Urgent - looking for LLMD in/near Ottawa - Bitten last week/bullseye rash/can't get prescription

Hi everyone,

Can anyone PLEASE tell me the name of a medical doctor in or near Ottawa (someone who can and WILL prescribe the 2-3 weeks of Doxycycline, or some other antibiotic, needed to treat Lyme in the very early stages), who I might be able to get in to see very, very quickly? The only ones I have been able to find are people who are not able to prescribe antibiotics (e.g. a naturopath, etc.). I found another doctor in Plattsburgh, but I don't know how long it will take to see her, and the cost might be too high for me.

I was bitten by a tick some time last week, likely, and got the bullseye rash this past Thursday morning, and several Lyme symptoms between Tuesday and Friday (not all of them, just some).

I was given one dose of Doxycycline on Thursday, because of the rash, but I saw 2 doctors afterward (one was the same as precribed the single dose), and neither would give me the full round of antibiotics needed (Mayo recommends 14-21 days of Doxycycline, or an alternative).

Lyme Ontario also told me I need between 3-6 weeks of Doxy.

It is now Sunday, with no more medicine (and the Lyme is likely building up drug resistance in my body, with every passing moment...), and I don't know where to go to, anymore, because no-one believes that I need the longer round of medicine.

I could try my family doctor on Tuesday, but may get the same answer. I could try the ER, but again... it may be a waste of time.

I know that I need the medicine to get rid of Lyme, and also prevent Lyme from recurring later.

Please help!!! Feel free to email me directly.

Thanks!

Claire.

Hi Claire!
Welcome to our community! I'm so glad you found us.

If you haven't yet, please do read through our "New to Lyme" thread as it's packed with important and helpful information in treating these infections.

You will need to go with what Lyme Ontario has suggested, as that is closer to the treatment that ILADS also suggests - although they say 4 - 6 weeks of Doxy at 400 mgs a day, divided in 2 doses.

From what I understand, you can't get prescription meds to treat these infections in Canada, so it's either over the state lines to a US state, or you have to go with a Naturopath. Girlie, another one of our mods lives in Canada and if you email her, she can likely help you find a Lyme literate Naturopathic doc that is willing to treat these infections.

If you must use herbs (many do and do well with them), I would suggest that you start with astragalus - start off with a small dose (500 mgs a day) for a few days, then raise your dose slowly over the course of a couple of weeks to 3,000 mgs daily, taken as 1,000 mgs doses 3 times a day.

From there, you can start Buhner's protocol if that one seems to resonate with you, or another protocol. There are several that people here are having good success with.

But, do not forget that you will need to detox through out your treatments.

Also - the Lyme bacteria replicates very slowly, which is why our treatments need to be so long - and why you shouldn't panic. It's not good news that you are out of meds, but it's not the major disaster that you may feel it is. Be careful to not get in too much of a rush, we simply don't make good decisions when we are in a rush.

Thank you all for your help! I was able to use Health Tap and got a prescription - the doctor was great, and he is going to fax it to a US pharmacy for me across the border, tomorrow, and I will drive down either tomorrow or Tuesday to pick it up, if all goes well.

It cost me more money than if I could have had a doctor write me one here, but it's better for my peace of mind to be done with it, rather than deal with the headache I have been getting from the local doctors.

I would have tried my own GP, but who knows - she might have said the same thing as the others - I did not want to risk it and I don't have endless sick days to run from doctor to doctor. This was so much easier!

I got 3 weeks of doxy at 200 mg twice a day (400 per day, total) - I think that should knock it out (my rash disappeared at the previous dose, and I have been feeling better since then, so I am hoping that will be enough medicine to kill off anything that remains in my system). My poor tummy won't like me much for the next month, but a temporarily upset stomach is far better than the alternative! I will just get a bunch of gravol...

Thanks again to all of you for the prompt and valuable advice, and reassurances!!!