Dr. Melanie Stein

01/07/2026

Long COVID, Lyme, and mold can crank up reactive oxygen species (ROS)—and those can damage cell membranes, the “signal towers” your cells use to communicate. When the membrane takes a hit, the messages get scrambled… and healing feels impossible.

If you feel like your body stopped talking to itself—this is one reason.

01/06/2026

If you’re herxing but not improving, it may not be “more detox” that you need.
It may be that your cells literally can’t move toxins out.
When cell membranes are impaired, transport slows → toxins recirculate → symptoms persist.

01/03/2026

Herx… or flare? 🤔
If you’re treating tick-borne disease and suddenly feel worse, this is one of the most important questions to ask.

A Herx (Herxheimer reaction) often looks like:
• Worsening of your usual symptoms
• Starts within hours–a few days of a change in protocol (new dose, med, herb, or therapy)
• Feels flu-ish, heavy, achy, foggy
• Eases when you dial back intensity and support drainage + detox

A flare more often looks like:
• New symptom patterns or a different “flavor”
• Triggered by stress, hormones, foods, sleep loss, or exposures
• Builds over days and doesn’t improve with “more detox”
• Can include MCAS-style volatility and reactivity

When it does look like a Herx, some of my favorite Herx supports include:
🧲 Binders – to help carry toxins out through the gut
🍃 Quercetin – for histamine and inflammation support
🧪 Glutathione – to support detox pathways
🌿 Curcumin – to help calm the inflammatory “fire”
🌊 Ecklonia cava – for antioxidant and nervous system support

Everyone’s body is different, and the goal is not to “push through at all costs,” but to listen, adjust, and support your system.

If this resonates with your treatment journey: Comment herx and I’ll send you herxing guide.

01/03/2026

Herx… or flare? 🤔
If you’re treating tick-borne disease and suddenly feel worse, this is one of the most important questions to ask.

A Herx (Herxheimer reaction) often looks like:
• Worsening of your usual symptoms
• Starts within hours–a few days of a change in protocol (new dose, med, herb, or therapy)
• Feels flu-ish, heavy, achy, foggy
• Eases when you dial back intensity and support drainage + detox

A flare more often looks like:
• New symptom patterns or a different “flavor”
• Triggered by stress, hormones, foods, sleep loss, or exposures
• Builds over days and doesn’t improve with “more detox”
• Can include MCAS-style volatility and reactivity

When it does look like a Herx, some of my favorite Herx supports include:
🧲 Binders – to help carry toxins out through the gut
🍃 Quercetin – for histamine and inflammation support
🧪 Glutathione – to support detox pathways
🌿 Curcumin – to help calm the inflammatory “fire”
🌊 Ecklonia cava – for antioxidant and nervous system support

Everyone’s body is different, and the goal is not to “push through at all costs,” but to listen, adjust, and support your system.

If this resonates with your treatment journey:
🔖 Save this for the next time symptoms spike
📤 Share with someone navigating tick-borne disease

01/02/2026

Lyme herb spotlight 🌿✨

Top 5 botanicals I reach for most often in integrative Lyme protocols:
• Cryptolepis
• Japanese knotweed
• Chinese skullcap
• Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua)
• Cat’s claw

These herbs are used to support antimicrobial and inflammatory pathways—but they’re not one-size-fits-all. Start low, go slow, and work with a Lyme-literate clinician

01/01/2026

12/31/2025

So much to be thankful for—and so many accomplishments in 2025.
📚 Writing a book
🎤 Lecturing at ILADS and speaking at conferences across the country
🎧 Participating in incredible podcasts and interviews with doctors I deeply admire
📰 Being featured multiple times by LymeDisease.org
🏅 Being recognized by the AANP for my work in mast cell mediator therapy
🏆 Named a Portland Top Doctor and voted Top 3 Doctors in Milwaukie, Oregon

Grateful for my patients, colleagues, mentors, and everyone who has supported this mission.

12/31/2025

Your supplement graveyard is giving you data.
If your cabinet is full of bottles that “should” have helped—but didn’t—it may not be because you “picked the wrong one.”

When cell membranes are inflamed or damaged, nutrients don’t get where they need to go.
That’s why, in complex chronic illness, we often need to rebuild the foundation first: cell membrane health.

If you’re tired of guessing, let’s change the approach.

12/29/2025

Honored to be interviewed by Dr. Paul Anderson—one of the greatest mentors in my life. 🤍

We deep dove into all things cellular health: how the body can get stuck in the Cell Danger Response, why years of antibiotic therapy often isn’t the answer for long-term complex illness, and why a membrane-first healing approach can be the missing piece.

I also shared my personal journey through tick-borne disease—and what finally helped me heal after years of searching for answers. This conversation is both clinical and deeply personal, and I’m grateful to be able to bring you behind the scenes of what I’ve learned as both a patient and a physician.

12/25/2025

You’re allowed to say “no” this holiday season.

Chronic illness doesn’t take a day off.
It’s okay if you can’t cook, host, stay late, or go to every event.

You’re allowed to:
• Pick one thing and skip the rest
• Tell people “I can come for an hour, then I need to rest”
• Set boundaries around scents, late nights, food, and noise
• Make new traditions that actually fit your body

Your worth is not measured by how much you can push through.

If you feel guilty listening to your limits, this is your sign:
rest is not laziness, it’s medicine.

12/24/2025

If you crash after doing “almost nothing,” you’re not imagining it. Mitochondrial dysfunction means the cell can’t make enough ATP, so the body triages energy. Membrane injury from infections and toxins slows electron flow, ATP drops, and oxidative stress rises.
What you feel: heavy limbs, shakes, and delayed crashes as by-products accumulate; brain fog and sensory overload as the brain conserves; dizziness and POTS-like spikes when the autonomic system struggles; worse with heat as blood flow and cooling demand outpace supply.
It’s not a character flaw. It’s physiology. Save this if it explains your day.

12/24/2025

If your stack keeps growing but your results don’t… consider cell membranes.

Membranes influence how well your cells:
• take in nutrients
• respond to signals
• tolerate detox and inflammation load

Translation: sometimes supplements “don’t work” because uptake + response are impaired—not because you picked the wrong bottle.