Comments on: Chronic Lyme disease http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Joannehttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-112246 Joanne Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:40:52 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-112246 please.... I know my body and all this objective and clinical mumbo jumbo does nothing to solve the issue. WE with Chronic Lyme are being ignored and treated as if we are CRAZY. and in many cased even being told so. my experience of over 19 yrs and counting is that most drs don't want to treat something so insidious. they are cowards and make excuses rather than truly try to help their patients. OH its...menopause...or maybe a fungal infection and on and on...not even the recent graduate from the ID school are willing to dive in and help those of use who are suffering so much. its..appalling for me to listen to those who THINK they know...which includes most MDs I have encountered....THEY ARE NOT ONLY WRONG BUT MISDIAGNOSING AT A RATE THAT IS ABSURD!!! the sad fact is that MOST patients, like myself at one time, believe them....I pray that common sense and a little humility will enable drs to look beyond their prejudices and beliefs and start to really help those of us who suffer daily, yearly and moment by moment.. please…. I know my body and all this objective and clinical mumbo jumbo does nothing to solve the issue. WE with Chronic Lyme are being ignored and treated as if we are CRAZY. and in many cased even being told so. my experience of over 19 yrs and counting is that most drs don’t want to treat something so insidious. they are cowards and make excuses rather than truly try to help their patients. OH its…menopause…or maybe a fungal infection and on and on…not even the recent graduate from the ID school are willing to dive in and help those of use who are suffering so much. its..appalling for me to listen to those who THINK they know…which includes most MDs I have encountered….THEY ARE NOT ONLY WRONG BUT MISDIAGNOSING AT A RATE THAT IS ABSURD!!! the sad fact is that MOST patients, like myself at one time, believe them….I pray that common sense and a little humility will enable drs to look beyond their prejudices and beliefs and start to really help those of us who suffer daily, yearly and moment by moment..

]]> By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-110759 Anonymous Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:15:37 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-110759 An ID RN, MSN, Some very good posts.Many Drs. lack critical thinking skills. English majors that get into medicine. They are very good at memorizing data but do not know how to analyze what they learn. Engineers and physicists would make better MDs.This type of denial has gone on for years and not just in medicine.About 100 year ago, a famous scientist at the Paris Science Exposition proclaimed that man now knew everything there was to know and there was nothing left to invent. This was before discovery of the Atom, radio etc........Myopic views are par for the course. Even when something seems simple to understand such as a persistent infection will elude people who proclomate instead of investigating.The first GPS satellites did not compensate for effects of relativity. They did not believe that time ticks slower on the earth vs space. This is how many years after Einstein? Well the GPS broke down in hours because the clocks on the satellites were going faster than the clocks on earth. It cost them a bundle and now they all have clocks adjusted for it. They were ignorant just as these Drs. are.Lyme has been around since 1975 and is still poorly understood. Even when it is fully understood there will still be Drs. that say that it can't be chronic. It will take some time for this to be sorted out. In the end you will be proven correct just like Albert was. An ID RN, MSN, Some very good posts.

Many Drs. lack critical thinking skills. English majors that get into medicine. They are very good at memorizing data but do not know how to analyze what they learn. Engineers and physicists would make better MDs.

This type of denial has gone on for years and not just in medicine.

About 100 year ago, a famous scientist at the Paris Science Exposition proclaimed that man now knew everything there was to know and there was nothing left to invent. This was before discovery of the Atom, radio etc……..

Myopic views are par for the course. Even when something seems simple to understand such as a persistent infection will elude people who proclomate instead of investigating.

The first GPS satellites did not compensate for effects of relativity. They did not believe that time ticks slower on the earth vs space. This is how many years after Einstein? Well the GPS broke down in hours because the clocks on the satellites were going faster than the clocks on earth. It cost them a bundle and now they all have clocks adjusted for it.
They were ignorant just as these Drs. are.

Lyme has been around since 1975 and is still poorly understood. Even when it is fully understood there will still be Drs. that say that it can’t be chronic. It will take some time for this to be sorted out. In the end you will be proven correct just like Albert was.

]]> By: tohttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-107332 to Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:04:46 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-107332 No this is not odd. Think back to your medical history classes (I know some pre-med programs don’t require it anymore. But as far back as Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia where doctors left the epidemic area (as any smart person would) and divided into 2 unhelpful camps arguing about the cause and treatment of Yellow Fever. One argued it was the environment – the other camp argued it was human to human contact. Turns out they where both right – but as they argued 10% of Philadelphia's population died in the first month of the outbreak. It was law makers that put and end to the squabbling and forced the medical community to get back to work being doctors. This repeats itself with Typhus, Typhoid and right up to the current HIV/AIDs crisis. It is also playing itself out with Lyme. Now enough of the fighting. The medical community agrees on some core points. 1. Lyme in the US is on the rise AND is epidemic unlike HIV in the US which is on the decline but also epidemic. 2. Lyme is treated with the antibiotic Doxycycline. The only thing we are fighting for or over is – 1.a test that is more than 12% to 35% accurate and 2. Treatment protocols that differentiate between and new Lyme patients, and late diagnosis treatments, and a patient with failed treatments. IDSA is quite clear that its protocol does not apply to late diagnosis or failed treatment and only applies to new cases. They where very clear that there was not enough evidence to support a protocol for late diagnosis or failed treatment. This issue is that Blue Cross – Blue Shield adopted the IDSA guidelines wholesale across the board as a one size fits all solution. The Blue Cross and IDSA trains collide when we learn that the IDSA 2006 guideline panelists where on the Blue Cross payroll and some held interest in the Western Blot Tests. This was also the subject of a General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation of the CDC requirement to use the Western Blot Test. That is anti-trust plain and simple. It’s the same law that all of us abide by everyday. No this is not odd. Think back to your medical history classes (I know some pre-med programs don’t require it anymore. But as far back as Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia where doctors left the epidemic area (as any smart person would) and divided into 2 unhelpful camps arguing about the cause and treatment of Yellow Fever. One argued it was the environment – the other camp argued it was human to human contact. Turns out they where both right – but as they argued 10% of Philadelphia’s population died in the first month of the outbreak. It was law makers that put and end to the squabbling and forced the medical community to get back to work being doctors. This repeats itself with Typhus, Typhoid and right up to the current HIV/AIDs crisis. It is also playing itself out with Lyme. Now enough of the fighting. The medical community agrees on some core points. 1. Lyme in the US is on the rise AND is epidemic unlike HIV in the US which is on the decline but also epidemic. 2. Lyme is treated with the antibiotic Doxycycline. The only thing we are fighting for or over is – 1.a test that is more than 12% to 35% accurate and 2. Treatment protocols that differentiate between and new Lyme patients, and late diagnosis treatments, and a patient with failed treatments. IDSA is quite clear that its protocol does not apply to late diagnosis or failed treatment and only applies to new cases. They where very clear that there was not enough evidence to support a protocol for late diagnosis or failed treatment. This issue is that Blue Cross – Blue Shield adopted the IDSA guidelines wholesale across the board as a one size fits all solution. The Blue Cross and IDSA trains collide when we learn that the IDSA 2006 guideline panelists where on the Blue Cross payroll and some held interest in the Western Blot Tests. This was also the subject of a General Accounting Office (GAO) investigation of the CDC requirement to use the Western Blot Test. That is anti-trust plain and simple. It’s the same law that all of us abide by everyday.

]]> By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-88973 Anonymous Thu, 01 Jan 2009 03:18:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-88973 "there are more things and heaven and earth, Horatio..."<br/><br/>i.e. http://www.cdc.gov/ulcer/history.htm<br/><br/>Throughout the early 20th C, stress & diet were thought to be the cause of Ulcers.<br/><br/>In 1982 the link between ulcers and a bacterium was found.<br/><br/>It took until 1994 for the CDC recommendation to change for ulcer treatment (to that of abx).<br/><br/>Since such a low number of ulcer patients were treated with antibiotic therapy, the CDC and other agencies felt that an education campaign was warranted--<br/>surrounding this discovery in the year 1982.<br/><br/>Lyme Disease may very well pan out to be like so many other conditions. "there are more things and heaven and earth, Horatio…"

i.e. http://www.cdc.gov/ulcer/history.htm

Throughout the early 20th C, stress & diet were thought to be the cause of Ulcers.

In 1982 the link between ulcers and a bacterium was found.

It took until 1994 for the CDC recommendation to change for ulcer treatment (to that of abx).

Since such a low number of ulcer patients were treated with antibiotic therapy, the CDC and other agencies felt that an education campaign was warranted–
surrounding this discovery in the year 1982.

Lyme Disease may very well pan out to be like so many other conditions.

]]> By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-87749 Anonymous Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:11:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-87749 I have Chronic Lyme. I will only mention one manisfestation of it. One morning I awoke to find one side of my face did not match the other. I was stunned. I saw my Dr that day and he immediately thought I had a stroke. It was Bells Palsy... brought on by Chronic Lyme. How does one fake Bells Palsy? And for God's sake.. why? Want to know how quick you can change youself to a believer? Just let your loved one come down with it and see how you scramble to find a cure.. and how you react to those that would say these things about your loved one. I have Chronic Lyme. I will only mention one manisfestation of it. One morning I awoke to find one side of my face did not match the other. I was stunned. I saw my Dr that day and he immediately thought I had a stroke. It was Bells Palsy… brought on by Chronic Lyme. How does one fake Bells Palsy? And for God’s sake.. why? Want to know how quick you can change youself to a believer? Just let your loved one come down with it and see how you scramble to find a cure.. and how you react to those that would say these things about your loved one.

]]> By: Rage Against The Machinehttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-83995 Rage Against The Machine Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:05:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-83995 Primary Care physicians are pathetic. They are paralyzed with the fact of treating anything other than the common cold. I cant wait until they are replaced by an objective search of your symptoms on google, which studies suggest have a better success rate. I cant count how many "doctors" tried to push their antidepressants on me before i was finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease<br/><br/>The ironic thing is that these uninspired cold-hearted bureaucrats are the ones that perscribe the medicine. <br/><br/>They diagnose based on their less that accurate tests. They are to afraid of making a decision based on symptoms. Then if you do get treated ,they give some half a**ed treatment. When a short course of antibiotics doesnt cure the disease, they say it is impossible. I guess they havent heard of MRSA or drug resistant TB, etc.<br/><br/>With "doctors" like that, no wonder the US is ranked at the bottom of industrialized countries when it comes to "health care".<br/><br/>Chronic Lyme is really a disease caused by having a crappy "doctor". Primary Care physicians are pathetic. They are paralyzed with the fact of treating anything other than the common cold. I cant wait until they are replaced by an objective search of your symptoms on google, which studies suggest have a better success rate. I cant count how many “doctors” tried to push their antidepressants on me before i was finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease

The ironic thing is that these uninspired cold-hearted bureaucrats are the ones that perscribe the medicine.

They diagnose based on their less that accurate tests. They are to afraid of making a decision based on symptoms. Then if you do get treated ,they give some half a**ed treatment. When a short course of antibiotics doesnt cure the disease, they say it is impossible. I guess they havent heard of MRSA or drug resistant TB, etc.

With “doctors” like that, no wonder the US is ranked at the bottom of industrialized countries when it comes to “health care”.

Chronic Lyme is really a disease caused by having a crappy “doctor”.

]]> By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-83146 Anonymous Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:25:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-83146 I'm not worried or bothered by your uninteligent, mean and hurtful comments. What goes around, comes around. You will be singing a different tune one day when a little pin-head tick comes to visit you. I’m not worried or bothered by your uninteligent, mean and hurtful comments. What goes around, comes around. You will be singing a different tune one day when a little pin-head tick comes to visit you.

]]> By: crystalhttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-82580 crystal Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:02:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-82580 I resent this post. I only hope you and someone you love become very ill with Lyme disease and go undiagnosed and untreated for 10 years and THEN see how you feel. Then see how easy it is for you to cure yourself. I did not ask for this disease and I have no reason to pretend to have polyneuropathy, chest pain, joint pain, and hearing problems. I had everything most young women would want and my future looked even brighter. Due to subpar testing and treatment, my disease progresses so the bacteria was well-entrenched in the brain, bone marrow, and avascular areas where even the IV antibiotics couldn't fully penetrate. Thanks to long-term antibiotic treatment, I am almost cured of a disease that almost killed me. I am not a Dr, but I am fairly well-educated. I can easily read all the research and I can determine what journal articles to rely on. In fact, I diagnosed myself after many Ds failed me. After I pointed out that my symptoms seemed like teriary Lyme or late-stage syphlis, I FINALLY tested positive and all my Drs were very sorry that they didn't treat me sooner.<br/><br/>Also, teriary syphilis is known to relapse and sometimes require multiple IV treatments. In Russia, they give teriary syphilis patients a year of doxy after taking some penicillin shots to the buttocks.<br/><br/>Even some med schools are teaching students that long-term antibiotics are being employed by practioners, even though the guidleines do not indicate this is required or neccesary. I think some Drs just do exactly what they are told to do and cannot keep up with the latest research and cannot think for themselves. It amuses me how these Drs can be so smug. Losers. I resent this post. I only hope you and someone you love become very ill with Lyme disease and go undiagnosed and untreated for 10 years and THEN see how you feel. Then see how easy it is for you to cure yourself. I did not ask for this disease and I have no reason to pretend to have polyneuropathy, chest pain, joint pain, and hearing problems. I had everything most young women would want and my future looked even brighter. Due to subpar testing and treatment, my disease progresses so the bacteria was well-entrenched in the brain, bone marrow, and avascular areas where even the IV antibiotics couldn’t fully penetrate. Thanks to long-term antibiotic treatment, I am almost cured of a disease that almost killed me. I am not a Dr, but I am fairly well-educated. I can easily read all the research and I can determine what journal articles to rely on. In fact, I diagnosed myself after many Ds failed me. After I pointed out that my symptoms seemed like teriary Lyme or late-stage syphlis, I FINALLY tested positive and all my Drs were very sorry that they didn’t treat me sooner.

Also, teriary syphilis is known to relapse and sometimes require multiple IV treatments. In Russia, they give teriary syphilis patients a year of doxy after taking some penicillin shots to the buttocks.

Even some med schools are teaching students that long-term antibiotics are being employed by practioners, even though the guidleines do not indicate this is required or neccesary. I think some Drs just do exactly what they are told to do and cannot keep up with the latest research and cannot think for themselves. It amuses me how these Drs can be so smug. Losers.

]]> By: ID RNhttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-81111 ID RN Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:39:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-81111 "My agenda". Lol. Hmmm. My agenda is that I like to see patients get well. I care with compassion at my day job and help others die with comfort and dignity with hospice on my weekend job. I occassionally enjoy reading medical blogs, until I find ANGRY doctors and ERnurses that hate what they do and take it out on their patients. <br/><br/>Apparently they forgot to teach you to read in your school!<br/><br/>The point of my post, which I will make more clear to you as a simpleton, is that the IDSA and their idiotic article in the NEJM denies the existence of chronic lyme disease. They clearly ignored many, many credible studies with statistically significant results indicating existence of chronic lyme disease, existence of spirochetes in tissues despite previous antibiotic therapy, deaths, etc. <br/><br/>As I said in my post, I have hundreds of published studies on file, autopsy reports, etc but don't feel like wasting my time and energy here any further. I am not going to copy and paste all day here for you.<br/><br/>Evidence clearly exists to document persistence, relapse, etc. Treatment resistent borreliosis is real, just like other strains of drug resistant bacteria.<br/><br/>Physicians reading this blog, please read, read read and do your own homework. The evidence is there. <br/><br/> May God protect your patients, Dr. HappyDeath. “My agenda”. Lol. Hmmm. My agenda is that I like to see patients get well. I care with compassion at my day job and help others die with comfort and dignity with hospice on my weekend job. I occassionally enjoy reading medical blogs, until I find ANGRY doctors and ERnurses that hate what they do and take it out on their patients.

Apparently they forgot to teach you to read in your school!

The point of my post, which I will make more clear to you as a simpleton, is that the IDSA and their idiotic article in the NEJM denies the existence of chronic lyme disease. They clearly ignored many, many credible studies with statistically significant results indicating existence of chronic lyme disease, existence of spirochetes in tissues despite previous antibiotic therapy, deaths, etc.

As I said in my post, I have hundreds of published studies on file, autopsy reports, etc but don’t feel like wasting my time and energy here any further. I am not going to copy and paste all day here for you.

Evidence clearly exists to document persistence, relapse, etc. Treatment resistent borreliosis is real, just like other strains of drug resistant bacteria.

Physicians reading this blog, please read, read read and do your own homework. The evidence is there.

May God protect your patients, Dr. HappyDeath.

]]> By: Happymanhttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease.html#comment-81059 Happyman Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:24:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/10/chronic-lyme-disease-2.html#comment-81059 ID RN:<br/><br/>did you even read YOUR OWN LONG-WINDED POST? some excerpts:<br/><br/>"treatment caused only temporary relief ...antibiotics for even more than 3 months may not always eradicate the spirochete."<br/>"Despite intravenous ceftriaxon-therapy borrelia burgdorferi must have survived "<br/><br/>most of your quotes are either technical lab studies, or case reports/ case series - both of these are very LOW on the evidence scale. Also, some studies point out that antibiotics don't effectively accumulate in e.g. joint spaces.<br/><br/>But you're too blinded by your agenda to look at science or the scientific method, and of course in nursing school they don't teach you that kinda stuff. ID RN:

did you even read YOUR OWN LONG-WINDED POST? some excerpts:

“treatment caused only temporary relief …antibiotics for even more than 3 months may not always eradicate the spirochete.”
“Despite intravenous ceftriaxon-therapy borrelia burgdorferi must have survived “

most of your quotes are either technical lab studies, or case reports/ case series – both of these are very LOW on the evidence scale. Also, some studies point out that antibiotics don’t effectively accumulate in e.g. joint spaces.

But you’re too blinded by your agenda to look at science or the scientific method, and of course in nursing school they don’t teach you that kinda stuff.

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