Hello SusieQ, You have asked a great question! I have an article on Mycoplasmas and Mycoplasma fermentans, seems to be the strain many with lyme are also infected with. I have been told that a very high percentage of the population shows positive with that strain and it becomes much more of a problem when those of us in the population are also infected with lyme disease. The article is too long to post here and if you want me to forward it to you, my email is posted.
Exerpts from the article:
Dr. Nicolson notes that these findings are consistent with the fact that it is the Mycoplasma fermentans species that is more often isolated in ticks collected from the environment. The same tick that serves as the vector for Borrelia burgdorferi often also transmits M. fermentans simultaneously. Once a patient is multiply co-infected, the duration and severity of their illness both increase.
In his experience, Dr. Nicolson has found that Mycoplasma is the number one Lyme coinfection. The rate of infection with Mycoplasma in patients with Lyme disease surpasses that of Bartonella (25-40%) slightly and that of Babesia (8-20%) significantly.
Dr. Nicolson has found that there is a hierarchy of symptoms that resolve relatively quickly and those that resolve more slowly when treating Mycoplasma. Gut-associated phenomenon such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) often resolve quickly. Other systemic signs and symptoms can resolve in an intermediate period of time from many weeks to many months. Symptoms associated with the central and peripheral nervous systems such as neuropathy and pain often resolve much more slowly. Skin sensitivity and burning sensations may take much longer to resolve. Mycoplasma infections do invade nerves, and nerve-related symptoms are among the more difficult to resolve.
Dr. Nicolson states "We keep seeing the suppression of information on Mycoplasma and similar intracellular bacterial infections. The world of Mycoplasma parallels the world of chronic Lyme disease in terms of the politics involved. Physicians are being persecuted by their medical boards as a result of bad information. It is important for us to do everything within our power to get rid of harmful, erroneous information about these diseases. Both Mycoplasma and Borrelia have been manipulated for biological weapons purposes and as a result, both are politically incorrect to discuss, work on, or do anything about. Until this changes, we won't see any real progress."