to avoid for Lyme disease. Because certain supplements can actually make things worse, and your vitality be robbed. And so, you know, there's a lot a lot of supplements out there and you hear, okay, this supplement is good, or not good. There is no such thing as a good or a bad supplement. Supplements that are just fit for the body at the right time. Ultimately, if your body doesn't like the supplements, it's going to send whispers out. If you're very fragile, or having paradoxical reactions, like you said, then make sure that you listen to your body and what it's telling you. If you feel worse, don't think that you should just push through because sometimes it can make your body weaker. So it is about listening to your body to individualized approach that there's no one protocol for everyone.

Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 11:40

A lot of patients come to us, they say that they're tired. They take vitamin B's, vitamin C's, even glandulars and adaptogens, thinking that they want that boost in energy. However, when you are a very sensitive person and your adrenals are weak, the downside is that you can overstimulate your adrenals with some of these vitamins, even though they're good for you. They might not be good for that time. Right? What Dr. Jeremy said was very accurate in that your body has different stages, different constitution, different delivery, forms of supplements, and vitamins are needed to fit your stage you're at in recovery. Make sure you find someone who understands what will work for you and what state of your recovery you're at. If you are extremely sensitive, you want to be careful about starting any supplement, even at the regular dosage. Sometimes we do risk protocols or even sublingual protocols in order for the people who are very sensitive to get used to some of the things so it is a very personalized way we treat patients.

Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD: 12:53

We've talked a lot about Lyme disease today, as well as how it correlates with the adrenals. And the key thing here is that there is no one size fits all approach. We've seen, not the side effects, but the harms that come when we just throw the kitchen sink at your body, and things end up actually getting worse. So ultimately, it's about finding a practitioner who can help you with this journey. You have to ultimately listen to your body and take the proper steps to make sure that you don't end up getting worse as we see it too often every day. For general information on finding practitioners that are capable and helping you get on the right track with your adrenals, you can talk to our team at 714-709-8000. We'll be glad to help you out. We're glad that you listened today on the Dr. Lam Show. We're here to empower you to take control of your health.

Unknown: 14:01

This podcast has been produced broadcast solely for informational and educational purposes by Lam Clinic. Statements and views expressed in this podcast are not medical advice and have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The products and supplements discussed in this podcast are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you believe you may have a medical condition, please consult your own doctor. Opinions of guests are their own and Lam Clinic does not endorse or accept responsibility for any of the statements and views made by guests. The views and opinions of guests in the podcast are their own and do not reflect those of Lam Clinic. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guest's qualifications or credibility. In some cases, individuals on the podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in the products or services referred to herein. Podcast listeners should always seek the advice of their physicians or other qualified health providers with any questions they may have regarding their own medical conditions. Podcast listeners must always continue to follow the advice of their personal physicians for all their medical needs.