Hi Folks-
I’m sure I’m not alone in having just received an email from a sister referencing Quack Watch. My disease trivialized in one fell swoop---from reading one website!!!
I feel devastated by what she sent, despite having sent my family lots of credible info. Unfortunately, my sis doesn’t have high-speed internet and can’t watch videos online, or I’d suggest the "Under Our Skin” video documentary. I’m sure she means well, but where do I even begin to respond non-defensively?????????????
She and her husband are quite smart and intellectual (PhD from Harvard, etc.). How can this ONE website counter all of the evidence to the contrary that I’ve sent? Credible articles like a recent one from the Lancet which discussed how extremely difficult it is to kill the spirchetes?
On the credible side: my Western Blot test met CDC criteria and other blood tests indicated "soft signs” of an ongoing infection (such as my Prothrombin fragments level was at 4800). Had an adult female deer tick on me in 1996 and brought it to my doctor, but wasn’t given anti-biotics.
Does anyone have anything like a standard response to deal with being discredited, discounted, invalidated, trivialized. I feel like my intelligence is being insulted at the very least.
Cynthia
Here’s what she sent me:
Bullet points from Quack Watch:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/lyme.html
• Lyme disease, when diagnosed early, is readily treatable with oral antibiotics.
• Positive antibody tests, by themselves, do not provide a sufficient basis for diagnosing Lyme disease. The diagnosis should be based on the overall clinical picture, including medical history and physical findings.
• Negative antibody testing after the first few weeks strongly suggests that the patient does not have Lyme disease.
• Many patients with chronic, nonspecific symptoms (such as headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, mental confusion, or sleep disturbances) mistakenly believe they have Lyme disease.
• Intravenous antibiotic therapy, when given appropriately, should not last more than a month. It should not be given unless oral antibiotic therapy has failed and persistent active infection has been demonstrated by culture, biopsy, or other bacteriologic technique.
Malariotherapy, intracellular hyperthermia therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, colloidal silver, dietary supplements, and herbs are not appropriate measures for treating Lyme disease. Doctors who recommend them should be avoided.