Tag Archives: coinfections

Video: Shockingly Candid Story of Lyme Disease

Uncategorized, Video July 27, 2016 Leave a comment

When I discovered this on YouTube years ago, I sobbed as a happy young boy’s health disintegrated before my eyes because of Lyme and co-infections—and no appropriate treatment.  I weep when I watch it today.

And I wonder if he ever recovered, because he’s extremely ill at the end of this video. The website for donations is gone. Did he make it?

So many thousands could tell similar stories of horrible illness, treatment hard-won, and improvements followed by crashing in an endless cycle.

Jean-Luc, I think of you often. You are my hero. Your courage has sustained me many a day.

I haven’t found the rest of your story online, but I hope the treatment you finally got has brought you to remission, and that you are out there fishing every day.

Cutting-edge Test Sets a Trap for Lyme

Co-infections, Lyme Basics, Testing January 7, 2016 Leave a comment

Click here to download and play a cool Powerpoint animation of the nano trap at work: Nanotrap animation. Courtesy Dr. Lance Liotta, George Mason University.

Don’t be put off by the science lingo—click on the image to download and play a Powerpoint of the nanotrap at work. Cool, right?
Courtesy of Dr. Lance Liotta, George Mason University.

 

Several years ago after gardening in my suburban backyard, I found a deer tick attached to my hip. Then came a rash. And then I started hurting all over like I was getting the flu.

I wasn’t surprised when my nurse practitioner examined me, diagnosed Lyme, and prescribed antibiotics. I should have been lucky. I had the bite with the beast still attached, in the middle of the classic target rash. I felt like I was dying of flu-like aches and pains.

But as it turned out, I wasn’t lucky after all.  Continue reading →

Video: Pathologist Alan MacDonald Addresses Important Lyme Questions

Co-infections, Lyme Basics, Testing, Ticks: Where It all Starts, Video September 14, 2013 Leave a comment

If you’re like me, you want to know the latest scoop on what scientists are learning about Lyme disease. In this May 2013 interview we hear again from pathologist Alan MacDonald. (This interview is part 2 of a 3-part series, see the first one here). I’ve noted some key points you can jump to if you don’t have time to view the entire interview.

Continue reading →

Burning Feet

Co-infections, Lyme Basics, Symptoms: How Do You Feel?, Tips for Family and Friends March 7, 2013 Comments: 4

I’m pretty sure most people around the world who aren’t living with Lyme think the symptom list is this simple and straightforward:

  • bull’s-eye rash
  • flu-like symptoms

And I reckon that this false belief is a major reason persistent Lyme disease continues to be missed in people with a wide range of complaints physical, cognitive, and emotional.

Continue reading →

Babesiosis: Multiple Strains Complicate Diagnosis

Co-infections, Lyme Basics, Testing February 25, 2013 Leave a comment

When I finally arrived at the door of a Lyme Literate Doctor (LLMD), I was surprised to learn that in addition to Lyme, I have an infection of the red blood cells called Babesiosis, caused by a tiny parasite.

Symptoms can include fatigue, drenching sweats, muscle aches,  and nausea; the infection often begins with a high fever. It can also attack the spleen.  I got mine from a tick bite. People also become infected through blood transfusions. 

The thing is, if you are treated for Lyme but you also have this co-infection going undetected and untreated, your health won’t improve, as seen in a recent television program about a young girl in Maryland who wasn’t improving when treated for Lyme alone. 

Continue reading →

Killing Good Bacteria with the Bad

Co-infections, Healthy Eating, Lyme Basics January 9, 2013 Comments: 4

Do the probiotics I take replace the good bacteria wiped out by antibiotics?

Do the probiotics I take replace the good bacteria wiped out by antibiotics?

I’m pretty tired of that perky Jamie Lee Curtis and her “Activia” ads on television. Yeah, I’ll admit it, maybe I’m just jealous that she looks so damned good at her age, while I feel my own looks sliding into oblivion as the years slide by.

But I’ll admit she delivers an important message in those yogurt ads—good bacteria promote digestive health. And I’ve learned they do much more.

A riveting article by Michael Specter titled “Germs are Us” in the October 12 (2012) New Yorker magazine addresses this question: “Bacteria make us sick. Do they also keep us alive?”

Specter reports that “…the destruction of bacteria may contribute to Crohn’s disease, obesity, asthma, and many other chronic illnesses.”

As if I didn’t have enough to worry about with threatening bacteria like Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti roving my body and making me sick, I’m quite concerned that antibiotic treatment is killing too many good guys among the tens of thousands of bacteria species in my body. Continue reading →

My Brain on Lyme

Lyme and the Brain December 7, 2012 Comments: 15

Lame brain, Jello brain... lyme brain. Credit: skpy's Flickr stream

Lame brain, Jello brain… Lyme brain.
Credit: skpy’s Flickr stream

There was a time when I thought Lyme disease meant a fever with other flu-like symptoms and a bull’s-eye rash lasting maybe a few weeks. Even when I read that these infections can cause problems with cognition, I didn’t really get it.

Early on as my mind faltered, I thought, “Damn, it’s really happening, I’m getting older and my brain just isn’t working like it used to.” Then I figured, “Wow, the pain and fatigue from this illness are really affecting my ability to think.”

My teenaged son would look at me like I was crazy when I’d forget something we were supposed to do together. I took him to the dentist on the wrong day, even though I looked at the appointment right there on the kitchen calendar a dozen times. On some days, my brain just could not take in information correctly.

I’d blank out on the names of long-time colleagues, or struggle to put together copy for an assignment that should have been easy after many years of writing professionally.

I’d turned 50. I thought the trouble was aging. Turns out it was my brain on Lyme. Continue reading →