What Helped Me Manage Lyme Disease When Nothing Else Worked
There was a time in my life when I wondered if I would ever feel normal again.
If you have Lyme disease—or you have been treated for Lyme but still don’t feel well—you probably understand that sentence more than I wish you did.
Lyme changed my life.
It wasn’t simply being tired or having a few aches and pains. My body seemed to stop working the way it used to. I struggled with weakness, pain, neurological symptoms, digestive problems, swelling, fatigue and symptoms that seemed to move and change.
And one of the hardest parts was not knowing why I wasn’t getting better.
That experience eventually changed not only my health, but the way I work with people today.
Because what helped me wasn’t finding one magic supplement, one perfect diet or one treatment that suddenly fixed everything.
I had to stop looking for one answer and start looking at my whole body.
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Lyme Disease Can Be Much More Than a Tick Bite
When people first hear “Lyme disease,” they often picture a tick bite and a bull’s-eye rash.
My experience taught me that the story can become much more complicated.
Lyme disease is caused primarily by Borrelia burgdorferi in the United States, and untreated infection can affect the joints, brain, muscles, heart and nervous system. Most people improve with appropriate antibiotic treatment, but some continue experiencing fatigue, body aches, cognitive difficulties and other symptoms afterward.
For the person living through those persistent symptoms, it can be incredibly frustrating.
You may have completed treatment.
You may have been told everything should be fine.
But you still don’t feel like yourself.
That was the part I wanted answers for.
I Had to Stop Chasing One Symptom at a Time
This was probably one of the biggest lessons Lyme taught me.
When you have a headache, you look for something for the headache.
When your stomach hurts, you focus on the stomach.
When you’re exhausted, you look for something to give you energy.
When your joints hurt, you focus on inflammation.
I eventually realized that I could spend the rest of my life chasing symptoms.
Instead, I needed to ask:
What is happening in my body that is making it so difficult for me to function normally?
That question changed everything.
Better Testing Helped Me See a Bigger Picture
One of the principles I use today is testing, not guessing, and my own health journey is a big reason why.
With complex symptoms, I don’t believe we should automatically assume everything is Lyme.
I want to know what else is happening.
Depending on someone’s history and symptoms, that may mean evaluating appropriate tick-borne infections, nutritional status, thyroid function, hormones, blood sugar, inflammation, digestive health and other areas that could be contributing to how the person feels.
This is important because fatigue, brain fog, weakness and pain are not exclusive to Lyme disease. So, what else is going on in your body?
Sometimes finding what else is wrong is just as important as finding the Lyme.
My Gut Became Part of My Lyme Recovery Story
This was something I did not fully appreciate in the beginning.
When the body has been through infection, medications, inflammation, dietary changes and prolonged stress, digestion can become another piece of the puzzle.
And if your digestive system isn’t functioning well, eating a “healthy diet” doesn’t necessarily answer every question.
I became much more interested in what foods worked for my body, my nutritional status and what was happening in my gut.
This eventually became one of the principles I use with the people I work with today: don’t assume that everybody with the same diagnosis needs the same diet or the same supplements.
The diagnosis may be the same. The person isn’t.
I’ll go much deeper into the gut-Lyme connection in my next article because it deserves its own discussion.
I Learned That More Isn’t Always Better
This may be one of the most important lessons I can share.
When you feel terrible, you want to do everything.
More supplements.
More exercise.
More treatments.
More detoxing.
More everything.
But a body that is already overwhelmed doesn’t necessarily respond well to being pushed harder.
For me, recovery became much more about listening to my body.
Sometimes I needed to build strength.
Sometimes I needed rest.
Sometimes I needed nutritional support.
And sometimes I needed to back off.
Pacing is now recognized as one strategy that may help people dealing with prolonged fatigue and post-exertional worsening after Lyme disease, although supportive strategies are intended to help manage symptoms rather than treat the underlying infection.
Healing isn’t always about doing more. Sometimes it is about doing the right things in the right order.
I Had to Rebuild My Body, Not Just Fight Lyme
This is where my thinking really changed.
I stopped thinking only about what I needed to “kill.”
I started asking what my body needed in order to function better.
Was I absorbing nutrients?
Was I eating enough protein?
How was my thyroid functioning?
How was my gut?
How was I sleeping?
What was contributing to inflammation?
What was happening with my nervous system?
What could I realistically do physically without crashing afterward?
These questions helped me shift from constantly fighting my body to learning how to support it.
And that is still how I think about complicated Lyme cases today.
There Wasn’t One Thing That Helped Me
People sometimes want me to tell them the supplement that changed everything.
I wish it were that simple. It wasn’t.
My improvement came from putting pieces together over time—appropriate medical care, nutrition, better testing, understanding my individual triggers, supporting deficiencies when they were identified, paying attention to my gut, learning when to push and when to rest, and continually reassessing what my body needed.
That isn’t as exciting as promising a miracle Lyme protocol.
But it is much closer to my actual story.
And I think people dealing with Lyme deserve honesty.
If You Still Don’t Feel Well, Don’t Stop Asking Why
This is what I want you to take away from my story.
If you’ve had Lyme disease and you’re still struggling with fatigue, brain fog, pain, weakness, digestive problems or simply feeling like your old self disappeared somewhere along the way, don’t assume you have to accept feeling terrible forever.
At the same time, don’t assume every symptom automatically means Lyme is still active. Persistent symptoms after Lyme treatment are real, but researchers are still working to understand why they occur.
Keep looking at the whole picture.
Sometimes the next clue isn’t where you expected it to be.
Looking for a More Personalized Approach?
At Nutritionally Yours, I work with people who want to look more deeply at their health rather than simply chase individual symptoms.
For someone with a history of Lyme disease and persistent symptoms, that may include reviewing previous testing and treatment, nutrition, gut health, thyroid and hormones, nutrient status, inflammation and other factors that may be affecting how the body is functioning.
I see clients in person in Alpharetta and the greater Atlanta area, including Roswell, Johns Creek, Milton and Cumming, and I work virtually with clients throughout the United States.
Lyme taught me something I have never forgotten: when your body keeps telling you something is wrong, keep looking for answers.
Alane Wincek, ND, CNC
Founder, Nutritionally Yours Health and Wellness Center
“Testing, Not Guessing. There is Always an Answer.”