Lyme Disease - What do you know about it?
Well . . . I am pretty sure I have Lyme Disease. I will see a doctor on Monday. About three weeks ago I had a tick bite that left a big red painful welp. Then a week ago I got sick with like extreme arthritis everywhere and the flu. I have some issues with arthritis in my feet and feel it a bit in other joints, but this is way beyond that. We were having bad weather at the time so I thought maybe the barometric pressure was messing with me. The sun came out and it was still there.
I knew about the tick bite but thought Lyme Disease was still only up north carried by deer ticks. Well no. It is carried by the most common tick in our area.
YouTube videos on the subject are pretty interesting. Some claim the Lyme Disease is biological warfare.
I invite you to enter your stories and advice in the comments.
Comments
My reaction upon discovery . . .
So . . . I am outside working and I reach to my neck for some reason and think, "Damn! I am growing another of those fucking skin tags!" Didn't do anything about it at the time but later realized it hurt, felt it again and pulled it off me. Had no thought to save the tick.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
hey lymey
Guess it effects different people in separate ways. Diagnosed with it a couple years ago, didn't even know I had it. My joints are all arthritic anyway. The antibiotics were stiff, but made the blood clean. The other thing which came with it was a bit harder to treat, apparently on the rise.
Borreliosis is associated with lyme, a zoonotic infection. I had both, for it seems quite awhile. Some nerve damage, meningoencephalitis, problems in Neuro, heart, joints, bursae, tendons, muscle, or/and bone pains. Not so easy to eradicate. Sometimes the cure is as bad as the disease. I am now antibiotic intolerant, so I stick with probiotics and take heaps of pain relievers for functional movement. Can get into it in more depth, if you want to send a personal email. Good luck.
please do
Sounds like important info.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
@mhagle They no longer ask you to
They no longer ask you to save the tick here in the northeast. You can bring it to the doctor but they just throw it away.
don't mean to alarm you but...
The symptoms sound good if not perfect for Lyme. It used to be believed the tick had to be drilled in for 24 hours for the bacteria to travel down the proboscis into you against the blood flow. Then I think they said 12 hours. Not sure what it is now, but generally I think if you got it off within an hour, there is low risk. Again, not up on the very latest with it. Antibiotics soon make all the difference in the world. If not treated relatively quickly, it can be a lasting problem that continues to recur. I have some birder friends that got it. One just as it was breaking told 8 doctors to test for it and they wouldn't. Ninth one did when he collapsed on the job. Now it is more better known and fairly easy to squelch, as long as treated early. Otherwise relapses seem the norm. Do take it seriously, as joint pain and flulike symptoms are typical. Usually a red spot forms around the bite, but this can happen with just the bite on its own, or other groovy things they can carry like spotted fever, etc.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
other groovy things they can carry like spotted fever
Yes . . . that is an interesting aspect of the whole deal.
My friend who visited me a few days after the bite said, "go to the doc and they will give you an antibiotic." Hopefully that is still true.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
But all of the YouTube videos I watched . . .
Said that ticks infect you with gobs of stuff.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
@mhagle
Ticks can be full of all sorts of things. Another birding friend believes he got his meat
allergy/intolerance from a tick bites, which has now proven to be a great source of that. I forget how that one works, but it is another case of the tick being the vector for the pathogen. And some ticks carry multiples. They were a nasty invention if ya ask me. If it has only been a month or two, you are soon enough. It is when it goes a year without treatment that I think it has then taken too much hold to as easily get rid of. I don't recall which line of antibiotics were the ones used for it either... sorry...
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Get tested for
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
I got it from a 15 second tick bite in Texas. On my front porch!
1 in 10,000 Texas ticks transmit it.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thanks for the heads up
What does that look like? Do you get spots all over?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
@mhagle The bite on my arm
The bite on my arm barely left a mark.
I had red spots all over my legs for a couple of weeks. I was given an antibiotic. I was very sick for months.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Damn . . . noticed red spots on my legs
sitting in a hot bath tub. Not so visible now. Maybe nothing then, but I will tell the doctor about it.
Thanks for your reply! Sorry you were sick for months.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
This is definitely one of the infections you do not want to
On. They should test you on this one for sure, For some reason the tests on this particular tick born infections is more reliable. It is not optional to treat RMSF without antimicrobials. It is truly serious.
You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again you did not know. ~ William Wiberforce
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@LeChienHarry It can cause death.
It can cause death. The tick bit me a few days before I went to Panama for 11 days. Throughout the trip, I could not pick up my small piece of luggage.
If a rash is appearing, head to either the er, or emergency clinic.
Doxy is cheap and is the go to antibiotic.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Doxy 200mg dose right after bite for prevention
I live in upstate NY where lyme is prevalent. Both humans and horses at our place have had lyme. The current human medical advice is to get to the doctor as soon as a bite is detected. They prescribe antibiotics as a one time dose to prevent infection. When I had lyme my only symptom was extreme fatigue. I was sleeping for ten plus hours at night and then falling asleep behind the wheel while driving to work the next morning. Blood test showed up positive for lyme. Three weeks on antibiotics and I was cured. I got off very easy. Some people never get well and suffer with joint pain and nebulous neurological issues for the rest of their lives. Go to the doctor and get a blood test. The sooner the better. Good luck!
Thank you much for the information
Glad you got over it without complications. That is encouraging.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Marilyn, so sorry to hear. Some points to relate below....
- Ticks can be carried by birds, rodents and many other creatures. They are born clean but acquire multiple infections: bacterial, viral and fungal. It can add up to quite a soup in older ticks.
- CDC has raised its new infection rate/estimate to 300,000 new infections per year. Given that we don't screen the blood supply, the jury is out on sexual transmission, mom to baby transmission and other potentials, no idea what portion of the population is running around with this stuff.
- Borreliosis is a spirochete like Syphilis with a few differences: Syphilis transmits between humans and has a narrow temperature range it is comfortable with. Bb has been found in rodents and birds, lizards and other creatures at well below freezing and in the Death Valley desert at over 110. Not quite free-living, but very adaptive. It starts in an arachnid, can move to rodents, birds, deer and other animals, humans.
- Length of time for infection is quite variable. I could convey multiple stories of myself and others, but suffice it to say there is no magic amount of time.
- Some doctors think that if a person gets a rash/rashes (EM) that indicates previous infection as the immune system is alert to the pathogen(s) and mounting a defense. It is considered a greater than expected response if a naive contact.
- The greater percentage of doctors are ignorant of Borreliosis burgdorferi (Bb), Babesia, two of 32 or whatever number of strains are tested for. It (Babesia microti and Babesia duncanii) is an infection which is often called "American Malaria" as it infects red blood cells, and is a real difficult infection to treat. Another fairly common infection is Bartonella (in the old days, Cat Scratch Fever). The collection of these is called disparagingly in the US, Lyme Disease. In most educated location it is called by the infection name i.e. Borreliosis or Lyme Borreliosis.
- Earlier text books in medical schools had chapters dedicated to spirochete, Bb, Syphilis, but the recent editions have seen most of the information purged. Been to a lot af medical conferences where this has been shown by researchers.
- The approved tests are poor at detection. The immune system at certain points in the development of the infections assigns antibodies to antigens (infections) and there are very few free-floating antibodies in the blood stream, which is what the tests look for.
- A single pill antibiotic or six weeks is not enough. However, a good treating doctor will try to begin treatment, watch reactions to antibiotics, if the person worsens (or gets relief) with treatment, an indication of infection dying off and the body increasing inflammation as it tries to process out the toxins from dead bacteria.
- A good treating doctor will try to move the infected person from hard core antibiotics to anti inflammatory diets, herbal courses, essential oils, detox regimens to restore gut health, liver and kidney function, promote healthy eco systems internally. Not much different than agriculture/forestry really.
- Do anything you can to reduce inflammation: no sugar, no gluten. Look at the Perfect Health Diet by Paul Jaminet as it is geared toward a very good low inflammation diet but you don't feel denied (there's chocolate and wine) lots of rice, potatoes vegetables and meats, fish and fowl. No portion control or calorie counting.
Paul Jaminet
- Increase probiotics, especially Saccramyces boulardii, fermented foods like kefir and kamboucha ( you can keep your own going in a jar). Look for anti inflammatory herb(s).
- The connection to meat and more symptoms seems to be beef especially, conjectured to contain enough antibiotics to cause die off of infection, thereby worsening how a person feels. Many who can't eat beef can eat game meats.
- Some new information on Bb and the immune system:
Summary of new paper on effects of Bb on Immune System
Paper
- This fellow looks at most of the new papers and popular press information:
Rick Laferriere
He will send you daily emails with the newest information out there. Makes no personal comments. The lack of treatment and attention from doctors has caused a great deal of infighting and polarization among Bb lobby and help groups. Some FB groups however, can be fairly good if they are well administered.
I hope this helps. There is so much to learn, as so many infected people have had to sort things out for themselves. If you need more specifics, pm me.
You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again you did not know. ~ William Wiberforce
If you can donate, please! POP Money is available for bank-to-bank transfers. Email JtC to make a monthly donation.
Thank you!
I will follow your links. Really appreciate all the background information and the anti-inflammatory diet link too.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I read a couple
of books(long time ago) about Lyme disease being a biological vector that escaped a warfare facility located on an island across the sound from Lyme Conneticut. I can't remember the book titles Or the name of the island off the coast of Long Island where this facility was/is. Talked about storm caused power outages and human error response(lack thereof) allowing All Kinds of Nasty Stuff loose into the wild.
Bottom line; the warmongers fucked up(again/still).
This won't help your personal situation, and of course, it's ridiculed as CT, but how often has CT been later found to be true? Quite often, I've seen.
Good Luck, in any case, and I hope you kick it out of your system.
Stop These Fucking Wars
peace
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
I am not surprised
I haven't watched them yet, but when doing a YouTube search for info, a bunch of videos popped up about it being a biological warfare item. It makes sense.
Also, it explains the other aspect I encountered . . . that the actual number of cases are far underestimated, what LeChienHarry just said . . .
. . and Abby Martin interviewed the research scientist who is the head of this website, https://www.lymedisease.org/, and they are actually weirdly persecuted.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
There is a great documentary on Bb
Under Our Skin
The island near Connecticut (CT) is Plum Island. Lots of discussion about post WWII scientists brought in to the US to work on bio weapons and the connection with a nearby Ag research station. Even Hillary Clinton talked about the possibility. (Sorry no citation.)
The movie and it's epilogue are excellent and make the motivations simple to understand.
Wishing you well.
You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again you did not know. ~ William Wiberforce
If you can donate, please! POP Money is available for bank-to-bank transfers. Email JtC to make a monthly donation.
I got Lyme a couple years ago
Never saw the tick. Never got the tell tale bullseye rash. So my symptoms dragged on for months (arthritic joints, worst in my hips). Finally went to the doc and he said without reservation that I had osteo-arthritis. He wanted to put get me on exercise therapy (treadmills, and stretching, etc) which would have made things much much worse. I asked if it could be Lyme. And he scoffed and said no, not with these symptoms. But I insisted on a Lyme test which came back positive.
Your symptoms sound like Lyme. If it is, they will prescribe a month of doxycycline pills. It took me over a year to regain about 80-90 percent of my joint function.
Rule of thumb: If you know you got tick bit and see the bullseye rash, go to the doc right away. Lyme ain't no picnic. And people who can't get rid of it have an awful and painful outlook. Good luck.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
You might never see this . . . . being weeks ago
So I went to the doc. They did the basic lyme tests and it came back negative. Gave me an antibiotic for swollen glands. I am done with that and sicker than before. Thinking about buying the antibiotic everyone talks about online.
http://approvedonlinemeds.com/catalog/Antibiotics/Doxycycline.htm
Read that these basic tests (the one they did on me) are only 60% effective. It is because they are testing for antibodies which maybe are not much present after only a few weeks.
Sigh.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Docs are Imbeciles when it comes to Lyme
If the tests are only 60% reliable, it leaves a lot of room for error. Just a little better than a coin flip. If you read any of the Lyme forums, it is littered with reports of mis-diagnosis. Most Docs are pretty dumb about Lyme.
Here's a Lyme forum I read for a while. You can ask questions. And there is a kind of under-ground network for people who need treatment but their Docs refuse to treat them. Turns out Insurance companies don't want docs diagnosing Lyme b/c treatment costs them money -- welcome to Healthcare in the USSA.
https://www.healthboards.com/boards/lyme-disease/
I had pretty advanced Lyme -- probably had it for 8 months before diagnosis. One month of Doxy pills did the trick. Even though after the last pill, I still felt like the pills didn't cure it. It took couple months for obvious signs that my joints were recovering. It just takes time for joints to heal.
IMHO, even if you don't have Lyme, taking a month of Doxy won't hurt you -- but I ain't not Doc to do some reading to make your own decision. And Doxy was tough on my already sensitive stomach (I can't tolerate spicy food).
Best of Luck!!
Edit:
I checked my Lyme diary and found the prescription
Doxycycline Hyclate pills, 100Mg 2X daily (30 days)
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.