Lyme Disease
What is Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease and one of the fastest growing infectious diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admits to over 300,000 new cases per year! We have reason to believe this disease is spreading exponentially. Since national surveillance began in 1982, the number of annual Lyme cases reported has increased nearly 25 fold. While most attribute Lyme disease to the northeastern portion of the Unites States, the disease is rapidly spreading across the county. It has been reported in nearly all 50 states, including those who have never been previously recorded. In the northeast alone, Lyme has increased 320%.
Lyme disease is a unique disease with many diverse symptoms. It has even taken a new name: MSDIS – Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome.
What causes Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is caused by the infectious spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Typically, patients present with a wide range of primary and secondary infections including bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections. The most common to travel with Borrelia are its cousin germs Bartonella henselae, Babesia microti, and the bacteria of the Ehrlichia species.
What makes Lyme Disease dangerous?
Borrelia burgdorferi is classified as a spirochete. Spirochetes are corkscrew shaped which enables them to burrow deep into the connective tissue. To add insult to injury, these bugs are pleomorphic, meaning they can change size and shape at will which allows them to burrow deep into the tissues, joints, and even across the highly selective membrane, the Blood-Brain-Barrier. Borrelia’s destructive power primarily comes from the ability to release endotoxins and neurotoxins. These toxins destroy muscle and nerve fibers throughout the body causing chronic inflammation to joints, muscles, and brain cells. This can lead to a wide array of symptoms and often why this disease is misdiagnosed. These bacteria can live intracellularly and can even bind to heavy metals in your body which provide a protective shell that prevents antibiotics from effectively treating it. These properties, along with the ability to shift surface antigens, are the reason Borrelia burgdorferi is considered a “superbug” and extremely dangerous.
The diagnosis of Lyme disease is primarily through the use of ELISA and Western Blot tests; however, these tests are often inaccurate. This is due in large part to the spirochetes ability to infect white blood cells. Since lab tests rely on the normal function of these cells to produce the antibodies, they will not respond to an infection appropriately. The worse the infection, the less likely it will show up on a blood test. Johns Hopkins says it misses 55% of Lyme positive patients. The CDC and New York State Department of Health say they miss 81% of the people that did not have a bullseye rash.
How would I get Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease can be spread by ticks, mosquitoes, spiders, fleas, saliva, breast milk and can even be sexually transmitted, according to Richard Horowitz, MD, Hyde Park, New York and DesBIO Homeopathics. It has recently been found to be transmittable in the saliva of other animals including pet dogs.
Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Acute stages of infection are localized to the skin with the most well-known sign presenting as erythema migrans, a “bulls-eye” rash that develops 3-14 days after a bite. While this is a typical sign of Lyme disease, most individuals do not present with a rash. Acute infection also commonly presents with flu-like symptoms including fatigue, headache, nausea, muscle aches and joint pain, decreased appetite, constipation, and fever.
There are three phases in Lyme disease.
1. Bite Phase: The patient may have the classic bull’s eye rash. Arthritis symptoms are very common
Initial Symptoms: Unrelenting fatigue, recurring fever, headaches/migraines, achy muscles and joints.
2. Latent Dormant Phase: Minimal symptoms and the rash and arthritis seem to improve.
3. Late Stage Phase: The disease returns in its full-blown glory as it attacks the nervous system and the immune system with many diverse and varied symptoms.
The first step to determining an individualized protocol is determining what co-infections are also present. As most Lyme patients know, Borrelia never seems to travel alone. Bites can transmit numerous other bacteria and viruses. The most common being: Bartonella, Babesia, Mycoplasma, Coxsackie, Nanobacterium, Parvovirus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Valley Fever. The body may also be harboring Brucella, Candida, C. Difficile, Cytomegalovirus, Epstein Barr Virus, H.Pylori, SIBO, Hepatitis, Herpes Simplex, Herpes Zoster, Streptococcus, Toxoplasma Gondii, Chlamydia, Condylomata (HPV).
Lyme Disease Symptoms:
Lyme disease can present in a wide variety of symptoms that overlap with other conditions including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. Many Lyme patients report being misdiagnosed with a different condition before being properly diagnosed with Lyme disease.
NEUROLOGIC SYSTEM
Numbness in body, tingling, pinpricks, burning/stabbing sensations in the body, burning in feet, weakness or paralysis of limbs, tremors or unexplained shaking, seizures, stroke, poor balance, dizziness, difficulty walking, increased motion sickness, wooziness, lightheadedness, fainting, encephalopathy (cognitive impairment from brain involvement), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), meningitis (inflammation of the protective membrane around the brain), encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord), academic or vocational decline, difficulty with multitasking, difficulty with organization and planning, auditory processing problems, word finding problems, slowed speed of processing
PSYCHIATRIC
Mood swings, irritability, agitation, depression, anxiety, personality changes, ADD/ADHD, malaise, aggressive behavior / impulsiveness, suicidal thoughts, overemotional reactions, disturbed sleep, difficulty falling or staying asleep, suspiciosness, paranoia, hallucinations, insecurity, obsessive-compulsive behavior, bipolar disorder/manic behavior, schizophrenic-like state, including hallucinations.
COGNITIVE
Dementia, forgetfulness, memory loss, poor school or work performance, attention deficit problems, distractibility, confusion, difficulty thinking, difficulty with concentration, reading, spelling, disorientation, getting or feeling lost, unusual sexuality.
EYES & VISION
Double or blurry vision, vision changes, wandering or lazy eye, conjunctivitis (pink eye), over-sensitivity to light, eye pain or swelling around the eyes, floaters/spots in the line of sight, redness.
RESPIRATORY
CIRCULATORY
Difficulty breathing, night sweats or unexplained chills, heart palpitations, diminished exercise tolerance, heart block, murmur, atrial fibrillation, chest pain or rib soreness.
REPRODUCTIVE
FEMALES – Unexplained menstrual pain, irregularity, reproduction problems, miscarriage, premature birth, extreme PMS symptoms.
MALES – Testicular or pelvic pain, erectile dysfunction.
GENERAL
WELL-BEING
Decreased interest in play (kids), extreme fatigue, exhaustion, unexplained fevers (high or low grade), flu-like symptoms (early in illness), symptoms change, come and go.
MUSCULO
SKELETAL
Joint pain, swelling, or stiffness, shifting joint pains, muscle pain, cramps, poor coordination, loss of reflexes, loss of tone, weakness.
DIGESTIVE & EXCRETORY
Upset stomach (nausea, vomiting), irritable bladder, unexplained weight loss or gain, loss of appetite, anorexia.
SKIN PROBLEMS
Benign tumor-like nodules, Erythema Migrans (rash)
EARS & HEARING
Decreased hearing, ringing or buzzing in ears, sound sensitivity, pain in the ears.
22 Reasons Why Your Lyme Test Is Wrong
1. You were recently infected and tested before your body produced Lyme antibodies.
2. You took antibiotics before testing which co-opted the antibody response.
3. You were already on long term antibiotics for another illness.
4. Not enough “free” Lyme antibodies were detectable in your blood because they were all doing their job binding to Lyme bacteria.
5. Lyme spirochetes were protected and hiding inside a biofilm colony.
6. Spirochetes were burrowed deep inside your body.
7. Only small blebs were in your body, not whole bacteria which are needed for the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) based tests.
8. No free spirochetes in body fluid on the day of test.
9. Genetic heterogeneity (Over 300 strains of Lyme). You might be infected by a strain of Borrelia that the test doesn’t recognize.
10. Antigen variability: Borrelia can change its outer surface protein to suit its environment so the test will detect a “non-Lyme specific” antibody.
11. Spirochetes are in dormancy phase with no cell walls so there is nothing for the immune system to attack with antibodies.
12. Lyme’s surface antigens can change body temperature.
13. You have an immune deficiency (body isn’t producing antibodies).
14. You have had a recent anti-inflammatory treatment which suppresses the immune system (i.e. steroids, arthritis medications)
15. Co-infections with Babesia (protozoa) which causes immune suppression.
16. Down-regulation of your immune system by your body’s own cytokines.
17. Lab error or poor technical capability/training to detect Lyme
18. Late stage Lyme: Lab tests are not standardized for detecting late stage Lyme.
19. Lab tests might only have approved for investigational use
20. Lack of adequate reference points for the test
21. The revised Western Blot criteria fails to include important antibody bands (i.e. 31, 34).
22. CDC testing criteria is designed for epidemiological study, not clinical diagnosis.