Lyme Disease Tip Summary:
Emma Pikoulas shares valuable advice for individuals navigating life with Lyme disease on the Tick Boot Camp Lyme Hackathon, focusing on self-care and management strategies:
- Stress Management: Acknowledging the impact of stress is crucial. Lyme disease symptoms can worsen under stress, and the immune system may become compromised. Emma emphasizes the importance of identifying stressors and taking control of what can be changed. Getting real about stress is the first step towards managing it effectively.
- Nutrition and Hydration: Maintaining a nourishing diet is challenging yet essential for those with Lyme disease. Emma advises eating clean, whole foods, staying hydrated, and ensuring adequate sleep. This can be difficult with the added responsibilities of work, family, and treatment, but it’s vital for well-being and recovery.
- Prioritizing Self-Care and Joy: Lyme disease can diminish life’s pleasures, making it important to actively seek joy and prioritize self-care. Emma suggests exploring new ways to find happiness and enrich life daily. Prioritizing personal needs is key to coping with the challenges of Lyme disease.
Emma’s tips offer a straightforward approach to self-care for those living with Lyme, emphasizing stress management, proper nutrition, and the importance of prioritizing one’s own well-being and happiness. She encourages everyone to stay positive and focus on these simple yet effective strategies for a better quality of life with Lyme disease.
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Video Transcript:
“Hi everyone, my name is Emma, and I’m really excited to share my tips for living with Lyme. My first tip would be to manage your stress. Lyme and life can be very stressful. However, we don’t do good under stress: our symptoms flare and our immune systems lower. But what we can do is acknowledge our stressful factors and take ownership and change what we have the power to. So, that’d be number one, get real about your stress. Number two would be to nourish yourself. It can be very difficult as someone living with Lyme to nourish yourself during the day, to eat three meals to eat clean whole foods, to stay hydrated, to get adequate sleep. It’s not so easy when you’re living with Lyme and you are juggling life, work treatment, family, partners, you name it. Remember to nourish yourself because it is just so important and it will make you feel better. And number three would be to prioritize yourself. Lyme can add suffering and it can take pleasure. So it’s important that you prioritize yourself and you spend the time to break down new ways to find joy day to day and how you can add to your life. And that’s all. I hope it’s simple. Okay, good luck out there. Happy May.” – Emma Pikoulas
