Posted by bleauberry on March 11, 2009, at 16:15:47
In reply to Turned down for Lyme test; what now?, posted by Budzoid on March 10, 2009, at 21:35:18
Unfortnately half the battle against Lyme diseaes is with the political/economic/insurance beauracracy.
> After telling my story to him, THE EXPERT Doc. (name explained later),told me I was right to assume the connection. I was told I DID have many symptoms of the disease. This is where it gets interesting.
> I was told the following: 1)my rash from a bite could be produced by any tick. 2)The southeast U.S. does not have ticks with Lyme.Umm, excuse me, do not people from infected areas get in airplanes or cars and travel/move to infected areas? Do not ticks fly on the wings of birds?
3)my arthritis is probably from a neck injury I had when I was 8, and now that I was in my 50's, it was time for it to show up.
Yeah, I love these guys who know it all. Of course he knew it was going to be right on time showing up now. Sorry, arthritis is not a result of injuries decades ago. Arthritis is a result of joint inflammation. Infection is the primary cause of otherwise unprovoked inflammation.
3)I do not have any heart problems except high blood pressure and a leaky heart valve.
> I agreed that the arthritis statement could possibly explain that, but I still wanted the Western Blot test to eliminate any possibility. A negative result would ease my mind and maybe I could sleep at night without worrying.You couldn't be more wrong. The Western Blot is wrong 40% of the time. There does not exist an accurate test for Lyme. The Western Blot was originally designed by the CDC to survey Lyme in non-symptomatic people in an attempt to track it. It has always been experimental and flawed. According to the CDC itself, it is not intended or reliable for accurate diagnosis. That was not its purpose. Yet, the powers that be in ego-land have turned the Western Blot into a bible.
Whether you tested positive or negative is meaningless. Diagnosis is clinical, where the test itself is considered as part of the overall picture. The other parts of the picture are: History, Symptoms, Response to Trial Antibiotics.
> I was then told not to worry, he was an ASSOCIATE of the CDC and he had the education and experience to say I did not need the test. He also stated: "if we did test and it came back positive, we would be opening a can of worms".(WTF???).
Really? Like getting someone on a protocol to better health is a can of worms? Is that not their job? What, does he only take the easy straight forward stuff?
Hey, it isn't his fault. The CDC and all associated with it are indeed bound by very tight rigid rules in treatment protocols and diagnosis. They are the absolute worst ones to care for you because they have no elbow room to move. Even if you were diagnosed, they can't treat you longer than their own predetermined amount of time (I think it is 3 months, not sure?). It takes usually 9 months to 2 years. If the CDC treated you, you would leave still sick at the end of it.
> I left feeling THE EXPERT was only looking for reasons NOT to test, and ignoring all the reasons TO test.
Indeed. Political. Economic. Other interests come before you.
> This is obviously the VA's policy on the subject. Since I don't have the money or the insurance to get an outside opinion, it looks like I will never know if some or all my problems can be treated with simple antibiotics.
Can you not get a part time job? I mean, all you need is about $150 a month to pay cash for an LLMD who knows what the heck he's doing and has the freedom to do it, and the antibiotics which are cheap. A cashier at WalMart 4 hours a day would make almost $100 a week. That's all you need for a whole month.
> I guess I must learn to live with the following problems that do not respond to "regular" medicines or treatments: severe depression, obsessive-compulsive behavior, chronic pain from a stiff neck that is arthritic, not being able to read a book due to lack of concentration, neuropathy,and only being able to sleep in 2 hour spurts. FOREVER.
> BUT, I'm not an EXPERT.
>
>You need to TRY antibiotics. That is the only way to know for sure. You have to figure out a way to do that, either with a professional's help or on your own. The starting point is simple...Tetracycline 500mg 20 minutes before supper once every other day. See what happens. Most people will feel a lot better within a couple days, and then get worse when the Herx reaction hits, and then get better for real.
The normal dose is 500mg 3 times a day. All you need is 500mg a day or every other day to make a diagnostic test, to dip your toes in the water, so to speak, and see what the temperature is.
Whatever you do, do not succumb to the political machine. Take charge of yourself.
At the very least, spend a few days or a week studying everything you can find on the net about Lyme and LLMDs, and study Sam Donta, print out everything that supports your request to just do a trial of antibiotics without any testing, and then go back to that expert as an expert yourself and make that request.
Knowing where he stands, you have the upper hand. You can bring in research to shut down every single stance you know in advance he will take, and you will have it in writing in your hands for him to view. Not that it will necessarily get you treatment, he'll probably feel intimidated, embarrassed, or whatever. But you can do your part to further the cause of bringing medicine to a higher level.
poster:bleauberry
thread:884805
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090304/msgs/884899.html