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I live in Nashville TN. I contracted Lyme Disease during a trip to Amsterdam in September. Being from TN, I had heard of Lyme Disease, but knew nothing about it. I came home from Europe extremely ill and have tested positive for Lyme 3 times. No Doctor's here believe that the tests are viable. I found Dr K's name on ILAD website. Any thoughts?
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Editing out doctor's name per Lymenet rules - am sending you a PM -
posted
Welcome to Lymenet! PM sent for MO, FL & NC.
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!
They are far and few between, unfortunately. You need to go where they are.
Also, most LLMDs do not accept insurance due to the politics surrounding this horrible disease. Read poster TF's explanation, "Why Lyme Doctors Don't Take Insurance":
**Please read this post regarding contacting ILADS which was written by a very knowledgeable poster on Lymenet:
"Just want to warn you that ILADS knows nothing about the doctors whose names they give out. They will give out the name of any doctor who wants his or her name given out.
It doesn't mean the doctor is good or even that the doctor believes in chronic Lyme or believes that a person can have Lyme and have a negative Lyme test. It is simply a referral service operated by ILADS. They treat all doctors equally.
So, this is NOT a good way to get a doctor's name. Many have gotten lousy doctors this way and come on this board and complained about it. I have heard that ILADS is now aware of the problem, but they don't know what to do about it.
So, you need to get input from other Lyme patients and Lyme support groups about any doctor who is recommended by ILADS. You can post in "Seeking a Doctor" forum using just the first letter of the doc's last name and the state.
Or, you can call all the Lyme support groups near you. See Support Groups on the left side of the Lymenet page (link provided below).
When you contact the support groups, ask them what doctors they recommend and who is having success curing patients.
You must do a lot of research before going to a Lyme doctor. No sense learning the hard way. Don't want you to waste your time and money.
New folks often don't know that they need to do a lot of work up front before picking their first Lyme doctor. So, they often pick a lousy first Lyme doctor.
We can help you avoid such a mistake."
When you call for an appointment, ask if there are any cancellations or a waiting list. Patients have been able to get in sooner by doing this.
Btw - please break up your posts into 2-3 sentence paragraphs, as there are people on Lymenet who cannot read large blocks of text due to neurological problems from Lyme. Thanks.
Posts: 8991 | From Illinois | Registered: May 2006
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posted
I agree with Sammi. I'm from TN and travel to DC for a doc. In my opinion it's worth it to save your time and money for an expert :-)
That said, if you simply cannot travel due to health reasons, it would be better than nothing.
Posts: 330 | From TN | Registered: Sep 2011
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