Donna's Story
I was suffering with maladies for quite awhile. They started 4 yrs ago; each having a diagnosis. Everything just started to go wrong. Finally, last summer, aches and pains were interfereing with everyday activities; some days more so than others. My doctor did all of the "proper" tests - everything was negative, so that left me fibromyalgia, for a diagnosis. I was sent to the so called specialist in this area for fibro. and Lyme.
He knew my doctor and used her test results(which was fine),and ran some different ones. He asked me "did u have a RASH?" No. (to me a rash is like prickly heat or measles-well what did I know?). I started to say "I Thought" and was cut off by his saying he didn't want to hear my thoughts. "Hey, I was going to say I thought I had Lyme disease." Ok. He said one test for liver was a little on the high side, and I said probably from the med's. He said probably from the excess weight (yes I have also gained weight).
This is not a true statement, and I don't know why he thought I would believe something like this. The diagnosis was fibromyalgia, and this doctor didn't want to prescribe pain relief pills. Well I sure as heck wanted him to; I have a job and I don't want to be seen crawling up the stairs. No, of course not, I didn't go back to him. I was given the name of another doctor and went. He questioned rash, and he permitted me to speak. Great, so I told him no rash, but spider bites. He said describe your bites.
Well, on top of my foot was a big red circle inflamed with a center of almost white, and in the tippy center a very tiny red dot. It hurt and itched and lasted a long time. I have had two of these. Guess what, bull's-eye! He explained that a rash is red when it is raised, and that is called something else. Then again the "proper" test came back negative, however, there was nothing, no elevation in the liver enzymes. Hmmm. He started me on antibiotics right away. He had me do the LUAT test - three of them. One was positive, and the other two highly positive.
I was one of the lucky ones. I shudder to think of what would/could have happened had I stayed with the so-called specialist group. Lyme needs to be taken seriously. It is long term with flare-ups. The med's have to be taken long term, and then whenever there is a flare-up. The tests are not accurate for all. I don't know what they base their % on. Now there is a quickie test. If the Western blot is not accurate, how in the world can this quickie test be? This is money wasted. Yet, we can't get a diagnosis because Yale says that Lyme has been over diagnosed, and if the test is negative well....lump them into fibro..... How dare they....
Donna L. Morgan
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