Last time I blogged I shared how my Lyme journey ended with something no one warned me about: cancer … and I told you how Lyme shredded my gut, fried my adrenals, and left me fighting for answers in a broken medical system but here’s where we go deeper because that wasn’t just MY story, It’s the story of anyone who’s been left wrecked after Lyme and thought the worst was over. 

It’s not just about the infection, it’s about what Lyme does quietly and relentlessly to your body over time, and how it destroys your defenses until there’s nothing left standing. Let’s start with the immune system. Lyme doesn’t just trigger your immune system, it actually hijacks it. 

In the beginning, your body fights hard which is why early Lyme can look/feel like the flu or mono or “just stress.” Your immune system kicks into overdrive trying to kill off Borrelia, the bacteria known as Lyme, but over time if it doesn’t win (and let’s be honest, it usually doesn’t), it burns out and once your immune system burns out, it doesn’t just stop fighting Lyme.

It stops fighting everything, and that’s when the real damage begins, because now your immune system isn’t just tired, it’s confused so now it can’t tell the difference between what should be there and what shouldn’t. That’s why so many people with Lyme develop autoimmune problems.

Your immune system starts attacking you, but at the same time it misses the real threats like abnormal cells, inflammation, or infections that never left. Now if we mix in coinfections like Bartonella, Babesia, Mycoplasma, EBV which all come with their own set of nightmares, (I know, I have 5 of them that I’m aware of), they will further drain your reserves, leaving you feeling like crap.

They attack red blood cells, nerve tissue, the lining of your blood vessels and the sneaky part is that they hide in biofilms and inside your cells staying just out of reach, all while your immune system collapses trying to keep up. Eventually, you’re not fighting a battle anymore, you’re surviving a war zone with no ammo. 

Let’s talk about the adrenal burnout part, because this is something people like to brush off or minimize, but it’s huge. When you’ve been sick for years where your body’s now stuck in survival mode, running on cortisol and fumes, your adrenals don’t just “get tired,” they crash. That chronic stress response hijacks your whole system where your sleep goes to hell, your blood sugar swings out of control, and your hormones tank.

You can’t repair or fight infection when you’re stuck in fight/flight or freeze 24/7 because it keeps your body inflamed, shuts down digestion, wrecks your thyroid, and robs you of the ability to heal. So now not only is your immune system tanked, but your body can’t even rest, rebuild, or detox properly. Then there’s the gut. Let me tell you this: you cannot talk about recovery, immunity, or cancer prevention without talking about the gut. 

In my case, after two years of double-dosed rotating antibiotics, mine was rubble and even if you haven’t gone through that kind of treatment, chronic infections do their own damage. Borrelia and its gang mess with the tight junctions in your gut lining, causing leaky gut, which basically means undigested food, toxins, and pathogens are slipping through the walls of your intestine and are constantly triggering your immune system.

Your gut is ground zero for immune health, and if it’s damaged, your defenses are down. Period. But guess what else starts in the gut? Nutrient absorption, and when your gut’s trashed, you’re not absorbing the nutrients you need even if you’re eating all the right foods. Minerals like zinc and selenium, vitamins like A, D, E, and K, amino acids, essential fats all end up going down the drain. You can’t rebuild an army without supplies…I know, I’ve tried!

Now fast forward a few years like I did, and you’ll find that your immune system’s offline, adrenals are in the dirt, gut’s wrecked and your inflammation is chronic. You’re basically living in a nutrient-deficient body that can’t defend itself. That’s not just Lyme anymore, that’s cancer waiting to happen and because cancer doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it thrives in immune dysfunction and inflammation. 

It loves when your body’s been stuck in chronic stress, with no fuel, no defense, and no reserve. That’s what Lyme leaves behind. And the worst part? Nobody tells you this! If you have a health care provider that did…keep them! They’re GOLD! Doctors generally don’t warn you that remission isn’t the end. They don’t let you know that your immune system’s shot, your gut’s a mess, and you need to rebuild or you’re going to be wide open for something worse.

They just say, “You’re better now,” and move on, leaving you vulnerable, but I’m not moving on. I’m here to tell you a truth you need to know right here and now: If you’ve had Lyme or any long-term chronic infection, your body has been in a war. You can’t just go back to normal, you need to rebuild, so what do you do? First, stop thinking you’re done because your symptoms are gone. Remission is not recovery, remission is survival…recovery is the rebuild.

Start with your gut. Rebuild the lining and support your microbiome. This doesn’t mean stuffing yourself with random fiber or trendy fermented foods if your gut can’t handle it, it means gentle, targeted, gut-soothing nutrition. Think bone broth, aloe, amino acids like glutamine, anti-inflammatory nutrients like turmeric and omega-3s, and of course my favorite – the sippable solutions I use that actually gives me complete nourishment instead of overloading my gut with things it can’t handle. 

Support your adrenals. That doesn’t mean chugging caffeine or popping adaptogens like candy, it means regulating your blood sugar, managing your stress response, getting restorative sleep, and easing your body out of that state of fight-flight-freeze. And yes, support your immune system not by overstimulating it, but by feeding it what it’s starving for: minerals, protein, healthy fats, and restorative rest.

If you’re not sure where to start, I’ve built a space where I share everything I’ve learned from real food healing to what actually helped me get back on my feet, including useful products and strategies that I wish someone had told me about roughly 20 years ago. It’s there so that you don’t have to guess or repeat my story yourself. So if you’ve had Lyme the clock is ticking, and you can either choose to start rebuilding now … or you can wait for the next health crisis to make that decision for you like I did.

All of this is what I wish someone – anyone – had told me back when and so now I’m telling you in the hopes it helps to prevent more misery.

Join me next week as we get into Part 3 where I’ll break down the diagnostic challenges, patient dismissals, and mainstream medicine’s failure to acknowledge chronic Lyme as a serious precursor to more problems with disease. Many people are misdiagnosed with autoimmune diseases, fibromyalgia, or even psychological issues which delays proper treatment and opens the door to degenerative illness and cancer.

Until then, you can head to my wellness center where I’ve collected tools, interviews, resources, recipes and step-by-step support to help you start healing those war wounds right now. Don’t wait. You’ve survived this long, but I’d rather make sure you thrive instead of just survive. 

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