Functional Medicine for Chronic Lyme Disease in Michigan
Lyme disease is no longer just a northeastern problem. In Michigan, cases of Lyme and other tick-borne infections are rising steadily, especially in areas once considered low-risk. But what happens when the standard treatment doesn’t work—when the fatigue, pain, and brain fog persist long after antibiotics?
This is the reality for thousands of people living with chronic Lyme disease, a condition that is still misunderstood and often dismissed in conventional medical settings. Many patients are told their symptoms are “just stress,” “in their head,” or chalked up to vague diagnoses like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue. Meanwhile, they continue to suffer—searching for answers that never quite arrive.
Instead of masking symptoms or relying on cookie-cutter protocols, functional medicine asks the deeper questions: What is driving this persistent inflammation? Are co-infections or toxins involved? Has the nervous system become stuck in fight-or-flight? Is the immune system dysregulated? These are the questions that chronic Lyme demands—and functional medicine is uniquely equipped to answer.
At Restorative Medicine Center in Rochester Hills, Dr. Teresa Birkmeier-Fredal takes a whole-body, systems-based approach to unravel the complexity of chronic Lyme. Her practice is built on a commitment to finding root causes, personalizing care, and restoring long-term health—not just managing symptoms. Whether you’ve had Lyme for years or suspect a stealth infection is behind your chronic symptoms, Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal offers a deeper, integrative path to healing.
Why Chronic Lyme Needs a Functional Medicine Approach
Chronic Lyme Is More Than an Infection
Borrelia burgdorferi—the bacteria behind Lyme disease—can change forms, evade antibiotics, and hide in tissues. But what makes Lyme truly complex is that it rarely acts alone. It often comes bundled with:
- Co-infections like Bartonella, Babesia, Mycoplasma
- Environmental toxins such as mold, heavy metals, and chemicals
- Reactivated viruses like Epstein-Barr (EBV) or HHV-6
- Nervous system dysregulation, often due to chronic stress or trauma
These layers of dysfunction amplify symptoms, prolong illness, and make standard treatment protocols ineffective.
Why One-Size-Fits-All Fails
Many chronic Lyme patients are given long courses of antibiotics with little long-term improvement. That’s because they’re being treated for one microbe—when their body is actually dealing with a multi-system breakdown. Without addressing detox capacity, nervous system hyperactivity, and immune confusion, killing the bug doesn’t lead to healing—it just creates more inflammation.
A Broader, More Comprehensive Lens
Dr. Teresa Birkmeier-Fredal uses a functional medicine approach to evaluate the full picture of chronic Lyme, asking questions like:
- Is the immune system stuck in overdrive or suppression?
- Are co-infections or mold toxins driving ongoing inflammation?
- Is your body able to detox and repair, or is it overwhelmed?
- Has chronic stress rewired your nervous system into a perpetual “on” state?
Only by understanding these dynamics can real healing begin. That’s what makes functional medicine the ideal framework for chronic Lyme recovery—and why Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal’s patients often succeed where others don’t.
Functional Assessment Tools Used by Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal
Comprehensive Symptom Timeline and History
Your healing journey starts with your timeline. Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal takes the time to understand:
- When symptoms began and how they evolved
- Past infections, life stressors, environmental exposures
- What treatments you've tried—and how your body responded
This timeline often reveals critical patterns that point to stealth pathogens, immune triggers, or overlooked toxin exposure.
Advanced Lab Testing
Standard blood tests often fail to detect chronic infections or immune dysregulation. That’s why Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal uses advanced diagnostics from trusted specialty labs:
- IGeneX for Lyme and co-infections
- Vibrant Wellness for mold toxins, gut health, and tick-borne illness
- DNA Connexions for PCR-based detection of pathogen DNA
These tests provide a more accurate view of what’s really going on beneath the surface.
Immune Biomarkers and Inflammatory Clues
To evaluate chronic immune stress and inflammation, Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal measures:
- C4a: complement activation, often elevated in biotoxin illness
- TGF-B1: fibrosis and immune modulation
- MMP-9: vascular inflammation and blood-brain barrier permeability
These markers are especially useful for identifying CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) in patients with ongoing symptoms despite “normal” labs.
MSIDS and CIRS Frameworks
Using the Horowitz MSIDS (Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome) model, Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal evaluates:
- Infections
- Immune status
- Mitochondrial function
- Neurological symptoms
- Environmental toxins
This model, combined with a CIRS-based framework, helps connect the dots between stealth pathogens, inflammation, and total body burden.
Nervous System and Hormonal Balance Evaluation
Finally, Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal assesses adrenal health, cortisol patterns, and signs of nervous system hyperactivation—key barriers to recovery that are often missed in traditional care.
Together, these tools provide a 360-degree view of your health, allowing for truly personalized, root-cause healing.
Personalized Lyme Treatment Through Functional Medicine
Antimicrobial Therapy: Herbal, Pharmaceutical, or Both
Depending on the nature of the infection and your sensitivity, antimicrobial support may include:
- Botanical medicine (e.g., cryptolepis, Japanese knotweed, artemisinin)
- Prescription antibiotics or antimalarials, if necessary
- Rotational or pulsed protocols based on clinical response
The goal is not just to kill pathogens—but to do so in a way your body can handle.
Mitochondrial, Detox, and Biofilm Support
To support recovery, Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal addresses:
- Mitochondrial health with nutrients like CoQ10, carnitine, and NAD+ precursors
- Detoxification pathways, including liver, kidneys, lymph, and bile flow
- Biofilm disruption to expose hidden pathogens using enzymes and targeted agents
These steps are crucial to ensure your body can keep up with the demands of treatment.
Nutritional Therapy and Gut Healing
Chronic infection and inflammation often damage the gut, disrupt nutrient absorption, and trigger sensitivities. Functional medicine supports:
- Personalized nutrition plans
- Targeted supplements to restore deficiencies
- Gut barrier repair and microbiome support
A resilient gut is essential for long-term immune regulation and energy production.
Nervous System Regulation
Chronic Lyme often places the nervous system in a prolonged state of fight-or-flight. Dr. Birkmeier-Fredal incorporates tools to calm and rewire the brain, such as:
- Vagal nerve stimulation
- Breathing and HRV-based practices
- Limbic system retraining programs like DNRS
- Adrenal and sleep support
A calm nervous system allows the body to switch from defense to repair.
Immune Modulation and Long-Term Recovery
True healing isn’t about suppression—it’s about balance. That’s why immune support includes:
- Low-dose immunotherapy (LDI)
- Anti-inflammatory botanicals
- Hormonal and mitochondrial support
- Strategies to train the immune system toward proper regulation
The result is not just short-term symptom relief—but lasting resilience.
The Root Cause Triad and Chronic Lyme
At the heart of Dr. Teresa Birkmeier-Fredal’s functional medicine approach is a clinical framework called the Root Cause Triad. This model recognizes that chronic illness rarely has a single cause. Instead, it arises from a convergence of biological stressors that disrupt the body’s ability to heal.
The Three Legs of the Triad
- Microbes Chronic infections like Borrelia (Lyme), Bartonella, Babesia, and other stealth pathogens are often the initial trigger that derails immune function. These organisms can persist undetected, especially when shielded by biofilms or hiding inside cells.
- Toxins
Environmental toxicity adds fuel to the fire. Mold exposure, heavy metals (like mercury or lead), pesticides, and everyday chemicals all burden the body’s detox pathways, contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction, and provoke chronic inflammation. - Stress
This leg includes not just emotional stress, but HPA axis dysfunction, nervous system hypervigilance, and the long-term impact of trauma. When the brain perceives ongoing threat, it keeps the body locked in fight-or-flight—stalling healing at every level.
You Deserve Real Answers
If you’ve been told your labs are normal—but you still feel exhausted, foggy, inflamed, or not like yourself—you are not alone, and you are not imagining it. Chronic Lyme disease and its co-infections are real, and they are treatable when addressed through a deeper, root-cause lens.
At Restorative Medicine Center, Dr. Teresa Birkmeier-Fredal is committed to restoring immune balance, rebuilding resilience, and helping you return to the life you were meant to live. Her functional medicine approach is grounded in science, shaped by experience, and designed to meet you exactly where you are—with compassion, clarity, and calm.
There is hope. There is a path forward. And it starts by looking deeper.
Take the First Step Toward Healing
If you're in Michigan and struggling with persistent symptoms that haven’t improved with conventional care, it’s time for a new approach. Schedule your comprehensive functional medicine evaluation for chronic Lyme disease today.
📍 Restorative Medicine Center
705 Barclay Cir #115, Rochester Hills, MI 48307
📞 248.289.6349 🌐 restorativemedcenter.com