How old are you? It would be good for members to know so they know how to phrase their words to make it easier for you to understand.Its really cool you want to help your Dad.How do you want to start? Ask questions or get your Dad to ask you questions and you post?

pain.Why dont you just fire away and its 100% sure you will get lots of help from others.

Post edited by: buckron, at: 10/19/2008 09:25

Post edited by: buckron, at: 10/19/2008 09:35

Sorry that things have gone the way that they have. I suffered a huge deep depression for 2.5 years, and what got me out was the people who cared the most pushed and pushed till I was able to take the reigns again.

Pain meds is a difficult issue...i was on some pretty serious ones for years - but luckily never became an addict. But it becomes easy to simply depend on them in order not to feel the pain.

With treatment, it doesnt have to appear to be helping all the time. But if he really felt that it wasnt then he needs to make changes.

But before anything can really be done, he has to WANT to come out of the cloud. Do the research. Connect with people here. And learn all that you can. Have the info ready for him. But he will probably need some nudging, and be prepared for him to resist. But he will know deep down that you care.

He is only going to start taking care of himself when he is ready. Deal first with getting him back on track and ready and willing to care for himself. He is NOT alone, and he needs to know that. Look for stories and/or ask for stories of people who are struggling and at times feel that there is no end in site. We all get our days where we wonder why bother. BUT we bounce back.

And when he is ready, he will have you there with the info that he needs to get going and take control. Taking control is a big thing when you have Lyme. As long as you continue to fight, you still have it, no matter how much the little buggers knock you around, as long you keep the desire to fight and get better and beat it, you are still winning.

He may not want to hear it, but there is hope, there are those who are worse off then he is, and those who are better. He needs to find a place where he can see that - and we have it here.

I have to run - dont give up and never despare - there are ways to live with this - we all do - and we do it because ultimately, when push comes to shove - we can...we just need to be reminded from time to time

Feel free to PM me any time - I am often on - except for Sundays - today is a rare exception.

Christine

I've collected a bunch of sites that I can give you to start you researching LD. You can see what you can find that can help you to help your father. I agree that often with ab's, one can get much worse before they get better with LD, and a lot of that just has to do with how LD works on our bodies. There are a number of spouses, partners, mothers, fathers, sisters, etc, on this site, so I hope you can connect with some of them to help you through. However, some of us Lymies may be able to give you some perspective of how he may be feeling through his eyes, which might help you to know him a little better.

On the possible drug addiction, I have to say that I honestly find it hard to believe that most people who truly have a lot of pain can get addicted. Honestly, most of us can't get enough pain meds to get rid of the pain, and we can tolerate a whole heck of a lot of the pain meds and live with taking them and function at an incredible level of not only pain, but of pain meds. Does that make sense to you? Most of us are hoarding pills to get us through to our next rx, and most of us will fill the next rx, even if we don't need it, cuz we KNOW we're going to. I'm sure you see that behavior, but it's not necessarily an addiction, but a NEED. There's a difference, and unless you've been there, it's really hard to know it. Unless he's actually exhibiting irrational and withdrawal type of behavior, violence, and that sort of thing, you might be looking at someone who's simply in an incredible amount of pain who knows he can't get enough meds to get him through. My pain meds barely take the edge off, but I rarely take the vicodin, cuz I know I need that for the REALLY bad days. Some of those bad days can come in droves, so... Get what I'm getting at?

Several good places to get started with learning more are located here:

www.ilads.org

This is the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society's webpage. It has some really amazing info, search all over the place on it and see what you have. You'll be incredibly amazed at what you'll find.

www.ilads.org/basic.html

This is ILADS's basic info page. It is exactly what it sounds like, basic info. I usually say start there on ILADS's website, because it's got such great info, is very succinct, and is only 2 pages of info. It's got info on testing, treatment, why there's such controversy of treatment and testing, and all that good stuff. It's one of the best resources you'll find to get started.

http://www.canlyme.com/tom.html

This is Canada's Lyma Association's webpage, with Tom Grier's article about complications of LD, intricacies and all that good stuff. It's very good, very basic, and when it gets technical, there's a section underneath that translates the info to: "this is what this means." It's also wonderful for getting started.

www.truthaboutlymedisease.com

This is a really good website that talks about just what it says. I haven't had a lot of time to read over it, but it was recommended to me by one of our group leaders, and I recommend you take a look.

http://www.personalconsult.com/articles/moldandbiotoxins/ AdvancedTopicsInLymeDisease.pdf

This is Dr. Joseph Burrascano's guide "Advanced Topics in Lyme Disease." It is an amazing guide, 33 pages, can be printed out, and it even has a couple of symptoms pages you can fill out (your dad can fill out). This is a guide that was written for docs, but is very easy for us Lymies to understand. It has info on what treatment protocols are recommended, the co-infections (infections that usually are found with LD), and testing, etc. It is a must for all Lymies, and it is what I call my "Lyme Bible."

http://www.lymepa.org/Basics2007v1.2Rev.pdf

This is the guide written by the LDASEPA (Lyme Disease Assoc. of Southeastern Penn). It is wonderful info and very basic, written in a Q&A format, excellent for patients, especially newly diagnosed. It answers a ton of questions you may have, and some you maybe didn't even know you have. It also has several pages' worth of symptoms lists that can be printed out and checked off. I really recommend printing this one as well.

I hope that some of this info will be helpful to you, and hope that you can find some help and hope here on this site. If I can be of more help to you, please feel free to send me a PM. Also, if your father isn't seeing an LLMD, or Lyme-Literate Medical Doctor, please send a PM to one of the group leaders here with your location and request a list of the ones in your area. Your father really needs to be under the care of one, if he's not. It's important that we get care from doctors who understand what we're going through and that we need to continue to get care. You will understand more of what I'm talking about and why it's so important once you read some of the resources I've listed above. Again, if you need me, I'll be around, just a PM away!

*hugs*

Jen

Post edited by: fluffyluggage, at: 10/19/2008 15:47

I hope that you can connect with more family members on this site who can help support you as well, but know that I'm here for you, if you need me!

*hugs*

Jen