Lyme Disease Support Group

Hi, everyone...

I'm brand new here - just was diagnosed with Lyme last week after 21 years of being sick... So I'm just now learning about all this!

Anyway, I have a question and I figured this group would have the knowledge! My pastor was just diagnosed last week with Rocky Mountain Spotted fever - he'd been bitten by a tick and got the rashes and got really sick. They've put him on 14 days of doxicycline.

I know that there's a good chance he now has been infected with other tick-borne bacteria, and from what I'm learning, NOW may be his best chance of fully recovering! What should I suggest to him? I'm definitely feeling like he needs a longer course of the doxi (8 weeks?) - Is there anything else I should let him know or warn him about? I most certainly don't want him to end up with the chronic form of any of this mess...

Is there a good "intro" type web site I should suggest - say if someone was only going to read ONE site (or article within a site) - what would you recommend?

Thanks for any suggestions!

- Jacki

I have no knowledge of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but would sure like to know more about it. How does it differ from Lyme?

You might want to see if there is a forum more specifically geared towards it.

Your pastor NEEDS to see a lyme literate doctor...NOT an infectious disease doc or a regular doc. He needs to see one of the docs that can put him on a protocol that can get him healed..

If he was diagnosed early and has started meds right away then two weeks or even 30 days IS NOT ENOUGH...it will make him VERY ill for a VERY long time if he stops meds and thinks he's cured per the CDC guidelines...

Save the rest of his life and tell him that. The group leaders have a list of docs that will treat him properly.

My sister was bitten by a sheep tick when she was 6 years old and dx with RMSF. She was treated then and deemed "cured" by the doctors.

After suffering her whole life with many differents things she was finally dx this last July with Lyme Disease.

It took me getting this nasty disease to see it in her too..She is now in treatment and on the road to recovery..

I would refer your pastor to www.ilads.org and encourage him to spend some time on there, they are the good guys fighting for us. Also Dr.Burrascanos treatment guidelines are on there, here is the link..

http://www.ilads.org/files/burrascano_0905.pdf

Also a rule of thumb with TBD is to treat until completely symptom free for 2 months..

Thanks SO much for the info...! I will definitely pass this along to my pastor. I'm also trying to find a good LLMD for myself. My nurse practitioner (ND) is good as far as "working with me" on things, but I'm thinking I need to find someone who's really "specializing" in this so I don't have to carry the load myself of learning/teaching (I still plan to learn, don't get me wrong(!) - just would like to find a doctor who knows more about it than *I* do at this point!)

Have him come on this site! Let him ask his own questions. Let him read some of the posts from all us victims.

After reading he may understand that he needs to see an LLMD right away and perhaps he can beat this thing that has most of us suffering for much of our lives.

You give him this link of MDJuntion(lyme disease) and if you want cut and paste what I write here to him.

If he does not have a computer, print it out for him.

Just let him know, I found the tick on me, I was getting treatment like him for 14 days only...

Got the rash later, symptoms later, now I have been fighting for 2 years!

I wish I had found this site sooner.

This is just so sad, I just got an email last week, my parents best friends Pastor's wife's brother has Lyme and has not gotten any help or good info.

The first site I passed on was this one. It's alot to read, but "bettyg" has a list on here.. he will need to go over, it has the links he needs to help himself.

Just tell him we are here for him, we become more educated by each day and minute and we have resorces he can investigate with out searching the web in crazy panic...

He has a great friend....YOU!

may both of you get well fast!

Thanks so much, wlkthlne! I will send him this info!