posted
Do we Lymies have to be extra careful about exposing ourselves to people who are sick with the flu, etc.? Are we more vulnerable because of Lyme?
I am supposed to go to a friend's house this afternoon. She just emailed me saying she has had bronchitis for three weeks. She's coughing still quite a bit, although she has been on antibiotics for a week.
Should I go or stay away?
How vulnerable are we? I had Lyme for years before diagnosed and worked in schools -- around sick children all the time. As far as I remember (lol) I did NOT get more viruses than anyone else. Doctors forever tried to tell me my Lyme symptoms were really chronic flus from exposure to the sick kids. (Joint and muscle pain and fatigue were my main symptoms.) They always take the easy way out when faced with what they call these "nonspecific" and "vague" symptoms. Of course, they also blamed Lyme on depression. Wrong. Looking back, it was the other way around.
What do you think?
-------------------- Jeff Posts: 533 | From CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
Hi Jeff, I admit that I have a strong bias here, after running an FMS support group for ten yrs., a call-in help line for 4 yrs., studying Naturopathy for two years, and doing research for the entire 20 yrs. I've been sick. I was not dx'd with Lyme until my 17th yr. of illness.
The Immune System has two sides, and each one handles differnt things. I believe Lymies have dysregulated immunity. One side is too weak, while the other is too strong,producing autoimmune-like effects.
I believe most Lymies are very Th2 dominant, as far as Immune System function. This means we are more likely to catch viruses, get cell-wall deficient (CWD) bacterial infections like Lyme and Mycoplasmas, have yeast and fungual overgrowth and infection, and get cancer.
As an example, I would refer you to Byron Hyde, M.D.'s study of the first 25 yrs. on the edge of the epidemic. He is speaking of CFS, but I believe CFS is really Lyme. At least, everyone with CFS I know who has been PROPERLY tested, has been positive for Lyme.
He followed all of his patients for 25 yrs. At the end of 25 yrs., only 10% were still living. 70% had died of cancer. Before you freak out, remember that these people had zero treatment for Lyme Disease during that time, since he was assuming CFS was a disease in its own right.
It is the same with Fibromyalgia (FMS), another illness that, IMO, is really Lyme. Everyone I know who has been properly tested (ie. Igenex or Bowen) has been positive, or else a trial of treatment has produced definitive herxing, which is just as good.
It is known that FMS makes one 3 times more likely to get cancer, and esp. 5 specific types of cancer. For example, thyroid cancer occurs in FMSers at 14,000 times the rate of the general population. (That is still rare though since it is a very rare cancer).
In both CFS and FMS, symptoms of TH1 weakness and TH2 dominance occur. TH2 dominance takes the form of allergies to everything, chemical sensitivities, and problems with toxin excretion.
For an excellent read on Th1 and Th2 and how they work, Google "Paul M. Cheney, M.D." + "chronic fatigue" + "immune system" and you should get his work on this subject.
I was misdiagnosed with FMS for 17 yrs. before having a positive Bowen test for Lyme, and am sitting here right now on day 15 of the worst flu I've ever had, which my husband brought home. He is better, but I now have bronchitis and sinus infections.
If this friend still has a fever and is still coughing and sneezing, I think I'd take a rain check.
Klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Klutzo is right on! I, too, was misdiagnosed with FMS for 20 yrs and have had Lyme probably for 47 yrs.
For many years while I was teaching, I rarely got sick from the viruses, etc that all the kids and teachers got.
It used to really puzzle me, because I felt like ^%$# ALL the time, yet wouldn't become "ill" like everyone else. Made no sense to me!
Since my Lyme treatment, I now am a little more susceptible to viruses and such....but I count that as a good sign that part of my immune system is working better!
As for cancer, I just take my mangosteen juice....and feel much safer since it has been shown to work against cancer.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Are you saying that lyme patients have a higher chance of getting cancer, or does it only happen to those who continue to go undiagnosed for a long time? I am trying to make sense of what you said.
Can you give more details about this?
Posts: 90 | From Maryland | Registered: Jan 2006
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luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
Moose,
I have definitely read the Lyme-cancer connection.
I have mild asthma and I never ever catch anyone's colds and flu. I read recently that people with allergies especially asthma rarely get the flu because the allergic response the body mounts fights off flu bugs.
Silver lining to every cloud.
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
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cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
i wouldnt go either, you just never know how we are going to react.
I do know since my tick bite in 2000 i never had a cold after that,,,it was always sore throats then bronchitis....bad bronchitis that lasted months. One year i had to be given the anthrax medication i was so bad.
I thought it was good that i never got a cold even though i was exposed...i thought my body was strong. hahaha how little i knew.
I just had the stomach virus, so i agree i think we are more suseptable to virus like illness.
Before i left work a girl had bronchitis sat on the otherside of my cube...coughing all day long....i did not catch that.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
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