Lyme Disease Support Group
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere. It is now one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the U.S. Lyme disease is caused by infection with the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, and is primarily transmitted to humans as well as dogs, horses and other domesticated animals by the bite of infected ticks.
Hi everyone.
Today I received some lab results back saying it is likely that I have Lyme Disease. I'm feeling so many things right now and am not sure where to turn.
First, I'm very confused. How could I have gotten Lyme? I don't hike in the woods or in tall grass. I have sat on mowed grass in a park but I thought that was safe?
Does Lyme ever go away? It seems to be hard to get a clear answer on this. It's a bacterial infection so I would have assumed that it would go away if treated with antibiotics, but I am reading about a lot of people who seem to have flare-ups. What factors would determine whether someone's case was chronic or temporary?
Any other resources or advice you have for someone newly diagnosed?
difficult to know where to turn. It is a complex illness. In addition to that, it's controversial and even
political. Namely, most of the center for disease control guidelines say it can be cured with 60
days of doxycline if it's treated right away. Others say, well, no it can take years to treat. Some say if it's detected late, such as the case with chronic Lyme that it can take many years if not a life time to treat. (I fell into the later bracket.) Others say, chronic Lyme doesn't exist. Who wouldn't
be confused? As to how you got it? Did you see a bull's eye rash? That's one way of identifying it. Not everyone has a rash. Deer tics can be so small as not to be detectable. Do you
have a dog, for instance? They can carry the tics. Birds can carry them. They can drop out of
trees. Some believe mosquito bites can cause Lyme. Flea bites.
What factors determine if it's chronic or temporary? Supposedly, if it's treated in the first couple of weeks, it can be abated. Now, I will ask a couple of questions. Are you working with what is called a Lyme literate doctor? Did he use an Igenex test?
Next off, it is important to work with a lyme literate doctor if you can find one. www.ilads.org has a referral spot on their website. They also have a lot of helpful information. Have you heard of the dvd, "Under Our Skin' ? That movie and it's sequel have lots of information about how complex Lyme is. You can find it on netflix and it was in video stores and the local library alos.. There's a book which I use as a guide. It's called, Insights Into Lyme Disease Treatment, by Connie Strasheim. It's available on Amazon. 13 lyme literate health care practitioners share their healing strategies.
Don't want to bog you down with too much information. I'm sorry that you're having to deal with this.
you are treated. I can attest to that. Take your time. Be patient with yourself. Don't be afraid of
asking questions or finding the right kinds of doctors to treat you. That's key in my book. Keep me posted if you would. Sometimes more people are on here than at other times.
Thanks for your reply! And thank you for helping to clear up some of my confusion. I live in Massachusetts, and ticks have been really common here in recent years. I even know of people who have picked them up by walking across a few feet of their mowed lawns. It's scary.
I never saw a bulls-eye rash. I don't have a dog, but I have a cat (Calvin). However, he is 100% indoors.
I am not seeing a lyme-literate doctor. I'm in the process of finding a new primary care doctor. I was actually diagnosed at an urgent care center. My symptoms were worsening and I could not get in with my primary care (part of why I'm trying to find a new one), so I went there and had a blood test, and they gave me doxycycline after the results came back. I'm not entirely sure what test they used, but I know Western blot was included. My results were borderline. I'm supposed to follow up with primary care.
I think I'm going to try to find the movie you recommended. I have heard of it before but have not looked into it. Thanks!
There are what is known as co-infections. Things like babesia and more. They are not all bacterial. Some are viral. Plus, they don't all respond to just one antibiotic. Most treatments involve rotation protocols. The movie I recommended really stresses treatment with antibiotics.
They really work for some people but there are other alternative treatments available like
in the book I mentioned by Connie S. Maybe you've heard of Dr. Richard Horowitz? He's written a comprehensive book about Lyme and his practice is in up state New York I believe. If you did a search, I'm sure his name and location would come up. He's one of the leaders in the treatment of Lyme. He may even be on U- Tube. He gives talks around the country and speaks at many
conferences. So. There's a little more info. Hope you're feeling decent and if you do go to a family doctor, don't be afraid to ask questions and even take a notebook if you need to.