Ahhh…..the Lyme diet. When the integrative doctor diagnosed me and sent the waiver for me to sign, she also sent along her treatment guidelines. Along with recommended supplements, plenty of sleep, no stress, and no aggressive exercise, there were recommendations for diet.

It essentially amounted to:

• Low carb and gluten free
• No caffeine
• No sugar, even in natural forms (like fruit)
• No alcohol
• Limit starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, beans)
• No sweeteners except Stevia

Now, to be honest, it wasn’t THAT big of a switch for me. I’ve been doing low carb since last spring so that was easy. Sugar has carbs so I already wasn’t getting any of that and I can’t have fruit because of interstitial cystitis. I’m not a big drinker and other than two beers last summer, I haven’t had alcohol since starting low carb either (mainly because your body burns alcohol before it burns fat).

The biggest thing was cutting caffeine. I have been drinking unsweetened tea since last spring (no sweeteners added). Now, I have had to make the switch to just water. At first, I hated it but I’m beginning to get used to it. I thought about getting decaf tea but I know even decaf still has a little caffeine and I still would have to order water if we went out to eat so it was easier to just totally make the switch.

The major adjustment with giving up caffeine was that I would no longer be able to take Excedrin Migraine, which was the only medicine that helped my headaches. Luckily, my headaches have been lessening since I got over my first big herx so I’m hoping this won’t be so bad.

When I was first looking up all of these different treatment approaches a few weeks ago, I came across Dr. Burrascano’s treatment guidelines. The guidelines my integrative doctor sent me are very similar. This is also where most of the supplements I’m taking are coming from as well.

The good news is that I’m continuing to drop weight like crazy so that’s nice. At some point, it won’t be any more, but right now, I’ll take it.