Lyme Disease
Functional medicine specialist, Dr. Anju Mathur, uses integrative and holistic medical modalities to help patients overcome the effects of Lyme disease.
Meet Dr. Anju Mathur
While Lyme disease can be completely eradicated if it’s caught early, many times it goes undetected. This can cause adverse effects on the body. Dr. Anju Mathur’s “Back to Wellness Program” can treat several of these effects and improve the quality of life for patients suffering from Lyme disease. As each person with Lyme Disease can have different symptoms, Dr. Mathur is skilled at determining which tests to perform for your case.
Using the information gained from your medical history, test results, current lifestyle habits, and individual imbalances, she will put together a personalized functional medicine program for you. She knows which therapies to select for specific health problems. During Lyme disease treatment with Dr. Mathur, all-inclusive approaches will be customized to suit your needs and imbalances, and she will create and utilize protocols that reduce and treat the effects of this illness.
What causes Lyme disease?
Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection caused by a tick bite. Deer ticks or black-legged ticks are usually the culprits. They spread the disease while feeding on the blood of animals and humans. If left untreated, Lyme disease can spread to the skin, joints, heart, and nervous system, which can lead to nerve problems and arthritis. The initial treatment is antibiotics for the bacterial infection. After being treated with the appropriate antibiotics, functional medicine protocols can safely and effectively resolve additional consequences of this illness.
The signs and symptoms of Lyme Disease
The first sign of Lyme disease is generally a rash that may resemble a bull’s eye, though not all infected persons have or notice it. Lyme Disease can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms resemble those of the flu or other illnesses.
One of the main symptoms of Lyme Disease is a skin rash called erythema migrans. This usually appears 7 to 10 days after infection. The rash occurs in around 70-80% of people, and it begins at the site of the tick bite. It can appear anywhere from 3 to 30 days after infection. This rash gradually expands over several days, and it can grow to around one foot in diameter.
Early symptoms of Lyme disease include:
- Flu-like symptoms
- Fever
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Muscle and joint pain
- Stiff neck
- Skin rash
What happens when Lyme Disease goes undetected?
Our Lyme disease treatment consists of antibiotics. When caught early enough, most people have a full recovery without complications. If not diagnosed in the early stages, Lyme disease can lead to chronic ailments – including neurological problems, severe joint pain, heart problems, severe fatigue, eye irritation, and liver damage.
When an infection goes untreated for days or weeks, the rash or lesions can spread to any area of the body, and patients can experience a series of other symptoms.
Some of the symptoms of an advanced version of the disease may include:
- Joint pain and swelling
- Headaches
- Neck stiffness
- Meningitis
- Heart palpitations
- Heartbeat changes
- Dizziness
- Facial muscle atrophy
- Inflammation of the spinal cord
- Bell’s palsy (facial paralysis)
- Shooting pains that may disrupt sleep
If patients go months or years without treatment, the most prevalent disease that can occur is arthritis. Over 60% of patients with untreated Lyme disease will experience arthritic pain in their large joints. Around 5% of people develop neurological disorders months to years after infection. Functional medicine therapies can reduce or prevent these disorders and help patients lead healthier lives.
Testing for Lyme disease
There is a two-step testing process involved when checking the blood for antibodies against the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease. A procedure called an EIA is done to test enzyme levels related to the bacteria, and if this test is negative, no further testing is needed.
If it’s positive, then a second test – called an immunoblot test – must be performed.
For a diagnosis of Lyme Disease, both test results must be positive.
Our difference: Personalized healing
As a functional medicine physician and Lyme Disease specialist, Dr. Anju Mathur looks at the different symptom manifestations in each patient before designing an individualized treatment protocol.
Taking a detailed analysis of each patient’s health, she approaches the treatment of chronic Lyme Disease symptoms through a systematic approach to healing based on the individual’s experience with the illness.
For example:
- In the early stages, Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics and most patients make a full recovery with no further complications.
- Patients who are not treated early tend to have recurrent symptoms and are considered to have post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. Patients with this syndrome suffer from fatigue, joint pain, muscle aches, and body pain. Receiving longer courses of antibiotics helps these patients recover more fully and quickly without further complications.
- Lyme disease that has gone untreated for an extended period can produce increased toxicity, which can lead to debilitation and a reduced quality of life.
The Lyme disease treatment experience: What to expect
Dr. Mathur’s “Back to Wellness Program” utilizes the best of functional medicine to help you regain your vitality after Lyme Disease. Her recommended therapies can help you recover from the effects created by a long-lasting illness.
Here’s a closer look at the approaches you may experience during Lyme Disease treatment:
- IV nutrient therapy can allow the body to get the nutrition it needs to support a healthy immune system and overcome lingering symptoms of Lyme Disease.
- Phospholipid exchange therapy can detoxify the body at a cellular level, and it may cleanse the cells of systemic toxins to improve overall organ function.
- Chelation therapy can also help to detoxify the body, which may improve immune system function and organ health.
- Ultraviolet blood irradiation may help to cleanse the blood of harmful bacteria and viruses, which may reduce the effects of Lyme Disease.
Dr. Mathur’s comprehensive treatment plans include the use of these therapies. Our patients can utilize this program to overcome the health challenges that present with Lyme Disease.
If you are suffering from any of the above symptoms or think you have had similar symptoms due to a past infection, please call (818) 961-2055.
Lyme Disease treatment specialist, Dr. Anju Mathur, can help eradicate the disease or the side effects of a longstanding infection and improve your overall health and wellness levels.
