I Don't Know

[CarlaB]

OK so what is the endemic area? sorry if i am not reserching myself at the moment but i am balancing this conversation with work. i will take great consideration to google google googl when i get home. i think you might be onto something. appreciating the help with impossible gratuity (however these never hurt). do you think it could be anything else why we are breaking it down?

An endemic area is where there is a lot of Lyme reported ... usually out East. Part of the problem is there is a huge political battle over "chronic Lyme" and whether it even exists ... so the endemic areas also coincide with the places where there are doctors diagnosing it.

There is even an anti-trust suit brought against the IDSA (the infectious disease doctors) by the Connecticut attorney general ... this political battle is deep. You can read about it at www.ilads.org, where those guidelines I told you about are.

The people getting hurt in this debate are you and I ... those suffering for years undiagnosed and untreated.

What else could it be? Well, with almost all the symptoms on the list, and considering that Lyme is a clinical diagnosis based on symptoms and supported by testing, I'd say Lyme is very suspicious. I, of course, can't diagnose, but I'm highly suspicious.

There are a few others who come back to the board after being gluten-free and not getting better, myself included, who all end up having Lyme Disease. I haven't yet seen anyone get diagnosed with anything different, it's always Lyme, so if it is something else, I don't know.

Bacterial dysbiosis can cause most of your symptoms, but I think yours is deeper than that ... you might have it ... I did ... but I'd bet there's more to it than that.

[scotty]

alright. lets say i got this Lyme. what are my first steps. consider i am in northwest ohio, will not be flying to NY even if my life depended on it. it's just not going to happen...though...would be a hell of a reason to road trip, which have not done in years. if i could only find some way to get somebody to foot the bill...in all seriousness, what are my options. of course initially a diagnosis is most important. but what is treatment. whats my next step?

[hathor]

i hav had my blood sugar checked and i'm going to do it again. that was a couple years ago. i have the tools in the house here....might as well give it another go though it is always perfect

I was under the impression that the more frequent urination is a symptom you recently developed. Did I misunderstand? Did you have this (and the dry itchy skin, the fatigue, and the tingling in your extremities) when you last tested your blood sugar?

Please do test (and make sure that your test hasn't expired or something), and at different times in the day. If only to make sure that you don't have a blood sugar problem ... My niece's husband had these four symptoms (I never heard about if there was anything gastro going on) and diabetes turned out to be his problem.

I wasn't sure when I posted before, so I just checked. One can get defecation issues with diabetes, too. There is also a link between diabetes and celiac disease -- I don't know if one can cause the other or they develop at the same time.

I'm willing to bet that if you go to the doctor and tell him you suddenly have to pee more (the word suddenly was yours, as I recall), the first thing that will be checked is your blood sugar.

I'm not saying it can't be something else, or a combination of things. Easy enough to discard this as a possibility, though.

[CarlaB]

I live near Cincinnati ... I traveled to NY for treatment, but he only requires three visits per year, you can have your monthly blood work done locally and have a monthly phone consultation instead of an in person appt. Totally worth it to me! I was pretty disabled by this last year, and this year I'm operating at pretty close to normal.

First step, of course, is diagnosis, including a differential diagnosis to rule out other things (which LLMD's do, LLMD stands for Lyme-literate MD).

Then, typically it's antibiotics. It's not like strep-throat where you just go on one abx for two weeks and are done. It's more like syphilis or tuberculosis that requires ongoing treatment (read the details in the Dr. B guidelines).

I can tell you there's no one in Ohio to treat .... I figured I was going to travel no matter who I saw, so I wanted to see who I thought was "the best."

If you post on the Lyme Disease thread, you will get the other Lymies on the board jumping in to answer, too. They might not see this thread. Many of them are in CA, so are seeing docs out there.

If you absolutely will not travel, then I'd suggest the Cowden protocol. It's not cheap, but it's thorough. www.nutramedix.com.

There's a good article on Dr. Cowden at www.betterhealthguy.com.

[scotty]

suddenly have to pee more

hope i did not give the impression. i have had trouble holding my bladder since i was...i can;t remember. it came to a point i stopped drinking fluids to stop peeing so much. theni got thirsty like unquenchably. like i would pound fluids and they would wash right over my tongue and throat and insides, never absorbing, um cooling through the veins. i have only recently felt this, felt perhaps what liquids are supposed to do. i also would time my drinks...see since i could not absorb since everything went right through, great pounds when i was extremely thirsty, same time everyday for a few years i did--after great gulps would pry out this awful awful hard pooh as long as a foot most times, well every two days. had a lot of milk those days to bind me up to keep me from being loose inside, from obliterating the day cuz every time i had a BM i would get real exhausted. i get some exhaustions and run-down feelings after i urinate too always had this, another reason i held it. i have always thought of it more like i cannot control it like the muscle is absent the one that holds it in. i'm like a kid. i'm like dancing as sooon as i know it is there. i tend to get this full gut feeling. not like food full, but liquid full. abdomen area and i can tell everything i ate went right there, nothing went to my veins my circulation

[scotty]

Then, typically it's antibiotics. It's not like strep-throat where you just go on one abx for two weeks and are done. It's more like syphilis or tuberculosis that requires ongoing treatment (read the details in the Dr. B guidelines).

thats so odd--now i want antibiotics after trainig myself to see them as the enemy

[CarlaB]

thats so odd--now i want antibiotics after trainig myself to see them as the enemy

I hear you. I've always been into natural stuff, which is why I like my doctor, he uses both. In fact, now we're focusing on rebuilding my immune system and adrenal glands, and less on killing bacteria. I'm only on one abx right now .... I'm on the full Cowden protocol. My immune system is doing a good job, unless I overextend myself. We want to get it to the point where it can keep this in check on its own.

[scotty]

I hear you. I've always been into natural stuff, which is why I like my doctor, he uses both. In fact, now we're focusing on rebuilding my immune system and adrenal glands, and less on killing bacteria. I'm only on one abx right now .... I'm on the full Cowden protocol. My immune system is doing a good job, unless I overextend myself. We want to get it to the point where it can keep this in check on its own.

well i have a new focus now. i have a lot of research to do and a lot of tests to go through. i am wondering what i will be eating here...

[CarlaB]

In the beginning, I could eat almost nothing. I had a problem with keeping up my weight. I use Biochem undenatured whey protein powder (vanilla or chocolate) with water and frozen organic fruit twice daily .... still ... though now I can eat everything with no problems. But when I was sick, this was all that didn't make my stomach upset.

[scotty]

In the beginning, I could eat almost nothing. I had a problem with keeping up my weight. I use Biochem undenatured whey protein powder (vanilla or chocolate) with water and frozen organic fruit twice daily .... still ... though now I can eat everything with no problems. But when I was sick, this was all that didn't make my stomach upset.

whey? isnt that dairy, or am i going to totally change my thought process here on what to avoid. is gluten still out? and where is this Lyme thread i might as well introduce myself here in the next couple days to see what kind of parallels i can make

[CarlaB]

Well, the whey protein I use is lactose free, so if you can have casein, you're okay.

I can eat gluten again, but I was severely sensitive to it right up until a couple months ago, now I'm fine with it all.

The Lyme thread is the one I posted with the symptom list.

I've gotta go ... talk with you later. Thanks for keeping me company while I clean my house, LOL.

[scotty]

Well, the whey protein I use is lactose free, so if you can have casein, you're okay.

I can eat gluten again, but I was severely sensitive to it right up until a couple months ago, now I'm fine with it all.

The Lyme thread is the one I posted with the symptom list.

I've gotta go ... talk with you later. Thanks for keeping me company while I clean my house, LOL.

THANKS FOR KEEPING ME COMPANY IN MY OBLIVION