Lyme disease, sexual functioning and what to do

I certainly remember running through the long grass as a kid. Now I avoid wooded paths and meadows like the plague. The number of deer ticks with Lyme disease in Eastern Ontario is at an all-time high and it’s something Canadians are still catching up about..
As a Sex Therapist I am seeing more and more clients in my office who are struggling with Lyme disease. Symptoms include chronic fatigue, joint and pelvic pain, complete lack of interest in sex, and who are simply trying to get through the day with no energy.
It’s especially impactful for women who previously had a normal sex life and then who’s libido suddenly dropped off

Lyme disease is controversial as so many people have different symptoms. The most typical is sever fatigue. Avril Lavigne (who’s from Napanee a few hours drive west of Ottawa) said this in her interview with Billboard magazine “it was an important step in raising awareness around the disease and the complications that come with treating it. “I’m achy, I’m fatigued, I cannot get the fuck out of bed — what the fuck is wrong with me?” she told Billboard, describing her symptoms.
Dr. Ingram says a person contracts Lyme disease when cork-screw-like bacteria, called spirochetes, are released from the mouthparts of the biting tick and bore into the joints and connective tissues of their human hosts, where they cause significant inflammation and pain, as well as tissue damage.
“There is a wide range of other germs which may ‘co-infect’ the tick bite victim, including organisms which may attack the brain and nervous system,” Dr. Ingram said.
LYME DISEASE SYMPTOMS MAKE DIAGNOSIS DIFFICULT and can create a host of confusing symptoms – both immediate and delayed. The disease is frequently misdiagnosed: fibromyalgia, arthritis, polymyositis, depression, multiple sclerosis, ALS, schizophrenia, psychosis, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Lyme also specifically attacks the heart and nervous system. Thus, victims of Lyme and other tick bite diseases are also often told that they have Bell’s palsy, neuropathy, pericarditis, and cardiomyopathy, while tick bite diseases and Lyme, as the causes, are never considered.
What I see as a Sex Therapist is people who can’t get answers about changes to their sexual functioning.
I certainly starts with a diagnosis. Be the squeaky wheel and get blood tests if your libido tanks for no reason. Hormones can play a role but if they all come back normal and you have explored other options asked to be tested for Lyme disease. I’ve had three clients this year test positive. The City of Ottawa tested ticks found in an area near my beehive on Richmond Road. 90% of the ticks tested were positive for Lyme disease.
Here are some steps from Dr. Ingram to protect yourself.
1. Wear the lightest-colored clothes possible, preferably white or off-white. White is best since the tiny tick nymphs which are black can be seen more readily. Larger ticks can be easily seen against such a background.
2. Socks are pulled over the pant legs. The socks should be white.
3. Wear a hat to prevent ticks from falling from tall grass or trees onto the head.
Be sensitive, and be aware. Have a high awareness for entities crawling on the body or in the hair. If any such sensations occur, check the body immediately.
4. Any tick bite, if discovered, should be treated topically. The tick itself, along with the bite area, should be saturated with the oil of wild oregano to attain constant contact, which is ideal to destroy any residual tick-related germs and the consequential local inflammation.
Oil of oregano will literally burn away the protective exterior membranes (biofilm) of viruses and pathogen transmitted by an infected tick. See your doctor for antibiotics.
Spray the shoes, socks, and legs with the natural, potent tick repellent