posted
33 years old, having symptoms and want to r/o lyme
Posts: 2 | From Central NJ | Registered: Aug 2016
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
I hope you know that the first appointment with a lyme specialist is generally about $600, and often more.
They do not take insurance. Then, testing will cost you hundreds more unless you use a junk lab that takes insurance like Quest or LabCorp.
So, "ruling out" lyme is an expensive proposition.
Also, since the lyme tests are not reliable, you get a clinical diagnosis, meaning the doctor's opinion of whether or not you have lyme. If the doc thinks you may have it, then you get a course of lyme treatment (antibiotics) to see how you react.
Finally, based on numerous patient reports, there are no lyme doctors in NJ that I can recommend to you. In fact, you really have to be on the lookout because there are some horrendous reports about certain lyme doctors in NJ. And, the wait to see a good lyme doctor is often 3 to 6 months or more. So, be willing to travel to get expertise and proper care. The more expert the doctor, the better his diagnosis.
If you are willing to travel to the D.C. area to see someone good, let me know and I will send you the name of the lyme doc I recommend. He can see you quickly. So, this is a rare opportunity. Then, you will do telephone followup appointments after your test results are in.
Every 3 months, you will have to go to the doc's office in person.
Believe me, finding and getting good care for lyme disease is often difficult. At least half of all lyme patients go out of state for diagnosis and treatment.
To learn more about lyme disease, I suggest you read the Burrascano Lyme Treatment Guidelines found here:
Page 7 explains how lyme is diagnosed. Pages 9-10 are a list of common lyme symptoms. See how many you have.
Don't bother going down this road unless it looks pretty likely that you may have lyme and its coinfections.
Lyme is difficult to cure. So, you need to get to a good lyme doc right off the bat to get good treatment. The doc is the key to getting rid of this horrendous disease. Can't emphasize that enough.
If you are not aware of the medical controversy surrounding lyme disease, then educate yourself on that also.
A Boston TV station did a show on the lyme disease controversy a few years ago. Here is the Boston Chronicle video on YouTube:
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 a proper lyme diagnosis and also lyme treatment.
Welcome to LymeNet! We will help you here all we can. I hope you can rule out lyme, but it is worse than an epidemic so often, if a person thinks they have it, they likely do.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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You need to be evaluated and treated by a Lyme-literate doctor (LLMD). Non LLMDs have no clue about this horrible disease or its complex treatment!
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.
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