Posted by bleauberry on February 4, 2019, at 6:51:41
In reply to Re: Lyme Disease article., posted by alexandra_k on February 4, 2019, at 0:32:08
Your symptoms and tick exposure are enough to justify treatment, as far as I am concerned. If you can find an LLMD in your area for a clinical diagnosis that would be the best route. But in a not-so-perfect world, sometimes patients have to act on their own if they feel knowledgable enough to do so. There are plenty of books and blogs out there to get started on your own with simple over the counter herbal products, which can be almost as good as prescriptions. Whatever you do, if you do anything, start with very low doses and go slowly.
Only half of lyme patients ever get a rash. And those who do get a rash, it doesn't always look like a bullseye. Sometimes it can look like a red blotch or a whole bunch of spots sort of like measles.
My journey taught me that lyme infections are way more common than the general public wants to admit. Estimates are that for every one case correctly diagnosed, there are 9 other cases misdiagnosed as something else, or in your case, where there was never a diagnosis.
My doctors say psychiatric symptoms are almost universal with lyme patients. Especially treatment resistant patients. They said it can be as high as 9 out of 10 patients have psych issues from it. Literature suggests it is maybe 3 out of 10. In any case, it's a lot of people. Even if we go with the 3 out of 10, that means that 3 of the 10 posters here at psychobabble could very likely have an undiagnosed stealth chronic infection. If we go with my doctors clinical experiences, then that suggests 9 out of 10 babblers have some stealth hidden microbial issues at the heart of their troubles.
It's hard to treat with psych meds because there is so much messed up in the body's circuits and the brains wiring. Dopamine, serotonin, GABA, cortisol..they all get severely messed up. In my experience the best way to compensate is not with reuptake inhibitors, but rather, with agonists. For example a dopamine agonist would be Ritalin or Adderall. A GABA agonist would be a benzodiazepine or Lemon Balm herb. Not sure about a serotonin agonist.Antagonists such as antipsychotics I think are also helpful in treating lyme symptoms. They can block, or force out, a lot of the toxins saturating the brain receptors.
With lyme things are always in motion, never staying the same for very long, and that makes treatment with psych meds difficult as well. There are unexplained good days and unexplained bad days. A patient may need different meds for the different days.
Anyway, I am very sorry for your experience. Keep learning and keep fighting!
> I thought I might have Lyme Disease when I got back from the US. I found a couple small ticks that travelled with me. And when I got back I felt very very very depressed for quite some time. But then struggling with quitting smoking and stuff, too. But I was very sick. Psychologically and physically, too. I thought it was Lyme.
>
> I don't think it was now, because I didn't get the rash. But who knows. Maybe it was.
poster:bleauberry
thread:1103086
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20181024/msgs/1103116.html