1. Gatorade. Don't listen to anyone who tells you Gatorade is only for athletes. The point of Gatorade, and other sports drinks like it, is to replenish the electrolytes that your body loses. And, when you have Lyme your body doesn't function like the "normal" human body does. So, the electrolytes that would normally be just fine in a healthy body aren't fine in ours. (I honestly think my electrolytes get a kick out of randomly jumping out of my body and leaving me feeling like a grape on it's way to becoming a raisin.)
Have a headache? Drink some Gatorade. Going for a walk to the mailbox (which is pretty much the equivalent of a trek up Mount Everest)? Drink some Gatorade. Having heart symptoms? Drink some Gatorade. When you are feeling something, your body is telling you something. And a good way to start listening to it without having to automatically jump to taking medication is to try to replenish your electrolytes first.
2. Let yourself rest. There is nothing wrong with a nap (or three) in the middle of the day. If you get up in the morning and take ten steps to the bathroom and feel like you can't go any further, fine! Go back to your bed. Or make your way to the couch and flop back down there. And try again later. If you do what your body needs today, you will have plenty of tomorrows to go out and live your life.
3. Sea-bands. I don't know about you, but I get nauseous. I get nauseous a lot. For logical reasons like riding in the back of a car. And for not at all logical reasons like reaching for something across the table or simply opening my eyes in the morning. (Like, what?!) And, sometimes--a lot of times--you just have to push through it. I've found that the most helpful product in making it through my moments of ridiculous nausea is my sea-bands. All they are are pressure point bands that you wear on your wrists. They have a plastic ball on them that pushes on the pressure point in your wrist that is supposed to help relieve nausea. And they actually work! They're ugly. And they make your wrists sweat. (They look like eighties aerobic class sweat bands.) But they work. I'll take it.
4. Showers/baths. Now, don't get me wrong...I suggest everyone, whether you have Lyme or not, takes a shower/bath. And I suggest it all year round, not just in the summer. But, when you have Lyme, and you have to go outside (which is unavoidable sometimes) there is nothing like a shower/bath with cool water to help your body remember that it is supposed to be functioning. Don't use hot water, that will only make you feel worse. When you have a Lyme-y body, hot water sets off the detoxing process and leaves you feeling worse instead of better. Stick to cool water in the summer months. Putting cool water on your skin is similar to drinking Gatorade--it gives you a little bit of life back.
5. Forgiveness. This is the most important one. As a Lymie, summer is going to be difficult. That's all there is to it. Breathing is harder. The clothes that you have to wear if you're going to be outside are generally tighter against your skin than the hoodies and sweatpants we can get away with in winter. Waistbands of shorts hurt. Bathing suit seams hurt. And even simple things like sweating can set off weird reactions in our bodies. And lord help us if we're on antibiotics. Say goodbye to even the tiniest bit of sun. Summer is a struggle. And you have to forgive yourself, and forgive your body, or it's going to be even harder. Can't go to the beach with friends? Go to something at night, or something indoors. Can't do that either? That's OKAY. Forgive yourself. Even if your friends don't, you have to. Summer is hard, but cooler days are right around the corner. That's the awesome thing about summer, it doesn't last long. (Unless you live somewhere that doesn't have cool seasons...in which case I'm sorry. Maybe you should buy a lot of ice packs.)
Take it one day at a time. All year round, but especially in summer. If you can make it through the hottest, most uncomfortable days with Lyme, you can do anything. And, when all else fails, listen to your body. You know you better than anyone else does, no matter what anyone else thinks. If you listen to your body, and do what it needs you to do, it will repay you with moments of relief and less pain. And those moments will, hopefully, get longer and longer, and show up more and more often.
Take on summer now (gently, slowly, cooly, and carefully) and you're one step closer to fully taking on life again.
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