Thursday 29 July 2010

The Psychological Effects of Lyme

Doctors warn that Lyme can cause changes of personality !
With all the symptoms that Lyme Disease sufferers have to put up with, I am not surprised

A Letter to Normal People

Have you ever wished you could explain to family and friends how you are feeling.
Do you get tired of being told  "Oh! You look good today" when inside you feel like you are in the throes of death !  This link is written by Anonymous as "A Letter to Normal People."

Share it with family and friends so that they can try to understand how you REALLY are feeling.

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Lyme Disease - An exercise in nailing Jello to a wall

If your doctors thinks it is all in your head, it time to get a new doctor...

A Plague of Ignorance regarding the Ignorance of a Plague


A Plague of Ignorance regarding the Ignorance of a Plague

http://www.ra-infection-connection.com/Scott%20Taylor%202004%20CHRONIC%20LYME%20DISEASE.html



DISEASE (Borreliosis)
A Plague of Ignorance Regarding the Ignorance of a Plague
© Copyright 2004, Dr Scott Taylor, DVM,
All rights Reserved


My objective for writing this report is to help inform the layman and the medical community about the extremely complex infection called Lyme disease. I have recently been infected with Lyme disease and I will share my experience and what I have learned about the complex nature of Lyme disease in this report.

I continue to update this report and I foresee many revisions of it in the future as more information regarding Lyme disease surfaces. I have recently been introduced to a major medical breakthrough discovered by Dr. Trevor Marshall, research director at the Autoimmunity Research Foundation in Thousand Oaks, CA. I have updated this version of the report to include this vital information.


Lyme disease (LD) is a seriously complex multi-system inflammatory disease that is triggered by the bacterial lipoproteins (BLPs) produced by the spiral-shaped bacteria called Borrelia. Borrelia are difficult to isolate, grow, and study in the laboratory. So, our technical knowledge of this pathogen is poor compared to our understanding of most bacteria that cause disease. Transmission of Borrelia occurs primarily through the bite of ticks. The disease affects every tissue and every major organ system in the body. Clinically, it can appear as a chronic arthalgia (joint pain), fibromyalgia (fibrous connective tissue and muscle pain), chronic fatigue, immune dysfunction and as neurological disease. LD may even be fatal in severe cases.

The diagnosis of Lyme disease is primary based upon clinical evidence. There is currently no laboratory test that is definitive for Lyme disease. Many tests give false negative results. Physicians not familiar with the complex clinical presentation of Lyme disease frequently misdiagnose it as other disorders such as: Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Motor Neuron Disease (ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis -Lou Gherig’s disease), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome (MCS) and numerous other psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Lyme disease is a familiar name to most people, but their knowledge of it is very limited. Unfortunately, this is also true for most professionals in the medical community. 

Thursday 22 July 2010

Insurance companies deny coverage for Lyme patients

In this compelling book on Lyme Disease read this excerpt on how Lyme sufferers are being discriminated against.  Click title for link.

Chronic Lyme Disease - Myth or Reality

This website was founded by several people whose wish it is to educate Lyme Disease sufferers from around the world.  Click title to link to their website.


Lyme Disease Symptoms
Early-Stage Lyme Disease Symptoms:
  • Circular rash known as erythema migrans (EM)
  • Fatigue
  • Chills, Fever
  • Headache
  • Muscle Soreness
  • Joint Aches
  • Swollen Lymph Nodes
Late-Stage (Chronic) Lyme Disease Symptoms:
  • Severe Headaches, brain fog, and confusion
  • Neck Stiffness
  • Meningitis
  • Encephalitis
  • Neuropathy
  • Dizziness
  • Cardiac Irregularities, arrhythmia, and pain 
  • Depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
  • Anxiety, panic attacks, and social withdrawal
  • Memory Loss, poor concentration
  • Schizophrenia, paranoia
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Bipolar Disorder, manic depression
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia
  • Numbness and Tingling
  • arthritis and arthritic symptoms

Lyme - The unknown epidemic

Millions of people who are diagnosed with MS, fibromyalgia, Alzheimers, chronic fatigue syndrome and other degenerative diseases could well have Lyme Disease causing or contributing to their illness/es.  Forget everything you may previously have read about Lyme.  It is not a rare disease at all. It is an epidemic.

For more on this topic, click the above title

"Lyme is not just a disease that makes you tired and itchy - 
it can utterly destroy a person's life and ultimately be fatal"  


"If it wasn't for AIDS, Lyme would be the number one infectious disease in the US and Western  Europe...."

You may find this book interesting reading...




Tuesday 20 July 2010

Movie about Lyme disease



This movie has recently been released in the United States.  Watch the trailer.
It is a MUST see if you are a Lyme sufferer.

The South Africa Government and Insurance companies MUST change their attitude to Lyme Disease and recognise it for the debilitating disease that it is.

It is NOT in the mind!

Unless you have suffered with Lyme Disease, you can NEVER understand what it does to you.
How it tries to strangle you and and slowly suffocate you, stealing your life from you !!

Sunday 18 July 2010

Tick bites and mystery food Allergy

Do you eat beef, pork or lamb?  Then you should listen to this audio recording.

Lyme and Ozone (03) Therapy...

~7~ SEVEN LYME FACTS THAT COULD HAVE SAVED ME!!!

Lyme Disease is spreading around the world

Lyme Disease is spreading around the world and is alive and kicking in South Africa!

The disease is well documented in northern African countries of Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal, but little is known of its effects in southern Africa and more specifically South Africa.

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Lyme Disease - a new disease in southern Africa..... 1989 !

In 1995, I suggested to my doctor that what I was suffering was Lyme Disease and was told it was impossible.  Lyme Disease only occurred in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, USA....
In 1989, it is suggested in this article that there was evidence of  lyme disease in the Republic of South Africa.

Why didn't they just listen to me instead of fobbing me off with MS ? !!

Home Remedies to help you cope with Lyme

Co-infection

Thinning Hair In Women Could This Be A Sign Of Underlying Health Issues

Thinning Hair In Women Could This Be A Sign Of Underlying Health Issues

Monday 12 July 2010

Lyme Disease : Medical compensation or NOT !!

I was forced to stop working earlier in 2010 due to ill health, (Lyme + 4 co-infections) but do you think my then employer gave a damn.

 NO!!  But I am made out to be a liar and a cheat because I was advised by someone to apply for disability. Although I have been ill for well over 12 months, my Ex boss claims I did not leave for ill-health. So, according to him, I am a liar and I am also 'possibly in denial' of my how my health was affecting my performance at work - how he contradicts himself...  This despite the fact I gave them 3 months notice (normal is 30 days) despite how ill I was feeling, to find a replacement School Administrator.  So now I sit with NO income, and NO medical aid to pay for my medical expenses which amount to about R3000-00 per month.  I cannot afford the R8000-00 to have more blood tests to see if there is any improvement in my health!  As a result of his statement, I was declined a disability claim by OM.

A letter to the Dean of the Faculty to inform him of this situation, and to ask for an intervention, goes ignored. It seems to me that at you are just a number. And if you are ill, you count for even less.

When you become ill, through no fault of your own, you are just chewed up and spat out when they are finished with you.

There is NO concern for your health and well being. You are now useless and therefore no longer of any good to them.  Isn't Wits wonderful...  They are so concerned about their 2010 Vision (where did that go to) that they have no morals when it comes to long serving staff who have given their all to the institution, even at risk of personal health !!   How I wish I had left the day I was given the diagnosis of my illnesses!

I didn't ask to be bitten by ticks in 1985 and again in 1994. When I asked my doctors to treat me for Lyme Disease, they laughed at me and said it was impossible for me to have it as it did not exist outside of the area of Lyme, Connecticut, USA!! So i was diagnosed with ' possible MS'.

These people have no idea of the life they have stolen from me by their arrogance and ignorance.

I have been treated by 14 specialists between 1985 and 2010.  Neurologists (6), Gastrointerologists (2), Neuro surgeon (1), General Physicians (2),  Opthalmologist (1), Retinologist (1), Pulmonologist (1),

God knows if I can face another 15 years of antibiotic therapy to recover....  they say it can take as long to recover as you have been suffering with this illness.

Click title for link to video on this subject.

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Lyme Disease and the Herx Reaction

If you are taking anti-biotic therapy for your Lyme disease, you will no doubt know what Herx is all about. It is common for patients undergoing therapy to experience a worsening of their symptoms before they start to feel better. I am currently on my 5th consecutive treatment and still suffer with Herx.

Sometimes it is mistaken as an allergic reaction to the anti-biotics, when in fact it just shows that the meds are doing what they should. It happens when the bateria are attacked and die off, thereby releasing toxins into the bodies system. This makes the bodies immune system go into overdrive for a time whilst it deals with the rush of toxins and debris.

Herx can last from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on how your body copes. You can experience chills, fevers, headaches, nausea and sometimes a drop in blood pressure.

This is an interesting link.

Lyme Disease and Ozone Therapy

I have been very interested in the use of ozone as a therapy for treating my Lyme Disease.
Unfortunately I cannot find anyone in South Africa to respond to me about their treatment.
There are sites that have information, but they don't reply to my enquiry. Perhaps they think I am the long end of the law.

From this I have assumed that maybe this line of therapy is frowned upon by the medical council...

However I will continue to research this method as an alternative or add-on therapy for Lyme.