The Lyme+ Podcast

In this eye-opening episode of the Lyme+ Podcast, Sarah Quillen, Executive Director of ILADS, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, joins us to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to train physicians to recognize, diagnose, and treat tick-borne illness at every stage.

Sarah brings over 25 years of nonprofit leadership to this role, and her path here is deeply personal. Her father was misdiagnosed with leukemia — steps away from starting the wrong treatment, before a correct diagnosis of Bartonella and Babesia finally changed the course of his care. That story became the entry point into a world she now helps lead.

In this conversation, Sarah breaks down exactly what ILADS does, why it was founded, and why expanding physician education is the single most important lever for changing patient outcomes.

Key Topics Covered:

• What ILADS is and why it's the only multidisciplinary medical society of its kind in the world

• The vectorborne illness fundamentals course, preceptorship program, and newly launched fellowship

• Why acute Lyme is far rarer than most assume — and what that means for the chronic patient majority

• The informal peer network inside ILADS that becomes a lifeline for newly practicing physicians

• Why "Lyme" is a catch-all — and why the real conversation is Bartonella, Babesia, and Rickettsia

• Lyme's political moment: HHS roundtables, the current administration, and what's on the horizon

• The growing global crisis and what ILADS is doing in Poland, the Nordic countries, and beyond

Babesia is hiding in plain sight, and the data gap is bigger than most people realize.

In this episode of the Lyme+ Podcast, host Kenzie Vath sits down with Dr. Geoff Dow, PhD, Founder and CEO of 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, for a conversation that starts personal and gets deeply scientific. Dr. Dow's own entry into the Lyme world came through his wife's diagnosis in Marin County, California, a region that doesn't appear on official Lyme maps. That experience shaped everything: the importance of acting on caution, not waiting for a perfect diagnosis, and the very real consequences of data gaps in tick-borne illness.

The official case count for Babesiosis sits at 2,000 to 3,000 per year. 60 Degrees' own claims analysis suggests the real number is at least 25,000, and that's still likely an undercount, given how little awareness exists around the disease. Dr. Dow breaks down why the numbers are so distorted, what it takes to actually define a case without reliable diagnostics, and why the blood bank screening assay (roughly 1,000 times more sensitive than anything commercially available to physicians) represents one of the starkest diagnostic gaps in modern medicine.

This is one of the most grounded, science-forward conversations we've had on the podcast, and one of the most urgent.

🔬 WHAT WE COVER:

• Dr. Dow's personal entry point into Lyme and tick-borne illness research
• How tafenoquine (ARAKODA®) targets Babesia at the cellular level
• Why official Babesiosis case counts are a fraction of the real burden
• The three active clinical trials 60 Degrees is running and the FDA timeline
• Why diagnostics are the foundational problem that has to be solved first
• The long COVID parallel and what it means for chronic illness legitimacy
• Why 60 Degrees is often the only pharma company at ILADS conferences and what that says about the space

ABOUT GLOBAL LYME ALLIANCE (GLA)

The Lyme+ Podcast is produced by Global Lyme Alliance (GLA) — the leading 501(c)(3) dedicated to conquering Lyme and tick-borne diseases through research, education, and awareness. GLA funds the most promising scientific research, accelerates better diagnostics and treatments, and empowers patients and families navigating tick-borne illness.

🔗 Visit us at: www.globallymealliance.org

ABOUT DR. GEOFF DOW, PhD

Dr. Geoff Dow is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SXTP), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing new treatments for infectious diseases.

🔗 Learn more about 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals: ⁠www.60degreespharma.com⁠

⚠️ DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in this episode are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Lyme Alliance (GLA). This episode is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical condition, diagnosis, or treatment.

What if treating Lyme directly isn't actually the first step toward healing? In this episode, host Kenzie Bath sits down with board-certified health coach Meg Crockett — founder of Meg Crockett Health — to unpack why the order of your healing protocol matters just as much as the protocol itself.

Meg's journey began not with a Lyme diagnosis, but with an infection following an egg retrieval procedure that landed her in the hospital multiple times, led to sepsis, and ultimately became the catalyst for a complete career and lifestyle transformation. What followed was six years of investigating the root causes hiding beneath the surface — mold toxicity, parasites, co-infections, and the nervous system's role in all of it.

Her framework is simple but powerful: clear the terrain first, then address the infection.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why mold toxicity is often the first layer to address — and how to test your home accurately using the ERMI test
• The truth about parasites: why they're more common than you think, why standard gut tests miss them, and how to cleanse safely
• How Lyme co-infections like Babesia and Bartonella respond to herbal protocols — and why Meg has never used antibiotics for Lyme
• The connection between endometriosis, cysts, and Lyme that rarely gets discussed
• Why emotional well-being and nervous system regulation are non-negotiable parts of physical healing
• What Meg's 4-month private coaching program looks like and who it's designed for

Resources & Mentions:

• Vibrant Wellness Tickborne 2.0 Panel
• ERMI Home Mold Test / Micrometrics Lab (NJ)
• Great Plains Mycotoxin Test
• CellCore Biosciences parasite protocol
• IS-4 herbal tincture (Bartonella)
• GI-MAP & Vibrant Gut Zoomer
• Nicole Sachs — The Cure for Chronic Pain journaling method
• Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN)

Connect with Meg Crockett:🌐 megcrocketthealth.com📱 Instagram & TikTok: @megcrocketthealth

The Lyme+ Podcast is produced by the Global Lyme Alliance. This episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider.

What happens when you’ve tried every antibiotic, every shaman, and every "heavy hitter" protocol, but you’re still getting worse? For Theresa Piela, that breaking point came when she hit 79 pounds and was faced with the reality of a feeding tube.

In this episode of Lyme+, Kenzie and Dan sit down with Theresa, an EFT practitioner and chronic illness coach—to discuss the missing piece in many healing journeys: The Nervous System. Theresa shares her harrowing journey through "medical PTSD," the trauma of being sick, and how she eventually "tapped" her way back to health, joy, and even singing in a bluegrass band.

If you feel stuck in a "fixing" mindset or paralyzed by food fear, this conversation is a roadmap for moving from survival mode into true physiological safety.

• The "Walking Alien" Phase: Theresa’s journey through Lyme, Babesia, Bartonella, and the moment she realized her desperation to heal was actually keeping her sick.

• What is EFT Tapping? The science behind Emotional Freedom Technique and how it physically signals the amygdala to turn off the fight-or-flight response.

• Medical & Body PTSD: Why the hyper-fixation on symptoms (scanning for bloat, fatigue, and pain) creates a loop of dysregulation.

• The "Fixing" vs. "Healing" Mindset: Why militant research and rigid protocols can sometimes act as a stressor rather than a solution.

• From Carnivore to Food Freedom: How Theresa overcame severe Mast Cell (MCAS) reactions and reintroduced foods by changing her emotional response to eating.

• Self-Soothing for Adults: Why we stop soothing ourselves as we age, and how to bring back tonal frequencies, humming, and touch to calm the body.

• Finding the "Afterglow": The profound healing power of music, creativity, and scanning for beauty in the environment.

Theresa Piela is an EFT practitioner, chronic illness coach, and the founder of Living Roots Wellness. Through her app, Tapping with T, she helps individuals with chronic illness navigate the complex world of nervous system regulation and trauma release. She is also a member of the bluegrass band, The Lightweight Travelers.

• Instagram: @livingrootswellness

• Website/App: Tapping with T

• Music: Search "Lightweight Travelers" on YouTube

In this episode, Dan and Kenzie sit down with Jason Earle, the founder of GotMold©, to explore why mold is often the "missing piece" for those struggling with chronic Lyme. Jason explains the "Building as an Organism" metaphor, detailing how our homes act as an extension of our immune systems. The conversation covers the science of inflammatory pathways, the neurotoxic effects of the "musty smell," and practical advice for listeners to "see, smell, and feel" their way to a healthier environment.

• [08:30] The "Kissing Cousins": Why you can't recover from Lyme in a moldy environment.

• [17:40] The Exo-Skin: Thinking of your home as an extension of your immune system.

• [24:45] See, Smell, Feel: Practical red flags for detecting hidden moisture and toxins.

• [43:00] The Biological Building: Comparing home maintenance to chronic inflammation and cellular health.

• [48:00] Future Tech: Graphene-based cement and the next generation of mold-proof housing.

Ready to test your home? Use the link and code below to access professional-grade air sampling kits and a free expert guide to finding mold.

• Special Offer: Use code Lyme10 for 10% OFF all products and services.

• Welcome Page: GotMold.com/LymePlus

• Free eBook: How to Find Mold (available at the link above).

In this episode of Lyme+, Kenzie sits down with Brooke Geahan, founder of The Heal Hive and a leading advocate for bee venom therapy (BVT), to unpack one of the most provocative—and misunderstood—modalities in the chronic Lyme space.

Brooke shares her journey from thriving New Yorker to being bedridden, passing out from severe POTS, living on just a handful of “safe” foods, and watching her career and finances collapse under the weight of late-stage Lyme, Babesia, and Bartonella. At the very end of her financial and physical rope, a chance conversation at a Lyme clinic led her back to bee venom therapy—and changed everything.

Now, as the head of The Heal Hive, Brooke combines comprehensive lab testing, nervous system support, and structured BVT protocols to help patients navigate this therapy more safely and strategically. In this deeply educational and emotional conversation, she explains why she almost walked away from the Lyme community altogether—and what pulled her back in.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Brooke’s early Lyme story: from magazine life in NYC to wheelchairs, collapse spells, and severe POTS

• How a Lyme nurse, a handful of bees, and a very frugal dad pushed her to seriously revisit bee venom therapy

• Why Brooke believes comprehensive testing (300+ biomarkers) is non-negotiable alongside any BVT protocol

• A lay explanation of the science she references:

  • How components of bee venom like melittin are being studied for effects on bacteria and biofilms

  • Why mast cell issues and immune dysregulation are such big players in chronic Lyme—and how she sees BVT interacting with them

• The philosophy behind The Heal Hive: slow, structured, data-driven stinging; “marathon, not sprint”; and “it’s ok to have discomfort, not ok to have dysfunction”

• How Brooke talks to skeptical physicians and why understanding the science helps patients advocate for themselves

• Sustainability & the bees: beekeeping, glyphosate, and why she believes thoughtful BVT can coexist with protecting pollinators

Brooke also reflects on her appearance in the Netflix docuseries Unwell, how BVT exploded on social media, and why she still encourages listeners to move slowly, ask hard questions, and never abandon critical thinking, no matter how desperate they feel.

Important Note: This episode shares Brooke’s personal experience and perspectives on bee venom therapy. It is not medical advice. Bee venom therapy can carry serious risks, including allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, and is not appropriate for everyone. Always consult with a knowledgeable expert, physician or healthcare professional before considering any new treatment. Global Lyme Alliance does not endorse any specific product or treatment.

Connect with Brooke:

• Instagram: @thehealhive

• Website: thehealhive.com

• Personal IG: @everydayexpert (warning: lots of adorable toddler content)

💚 If this conversation resonated with you, please follow, rate, and review Lyme+. Share this episode with someone navigating chronic illness who might need a reminder that there are still avenues to explore, and that they’re not alone.

What’s actually happening in Washington for Lyme and tick-borne diseases—and does it ever really move the needle?

In this episode of the Lyme+ Podcast, host Kenzie Vath sits down with Megan Bradshaw, Government Relations Manager for Center for Lyme Action, to pull back the curtain on how federal funding, legislation, and advocacy campaigns are changing the landscape for Lyme patients and their families.

Megan shares her personal “patient-to-advocate” story, how a virtual congressional briefing from her parents’ recliner turned into a full-time mission on Capitol Hill, and why she believes we’re entering the “golden age” of Lyme and tick-borne disease advocacy.

Megan Bradshaw is the Government Relations Manager at Center for Lyme Action, where she leads federal advocacy efforts to secure funding and drive policy change for Lyme and tick-borne diseases. A patient herself, Megan channels her lived experience into strategic work on Capitol Hill—coordinating with agencies like HHS, CDC, NIH, and DoD, and helping build one of the largest Lyme advocacy networks in the country.

Learn more about Center for Lyme Action and get involved at centerforlymeaction.org

Episode Sponsors

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Vital Plan — Restore 180 by Dr. Rawls
Restore 180 is a six-month herbal program designed to support the nervous system, gut repair, and microbial balance—for those focused on sustainable healing, not quick fixes.
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Functional-medicine physician Dr. Casey Kelley, MD (Case Integrative Health) joins hosts Dan Wagner and Kenzie Vath to unpack why chronic Lyme is rarely “just Lyme.” We dig into co-infections (Babesia, Bartonella), POTS/dysautonomia, mold + MCAS, nervous-system regulation, and the biggest myths about testing and treatment. Dr. Kelley explains when antibiotics vs. herbs make sense (minocycline, rifampin/rifabutin, malarone/tafenoquine, dapsone, pulsing strategies), why gut + liver support determine tolerance, and how diet (gluten/dairy/sugar), vagus nerve work, and 80/20 consistency accelerate recovery. We also cover long-COVID overlap, ILADS clinician training, and what a “medical detective” intake actually looks like.If you or a loved one is navigating persistent Lyme symptoms, this episode offers actionable next steps, and hope.

Quick takeaways

• ​It’s rarely just Lyme. Co-infections, mold, and MCAS commonly overlap.
• ​Protocols are personalized. Antibiotics and herbs both have a place; tolerance and gut health decide the pace.
• ​Foundations first. Removing gluten, dairy, sugar + consistent stress regulation often unlock progress.
• ​Nervous system > everything. Breathwork and vagus-nerve inputs calm inflammation loops.
• ​Clinician training matters. ILADS offers a path for complex-illness care.
• ​Case Integrative Health (Chicago): discovery calls, team-based care
• ​ILADS: fundamentals, preceptorships, international conferences
• ​Groundwork for Healing (Dr. Kelley’s course): diet, sleep, stress, detox basics
• ​Tools: Apollo Neuro, compression, high-salt hydration (for POTS)

TickTock Naturals — Organic Insect RepellentProtect your crew from ticks, mosquitoes, and spiders—without synthetic chemicals. TickTock Naturals is organic, cruelty-free (PETA-certified), eco-friendly, and designed to last 4–5 hours (even on swim or workout days). Lyme+ listeners get 20% off with code GLA at ticktocknaturals.com Because prevention is powerful.)

Vital Plan — Restore 180 by Dr. Rawls

A six-month herbal program to support the nervous system, gut repair, and microbial balance—for those building sustainable healing, not quick fixes. Learn more at vitalplan.com.

In this episode of Lyme+, hosts Kenzie Vath and Dan Wagner sit down with writer and advocate Jennifer Crystal to explore her journey through Lyme disease and the impact her words have had on the community. From her early diagnosis and treatment choices to her ongoing role as a patient voice for the Global Lyme Alliance, Jen opens up about the challenges and resilience that define her story.

Jennifer is also the author of One Tick Stopped the Clock: A Memoir of Lyme Disease — her powerful personal story of resilience, advocacy, and hope. 📚 Order the book here

Through honesty, vulnerability, and hard-won wisdom, Jen shows how storytelling can be both a tool for healing and a beacon of hope for others still in the trenches.

• Jennifer’s history and diagnosis story (7:30)

• The reality of Herxheimer reactions (15:00)

• Why Jen chose a PICC line over oral antibiotics—and how it changed her recovery timeline (17:00)

• How her pen became a voice for the Lyme and GLA community (21:00)

• Discovering GLA and building a connection through writing (26:20)

• Where she finds inspiration for her blog posts (28:00)

• Kenzie and Jen discuss navigating PTSD as both podcast hosts and writers (34:00)

• Jen’s advice on finding LLMDs and building a care team (41:30)

• The most surprising and memorable FAQ Jen has ever received (30:00)

Through honesty, vulnerability, and hard-won wisdom, Jennifer shows how storytelling can be both a tool for healing and a beacon of hope for others still in the trenches.

This episode is made possible by ⁠Restore 180 from Vital Plan.⁠ If you're dealing with Lyme or chronic illness, you know healing isn’t a quick fix. Backed by Dr. Bill Rawls and , ⁠Restore180⁠ is a 6-month, phased program designed to restore gut health, calm your nervous system, strengthen immunity, and target the microbes driving your symptoms — all while supporting your body’s natural healing process. 👉 Learn more at: ⁠https://vitalplan.com/products/restore180⁠

This episode is made possible by Restore 180 from Vital Plan. If you're dealing with Lyme or chronic illness, you know healing isn’t a quick fix. Backed by Dr. Bill Rawls and , Restore180 is a 6-month, phased program designed to restore gut health, calm your nervous system, strengthen immunity, and target the microbes driving your symptoms — all while supporting your body’s natural healing process. 👉 Learn more at: https://vitalplan.com/products/restore180