Under Our Skin

I have had two tick bites in my life. Both of those ticks carried Lyme disease. Last summer I came down with it, and luckily I had the trademark bulls eye to prove it, since my blood work came back negative. This past July, I came down with the same symptoms again, but had no bulls eye.  The last tick bite I had was in April, so I thought I was in the clear since I hadn't become sick. I didn't know that you can be bit by a Lyme diseased tick, and not get sick from it for several months. I also didn't know that something like 50% of people with Lyme's don't get a bulls eye, and that blood tests are highly unreliable. It was because I knew the symptoms, and knew what to do.
My doctor is not completely with me on my feelings about Lyme disease. She's following the Infectious Disease Society of America's (the IDSA) guidelines, which are highly biased, and quite frankly are making people with Lymes sicker. She agreed however to put me on 2 weeks of the antibiotic doxycycline, and reluctantly agreed to one week more when I asked her to treat me just like she had the last time. I'm not a fan of the antibiotic, it took me a few days of taking it before I could finally hold it down. It's nasty, but untreated Lyme disease is far nastier.
I have a cousin, who is 13 now. 4 years ago, she was bit by a tick at school. The nurse removed it, and told her mother to watch out for the bulls eye. There was no bulls eye, but about 9 months later, she became very sick with flu like symptoms. Her mother had her tested for Lymes, and it came back negative. She took some antibiotics and didn't get better. It wasn't until her mom took her back for more blood work that they discovered Lymes. After visiting one of the only Lyme literate pediatric doctors in the country, she spent a year on IV antibiotics and has been pain free for 2 years. The problem with seeing a Lyme literate doctor, is that your insurance won't cover it, based on the IDSA's guidelines. Lyme is considered treated after 3 weeks of doxycycline. This is true of some cases like mine, but if its left untreated, it is significantly harder to reverse. Did I mention that over half of the doctors on the IDSA board work for the insurance companies? Hardly sounds like a fair match. There is a wonderful documentary that everyone should see. It's called "Under Our Skin" it can be found on Netflix as well as your local library. I believe that one day they are going to find cures for diseases of unknown origin, such as MS, Lou Gehrig's disease and Parkinson's. I also believe that the unknown origin will be untreated Lymes. But that's just my opinion. Go watch the movie and make up your own mind!