By Fred Diamond

When someone close to me had a major Lyme flare late this spring. I realized it was time to ramp up my education on the disease quickly. I logged onto a large online bookstore and purchased a big stack of books on Lyme and chronic illness.

I know that many people who are diagnosed with Lyme, or have a loved one who was just diagnosed, are in a new world that is foreign to them, overwhelming and difficult to grasp.

Since I read over 30 books on Lyme and related topics this summer, I’d like to suggest 12 you may want to get.

I put them into three categories: Lyme and Healing Overview, Personal Stories, and Self-Care.

• The Lyme and Healing books provide a history of the disease and related co-infections, why and how it happens, the effects of the disease and, most importantly, ways to treat. Most of these were written by Lyme literate medical professionals.
• There are a few memoirs of people’s discovery and battle with Lyme out there. A couple of celebrities have documented their history of having Lyme. One notable book was written by Yolanda Hadid of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame.
• And there are some excellent tomes that cover how to treat depression, anxiety, and other related results of having Lyme disease.

The books below are widely available. I cannot vouch for the efficacy of what each author suggests, but the information is compelling.

Lyme and Healing Overview

How Can I Get Better?: An Action Plan for Treating Resistant Lyme & Chronic Disease, (2017). By Dr. Richard Horowitz. His first book on the topic, “Why Can’t I Get Better?: Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease,” was published in 2015. It was the first book I read on Lyme and my mind was blown about how complicated treating Lyme could be. I then discovered he published “How Can I Get Better” in 2017 and read that through as well. Horowitz is one the most prominent Lyme-literate medical doctors (LLMD) and is frequently referenced in other books on the topic. The book is comprehensive in its coverage of Lyme and many of the co-infections and many treatment options are covered.

Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and Chronic Environmental Illness (2018). By Dr. Neil Nathan. Healing was not a word I spent a lot of time thinking about prior to this summer but of course it’s one Lyme survivors are frequently obsessed with. I first read Nathan’s earlier book, “Healing is Possible: New Hope for Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Persistent Pain, and Other Chronic Illnesses,” which was published in 2013. Nathan had been practicing holistic medicine for over four decades before writing this book. His approach is very caring and sensitive.

Healing Lyme: Natural Healing of Lyme Borreliosis and the Coinfections Chlamydia and Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis, 2nd Edition (2015), By Stephen Buhner. Buhner’s is one of the most popular herbal protocols available. Having treated tens of thousands of people, he has completed exhaustive work on this insidious disease and is one of the world’s foremost experts on using herbals to treat Lyme and its co-infections.

Insights into Lyme Disease Treatment: 13 Lyme-Literate Health Care Practitioners Share Their Healing Strategies, (2009) Connie Strasheim. Although she’s written a few more books on Lyme after this one, I really enjoy her approach here. She had 13 Lyme medical professionals answer some basic questions about Lyme disease and asks for their advice on how to treat mind, body, and spirit. Although it’s over a decade since it was published, this book is a good introduction to what the healing journey may look like and how to start building a treatment plan.

Recovery from Lyme Disease: The Integrative Medicine Guide to Diagnosing and Treating Tick-Borne Illness, (2021) Dr. Daniel Kinderlehrer. I found this book very engaging, in-depth, and instructive. He delves deeply into treatment, care, and strategies for success. Since it was just published in 2021, it’s the most current book in this category. It’s always my first recommendation.

Autoimmune Illness and Lyme Disease Recovery Guide: Mending the Body, Mind, and Spirit (2015); Katina Makris. The Mind-Body-Spirit connection is critical for healing. Although many of the books above acknowledge that you need to address earlier life and childhood traumas you might have encountered before your body is ready to recover, this book goes deep into practice. I was especially impressed by the section on the seven chakras and how each plays a specific role in healing from Lyme.

Personal stories

The Lady’s Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness (2021). By Sarah Ramey. This book answered so many questions for me, as a male, and impacted me the deepest. I highly recommend it to any male spouse who has questions about what his female partner might be going through. I also recommend it to women with chronic Lyme who wonder why they go through what they go through to figure out how to solve their health challenges. Sarah bravely expounds on her journey, her mistakes, and her outcome. It’s piercingly honest with a lot of tangents. If you love someone with Lyme, be it a partner, child or other relative, your heart might get broken as you make it through this book.

The Gratitude Curve: Using the lessons of chronic illness to reach personal empowerment (2018). By Gregg Kirk. Like Sarah Ramey’s book above, author Gregg Kirk goes very deep into his medical, physical, and spiritual journey to solve his health issues. I was so inspired by Gregg’s story that I featured him on one of my Sales Game Changers Podcasts about how he discovered his life’s mission after accepting that he had Lyme disease.

Dear Lyme Disease: Transforming Your Pain into Purpose (2021). By Wendi Lindenmuth. The final stage of healing is acceptance. Once you accept that you have a chronic illness such as Lyme, you can begin to live a life filled with joy, advancement, and love. This book is filled with mindful practices you can follow to live that life. It proves that you can still live an amazing life you’re proud to live even with Lyme.

lymebook: A Journey to Becoming One Day Better (2021). JP Davitt. The author was a high-performing athlete and financial services professional before contracting Lyme. He shares his journey but also documents in detail what he discovered along the way from other Lyme survivors and the medical community. Like Gregg Kirk, JP’s mission also became helping Lyme survivors with his LymeFriends community.

Self-care

How to Heal Yourself from Depression When No One Else Can: A Self-Guided Program to Stop feeling Like Sh*t (2021). By Amy Scher. The very first book I purchased when I began this endeavor was Amy’s similarly titled book on healing from anxiety. Amy’s a Lyme survivor and has written a half-dozen books on how to blossom even though you have the disease. Once I started reading these books, I noticed that many Lyme survivors were also dealing with devastating depression, stress, and anxiety. Amy suggests many practices you can take to handle depression so that you can continue your healing journey.

Self-Love Workbook for Women: Release Self-Doubt, Build Self-Compassion, and Embrace Who You Are (2020). By Megan Logan. Having Lyme can affect your image, confidence, and psyche in ways you cannot even imagine. Many survivors remember their high levels of energy and performance before the disease took hold and look back on what’s transpired forlornly. That doesn’t have to happen. In this book, the author has created numerous exercises to help you build back your confidence to enjoy your life again.

The Emotion Code: How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love, and Happiness (Updated and Expanded Edition) (2019). By Dr. Bradley Nelson. While not specifically about recovering from Lyme, this book explores how releasing trapped emotions throughout your body can help accelerate the healing process. It’s a fascinating process.

I read over 30 books on the topic this summer, have gifted them all, and have followed up with several of the authors to see if they have anything more to say. Navigating the Lyme information world is tough, especially when newly diagnosed.

I hope this list is helpful to you. To your health.

Fred Diamond is based in Fairfax, VA and can be contacted via Facebook. For a living, he runs the Institute for Excellence in Sales and hosts the Sales Game Changers Podcast. His last blog for us was Learning to be supportive when your partner has Lyme disease.