Lyme Disease is a tick-borne disease that is passed to humans by tick bites. The bite will develop a target around the site that is discolored, appearing like a round bruise. Those who are affected by Lyme disease will experience many different symptoms and getting a diagnosis hasn’t always been easy in the past, but it is easier now due to the fact that more Americans are getting diagnosed with it. Doctors are seeing the symptoms more regularly and with the boom of the CBD oil industry, it is no wonder that people are wondering if using CBD oil for Lyme disease might be fruitful.

Lyme disease symptoms include:

• Anxiety
• Lethargy/Exhaustion
• Rash with tell-tale bullseye
• Head-aches
• Nerve pain
• Facial palsy
• Fever
• Chills
• Sensitivity to light, eye irritation in bright light
• Decline in cognitive ability
• Joint pain, usually in the largest joints first
• Heart palpitations due to infections in cardiac tissues

As you can see, Lyme Disease is a potentially serious illness that causes uncomfortable and debilitating issues with the entire body. Those who develop this disease are often left with years of issues that crop up and are never diagnosed properly. CBD oil and Lyme disease might be a good fit for each other and here are more reasons why.

There are approximately 300,000 people in the US who are currently diagnosed with Lyme but there are likely many more who are out there, undiagnosed and quietly wondering why they hurt all over, why they went to the store and forgot everything that was on their list, or why they seem to have headaches constantly and unexplained dizziness. Lyme disease sometimes turns out to be the answer to their declining health and the reason that they feel like they are ten years older than they actually are.

More doctors are familiar with the disease and keen to the symptoms than ever before. A simple test can tell if Lyme disease is your problem and then treatment can be planned from there.

What Is Lyme?

Treatment for Lyme disease as almost as perplexing and puzzling for doctors as the disease itself is. In fact, many of those diagnosed with fibromyalgia may actually be suffering with Lyme Disease, as some have learned that they are.

Lyme Disease is chronic and ongoing. Once you have it, you have it and that is that. Controlling symptoms is your best hope and there is not a single ‘go to’ that all doctors use at this point. Lyme disease is started by a microbe that is called Borrelia burgdorferi. Most types of ticks that transfer Lyme disease are the tiniest of the species, the size of pinheads.

The vast majority of people never know that they’ve been bitten, and the symptoms all start so slowly and advance slowly that most people have no idea what is happening. They just live the rest of their lives with bouts of what seems like the flu, cropping up in flares. There are other microbes that are transferred by ticks that may be responsible for other illnesses as well. 

Antibiotics are the typical treatment for Lyme because doctors don’t really know what else to do. IV antibiotics are often given for Lyme but after the course of antibiotics, it is not unusual for the disease to return, with all the same symptoms.

There is an explanation for this:

• Borrelia enters the blood stream and leaves it quickly, invading body tissues fast and deep. It is shaped like a corkscrew and it uses its shape to burrow into soft tissues where antibiotics cannot reach it. It infiltrates cells and will live inside of them where it is protected inside of cell walls from the body’s own immune system or antibiotics. When a large dose of antibiotics is able to reach it, instead of fighting or dying, it pulls itself into a cyst, a hard shell that goes dormant and it simply waits until the antibiotics are gone.
• Antibiotics work best on fast growing microbes. Instead, Borrelia grows very slowly, which is how it lingers in the body for years and years, with symptoms that seem to come and go.
• The body is full of microbes that are a normal part of the ‘microbiome’ and Borrelia is fantastic at moving into the neighborhood and just blending in. It is a scavenger, not needing much to thrive and this is what makes it incredibly difficult to find and diagnose.
• Borrelia never enters the body alone. There are other microbes that ticks carry that will always accompany Borrelia into your body. They include Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, Bartonella, EBV, CMV, and still others.
• Borrelia stays the course through persistence and simply hiding in the body. It continues living inside cells to be undetected. It isn’t aggressive, it’s just a freeloader that lives in your body. It keeps to itself and the overuse of antibiotics in the body kills off good gut flora that causes excessive Candida yeast overgrowth, as well as MRSA infections. Antibiotic resistant pathogens are honestly more of a threat than the microbes that cause Lyme, so using antibiotics is simply not the best way to tackle Lyme disease.
• Overusing antibiotics wrecks your immune system because 70% of the flora involved in healthy immunity are in the stomach and intestines.
• Mitochondria are a vital part of your cells and antibiotic use may harm them. Antibiotics are possibly more of a threat to your body in the long run than the Lyme disease itself.
• The mucous lining of the colon is called the biofilm. This film is full of protective microbes that can be ruined and wiped-out by antibiotics. This allows Lyme disease to grow more powerful in your system without ever putting up a fight.

As you can see, antibiotics are probably not the most intelligent way to treat Lyme, but no one has a definitive answer for problem, so they automatically prescribe antibiotics. You may end-up cutting your good microbes and gut flora down to nothing, while Lyme just curls up and waits the storm out and later wakes up to realize they are the majority. That’s a scary possibility if you are the person suffering with Lyme. You run the risk of becoming more ill.

CBD May Offer a New Option

Let us begin by stating clearly that CBD is not a cure for Lyme disease. CBD has the potential to help you live with the disease with fewer symptoms, pain, and discomfort, however. CBD works within the neural pathways to block the signals being sent to the brain that cause the brain to recognize and act on these signals. The result of the brain’s responses include pain, anxiety, cravings, depression, and much more. CBD oil for Lyme disease has exciting potential and if you have the disease, you should be hopeful because this is an option that has worked for so many other chronic conditions.

Anxiety is one of the many issues that is a result of Lyme disease that patients often complain about the most. Generalized anxiety in people who have normally been healthy, and outgoing, is not just frustrating, but it changes lives for the worse. You withdraw from activities and doing things with friends and family because of the anxiety of being in crowds, around loud noises, etc. CBD is known to alleviate anxiety in people, regardless of the cause. This might be the best way to treat this symptom, but CBD doesn’t stop there. CBD oil and Lyme disease might be a good pairing to help those patients.

It is important to note at this point that some people have turned to marijuana in hopes of helping their symptoms with Lyme disease, but marijuana has actually been shown to exacerbate symptoms of anxiety because it contains THC, which is the antagonist that causes anxiety in this case. Using marijuana may actually make symptoms of Lyme disease worse but using CBD oil without THC in it does prove effective.

CBD is a natural anti-inflammatory that also reduces pain by blocking the signals of pain. CBD is likely to improve the joint pains, headaches and other discomfort associated with Lyme disease. CBD also works in the gut region to reduce nausea, even for cancer patients. There is a high likelihood that it will also help reduce nausea and stomach upset with Lyme disease.

Explanation of CBD

CBD is a phytocompound of hemp and marijuana, just as is THC. CBD (cannabidiol) is not a psychoactive compound. It doesn’t cause a high feeling or impair cognitive functions. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the psychoactive compound responsible for feeling high and causing you to be stoned. THC is not present in commercially sold CBD products except in trace amounts, below .03%.

CBD binds with receptors in the body, located specifically in the gut region and other parts of the body. THC bind with receptors that mostly located in the brain, thus the psychoactive effect of THC. When CBD binds with these receptors that are part of the body’s own Endocannabinoid System (ECS), it forms lipids that are released onto the neural pathways and they act to block signals making their way toward the brain.

This allows CBD to block thought patterns that are negative and repetitive. CBD blocks reoccurring pain signals from bombarding the brain. CBD blocks the messages of nausea, anxiety and so many other things that there are few issues that people can’t use CBD for, and the side-effects are virtually non-existent.

Side-effects that are possible from CBD oil are headache, diarrhea, and cramping in the gut. These are generally problematic only when people take too much at one time. Starting slowly and gradually increasing doses is the best way to start on CBD and people rarely have issues. If the side-effects do appear, simply skip a dose and reduce the amount to start with again. You will return to normal typically within hours and nothing is permanent.

CBD is extracted from hemp. It is a plant derivative and therefore can be considered a healthy alternative for people, even if they are vegan. If you purchase only from the United States and make sure that the extraction process used was CO2, you will also have no risk of any contaminants in your CBD oil. Oils coming in from other countries have tested positive for contaminants but those grown in the United States are regulated by the Department of Agriculture and inspected regularly. These inspections are likely to become even more stringent with the passing of the new 2018 Farm Bill which legalized hemp grown for CBD manufacturing.

The CBD industry has been helping people experience relief from many conditions over the past several years, but the legality of the product has always been the source of much argument. Several states have laws on their books regarding the use of CBD products, but it is now very unclear if any of the laws in place will still matter now that CBD production has been legalized at a national level. At this point, retailers are selling CBD products nationwide and law enforcement has seemed to turn a blind eye with no appetite for taking this issue on, rightfully so; there are many other issues they should focus on rather than a product that comes from a plant and includes no THC.

CBD Responsible for Epilepsy Drug and Possibly More to Come

CBD has been used from the very beginning by those with seizure conditions. Those who suffered with epilepsy found that their seizures were, in some cases, completely stopped and reduced to nearly nothing in all cases. Parents of children who had severely reduced quality of life, due to seizure activity, initially flocked to states where marijuana was legalized and ultimately were able to use CBD oil in most other states, after research proved that CBD did, irrefutably, help to control seizures.

CBD did such an amazing job that scientists were able to develop a drug using CBD oil. This drug is called Epidiolex. Patients are only prescribed this new drug when they have failed with multiple other types of drugs. While it is wonderful that the drug exists, many find it easier to simply purchase CBD oil and not be concerned with other active ingredients or having to fail at four or five other medications first. Still, this is a gigantic step in the right direction with the world accepting CBD is good for you.

Cancer patients have found reduced nausea while undergoing chemotherapy if they use CBD oil. CBD interacts to help gut problems and reduce vomiting and nausea. Research has found that lab rats with cancer which were given CBD actually had tumor growth slowed. CBD is possibly going to open doors to new cancer treatments and scientists are working furiously to learn how the tumors slowed and, in some cases, shrank.

Using CBD oil, Lyme disease may also find its cure one day, but for now the symptoms can be controlled and give patients the one thing more important than anything else, comfort. Quality of life is the single most important thing that medicine should give to patients. Lyme disease isn’t life-threatening in and of itself, but it may be extremely uncomfortable and could lead to weakened immune systems that allow other illnesses to be life-threatening.

If You Are New to CBD

Purchasing CBD oils can be done online, so if you choose to be discreet you may. There are thousands of online shops that stand ready to supply you with CBD oils, tinctures, vape pens and oils, CBD capsules, CBD creams, sprays and more.

The products that you use are up to you. Choose what seems to fit with your life. Some enjoy the drops of oil that can be taken under the tongue for quick absorption or dropped into tea or coffee for a slowed absorption and less taste. Edibles that are as simple as chewing a gummy candy might be best for you so you can carry one in your pocket when you are out of the house. It’s really up to you and you may wish to experiment with ways to take your CBD.

It will also be up to you to determine the dose that works best for you. Start low and taper up slowly. If you follow that rule, you can adjust your dose until you find the amount that works for you and makes you feel your best. If you begin to notice any side-effects, simply back-off a little and then start again at a lower dose and slowly build it back up.

You are totally in control of what you need and how much you need. Don’t worry. CBD is non-addictive and you can’t overdose on it. It will not cause withdrawals or harm you. You won’t need a prescription to use CBD from hemp, CBD from marijuana may require a doctor’s prescription and may not be available at all. The hemp CBD oils are found and sold most everywhere since the passing of the Farm Bill of 2018. Use your own judgement, choose the product(s) that you feel will be best for you and put yourself back in control of how you feel.