Lyme costs too much!!

uggghhhh….

I really hear you. I giggled at your thread title—not because it's funny but because it's insanity.

I spent $20k+ working w/ a naturopath a couple years ago…this was before I or anyone suspected lyme but I was so desperate and my HMO doctors were clueless. This was all the savings I had.

Then I kept getting sick but I don't read my body very well and I'm in a highly stressful field so I kept working and plugging away, all the while getting sicker and sicker and losing sense of reality to lymebrain.

And then I got so sick I had to quit my job last year. I had to cash out my 401k to live on and about a yr ago I finally diagnosed myself with lyme. Found an LLMD but she charged $300/hr for nurse appts, and $400 for her appts. I didn't have any health insurance so those appts and lyme & co-inf tests and tons of other labs, meds, supplements have wiped me out.

I am now officially a lyme patient and can't afford treatment. As of next month I am completely broke. I have to go back to work, which means I may need to stop treatment—in order to pay for treatment. This is like Alice in Wonderland.

And I KNOW others have similar—or worse stories than mine.

Many people say an herbal treatment is cheapest.

-p

Some folk have success using the Salt/C protocol. Most likely the cheapest and simplest treatment to try.

In my case, I pay less for ABX co-pays than I spend on herbals, vitamins and supplements.

I totally understand. I'm twenty and in college and unable to work because of how sick I get. I want to do a co-infections test but I'd have to try and order it from the states and its money I simply don't have. I collect donations and that helps cover some things, but given cost of travel to see doctors, hotels, appointments themselves and eventually cost of supplements it's gonna be pretty brutal. Not to mention further tweaks to my all ready restricted diet, buying detox stuff, etc. I wish we had more medical coverage and support for Lyme.

Be aware that most insurance plans will not cover phone consultations. I realize most LLMD's don't take insurance (or are not participating on any insurance preferred provider lists), but if you have a plan that reimburses for out-of-network care, the cost of phone consultations are often not covered.

I'm Canadian and unemployed so I have ziltch for insurance aside from our carecard coverage. But that doesn't cover any naturopathic treatment or.. Treatment in general. Prescriptions aren't covered, neither is mobile equipment like crutches and wheelchairs. We also don't do the testing in Canada so everything has to be ordered from the states and I have to get it approved and ahhh its so much money. I'm just going to start treatment and see if it helps! I'll probably go in debt treating it but whatever, as long as I get better.

Denise that is awesome. I wish I could approach this more simply but I've gone untreated for 15 yrs and every system in my body is breaking down to dangerous levels.

I just added up all my monthly medical expenses and upcoming tests and it totaled $1700 for health insurance, dr.'s visits copays, standing labs copay, other testing not covered, Rx and supplements which are covered and some not covered (this is half of the expenses).

And have appx $1100 more in testing outside of the standing lab work coming up.

All this… and I haven't started abx treatment yet that may/may not be covered. Nor have I seen the ophthalmologist yet...

-p

Wow Pirouette,

That's a lot of moola! I remember my IgeneX test was very expensive, over $1000.00 and before I had that done I was going to a holistic clinic (before I knew I had lyme but was very sick from lyme) and that alone cost me a small fortune every week but I felt so much better.

I did see a lyme doctor and I think my insurance covered him. Wow, this is all so many years ago.

I like ellip's advice about the GoFundMe Fund... What do you have to lose?

Also, Dr. Jernigan's book was suggested to me as others were either reading his book or following his protocol which is how I became involved with Dr. J's protocol after the Doxy was making me sick to my stomach.. I knew antibiotics were not the answer for me and I didn't know what to do so the timing was perfect.

It's not an easy book to read as Dr. Jernigan's brain is for the brainiacs or the scientific type people (which I am NOT).. I am a common sense type of person and what I did understand made perfect sense to me..

Getting back to the point, lyme is an expensive disease...

Denise

The cheapest and best things so far have been accupuncture,meditation qiqong cds free from the library,fasting half the day , essential oils on pressure points and reflexology books from the library. Staying away from emfs and being alone at a park! Are bodys need to rebalance and get out of fight mode ,its not always abt fighting your body with some pill in my opinion

For me the financial cost is mostly from not being able to work. approximately 45,000 lost wages in the past year.

I am in Canada, luckily my husband has insurance which covers 80% of my meds and 80% of some of the naturopathic appts.
Our MD appointments don't cost us.

Just got our blood work bill - $6,000 - WOW

First psych/lyme visit $600, then $130 or $90 for 1/2 hr or 15 mins after that

FIrst LLMD $300 then $120 each visit - OH MY !!!!!!!!!

Then meds and herbs.... you are all not kidding - there goes his college tuition!

Thanks Traveler!