You have heard, and will hear, it time and time again: “Lyme disease is cured with a few weeks of antibiotics.” If this is the case, why are hundreds of thousands –if not more- suffering for years on end from the disease? According to the CDC, they are not, because chronic Lyme disease does not exist:
“Approximately 10 to 20% of patients treated for Lyme disease with a recommended 2–4 week course of antibiotics will have lingering symptoms of fatigue, pain, or joint and muscle aches. In some cases, these can last for more than 6 months. Although often called “chronic Lyme disease,” this condition is properly known as “Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. [1]”
For people suffering from Chronic Lyme, this statement is infuriating because they feel they are being told they are crazy; and also because pain, fatigue, and joint/muscle aches are often the least of their worries. Much more serious health complications arise from Lyme, and it is important that the public is aware of these symptoms. When looking at the bigger picture, the infuriating part is just how dangerous this statement is. If left untreated, Lyme disease can and will be fatal. That is the sad and often ignored truth.
Furthermore, it is estimated that only one out of every ten cases of Lyme disease is actually reported and that numerous individuals are misdiagnosed. In 2010 alone, state health departments reported 22,561 confirmed cases of Lyme disease and 7,597 probable cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The actual number is believed to be much higher than the yearly number of cases reported. One reason for this is due to the fact that reporting criteria varies from state to state; and most states take time to report only the minimum amount required. Still, the number of reported cases has increased 25-fold since national surveillance began in 1982 [4].
Of course it is three years later, but unfortunately 2010 is the most recent year researched. So if the number of reported Lyme cases was only continuing to increase at that time, and since there has been no evidence of a decrease in cases, it can only be assumed that the number of people with Lyme disease is appallingly higher at the present moment. There are so many angles to touch on this topic, so let’s start with the very basics because there are many, many people who do not so much as know what Lyme disease is, much less how you contract it.
What is Lyme disease?
- According to ‘Wikipedia’, “Lyme disease, Lyme borreliosis is an infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia [2].”
- In lay terms, Lyme disease is an infection from a tick bite.
- Eloquently put by ‘Tired of Lyme’, “the non-technical term is what can truly depict Lyme disease best. It involves aspects ranging from every angle of the lives of those affected including physical, mental and social. [3]”
Initial Symptoms
- Bulls-eye rash is a definite positive of Lyme disease. However, only 50% of people with Lyme disease recall having a bulls-eye rash. The rash can also appear in bruise form depending on a person’s pigmentation. For example, a bruise that is blue/black on the outside, with a lighter color circle in the middle is a clear indication of Lyme disease. If you get to the doctor while you still have the rash, you have a better shot of getting treated right away and not having to deal with Chronic Lyme disease. As I will discuss later, testing is not always accurate, so getting to the doctor when you notice a bulls-eye rash is imperative.
- Fatigue
- Flu-like symptoms
- Muscle and joint aches/pain
The above symptoms describe the typical initial onset of Lyme disease. But what if you, or someone you know, miss the crucial time period in which those are the only symptoms? Unfortunately, there are over thirty other symptoms, each of which can mimic other diseases. This along with the fact that standard testing is only 30% percent accurate is why it is of the upmost importance for the public to be informed on, at the bare minimum, the basic truths behind Lyme disease.
Other Symptoms
- Low grade fevers, “hot flashes” or chills
- Night sweat
- Sore throat
- Swollen glands
- Stiff neck
- Migrating arthralgia’s, stiffness and frank arthritis
- Myalgia
- Chest pain and palpitations
- Abdominal pain, nausea
- Sleep disturbance
- Poor concentration and memory loss
- Irritability and mood swings
- Depression
- Back pain
- Blurred vision and eye pain
- Jaw pain
- Testicular/pelvic pain
- Tinnitus
- Vertigo
- Cranial nerve disturbance (facial numbness, pain, tingling, palsy or optic neuritis)
- Head aches
- Lightheadedness
- Dizziness
- Mysterious migrating symptoms that seem to come and go
Testing
A few blood tests are available for Lyme disease, but none are 100% accurate. The standard test is called an ELISA test. Oddly enough though, the ELISA is not based on the specific Lyme bacteria strain that is most beneficial for diagnostic testing. Therefor, the ELISA has a mere 30% accuracy rate. A negative reading can be meaningless, because false negatives are more common than not. A false positive is basically unheard of, so if you are lucky enough to test positive in the early stages it is a clear indication that you have the infection and need to start treatment right away. I use the term “lucky” here not because you are lucky if you have Lyme, but because you are lucky if you have Lyme and test positive early on. For many, it takes one pain-staking year after another before they are so much as introduced to the idea that they may possibly have Lyme disease. Another available, yet less administered, Lyme test is the Western Blot. While this test is slightly more reliable than the ELISA test, it is still faulty.
Doctors should not rely on test results alone to make a Lyme diagnosis because to date, a reliable test for the diagnosis of Lyme disease ceases to exist. Lyme doctors make a diagnosis based on a patient’s symptoms, medical history, and exposure to ticks –although that last one is not required, since ticks know no boundaries. Contrary to the popular statement that ticks are prevalent only in certain areas, the truth is you can walk outside your own front door and get bit.
If it all possible, it is best to get to a Lyme literate doctor if you believe you may have Lyme disease. This too also proves to be a difficult task, as many do not publicize that they specialize in Lyme disease due to legal reasons. To receive a list of Lyme literate practioners closest to you, email the ‘Tick Borne Disease Alliance’ at medicalinfo@tbdalliance.org.
Resources:
Everyone coping with Lyme disease should know about Allimed, a high potency stabilized garlic supplement. I am not taking it for Lyme disease but I did some reading of testimonials from others taking Allimed and quite a few were extolling the healing properties of it in regards to LD. Just passing it on.
how much you take per day?
SO,I didnt remember the symptoms couild come back and… i didnt know you could pass it on through sex or to your children. i was bit 2 times in one week,.an d finally went to ER because my arms felt like they were made out of lead. i could barely lift them… when i told the ER Dr. that and showed him the bites, no rash..just where they bit me… he said definitely i had it.. PUT ME ON THE ANTIBIOTICS… NOW, since DEC. 2014, I have been having some terrible pains in my lower abdomine, close to pelvic bone area, around my back..tired all the time, i mean fatigued, insomnia… for yrs… sleep in the day , no sleep at night… hard to get to sleep… and only sleep 4-5 hrs..up awhile then back to sleep -3-4 hrs then up again for like 20 hrs. i had sleep study.. says no sleep apnea, but I only slept 3 hrs coz hard for me to sleep in different bed.. (with wires all over my head and body)..haha… just had back xrays, said everything okay there, i had back surgery in 2004. the tick bites i got in 2004…first one broke getting it out, 2nd one pulled out ok but both bites showed up… very tiny ticks…Im wondering if I am having these symptoms now AGAIN, from the LYME DISEASE?? I also have Fibromyalgia though… SO MAY BE HARD TO TELL WHAT’S WHAT?? Should i tell my provider to check me again? How is that even done? blood tests? The ER DR. did no blood tests, just looked at the bites, and with the limp arms like lead, said yes i had it!…CAN ANYONE TELL ME?>
oops bites in 2008 back surgery in 2004..Lenea
Hi Lenea, you need to find a Lyme Literate Dr. !! You can google that to find one in your area. There’s a Dr. on here who may reply to you. Shea Medical Center in Az. saved my girlfriends life with treatment. They are on the web too. Best of luck!!
Please go to an LLMD. Your fibromyalgia most likely comes from the Lyme. I walked around like that two yrs after multiple drs before getting diagnosed.
Hello, I got given this by a Dr friend of mine, maybe worth looking into just careful with the salt not to do to much.
http://lymephotos.com/
That is amazing…I have suffered Lyme for years without knowing what it was until last week. I went through life treating my symptoms…I found a salt flush sorted out my stomach problems overnight plus salt gargling sorted my sore throat when medications just did not work…flushed sinuses with salt water after giving up on doctors..saline sorted my eyes….salt was my saving grace so this makes so much sense…just wish I could flush my brain too…
You sound just like me..I can’t sleep at night and I’m tired all day long…It is an extreme exhaustion accompanied by brain fog .. I can’t sleep well at night even after being exhausted all day long. This insomnia started over 20 years ago, when I was just 13, one year after an engorged tick was found on my neck… I also had sleep study before I knew I had Lyme Disease. I too thought I had sleep apnea but tests indicated that was not the case..The test results did indicate that I move my limbs a lot when I finally do sleep. (RLS) I went from doc to doc to figure out why I was going down hill and had fibro/CFS/ and MS symptoms…Not one doc mentioned Lyme disease, not even the neurologist. I even told one health care provider that I had an engorged tick on me as a child.. she said, “there was no way I could have lyme”…(all these docs sound like programmed robots) I went in and out of ER’s very very physically sick to be ridiculed and told I was making things up or needed mental Health….I kept searching my symptoms and they kept bringing results of Lyme disease…I went to a hollistic clinic where I was finally diagnosed with lyme and then went on to see a LLMD out of state where I had blood tests and was positive western blot IGG &IGM….I was misdiagnosed for two decades…BTW- Firbromyalgia is symptom(s) of lyme and co-infections. Lyme disease never goes away once it is in the chronic stage. You can not eradicate this bacteria even if on years of antibiotics. I don’t even know if being administered antibiotics shortly after the bite does anything to eradicate the bacteria…There are no studies that indicate this. After infected and treated there is no way to tell if the bacteria is completely gone. This is a mess of a disease and the CDC/IDSA/AMA better wake up and do something about it..Especially if we are passing it on sexually in in utero.
Get tedted for it I have had it since 2009 andit keeps becoming acyive
That back surgery did more than the tick bite! I have found in a group of 9 Lyme patients that they all had some type of major dental work or surgery before their diagnosis of Lyme disease. When I treated the surgical and dental areas, the symptoms disappear. I don’t believe Lyme disease is caused by tick but the disease grows in the weakened body after surgery. I personally do not believe we have an epidemic of ticks but I do believe we have an epidemic of surgeons. Surgery is a legal attack with a knife! Read my book, “Doctors Are More Harmful Than Germs”.
I have never had any surgery and was bitten by a tick 23 years ago and contracted Lyme Disease from it. The tests showed positive. I’m still battling it, currently on an herbal regimen, after numerous antibiotic treatments over the years.
Lyme disease cannot be transmitted to your spouse through sex but it can be transmitted to your children because the disease can crossover the placenta. Lyme disease and present as fibromyalgia. I was misdiagnosed with having fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndrome. So I do not know whether or not fibromyalgia runs in your family or not. If it does not, then I would highly suggest looking at your fibromyalgia as being a possible symptom of the Lyme disease. Lyme disease is not really ever cured, technically it just goes into remission. This means that the disease is not active in your body anymore (it is dormant), but it is still in your blood. The earlier you catch it, the easier it is to treat it and the less of the possibility of the disease becoming active again. Your symptoms sound similar to how mine were when I got really bad. Please, please see a lyme disease doctor especially since there is no blood test really that will ever validate you having it (if you do have it) because what happens is that the disease that is in you changes its outer protein coating once it has been in your system for long enough thus making it no longer possible for the western blot (CDC standard test for lyme disease) to detect it anymore.The lyme disease specialist will most likely diagnose you on your symptoms (they probably take other factors into consideration but I do not know since I am not a doctor). Additionally, I recommend just going to a lyme disease specialist because if you are living with fibromyalgia there is not much in terms of treatment of it from my understanding of it (I do not know much though, I just remember when doctors thought I had it and there not being many options) so you really have nothing to lose and only the possibility of gaining your health back and symptom relieve/ management. I know this is a lot of information coming at you all at once and from someone you do not know, but I can say this I have had Lyme disease for 18 years now and have been treated for it for about 7-8 years (and still continuing).
I have been cured from Lyme by classic homeopathy by just telling about my symptoms as i was not known with the disease after months later. Only when i saw the picture of an infected bite i remembered the curious circle around it i had days after i took away the bug. I went to my Homeopathic doctor and told her about my findings, she shrugged and said i was cured because if the symptoms i showed and a disease is just a name. After like 20 years i am still perfectly well, i never get seriously ill, flues and whatever comes goes fast away and never get serious. If it didn’t worked such treatment i should be on a wheelchair by now if not death.
I’m happy to hear that you are doing well with you Lyme but the honest truth it the disease will always be in your body. You are more than likely in remission. I have had Lyme for 18 years did acupuncture for treatment 6 days a week double treatments for a year straight because I’m allergic to medications. I went into remission from 2001-2012. When I was in remission I felt really good other than the RA my body had from before i found out I had Lyme and I still had chronic migraines. In August 2012 I started to feel funny just not myself but I let it go now as of the end of December I found out my organs were failing again and now my memory issues are back and Lyme has come on full force again. I am not the only person that has gone into remission for years. My LLMD that I was seeing went into remission for almost 30 years before his symptoms came back with a vengeance. I’m not trying to be mean but I’m just being honest. Once you have those spiros in your blood and you have been diagnosed with Chronic Lyme it goes deep into your cells, bone, organs, brain and skin and can lay dormant for years after treatment.
I am close to crying, and I do not cry. I know what you say is true, but not all are doomed, if I believe this I will die. Not for me, I have adjusted to it, lucky to have a husband that stuck around and people to help me. But God forbid others I love. I live in fear as they are symptomatic again and just writing this makes me ball., I try to deny it not think about it but it is to the point it can no longer be denied for muchl longer. I am not sure treatment is not worse than living around it but unfortunately living around it can become impossible. I guess it is time to consider lyme dr, again for at least one. I would give anything to take it from them and I pray I am wrong, I could be. I know two vets who do quite well they work long hours and I know of others who have gotten well and stayed there. Thank you for the article as I might try the garlic but I believe it put me into a herx from Haiti. There has to be hope.
NOT YET !! but it can be activated
Thanks for writing this, the more accurate info out there, the better. It’s not just ticks though. My son got an EM rash (proof in itself of Borrelia infection), which was confirmed by two doctors, from a mosquito bite.
Have a great day.
True, My son had it from a spider , I killed the spider so it couldnt be tested but he did get a large red circle (bullseye) around the area of the bite which was his ankle. So that was the proof .
Only 50 % of bites (maybe less, have the classic bull’s eye formation. Mine was a big 6-8 inch swollen bright red rash which turned almost black then back to red and then faded.
It’s also believed to be transmitted through sex and in utero.
Yes, my husbands doctor said it can be transmitted by sex, and also on to your children in utero. I have a friend from church who’s niece has Lyme, and her husband. They were very young, and had children, and the children were born with Lyme. It’s all so sad. More than sad. Our LLMD also said mosquito, biting flies (horse flies) not just the tick. Our LLMD also has Lyme.
I was bitten by a tick and found the tick running down my arm. I got the bullseye rash. I went to the doctor and got the antibiotics and test for Lyme Disease and was told I didn’t have it. I knew that the testing could be faulty but just kept that in the back of my mind. After several months I had a weakness feeling on my left side of my lung which eventually felt painful and then felt like my lung wasn’t even working. Luckily I had been reading about food grade hydrogen peroxide therapy. It can cure Lyme Disease. I took and still do take food grade hydrogen peroxide baths in non chlorinated well water and take the food grade hydrogen peroxide drops according to the prescribed schedule. My symptoms are gone but do come back if I go a long time without this treatment. I believe the spirochetes can hide deep in your cells but they show themselves and cause problems when they breed. I totally believe that if I keep after them with the hydrogen peroxide I will or have gotten rid of them completely. Please read up on this therapy for some relief and help. Your body makes hydrogen peroxide naturally. It is naturally in rain water. Farmers spray it on their fields because plants love it. It’s fascinating how it works. Some people have gotten hydrogen peroxide infusions for various aliments even cancer.
Tricia,
You are welcome, and thank you. I know there is much debate surrounding contraction from mosquitoes, but I have never heard an account from personal experience. What an eye opener. I hope your son is okay.
And to everyone else, thank you for reading and be well.
add to the list; biting flies, dust mites and mosquitos. All verified. Not just ticks…. Read Buhner’s book “Healing Lyme”- excellent and thorough study and easy to understand.(well mostly easy…;o)
The scariest part of Lyme is the bullshit politics behind the scenes keeping those of us whose lives have been affected and often thrown into a state of utter debilitation and disarray in the dark. We suffer while the stalemate we know as Great Treatment Protocol Debate will continue being dragged out by legislative policy blockers, meanwhile research is stalled through lack of funding, and information is kept in the hands of those who might profit rather than heal. I was infected in the early 90’s- undiagnosed until a reinfection 4 years ago.thanks to 3 little ticks whose work left me covered in lesions and bedridden made it impossible to ignore. Sadly, between the earthly 90’s and now; I unwittingly passed on Lyme to at least one of my twins born in 97. Today there are ways, precautions and protocols, to keep unborn children safe from being infected while in the womb. My 15 year has a chest port and hasn’t been able to attend school regularly for 3 years.
Watch the film “Under Our Skin” free on Hulu, & YouTube for more detailed information about these statements.
People have to understand that we are all defferent and what worked for one may not for others, I myself have tryed it all yes, including homeopathic remedies with no help. It also depends on how quick you are to start treatment after the bite. The other problem is when people hear of the symptoms such as joint pain, muscle pain, fatigue they think it’s no big deal and wonder why we complain so much. But when you combine that with countless other pains and the fact that it’s a constant thing day in and day out its hard to hear things like yeah you should have been cured already. For all us Lymies that suffer in silence. We have each other, others don’t get it. Hugs 🙂
I would recommend an Ayurvedic doctor that focuses on cleansing the liver and other organs of the body that keeps you clean, and on a balanced lifestyle. Andreas Moritz books on health and rejuvination is a excellent guide to become the master of your own health again, even if you got Lyme, cancer, AIDS, Parkinsons, Psoriasis(wich i got) etc. If people just would realize that sickness, no matter what name we give it, comes from the same source, then alot of people would live more happy lives. We should stop treating theese symptoms as disease and start going to the root causes.
And to you guys who have tested it all, don´t give up, because i can assure you, no one has tested it all. There are always more ways to heal yourself, naturly and holisticly.
Our bodies never wanna be sick and never tries to kill us, it´s always in the buisness of making us balanced and healty. It´s our lifestyles that makes us sick.
With love Henrik
Try the Rife Machine an electromagnetic current machine that can resonate above the frequency of the Lyme and nock it’s frequency out. I’ve been using mine now for about two years I wouldn’t be working if it weren’t for it. TruRife@aol.com. This along with particular antibacterial can help kill the bacteria
Yes! Rife is half of my treatment. If you do it yourself you really need to educate yourself on it. My body needs much more detox modes from the rife machine than most…you need to make it individual. I believe that I will get all of the bacteria out of my body and so dos my practitioner. Being able to heal and pinpoint all of your co-infections is key. I have had 12 so far. Herbal antibiotics, herbal supplements, detox and Rife. Muscle tested specifically for me is what is working.
I have had just homeopathic things, and I am still so ill, difficulty speaking, and thinking, remembering, driving, functioning, be indpedent, higher thinking gone half the time, I want anitbotics, I got so ill so fast, no drs in time diagnosed, until I got one, but late stage chronic, years of being so ill, and now I find the most solace in support from other people with lyme, cause no one else fully understands, how could they, so yeah like wanda said, we have each other, and it helps some, be strong fellow lyme patients. gentle hugs indeed!
I do hope I can get well, and help others, being in nature is my fav, more natural, spiritual, if I can get out of this, somehow…
Hey! I feel ya Jade. I forgot how to read, write, walk and talk, and had to teach myself all over again with first grade grammar books. I would spend hours trying to figure out where commas and periods went. I went paralyzed, from my feet up to my mouth muscles. I had amnesia, and went back to 2009. I had over 10 grand mal seizures a day. I quit antibiotics, and picked up Stephen Buhners book, “Healing Lyme” one day and decided to start his herbal protocol -it just made so much sense. For the first time, I understood the protocol and knew it was absolutely necessary. My friend and I started on the same day. He does not have Lyme deep in the heart, brain, nervous system and spinal cord like me. He is doing better, working, playing music again, and driving. Even I am able to write and work again, and my brain fog is gone. Go to buhnerhealinglyme.com for more information if you want to learn more, you don’t really have to buy the book. I know what works for me won’t work for everyone though, so I am in no way trying to push you. My herbalist studied extensively as an apprentice under Buhner, and actually had to cure himself from Lyme twice using the Buhner protocol .Email me if you want my herbalist’s name. He is not money hungry and know what he is talking about. shelleywhitem@gmail.com
Check out the “rife” machine. it is a machine that puts frequencies into your body that destroy the bacteria. I lost the use of my hands and all my joints were incredibly painful. I’ve had other symptoms come and go, but the joint pain was the worst and I am a massage therapist who could barely bend my fingers. my thumbs did not bend at all for months. After purchasing a good rife machine I have full use of my hands again, the pain is all but gone and I feel much better all around. I think it works because the frequencies can penetrate every organ and even into the bones. they have no safe hiding places. these frequencies eventually shatter them and you begin the hertzing and cleansing and just keep up until they are all gone. Be sure not to buy the cheaper model if you decide to try this. not all rife machines have the kind of frequencies that work.
If you want more info email me at tiwane7@gmail.com
I forgot to mention, I am out of my wheelchair and even running again. I am also back in school full time, something I couldn’t have handled even 5 months ago!
i agree with u 100 percent…doctors and people who have never heard of it or see it dont understand,and u are rite if they find it early u can be fine but that is the whole problem …i was diagnosed 13 years ago my short term memory is bad i cant drive cause i forget were am going,i have the insomnia that is a symptom and all my joints hurt…when u first get it u become very nervous…i was dieing slowly..i lost my job because i could not work and had no family to take care of me..i became homeless and sick …i tryed to get disability but at that time lymes was not considered a disabity…so finally i had a stack of mental and physical illnesses to get disability..but it took living where ever i could for years before i got it…All of us who have this disease noes it exist..and it is alot of suffering ….
I’ve been suffering for the past 3 years with weekly chills, fever and joint and muscle pain. I had Lyme’s twice in the late 90’s and in 2001. My recent diagnosis has been negative but I don’t totally believe it because my symptoms are the same as when I had Lyme’s. I’ve countless tests for everything from Epstein-barr to AIDs and nothing. I’m supposedly the healthiest guy on earth but I still get these fevers. I’m under the care of a good Chinese herbalist which helps keep the symptoms to a minimum but I still get the fevers from time to time. I guess I don’t know where to go from here.
Alex-the following is just my opinion from what I have experienced, but this could be babesia (your chills, fever, joint and muscle pain). I was infected in 1998 (no idea then) and endured many symptoms (all on their own schedules) for years until many became constant over the last two years. It all went “Jenga” last summer when I began having peripheral neuropathy and the fatigue and other symtpoms went off the charts. There was no more “plowing through the day” anymore. I had finally crashed and was non-functioning and have two daughters to care for. (Parents drove from Floria and stayed with me to help.) I lucked out and got the hint that this was Lyme, started googling, found an LLMD (tested cdc positive) and began treatment with antibiotics and herbals/probiotics/supplements (to restore ravaged system) and have had many improvements but still have a long way to go.
When I started Mepron/Zithromax for babesia (which usu isn’t done right off until have started addressing Lyme–and I have Mycoplasma pnue. and bartonella), the babesia symptoms, which I had had off and on through the years, became intense: chills, fevers, chest pain, joint pain, muscles felt weak, horrendous headaches and feeling of brain swelling, eye pain, ear pain, ear ringing extra loud plus head buzz, night sweats, woozey off-balance feel, etc. These weren’t constant and not all at once and prob left something out, but it’s been tough–was worse than when first started treating Lyme for awhile.
I read enough from people who went through it whose symptoms etc were similar to mine to know this is what often happens and to stick with it as much as possible (doc did have me cut back for awhile) and now it is gradually getting a little better each day (for the most part) and can take full doses. Too many people said they quit early and regret it, which does not kill off the life cycle of this blood parasite. The people who stuck with it report (this is not scientific–it’s just my hours of open-minded googling) how finally it made a big difference and then concurrent treatment for lyme and other coinfections is more outwardly successful.
Of course, everyone is different and this is a multi-systemic autoimmune disease. I am a severe case due to amount of time undiagnosed and having several coinfections, which makes a big difference. The Chinese herb (I do not remember how to spell this) arteminsia (ok-it’s something like that) is supposed to be effective, too. Many take it with the rx drugs or try it on its own. It seems to also cause a worsening (if you have babesia) of symptoms while it works (like herxing but not quite the same because it’s a parasite or protazoa).
It takes several months of taking the mepron etc to kill the babesia due to its cycle. I don’t know how long the herbal-only process takes. Anyway, you may want to look into babesia as the cause of your continuing symptoms. The babs symptoms are similar to lyme and bartonella so you have to really investigate to discern, but there are differences, and many people who don’t get markedly better treating Lyme should look into babs (the blood tests for it are faultier than Lyme test so it’s often a clinical diagnosis.
My LLMD is also an infectious dis. specialist and studies everything from bloodwork, as Lyme and coinfections affect so many other workings, like thyroid, etc. This disease is so complicated and so individualized–no wonder so many doctors chose to remain in denial. Also, regarding the Lyme blood test. My doc had me (still does) on the herbal Samento drops (lyme killer which definitely causes herx when start) and doxy for a month before drawing blood for the western blot. I’d had a negative western blot before which most/many people with late stage lyme do. You have to stir up the spirochetes to get the antibodies/antigens out to where they have a better chance of getting their proteins recognized by a western blot. Some people luck out and are activated enough at the time of the test.
I will continue with Samento and other herbs/immune building supps etc even after I eventually stop antibiotics. Yikes. sorry this is so long. I’m sorry you (and other respondents) have suffered. Even before my “crash,” all those years of symptoms were so difficult, as a whole–esp. when docs tell you nothing is wrong. It’s like an evil puppeteer timing all sorts of seemingly unrelated mental and physical issues as slow torture-plus to confuse and doubt yourself. Then you find out what’s going on but have to hunt down a good doc and also pay for most of it yourself and know that most people will empathize but cannot understand what you’re going through. It took me a few months to get over the unfairness and just focus on getting better and not stressing out or holding grudges. This is one silver lining to the disease for me, and when I remember to count my blessings, it always helps.
i am searching for an MD who is board certified in Infectious Disease-
tested positive in Connecticut in 2002 for lyme-treated
co infection of babesia slightly positive on IGm -not treated. I share all the above symptoms 11 years later, which present cyclically- nightmare last month when we discovered black mold throught our central AC. (now live in florida) would you be willing to share your physicans information?
Please share your LLMD. My daughter was diagnosed with Lime.
Thanks for your reply, I finally followed up on your suggestion to check for co-infections like babesia and others but they came up negative. I saw a Dr. Daniel Cameron who a pretty good LLMD. I still show low levels of limes but I had the infection 3 times so that’s expected. Actually I had 2 classic lyme infections and one Ehrlichia infection. Lucky me, 3 time loser. Anyway I appreciate your response but the search goes on for answers and relief. I’ll also try th herbs you mentioned.
I came across this information recently… MMS is a cure for any disease, even diabetes clears within a few months when the correct protocol is followed. It’s very simple and inexpensive. On their website, they also recommend the following product…. (Hope this info will help someone… Please share info on MMS)
“The full transcript of our lastest newsletter articles are available at Mineral Solutions – Articles library. Below is a preview of what you will find in Issue 1 – and be sure to check out the Quick Tips at the end of this newsletter (or on our website) … we are sure you will find them very interesting, helpful and thought provoking!
Liposomal Vitamin C with added Glutathione
In 2005, claimed by Dr Levy, Lyme Disease was cured in 72-hours – “A woman suffering with severe and debilitating Lyme disease had been seen by many doctors and had not responded to several courses of antibiotics”.
A very notable quote:
“Amazingly, Vitamin C has actually already been documented in the medical literature to have readily and consistently cured both acute
polio and acute hepatitis, two viral diseases still considered by modern medicine to be incurable.” – Thomas E. Levy (MD, JD).
Tincture of Teasel was the only thing that seemed to provide long-term sustained results for treating Lyme Disease. Research it to learn more about it and how it can help.
I live in Connecticut where Lyme is at frightening levels in the tick population. I had tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) one day out of the blue and went to my doctor, who did a bunch of tests (echocardiogram, EKG, stress test), and my heart seemed perfectly fine. A few weeks later it went away, but then my jaw got so sore I couldn’t chew food. Then that moved to my elbows…then my shoulders…then my hips…
I got suspicious about this migrating joint pain and added fatigue, and did a bit of research and immediately suspected Lyme. I demanded a Lyme test from my doctor, who didn’t want to test me because I never found a tick. He eventually gave me the test to, in his words, “put my mind at rest”. Surprise surprise, I came back positive for acute Lyme.
Even after the antibiotics, I still get bouts of ‘brain fog’ and weakness, which I never used to have before having Lyme. My doctor still refuses to admit that my tachycardia (which lasted for 2 weeks before going away on its own, which is one of the symptoms of Lyme!) was related at all to Lyme Disease. I have a friend in upstate New York whose muscle shakes are getting worse and worse from her untreated Lyme Disease. This is a serious disease! Doctors and medical organizations need to stop playing with peoples lives with their ridiculous arguments. Post-Lyme DOES exist. Those who suffer from it are NOT ‘looking for attention’ or ‘faking it’. Just because they can’t pinpoint the exact reason for post-Lyme doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist – it just means they need to do more research.
I have a friend who has had it for years and has gone through many different treatments for it, some had worked for a short time. Now she drinks 1 glass of warm water with 2 teaspoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in it once a day and she no longer has ANY symptoms ,,,, This worked for her !!!!! She found this recipe in homeopathic book as a treatment for a few other disorders and diseases. Hope this helps you and others like it did her. P.S it only took a few week before her symptoms were gone !!!
According to Harvey Bigelsen MD Lyme disease is not from ticks at all.
“The growing epidemic of “Lyme disease” that is spreading rapidly through this country, and continuing on through most of the industrialized countries of the world, is not from the bite of a tick, and cannot be cured by your neighborhood doctor’s pill collection. This epidemic has been blamed on a spirochete that is transmitted by the bite of a tick and, frankly, that is wrong! Approximately 30% of all Lyme disease cases have NEVER had a tick bite.”
FULL ARTICLE:
http://harveybigelsen.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/drbigelsen-com-8/
Most of the time people are not aware that they have been bitten. Ticks love to attach themselves in hard to see places. You scalp, the back of your ears, the folds of your body and anywhere they can. Not everyone gets the classic bulls eye rash either. It can take months to years before you will start feeling some symptoms. That’s when you run from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what’s really wrong with you. Then comes the misdiagnosis of MS, Lupus, Fybromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ALS, Arthritis , Alergies , and even Depression because it’s all in your head diagnosis! Then you have to spend thousands of dollars out of pocket to regain some of your health back because the insurance companies will not pay for the proper treatments you need. Most of all….. You’ll have to find a LLMD ( Lyme Literate Medical Doctor ) who actually knows and understands the complexity of the disease. In the mix of it all you may loose friends, your job , and family members because you’re so sick and it takes it’s toll on everyone around you. No one truly understands Lyme unless they have been down that road. It’s not only Lyme anymore either. There are confections such as Bartonella, Babesia, Erlicia and many more that will not show up in a Lyme test. Not to mention that the tests are NOT accurate and will give false results. Please feel free to visit http://www.lymediseaseandyou.com to educate yourself about this fast spreading epidemic!
http://www.lymediseaseandyou.com for a better understanding about Lyme.
I’m wondering if it’s not actually chronic Lyme Disease that lingers but systemic Candida as a result of all the antibiotics…the symptoms are pretty much identical.
Interesting…I was thinking something similar, too, because like Candida, the symptoms sound very similar to what I felt when exposed to toxic mold for months without knowing…especially the brain fog, confusion, fatigue and muscle weakness. Regular doctors couldn’t help me and would only prescribe things to treat my symptoms. Finally my naturopath led me to what I needed to heal.
It might be helpful to understand the theories about the basis of all disease which Jon is pointing to: Pleomorphism vs. Monomorphism. Monomorphism is a relatively new concept in medicine (well since Luise Pasteur), and it has led medicine astray.
In reality there is but one dis-ease, and it’s cure is ease. To heal you must understand what is throwing your homeostatic balance off-ease, in order to correct that. Once we start to understand that we are a walking aquarium of many different microbes and when they are in symbiotic balance we have ease, and when they are out of balance, we have dis-ease. Taking high levels of antibiotics is like pouring chlorine into your aquarium. You might kill off the algae, but you will probably also kill the things you want living in there as well.
Out of the trillions of human cells, somewhere between 75 – 90% of them are NOT human cells, but microbial. When people aren’t diligent about correcting microbial imbalance, the health returns to ease.
Pleomorphism is correct! It’s not the germ but the terrain that it lives in.
I cannot believe that there is such an enormous amount of rubbish printed about so-called’ Lyme’ disease. Not only have I read rubbish ++ but, most contributors, are barely literate. Should this not give educated people some insight into a supposed disease that, to date, has not been proved to be or not to be..as the saying goes…..Maybe we should all get off our collective backsides and start living. There will always be those who really do not want to work, or even survive day to day difficulties, Instead….let’s have a disease that remains unproven, and we can be a burden on society and make others responsible for our faults.
Good grief!
Annabella I feel very sorry for you. You seem to have absolutely no compassion and have no idea of what you’re talking about. I truly hope you never have to deal with this or any autoimmune disease. Until you do or have a close family member who does, you will never know or understand the pain and torment we all go through. You can never understand because of your extreme ignorance and complete lack of empathy. I’m not, nor should any of us get into a debate with you because that would be utterly useless. So I suggest you leave this page and never come back or comment here again. You have no place here and offer nothing to the conversation!
O Sweet Annabella..Lyme Disease has a way of finding those that do not believe it exists. I am proof of that. Stop trolling the internet and speaking on things you KNOW NOTHING ABOUT, as clearly illustrated by your lack of a comment. You didn’t even try to start a conversation or debate,no facts, NO RELATION to LYME! Before you go waving flags you need to know what you stand for…but in your case, you better know something about what you troll for… so when you speak of rubbish,, you are speaking about your content-less comment as well. Nothing but empty, bitter words….Oh WAIT, Nobody here cares! YOU DON’T HAVE LYME AND HAVE NO ROOM TO SPEAK…get back to trolling your life into a depressive downward spiral, while WE collectively remain positive and seek support from those that battle Lyme because of halfwits like yourself.
We got that PMA! Yea we got that attitude! -Bad Brains P.M.A.-POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE.(so you don’t think I’m throwing gang signs at you, I defined PMA…I suggest you read into this philosophy and understand that when I say this, good and evil must coexist, it is how you balance them that defines you.) for example, if i came across someone like yourself in person, I would gladly engage in an intellectual conversation, even if our opinions differed, but if someone came at me like you did, a bitter wanna-be know it all, that doesn’t have an intellectual bone in their body. Yea, those conversation end fast bc I stand up for myself and I would give you a taste of what OUR collective lives are like. But you are physically attached to your best friend, the computer, who satisfies your every need. Living a fake life, watching others live their dreams. Living the hate life, wishing you could achieve your dreams. But here;s the thing….and the point you will miss….if you are ever diagnosed with Lyme or any such disease, I would gladly lend my experience, knowledge, compassion, and love. I would lend an open ear and open heart….but until that is the case, you’re nothing but another sheep lined up for the slaughter, believing every line the media feeds you, spitting the same soap box rhetoric word for word. Do us all a favor and smile! because you couldn’t handle any of our lives, and frankly I DON’T wish it upon you and hope you remain this ignorant for the rest of your life…but when you return for advice and help….feel free to email me, I would be happy to talk. geo.pear@gmail.com <-i dont hide behind my screen.
Well put Geoffrey. And love the Bad Brains quote!
YES!!!! And so much of healing is mental as well. Our cells and our bodies regenerate. We have to look at patterns that we have been living in that have created a situation for extreme imbalance and disease, and then we need to work to change them and bring our body back to a state of health. It is a learning process, but the idea of launching this insane war within yourself only further worsens things. Approach it gently and listen to yourself, don’t further attack your body, rather- support it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDGzf0v8_28
Lot of info here…good. Lyme sucks. I’ve had it for years and can’t afford the treatments…but I am also writing a book (release date October 2013) of Lyme bios I hope will also help raise awareness…and maybe help me pay my bills….
I have had negative tests in Australia but most of the symptoms were significant for several years, and had been given the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. But since I have had hundreds of ticks and scrub mites I knew there was a strong chance of the Lyme-like disease being related. Once I found eventually found a sympathetic and better informed doctor who treated me with strong doses of doxycycline, ruilide and minomycine as well as lots of natural immune system boosters, there has been significant relief. I am still having pretty bad on going problems so trying every suggestion i get. Thanks for this dialogue folks. Lucinda
I have been dealing with this wretched disease symptomatically since the late seventies and finally got a diagnoses in ’92. On iv rocephin and claphorin 4 grams 3 times a day for 2 and 1/2 years. I limped thru lifr not worth a damn till ’09 when it attacked me with a vengeance again. This time the pain is so bad I don’t no how much longer I can survive. The pain doctors dont agree with iv treatment and they look at me like I am a piece of s@#t. The llmd wont write pain meds or xanax so have to have 4 doctors non of which will talk to the other. I have tried rife machine, hydrogen peroxide interveneously and a lot of other crap with no success. I am dying. As a last ditch the llmd has me on immunoglobulin for pain. Have a new friend from facebook in Arizona thinks can help. The problem is you need your brain to help yourself and I no longer have one..I have spent thru insurance and myself over half million bucks on trying to save myself. 69 doctors appts last year and am worse….I was in the hospital recently for 4 days and the doctor told me that I needed a psychiatrist and a pain doctor and my midline was so I could put heroine and cocaine in my body!!! Any help would be appreciated…I am junkman@qis.net and can be found on FB as Randy Stull..thanks. and god bless..
So sorry Randy! Where are you located? I assume you are on various supplements as well as antibiotics? And if you’ve had it this long you have read all the leading doc’s written works? I think you still have a brain as your post is well written. 🙂 Killing the deep tissue bugs is essential but so is supporting your whole body system with important supplements (ie banderol,catsclaw,sarsaparilla,coq10,zinc,emergenC, etc etc) LOTS of supps but your body can’t fight in the state its in and needs cellular/tissue help. Marty Ross in Seattle is llmd, maybe he could help. You can find him online too. Best wishes to you!!
I saw Dr. Bigelsen…and IMHO, he’s a quack!!!
I most certainly believe in the germ theory of illness – ever have food poisoning???
The reason people don’t get well from Lyme treatments many times is this bug has been around a lot longer than we have and has many, many, many ways to survive even the most unfavorable conditions.
Yes, I believe homeopathy can cure Lyme, if one has a good practitioner and catches the disease early on (as a previous poster here has experienced).
I got Lyme from a red fire ant bite (red fire ants eat ticks), so I know Lyme can come from other biting insects.
I have had a number of cures of Lyme disease. I believe the germ is going in the weakened body and the weakend body is the real cause. 80% of my Lyme disease cases had surgery within a year of that diagnosis. Putting a knife into the body and cutting it apart weakens the body and that I believe that’s the real cause.
Food poisoning is usually not caused by germs but by intestinal irritants. Who are you? Tell me your real name. You are making comments about me and I would like to know who you are.
I was wearing a monavie t shirt one day and had a guy come up to me saying how much he liked MV and i asked him what it did for him and he said it helpped alot with his symtoms of lymes disease….Just saying thats what he said…I drink MV with my daughter cause it helpped take the inflammation out of my daughter with the disease she has called JDM….so to all of u its worth a try..better then taking meds that rot u.. Good luck..
I received a bullseye bite nearly 2 years ago after spending time at my friends camp, on my upper inside of my leg. I have never been tested, but I have also never come down wit ANY of the symptoms….Are you sure the bullseye is a dead give away??
I am also a pretty healthy person. I eat healthy, I do periodic detoxes including the Master Cleanse and the more intensive Candida cleanse. I use Young Living essential oils as my daily “medicine” and quite frankly, I am healthier now than I was then!…
I had the rash too. No symptoms for over 10 years, then whammo! Full blown arthritis, and late stage symptoms known as ACA came on literally overnight.
I can not get treated fully, and have been crippled by this.
Could you please tell me the candidia cleanse you used?
Thank you so much.
I followed the protocol in the book “The Candida Cure” by Ann Boroch. Its a very informative book and a quick read. I highly recommend it!
Thank you, I really appreciate your response to my question.
I lived in Newport News, VA for 3 years with my family. My wife was military, stationed at Ft. Eustis, and we lived on the Lincoln Military Housing community. Our townhouse was in the rear of the community against a treeline which I initially really liked.
My wife came home early in our stay there covered in ticks for the first time. Much of her training was in Newport News Park which is infested with ticks the deeper into the woods that you go. That first time that she brought home a couple handfuls of ticks embedded in her uniform one of them bit me and buried itself into my left shoulder blade. I’d heard before that you can burn them out so I tried doing so with matches… I put a whole book of matches out right on top of it but it just kept burrowing deeper. I melted the skin above and around the tick trapping it in. It did eventually find its way out a couple of weeks later. I didn’t feel or see it come out but my wife noticed that it was gone when I took my shirt off at the beach. This was about four and a half years ago now.
Since that incident I learned the right way to remove ticks because they are everywhere in VA. I came into contact with them regularly so I purchased a tick removal tool which I used on myself, my wife, and my dogs. My daughter got one deep in her earlobe. I took her to the ER for that one, they removed it, and she tested negative.
This upcoming November will be 2 years since we’ve back back in Northern, NY. I began getting really sick a couple of months after we moved back. The symptoms varied and seemed to come and go. Nausea, swollen lymph nodes, joint/muscle aches and stiffness, stomach cramps, blurred vision.
I went to my doctors several times complaining of different symptoms. I came in for blurry vision and was given a referral to an ophthalmologist who said everything was fine save for some minor vitriol deterioration. They didn’t seem to be taking my complaints seriously after a while even seeming to roll their eyes when I came in.
I moved back to my hometown of Plattsburgh, NY 1 year ago and plan on staying here for good. I’ve just been continuing to deteriorate steadily for the past year and a half. I starting thinking that maybe I was crazy… A hypochondriac… Maybe it was all in my head. I’d convince myself of that in between bad flare ups but some days I am in pain and barely able to pull myself out of bed in the morning.
For the past 6 months or so new lymph nodes have been continuing to pop up in new areas all over my body (neck/arm pits/groin area) they pop and they swell so much so that all of the muscle tissue surrounding them hurts badly.Not sure if my doctor is just better than the previous ones or if my symptoms are just much worse but he ordered a scan of my neck which revealed that there are swollen chains of lymph nodes on both sides (which I already knew)
This doc ordered a biopsy on one of the nodes (behind my ear/easy access) which came back negative and a blood test. He then told me that he knows something is going on because some of the nodes are large and rock hard. Also my blood test revealed that I am anemic, borderline diabetic (never had problems with sugar in the past), low potassium, low vitamin D, low white blood cell count, and low testosterone; i’m shutting down. On top of the way that I feel I can’t think clearly. I’ve been forgetting things that I know and have known for a long time and in constant pain. I am normally above average intelligence but I feel really dumbed down and hazy.
My doctor told me that he knows based on my blood test and the lymphadenopathy that there is something going on but that we were going to have to track it down. He ordered a battery panel of blood tests testing for 26 different illnesses that could account for all or some of the symptoms. I thought that I probably had some sort of autoimmune disease…
The blood results came back last Friday. Tested positive for Lyme on an ELISA test confirmed with a Western Blot (doc wanted confirmation beyond ELISA) Not sure how long I’ve had it, which tick bite transferred it, or if the treatment is going to work. I’ve read a bit online about limited success with antibiotics. I am sick… That is what I know.
Doc ordered 21 days of Doxyclycline. Been on it a few days now… Makes me feel even more nauseated. This is a bit long… long as a post itself but This is my experience with lyme so far; not sure how it’ll end up.
Hope this helps someone; if you have been bitten by a tick and are feeling sick tell your doc to test for Lyme.
i have sudffered with all of the systoms for 5yrs or more and no help from doctors all of them ran the ELISA test and that was it, i just recently asked for the western blot and it came back with 1 marker, but had been taken dox.. a few yrs ago from an eye doc,so when i saw the Doc it was still the same answer, luckly i had know about the 1 marker and insisted on getting at least Dox back, what a rodeo, i have been at my wits end just trying to get some help, i also think i have a additional parasite in my system, but know body takes the time!!!!!!!
I have had great success with Lyme disease! You can check me out on my website which is: http://www.drbigelsen.com. Also, you can buy my book online “Doctors Are More Harmful Than Germs”
I pray for your situation and hope that things are going much better for you. I had 4 negative test results, from Neurologists. They would always come back and tell me that it was neg.and that went on for 5 years. Until, I finally found a Lyme literate Doc that happen to be close to me..or I don’t know if I would have ever found out. I probably could have never known, unless..I had died with it.
I pulled a big sheep tic off of me, back in ’08 and never thought @ keeping it for testing..until, after I got all the symptoms.I could have by-passed several years of suffering, if only I had got it checked.
When, I got to the Lyme literate Doc…he ran the tests and it come back positive that I definitely, had Lyme. YES, there is such a thing as chronic Lyme! I am living proof of that. I have suffered with it for years…and no one could tell me that I had the disease. 😮
I know that there are so many others out there…who are still searching for the answers and not finding them. You have to seek out a specialist in that field and find you a Lyme literate Doc..even, if you have to travel. It would be worth it. I am sure, there are others who have also been given the same negative test results from a NL..that should have already been diagnosed also and being treated for it already..like me.
I believe that the all the NL should HAVE to update their system and have to require more testing be done. That ALISA testing..is NOT doing the job…so, they should get a better system. There are too many people suffering with Lyme to be ignored. And, I have suffered for way too long with it…and believe that I could have died already from it. I know that I have been blessed to still be around and I Thank God everyday. I pray that it isn’t too late and the disease hasn’t gone on…for too long. I have been hurting around my heart, for the past few months..and read where 3 people have died this year with heart complications, from Lyme.
Prayers to you and wish you all the best of health. God Bless you..and pray that I can get this under control, but I have other things wrong with me on top of it…that is making it harder. I have Addison’s disease, Fibromyalgia, Candida(which, I have to get under control of first..or it will grow out of control. Means no sugar or gluten for me. 😛 I do pray that I can keep going…and if not get completely well…at least, get better. 🙂
Prayers for you too…
So sorry for what you are going through! A friend of mine has chronic lyme and it got so bad last year she went to an inhouse clinic in Arizona for 90 days leaving her hubby and 5 kids as she was literally near death. You wouldn’t believe how well she is doing! Back to life again. I can find out the Az. info if you are interested, it may save your life…. God bless, Sandy
Sandy where is this Arizona clinic you are talking about? I really need to know for my friend, she’s suffering from late stage Lyme Disease and it breaks myheart to see her life melting in front of my eyes. can you email me at alyon.karin @ gmail.com ?
Shea Medical Center, Scottsdale. They have a Facebook page too. Best wishes!!
Can you email me the information on that in-house clinic. My daughter has had Lyme disease for 3 years now and she is giving up. Thank you
Shea Medical in Scottsdale. They have a website and a facebook page. My friend got her life and health back after 60 days here! Best of luck to your daughter!
Could you email me the info on the AZ place she got well at? Thank you! Rwrightsox@comcast.net
I am interested please.Please email me at weedwoman7@hotmail.com Thank you. I have the not being able to lift my arms symptom. Was given a diagnosis of a\typical ALS. Another doc upnorth says Lyme. Was given a tincture but my body is still slowing down, dying.
I have had excellent success with Lyme disease. Look me up.Good luck to you!
I can relate. Just found out I have Lyme’s disease and probably had it for years. I’ve been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, C.R.E.S.T. syndrome, also Hashimoto’s syndrome ( bow tie thyroid) and a new disease that involves not being able to raise your arms. I don’t even want to look it up on web med.
Now, I know the answer to all this is probably Lymes….my test showed negative but my doctor was smart enough Thank You Lord, to read on down the list that showed I had multiple signs of having it. Why oh why do the tests say negative when they include that the results below are positive if you have lots of markers. For pity sakes, they just had 4-6 weeks to figure that out. So sending a negative but read the print below you might or are positive. Which I was. Does anyone feel as frustrated as me about the testing?
So now step 1 is get into the specialist closet to me in Columbia, Missouri. Dr. Crist. He has a 6 month waiting period. Step 2 for me is to be gluten free and use a diabetic diet. I bought a book online about gluten free and am reading it now. I found out that Big Lots has Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free products.
I have been making whole grain, organic foods in Mason-Kerr jars to be the answer to an ez meal. Add liquids and proteins and have a really good meal ready with organic bread baking in oven while soup is cooking. So now I need to change that to gluten free. arghh! Will I do it? You bet my life I will. I’ve been trying to eat healthy for years. I’m not giving up now.
My doctor told me that Lymes mask other diseases. All the medications I was taking to help me about killed me February 15, 2014. That was a scary day in the hospital. I don’t even remember half of it.
I will do my best to keep this blog updated with hopefully my progress.
Also read on Dr. Crist website how we need to have supplemental vitamins, I am Vit. D deficient and have a prescription for that. We probably need amino acids & fats. ??? (my brain doesn’t remember everything so look it up) Deep massages and drinking lots of water after. Which at times would probably be too painful for me to do. There’s more but the mind is too tired for me to go on. Go to his site: Dr. Crist, Columbia, Mo. Good luck and God Bless. Oh yeah, and treatment could be 2 years of antibiotics. My doctor is well tuned in to the Lymes because she has it too.
God speed to you Willa! I hope you don’t have to wait 6 mo. to see Dr. Crist? Gluten free is super important and there are lots of good brands and lots of stores carry them now. Lots of fresh fruits/veggies too. Green smoothies and no sugar is essential though difficult! Lots of good info online too with supplement info.
Probiotics are extremely important too when going on antibiotics. Find a good one and start them now! They will keep your gut healthy/balanced. Natures Bounty makes a good one. Remember, tons of foods are naturally GF so its mainly bread you need to substitute. 🙂 All the best, Sandy
I have written several times about my success with Lyme disease. Just look at my book on Amazon “Doctors Are More Harmful Than Germs”. If your doctor is agreeable, there are ways that I can treat you in the distance.
Just thought I’d let everyone know that I have used Shea Medical and I was very impressed with their treatment options for Lyme disease. They also have some very informative articles worth checking out on their site http://www.sheamedical.com
I was first diagnosed with strep throat four years ago. The antibiotics I took depleted the good bacteria in my GI system, resulting in what’s called C-Difficile. I was never the same after that. I was experiencing extreme fatigue, memory loss, brain fog, lack of focus and concentration, disorientation, blurry vision, red swollen eyes, respiratory challenges, shallow breathing, weakness, GI pain, neck pain, neck creaks, jaw pain, slow healing from surgery, sore throat and cough, insomnia, hair loss, mood swings, irritability, and increased allergies and sensitivities.
I went to my family doctor on numerous occasions to try and resolve why I was experiencing all these symptoms. She gave me numerous tests including x-rays, ultrasounds and copious blood tests and sent me to specialists to test for things such as Crohn’s disease, Celiac, MS, Chronic Fatigue, fibromyalgia, et al, which all came back negative. She then wanted to prescribe anti-depressants so that I could “live” through the symptoms of the Chronic Fatigue.
I said that I didn’t want to live like this, having virtually no quality of life. I wanted my old life back with energy and vitality! At this point, I was only able to go to and from work and then I would collapse in bed at night to conserve energy for the next day.
Then, I was referred to Envita. I had tests done and was diagnosed with Lyme disease and heavy metal toxicity. Upon treatment, I immediately saw results, but it’s taken a year to rebuild my strength and feel like myself again. Thanks to Envita, I’m slowly regaining my former active life, including dancing and most of the symptoms from Lyme have completely disappeared.
Silvie what was the treatment that Envita gave you? I mean you didnt tolerate ABX and developed C.Diff. What happend then?
Igenex is the most reliable test. Please include in your article.
I look at Lyme disease differently. It is not the germ but the weakened body that it is growing in. I have found a major majority of cases had some type of medical or surgical procedure within 2 years prior to that diagnosis. I don’t believe that we have an epidemic of ticks, however we do have an epidemic of medical doctors, drugs and procedures.
I’ve had Lyme for 35 years and contracted it in Coastal California. I was misdiagnosed for 30 years. There is such a thing as late lyme, chronic lyme or whatever they don’t want to call it. After diagnosis I was given doxy and was bedridden for 4 years, denied private disability and SSI, because I wasn’t sick according to them. I had 54 separate symptoms and some of them severe. We moved from CA to Houston and I found an amazing LLMD. At the same time I found ACT, Advanced Cell Training. With these two amazing therapies, I have recovered to the point that I am out of bed, have some sustained energy and am well on my way to recovery. I am on no antibiotics. We are still in the process of resolving some issues such as Chronic Fatigue – IDS, Psoriatic Arthritis and Celiac that I have but I am positive that they will be gone soon. I am thankful to ACT for the amazing method of healing that they taught me. I know now that even if I am bit by a diseased tick my body will not get sick. It will know how to take care of the problem. If you are serious about getting well, not just from the Lyme but from all the co-existing problems that come with it, check them out on FB. It’s a bit out there but I am certain that in the months and years to come people will become more familiar with Healing Codes and linguistic healing. All I can say is that it worked for me when nothing else could or would. What do you have to lose?
hi rachelle please send a link to adders45gmail.com i am seriously unwell and need to get better thanks
Hi Rachel. Can you send me the info on ACT to my email. carolcaruso57@gmail.com. I have 2 daughters with chronic lyme.both suffering for over 20 years. Thank you
Hi Rachel would you please email link to byrd56@aol.com, thanks
Rachelle, please email the link to olesno@optonline.net. My daughter has lime and needs help.
Can someone fwd me this link as I too am suffering from Lyme for a number of years. Happy Holidays 🙂
Hello Rachelle,
My daughter diagnosed with lyme disease and she is on antibiotics for more than 4 years not continues. she got better and then she gets sick again. can you please tell me the name of your doctor in Houston please?
thank you
Try a Dr. John Trowbridge. Tell him Dr. Bigelsen sent him. If he has any questions have him call me. He is very good!
In August the summer of 1996 I was in the 3rd trimester expecting my 3rd child. After a trip to Queechee Vermont, the following week, after a shower, I discovered a large circular mark with bruised looking center on the back of my right shoulder, It did not hurt or itch nor was it raised I had been feeling awful and our whole family had been feeling sick with stomach bug symptoms, My toddlers pediatrician discovered he had somehow contracted giardia a protozoa infection commonly found in contaminated water where beavers live. My OBGYN tested me and admitted me to the hospital to treat the infection and monotor me because I was at the end of the pregnancy and I was feeling terrible. During my admission I showed the strange looking bulls eye mark on my back to the nurses and the doctor, the response was it was probably a nasty “bug or spider bite” and quote That it had “nothing to do with why I was admitted to the hospital” End of quote. I began having complications with my pregnancy following the treatment for giardia dizzy spells headaches sensitivity to light sound, flu like symptoms and joint pain, All dismissed by my doctor due to the fact that I was pregnant and due to deliver my child in the upcoming weeks. In October still feeling sick my blood pressure spiked and I developed a fever The doctor decided it would be best to induce labor the next day. My baby was delivered naturally a day later he was a little blue at first but otherwise a healthy 7lb12oz. In the following months It was discovered I had probably had a small stroke during delivery and that now became the blame for all of my symptoms I still had the bullseye mark on my back for months It eventually faded to what looked like a round bruise in the center many months later. at that point I was now under the care of a neurologist for severe headaches allover body pain night sweats and flu like symptoms that waxed and waned. Over time now under the care of a rheumatoligist who diagnosed me with a rare autoimmune disorder. In the following years the doctor pumped me full of predisone and methotrexate steroids to calm my immune system perplexed as to why I still felt sick? I Came across a polaroid pic of the rash I discovered from 13 years earlier My eldest son chirped “Mom that looks a lyme disease rash!” He had seen on the internet. Supported by a dear friends assurance that it was most likely exactly what The problem is! The following week I presented My rheumotoligist with the poloroid pic of the rash from 13 years earlier and a blood draw kit I had mailed to me from IGENEX labs. Needless to say The doc. Looked unhappy with me questioning my diagnosis and reluctantly agreed to sign igenex blood draw. When the blood work returned to me positive I promptly set an appointment to go over the results with him He took the tests into his office leaving me in the exam room he wrote across the top of the test results “negative according to mass board of rheumotoligy” and he asked his nurse to refir me to another rheumotoligist for any further treatment.???!!! I eventually found a lime literate neurologist in ayre mass who diagnised me with “chronic neurological lyme disease” And promptly ordered a pic line and a month of rocephtin. During the month of treatment about 30% of my symptoms improved. Due to Conflicts with legalities of treating lyme disease in New England My doctor could only offer me one month of treatment and pass me to another doctor. The doctor I was refirred to next never answered my calls. I found a doctor in boston at new england medical center for infectious diseases who offered me a month of doxicycline that I threw up every time it hit my stomach! Here I am 18 years later still sick this illness has robbed me of my good health I still suffer with headaches flu like symptoms that wax and wane and depression as a result of being so sick all of the time! I dont want another pill or shot! I want to be cured! I want good health again! ENOUGH
I am so sorry to hear about your troubles. I was just officially diagnosed with Lyme this past Friday. What is funny about my case, is that my first husband developed Lyme in 1994, while I was in nursing school. He worked out in fields and came home one day feeling horribly sick, and he had this huge bulls-eye rash on his calf. I said, you have Lyme, he looked at me like I was nuts. We were learning about the subject while in nursing school. Needless to say, he want to various doctors who dismissed him as a nut. He was a healthy 6ft6inch man, who was now hardly able to walk, with recurrent flu-like illnesses, migraines, anxiety, panic attacks, spinal stenosis, and knee pain that put him in bed. He finally found someone who treated him in 2000, after many doctors and years of being undiagnosed.
Funny, thing is that in 1998, I developed my own weird symptoms, I woke up one morning with a severe migraine, facial numbness, facial drooping, panic attacks, severe anxiety and just not feeling right. I went back and forth to doctors for years….. and years… and years. It all got pointed to having an anxiety disorder or female hormones. My first husband and I divorced but still keep contact because of the kids.
One to 2014, my second husband comes home from work with a huge rash on the back of his neck… guess what, a bulls eye rash and swollen glands, the prior week he had had a severe flu-like illness. I told him to see a doctor, and he was diagnosed with lyme disease related to the rash and symptoms. Within this same time period, I notice that I have suddenly developed this weird joint pain (never had it in the past); The kind of pain that I can’t describe. It is more like a tingling and numbness of both knees that won’t go away with pain medicines, and it keeps me up all night. The weird joint sensations also travel to various parts of my body, shoulder, wrists, fingers, etc. I decide to go to the doctors thinking that I have an autoimmune thyroid disease, because of the symptoms that I had from 1998 until now. (I also have thyroid nodules, thyroid antibodies, and a multi-nodular goiter); They finally give me a referral to see an endocrinologist, and they run a few lab test for the joint pain: rheumatoid factor, sed rate, and they do a western blot because of living near the woods.
Guess what, the western blot comes back positive for lyme disease.
Now, the question is – I never remembered any tick bite… never had any rash. My test shows positive IGG and IGM… IGG is old infection and IGM is new infection. What are the chances that my first husband gave me lymes. I know the CDC refuses to state that lyme can be sexually transmitted…. but who really believes what a government agency tells us? There have been many studies that are contrary to their research, that do, in fact, state that lyme can be transmitted sexually.
What are the chances of husband #1 hving lyme, my having weird symptoms for years, husband #2 getting lyme, and me finally becoming positive. I lived in South Philadelphia with my first husband, where ticks weren’t too predominant. Now live in suburban new jersey, where there are many trees, and deer.
I am now on 3 weeks of doxycycline, and my only concern is that this will not kill the issue if I had contracted lyme years ago.
Hopefully you are working with a Lyme Literate MD. Like you, I don’t ever remember a tick bute, but have suffered with symptoms for years after hubby was bitten by a tick. My whole family has Lyme and co-infections.
I actually found the tick on me while I was showering. I didn’t realize it was Lyme disease until I notice the symptoms. I went for labs today and waiting results. My doctor has started me on antibiotics and hopefully this help.
All I know is 2009 tick on arm with Bulls Eye, 20 day’s of Doxy and I’m had the “flu” ever since. They’ve had 20-30 years to figure this out…the only thing that’s “complicated” about this disease are the people and organizations that are making it as such. They can contunue to spin this however they want, but Lyme will continue to spread as will the suffering…they will end up with mud on their face given this debacle.
My grandson was not tested till he had symptoms that prove to be Lyme Disease. 18 months was the estimated day of contact but Infectious Disease Specialist who
Look me up and see my article “The truth behind Lyme disease”. I have had tremendous success curing Lyme disease. As you will see, I do not believe it is from the tick. Have you had any surgery the past two years?
Where can I find your info?
You can just Google my name and a lot of information will come up. If you want to contact me, my email address is: harveybigelsenmd@comcast.net
Where do you live? I may be able to find someone out there who can help you.
I live in northern California. Where do you live? I approach Lyme disease very differently and my results have been excellent!
Thank you for your reply, I am in MA & see a LL naturopathic in NH&have been in treatment 3 1/2 years now sick 11 years undiagnosed for over 7 years. Any recomendations I would appreciate, lyme & co’s ruin lives & it’s hardest battle I have fought even my cancer surgery I conquered & it started with that& ive never gotten well again! Thanks again!!
That naturopathic physician should inject the scar with procaine and what is called the Franckenhauser points also. Following that you should get someone to do some craniosacral manipulation and you will feel much better. Surgery is what I call a legal attack with a knife. It is the biggest cause of trapped inflammation which weakens the body. If your naturopath has any questions, he can call me.
Our son had a deer tick in Nov and then had an odd bruise on his leg looked like a bruise but white in the middle, like a donut. Can’t imagine what could have hit him to cause a bruise in that shape. MD said it was a bruise not a Lyme rash. At the same time, right knee swelled. Son has very mild JRA in left hip, MD said it was JRA but JRA dr said no to arthritis. Other random issues at same time. General blood test came back neg 3 weeks in. Fast forward 3 months son is now presenting attention issues and trouble with school work even though no issues with content before. Could this be chronic Lyme?
Google my name and look up my work on Lyme disease. I would like to know more about that bruise. The Lyme germ grows in the weakened body and injuries and surgeries are very important! I have had excellent success with “Lyme” disease by treating the structure of the physical body. It’s not the germ but it is the pond that it grows in.
I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease at the age of 8. I went through horrible joint and muscle pains. My legs would get swollen and my jaw hurt so bad I lost so much weight. I had to be carried everywhere and pushed around in a stroller. Even that was painful. I lived in CT and had flu like symptoms and fatigue but doctors just brushed it off because they thought it was the flu. 3weeks later we moved to FL and everything got worse. We didn’t find out it was lyme until 3 months had passed. I’m 23 now and haven’t gotten any symptoms except my fingers get swollen sometimes and hurt. Reading this information it makes me wonder if it will ever start up again.
Who is Shelley M. White and where is your bibliography and citations?
I have been battling Lyme and its co-infections of Rheumatoid Arthritis, and countless others, for 8 years. It has heightened previous PTSD, BiPolar, kidney stones, a history of head injuries, years of painting with spraypaint, no cartaledge in my knees, inverted buldging discs with severe pressure cracks in my lower lombar. My Rheumatologist told me I have the body of a 65 yr old, my ankles and feet swell(a full size, i have to have 2 sizes of a sneaker to accomodate the crazy swelling. I am a professional artist, brand manager, guerilla marketing, avid disc golfer, and footballer(real football), all around athlete(was a professional snowboarder and skateboardered everyday, among many other things. I have been treated with 3 rounds of antibiotics, 2 oral, one 6 week IV. I have tried every herbal remedy from cinnamin and honey to soaking raisins in gin and eating 3 a day. They all helped me for a few minutes, for a few weeks. At 25, I was 112lbs wallking with a cane. I bounced back very slowly after the IV antibiotics and have NEVER been relieved of my physical pain and mental anguish. Heavy Stress and Anxiety is the number one reason and situation that allows Lyme to wreak havoc when you least suspect it. After surviving an electrical fire in my condo, the flame was torching the ceiling directly bellow my bed…after loosing everything (a true blessing in disguise.) my parents split up 3 days later, and as a man in his mid 20’s, saying my life flipped was an understatement. Over the next few months i was bombarded with phone calls, depositions, and being sued by the other 16 tenants (eventho it was not my fault, the building had over 350 firecode violations in the electrical alone, I remember the flame, the heat, the power of it….and the blue flames pulsing from the outlet through the cord of a lamp, to the chair where i sat. I had an art show the following friday, all of which was lost in the fire, but i spent the next week getting it together and putting the show on. It wasnt until me and my wife settled in a house in South Philly that shit got real. Like being hit with a ton of bricks, my life stopped dead in its tracks. While I was having flashbacks, night terrors, twitching, with extreme sensitivity to flashing lights and loud, especially high pitched noises, ie sirens, etc. I refused to lay in bed, i wake up everyday and dress as if its a normal day, to retain some normalcy. I am now 33, barely able to walk, with clawed hands that I am constantly retraining to hold a brush or pen. My mind, which was once sharp, witty, loving, and able to work through tough situtations….has become a reel of thoughts, ideas, running circles…only sometimes can I grab hold of one and work on it or do it, but with very limited attention span and excruciating pain. I have made myself stronger, with the help of my amazing wife, for whom i am grateful for everyday and hope I can show her more gratitude in the near future. My Pops, for so many reasons. My Mom, for being the best Mom, even in the face of the divorce. My brother for sitting with me day in and day out, while his dream was waiting for him in Virginia.(He currently plays in 2 touring bands, so proud of him)my acupuncturist Andrea, and just when i thought i was getting better, like getting tanked by a set of waves, I was knocked out…again. My dog, my anchor, my baby girl got Osteosarcoma and had her rear leg removed with the ineveitable on its way. We moved up to NEPA after that, where i got strong chopping wood and maintaining the home in the worst winter in 30 years. But when spring was still thawing, and summer was a very cool 60 degrees with extreme pressure changes, being that we lived on a lake, I never got my spring and summer energy boost and we moved back to Philly as my health started to fall again. This time tho, asking for help had me feeling like the boy who cried wolf, everyone just nodded their heads thinking it was just that day…well that day has become everyday, again…and finally my “cries’ have been heard. I push myself above and beyond what my body allows, but i dont know any other way. And now, after many amazing adventures, fighting lyme one step at a time….I will not go back on antibiotics and am pursuing a Colodial Silver IV treatment. I am tired of messing around, i am tired of the pain, i am tired of not being able to have normal friendships, and I am tired of being tired. I am not wired this way. The more you do for yourself, the better off you wil be. Trusting doctors, although we are taught too, is difficult. Trust yourself, so that the doctors trust you. Lyme is a dirty secret with a dirty past, admitted by the US goverment to have been developed by a Nazi doctor working for the US government. I dont believe it was intentionally set upon us, as the simplest explanation is often the correct explanation. A tiny bug gets caught in a gust of wind or attaches to a workers pant leg….and boom! an epidemic that rivals AIDS, except no one cares about Lyme, except Big Pharm. Doctors cant even agree on the course of treatment, and force patients into an endless spinning wheel that never stops. If you dont have Lyme, or arent directly involved with a loved one….you will NEVER understand and your opinion is worthless, if you know someone with Lyme…go out of your way to spend a few minutes with that person, every day, every week. That helps us feel normal and engaged in life. every doctor I have encountered wont say “you have Lyme Disease.” it always sounds something like this “your Lyme teder is very high, you may have Lyme Disease.” skating around it for fear of being sued and simply not knowing what to do. (As a side note, the authors ‘further reading’ are 4 of the worst websites in regards to Lyme. ) Harvey Bigelsen is a known profiteer of Lyme Disease, the CDC doesnt recognize Lyme, the government doesnt recognize Lyme, and anyone that says they can cure Lyme, is full of it. To those who are new to Lyme, i would like to extened a big hug to you. To their caregivers, be patient, listen, dont panic, dont worry…STAY POSITIVE and remain present and proactive. The most important treatment is the treatment of self. Make yourself get up everyday, find small exercises you can do daily, Yoga is a place to find these exercises, if you need help finding them…do as much as you can on the good days and the bad days. Be proud of the little things that you can do, and not angry about what you cant do. If you have a hard time eating, get Ensure or learn to make banging smoothies. dont be afraid to reach out to others, but always follow your gut. Until society recognizes Lyme and doesnt brush it off as laziness, we are all stuck in an endless battle, but you are not alone. My name is geoffrey partridge. you are more than welcome to contact me privately, with questions, advice, or for a shoulder to cry on. The only way to move forward is if we help each other do it together..Much LOVE
I recently discovered a small tick on the skin of a cousin who lives in Switzerland just think they can be anywhere.
Over here in The Netherlands it is national Lymes Week – yes its true as we have the second worse record for Lymes in the world. I know 8 people from the local area I live in who have this, I was diagnosed with it last year, nasty illness. The Dutch government is funding a large 10 year study into this as its such a big problem and most newspapers are covering it. I suspect Annabella is a `plant` put here to rubbish anything that crops up, all websites have these planted people and most Facebook groups also. Usually set up by Big Pharma or national security agencies.
I want to thank Dr EBOEHI for helping me get cured of my lyme disease/aids diseases, for like 4 yrs Now I have been suffering from lyme disease/
but one day as I was surfing through the Internet I met a post about a lady who was cured by Dr EBOEHI so I decided to give it a try to see if he could save my life Luckily for me I was cured by him. I cannot stop thanking him for what he has done for me if you are into similar problem you can contact him via: email on supernaturalspelltemple@ gmail. com.
I have had Lyme Disease since July 2013, the individual that stated about the bs politics regarding this, I am with you. If we were not ignored and spoken to like we were full of it from these so called specialists who state “you do not have Lyme’s disease” it would make our lives a little less painful. It’s bad enough the suffering we are going through with this affecting every inch of our mind, body and souls, to have some doctor tell you it’s in your head and to go seek psychiatric care does not help anyone. Most people have been disregarded, instead of being told this is what you have and try and seek help wherever you can.
I have started a treatment, it’s a naturopathic one, approximately $ 300.00 a month US, it takes a year but will clear the bacteria out of your system, and not as painfully expensive and dangerous as antibiotic treatments. I can not take most antibiotics and suffer severe allergies. “The Cowdens Support Program”. Please look up this program whether you have just contracted this disease or have had it for sometime, this doctor has studied it intensely. I thank God for my doctor who told me right from the beginning he felt I had Lyme’s and also believes in naturopathic help. My doctor has done everything he possibly could to make me as comfortable through this hell as he possibly could and saw me every 2 weeks to make sure I would make it through this. Wishing everyone the best. Brenda Hardison, Fort Erie, Ontario
I was tested positive for acute lyme and treated with 3 wks of antibiotics and retested 2 wks after that which came back negative about 3 years ago. Now I have terrible fatigue, joint pain, nocturnal muscle cramping in my legs and feet, burning sensation in my feet, joint pain in my hand, sleep issues, brain fog, blurry vision and no swelling in my joints. I have asked to be retested and the doctor tells me no because I was treated already for it and so its cured. I am told im getting older and im going into the change, I am wondering if anyone has similar symptoms and if it can come back from acute lyme after treatment?