By Julia Lupine

EMF—electromagnetic fields generated by wireless devices, power systems, and digital technologies—has become a buzzword in recent years.

Some people are sounding alarms about potential health effects, while mainstream sources like Google and Wikipedia continue to suggest there’s nothing to worry about.

I see things differently. I’m a survivor of what I describe as electromagnetic poisoning. Some people refer to it as EHS, or electrohypersensitivity.

I’ve written three books on the subject: Under a Rock: An Electrosensitive Survival Guide, Your Cell Phone is Not Safe, and Electro-censorship. Before I figured out that artificial EMF was contributing to my symptoms, I collected the usual diagnoses: chronic fatigue, depression, low thyroid, hypoglycemia, and especially Lyme.

Herbs helped some, but…

With Lyme, I thought I had the answer. I studied it extensively and began taking an herbal protocol (the LB core protocol designed by Stephen Harrod Buhner), which helped a lot, but not completely. When I changed my EMF environment by moving off grid to a remote area, the problems went away completely, 100%.

Let me repeat that: they went away completely. And I had been really messed up for years. I couldn’t figure out what to eat because everything triggered me, and I had weird nerve pains, achy joints, and seizures.

My problems come back immediately as soon as I get around something wireless or go into town.

I use no conventional electricity at all in my living area. I use DC for my well and my refrigerator, which is not harmful, and my internet connection is hardwired (and usually off).

I’ve since spoken with many people worldwide who have similar stories and have also found relief for their chronic symptoms by moving off-grid. There are many thousands of us, but mainstream medicine ignores us.

I write and speak publicly because I believe this perspective matters—especially for people who are environmentally sensitive and feel they’ve “tried everything.”

What connection between Lyme and EMFs?

I continue to be fascinated by the connection between Lyme and EMF sensitivity. Exactly where the line is, I am not sure. Lyme is a real disease, of course, and spirochetes can be detected. But I suspect that the EMF enhances the effects of the Lyme.

Some laboratory studies suggest that bacteria can shift into more pathogenic, antibiotic‑resistant forms when exposed to certain artificial EMFs. I also wonder whether some cases of chronic Lyme—particularly those without a clear diagnostic trail—may actually be undiagnosed EHS.

Evidence around EMF exposure is growing more and more concerning. For instance, rectal cancer has quadrupled in young people in the past decade. Think about it: where do people keep their phones? Often in their hip pockets.

Breast cancer rates have also risen in young women, and the tumors are interesting: surgeons report clusters of three or four little tumors, corresponding to the area where the antennas would have been, with women who carried their phones in their bras.

The brain cancer rise is scary, and what’s also scary is that these tumors tend to be on the side of the head where the person held the cell phone. While these patterns don’t prove causation, they raise serious questions that cry out for further research.

What about autoimmune?

Then there’s the question of autoimmune conditions. Is the body truly attacking itself? I don’t think so. I think our bodies are attacking something that is not ourselves: artificial frequencies that are alien to our biology.

Our bodies are telling us to get away. Not so easy, in a world where our lives and livelihoods and society itself revolve around the use of these frequencies. It’s not your body’s fault; it’s just doing its job.

And chemicals, as well: there is a crossover between EMF and chemical sensitivity. Both involve a damaged blood-brain barrier. The EMFs erode the blood-brain barrier, the chemicals get through and cause damage.

What about Lyme?

Where do infections such as Lyme fit into the equation?

Lyme is a trickster. It hides in the body’s collagen and encysts in dormant forms, waking up when conditions are right for it. Does artificial EMF activate the spirochetes?

I think there is a connection. Exactly what that connection is, and where to draw the line between electromagnetic frequency effects and Borrelia burgdorferi, I’m not sure.

The symptoms are exactly the same. Of 35 symptoms for Lyme disease (see Healing Lyme, by Stephen Harrod Buhner), all but two (which both involve the bull’s-eye rash) are also symptoms of EHS.

Some, including “disorientation, getting lost, going to wrong places,” “lightheadedness, wooziness,” “feeling of pressure in eyes,” “twitching of face and other muscles,” and “swollen glands,” are specific to EHS. I had all of these.

The Lyme disease herbs Buhner recommended helped. But when I changed my EMF environment by moving off grid (RF exposure: 0.0001 microwatt per meter squared), the symptoms went away completely.

This is a physical, measurable phenomenon. You can test it yourself by using an EMF meter (about $150) to pinpoint EMF sources and reduce exposure.

How do you feel when the Wi-Fi is turned off? How do you feel, camping in an area with no cell service? Do some of your chronic Lyme disease symptoms go away? What you discover, about yourself and about the world, may surprise you.