Important

The answer to that is yes. Absolutely. As soon as possible.

Margaret

Darian - there aren't many diseases that cause that many symptoms. One of them is Lyme disease.

I have or have had many of your symptoms.

Having one band positive means your body is reacting to the lyme bacteria in your body. I'm not surprised the ID Dr. dismissed you. It is common for Dr.s, even specialists to deny people have lyme disease. That's why seeing a LLMD is so important.

You could do an Igenex Western IgG and IgM for$210. and also make an appt. with a LLMD. When you see him/her you will have your results in hand. (they take approx. three weeks to process)

In the meantime, have a look at the thread at the top of the page titled: "New to Lyme?..Start Here" It's full of good information. The section on detoxing is important - as we need to help our bodies rid the toxins that are created when we kill off the bacteria during treatment.

While waiting for your appointment, you could start detoxing on a daily basis.

If you need help finding a LLMD, we can help you.

You can start a new thread titled: Looking for LLMD in/near_________ and insert your city/town and State.
Then enable your email option.

Go to My Profile (top left blue bar), then click on Edit Profile, then click on Show My Email...then scroll down and click on submit to save your changes.

Good luck!

Girlie said...
Yes, LLMD will diagnose you 'clinically' - meaning he/she will look at your symptom history, whether you have/had a bullseye rash, along with your lab tests.

Would they diagnose me based on the symptoms I have right now? Because if yes, then I need to make an appointment as soon as possible before this gets too much worse.

Girlie said...
Darian - you need to make an appt. right away because with lyme disease, the sooner you start treatment, the better off you will be. Also, it can take many weeks, sometimes a few months before you get your initial appointment.

To prepare for your appointment, you should make a symptom list of all your symptoms...and if you get ne

Already on top of that! My list has gotten so long its starting to really scare me. I had completely forgotten about lyme until about 2 weeks ago when I started getting more unusual symptoms. As soon as I get an email with info on a doctor, I'm going to make the appointment.

Mister Mike said...
Well, what i meant was either you can rule it out or you have it. Now I'm certainly not a doctor, but from what you told me it with the band 23 and the symptoms it seems likely, but going to a real LLMD will confirm it or not.

Oh okay. Do you know of any doctors in or near northern nj that you could email me info about?

Mister Mike said...
Sent!

Received! Thanks again!

Mister Mike said...
Yes - that list is a little old so some may have moved on, but it should be a good start for you.

Do people with lyme feel constantly "sick", like are there brief moments during the day that they don't feel terrible?

Is Pawling, NY too far for you?

M

Mister Mike said...
Darian - in my case no. While I have pain daily it is quite intermittent with flares lasting 15 - 60 minutes and then I feel fine, only to be followed by another flare later. Rinse and repeat ad naseum.

Throughout the whole day, I feel tired and weak and so do my muscles. Then I'll have little episodes of chills, hot flushes, and lightheadedness along with the muscle twitching all day and the joint pain which comes at random times during the day. The other symptoms I have don't happen every day but they're frequent enough not to notice them and that something is wrong with me.

Lighterbeing said...
Darian, your list of symptoms sounds all too familiar. My symptoms were bizarre and fluctuated every 3rd day or so and every few hours. No predicting how I would feel from day to day. Hope you find the best doc for you and that you can get to the bottom of this soon.

Mine vary too, some days worse than others. I just want an answer, but I feel like I already know what it is.

teragram said...
He's an excellent doctor; very well known in the field.

With reputation unfortunately, comes expense, so he's pretty darned expensive.

He's good at testing, and uses the PCR and Stony Brook, along with Igenex.

The last time I saw him, he was not using alternative medicine, though some of his NPs do.

He recommends Buhner if you can only do herbs.

You might have to say "no" to some of the testing; I found that some of it was unnecessary, unless it was used to prove to other doctors that I did indeed have Chronic Lyme.

Would your parents pay or be able to drive you?

Margaret

Both my parents said they would do anything they could to help me get better, even if it means spending a decent amount of money or driving far. I would help with the expenses though because I don't want them spending hundreds of dollars just because I got sick. If this doctor really is that good, then I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking me to see him. Would it be a good idea to get my Igenex test done before I go see him?

teragram said...
Hi Darian,

I don't know; it depends on the expense. He usually did it for me.

PM me if you need his name.

Margaret

I think I'll just do the Igenex test before I see any LLMD, just so I have it done. I've gotten my blood taken more times than I can count in the past year. Can you email me his info? That would be great!