The Experience Miracles Podcast

Q&A | It Seems Like Every Child Has Lyme, Candida & Parasites… Are We Missing Something Bigger?

Apr 24, 2026

Why Every Kid Seems to Have Lyme, Candida & Parasites

Ask Dr. Tony Episode: Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Duration: 37 min

Key Takeaways

  • When Lyme, candida, parasites, PANS/PANDAS, and chronic infections keep showing up on every test, the deepest driver is usually not the infection itself—it is nervous system dysregulation that leaves the body unable to complete immune and detox functions.
  • Presence does not equal problem. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are part of a normal biological ecosystem inside the body. What matters is whether they are dormant or active, and whether the body has the regulation capacity to keep them in check.
  • The body has a “low power mode”—when the nervous system is depleted and dysregulated, it throttles down the immune system, gut, microbiome, and detoxification pathways to preserve energy for basic survival, which lets infections and overgrowth persist.
  • Healing works best in the right sequence: establish Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care and nervous system regulation as the foundation first, then layer in functional and biomedical interventions, which then work better with fewer protocols.
  • Dr. Tony frames health care in three buckets—conventional medicine, functional/biomedical/integrative medicine, and nervous-system-focused care—and argues the third should become the foundation rather than an afterthought.

Does Every Child Really Have Lyme, Candida, and Parasites, or Are We Missing Something Bigger?

For many families, the deeper issue is not that their child has a hidden infection—it is that the child’s nervous system has become depleted and dysregulated, leaving the body unable to keep its own internal ecosystem in balance. Lyme, candida, parasites, PANS/PANDAS, mold, and heavy metals are real and exposure today is higher than ever, but their presence on a test does not automatically make them the root problem. The body normally hosts viruses, bacteria, and parasites without harm; problems arise when the system loses the regulation capacity to keep them dormant and the immune system can no longer complete its job and shut down inflammation.

According to Dr. Tony Ebel, the immune system, gut, microbiome, and detoxification pathways are all coordinated by the nervous system. When that system is stuck in a depleted, dysregulated, “low power mode,” it preserves energy for basic survival and throttles down these functions—which is why infections and overgrowth can persist despite thousands of dollars in supplements, saunas, and functional protocols. The infection is not the deepest problem; the disrupted neurological environment that allows it to thrive is.

This reframes the entire question for parents. Instead of asking what else is hiding in the body, the more useful question is why the body cannot handle what is there—and how to rebuild the reserve capacity, adaptability, and regulation of the one system that runs everything else. Dr. Tony’s recommended approach is to make Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care the foundation, then add functional and biomedical support in the right sequence so those interventions finally work as intended.

The Three Approaches to Children’s Health Care [0:44 – 6:52]

Dr. Tony Ebel: I’ve been asked this question a bunch of times in person over the last many years in the clinic, and I’ve asked it myself again and again. The question for today is: does every kid really have Lyme, candida, parasites, and so on—or are we missing something bigger?

There’s kind of a three-step process many of us go through with our kiddos. Number one, we trust the conventional pediatrician and the medical system first with the health of our kids. That’s where we go for the well-baby checks and our questions. And what are the results there? For a lot of families dealing with chronic issues, they’re awful. So most families leave option number one and move into care bucket number two, which is functional, biomedical, integrative medicine.

Those first descriptive words are incredible. Functional—working with function. Bio—working with biology. Integrative—looking at all the systems together. I couldn’t love it any more. But all of those still come with that M-word attached: medicine. And the paradigm, the belief system that medicine operates from, starts with looking for all the bad guys and saying, “See, we tested it, we found it, there’s the bad thing—let’s kill them off and we’ll be healthier for it.”

“If we take this 100-plus-year medical perspective that we get healthier by killing off more bad guys, and we think that’s going to add up to remarkably complete health and healing, I think we’re missing a bigger part of the conversation.”

There’s a completely different third category of health care you could add to your family’s care team. The third approach says: let’s not just look for bad guys and try to have fewer of them. What if we take an entirely different approach and ask how do we build up, restore, and strengthen the resilience of the body itself? Yes, let’s reduce and eliminate exposure to these bad guys as best we can—but most importantly, how do we build and strengthen resilience like none other?

That’s what this podcast is all about: rebuilding, restoring reserve capacity, resilience, adaptability, and strength within our kids’ nervous systems, immune systems, and digestive systems.

Validating Parents: You’re Not Crazy [7:41 – 10:08]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Let me start by saying this—I validate everything you’re thinking and feeling. If you feel like every single kid you know is testing positive for Lyme, candida, POTS, PANDAS, and parasites right now, you’re not crazy. Something is going on. It’s a perfect storm in and of itself. It’s not one thing that’s going on—it’s multiple things.

You’re seeing the chronic symptoms, the confusing piling-on where every test just gets worse, and conflicting opinions. The conventional medical system rolls its eyes at Lyme, candida, and parasites—they’re limited in what they understand and very outdated in the neurophysiological understanding of what’s really happening with perfect storm chronic illness.

But if you’re feeling trapped, buried, overwhelmed, and running out of money and time in the biomedical, functional, integrative world, I’m here to help you get the most out of it too—because that’s the world you want to be in. You just have to add the third world to get full healing happening.

“I don’t want to go from candida and strep overgrowth to parasites to mold to EMFs. Enough. I can’t take another set of testing. That’s the exhaustion so many parents and practitioners feel.”

Exposure Is Higher Than Ever [10:08 – 14:14]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The truth is this, first: yes, exposure is higher than ever. We are living in a more toxic, stressed, and overwhelmed world than any generation before us. This is why I’m championing and working alongside the MAHA movement and Secretary Kennedy, because this is finally the time we’re telling the truth—we have way too many toxins, and that’s the greatest understatement of all time.

The overmedicalization, pharmaceuticalization, and toxic chemical stew we live in—our air, our water, our food. Antibiotics used for every cough, cold, and ear infection. Tylenol and ibuprofen for every fever. Microbiome disruption, leaky gut, processed foods, sugar, genetically modified wheat sprayed with Roundup and glyphosate, chronic stress, and immune system overload. The microbial load, the toxic food load, the general allostatic toxic overload—it’s all true.

I’m a pediatric chiropractor and wellness doctor, and I’ve been studying this stuff for 25 years. I first got interested as a molecular biology and genetics undergrad, and when I took classes through the conventional option-number-one paradigm, it didn’t add up. We can’t just blame genetics and ignore the obvious—look at our food, our lifestyle, how unhealthy we are.

We know what to do to be healthy, but even for my own family with four kids, I can’t tell you it’s easy. That food has that in it. That milk has that in it. My kid’s friend eats McDonald’s all the time, drinks Red Bull, uses perfume. It’s real. So what we get to do together is understand what we’re up against and reduce that toxic burden as much as possible—without living in fear that one tick or one wheat field will end everything.

Presence Does Not Equal Problem [14:14 – 16:01]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Here’s what I want you to know: presence does not equal problem. These things aren’t brand new. Viruses, bacteria, parasites, and even certain neuroimmunological Lyme, PANS, and PANDAS markers are not new. They’re part of a normal, healthy biological ecosystem inside our body and our child’s body.

The difference is: is it dormant or is it active? Is it doing nothing, or is it opportunistic? Once we disrupt the balance of the ecosystem and the regulation capacity of the system in charge of keeping balance and order in that ecosystem, that’s the actual root cause we need to focus on.

“Presence does not equal problem. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are part of a normal, healthy biological ecosystem. The real question is whether the body has lost the regulation capacity to keep them in check.”

If we keep chasing candida, killing off overgrowth, detoxing from parasites, and chasing secondary Lyme infections, viral load, and mycotoxins, we can get buried by that too. If we only take a medical philosophy that it’s all bad all the time and we need to get rid of all of it, we miss the bigger picture of where real, complete health comes from.

The Real Root Cause Hidden in Plain Sight [16:01 – 18:52]

Dr. Tony Ebel: It’s rarely one infection. The question we really have to ask is: why is the body letting the candida overgrow in the first place? Why is the body letting these infections stay inflamed and irritated? Why can’t the body get rid of parasites, inflammation, and secondary infections on its own?

The real drivers of these test results don’t show up on the labs themselves: nervous system dysregulation, chronic stress physiology, impaired adaptability, lowered neuro reserve capacity, and reduced immune system coordination and completion of immune system function. Those are the real upstream, foundational, completely overlooked root causes and drivers.

The infection isn’t the problem—the environment allowing it to continue to live and thrive is the problem. The immune system being overactive isn’t the problem—the immune system being unable to complete its task and shut down inflammation is the problem. The coordination and completion of that function is done by the nervous system. The disrupted environment allowing these infections to thrive opportunistically is the nervous system.

“The infection isn’t the problem. The environment allowing it to live on and thrive is the problem. And that environment is the nervous system.”

Nervous system dysregulation is that hidden-in-plain-sight, massive foundational problem we find with every kiddo with Lyme, every patient with PANS and PANDAS, every patient with parasites, every patient with candida overgrowth, and every patient who can’t get toxins and metals out despite detox programs. For 100% of them, the nervous system is completely depleted and dysregulated.

Low Power Mode: How the Nervous System Throttles the Body [19:22 – 24:46]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Here’s the simplest, most relatable analogy. A lot of us use our devices so much that when an iPhone or iPad gets below 20%, it shifts into low battery mode. Do you know what your phone does in low battery mode? It conserves energy and shuts down certain functions so it can preserve the little bit of battery—aka neurology power—it has left to do the functions that keep us alive.

God put a low power mode in our kids’ nervous systems and in our own. So what takes a lot of battery power and nervous system energy? Getting rid of secondary infections, getting rid of parasites, keeping the microbiome balanced, running methylation—one of the most energy-depleting components of the body. And what uses the most energy of all? Motor tone and sensory processing.

So if a child has neuro-sensory-motor tone disruption—that’s called subluxation and nervous system dysfunction—plus a disrupted microbiome, a dysregulated immune system, and an off endocrine system, the body has so many jobs to do that it goes into low battery mode. It prioritizes basic survival functions only.

“When the nervous system is dysregulated, subluxated, and exhausted, it throttles down the gut, immune system, microbiome, and detoxification so the body can just survive. Does it thrive in low power mode? No.”

So if you’re watching your kiddo and it seems like at best they’re in survival mode—and no matter how many supplements, saunas, homeopathics, and herbal remedies you throw at their parasites, secondary infections, mold exposures, viral load, and heavy metals, nothing will get out of the body—it’s because the body is in low power mode and won’t fight infections well at all. Even with the best supplements and supports, it won’t complete an immune function or turn off inflammation until it has full battery power.

Until your kiddo gets Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care to recharge their batteries, get out of low power mode and neurological exhaustion, and reach a better-regulated, more connected, fuller reserve capacity state, they can’t do these jobs even with thousands of dollars of outside-in natural, homeopathic, functional, IVIG-infused help. You’re not doing anything wrong—these interventions are incredible and functional providers are brilliant. But if they go into a system in low power mode, there isn’t enough nervous system to tap into to work alongside them.

How Nervous System Dysregulation Shows Up [24:46 – 27:02]

Dr. Tony Ebel: If this sounds like your family—where more testing means more problems, more sensitivity, more reactivity, more labels without a clear path forward—you can change everything with this conversation. When you really understand that the nervous system being dysregulated is the answer to pretty much every confusing question you’ve had, the whole path forward shifts.

A dysregulated nervous system shuts down and interferes with everything: the immune system, gut function, detoxification, microbiome balance, and mitochondrial function. So how does it show up? No matter the diet or supplements: poor gut motility; weak immune system coordination; an immune system that never shuts off; a kiddo who always looks sick, pale, with bags under their eyes and constant inflammation; and impaired detox pathways.

And no matter how many times you test, throw the book at it with supplements, and retest—the candida is still there, the toxins are still there, the parasites are still there, the secondary infections are still there. Despite throwing the army, the navy, and the local militia at it and spending thousands of dollars, that’s a nervous system dysregulation conversation. Not because the bugs are stronger or the body doesn’t want them out, but because the system is less adaptive, less resilient, and less capable of getting the job done.

Shifting the Question: From Killing Bugs to Strengthening the Host [27:02 – 30:25]

Dr. Tony Ebel: If we go back to the beginning and put a bow on this, we have to shift our thinking and our questions. Instead of asking what infection, co-infection, secondary infection, toxin, or metal they still have trapped in their body, we need to start asking: why can’t their system handle it, and what can we do to increase the battery power and operational efficiency of the one system that has to handle everything?

Instead of chasing pathogens, viruses, bacteria, parasites, heavy metals, and toxins, and going from protocol to protocol, focus first and foundationally on nervous system regulation: improving adaptability, building capacity, activating the vagus nerve, restoring brain-body communication, and working with your pediatric chiropractor and nervous-system-focused team to reach nervous system stability.

Here’s what I want you to know: the nervous system has within it what’s called innate intelligence. Your child’s innate intelligence doesn’t need blood work, stool samples, or hair, urine, and saliva analysis to know there are secondary Lyme infections that need to get out of the body, that the microbiome is disrupted, or that it’s depleted in magnesium, zinc, or glutathione. The nervous system already knows the problems it faces.

“Your child’s nervous system already knows what it needs to do. It just needs full capacity and 100% energy and connectivity to do the jobs it can’t get to because it’s too tired and too depleted.”

Putting It Together: The Right Sequence for Healing [30:25 – 37:15]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Your child’s body, all by itself—without thousands of dollars of supplements, fancy protocols, tinctures, and homeopathic remedies—is capable of remarkable things. And I love those tools. Our house is full of supplements. This isn’t a conversation against any of them.

But we are having this conversation with families who have done everything and then some down that testing road, and they ask: does every kid really have Lyme, candida, PANS, PANDAS, and parasites—or are we missing something bigger? I think we just shift the question: are we missing something simpler, something right in front of our face, foundationally? And the answer is yes. When we focus on regulation and rebuilding reserve capacity, we turn the body’s full capability back on.

“It’s not that the bugs have taken over our system. It’s that our system has been depleted, dysregulated, and exhausted—and is way too easily taken over.”

Once you get your child’s nervous system recharged and regulated, those supplements kick in and work stronger, those saunas do more. So we can’t make it about killing everything with supplements, saunas, and red light. We have to make it about strengthening the host. If we constantly try to detox and kill our way out of dysregulation, we won’t get there. We have to change the nervous system environment—calm, restore, and reconnect the nervous system.

Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care plus functional biomedical interventions, to me, is a 1 + 1 = 111 conversation. But it has to be done in the right order and sequence: nervous system stability first, then a “less is more” approach from the biomedical side. So we turn what was number three into number one and make it our home base. Then we add biomedical functional intervention as needed, when needed—and get incredible results without drugs or side effects.

This isn’t a ranking that chiropractic is better than functional or conventional medicine. It’s about timing and sequencing of healing the way the body was designed to work. Nervous-system-focused care becomes number one; functional and biomedical care becomes supportive number two. And conventional medicine becomes the new number three—reserved for what it’s genuinely best-in-class at: crisis and emergency intervention.

“One of the healthiest things we can ever do is reorder our health care practitioners and the hierarchy of interventions we use to help our family heal, restore, and proactively stay healthy.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every child really have Lyme, candida, and parasites?

Not in the way most testing implies. According to Dr. Tony Ebel, viruses, bacteria, and parasites are part of a normal biological ecosystem, so presence on a test does not equal a problem. The real issue is usually nervous system dysregulation that leaves the body unable to keep these organisms dormant and complete its immune response.

Why do my child’s infections and overgrowth keep coming back despite supplements?

Because the body may be stuck in a “low power mode.” When the nervous system is depleted and dysregulated, it throttles down the immune system, gut, and detoxification pathways to conserve energy for survival. Even excellent supplements and protocols struggle to work because there isn’t enough nervous system capacity to support them.

What is the real root cause of chronic infections in kids?

Dr. Tony points to nervous system dysregulation, chronic stress physiology, impaired adaptability, and reduced immune system coordination as the upstream drivers. The infection isn’t the deepest problem—the disrupted neurological environment that allows it to persist is.

Should I stop functional and biomedical testing and treatment?

No. Dr. Tony values functional and biomedical care and uses supplements in his own home. His point is sequence: establish nervous system regulation through Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care first, then layer functional interventions on top, where they work better and with fewer protocols.

How does chiropractic care help with the nervous system and immune function?

Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care aims to address subluxation and nervous system dysfunction, recharge the body out of low power mode, activate the vagus nerve, and restore brain-body communication. This helps the immune system, gut, and detox pathways regain the energy and coordination to complete their jobs.

How do I find a chiropractor who works with the nervous system this way?

You can find a trained Neurologically-Focused Chiropractor through the PX Docs Directory, which lists practitioners who focus on nervous system regulation, INSiGHT Scans, and pediatric care.

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