Lyme Disease Tip Summary:
Romy Rosen shares her unique and practical Lyme hack for the Tick Boot Camp Lyme Hackathon: creating a ‘Lyme-Proof List’. This personalized strategy involves:
- Compiling a Personalized List: Romy suggests making a list of activities and entertainment options that are enjoyable, especially during flare-ups or when feeling unwell. This list can include favorite movies, TV shows, and light-hearted activities like drawing or writing.
- Easy Access and Reference: The list can be handwritten or stored on a phone for easy access. The idea is to have a go-to resource readily available during tough days.
- Eliminating Decision-Making Stress: The purpose of this list is to alleviate the stress and anxiety associated with making decisions when experiencing brain fog or feeling overwhelmed due to Lyme disease symptoms.
- Ensuring Comfort During Flare-Ups: By preparing this list on better symptom days, Romy ensures she has a collection of comforting activities that can help her navigate through tougher days, such as flare-ups or herxheimer reactions from new treatments.
Romy’s Lyme hack is a testament to the power of simple, thoughtful planning in managing chronic illness. By creating a personalized list of enjoyable activities, individuals with Lyme disease can better cope with symptom fluctuations, reducing stress and enhancing their quality of life during challenging times.
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Video Transcript:
“Hi everyone, and happy Lyme Disease Awareness Month. My name is Romy and I’m so excited to be back for another year of Lyme hacks. My Lyme hack this year is to create a Lyme proof list. This is something you can either handwrite or put on your phone so that you always have it with you. And what I do is if I’m having a better symptom day, I write out all the things that I like to do when I’m flaring or not feeling as well. So for example, I like really funny comedy movies, or really like light-hearted reality television. And what I do is I list everything out for myself, whether it be movies or TV, or activities like drawing or writing, depending on how my brain fog may be, and I write out all of the options for myself that I know that I like to do when I flare. And what this does is sets me up for when I’m having a flare day, or having a worse symptom day, or if I’m herxing off of a new medicine or treatment, I can just go to that list and that eliminates the anxiety and feeling overwhelmed about the decision-making process because for me, when I’m not feeling well, I tend to have bad brain fog and I hate having to make decisions. So having things listed out that I’ve written for myself that I like to do to keep me entertained during a flare or when I’m not feeling well has been the best hack for me this year. And I’ve been using it very frequently. So happy Lyme Disease Awareness Month and I’m always here if anyone has any questions.” – Romy Rosen
