It’s All in Your Head…?


By Rudy Mueller DC, IFMCP and Annette Mueller FNP, IFMCP T


here is nothing more disheartening than hearing these words from your Physician, “It’s all in your head.” I understand why my doctor said it to me. He tried all of the conventional test-


ing, looked at my symptoms, performed exams and nothing was fitting in to the conventional diagnosis box.


His statement frustrated me because I am a physician and I knew something serious was happening. I was experiencing fatigue, muscle pain, difficulty sleeping and a decline in my brain function. I self-medicated and supplemented in order to help reduce symptoms, however I always felt like I was missing the un- derlying cause. It was a very difficult time trying to understand the cause of my “weird” symptoms.


With my functional medicine training it was clear that my decline in health and function began nine months earlier with an odd, raised, red inflamed rash that continued to expand, causing me to develop a fever of 104 degrees and severe disorientation. I was quickly rushed to the emergency room where I was diagnosed with cellulitis (inflammation of the skin cells) and pumped full of IV antibiotics. This treatment improved my acute symptoms and saved me from serious complications, in which I am grateful, how- ever the diagnosis and inflamed skin cells didn’t help me under- stand the cause; it only revealed the effect.


Unfortunately, the lack of a clear cause resulted in me not treating it correctly and drove my body to respond in the way that it did with worsening symptoms becoming more severe over time. Then these symptoms led me to different doctors resulting in being probed, prodded, stabbed and told it was all in my head. These persistent symptoms dragged on for almost a year before I had test- ing for the Great Imitator...LYME. This positive result was as much of a relief, to know that it wasn’t in my head, as it was scary, as at the time was a giant unknown.


Once I learned these symptoms were caused by Lyme and co-infections, I was able to become Lyme literate, studying and


28 Essential Living Maine ~ July/August 2017


implementing a comprehensive functional medicine treatment protocol through nutrition, antimicrobial support, detoxification support, hormonal balance and cognitive support all while ad- dressing my genetics to help my body recover. Today I truly feel my best because my journey has allowed me to now be an integral part in others’ recovery from the battle against Lyme and other chronic conditions.


I can’t emphasize enough the well-earned reputation Lyme has as the “great imitator.” Lyme infections are misdiagnosed and each individual suffers with different, debilitating symptoms. Once diagnosed with Lyme, implementation of a comprehensive func- tional medicine treatment protocol, in my opinion, is essential to a full recovery.


The following information is an excerpt from a free guide I created: The Complete Lyme Report


Symptoms of Chronic Lyme The symptoms of chronic Lyme are consistent with those of


acute Lyme, but are more disruptive to your life. Fatigue, joint pain, and muscle pain may be persistent. Sleep disruption be- comes chronic insomnia. Forgetfulness manifests as cognitive decline and anxiousness and depression can be debilitating. Symptoms vary greatly among individuals and can often mimic more severe conditions such as cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, neuropathy, hypothyroid- ism, multiple sclerosis, and psychiatric disorders. After being sent from specialist to specialist, patients commonly end up without a definitive diagnosis or receive a very broad umbrella diagnosis such as chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia. Unfortunately, some may be told it’s all in their head. Although it is a relief not to receive some of themajor condition diagnoses above, not knowing the cause of the “weird” symptoms is troubling and difficult. Not only does Lyme prove it is the great imitator, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) is capable of suppressing and hiding from the immune system so that it is essentially undetectable with conventional testing.


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