Brooke Stoddard’s Lyme Hack:

“Hi, my name is Brooke Stoddard, and I’m one of the co-founders of Generation Lyme. I’m also a huge fan of Tick Boot Camp. Over the past year, I’ve listened to Tick Boot Camp podcasts. And I think that it is an incredible platform where you can hear stories from Lyme disease patients across the country, and learn about different protocols that have helped them to feel better. So when Tick Boot Camp asked me to participate in their Lyme disease Awareness Month campaign, I was more than happy to help. I’ve had Lyme disease for 10 years, and I’ve tried a lot of different treatments, including antibiotics, over the counter herbal remedies, and also some lifestyle changes, all with the purpose of trying to feel better and to eradicate Lyme disease from my body. Today, I’d like to focus on something that’s really simple. It’s the very simple act of sweating. For years, I have found that sweating either through exercise, or by going to a sauna, has been one of the most simple but helpful things that I could do to lessen the severity of my Lyme disease symptoms. Several years ago, when I started learning about the benefits of sweating through exercise, I would run on the treadmill for about 20 to 25 minutes a day, while wearing a couple of layers of clothing with the purpose of keeping my body warm and to try to sweat as much as possible. I wasn’t trying to win a race. I wasn’t trying to run too quickly. But I found that if I woke up with Lyme disease symptoms, and then I ran, that my Lyme disease symptoms were a lot less severe after I finished that run, I sweat, and I took a shower. It was one of the best things that I could do every day to feel better. A couple years later, I also discovered sweating via the sauna. And it’s sort of for the same reason, by sitting in a sauna, which I do after work for 20 to 25 minutes, I find that I can help my body to detox. And if I have Lyme disease symptoms crop up during the day, and then I go sit in the sauna and sweat it out, that I just feel a lot better afterwards. You know, these days, we’re all hunkered down in our apartments, so I don’t go to a sauna every day. But I really was doing that for a couple of years every night after work. I would just go to a sauna at a local neighborhood gym. And for me, this was just a dry sauna that got very hot. A lot of other people use infrared saunas, and have had a lot of success with those too. I’ve also learned from talking to Lyme disease patients across the country that exercise really isn’t possible for some people, especially those who experience a lot of joint pain. And some people actually don’t feel better after going to a sauna. So I wanted to tell you things that have worked for me, but I certainly understand that these things don’t work for everybody. Do the things that work for you. We live in a really stressful time right now. So just know that as you’re going through your personal health journey with Lyme disease that I’m thinking about you, I want you to get better, I’m rooting for you, and in this time with Corona virus, I really hope that you feel safe and healthy. Happy Lyme disease Awareness Month and I’m thinking about you.”