Health: Gut Bacteria, Moods and Parasites

This summer was predicted to be one of the worst when it comes to tick borne diseases. When you think of ticks you automatically think of Lyme disease but there’s more than just that. Ticks carry not only bacterial diseases such as Lyme, but also viral illnesses like Powassan and parasitic diseases like babesiosis.

I wanted to share a personal experience here. Years ago my dad had been bitten by a tick and we didn’t know it. He experienced some very alarming symptoms. I remember him calling me on the phone and telling me it took him 30 minutes to figure out how to get into his car to drive it. Yes, he finally figured it out and drove! When he finished his errand and wanted to return home, he couldn’t remember how to physically get into the driver’s seat for about 20 minutes – again.

Obviously as he was in his early 80’s I was especially concerned. It turned out he had Lyme disease and once it was treated, thankfully he never had those cognitive issues again.

Recently my husband was bitten by a tick. He went to the doctor immediately and did the antibiotic treatment and went back in 30 days for a blood test. While we were waiting for the blood work results, he started having flu-like symptoms. We treated it as if it was a virus he caught and he began feeling better.

When the doctor called with his results she told us he had contracted babesiosis. This is a serious, malaria-like parasite that infects red blood cells. She prescribed more antibiotics and an anti-parasitic medication that really made him feel awful and messed up his stomach. But he stuck with it for the 10 days. He scheduled follow up blood work in 30 days.

What happened next is what I wanted to highlight. I noticed his moods were off. He was very quiet, very down and agitated. He just seemed angry all the time. I passed it off as just not feeling like himself and being on the medications. I should mention all throughout this time he still took his supplements, including probiotics because I know the antibiotics kill off good as well as bad bacteria and gut bacteria affect mood and brain function.

Well shortly after he finished the anti-parasitic medication, he had an emotional explosion! He was beyond angry, yelling and raging. What precipitated this outburst was so illogical it really put up huge red flags for me. He was so agitated and upset it was almost impossible to talk to him. But I asked him what was wrong with him and his response was, “I don’t know. I just know I’m not right.” When he calmed down a little he admitted that for the previous week he had just felt like fighting with everyone and had almost gotten into arguments in the gym and other places.

This was a Saturday and I couldn’t get in touch with his doctor so I researched babesiosis further and found some of the symptoms included emotional lability, depression and hyperesthesia (more sensitive to stimuli). I’d never heard the term “emotional lability” so I got the definition:

“In medicine and psychology, emotional lability is a sign or symptom typified by exaggerated changes in mood or affect in quick succession. Sometimes the emotions expressed outwardly are very different from how the person feels on the inside. These strong emotions can be a disproportionate response to something that happened, but other times there might be no trigger at all. The person experiencing emotional lability usually feels like they do not have control over the emotions.”

I share this because often we pay attention to the physical symptoms and overlook the emotional, not connecting them as being related as well.

In sharing this with my chiropractor she told me about a natural product called Lauricidin, which can only be purchased from health care professionals and suggested I get him on it immediately and keep him on it. I bought a container from her and he is taking it twice a day because even if his follow up blood work shows all is clear, this can still be resident in his tissues and this parasite can go into a dormant state for a period of time only to reawaken later. I look at it as preventive medicine.

This recent article on Dr. Axe’s website talks about a particular type of stevia that’s been proven effective against Lyme disease which I also found pretty interesting.

The bottom line is prevention. We use a natural bug repellent when doing yard work that I buy from Dr. Schulze (it smells very strong but it works!) and spray our sneakers and socks when walking on trails with a lavender based spray I originally got for my daughter’s dog. Evidently lavender is one of the scents ticks don’t like. Go figure!

My husband just got the results of the follow up blood work. The doctor said it shows this infection is now dormant, but we know it can resurface.  He is looking, acting and feeling like himself and he is staying on the Lauricidin indefinitely. Believe me a lot of prayer went up for him as well as the natural supplements and I have no doubt they had as much or more effect.

Have you ever had to deal with a tick borne disease? If so, have you experienced mood/brain issues?

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