posted
I am a 50 year old woman in Central NJ. I was bitten by a tick in late June and a bullseye rash appeared almost one month later. I was treated with Doxycycline for three weeks and went for a physical last week. Blood work shows that IgG is negative and IgM is positive. My doctor recommended an Infectious Disease Specialist. The only residual symptom I seem to have is joint achiness but I'm not sure if it's the Lyme or just age. I'd appreciate some referrals in Central NJ. THANKS.
Posts: 1 | From Central NJ | Registered: Aug 2015
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Many agree that there really aren't any good lyme doctors in New Jersey.
You have to be really careful. There are some lyme docs there that you really need to stay away from.
So, if you want good lyme treatment, you are going to have to travel out of state.
Good lyme doctors are few and far between. They generally are around major cities. If you are willing to travel to the D.C. area, I can recommend a good lyme doctor in Maryland. Let me know if you want the name.
You can see him in a few days. You can take the train to D.C. and then the D.C. subway to his office. You can do telephone appointments monthly after the first in-person appointment.
Your lyme test could remain positive for years. You have to go by symptoms. Undertreated lyme disease will inevitably re-emerge as chronic lyme disease. You want to do whatever you can to prevent that.
3 weeks of doxy will NOT cure lyme disease. So, get to a doctor who specializes in lyme disease. That means that his practice is virtually 100% lyme disease. I can give you a name.
Your doctor knows nothing about lyme. He was miseducated like all other U.S. doctors regarding the facts of this disease. Do NOT go to an Infectious Disease Specialist. They are the enemies of lyme patients.
To understand the medical controversy regarding lyme disease, watch this video by a Boston TV station a few years ago. Here is the Boston Chronicle video on YouTube:
I suggest you watch this video a few times. It explains the lyme disease controversy and the role the IDSA plays in making it difficult for a person to get good lyme treatment.
The IDSA (Infectious Disease Soceity of America) believes that lyme is rare and EASILY cured. That is why your doc treated you as he did.
The truth is that lyme is worse than an epidemic and is DIFFICULT to cure. Joint achiness is a very common lyme symptom. I would not ignore it. If you do, it could be the worst decision of your life.
Chronic lyme can become uncurable. It can make the rest of your life a nightmare. So, get this treated by a lyme specialist for a number of months. You want to take lyme meds until you are symptom free for at least 2 months.
All that I have told you here is based on the Burrascano Lyme Treatment Guidelines found here:
Read and study this document and you will get your education on the disease that you have. See page 7 regarding treating early lyme. Here is a quote:
"You should not miss the chance to treat early disease, for this is when the success rate is the highest."
And another:
"GENERAL PRINCIPLES In general, you can think of LB as having three categories: acute, early disseminated, and chronic. The sooner treatment is begun after the start of the infection, the higher the success rate. However, since it is easiest to cure early disease, this category of LB must be taken VERY seriously. Undertreated infections will inevitably resurface, usually as chronic Lyme, with its tremendous problems of morbidity and difficulty with diagnosis and treatment and high cost in every sense of the word." (page 3)
Pages 9-10 are a list of common symptoms.
Burrascano was the premiere lyme disease pioneer and the most successful lyme doctor in the world. They came from all over the globe to be treated by him. He is now retired.
Here are a few points from Dr. B's guidelines:
You must attack both the regular and cyst (or other) form of lyme simultaneously--requires 2 different antibiotics taken together to do so.
You must test the patient for all co-infections and other physical ailments (thyroid, etc.) and treat everything the person has.
You must treat all co-infections (including babesiosis, bartonella, ehrlichia, mycoplasma, etc.) or the patient will not get well.
You must use Igenex for most of these tests--they are a tick-borne disease speciality lab in Calif.
You must use very high doses of antibiotics to kill the diseases (batericidal doses).
You must give the patient supplements, probiotics, herbs such as artimesinin if babesiosis is suspected, and require adherence to rules such as low carb diet, no alcohol, no smoking, rest, and exercise as the patient is able to do it.
You must treat at least 2 months after all symptoms have disappeared (if sick at least 1 year).
These are just a few of the important points you will see in the guidelines. You want a doc who does EVERYTHING Burrascano says to do. He treated lyme for over 25 years, and compiled what he learned so that other docs could benefit from it. Read it in his Guidelines.
What you do now is extremely important. Spend money on great lyme treatment and put this horrendous disease behind you. That is my strong advice.
Welcome to LymeNet! Finding this site was one of the best things you have done regarding lyme disease so far.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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A LLMD is one who has treated Lyme disease and the co-infections which come with it for many years and has gotten patients well. A good one will follow Dr. B's Guidelines, the "gold standard" for Lyme treatment.
Unfortunately, LLMDs are far and few between. You need to go where they are.
Also most LLMDs do not accept insurance due to the politics surrounding this horrible disease. Read poster TF's explanation, "Why Lyme Doctors Don't Take Insurance":
Btw - please break up your posts into 2-3 sentence paragraphs, as there are people on Lymenet who cannot read large blocks of text due to neurological problems from Lyme.
To do this,click on the pencil/paper icon, make your changes, then click "Edit Post". Thanks.
Posts: 8981 | From Illinois | Registered: May 2006
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posted
I disagree with the response here. I found an excellent Lyme Literate Doctor here in Central NJ for my 14 year old daughter when she found out she had chronic Lyme. Message me and I will give you his name.
Thanks, Laurie
Posts: 163 | From Central New Jersey | Registered: Jan 2010
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