If you or anyone else you know has been diagnosed with Lyme disease, you are likely familiar with joint pain, fatigue, and brain fog. So here’s what few people say enough about – Lyme disease gut health is just as critical as any other component of the healing process.

But the reality is that your gut and immune system are very closely connected. If there’s an additional ailment, such as a Lyme Infection, your digestion frequently suffers. Digestive symptoms from Lyme disease can make life feel even harder – bloating and stomach pain, nausea.

In this blog, we will give you an explanation of what is happening to your gut when the Lyme invokes it, what signs to look out for and how Lyme disease wellness support can assist you with feeling better.

What Is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is a clinical condition caused by the bacterium that enters through the bite of a tick infected with the disease. It is the most frequent tick-borne disease and can attack various systems of your body – your joints, your heart, your nervous system, and yes, your digestive system.

Lyme symptoms can be quite variable from one individual to another. Some people get the well-known bullseye rash right away. Some may not detect anything for weeks or months, and later complain of a weakness of the body, aching or pain in the body, headache, or stomach upset. Unfortunately, these symptoms can mimic so many other diseases that Lyme disease can be locked up in the diagnostic process for an extended period of time.

Does Lyme Disease Affect Gut Health?

It’s just one of the most commonly asked questions – does lyme impact gut health? Well, yes, and in lots of ways.

These microorganisms – bacteria, fungi and more microbes – are even tiny, and in combination are referred to as your gut microbiome. The microbiome has a great impact on your overall health, ranging from digestion and energy to your mood and immunity system.

Unlike other diseases, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease doesn’t remain dormant in the body. It may circulate in your body, and bring problems into your gastrointestinal tract. But not only do the most popular treatments for Lyme disease, especially the longer-term antibiotics, kill the bad bacteria, they also kill the beneficial ones in your gut.

The result? An imbalanced gut that has a hard time performing its duties. That’s why gut health and Lyme go together and why it is crucial to focus on gut health during recovery.

Common Lyme Disease Digestive Symptoms

A surprising number of individuals are surprised to learn digestive troubles can be a direct consequence of Lyme disease. Here are some of the most common Lyme disease gut issues and digestive symptoms people experience:

• Bloating and gas – When one feels an uncomfortable fullness or may be gassy without having eaten much
• Nausea – Discomfort of the stomach that may come and go, tends to be more intense in the morning
• Diarrhea or constipation – Trouble going to the bathroom that does not appear to have any obvious cause
• Stomach cramps – Are pain or discomfort in the belly, which may resemble a stomachache or cramps
• Heartburn or acid reflux – Is a burning sensation in the chest or throat following meals.
• Refused food – Rejection of food or food becomes overwhelmingly full very quickly after eating
• Food sensitivities – Abruptly reacting to foods that previously caused no trouble

Lyme disease digestion symptoms don’t only cause discomfort; they can actually affect your body’s ability to digest the nutrients necessary for healing. Drinking plenty of liquids after a surgery, with an effort to keep soup cooling down, is not because comfort matters only, since it is important for gut care after surgery too. It is about making your body as possible as possible have the best chance of recovery.

How Lyme Disease Disrupts Your Gut Balance

The best way to look at Lyme disease gut health is to consider your gut as a garden. When things are going well, all those helpful bacteria are doing their job-eliminating some of the bad bacteria that normally inhabit your intestines and strengthening your immune system-breaking down your food and protecting you.

Now visualize a storm blowing in and everything is upended. That is how Lyme Disease works. The bacteria behind Lyme disease can trigger your immune system to go into overdrive, causing inflammation throughout your body – including in your digestive tract. This inflammation can cause your gut to be more sensitive and less effective at performing the job.

More important is the effect of antibiotics treatment. Antibiotics are often necessary to fight Lyme disease, but they are not selective – they kill off many of the good bacteria in your gut along with the bad. They can end up misbalancing gut flora, a syndrome many people experience, called gut dysbiosis.

An imbalanced gut can lead to a sense of tiredness, fogginess, moodiness, and overall poor health. It becomes a cycle – Lyme disease wreaks havoc on your gut, your gut is less able to support your body’s immune system, and your immune system gets less support, which slows down your recovery. It’s for this reason that gut health and Lyme disease treatment go hand in hand.

Supporting Your Gut During Lyme Disease Recovery

Fortunately, there are concrete and practical methods to support the hygiene of your intestines while you’re fighting Lyme disease. None of them are difficult and at none of these do you have to be a scientist to know what is meant.

1. Focus on Whole, Gentle Foods

Though carbs, sugars, and booze can cause heartburn to intensify when you’re having trouble with your food pipe. Instead, consume foods that are wholesome and digestible, like cooked vegetables, soups, bone broth, eggs and soft grains like rice or oats. The foods provide you fuel – but short of causing added stress to your delicate intestines.

2. Add Fermented Foods or Probiotics

If you’re feeling the effects, then foods that are fermented can help restore balance to your gut, such as yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi. If you are on an antibiotic, discuss using a probiotic diet supplement to help preserve your gut microbiome.

3. Stay Hydrated

Water plays a huge role in digestion. The additional dehydration symptoms of constipation, bloating and fatigue can exacerbate the symptoms already commonly associated with Lyme. Make sure to drink water regularly all day long and consider herbal teas which may aid in calming your stomach.

4. Reduce Stress Where You Can

The gut is directly affected by stress. If you are stressed or panicked, it’s your gut that’s feeling it, as well. Savor slow walks, deep breathing, journaling, light stretching, or other gentle activities that can soothe your nervous system and relieve gut discomfort.

5. Rest and Listen to Your Body

Healing takes time. Overdoing it can lead to worsening of the symptoms of Lyme disease and gut symptoms. Receiving adequate rest is not laziness – it’s a necessary component of recovery.

Working With a Lyme Disease Health Coach

It can be a lot to take in dealing with all these different symptoms of Lyme disease. That is where a Lyme disease health coach can help you make a difference.

A health coach dedicated to Lyme disease is not a medical professional, but a trained specialist that works with you to consider your lifestyle, stress, diet, sleep, and gut health, as well as designing a plan to support your health and recovery. They can aid you understand what foods cause your symptoms, how to time your day around your energy levels and what to do to establish behaviours that stick.

Lyme disease wellness support is a more than symptom management because the condition is not a transient occurrence. It’s step forward, one small step at a time, your quality of life. Having support around you can make recovery feel like it’s non-optional if it wasn’t; which is good.