Hwllo Donna

   The symptoms for lyme desease are remarkably similar to those of fibromyalgia. Not to mention several other illnesses. The problem with lymes is that it can mimick many other illnesses and like fibromyalgia, a diagnosis often must be made by elimiting other illnesses.

    The symptoms that I presented with are severe, unexplained pain throughout my body. Changes in vision, hearing loss, stroke like symptoms, migrains, irregular heartbeat and most significantly, complete loss of balance. Actually there are many other symptoms as well but they seem to come and go at very unpredictable intervals. Some of these are depression, short term memory loss, lethargy and confusion, profuse sweating, difficulty sleeping, frequent unination, irritable bowel syndrome.

   The most tell tale sign of the lyme infection is a rash that usually presents within 3 to 30 days after being bitten by a deer tick. Most often the rash will resemble a bullseye. A red rash that is circular in form and as it spreads, the center of the site clears and turns white. Unfortunately though, the rash only appears in about 40% of adult cases and as little as 10% of the time in children. It is during this rash period that it is most easily diagnosed and most treatable.

   There are several types of testing for lymes. Most common though is the western block test. Unfortunately though, regardless of the type of test used, you can have false positives when you don't have the illness and false negatives when you do have it. For a proper diagnosis it is nessesary to do a complete study of symptons and a tremendous amount of bloodwork. Probably the biggest problem for diagnosing this illness is that people often present with different symptoms at different times. This is why so many people with lymes are diagnosed with such an array of other illnesses such as fibromyalgia, MS. chronic fatigue, chronic pain and a host of others

   If caught early on, treatment with a 4 week regimine of oral antibiotics is usually enough for a complete recovery. At later stages, treatment will involve iv antibiotics for 4 or more weeks. One of the main problems with treating lymes is that this bacteria can recognize the hostile enviroment of antibiotics and go into hiding. Often in the form of cysts. Thus causing a period of remission that could last from months to years. Then the bacteria can return in a more resistant form. The bacteria is most often in the form of a spirochete that can penetrate, tendons, muscle and even blood vessels. It can also cross the blood, brain barrier, which is something that many anti biotics cannot do.

    If you present any of the above symptoms, weather all together or separately, I would highly recommend you be tested for lyme desease. Keep a journal and record the type of symptoms and their duration. This will aid your Dr. in the diagnosis since the symptoms do have a tendency to come and go and seldom present all at once.

   Well Donna, this pretty much covers my experience with lyme desease. I hope that you find this information helpful. Actually there is much more information about this illness that I haven't covered here but I have covered the basics. If anyone has other questions, I would be happy to help you find more answers. Most importantly, remember this. Lymes, as with most illnesses, is best treated in the early stages. The longer you wait, the more severe the illness will be. Good luck to all of you.

Hi Donna,

It's me again.  I just wanted everyone to know that we have a site that has numerous product stories on how our supplements and how our toxin free products have helped people with their fibromyalgia.  These stories are just AMAZING.  People who could hardly move or who were in wheelchairs, now climbing mountains and teaching exercise classes-pain free.  The site is http://demler.tellmethestory.com  There is a user name and password needed.  PLEASE let me know if you want these.  It is well worth your time to take a look.

There are also hundreds of other product stories as well both for healthy body and healthy home.

I sincerely wish that all of you out there with fibromyalgia can find relief from the daily pain, exhaustion, and depression.

God Bless,

Alana

Here is some information on fibromyalgia and it's relations to toxins in the home.  PM me if you would like more information.  Please note that many household cleaners contain chemicals classified as pesticides.

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One of the causes of Fibromyalgia is Chemical Injury. Chemical injury is frequently from pesticides; but can be from other toxins as well such as camphor, moth balls, wood stain, diesel, new carpets, and the like. The chemical injury can be from a one time exposure or a prolonged exposure over a period of time.

If chemical injury is suspected as the cause of the Fibromyalgia, then chemical avoidance is an important part of the treatment.

There are many resources on Fibromyalgia and Chemical Injury. The Chemical Injury Information Network (CIIN.org) is one of the largest.

A fabulous book on chemical avoidance is "Less-Toxic Alternatives" by Carolyn Gorman.

In short ...
1) Don't use pesticides indoors, in your garden, on your body, or on your pets. Pesticides include insecticides such as RAID, insect repellents such as OFF, herbicides such as Round Up, and flea shampoos. Use boiling water or boric acid (found at Kirks) for insects, vitamin B or melaleuca oil to keep away mosquitoes, and plant native plants so that pesticides aren't necessary in your garden.
2) Don't use chemicals to clean your house, wash your clothes, or wash your body. Clean your house with baking soda and vinegar or environmentally friendly products, wash your clothes with baking soda or environmentally friendly, toxic free products, wash your body with environmentally friendly, toxic free bath and body products.

3) Eat Organic Food. Washing and peeling conventional (not organic) food does not get rid of the pesticides contained in them.

Chemical avoidance is a huge lifestyle change, but is well worth the effort when it brings relief from pain or illness.

Thanks for sharing this information about Lyme disease Bill. You are certainly right in saying a lot of the symptoms are similar to other conditions such as fibromyalgia. I find that with fibromyalgia symptoms come and go too. The only constant symptom is painful areas of the body called "tender points". I have some of the same symptoms you mention, except the rashes and stroke-like symptoms. I also have other symptoms you didn't mention.

Your information may help someone who wonders if they have fibromyalgia  seek medical input about the possibility of lyme disease since it is rather rare and not one of the major diseases doctors think about when a patient describes symptoms.

Good luck with your treatments.

DonnaZ

Thanks for sharing this information Alana. I will copy it and send it my friends who have fibromyalgia.

DonnaZ