Book Review, Why Can't I get Better

Dr. Richard Horowitz is a well known doctor and activist in the Lyme disease community. Whenever I have a question, this book is one of the first places I go.
Dr. Horowitz is a pioneer in the treatment of resistant babesia, a malaria like organism. Babesia is becoming more resistant to common drugs such as atovaquone and atovaquone/Proguanil. These drugs are some of the most used and reliable methods for ridding the blood of these horrible parasites.Whenever someone no longer responds to conventional or even alternative treatment for babesia, they turn to Dr.Horowitz.

He describes in great detail the many, many infections a tick can transmit to a human. Lyme disease is only a single drop of water compared to the amount of pathogens a tick can transmit. Information on bartonella, brucella, erhlichia, mycoplasma, Q-Fever, etc is scarce online, all of these are well highlighted by Dr. Horowitz.  Incorrectly treating co-infections can lead to treatment failure! That makes this book beneficial for not only the patient, but doctors as well.
Treating the bacteria borrellia burgdorferi alone, without testing for and treating co-infections will result in the persistence of symptoms. It takes away the point of treating in the first place doesn't it?

In this book, he uses an abbreviation to sum up what Lyme disease patients live with-MSIDS.
It stands for Multiple Systemic infectious disease syndrome, it is a summary of the symptoms and infections commonly associated with Lyme disease complex. This has since became a useful term to describe those that suffer from multiple, systematic illnesses.

Dr. Horowitz describes all of the common symptoms associated with each infection, this is paramount for someone like me who had to be diagnosed on symptoms alone. The tests for tick borne diseases are inaccurate, I only ever tested positive to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Yet, I responded very well to babesia treatment, which is an infection my blood was negative for.
He details his methods for treating Lyme disease, like combinations of herbs and antibiotics. Combining antibiotics alone can be dangerous for someone (non-llmd) who is not well educated in the affects of drug combinations. There are several drugs that should never be mixed. MSIDS patients often have afflictions requiring treatment of not just the illness, but the symptoms also. Insomnia for example is huge; he estimates about 70% of those with MSIDS suffer from insomnia. Sleep drugs and some babesia drugs do not mix well, both can have strong psychological side affects. This is just one example of why when treated using pharmaceuticals, it is essential to find an LLMD educated in drug safety.

Another amazing thing about this book is how he highlights treatments. The book is full of information about antibiotics and herbs that are useful in treating MSIDS. I personally learned about the herb cryptolepis, which was essential to beginning my babesia treatment. He also teaches about how some of these work in the body, such as their effects on cytokine levels.

There is so much to be said about Dr. Horowitz and his book Why Can't I Get Better. It is what really jump started my treatment. I felt confident after reading this book, I no longer felt like a helpless sick person. I could identify what was making me ill, and learned how to destroy it! He not only writes about the infections and their treatments, he writes about their effects on our bodies. Like cytokines which cause inflammation for example. I had never heard of this before reading this book. Reading this book gave me the tools to help myself, I would recommend it to anyone suffering from Lyme complex.

The Healing Code, have you read it?

     Today I want to talk about a book to nearly everyone I know. Dr. L recommended this to me a few years, and I am so glad I listened! This book really helped me get through the emotional trauma caused by being sick. People with chronic illnesses often have had some kind of emotional trauma at some point in their life.

     Mine stemmed from a few points. When I broke my arm I was in a cast for about 9 weeks. My thumb and pointer finger were unable to flex because the nerve was stretched. All of my fingers on that hand were messed up in some way or another. I had 0 feeling in my pointer and thumb, my middle finger had pins and needles and diminished flexibility, my ring finger was like my middle but less severe, then my pinky was unaffected somehow. Even today I still have diminished feeling in that hand after nearly 5 years, PE, and laser therapy.
Another thing that gets to me, especially on the bad days, is losing friends and being unable to stay involved with things I did previously.
At one point I was active in Boy Scouts, gymnastics, tennis, and anything else fun that came up. The boy scouts especially ticked me off. I was one of the highest ranking kids in the county, active in the Troop, first one in my patrol to reach the rank of eagle at 14 years old, and I had known most of the other guys most of my life.
I went to the meetings and taught the younger kids every week, never missed. I knew all of the younger kids, I enjoyed teaching them. It was great.
A year after becoming an Eagle Scout I just had no more energy for extra activities. I couldn't go and teach every week. No one said anything to me. I took a three month or so break before I went back. One of the first things a patrol member of mine said to me was "Why are you here"
Warming isn't it? I could talk about the Boy Scouts a lot...but lets be honest. Its way overrated.
 I am a double silver Eagle Scout with a full sash of merit badges(I could start the second). I know this from experience. I wasn't one of the kids who let their dad take over either, I made it at 14 because I wanted  to. It was a goal I wanted to accomplish. I just had a strive to thrive.
Now Lyme disease is my priority. I have to strive to survive. Ill thrive later, God willing.

     That's the gist of my sob story. Ill probably post about it again at a later date. Ill get off my rabbit trail and go back to the book.
Emotional trauma stops healing. The mind is the control center for your whole body. If it is overwhelmed with emotions it has to deal with, its priorities are going to change from healing the body, to healing the mind. Stress kills, a stressed brain cannot function.
When we live with emotional trauma, the added physical trauma will be our downfall. Its not possible to be physically well when we are taken down from both sides.
Our heart, according to Dr. Jernigan at the Hansa Center, holds onto these emotional memories. This book, The Healing Code, goes into great detail about how our emotions and thoughts control our health. One of the doctors in the book discussed how his chronically ill patients
 wouldn't get better. The root of it wasn't the wrong pill combination, but emotions.


     Reading this book gave me more sense of self awareness. I am not controlled by the anger or unhappiness I had from becoming ill. I don't blame myself. I used to try to blame others or myself. "Maybe if I would have started complaining about my symptoms sooner I would have found a treatment sooner". Or why didn't someone else see that I felt so bad and say something.
Its important to remember, everything happens for a reason. We may not be able to see the reason, but there will be a positive outcome.

     Being sick taught me to become independent and to avoid following blindly. Whenever a doctor tells me to take something I need to know A.Why? B. What is it going to do to me. C. What are the important side affects.
Too many people take a doctors advice way too seriously. A doctor practices what he/she is taught, most of them do follow a similar script for everyone.
They have a fairly specific protocol for everyone already, for depression they have an A drug they tryout first, same goes for infections, ADD/ADHD, and other disorders.
When drug A or even herb/supplement A doesn't work, they have a backup or plan B.

     I learned to think creatively. I try to think outside the box when it goes to my own treatment. Most doctors(who treat lyme) give 1-3 abx. This will cause a herx reaction from the bacteria dying.
When a herx is coming on, we are told to detox. Detox what? There is always more than lyme bacteria to detoxify. The goal may be to remove the toxins from dead bacteria, but detoxing is so general. It will help remove anything that needs to be removed.
So what specifically is being detoxed, heavy metals, other bacteria toxins(if so which ones?), environmental toxins, pesticides, parasites?
When detoxing usually some symptoms will increase, for me brain fog usually. Which toxins coming out cause which symptoms?
Anyway, this is how I think. "Why" and "how" is what I am always asking. I no longer think, "what if I had" or "but if this-". This poisons our body.

The Healing Code taught me to check my thoughts and emotions. Letting them run wild will lead to downfall, not a better circumstance that "could have been". It was not a standard self help book, it wasn't telling me to change my life to be happy. It explained the science of cellular memories and how they affect our body.
I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with a resistant, chronic disease. It was easy to read and extremely informative.
Emotional healing should be considered in everyone with a chronic disease. Something is blocking the body from healing.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”‘ – Romans 8:28