hi everyone...i got a packet from the llmd office i am going to see in over a month, and in the packet there were testimonial sabout how people are now well and happy and so on.
while i think this is great, i wonder if it offers false hope to people like me, who at best can hope to not get worse or die. i wonder if by doing this, drs are promoting their brand so to speak, at the expense of realistic exprectations for the patient.
maybe im just jealous that i keep doing and trying different meds over the yrs and nothing works. but i see these drs and i sometimes think they are snake oil salesman. do you guys ever feel that way too, or am i nuts? love, jess
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I would be happy to hear those stories... who's to say you won't GET WELL!!? Have you been tested for all the coinfections, viruses, etc??
Posted by lou (Member # 81) on :
Some people get well, some don't. Hard to predict in advance. But getting diagnosed late is a bad indicator.
As long as the doc does not promise too much, maybe some cheering up might be in order because people have heard such horror stories that they lose hope.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
My doc got rid of lyme and coinfections for me. That was over 6 1/2 years ago. I am still symptom-free, enjoying my life.
Also, I have a number of friends who went to the doctors I recommend and they all got rid of lyme also.
You just don't encounter these folks on LymeNet. Just remember that. They are off living their lives. None of my friends ever posted on LymeNet, even while treating.
You don't have the entire lyme population here. The ones with problems getting well tend to stick around. The ones that get well generally just leave.
I suggest you take a more positive outlook. What your brain thinks really does affect your body. That has been proven medically. So, try optimism. It is your best chance of getting well. Pessimism hinders the process of getting well. That goes for cancer, lyme, and any other disease.
Pessimism tells the body, "Give up. Don't fight. You can't win." So, the body won't fight the germs like it could. Don't do this to yourself.
They found out with our soldiers who became prisoners of war in Korea that if a person gave up and did not want to live anymore, they would go in a corner and in 3 days they would be dead for no medical reason.
And, when given placebos (fake pills), patients believed the medication they were getting would help them, and so a good percent got better, in spite of the fact the pills were fake.
The placebo effect is all about thinking positively regarding your illness.
Please take this to heart and spend time every day telling yourself you will be well, you will get rid of this disease, you want to fight it with all you have in you, etc.
There are certainly others on LymeNet who have thought the "snake oil salesman" type thoughts. You are not the only one.
If you just began seeing a lyme doctor in the last month or so, you can't compare that to all the things you tried over the years. Until you get a proper diagnosis, you can try all you like. You won't make any progress because the things you are trying are not the treatment for what is wrong with you.
Once you get a diagnosis, that is half the battle. Expect good things to happen from now on.
I had undiagnosed lyme disease for 10 years before a doctor figured out what was wrong with me. I still got healed. Why shouldn't the doctor tell people about patients like me?
Posted by willbeatthis (Member # 31111) on :
TF Thank you ... you are a light in a dark place for many of us... You have made a huge impact on so many... thank you so very much...
Posted by nomoremuscles (Member # 9560) on :
Yes, they definitely do paint a rosy picture at times.
They are not so quick to promote the failures, which, in many peoples' opinion, is about a billion times higher.
But maybe a rosy picture is what's needed. I don't know.
One of my last LLMD's assured me that I would regain function and that my food intolerances would be gone in a year or two. Two years later, after following his therapies, I was completely disabled, stuck in bed in a darkened house with much worse intolerances. Too weak to take care of myself, to even walk to the bathroom.
You won't read that in the brochures.
Posted by Deb133 (Member # 18544) on :
Thank you TF as a caregiver to my DD it does get discouraging but you bring hope to so many. All of us need to remain positive.
Thank you,
Debg
Posted by mom2kids (Member # 31972) on :
TF that's very good advice, positive thinking goes a long way and negative thinking gets you nowhere. It's hard and if you are a perpetual negative thinker you basically need to re-train yourself to think positive. If you can do this though you will be much better off in many ways.