I've suffered from OCD for about 7 years now. I've had "costochondritis" for 12 years so thers a HUGE possibility that ive had lyme all that time and that those were just sympoms of the lyme
so. how exactly does lyme cause OCD? ive heard so many people on here saying they have OCD from it and that they get obsessive and intrusive thoughts. how does lyme cause that. also how common is OCD among lyme patients?!?!?!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
The short answer.. Lyme affects the brain. It could be the inflammation.. or maybe a short circuit. I don't think they really know what causes OCD.
How common?? I hear about it a lot on HERE at least!
Posted by lymegal23 (Member # 28573) on :
hmm. short circuit?!?!?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Why not?? Posted by 5vforest (Member # 29365) on :
^ well i was wondering how LYME causes OCD tho. like how can lyme disease cause obsessive thinking?
Posted by chiquita incognita (Member # 30381) on :
I used to have OCD that disappeared completely with gluten avoidance.
Lyme may be one of the causes indeed, but is not the only cause.
Posted by elizzza811 (Member # 24713) on :
Read 'Saving Sammy - A Mother's Fight to Cure Her Son's OCD' by Beth Alison Maloney. It turned out to be high strep titers in the blood, combined with a neuroimmune disorder called PANDAS. (In another thread I was told adult-onset PANDAS exists, too, and is called ANDAS.) Basically the immune system mistakenly attacks the brain instead of the bacteria.
I'm even more convinced than ever that EMFs/microwaves are somehow involved in this neuroimmune system 'mistake' after reader this account in the book...
'Saving Sammy - A Mother's Fight to Cure Her Son's OCD' by Beth Alison Maloney, pages 100-101(Published by Three Rivers Press, 2009)
"...He told me the house was full of invisible walls. They sprouted like lasers in every direction, from electrical outlets, television sets, portable telephones, and DVD players. The beams formed a complicated series of barriers. He had to step over or duck under each one, depending on their location. They accounted for the Spider-Man-like-way he made his way through the house. He clung to the actual walls or, when he let go, moved like a thief after a protected gem.
We taped up all the openings from which the invisible walls might pop, but they managed to sneak through the tape. Even when the invisible walls were missing, he still had to go over and under where they might be. If he touched one by accident, he had to start the process all over again. Since the walls were invisible, he could never be sure whether he had touched them, so he went through the motions again and again..."
This boy is clearly describing manmade EMFs and microwaves, and I do similar things myself when washing my hands or cleaning items in my home...unsure of whether I touched some imaginary something, I have to start over and over again, repeating steps. Many times I run out of hot water just cleaning one small item.
So basically strep + the wrong EMFs/microwave exposure at the wrong time = PANDAS/ANDAS, and eventually OCD, if the infection is not treated properly and the basal ganglia gets hit.
Posted by Nicole2011 (Member # 30672) on :
Its probably related to the anxiety lyme causes
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
one theory http://www.canlyme.com/minddisease.html "Even a simple sore throat can lead to psychiatric problems. Few children avoid coming down with a streptococcus infection, also known as strep. Scientists now think that one in 1,000 strep sufferers also develops abrupt-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a matter of weeks. Strep bacteria trigger OCD by igniting an overzealous response from the immune system, which attacks certain types of brain cells, causing inflammation."
Posted by lymegal23 (Member # 28573) on :
^ OH WOW. thanks for that info Terry!. If strep can cause brain inflammation then you can ONLY IMAGINE what lyme disease can do.
wow...
Posted by momlyme (Member # 27775) on :
Or if you have both strep and lyme...
Like my son! Posted by elizzza811 (Member # 24713) on :
What nobody seems to realize, no matter how much I moan about it, is that the bacteria aren't the real issue. Spirochetes aren't dangerous in and of themselves. Strep bacteria aren't dangerous in and of themselves. But when the neuroimmune system can't 'read' what it's supposed to be doing (because it's being bombarded by zillions of cell phone calls and wireless updates), we're screwed.
I'm really becoming depressed over this. I've had severe OCD since the age of 20 (over half my life, since I'm 46), and to realize that my immune system will never fight this Lyme, strep, whatever infection on its own is depressing. Are cells phones that important to everybody? I guess so, huh?
Posted by DoctorLuddite (Member # 13853) on :
Something very common on this site and in Lyme patients in general is liver dysfunction. Think of the liver as the Waste Management Engineer. That's what it does really, with the exception that in the modern world, the trash collection comes to pick up the trash, rather than the trash coming to the disposal agent. It (the liver) takes things that pass through it, modifies them to make them less metabolically active and more water or salt soluble, and in so doing, makes them more easy to eliminate through urine, sweat, breath or stool.
The assumption that is easy to make is that if the air, food and water that we take in is absolutely pure and contains only nutritious substances, then the liver will be a bona fide Maytag repairman/woman, sitting idle with nothing to do. Not so fast. The liver is already processing all the endogenous compounds of metabolism, and that, in the best of worlds, is already an indomitable task, for all chemical processes in the body have their leftovers, and if those leftovers are not removed/processed with alacrity, accumulation and stagnation are the result.
Now look at neurotransmitters as those leftovers; A compound produced in a nerve, a chemical messenger that has a very specific message to be delivered to a very specific recipient in concert with the summation of the nervous system's need to coordinate communication from nerve to nerve, but once that process has been served, what is its (the neurotransmitter's) fate? It must be rendered useless and removeable and it must be removed or its steady accumulation will begin to feed back and re-stimulate receptors or erroneously stimulate other receptors due to its accumulation, resulting in messages that are too much, too soon, and too often. Such a process of repeat and cross stimulation of multiple receptors may result in a facilitated pathway of neuronal stimulation that might manifest as depression, anxiety, and yes, even OCD. Assist the liver in its charge to process and remove wastes and metabolic by-products and OCD, anxiety, depression and all manner of apparent disorder will evaporate like rain from the pavement after a midday summer shower.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by elizzza811: What nobody seems to realize, no matter how much I moan about it, is that the bacteria aren't the real issue. Spirochetes aren't dangerous in and of themselves. Strep bacteria aren't dangerous in and of themselves. But when the neuroimmune system can't 'read' what it's supposed to be doing (because it's being bombarded by zillions of cell phone calls and wireless updates), we're screwed.
- Then how do people with cell phones ever get well?? Many of us are well. I have had a mobile phone, then a cell phone for about 22 yrs.
Posted by tickled1 (Member # 14257) on :
CI,
That is shortest answer I've seen from you yet the most attention grabbing!
.....for me at least!!!
Posted by tickled1 (Member # 14257) on :
Doc,
Are those your own words? Truly amazing, and I mean that! Really eye opening for me! Can you give me some examples/methods of supporting the liver?
Posted by tickled1 (Member # 14257) on :
I'm not sure about the whole cell phone thing but I sometimes think about how I'm more symptomatic on the right side of my head and that is the side I hold my cell phone on. Who knows!
I must be on a roll tonight w/my OCD! I posted 3 times in a row! Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
tickled .. many of us have "one-sided" issues
Posted by tickled1 (Member # 14257) on :
I know. Probably just coincidence.
Posted by bashibazouks (Member # 28286) on :
I haven't read anything (from a peer-reviewed source) about cell phone use affecting the immune system in any way. I wouldn't stop using mine unless there were some pretty strong evidence for it.
Posted by DoctorLuddite (Member # 13853) on :
If I got symptoms consistently when I used my cell phone, or drove under power lines, or ran my microwave, I'd avoid those things regardless of what "peer" reviewed articles say, just like I avoid high fructose corn syrup despite what the "science" says. If I ingest it there are problems.
As far as supporting the liver goes, simply being mindful of what you subject it to is important, garbage (as food) in results in garbage (as symptoms) out. Non soluble fiber with copious amounts of pure water creates a higher volume, bulkier but soft stool, and the greater the volume, the more waste product from metabolism carried out.
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