Before I could even get an appointment with Dr. Boucher, I had to fill out an extremely comprehensive Tick Borne Diseases questionnaire that included a listing of possible symptoms with each symptom being rated from 0-10 (with 0 obviously being none and 10, severe). I also included a bit of my history.

I advised Dr. Boucher that my ELISA was negative and that my GP recommended that I go to the US if I wanted to pursue a Lyme diagnosis. I told him that I thought I had Lyme and/or other tick borne diseases based upon the number of symptoms that I had that affected most, if not all, systems in my body.

I had so many symptoms that didn’t fit into the little boxes on his questionnaire (in my opinion) that I also described a few in greater detail. Although I never saw a bull’s eye rash or a bite with a rash on it, I did experience a couple of warm rashes over the years. At one point my left ear felt very hot and my husband said it was red but nothing else was seen. Occasionally the tip of my tongue would tingle and feel like it was swelling up to the point I would bite it if I was chewing. I thought that I must have a slight allergy to something that I was eating but nothing was ever determined.

I had things happening like my my right ear drum vibrating with certain sounds; extreme issues with my eyes that included blurriness, floaters, etc.; I would wake up at night because my ear was so itchy and felt like something was crawling in it; massive sweats where I couldn’t even walk at a slow pace without sweat running down my back and everywhere else; I would feel faint; my hands and feet were constantly going to sleep; I would walk into walls, fall down stairs, trip – a lot; I had my first ever “panic” attacks; couldn’t concentrate to read anymore; and I could go on and on – and on!

My first appointment with Dr. Boucher was over an hour long! We went over my symptom list and talked about the severity of each. Based upon my symptoms, he clinically diagnosed me with a tick borne disease, and suggested that I may have more than one. Because he felt that I had Bartonella, my initial treatment was with “A-Bart” which is a Byron White herbal formula for immune support and microbial defense. He noted that you have to deal with any co-infections before treating Lyme. He also advised that he found that people that use the “A-Bart” prior to antibiotics, didn’t seem to have as bad a Herxheimer Reaction to the antibiotics. A Herxheimer Reaction (or Herx for short) is a   detoxification reaction in the body. As the body detoxifies, it is not uncommon to experience flu-like symptoms including headache, joint and muscle pain, body aches, sore throat, sweating, chills, nausea or other symptoms.

The A-Bart is a VERY strong herbal medicine and you have to build up usage S L O W L Y! I did what I was supposed to do but I have to say it did give me what I guess was a Herx reaction whereby I felt worse before I started to feel slightly better. I took that mixture until my next appointment with Dr. Boucher which was approximately a month later. We again had a lengthy discussion about my symptoms and whether any improvement had been seen after which he started me on antibiotics. He also recommended Resveratrol and Artemisinin as well as a multi-vitamin/mineral, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Omega 3 and Magnesium.

At every appointment we went over my updated symptom chart to see where improvements were made and if anything had stayed the same, or gotten worse. Dr. Boucher then changed the treatment protocol accordingly. We continued to do this until I received word that his practice was closing in February of 2013. I had been seeing him since September of 2011 and had become significantly better during my treatment; however, I still had a few remaining health issues that I have since been trying to self-manage though diet, supplements and alternative treatments.

I wanted to write about my experience with a “Lyme Literate” Doctor as I had heard several times that Doctors were not allowed to clinically diagnose Lyme because there were so many other illnesses with the same symptoms. However, my Doctor did not diagnose me based on one symptom or even two or three. He clinically diagnosed me based on my over 45 symptoms that I had at the time. He diagnosed me based upon the fact that I lived in an endemic area and that my cottage is in an endemic area. He diagnosed me based on the fact that I had travelled to the northeast United States, which is highly endemic for Lyme. He diagnosed me based on the fact that my symptoms would come and go and would migrate throughout the body. All these things gave him a very good comfort level with his clinical diagnosis as they would any “Lyme Literate” Doctor.

There was research undertaken that apparently raised the issue of misdiagnosis and that three people had been diagnosed with Lyme but had actually had cancer or something else. My first question when I heard this was did they have Lyme or another tick borne disease as well?

There are people that are being diagnosed with any number of auto-immune illnesses with similar symptoms that I had. Are they misdiagnosed?

I think if you looked at all of the people that have received a misdiagnosis, you will find that most of them are Lyme patients that were told they have Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, MS, early onset Alzheimers, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, etc., etc., etc., rather than people that were told they have Lyme but had something else wrong with them.

Not everything is Lyme, but the percentage of ticks carrying disease is steadily growing and Lyme and other tick borne diseases needs to be taken more seriously with a higher level of concern and respect! Doctors certainly need to become better educated and more aware and to give consideration to tick borne diseases when a patient presents with a multitude of symptoms, affecting more than one system, that come and go, and migrate.

If you refer to the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation symptom list, you will note that it is suggested that if you have over 20 of the symptoms, then tick borne diseases should be given consideration. I have not seen anyone, anywhere, suggest that if you have one or two symptoms (other than the bull’s eye rash of course) that you absolutely have Lyme.

What is the problem? Why are Doctors that treat Lyme looked at so poorly? Why is this an issue – at all? So many questions! Not enough answers!

 

I am now going into an area where some are afraid to tread! Alternative treatments and therapies.

There are a lot of people trying a lot of different things for tick borne diseases. Some are using them along with antibiotics and others are using them instead of antibiotics.

Unfortunately, some of these things looked and sounded totally kooky – in my humble opinion – until I started trying a few. The first thing I tried was an Energy Healer. I was given the name of an Energy Healer by a friend who used her while dealing with cancer. Doctors said to her that they didn’t know what she was doing but to keep doing it as she has now been cancer free for many years and attributes it mostly to this particular Energy Healer. I added “this particular Energy Healer” as they are not all created equal!

Prior to seeing Dorothy King I was spending a considerable amount of time in bed. I was always fatigued. I had head pressure/pain. I had too many symptoms to mention here! I saw Dorothy once in late July or early August of 2011, prior to my first appointment with Dr. Boucher. About two weeks after seeing Dorothy, I was on a bicycle on the Rails to Trails near my cottage. One day of vacation I biked with my daughter from our cottage in Gold River to Chester where we were met by my husband and son for lunch and driven home. Two days later, my daughter and I biked in the other direction to Mahone Bay. Again we were met for lunch and driven home. Both of these bike rides were approximately two hours long (if my memory serves me correctly). Although I was tired, I felt pretty darn good! The ONLY thing I did different was go see Dorothy – ONCE! I was hooked!

Dorothy was out of commission for about six weeks after my session (she had a heart attack) but as soon as she was back to good health I started going to her as regularly as possible. Usually once a week, but sometimes once every couple of weeks or whenever she made it into Bedford where she worked out of my friend’s house.

Dorothy would be the first to admit that she isn’t what you would call a regular Energy Healer. Although she teaches Reiki to others, that is not exactly what she does when working on others. She is an Ordained Minister. She has had Native American training. She has some medical training (to fully understand the workings of the body). She has considerable other training as well. In other words, not your basic Energy Healer. She utilizes all of her training when working on an individual.

I went into Energy Healing with a fair amount of hesitation. However, I am now sold on it – or at least Dorothy. I have not gone to anyone else other than one quick session with a friend that also has what I would call “gifts”. Dorothy works for me and even if it is as more of a confidant and stress reliever, which I don’t think it is totally, but is certainly an aspect of it, then I will do it as long as I can. She also doesn’t charge a ridiculous fee. When asked, she just says pay what you can. I know of one person that she didn’t charge at all as he wasn’t able to work.

Dorothy would be the first one to tell you that she can’t help everyone. First, you do have to be open to the idea and go more than once, if at all possible. Secondly, some people are too far along in their decline. However, if someone is too far along, she is able to make them somewhat comfortable.

Along with Dorothy, I have also incorporated oil-pulling into my daily routine. I have been doing it for over two years. I don’t know if oil-pulling does all that some articles says it does but my teeth look whiter, feel cleaner, and my gums are better AND my sinuses are not as much of a problem. That’s enough for me to continue on with it! I have been using Extra Virgin, Cold-Pressed, Coconut Oil but there are other oils that you can try such as sesame. I am actually thinking of trying a different oil to see if there are any differences experienced as apparently the original oil-pulling oil was either sesame oil or sunflower oil.

I oil-pull first thing in the morning for twenty minutes but some people need to work up to that. I actually don’t mind it as I do it while on Facebook, playing a computer game, or even having a shower. I spit it out in the compost bin or into a paper towel which I put in the trash (if no compost bin available). Some instructions suggest you rinse with water, or a water & salt combo, or brush teeth immediately after, or a combination thereof. Lots of articles out there on oil-pulling but not a lot of research. Of the research that is out there, most of it is using sesame oil so do a bit of reading and figure out what works for you. From what I have read, it can’t hurt you, unless you have an issue with coconut, so then try one of the other oils.

I have also read quite a bit about the use of various herbs and supplements when dealing with tick borne diseases. There is actually at least one Lyme protocol that is herb based and that is the “Buhner Protocol” – http://buhnerhealinglyme.com/. Most of the herbs recommended in this protocol are available in Canada so many shop around to see if the cost can be reduced. Although I have not tried this particular protocol, I have occasionally added things like Artemisinin, Resveratrol, and Samento with varying degrees of success. I have been taking Vitamin D and Magnesium regularly for several years now and recently added Halibut oil (on my Mother-in-law’s recommendation). She is 87 and the only thing she took for years was the Halibut Liver Oil. She lives alone. Still drives (during the day). Plays bridge once or twice a week. She is generally in pretty darn good health!

I have also incorporated a smoothie into a fairly regular routine. Usually four or five times a week. That smoothie includes things like chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp hearts, blueberries, goji berries, a veggie powder, coconut water (or unsweetened almond milk but that makes it thicker than I like). I just started adding turmeric to my smoothie which requires black pepper and an oil to make it work better. I was using coconut oil but am going to change that up as well to perhaps a fish oil.

Another alternative treatment I tried was acupuncture. There is a Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor that practices acupuncture in my community. The crazy thing is she is actually from Newfoundland! I felt almost euphoric after my first session. It was very strange. The following sessions did not have that same feeling afterwards but I certainly saw improvements in various areas, including with peri-menopausal symptoms. Bonus!

After I was seeing her for a few months, I started providing her with information on Lyme disease and tick borne diseases. She knew that was what I thought I was dealing with from the very beginning but we hadn’t talked about it much. She is now seeing other patients dealing with tick borne diseases and has been helping as much as possible. I found that the acupuncture helped quite a bit initially but I hit somewhat of a plateau so I took a break. I hope to start back soon!

Again, acupuncture was not something that I had ever given any thought to prior to my clinical diagnosis for tick borne diseases. Dr. LeRoy at BAIDU TCM in Bedford was actually recommended to me by Dorothy King so I checked her out. Very glad that I did! However, I have to reiterate that, again, not all acupuncturists are created equal. The combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor and acupuncturist appears to be a good one!

My husband has a client that lives in Austria that has taken an interest in tick borne diseases. He also suggested acupuncture to me as he advised that it is used quite extensively in Europe for tick borne diseases. Many areas are significantly ahead of us when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of tick borne diseases. Areas of Europe, in particular, seem to be quite a bit more advanced. Apparently, quite a few people use a lab in Germany for blood tests and also go to Germany for treatment.

It is unfortunate that many people cannot be diagnosed and treated in their own country, but it is what many have had to do in their search for better health. I continue to keep my options open and do research to see if there is a better road for me to travel. Managing my symptoms, as I am doing now, doesn’t always work. There are good days, and bad. However, I can function better than many in the same situation as me and I attribute that to many of the alternative treatments that I am doing.

One thing that is obvious, EVERYONE presents differently when dealing with tick borne diseases. Is this due to the different things that the tick could have been carrying? Where the tick bit you on your body (where the spirochetes end up first)? How your overall health was when bit? How early you treat? How you treat? LOTS of research still required!

While waiting for my appointment with Dr. Boucher, I filled in my time by sending emails and generally being a bit of a pest. Emails went out to the Provincial and Federal Minister’s of Health. To the Chief Medical Officer. To the Dalhousie Infectious Disease Research Alliance (DIDRA). I wanted to ensure that the issue of tick borne diseases was being looked at with the proper amount of concern.

I advised everyone of the various cases that I had come across. I mentioned my particular case. I tried to raise awareness and, hopefully, the level of concern for the issue.

I must give credit where credit is due and note that I received two very detailed letters from the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, the Federal Minister of Health. One in 2011 in response to the email I directed to her and one in 2013 in response to an email I directed to the Prime Minister. One thing that stood out to me in the letter in 2011 was the line “Lyme disease should be diagnosed clinically with support from, but not total reliance on, serological diagnostic tests.” The letter went on to say “Current guidelines state that laboratory results are not required for a physician to make a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease and initiate treatment.” This was in 2011! However, the clinical diagnosis appeared to be stymied by our local College of Physicians and Surgeons. I met with Dr. Gus Grant, Registrar and CEO of CPSNS, who advised that he could not “allow” Doctors to clinically diagnose Lyme as there was too much symptom overlap and a misdiagnosis could occur. He noted that there was always a lag time between emerging diseases and the science-based medicine to adequately diagnose and treat. I didn’t want to be one of those waiting for the science-based medicine to catch up so I started an email group of Health care providers and politicians and forwarded whatever new research information I could find! Whether any of them ever reads the information I send, I will probably never know. Certainly, nobody ever gets back to me in response to the various emails that I send.

During all these emails in 2011, I decided to also start up a “Lyme Disease in Nova Scotia” facebook page to create more awareness in the province. After a few people from New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland & Labrador “Liked” the page I added “& the Maritime Provinces” to the title. There are now 465 “Likes” with people from all of the Maritime Provinces, but mostly Nova Scotia. Rare? I don’t believe so!

During this email campaign, I was also working on having Dr. Murakami speak in Bedford while in the province on another matter. In my capacity as Chair of the Bedford Residents Association I was working with our local MLA, Kelly Regan, to give the event more “clout”. Dr. Murakami’s presentation in Bedford resulted in over 100 in attendance. He also did a presentation in Mahone Bay which was also well attended. Most of the people at both of these events said that they had dealt with Lyme, thought they might have it, or had a family member dealing with it. Did this mean Lyme wasn’t overly rare in the province? Perhaps.

What was it going to take to elevate the issue in the province?

Even before a diagnosis of Lyme, I quickly realized I had “issues” with certain foods. I could no longer tolerate red meat. I had an almost instantaneous reaction if I ate steak or pork. It wasn’t pleasant!

I also could not drink any alcohol – at all! A simple sip would have me slurring my words and would result in a one day, or longer, hangover.

Any sugar would have my head so heavy I could barely hold it up and I would be so tired that the only thing I could do was crawl into bed – or I would fall asleep, even in the middle of sitting at my computer.

There were some things that didn’t have a debilitating impact but did cause me enough pain or problems that I slowly limited eating things like gluten and dairy products. I ate as “clean” as possible. I removed all processed food. I tried to eat organic whenever I could.

I guess if I had to say one good thing about becoming ill is that I may ultimately be healthier than I have been in a long time! My family will also be healthier because I don’t have it in me to make more than one meal. Therefore, they eat what I eat 🙂

I read that you should try to get some exercise, if at all possible, so I did my best to continue walking as much as possible, even though, for awhile anyway, I looked like I was always drunk as I couldn’t walk a straight line! Good thing I don’t drive because if I had been stopped by the Police at my worst I would never have been able to do their sobriety test!

Because I was staying away from dairy, I switched to coconut water and unsweetened almond milk. Even that had issues, if you believe everything you read. Coconut water has natural sugars and some almond milk contains carrageenan. I seem to be reasonably okay with natural sugars and I found carrageenan free almond milk. Even the “healthy” stuff has to be checked! It’s like if something is fat free, you have to check to see what that fat was replaced with. It could actually be worse for you! Always learning!

When I stick with a healthy diet, I can manage my symptoms a bit better. My brain is somewhat clearer. The aches and pains are not as problematic. The bloating and gas is minimized. My skin looks better (a steady supply of water helps there!) and I generally feel like I can beat this thing! When I sway from my new “Lyme diet”, I know it pretty quickly. However, we all need to indulge once in awhile and I just learn to live with the repercussions and the fact that I have gone backwards a bit in my self-managed treatment.

If you plan on starting the “Lyme diet” do so slowly so you know which things are helping and which are unnecessary. Try taking things out one at a time and trying that for a couple of weeks before starting another. Most importantly, find things to replace what you are taking out! You do not want to feel deprived or hungry.

It appears not everyone has issues with all these things and some with an issue experience only minimal symptoms. However, some can be severely debilitated if they eat the wrong things. Listen to your own body!

There are two very distinct and separate “beliefs” when it comes to tick borne diseases. The IDSA says that Lyme is rare, hard to get and easy to treat. They follow a standard treatment protocol, with very little variance between patients diagnosed immediately after a bite and those not diagnosed until weeks, months and even years later. When some patients still have symptoms, they say treatment was sufficient and that some people will have “Post-Treatment Lyme Syndrome” which supposedly will eventually go away.

ILADS believes that tick borne diseases are an issue and can be very complex. They require a clinical diagnosis, based upon symptoms and a patient by patient treatment protocol is required as every patient is different. They also believe that a patient should be treated until the symptoms are totally gone.

Having seen how my symptoms progressed over a period of years, I think I would prefer to listen to the ILADS side of things! A suitable treatment, until my symptoms are gone, would be amazing!

What should be of interest to everyone is that, at present, the National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGA) only has the ILADS Lyme Guidelines on their site as the IDSA Guidelines were removed as they were out of date, according to the requirements to be on the NGA site. Apparently, it is going to be 2-5 years to update the IDSA Guidelines, yet they are the ones that the CDC and Infectious Disease Doctors still refer to. Why are Doctors not allowed to review both sets of guidelines and determine what will work for their patient?

I am personally unaware of any other multi-systemic illness where a patient is treated for a specific length of time and, if symptoms still persist, they are told that they will eventually go away. That just doesn’t make sense to me and to thousands of other people going through the same thing as I am.

Unfortunately, there is a certain stigma to those of us that are “chronically” ill as there are still MANY people that believe we are making this stuff up! A local radio station has a Doctor on periodically to respond to questions. A recent question was whether the Doctor thought that Doctors in our province have become more knowledgeable about the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. The  first thing out of the Doctor’s mouth was that this remains a controversial subject. He noted that there was a standard test or that you diagnosed clinically based upon the bull’s eye rash. He noted that “There is a view in some pockets of the medical and patient community that the test that we have here is inaccurate and that people developing other symptoms, you know, chronic fatigue, chronic pain can be related to Lyme disease if undetected.” He noted that he hasn’t seen anything that “convincingly convinces” him of that. He noted that the Infectious Disease Specialists people in Nova Scotia feel that what we have here is sufficient and that they are on top of the issue. He did note that there could be variants, strains or infections that get missed but that Nova Scotia is on the right track. He ended his answer with a comment that there was a little bit of a conspiracy element to the “other side”.

Although I didn’t hear the original discussion, a friend advised me of it and I sent some information to the show’s host (who has had me on his show in the past to talk about Lyme in the province) and asked if he could forward it to the good Doctor in an attempt to enlighten him on the issue of Lyme. The host (Rick Howe) then asked me to be on the show to respond to the discussion.

When talking about Lyme and other tick borne diseases, I always try to use reputable sources for my info. With regard to the accuracy of the present blood test that is utilized in Canada, the ELISA, I made note of the Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter, Volume 22 – Issue 4 – October 2012 (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/medeff/bulletin/carn-bcei_v22n4-eng.php) which states that Lyme should be a clinical diagnosis and that the test should be supplemental, if used at all. It also noted that there are three possible reasons for a false-negative. In other words, the test is not 100% accurate.

I also advised that according to Nova Scotia’s Tick Borne Diseases Response Plan approximately 50-70% of people present with an initial Erythema Migrans or EM rash (better known as a bull’s eye rash) which is a definitive diagnosis of Lyme. Although this percentage is under dispute, even if it is true, it limits the number of people that can be quickly clinically diagnosed. As well, of those that do develop a bull’s eye rash, many will not see it as it could be under the hair, on the back of the knee, or any number of other areas not easily visible.

Between these two issues alone, it can leave many people that do not receive a timely diagnosis. On this basis, I noted that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later signs and symptoms of untreated Lyme disease (days to months after tick bite) could include:

• severe headaches and neck stiffness
• additional EM rashes or other areas of the body
• intermittent pain in tendons, muscles, joints, and bones
• heart palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)
• episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath
• inflammation of the brain and spinal cord
• nerve pain
• shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet
• problems with short-term memory

Would all that convincingly convince you that Lyme can develop into something more than just a rash and flu-like symptoms?

Since I had a few months to wait for my appointment with Dr. Boucher, I thought I would still search out things I could be doing in the interim. During my search, I came across Dr. Ernie Murakami of the Dr. E. Murakami Centre for Lyme in Hope, BC. Dr. Ernie was a retired Doctor that had dealt with many patients that he believed were dealing with tick borne diseases. Unfortunately, his treatment did not follow the “standard” protocol and he was forced to retire, or lose his license.

Since his retirement, Dr. Ernie has been tirelessly working to increase awareness of tick borne diseases and educating Naturopaths and whatever Doctors are interested in learning more. He had a contact form on his website, which I filled out and sent to him. He called me a few days later and we had a LONG chat about my symptoms, where I lived, and where I travelled. He suggested that I may be dealing with more than just Lyme and that if I wanted to go the route of a private Lab to have my blood checked, I should have it checked for several things such as Lyme, Babesiosis, Bartonella, Ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I contacted a Lab in California, IGenex, and spoke to them about cost. At the time I decided not to go ahead as I knew that most, if not all, Doctors in Nova Scotia would not accept the results of the IGenex test.

This discussion with Dr. Ernie, however, got me headed towards additional research on “co-infections”. Apparently, a tick could carry any number of various infections and that the percentage of those that carried more than one thing was steadily climbing. To make matters worse, ticks from different areas could be carrying different things and migratory birds could be dropping them in new locations all the time. How the heck would you know what the tick was carrying? Even if you found the tick on you and sent it off for testing, there is no guarantee that it is checked for everything. It may be just checked for the most prevalent things in your respective area. Lots could be missed.

That’s when I began to appreciate “Lyme Literate” Doctors. They could look at your list of symptoms and pick out which symptoms could be attributable to Lyme. Which ones may be the result of Babesiosis. What ones might be Bartonella. They also knew what tests to do to find out all the different things that could be going on in your body.

I had sent an email to Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer in which I mentioned the possibility of Babesiosis and Bartonella. He advised that there were no lab confirmed cases of either in the province. I then went to my GP to ask what lab work I should get and she wasn’t aware of any. Pretty hard to get lab confirmed cases if Doctors were not aware of the appropriate lab work to be done.

The more I learned, the less I seemed to know. I started questioning everything because I still had faith in Doctors, especially Infectious Disease Doctors, and I couldn’t understand how there could be so much conflicting information and yet there were two totally divided groups – IDSA (Infectious Disease Society of America) and ILADS (International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society) and the IDSA wanted nothing to do with anything ILADS said and actually went out of its’ way to try and discredit all the Doctors, Researchers, etc. that belonged to ILADS.

Why? This just didn’t make sense to me.

What was going on?

I don’t know what people did for support prior to Facebook and other on-line methods! I quickly learned that there were a number of Facebook pages and groups dedicated to Lyme and tick borne diseases. I joined many and “met” many people going through the same or similar things that I was. It was a blessing – and a curse!

I came to realize very quickly that many of the people on these sites had been sick for a very long time, some had resigned themselves to being that way for the rest of their lives. Some were angry (with good reason). Some were depressed (again for good reason). Some were VERY bitter! But some were upbeat and focused on helping others and giving a positive spin to everything. Those were the groups and people I gravitated to the most. The people doing what they could to help others. Trying to stay as upbeat as they could considering what they were going through.

I tried to say away from the drama as much as possible.  I tended to just read and learn rather than engage. Because of some of the drama, I decided to start my own pages and groups dedicated to Lyme. I felt like I was doing something to help raise awareness.

There are many great pages/groups dedicated to tick borne diseases. I highly recommend you join one or two, even if it’s just to see that there are many people going through the same things that you are and that there are also many people plugging away at trying to change the way that tick borne diseases are diagnosed and treated and thought of!

Because of Facebook, I learned more and more about tick borne diseases. I also learned that I needed to question everything that I read and to dig deeper.

It seemed to me that the issue should be cut and dry! If caught early, Lyme is supposed to be easy to treat and symptoms are minimal. If not caught early, it gets harder and symptoms can progress. To add to the issue was that ticks could carry more than just Lyme. When you add other things to the mix, a proper diagnosis and treatment could be problematic.

Unfortunately, however the issue of what to call “Late Stage” Lyme took up more energy than how to properly diagnose and treat. Many started calling their illness “Chronic” Lyme because they had been dealing with their illness for months or years and yes, they were in chronic pain or had chronic fatigue. There were some in the medical community that started to bluster about the fact that “Chronic” Lyme wasn’t a real illness. Many said it was made-up. Research went into whether what people were dealing with was “Chronic” Lyme or “Post-Treatment Lyme Syndrome” or something else entirely.

Personally, I would love for everyone to stop using the term “Chronic” Lyme. Although chronically ill, we have either Late Lyme or a combination of tick borne diseases. On the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website they define the possible signs and symptoms of untreated Lyme disease as being “Early Signs and Symptoms (3 to 30 days after tick bite)” and “Later Signs and Symptoms (days to months after tick bite).”

The later signs and symptoms, according to the CDC, could include:

• severe headaches and neck stiffness
• additional Erythema migrans (EM) rashes
• intermittent palpitations or an irregular heart beat (Lyme carditis)
• episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath
• inflammation of the brain and spinal cord
• nerve pain
• shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet
• problems with short-term memory

Most of those could be perceived as chronic issues if dealt with for a period of time! Get over the name! Get on with the research!

The negative ELISA was the start of my journey for more answers. At that time, I wasn’t aware of how faulty the test was and that there were false-positives AND false-negatives! I just knew that there was something wrong with me and I needed to find out what it was!

It was fortunate that I dragged my husband with me to the appointment after the negative ELISA as my GP recommended that I see someone to talk about what was going on with me. My husband advised my GP that he had seen a few of my symptoms such as the slurring of my speech after a sip of wine, the mixing up of words and the inability to walk a straight line. She agreed to send me to a Neurologist. That appointment was a few months away.

In the meantime, I got back on the CanLyme website and started looking for answers. They had contact people for each province so I emailed the gentleman that was the contact person for Nova Scotia at that time (I am actually now the Nova Scotia contact person for CanLyme) which was Larry Burke. Larry’s wife was one of the very first cases of Lyme in Nova Scotia. He was able to recommend a “Lyme Literate” Doctor that practiced in Nova Scotia. Dr. Ben Boucher was the only “Lyme Literate” Doctor in the province at that time and subsequently closed his practice in 2013 – but more on that later!

I contacted Dr. Boucher’s office and made an appointment for September. A few months away. There were days I could barely hold my head up and spent a lot of time in bed because of the light sensitivity and headaches/head pressure. However, on the good days I was on the computer looking for any and all information that I could find.

I made contact with my local MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly – Provincial Government) who advised of several people in her constituency that had been diagnosed with Lyme. She connected me with a few of those people and she also provided me with a copy of a book called “Ending Denial – The Lyme Disease Epidemic – A Canadian Public Health Disaster”. I had a hard time reading and comprehending words then but I was able to get the gist of what it was saying. The book was my first glimpse at how controversial and under-recognized tick borne diseases were in Canada (and elsewhere).

In a very short time (approximately two weeks) I became aware of several people that had been diagnosed that had a direct or indirect connection to me:

• a former co-worker was bitten while mowing his grass in my community
• the son of a former classmate
• the brother -in-law of a former co-worker
• the son of my family’s lawyer (ended up with a pacemaker due to Lyme carditis

There were approximately ten people that I quickly came across. I was being told that Lyme was rare in the province. Rare? If I could find ten people, in less than two weeks, how could that be considered rare? At that time, Lyme was considered endemic in a particular park in my community. None of the people that I had found had been in that park. The entire community is now considered endemic but back in 2011 EVERYONE thought they had to be in the park to be in contact with disease-carrying ticks. That was obviously not the case!

Because of the book my MLA loaned me, I started reaching out to my friends that had received a diagnosis of ALS and MS, just to let them know that Lyme had similar symptoms. I also reached out to several friends of mine that were Doctors. I was told the tests were good! I was asked if I thought I knew more than they did! I was directed to old, outdated information! In other words, I soldiered on and did more and more research. I spoke to more and more people. I sent more and more emails.

I needed to know more!

 

 

Before I start on my journey of recording my thoughts, opinions, concerns, beliefs, etc., etc., etc. about my life with tick borne diseases, I want to give you a little idea on who I am.

I am a Mother and Wife. I have two awesome teenagers (16 & 14). I have been married for 17 1/2 years. I have a very cute Portuguese Water Dog named Cao. I have been sick for pretty much my children’s entire lives!

I don’t recall being bitten by a tick. I didn’t see one latched to me. I didn’t see a bull’s eye rash. I didn’t know anything about Lyme, ticks or the possibility of co-infections until I had my “ah ha” moment and started researching all of my symptoms in 2011.

From about 2000 to 2011 I had a steadily growing number of health issues which started with the diagnosis of hypothyroidism between the birth of my two children. Unfortunately, the prescribed medication, Synthroid, never reduced the symptoms – at all – and the dosage was changed, a Specialist was seen, but neither my Doctor or the Specialist waivered from the use of Synthroid. They just recommended a non-dyed pill (in case I was sensitive to the dye) and would periodically alter the dose. They could not explain why my symptoms did not go away, or at least improve.

Over the years I was checked for stomach issues (possibly Irritable Bowel Syndrome); allergies (only an allergy to dust mites was found); breathing difficulties (put on a puffer due to reduced breathing capabilities but no official diagnosis made); heart palpitations (my ECG was normal); vision problems (ended up with glasses but they didn’t help with the light sensitivity, floaters, blurriness, etc.); scent sensitivities (nothing diagnosed), and the list goes on!

It wasn’t until late 2010 when I was diagnosed with TMJ (had severe jaw/tooth/neck pain with no visible cause) and tried out an expensive bite plate at night for a few months with no resolve that I finally had my “ah ha” moment. I finally said to myself what on earth could be causing all of these seemingly unrelated symptoms that were affecting most, if not all, of my systems. It didn’t take long to find a symptom list for Lyme and tick borne diseases of which I had 48 at the time. Forty-eight! Some were fairly minor, like hair loss, severe sweats, temperature intolerance. Some were fairly concerning, like the heart palpitations, memory issues, vision issues, pressure in the head, fatigue. However, there were many, many more!

I took the list that I printed off the Canadian Lyme Disease Association (CanLyme) website, checked all that applied and went to my GP. She sent me for the blood test (ELISA) that day but said that it will probably come back negative, which it did. To this day, I have never asked what she meant by that statement. Whether she didn’t think I had Lyme or whether she didn’t think the test was a good one. Once the ELISA came back negative, my GP said there was nothing more she could do for me and that if I wanted to pursue a possible Lyme diagnosis I should go to a reputable place in the US, like the Mayo Clinic, and if they diagnosed me with Lyme, she would be able to treat me!

More research was required!