Baltimore Sun article-grrrrrrrr!!!

[Buttons2]

Well Lymies I have no idea why my local paper way out here on the West Coast decided to print a very bad article called: "Lyme disease:What it is,how to treat it" by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman. I'm not computer literate so just bear with me (maybe someone else can find the article & post it?)

Some of the "facts"

30,000+ people infected every year with Lyme
4 out of 5 ticks are not infected
nymphs cause 90% of the disease
no chance of Lyme if tick pulled out 24-36 hrs from attachment
rash only clinical symptom other than blood test
OVER 90% OF PEOPLE GET A RASH!!
(is your blood boiling yet??)
blood test if positive helpful-negative not helpful (duh!!)
treatment:doxycycline,amoxicillin,cefuroxime
JUST TAKE THE RIGHT DRUG,RIGHT DOSE,RIGHT TIME PERIOD-YOU ARE CURED!!!
LESS THAN 10% OF PEOPLE DO NOT RESPOND TO TREATMENT

Does this sound wacky or what? This info is from Dr. Robert Edelman,infectious-disease specialist & director of the Travelers' Health Clinic at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Buttons:mad:

[Ginny43]

Buttons -
Those are really weird facts. There's another really long article in today's Sun by Chris Emery which (as well as I can see - since my vision is still pretty poor) is based on facts gathered from the establishment medical cmty. At the very end these is a section called "Treatment Debated" which says that some patients need a second four wk dose of antibiotics. Aithor quotes a Johns Hopkins person saying that some chronic cases are probably real.
The author was probably trying to be fair, but no matter what he's (she's?) still ignorant about the disease. You have to live it to know it. I just wish they'd say "we don't know" and be done with it.
It's probably a better article than what you read, but discouraging no less.

Always searching for hope and info -- but it wasn't in the Sun.

Ginny

[lymebytes]

I suggest writing a reply to Dr. Edelman, asking it to be printed in the same section and/or write a letter to the editor.

Incorrect information is dangerous. There is a lot of Lyme disease in MD. I have listed some info below worth including.

Lyme disease is the second fastest growing infectious disease in the US after AIDS, and it is the number one vector-borne disease in the US (not West Nile). The true number of cases is estimated to be ten times what is reported due to the unreliablty of existing tests. Only about 50% of people who have Lyme ever get a rash.

Tick attachment time is irrelevant. I am proof. The tick that bit me was attached for three hours at most, and it transmitted five diseases.

Early proper treatment is cruicial to eradicate these infections without long-term complications.

[RuthHinWV]

OH I absolutely intend on responding to this stupid person via the editor. For anyone intrested, the site is www.baltimoresun.com

Also, the site address for the article is: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-to.hs.lyme26jul26,0,1247.story

The name of the article is: An Uptick in Lyme disease, it's 3 pages long, so you have to click on each page to continue the story.

The guy who wrote the article: chris.emery@baltsun.com

At the bottom of the article is a place to submit comments: "Would you recommend this article".

Ruth in WV

[Buttons2]

Thanks for the replies. I'm kinda brain dead today but here's a link to the 640 current articles put out all over the US,regarding Lyme disease:

http://www.articleon.com/lyme-disease-articles.html

The article that appeared in our local paper is there also but it has a different title & was in New Jersey.

Maybe Ruth has posted this site previously,I actually get too upset reading most of the info out there......but when it's right in my face in the paper of course I had to read it!

Also,what was really bad was not bothering to tell how to remove the tick properly!

I plan to write a letter to the editor here,hate doing that cause I have to put my name with it & recently people have been getting death threats & harrassment over their letters! Makes ya wonder about the area I live in eh? (these were primarily political letters-but then Lyme IS a political issue!)

Later,Buttons

[blimeyitslymie]

FYI -- here's a link to the article. Also, some ways to respond; including a way to reply without using your name, buttons.

B~

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't tell you how many people have delayed treatment because they
didn't have a round red rash," said Dr. John N. Aucott, an infectious
disease expert at Johns Hopkins at Green Spring Station.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-to.hs.lyme26jul26,0,2989628,full.story
or
http://snipurl.com/1os8m

July 26, 2007 Baltimoresun.com Baltimore,MD

Cute image omitted on LymeInfo of Graham Strzelecki, 7, who contracted
Lyme disease while attending a YMCA camp last month with his mother,
Kelly.

- -

An uptick in Lyme disease

Summer is the most common time for cases of the deer tick-borne
disease, which is on the rise in Maryland.

By Chris Emery | Baltimore Sun Reporter
chris.emery@baltsun.com

Kelly Strzelecki has a new reason to avoid ticks -- not that she
needed one. "I hate them -- who doesn't?" she asked, prefacing her
latest experience with the tiny bloodsuckers.

Her son, Graham, 7, developed a rash last month while the Catonsville
family was attending a YMCA camp in tick-infested woods. A week later,
the boy fell ill. "He had these unexplained fevers, and he was
lethargic and kind of pale," recalled Strzelecki.

Medical tests showed Graham had contracted Lyme disease, a tick-borne
infection that's notoriously difficult to spot and well-entrenched in
the forests of Maryland and neighboring states.

Full text with photo here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-to.hs.lyme26jul26,0,2989628,full.story
or
http://snipurl.com/1os8m

To contact the newspaper:
There are several ways to express your reaction to Sun coverage. Send
a letter to the editor for publication consideration by writing to:
Letters to the Editor, The Sun, P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore, Md. 21278-0001.

Fax your letter to: 410-332-6977 or E-mail it to letters@baltsun.com.
(And, remember, brevity is the soul of wit.)

If you want to be heard but don't necessarily want your name in the
paper, contact our Reader's Representative by writing to: P.O. Box
1377, Baltimore, Md. 21278-0001.

If you'd like to post your opinions here on BaltimoreSun.com, go to
our bulletin board section and post the topic of your choosing. You
may also E-mail your comments to Sun reporters and editors by sending
mail to the Public Editor publiceditor@baltsun.com . Indicate the name
of the person you are trying to reach and mail will be directed to the
appropriate person.

[Buttons2]

Thanks Blimey & my apology for confusing you with Ruth! You do so much here to keep us all informed! (told ya I was brain dead today).

Buttons

[RuthHinWV]

Hi Buttons, I don't mind you mistook me & someone else; however, I've been a member of Braintalk for several years. I know it says new member under my screen name, but that's because I had to re-register after the site came back up. I was quite active before it all went down for months & have been sitting on the sidelines & just reading since the traffic here has gone down so far. Just thought I'd say that, not that it matters much!!! Ruth

[Buttons2]

Ruth, I also had alot of posts before the crash,1,500 I think? We'll probably never get back to where we were I'm afraid.....well I try to do my part! Wish we had all the lost data though. Sometimes I run into my old posts on a google search.

How are you doing these days? I'm hanging in with my "mystery disease":rolleyes: Many of my strange symptoms have improved,and glad to say I rarely have myoclonic jerks anymore. I'm keeping track of them now,see if there's a cycle......I'm due for one tonight! 30 day cycle?

My brain fog is much better,I credit the B12 for that. I cannot lose weight though,even on a pretty strict low-carb no gluten diet.

No angina attacks for past 2 years,but now I get "flutters" which are kinda weird & freaky!

My eyes are better also,no more floaters or phantom images. Got new glasses finally,my first bi-focals. What fun getting used to them! Reminded me of the times of severe vertigo & the dizzies!

I no longer have the feeling of bugs on my legs,however I do have total numbness in my arms from time to time. My hair has stopped falling out so much also. And I haven't forgotten my name or phone number in ages......in fact I can carry on conversations without tripping over words! It still wears me out to talk much & the fatique is horrid when I do much physical activity.

I have to credit adopting my big mutt with keeping me around. I'd love to try the salt/c again but afraid of how high my BP went on that stuff. I know it helped me alot......it's been 1 1/2 yrs since I tried it & I rarely take any of the herbs I used in the past now. Just gave up I suppose. Take what improvement I can get & stay away from doctor's!! After a couple of scares of having fatal rare diseases I finally said enough! My stomach issues are better going gluten free & I seem to be regaining some energy since I've actually completed some projects that would have been impossible a few years ago!

Well, ya didn't ask for an update but guess ya got one anyway! I probably will never know what has invaded my body.....but I could make medical history with having a visable spider bite on my foot for the past 10 years now!!

I always wear my high rubber boots to walk in the woods. My dog chases the deer away! I refuse to be paranoid about ticks! And I'd sure like to know how these tick experts actually expect people to examine their entire bodies for ticks??? Heck, if I could twist my head around I'd give myself a massage!

My thought is that my own immune system has kept me going.....

Wishing everyone better days ahead!
Buttons

[RuthHinWV]

Hi Buttons, I'm not sure how many posts I had on the old boards, but there were quite a few. I too regret they weren't able to save the old data; there was so much helpful info that's been lost. It's a shame, but it's the world of computers.

I'm doing better, thank you. In November 2006, I finally found an LLMD in this state; the only one so far. I spend about 3-1/2 years traveling 385 mile round trip every month & now it only takes 45 minutes one way. What is both good & bad about my new LLMD is both she & her child have Lyme. While it's good for me, she understands full well what I'm feeling when I tell her, I feel so badly for her. She has a very busy practice & how she keeps up with it all is beyond me.

The other good thing about her is, she's willing to listen to me & take in to consideration the treatments I want to try. The other LLMD was great to listen, but I harranged him for months to try the regime of Dr. Donta to no avail. I've been on Dr. Donta's treatment regime for 5 months now & have had just a little taste of what my future holds. I was shake free this entire weekend!!

I shake visibly (for about 8 mths now) when I first wake up for a few seconds & when I try to do anything intricate like write, my right hand shakes so much I have to use my left hand to hold it down. There was none of it this whole weekend. Monday I found I had a little bit of a shake when I woke & when I tried to write, but nothing like it was. It's still like that tonight. I have a hard time using the mouse on my pc because I start shaking so badly I can't move it where it needs to go.

I'm virtually pain free except for a tight muscle now & then, but it's usually because I've lifted something heavier than I should have. Sometimes the muscles in my neck ache & I have to take pain killers, but it's not often.

I would have to say, if asked, I'm about 90% or more better/symptom free. I wish the energy would come back, but I might have to wait for that until I'm off all abx. Dr. Donta says no vitamins or minerals while taking the abx.

I don't know if anyone else has heard this, but there are some LLMD's who feel the bacteria feed off the vitamins & minerals & are capable of growing stronger. We don't want that, I'm not pushing my luck, so any B-12 will have to wait. I can be patient.

The vision in my left eye is still so-so; I have good days & bad days, but I deal with it. Like everyone else, we've adapted & move on.

That's about it for me; I'm doing well & I applaud Dr. Donta. ALSO, took my dog to the Vet today & was asked about what I was taking, how I was, etc. When I told her I was taking Tetracycline 1,500mg/day, she said Tetracycline is what they give animals when they get Lyme. I thought that was very interesting!!!

Have a good day; stay cool, our central a/c is on the fritz right now, but TG for window units!!! Ruth H

[Buttons2]

Yes I've always known dogs get better treatment for Lyme than most people do! Not sure why this is,do they also get co-infections?

Great to hear that you are improving! And like your doctor!

I disagree with the concept of no vitamins while on abx,we still have to eat right? There must be some vitamins in food or we'd all be dead! Seems to me the critters will feed off anything in their path! But I understand that this is just one more issue of dispute depending on the doctor & the treatment regime.

Before I got my laptop I used to toss the mouse around all over the place! This is so much easier,just lean my arms on my desk & type!

Hey, went the 30 days without horrific myoclonic jerks! Yippee!! My goal is to go 6 mos. jerk free & then I'll try driving again.....assuming no more "foot drop" or total numbness attacks that is!

Thanks for the update. This should be encouraging for others!
Buttons