Hi Samantham!
Welcome to our community! I'm so glad you found us.
As JulyMorning has said, if you haven't yet, it would be helpful for you to start with reading through the thread at the top of the forum titled,"New to Lyme?...Start here!!", as it is packed full of important information, symptom lists, helpful links and pdf's, how to detox when one has these infections, information on probiotics and much more.
And, here's another good place to find helpful detoxing routines:
http://www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html
Also, July said that Lyme can cause low thyroid, which is true and something that many here deal with. Some of the symptoms actually overlap.
While band 41 by itself isn't 'enough' proof that you have Lyme, a good LLMD will diagnose you by symptoms (clinically) and will start you on treatments if they feel your symptoms are definitely related to these infections. The testing for these infection is really quite poor, because they miss a LOT of people that actually have these infections. This is because Lyme reduces the immune function, and yet these tests rely on a well functioning immune function to produce enough antibodies to turn the test positive. I had to be in treatment for a full year before I tested fully CDC positive for Lyme and RMSF.
And, ticks are far from the only way to get these infections - there is scientific evidence of not only 2 species of mosquitoes passing these infections on to people, but at least one species of deer fly as well - I'm use there is more to come too, as more research is done.
Now, your best course of action would be to see a LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor) that follows ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) guidelines and has been attending conferences to learn how to better treat these infections.
For information on finding an ILADS trained LLMD in your area, you will need to enable your email option in your profile in order to receive any recommendations, as we don't allow doctor's names and contact info to be posted on the forum for several reasons. You can enable your email option in your profile, under 'edit profile'. Be sure to click the submit button to actually save your preference.
You can send me an email by clicking on my screen name or the small blue envelope under my screen name. I may have contact information for some LLMD's in your area as well. Please include your state and area that you would like to find a LLMD in and I will see how close I can get to your
location.
You can start a new thread titled something like "Looking for LLMD in the
(insert the nearest larger city & state) area". Members can email you about
the LLMD's that they see in that area if you have your email enabled. We don't allow doctors names to be posted though.
You can also email the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance at
[url]
[email protected] for LLMD referrals
You can also go to The Lyme Disease Association and search for LLMD's 3 times in a month. You have to register first. Here is the link:
www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277&Itemid=74
ILADS has their own referral system as well:
ilads.org/ilads_media/physician-referral/
And
www.LymeDoc.orgYou will want to find an ILADS trained doctor, as ID Docs (Infectious Disease Doctors) believe Lyme is hard to catch and easy to treat, and don't believe in the reality of chronic Lyme. Go to the ILADS site to read the new (2014) Treatment guidelines to get you started on your healing journey:
www.ilads.org/lyme/treatment-guideline.php