Does raw milk help with Lyme disease?

From the Healthy Home Economist blog:

“This amazing story was sent to me by Melanie, a Mom who has been drinking nothing but raw, pastured milk for over 100 days to heal her Lyme Disease. Nothing else has worked for her over the past 4 years.

Her healing journey is based on the use of raw, pastured milk for reversal of serious illness as practiced in the early 1900′s by the Mayo Foundation, a forerunner of the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota.

If this story is of interest to you, read more about The Milk Cure 2012.

Here is Melanie’s story ….

From Normal Mom to Near Invalid

Four years ago I was an active wife and mother: cooking, cleaning, running errands, volunteering at my daughter’s school – the usual “stay at home” mother activities. Without warning, I suddenly became very ill after being exposed to loud noise for several hours.

I developed excruciating pain in both ears and was subsequently diagnosed with “hyperacusis”, painful sensitivity to sound. I could not bear any noise louder than normal conversation without intense pain and became confined to my home. At about the same time, I began suffering from severe insomnia and night sweats, and I began to rapidly lose weight.

I developed muscle and joint pain over my entire body, and my muscles became so weak that I could not turn on the shower or lift a glass of water to my lips. Eating was painful because my stomach hurt, and my muscles twitched so badly it made the bed shake. For months my face was swollen and I developed spontaneous bleeding underneath my toenails causing them to turn black.

Inexplicably, my body seemed to be “falling apart”!

Diagnosis: Lyme Disease

After having numerous diagnostic tests I was told my blood was too thin, my blood sugar was too high, I had no detectable good bacteria in my intestines, and my body had an extremely high level of an enzyme with a long name we’d never heard of before. My immune system was so dysfunctional that I tested allergic to nearly 80 foods. After seeing many specialists to determine what was wrong, I was finally diagnosed with lyme disease, a chronic debilitating infection caused by a tick bite.

During those months while we awaited a diagnosis, different doctors had prescribed various medications and synthetic vitamin supplements to treat my symptoms. Although we did not understand why at the time, all of them made me terribly ill and I was forced to discontinue taking anything (in hindsight that was a great blessing, as we would later learn those unnatural substances were only adding to the toxic burden on my body.)

We were grateful to have a diagnosis but knew that, in my weakened condition, I could not tolerate any medical treatment. With no good options and my physical state rapidly worsening, we did the only thing we knew to do: called the elders of our church to come anoint me with oil and pray for my healing. Knowing that Jesus had said, “The truth will set you free”, I set out to discover his truth for my physical body. What was the underlying cause of my illness? Why was my immune system so weak? How could my health be restored? What did he want me to eat? In my search for the truth, the answers to those questions would change the course of my life.

Determined Quest to Detoxify

One of the first things I learned was that, whatever the diagnosis, there really is only one chronic disease – toxicity and nutritional deficiency. Basically, my body had become overloaded with toxins and was unable to function properly. Just as there was only one disease, there was only one cure. I needed to eliminate (as much as possible) the toxins coming into my body, cleanse my body of stored toxins, and provide it with the nutrients it needed to repair and rebuild.

Since I would not be taking medication or supplements, food would be my “medicine”.

After much research, I cut out many things from my diet: additives, preservatives, artificial flavorings and colorings – basically all processed food. I also eliminated soy, gluten, yeast and sugar. I ate only what was organic so as not to ingest pesticides. Over a period of two years I experimented with eating different foods that were supposed to have healing qualities: goji juice, acai powder, coconut oil, raw garlic, cultured vegetables, freshly made vegetable juice, apple cider vinegar, manuka honey, non-gluten grains soaked overnight, sea vegetables, grass-fed beef, sea salt.

For months I ate six raw egg yolks a day from a local farm. I consumed gallons of raw coconut kefir and homemade bone broth. I ate dozens of jars of raw nut butter and grass-fed ghee and drank only spring water.

After more research I learned that, even with my new eating plan, I had still been unknowingly pouring harmful chemicals into my body on a daily basis through toxic personal care items. I threw out all my health and beauty supplies and used only a bit of pure castile soap on my skin and hair. I discarded my household cleaning and laundry products and instead used vinegar, baking soda, and a dried fruit called “soapnuts”.

I replaced our teflon pans with non-toxic ceramic, and our plastic containers with glass bowls. I had a water filter installed in the shower and opened windows to air out our home. I bounced on a rebounder for half an hour each day to flush out my lymph system, and twice a day took a walk in the sun until my legs became too weak to continue.

With the elimination of many toxins and a complete change in diet and lifestyle, I did see some improvement. I could finally sleep, my pain lessened somewhat, and a number of my symptoms disappeared. I was able to start taking a plant-based digestive enzyme, hoping it would help my stomach.

Could The Milk Cure Be the Answer?

Still, I continued losing weight and was unable to regain my strength. My hair started falling out and I continued to have serious digestive problems. Despite eating large quantities of food, by last summer I had lost more than one-third of my starting weight.

Through my research, I had repeatedly seen how drinking raw milk had helped many people, but since I had such trouble digesting fats I had avoided it. Then I read several articles from the early 1900’s describing how doctors had used an exclusive raw milk diet to successfully treat every sort of disease. It was described as “a combination of a detoxifying fast and nutrient-dense feeding” – just what I needed.

I also read that fasting gives the digestive system a break so that all the body’s energy can be devoted to healing. Based on my research, and since it was becoming increasingly difficult to digest solid food, I decided to try the raw milk fast for 90 days or as long as I could tolerate.

I located a farm with raw milk about 20 minutes from our home. It is not certified organic although they claim to use many organic practices. The cows are grass-fed much of the year and eat hay in the winter. Although their diet is supplemented with a small amount of non-gmo corn and the milk is sold in plastic containers, it was the best we could find locally. Having little to lose, I decided to proceed with my plan.

The Milk Cure Begins

I began my fast on November 18, 2011, and from the beginning have been drinking about three quarts of milk per day.

Some of it I make into kefir. The rest I let sit out on the counter for 12-24 hours to come to room temperature (cold foods are bad for my digestion) and begin a natural souring process that increases the beneficial bacteria. I drink about six ounces every hour, sipping it slowly and mixing well with saliva….”

Read it all on The Healthy Home Economist: