Guest guest Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 Lyme Disease Alert I have had Lyme disease for about six years. I say about six years, because I don’t know when I got bit or where. I was taking care of my wife who was suffering from MS, so I didn’t go very far from home or for too long a time. If I had to guess, I would say it might have been while watching my dogs in a little fenced in area, or mowing the lawn, especially behind the pool where there was underbrush and some low hanging tree branches in our yard on Street in High Bridge. I know the deer were in all our back yards on that street that year, and they are there this year too. I know others on my street, in my town, in our State and places from Pennsylvania to New England who are also suffering form Lyme disease or Lyme and co-infections that can come along with a tick bite. Like many other, when I first began to feel unusual symptoms, I visited a local doctor who found nothing particularly wrong with me, but suggested that I get more rest and time away from the stress of care-giving. Like many others too, I never had the classis “bulls-eye rash” that allows doctors to identify a tick bit as transmitting the Lyme organism. But I was lucky. One day, when going to my pharmacy to get supplies for my wife, I told my pharmacists, at Grayrock Pharmacy, how I had been feeling. immediately raised his eyebrows and looking at me, without a moment’s hesitation suggesting that I had Lyme and should get to his doctor in as soon as possible for testing. He told me that he too, and many of his family members had Lyme and were all being treated as a family. I am very glad knew what was wrong with me and told me to been seem immediately; otherwise I would have lost valuable time in getting treatment. Because of his families involvement with this disabling disease, has many important resources for his customers, such as the classic symptoms list to check which he showed to me, and Dr. ph Burrascano’s treatment guidelines. Pharmacist continues to update his Lyme information and recently began carrying a line of very effective herbal formulations that have been safely and effectively used to fight Lyme and co-infections. I have found that he has helped innumerable customers learn about Lyme prevention and treatment and recommends that anyone ask questions when they are there, as he is always more than willing to help. Grayrock Pharmacy is located at 1802 Rt. 31 in Clinton, and can be reached at 908-638-4000. This year Lyme disease is proliferating at a rapid rate. Right now, the State of Pennsylvania has the fastest rate of increase in cases. The entire Northeast is effected by this disease and it is now showing up in states that have never seen it before. In fact, there is an unexpected and surprising 30% rise in tick borne pathogens in Rhode Island this year that indicates some undiscovered factors in the environment that make prediction difficult. The CDC indicates that there were just 17,730 reported cases of Lyme in 2000. But many cases of Lyme are not reported, and the guidelines for reporting are limited in its definition of the disease. Doctors on the front line of fighting the disease say that now it is more likely that yearly cases are as high as 200, 000, with as many as 20 million people in this country currently infected. New Jersey is one of the states with the highest rates of infection, with Hunterdon Country is on the top of the list. Not all ticks cause Lyme, and Lyme is not caused by only ticks. Recently it has been discovered that some flees, mosquitoes and mites are also carriers. There is also now evidence that human-to-human transmission occurs. More controversial is the issue of whether Lyme is transmitted sexually. Dr. Bach of Colmar, Pennsylvania has found substantial evidence for sexual transmission and teaches caution in his workshops. Another issue is that the carriers of the ticks include rodents as well as deer. This means that we all must take precautions when outside between June and November (or until the first hard frost), the months when ticks are active. How can you protect yourself from Lyme? Use a DEET-free insect repellant such as Shoo-Bug on your cloths. Tuck pants in socks, and wear long sleeves. Stay away from brush, dead leaves and heaven undergrowth. Treat your dogs with Frontline. Check yourself for ticks after hikes or camping, but keep in mind that ticks carrying Lyme can be as small as the point of a pencil and very hard to find. If you do find a tick, remove it with tweezers by grasping the jaw area and pulling it straight out. Place the tick or ticks in either a glass jar or resealable sandwich bad, date it, and put it in the freezer. Don’t contaminate the tick by adding alcohol, insecticides, or petroleum jelly, or burning it with a match. The tick can be checked later for infection, but only if it is uncontaminated. Generally the tick needs to remain attacked 12 or more hours before it can pass on the infective material, so check yourself and remove the tick as soon as possible, and treat the skin around the bite with alcohol. Adult deer ticks must be attached for 48 hours to transmit the Lyme disease pathogen, while nymphs, which are tiny and difficult to see, need only be attached for 24 hours to transmit a Lyme infection. It is the tiny nymphal stage that is active now. What are the symptoms of Lyme and Co-infections? This has really two answers first, it is not just a matter of looking for a specific symptom, and second, Lyme is known as the “great imitator”. This means that while there is a list of typical symptoms for Lyme in general, it is important to realize that Lyme is a “systemic” disease, effecting the whole body or body/brain making symptoms very different in many individuals. For those who first get Lyme, the symptom list is very helpful, but for those who are not diagnosed until later, the symptoms imitate a startling number of other conditions, making it more likely for the non-Lyme specialist doctor to diagnose the patient as having one of as many as 350 other diseases or conditions! First, here are the most typical symptoms to watch for after a tick bite or a suspected infection from Lyme. · From 3 to 30 days afterward: the bull’s-eye rash at the site of the bite (in maybe half of the cases); fever, shills, headache, muscle and/or joint pain, fatigue. (I will add in my own case, the first symptoms were rapid heart beat and irregular heart beat) · From days to weeks afterwards: multiple rashes, facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy), stiff neck, fever, headache, weakness, numbness, or pain in the arms or legs, irregular heart beat, weakness and fatigue. · Weeks to months afterwards: arthritis in the lower joints (usually the knees), nervous system problems. (In my case, the infections crossed the blood-brain barrier and quickly became neuro-psychological, which included, dizziness, ringing in the ears (tenitis), paranoia, anxiety, word order problems, short term memory loss, vision and hearing problems, mood swings and depression). It is also important to know that some people remain asymptomatic until a traumatic experience or high stress level lowers the immune capabilities. The most common co-infections in our area are Babesiosis, Ehrlicheosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The symptoms for these infections are similar to Lyme, but will not be eradicated with the same treatments, so it is important to make sure you are tested for co-infections as well as for Lyme if you suspect a tick bit. Because Lyme is the “great imitator” it makes diagnosis more difficult and misdiagnosis more likely. As an example from my own experience, many patients previously diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis have made real recovery when tested and treated for Lyme disease. I have seen them out of their wheel chairs in my own Lyme doctor’s office. As mentioned above, Lyme can mimic over 350 different medical conditions. Such a list would be too long here, but, after reading just a few, you’ll see how widespread the problem of Lyme has become: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Bell’s palsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, fibromyalgia, schizophrenia, irritable bowel syndrome, coronary artery disease, heart failure, heart palpitations, attention deficit disorder chronic pain syndromes, sleep apnea, mitral valve prolapse, endometriosis, polycyctic ovary syndrome, Meriere,s disease, esophageal reflux, gallbladder inflammation, and various autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, lupus, and scleroderma. From this sort list, you can see how Lyme can be misdiagnosed. Keep in mind that the spirochete associated with Lyme can burrow into every tissue and organ in the body, causing widespread inflammation and destruction. Over time, it diminishes your immune system’s ability to mount a proper defense, which opens the door to other pathogens like those mentioned above. Additionally, each of those pathogens releases powerful neurotoxins that tend to gravitate toward the fat molecules that make up nerve and brain cells. This tendency helps explain problems like extreme pain, headaches, sudden deafness, reflex problems, and muscle weakness that many Lyme patients experience when their first bout of symptoms appears; we well as the more severe neurological problems that follow. Testing and treatment are also areas of controversy. There are several blood tests for Lyme. The most widely used is the Western Blot, which check for antibodies the body makes to fight proteins in the organism, but the Lyme organism changes form (from a spiral shape to a cyst shape) and is then “in hiding”, thus leaving little, if any, indication from this test. Also, many doctors not familiar with Lyme don’t realize that patients taking steroids, antibiotics, or anti-inflammatory mediations (even ibuprofen or naproxen) well get a false negative from this test. For an accurate reading patients should be off all medications of these types for at least six-weeks, or (as some say) up to six months before the test. As mentioned early in this article, doctors sometimes find no symptoms until patients suffer traumas or stressful events. Diagnosis is also complicated by the presence of co-infections like the bacterium Ehrlichia phagocytophilia, or the protozoa (similar to malaria), Babesia microti. Treatment for Lyme and co-infections has its problems as well. There are widely differing opinions on length of time necessary for treatment and which medications are most effective. Some medical practitioners suggest that 30 to 60 days of antibiotics is enough, while others say this is woefully inadequate. Doctors to want to treat chronic Lyme with long-term antibiotics sometimes face the loss of their medical licenses for over treatment. Even with this, many Lyme Literate Medical Doctors (LLMD) continue to use long-term treatment as the only way to eradicate the infection. Current therapy consists of either oral antibiotics (such as Biaxin or Zithromax) or intravenous (such as Rocephin), often combined with anti-protazoal (for co-infections) like Mepron (which I was treated with). It actually takes from 8 to 16 months of continuous use to eradicate the Lyme spirochete and other pathogens. An inadequate treatment period results in a relapse and those who suffer from “chronic Lyme.” I must be pointed out that there are also effective natural treatments including homeopathic and herbal products, special diets, exercise and psychological techniques that maintain positive mental states as well as reducing stress. Many “naturopaths” are effectively treating Lyme, and these techniques are also sometime combined with the more traditional antibiotic protocol. My personal story has also recently been published along with thirteen other patients whose lives where challenged by Lyme disease and its co-infections, and by unanticipated medical obstacles. The book also has valuable resources for anyone who wants to be protected from getting this disease and for those and/or their family members or friends who already have the disease. These stories and resources will open your eyes to the pitfalls and time consuming problems with diagnosis and treatment that could mean saving unnecessary suffering and damage from chronic infection as well as giving hope and courage in reading these wonderful stories. The book is “Confronting Lyme Disease: What Patient Stories Teach Us”, by P. Yerges and Rita L. Stanley, Ph.D, with a forward by Lesley Ann Fein, M.D., MPH, a well known Lyme doctor in New Jersey. The official book web site is http://www.confrontinglyme.com and is available locally as well as at Amazon.com and at http://www.booksurge.com/bookstore.php3. Finally, some good support and sharing are available on line in the Lyme Email Lists and associated Web Pages, such as e. Many towns and localities also offer support groups and provide lectures my well-known doctors and specialists. There is an increased need for public education as well as State and Federal Funding for research and treatment of Lyme disease. This disease is quickly reaching epidemic proportions and has caused untold suffering, financial hardship, human relations problems, family break-ups and disability. We must all be made aware of its prevalence, its difficulty to diagnose and treat, its ability to mimic many other conditions, and its long-term consequences. If you have any suspicion you have been bit by a tick, or are suffering any symptoms like those described in this article, do not hesitate to be tested for Lyme disease, as prompt action is crucial. Here are a few helpful resources that are available and may prove invaluable to your prevention and health. Lyme Disease Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 332, Tolland, CT. 06084-0332. http://www.lyme.org/ or E-mail mailto:lymefnd@.... 860-870-0070 and 800-886-LYME (5963) 24-hour information hotline. International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. P.O. Box 241461, Bethesda, MD 20827. http://www.ilads.org. 301-263-1080. Lyme Disease Association, Inc. 5019 Megill Road, Farmington, NJ 07727. http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/. E-mail: mailto:lymeliter@.... Glenroy Barrett Wolfsen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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