posted
My daughter was diagnosed last March with Lyme and Babesiosis. My Wife was diagnosed this past Septemeber with Lyme. I was diagnosed in December with Lyme and Babesiosis. And now, I just receieved word from our doctor that my 15 year old son also tested positive for Lyme. That means everyone in my family is infected. This whole thing seems like some kind of surreal nightmare. All the tests were done by Igenex Labs and we are seeing a LLD in Central NJ (Dr S.). Is it normal for several people in a family to be infected like this? Any insight or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Posts: 4 | Registered: Jan 2005
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treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
Yep its happening.Sorry
Posts: 10564 | From PA Where the Creeks are Red | Registered: Jun 2003
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LLMD's are seeing more and more that entire families have this disease. There are many theories about this problem but nothing has been studied or proven.
One possibility is that lyme is transmitted through sexual intimacy.
Another is that it's transmitable through casual contact. Bb has been found in tears.
One more way that it's thought to be transmitted is from mother to child through placenta and breast milk.
Then there's the obvious... you live in an endemic area and you all got it at seperate times.
I'm so sorry your family is going through this. I'm certain my whole family has TBD's but only my father has been tested. He's positive for Bb, HGE and Babesia but won't seek treatment. My mother is a physical and mental wreck and no one will even discuss TBD's. It's very disheartening.
posted
If I had my Lyme experience to do over again, I would have been much more aggressive, and would not have waffled as much over treatments.
I've been sick 4.5 years, but if I'd known then what I know today, the whole treatment would have taken about six months, and cost thousands of dollars less.
If you read through Lymenet, you'll find a discussion of nearly every treatment on the market, with arguments for and against. You may not agree with all of them, but they're almost all here.
The one thing I wish someone had told me at the beginning, is that even the best LLMDs are overwhelmed by patients. My LLMD, for example, has a 3-4 month waiting list.
Since doctors are authority figures, we often feel that we are being disrespectful or obnoxious if we do our own research, or advocate for certain treatments. We also sometimes imagine our doctors will magically remember everything about our cases, when they are struggling to remember everyone's names. This is how my babesia and bartonella passed under the radar.
So don't hesitate to take an assertive stance, explore every treatment option on your own, and present research on alternative methods. Your doctor can always say no, and it might save you a lot of time.
Loribelle
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6293
posted
liz, i am just starting out with llmd, appt is jan 10 with dr c in springfield mo. i have been sick for a long time.
you said:
"I've been sick 4.5 years, but if I'd known then what I know today, the whole treatment would have taken about six months, and cost thousands of dollars less."
i would like to discuss this with you but don't want to pull away from hanging on's post. i will put up another thread and hope to see you reply...
posted
We live in a highly endemic area of PA and my whole family has been affected as well. Even my horse was sick with ehrilchea. It is like we are walking tick magnets around here. Sorry you are dealing with this but I understand your frustration and worry. We take our children to the pediatric lyme specialist in Conn. Dr. J. If you would like his phone number e-mail me and I will give it to you. He has over 7,000 children currently with lyme in his practice, just to give you an example of how bad the situation is. Pattiecake
Posts: 687 | From PA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
It started with my daughter about 7 yrs ago then my hubby about 2 yrs ago. I was just diagnosed. We live in a very high risk area so as soon as I find a doctor I'm comfortable with, I'm going to have my other 2 kids checked. I can remember being on vacation on the Eastern shore of MD and after a hike that was actually on a wide path through the woods, we came back and had so many deer ticks on us, we had to bathe to get them off. No exaggeration, I know we each had over 100 ticks on us. At the time, 2 of the kids had casts on their arms and there were ticks down inside their casts that we couldn't get to. It's scary.
Posts: 13 | From NE,MD USA | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
Hanging on: My LLMD,Dr J CT, have seen this in many families. He only treats those members that have symptoms even if the test is negative. On the other hand if the test is positive but there is no symptoms he wouldn't treat. He even mentioned that one of his patient's brother or sister was positive,but symptom free. I remember exactly this story.
He said that those who are positive but symptom free means they were expose to the bacteria but not infected. Do all your kids have symptoms??
Posts: 49 | From greenacres,Florida,USA | Registered: Nov 2004
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
Sorry to hear this! Make sure you all are on good treatment. if you need any help, let me know. My entire family has had Lyme, 2 of us still have it, 2 are symptom free because they caught it early.
Make sure you are all treated, and then make sure you to TONS of tick checks every hour next spring and forever more!!
posted
Unfortunately, your story is a common one here in Central Jersey. Last summer I was sitting on my deck reading (far from any wooded area) and I spotted a deer tick on my leg. I'v been extremely vigilant for years about protecting my family from ticks. I don't want them to suffer as I have. Unfortunately, many people don't realize how serious lyme/ticks are. Good Luck. E-mail me privately if you wish.We may ne close neighbors. It may be my Lyme brain, but I don't know the LLMD you're referring to.
Posts: 93 | From New Jersey | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
Hi Hanging, Yup. My whole family of four all got sick in the matter of 1 month or so. Wife was in ICU for a week, then moved to rehab to learn how to walk again. Spent a month there. Talk about a nightmare. My kids are young - 7 and 10. Its been rough, but we're getting through it. This all happened in Jan./Feb. 2004. We are much better but still going through all the stuff you read about on here. It takes a LONG time to get better. Be patient. Dr. says its common for entire family to become ill. You do so many things together, its bound to happen. We believe we either got it from ticks on our Christmas tree or from a gamefarm in NY. There were deer everywhere...we were petting them and feeding them...real smart right !! Sometimes you just don't think.
- Mike
Posts: 153 | From Watertown, CT USA | Registered: Feb 2004
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