Tim is a great success story and in this case study. He shares with us the journey behind his dramatic improvements following a difficult diagnosis of two diseases: Lyme disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Tim shares his experiences and talks about how he was able to use the Paddison Program to isolate aspects of his health relating to these two conditions. He then shares how it helped him optimise his health for recovery. This was in collaboration with his doctors and personal research.
Tim’s symptoms began in 2015 when he woke up with the classic bullseye rash associated with Lyme Disease. He took the treatment the CDC recommends, Doxycycline, for 21 days and thought all was OK.
Then, one day, all of a sudden his big toe started hurting. When he went to see an Orthopaedic surgeon, he got an arthritis diagnosis. Tim began to feel as though his health had fallen apart and he ended up seeing other doctors for various symptoms. He finally received a diagnosis of Lyme disease and was subsequently placed on a six-month treatment plan of antibiotics. His health felt compromised from then on.
Starting the Paddison Program
Tim has a family history of rheumatoid arthritis on his mother’s side. He had swollen hands in the morning by this point. Yet his rheumatoid blood test results, carried out by the same doctor who had diagnosed his Lyme disease, came back negative. Tim also identified with symptoms for psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis.
Then, Tim decided to try a variety of diets following his own research to see if he could identify a dietary effect on any of his symptoms. A recommendation for restarting antibiotics followed stool samples and a positive test for Lyme disease. Having recently come across the Paddison program, Tim considered signing up for it. He weighed up the cost against how much he can pay for supplements and decided to go for it.
Starting with the protocol, Tim admits that he did have some ups and downs, like anyone beginning a complete overhaul of their lifestyle but he found ways to adapt the process around his work schedule and began learning how to improve his health and diet.
Digestive Health on the Paddison Program
There is a lot of advice on alternative supplements in Clint’s book and on the Paddison Program Membership pages. Objective advice is available and any decisions you make should be well researched and taken in consultation with your doctor.
Tim chose to take hydrochloric acid supplements and digestive enzymes. Initially, when introducing new foods, Tim found that he kept reacting to everything he tried. But when broccoli and cauliflower were OK, he took that as a good thing and focused on being positive about that 1% improvement.
With Clint’s words in his head, motivating him to keep going, Tim gradually began to get better. His digestion had improved but Tim wasn’t able to get off the baseline meal. His arthritis was just in his hands and, feeling as though he was doing everything he could, he decided to go back to the Lyme disease doctor after six to eight months. After being offered antibiotics again, Tim decided to try another doctor. The new doctor understood that he wanted to protect his gut bacteria while exploring other options.
Finding Improvements for his Lyme disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Tim began taking Disulfiram for Lyme disease [1]. He immediately found an improvement with the drug and took it for 8 weeks. By coincidence, Tim also ended up with a wrench in his neck and was put on Prednisone. This calmed down his immune system and completely alleviated his Lyme disease symptoms.
For Tim, he feels that having an optimum healthy diet enabled him to identify different symptoms of the disease. And he felt that he was able to consider more treatment options because of the plan. Tim also lost an amazing 100 pounds and feels so much more physically fit.
The Paddison program advises on managing your diet to achieve an optimum human biome and Tim talks about identifying gluten and dairy as causing a problem.
The quality of the microbiome can influence the disease-modifying drugs for rheumatoid arthritis [2]. You should consult your doctor before starting the Paddison program or Rheumatoid Support. But optimising your gut health whether taking medication for rheumatoid arthritis or not, it can only have a positive effect.
Staying Motivated While Working Through Lyme Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis
It can be a challenge to stay focused on achieving optimum health when you have Lyme disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Tim talks about how long it took him to start to be able to reintroduce some troublesome foods, in his case, potatoes.
This is a sentiment that is often expressed by other members of the Paddison Program and it is entirely understandable. When our lifestyle is being able to eat whatever we want, changing our whole attitude to food takes commitment.
And Clint relates to this, he tells us that he had to adopt his goal to get well, as his life’s mission, before he started to see results. But it is achievable, and that’s why Tim’s case study is so inspiring. He also discusses how his faith and love had an impact on his journey.
Going For 1% Improvements
Tim was on the baseline menu and even though he wanted to try foods beyond phase 2, he had to keep coaching himself on the 1% philosophy. Clint advises that if you only feel 1% better by the end of the month, then just stick with it because the effect is cumulative and you will get there eventually.
By telling himself to be happy with just that little bit extra, maybe just one new food from the option groups, and by seeing the whole process lasting, say 2 years rather than being a quick fix, Tim found that he could get there too.
It’s helpful to think that a chronic condition takes time to develop and so it will take time to reverse but it is achievable.
Thanks to Tim for sharing his story. He has generously offered to talk to anyone who needs some information, sources, or help on this topic. You can contact Clint to arrange this by emailing info@paddisonprogram.com. Send up to 3 questions via Clint and if he is not able to answer your question directly, he will pass these on to Tim.
[1] Gao J, Gong Z, Montesano D, Glazer E, Liegner K. “Repurposing” Disulfiram in the Treatment of Lyme Disease and Babesiosis: Retrospective Review of First 3 Years’ Experience in One Medical Practice. Antibiotics (Basel). 2020;9(12):868. Published 2020 Dec 4. doi:10.3390/antibiotics9120868
[2] Bodkhe R, Balakrishnan B, Taneja V. The role of microbiome in rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis. 2019;11:1759720X19844632. Published 2019 Jul 30. doi:10.1177/1759720X19844632