Lyme disease-- Problem in the Okanagan?

[TreeGuy]

Since my last post I have done two 4 week rounds of antibiotics, two different antibiotics 3x per day plus many different supplements to counteract the damage of antibiotics. I was also diagnosed with Babesia, a co-infection that can be found with Lyme Disease.

About a week before Christmas I turned the corner and woke up one morning on a Friday feeling better than I had felt in a really long time. The arthritic type pain in my knees has yet to go away and my blood tests still show I am very anemic. I have had a low RBC for over a year now, this could be caused by the Babesia.

This week I should be receiving two herbal antibiotics that I am to take and if my symptoms return then I am supposed to go back on the regular antibiotics.

I was fortunate enough to be referred to a Naturopathic Dr. that specializes in Lyme Disease that practices down on the Coast. His rates are $80/15 minutes. I have seen him in person a couple of times and other times have done the consult over the phone. The drugs and the supplements are also very expensive with a little bit of coverage through my wife's group health.

Although I am feeling better I am hesitant to get too excited. The last two springs is when the disease has cycled and impacted me the most. My Dr. tells me that the symptoms could return again but that suppressing the Lyme will take less time each time. If the symptoms come back and it takes more than a month to recover then likely it is a re-exposure to the disease.

[Farmmaa]

Treeguy - I have a friend who was deathly ill with Lyme's. She went through hell for years trying to find doctors who knew how to treat the disease properly.
She was referred to a naturopathic specialist in Texas and was given a regime of diet and supplements that changed her life completely.
She has been 100% symptom-free for years now.

If you are interested in finding out more ( because I really have no idea what she was given ), just PM me and I can pass your info on to her.

[Poindexter]

Glad you're feeling better tree guy, worrying about relapses must be a load to bare but hopefully your spring goes well reducing that weight.

Listening to your symptoms made we wonder, I have an old highschool buddy who grew up on a farm where one summer he was bitten by a tick and ended up with paralysis that eventually went away. Much later in life he started having symptoms very similar to yours but was diagnosed with MS. For some inexplicable reason British Colombians suffer from MS at a far higher rate than any other part of the world. MS also happens to be one of the most difficult things to detect without autopsy and is usually diagnosed by ruling everything else out. Cant help but wonder if many people like my friend actually have Lyme disease and are not receiving proper treatment because of a false negative on our inadequate Lyme disease test.

[Poindexter]

Researchers have discovered a second type of bacteria that causes Lyme disease that is carried by the same deer tick, but that veers from the condition’s typical symptom of a “bull’s eye” rash.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the Mayo Clinic and health officials from Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota said in a press release Monday that the bacteria Borrelia mayonii, as well as the previously known bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, can cause Lyme disease.

“This discovery adds another important piece of information to the complex picture of tick-borne diseases in the United States,” Dr. Jeannine Petersen, microbiologist at the CDC, said in the release.

Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, infects more than 200,000 Americans per year, and, if left untreated, can cause potentially life-threatening damage to the heart, joints and nervous system. If treated early with antibiotics, its early symptoms of fever, headache and fatigue can pass after two to four weeks, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Scientists discovered the new species when six of 9,000 samples of people suspected of having Lyme in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota were found to have bacteria that was genetically distinct from B. burgdorferi. After DNA sequencing, researchers found the bacteria belonged to a different Borrelia species. According to the release, a culture test at the CDC analyzed blood from two of the patients.

The CDC said their findings suggest the new bacteria is limited to the upper Midwest. The agency couldn’t identify it in any of the other estimated 25,000 blood samples drawn during the same period from residents suspected of having Lyme in the other 43 U.S. states— including in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, where Lyme borne of B. burgdorferi is most common.

Important discovery since it appears even the US test was incomplete with the discovery of this new form of the bacteria that is specific to our region.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/02/0 ... sease.html

[TreeGuy]

Glad you're feeling better tree guy, worrying about relapses must be a load to bare but hopefully your spring goes well reducing that weight.

Listening to your symptoms made we wonder, I have an old highschool buddy who grew up on a farm where one summer he was bitten by a tick and ended up with paralysis that eventually went away. Much later in life he started having symptoms very similar to yours but was diagnosed with MS. For some inexplicable reason British Colombians suffer from MS at a far higher rate than any other part of the world. MS also happens to be one of the most difficult things to detect without autopsy and is usually diagnosed by ruling everything else out. Cant help but wonder if many people like my friend actually have Lyme disease and are not receiving proper treatment because of a false negative on our inadequate Lyme disease test.

It is quite likely. Lyme disease can mimic over 300 different illnesses. In the beginning I was diagnosed with Diverticulitis when I ended up in the ER with a high fever and stomach pain so bad I thought I was dying.

Canada has the highest MS diagnosis rate and the lowest diagnosis rate of Lyme compared to the USA.

For anyone looking for information on Lyme disease there is going to be a info session held at Choices Market in Kelowna.

https://www.choicesmarkets.com/event/waging-war-on-lyme-disease/

[TreeGuy]

Surprise, surprise, surprise! The more people I talk to about Lyme the more I hear from people who have it or have had it. I am out of pocket a good sum of money for the treatment I sought through Naturopathic Dr.'s, hopefully others in the future won't have to go through the same ordeal.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-165866-4-.htm#165866

[Poindexter]

Thanks, appreciate the link. I had a tick last weekend camping, just above hairline on back of head. Was there when I woke up and felt like a small scab so figured a branch got me. Pretty silly as I've posted here before and know the dangers but not thinking. Was fishing that afternoon and picking at what I thought was a blemish when it popped off and saw what it was.

Wife had had a flu the week before so when I started feeling exhausted and glands swelled up about 2 days later i wasn't sure what the cause could be. Was pretty sure the tick hadn't bitten as there was no mark of anykind but still went to clinic. Told dr could be flu or tick, better safe than sorry. Dr told me that a tick has to be on you for three days in order to get infected. Said once it's engorged it regurgitates a little infected blood back into you. Then checked for a rash which I don't have, told me it's a cold and that was that. Feeling better now so don't think I have anything but have since heard from a friend who's girlfriend has Iyme desease that the Dr was completely wrong.

Just something I wish I had remembered to do, keep the tick you find on yourself because apparently only one species carries the bacteria. Right about now it'd be nice to know one way or the other.

[JLives]

This is the first year I have ever seen a tick and I'm in the bush almost every weekend. Wear a hat and check yourself. Don't mess around with ticks. My family member with Lyme disease is currently in their early 50's and having to relearn their ABC's because of a BC tick.

[Farmmaa]

This is the first year I have ever seen a tick and I'm in the bush almost every weekend. Wear a hat and check yourself. Don't mess around with ticks. My family member with Lyme disease is currently in their early 50's and having to relearn their ABC's because of a BC tick.

They were bad this year. I've already found four on me...first time since I was a kid.
Thankfully I found them before they had a chance to bite.
None on my pup yet, they must like my blood better.

Really hoping that this early hot weather means an early end to their season as well

[E.L. Communications]

I am just wondering if anyone has any information on Lyme Disease. It is caused by wood ticks and i know many people who are having a very difficult time getting treatment. I understand that the government and mainstream science do not recognize this disease in Canada. I also have a friend in Germany who is fighting this disease and in Germany there is much more information.
Anybody with info to share?

Hi, I've grown up in the Okanagan. I had Lyme disease for a number of years. Completely went through the ringer with most things people do with Lyme. I know how and where anyone struggling with Lyme (and a number of other diseases and issues) can be helped within B.C. I've been helped and have seen many others helped. you can *removed*

[JLives]

My partner's aunt was long believed to have MS. Something wasn't adding up and after test after test if was discovered to be Lyme disease. It is a horrible disease.

And today we lost a beacon of love. To an f-ing bug bite. 15 years of misdiagnoses and nobody knowing what was going on or how to treat it. They thought it was MS, alzheimer's, lupus, early onset dementia ... Nope, it was lyme disease. When she eventually did get a diagnoses she had to go to the US because our medical system didn't recognize it as real. It's very real, it's very heartbreaking and we aren't doing a damn thing about it. RIP Karen Johnston. Your girls and grandbabies will carry on with your loving legacy.

[kgcayenne]

I'm so sad for your loss. It's absolutely heartbreaking when people who are supposed to be professionals let things slip.

[gman313]

I'm so sad for your loss. It's absolutely heartbreaking when people who are supposed to be professionals let things slip.

x2

[LANDM]

Ditto. Very tragic and sad.

[Temet Nosce]

Surprise, surprise, surprise! The more people I talk to about Lyme the more I hear from people who have it or have had it. I am out of pocket a good sum of money for the treatment I sought through Naturopathic Dr.'s, hopefully others in the future won't have to go through the same ordeal.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-165866-4-.htm#165866

I know this thread is older now but TreeGuy if you don't mind sharing how did you eventually get diagnosed? I skimmed through and may have missed it in the thread but not sure how you finally got diagnosed.