posted
Hi, just heard on our local news that the gunman that opened fire and killed a pastor at an Illinois church had Lyme Disease.
Maybe they should check into Lyme Disease a little more carefully, huh?
I mean, first the chimpanzee and now this. I wonder how many more acts of violence were caused by Lyme rage or Lyme related issues?
Posts: 494 | From Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
They said on CBS that he had written to a St. Louis paper about Lyme affecting the brain.Makes you wonder how many in jail would test positive.A sad story.
Posts: 261 | From Piedmont | Registered: May 2008
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Dawnee
Unregistered
posted
Yep I turned on the news minutes ago and it was the first story on. My jaw just dropped to the floor! The news lady mentioned "Lyme disease in the brain" that may have been a factor in the shooting. Such a sad story... a pastor lost his life.
I hope this will bring more light on chronic Lyme disease!!!
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posted
I was so shocked and angry to hear this story on CBS today. I like the PR for lyme, but at the same time don't want to give others any reason to think Lyme Disease is a psychological issue like they try to label FM and CFS.
Also wondered if he sees Dr. C in Springfield? Maybe the press will be able to tap into his knowledge and make this a positive educational effort to the non-Lyme public.
Posts: 93 | From Midwest | Registered: Apr 2008
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quote:Originally posted by ticked-offinNc: They said on CBS that he had written to a St. Louis paper about Lyme affecting the brain.
As long as they're talking about "the brain" (not the mind) being affected by Lyme, it's OK by me.
I think events like this one could affect us one way or the other.
It could either get people interested in pressing for Lyme to be treated properly with abx to cure or at least control the infection, because they fear some Lymies could turn murderous, or it could turn the other way, and Lymies could be perceived as needing antipsychotic drugs to stop them from harming others.
Nelly
Posts: 416 | From france | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Negative publicity is still good publicity in this case. If this shows what untreated or undertreated lyme can do, then so be it. The "lyme rage" phenomena is well documented, including in cases of road rage injuries and fatalities, and other assaults.
It would be really great if this person was already treated with a standard IDSA antibiotic protocol. Unfortunately, if they were completely untreated this will be dismissed as "Well, they should have been treated for two weeks, and then this never would have happened", which is less helpful.
Posts: 685 | From East coast, USA | Registered: Jun 2006
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Neighbors told a reporter that Sedlacek appears to be mentally ill, and would sometimes stand in the street and shout obscenities for no apparent reason.
He was the subject of an Aug. 6, 2008, Post-Dispatch article about his battle with mental illness attributed to Lyme disease.
The man's mother, Ruth Abernathy, said her son, an avid hunter and outdoorsman, may have contracted the disease after being bitten by an infected tick on a family farm in the late 1990s.
He became ill during his junior year at Edwardsville High School and had taken several medications, including anti-seizure drugs, to combat the disease.
It nearly killed him in 2003, but he survived after a series of treatments and was reported to have lesions on his brain.
Posts: 767 | From Germany | Registered: Feb 2004
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Clarissa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4715
Starfall1969
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 17353
posted
Gee, doesn't that just prove what my doctors keep saying--that people who "claim" to have Lyme disease are crazy?
Sorry, I had a rough night, and my sarcasm is showing.
Posts: 1682 | From Dillsburg, PA | Registered: Sep 2008
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treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
This so sad and it is happening over and over. Known and unknown.
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
They'll say the family was chasing lyme diagnosis and treatment instead of doing the "right" thing---putting him on antipsychotics or institutionalizing him.
They'll also say, "see all those lyme treatments didn't work, long term abx and treatment for lyme is a bunch of whooie"
We need success stories in the news about lyme and lyme treatment........clearly, this was not a success.
Posts: 554 | From Naples, Italy | Registered: Jun 2006
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lymemomtooo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5396
posted
I am not surprised by a lymie causing this horrible situation. If we had guns here, I would have been dead years ago..
Something needs to be done to provide more help and education...Before it is too late for too many..
Posts: 2360 | From SE PA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I have always been one who can see the bright side of the blackest moment and this does have a bright side.
Let us hope that this minister died in order for Lyme disease to have to become a true focus of the medical profession.
Christianity is based on human sacrifice so perhaps the sacrifice of this christian minister can have a broad and wonder outcome for all of us lymers.
I didnt know this man but it could very well be that if you asked him if he was willing to end his stay on earth in order to help heal thousand of people that he would have agreed so let us all hope & or pray that his death is a wonderful thing.
Posts: 55 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I couldn't believe it when they said this man had lyme. My husband has been fighting to get a diagnosis for over four years. Maybe this will open people's eyes to how severe lyme disease is and that doctors should be helping people a lot more. No one in IL that my husband has been to, will even send blood work to anywhere besides their usual labs. We need lyme literate doctors in IL desperately. I worry about my husband's health both physical and mental daily, now I will even more. This is so scary.
Posts: 9 | From IL | Registered: Oct 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
Illinois State Police seek murder charges against Troy, Ill., man who gunned down pastor in Maryville church
By Carolyn Tuft ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 03/08/2009
UPDATED 10:45 A.M.
TROY, Ill. -- Illinois State Police officers are seeking charges this morning against a Troy man who walked into a church on Sunday morning and gunned down a pastor as he gave a sermon.
. . . .
-- [ no mention of lyme in this edition of the article]
Church shooting suspect has mental illness from Lyme disease
By Joel Currier, Jeremy Kohlerand Nicholas J.C. Pistor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 03/09/2009
MARYVILLE -- A man suspected of killing the Rev. Fred Winters during a church service in Maryville on Sunday morning had developed mental illness from a tick bite, his family has said.
. . .
But a source close to the case confirmed late Sunday that it is Terry Joe Sedlacek, 27, who was the subject of a Post-Dispatch story in August about how Lyme disease had attacked his brain.
. . .
Neighbors told a reporter that Sedlacek appears to be mentally ill and would sometimes stand in the street and shout obscenities for no apparent reason.
He was the subject of an Aug. 6, 2008, Post-Dispatch article about his battle with mental illness attributed to Lyme disease. The man's mother, Ruth Abernathy, said her son, an avid hunter and outdoorsman, may have contracted the disease after being bitten by an infected tick on a family farm in the late 1990s.
He became ill during his junior year at Edwardsville High School and had taken several medications, including anti-seizure drugs, to combat the disease.
It nearly killed him in 2003, but he survived after a series of treatments and was reported to have lesions on his brain.
. . . .
-
[ 03-09-2009, 01:14 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Just Julie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1119
posted
I of course am so not surprised at this finding. It's as plain as day. The fact that this man exploded in his "rage" or whatever it was that caused him to become psychotic, combined with obvious spirochetal load in his brain makes perfect sense to me.
And now, a response from someone (my husband) who is a skeptic on all things lyme: "oh yeah right. 'they' (meaning the media) blame EVERYTHING on lyme disease---I got a splinter in my finger, oh it's lyme disease, oh my leg hurts, I got lyme disease" . . .
This is the crap I live with. And yes, my husband has/had lyme, only allowed himself to be treated with doxy for 3 months total (I insisted) and then that was it for him. Very positive Igenex test. And, of course, he has explosive episodes of rage. Throws things at us in anger, at the slightest provocation. We never know what will trip him off. It can come out of nowhere.
To say I understand what this man who shot the pastor did is an overwhelming understatement. I live with the proof that this behavior is a true lyme manisfestation.
And for those doubters that it can infect the brain and cause psychotic episodes, think syphilis. After decades of study/research by the medical community, what was found with this disease? The very mirror of what lyme also does. Google tertiary syphilis. Both bacteria in same family. Very sad.
I wonder if I had told my husband that the cause that was found to be behind this man's shooting of the pastor was syphilis, if he would have said what he'd said. Oh well, too late, and at this point, I no longer desire to educate the husband. He's a lost cause.
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Connieaag: I was so shocked and angry to hear this story on CBS today. I like the PR for lyme, but at the same time don't want to give others any reason to think Lyme Disease is a psychological issue like they try to label FM and CFS.
I agree completely. I am worried that many in the public will begin to think of Lyme disease as a Mental Illness, when indeed there are so many other serious aspects to this disease.
Posts: 371 | From CT | Registered: Jun 2008
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hshbmom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9478
posted
JustJulie, I'm in the same boat. Sometimes he gets it, but most of the time he doesn't. He only took 3 months of antibiotics. His symptoms didn't change between days 28 and 32...same infection, same symptoms, different diagnosis by the ducks.
Two friends have sent links to these articles this morning. One has several people in his family with strong Lyme symptoms and history, yet refuses to have them tested or evaluated. Both live here in our endemic county.
Posts: 1672 | From AL/WV/OH | Registered: Jun 2006
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
-
Yes, Julie . . .
your words really touched my heart. But - you don't have to live this way. You can reject that behavior.
YOU have to stay safe. While illness certainly can affect patients' brains in various manners, ultimately, your husband's refusal to explore treatment was his decision but you don't have to live with that.
So many don't see that when they walk away from treatment that they walk away from their families, too. They have passed up opportunities sometimes, or been denied meds or doctors sometimes but, ultimately, in that decision process they give up.
That does not mean that you have to or that you have to be around to see the dire consequences. I know it's very complex but you have to stay safe, yourself.
As hard as it is, I wonder if your husband could live elsewhere. Since he's the one who has rejected treatment, it's his decision to "leave" the family. His behavior is dangerous, even if only emotionally, that is very real.
I'm sorry that I can't say this just right. I know it's complex. But the simple truth is that his choices then direct choices that you now have to make to keep yourself safe.
posted
If your personal well being is in danger, do not stay in that situation.
Posts: 199 | From utah | Registered: Jan 2009
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map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
First the pet monkey story, now this man being ill from lyme. Let's hope that some education and research, something good for others will come out of these stories.
Maybe it will get the help that some mentally ill, undiagnosed lyme ill patients have?????
Tragedy seems to bring about awareness. God willing, this could be really good for many.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6444 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Here is a more recent update from that same newspaper..(St. Louis Post-Dispatch) http://tinyurl.com/derwuu Joe
Posts: 249 | From Northern NJ | Registered: Jul 2005
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Sedlacek once suffered bouts of erratic behavior his family said was due to Lyme disease. One expert said it would be unlikely that the tick-borne illness would make someone so violent.
"Lyme disease doesn't cause people to shoot people," said Dr. Eugene Shapiro, a Lyme disease expert at Yale University.
Posts: 494 | From Michigan, USA | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Lymetoo. That was my observation too, not long enough treatment, fairly certain co-infections.
I see Shapiro spouting off, and it makes me feel murderous too.
I liked the one poster's take on the Pastor being a martyr for the cause, only wish it could play out that way.
Since I've read several news stories about the tragedy, not so hopeful.
Posts: 422 | From Luck home | Registered: Sep 2005
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Just Julie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1119
posted
thank you all for your specific replies. I fully understand what staying in my situation could mean. If not today, then next week, or etc.
I have lived/seen my husband's behavior in the way I described it, for close to 25 years now. If I had a thought or sense that myself or kids were in specific danger, then by all means, we would have left long ago . . . but as with all women who are in similar situations as mine, there are many more factors in play.
I used my personal situation to highlight how I totally understand what this may have meant for this man who did the shooting at the church. Also, for the many women here on this board who live similar situations in their own lives.
But thank you again. Support here is phenomenal.
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
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lymeloco
Unregistered
posted
Make sure you read below. THE EXPERT SPEAKS!
Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
I think it can be useful to show how much misunderstanding there is of the illness. Someone
already has mentioned it on her site and it may be a good follow up. Point being we are sick not blood thirsty lunatics.......of course not phrased that way.
But it's further proof why this our story needs to be told and why we need help.
Posts: 5187 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 95805 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
IMO if you have anger issues, do not have access to a gun.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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lymeloco
Unregistered
posted
Inside Edition did a segment and there was a Neurologist on, who said that lyme disease most certainly could trigger such an event.
I've been trying to find the episode but haven't had any luck.
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posted
I tend to doubt this article..the facts are not there yet...we must not jump..he may have had another illness or from eating deer infected with a prion...so lets not blame lyme..they dont know why..
Posts: 593 | From long island ny | Registered: Apr 2006
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
re: eating deer infected with a prion
Do you think this is much different? In my mind, from the studies I have done - they aren't so far apart... I don' really have time to post all of the research right now.
How about cows? You don't think they get Lyme or co-infections?
I just hope they don't start locking up all people with a Lyme diagnosis.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
I will be interested to hear about what kind of treatment he had for lyme. If it was relatively "short term", the IDSA needs to be held accountable. After all, no one REALLY needs more than a few months of abx, right???
This is truly sad and frightening to realize what the mainstream medical community is allowing to happen to people unnecessarily. Boy... I am sure they refilled all his seizure medication, though!! A lot of good that did him.
Sorry, but I have brain lesions and am currently off of all medications (going on 3 weeks) due to elevated liver enzymes. This all just makes me SICK and I can't get back on my abx fast enough!!!
posted
Here's a link to an article written in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It mentions that Terry Sedlacek made odd noises and his body would jerk. Dr. Shapiro's crappy quote is in this article.
Here's another article from the Star-Telegram. It mentions that he made barking noises and again that his body would jerk, and it has a little more of Dr. Shapiro's crappy quote.
-------------------- I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in August 2007, but I now feel it was a misdiagnosis. I was finally properly diagnosed with Chemical Sensitivity in February 2011. My life has changed drastically since then. Posts: 128 | From Dallas, Texas | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
You hit on it Betty! All of the obove sounds like lyme disease! You go gal!
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
loco,
i recently watched a true story movie on tourette's that this young boy had and they made fun of him.
he went on to become a teacher and finally got a lower level like 3-4th grade students to teach. it showed so much of what he had to overcome to become NORMAL.
i thought of this teacher still teaching to this day and i've met several folks too.
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