Has ANYONE one here been helped?????

Wow, +Lyme, we certainly do have a lot in common! I'll write more a bit later, but I wanted to comment about workplace bullying being illegal. It actually is not, at least not in the US. It is not a Federal law yet, but it does appear that a few states are taking the initiative to get laws passed in their respective states.

The most up-to-date, accurate, and extremely helpful advice I found is at this site:

www.workplacebullying.org

The Workplace Bullying Institute was founded by Drs. Gary and Ruth Namie (PhDs). I have spoken with Gary. He has dedicated his life to fighting workplace bullying because he saw firsthand what it did to his wife Ruth. Chronic illness and bullying are a recipe for disaster. Seems to cause a form of post-traumatic stress disorder in some of us. At the very, very least, it exascerbates chronic illness. If you YouTube "Gary Namie" you can see his many television appearances addressing the topic of workplace bullying.

And, yep, I had to do just what you did to get unemployment compensation (official letters from docs). Thank goodness the "stress law" applied in my state. According to Dr. Namie, every state does not even have that clause. Can you believe it?? The more I read on the Workplace Bullying website (and I also got their book), the more validation I got. The pattern seems too similar -- no one believes you or wants to hear about it; your stress levels, anxiety, depression are off the charts (Xanax for breakfast); HR is useless or on the side of the "boss" or BOD; hidden agendas; smartest and hardest working are typically the targets; colleagues turn against you out of fear; female bosses are the worst to other females, etc., etc.

Sounds a lot like trying to get diagnosed and successfully treated for Lyme, doesn't it?! My oh my . . . more later!

I've had symptoms for four and half years, only being treated for 7 months. Some days I think I'm feeling better and other days I do not. I don't think I have any co-infections, but now I'm beginning to worry about that because I thought I'd feel a lot better by now...

Cre and +Lyme, boy can I relate to your workplace horror stories! The evil B who did my work while I was on maternity leave and another psycho B caused so much stress for me at my job for years and years, and I too think it took a horrible toll on my health. The more I research and remember, I'm wondering if I've had Lyme's for many, many years and was just able to fight it off myself for the most part up until 4 1/2 years ago - this one work situation was at an all time high for stress about then. Right now all is good. The evil one left years ago and I recently heard she has major health problems - you know that feeling you get when you are actually happy to hear someone is suffering worse than you are and you're thinking no one deserves it more than she does...I know, shame on me. She is the reason I have only one child (I seriously couldn't go through what she did to me again and she was the only one trained to do my job in my absence and she wanted my job BAD). She is the reason I had to rebuild almost every other workplace relationship for YEARS. She is the reason I will never EVER completely trust another female in the workplace. She is the only person I have ever met who I honestly believe is pure evil. The psycho one - she has munchhausen's syndrome (my opinion) and "coincidently" had every health problem I've had for over ten years...at the same time or right after I did - no matter how big or small. It seemed odd at first and then it became very obvious what was going on. I started intentionally not saying anything when she was around (pretty hard to hide it when you have to leave for doctor appointments or make/take phone calls from the doctor's office) and she'd come to me or someone else in the office and say she was praying for me and get every last detail by saying what she thought was going on. She knew full well that what she was saying was not true and that I'd correct her - within very short order she'd have the exact same symptom/problem - VERBATIM! Most bizarre situation I've ever been in, in my life! She has routine major health "scares" that disappear after she has gotten sufficient sympathy from her boyfriend at work and her boss. She's on a prayer chain and another person who is also on that same prayer chain commented more than once her latest "scare" is exactly the same as someone they were just praying for...oh yeah, she HAS to appear perfect and be everyone's BEST friend...too bad she doesn't know we all make fun of her behind her back.

Too many women want to look good and innocent, so they do everything sneaky and just can't deal with honesty. If you confront them, they are just 'shocked' and have "no idea what you are talking about" and why you'd say that about them. And the female bosses...I've had three of them at my current job - all doozies!

Hi cre shutterbug and all

Cre you still get rashes i get them on back of thigh are u well?  I am sorry i couldn't quite get  that part.

Shutterbug, I too have accepted.I live around the bugs. U know for me what I hate?  the dementia  crap seems to be getting worse. its taking longer and longer to get out what i want to say and if i do get something out i just start throwing out crazy nouns .  Just between us i went to my class reunion My gut told me not to but when am i smart enough to listen to my brain which is now my gut/  ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww that was humbling I just try not to think about it i had some bells palsy i didn'tknow till i saw the pictures everyone took and plastered all over facebook and I couldn't talk right and I do not tell anybody cept close friends that I "have some stuff left over ." (meaning I am sick) oh well crap happens and pride is stupid anyway. 

someone said, might have been cre  a lotof people come and go when they are well i bet  she is one hundred percent right nobody wants to have to go back to that time again.  I have heard of successful cases my cousin is a vet out in the country he got better he is now working at a state college, still has some symptoms but he's a doin.

 

Hi stutterbug,

If cure means totally symptom-free, well I have been symptom-free for over 4 years now from chronic lyme.  Yes, people do get better and I'm so happy that I am one of them.. 

My view is if one's protocol is not working then it's time to change the protocol.  As most people know I have been around the lyme world for so many years (when I was sick and even when I became better).   I try to post to help others as I can never forget what I went through.  

I am also a strong believer in alternative medicine for chronic lyme as well as heavy detoxing.. 

Sometimes people just have to change their ways or learn new ways..  I see many fall into the rut of doing the same thing or seeing the same doctor and getting no where..   That doesn't make any sense to me.

And there are so many great books out there to read and learn from....  Alternative medicine books, detoxing books, etc.  What does a person have to lose by trying something new?

Hang in there,

Denise

Cured for me--no. But much much better. I didn't get better though until I stopped the antibiotics and switched to the Zhang herbs.

Has anyone considered that they might have Rheumatoid Arthritis? I don't know much about Lyme- my husband had it (tested positive and was having symptoms) but was cured after a course of abx.

I have RA and his symptoms mimicked mine. Have you been told that Lyme can go on and on and on? I'm not being smart alecky- I really don't know. I do know that untreated RA can be very dangerous.

Hello Everybody,

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2000, after being symptomatic for two years. My health worsened over the years as I accumulated additional medical conditions (see signature below).

I was diagnosed with Lyme + babesiosis in Jan/08, and I have been on quite a few different ORAL antibiotic combo's since then.

The last antibiotic I was on was KETEK. After three months and no improvement, my LLMD advised me to stop taking Ketek.

I normally manage OK without antibiotics for about 6-8 weeks before my overall condition becomes unmanageable. I've been off Ketek since mid-January, and my health is now rapidly deteriorating: increased arthritic back pain and stiffness, neck pain, awful insomnia, cognitive/memory troubles, ringing in the ears, light/sound sensitivity, terrible fatigue, low-grade fevers, to mention a few problematic symptoms.

I'm hoping and praying that I'm NOT in the group of 20% of people with late-stage/chronic Lyme who do not get better.

Cara