How 11 top NYC doctors missed my Lyme disease
This is one of a series of guest blogs by people who have enrolled in MyLymeData.
by Dana Parish
A July 2014 wedding on Long Beach Island, New Jersey was the start of my nightmare.
It was a beautiful weekend filled with love for two of our dearest friends who were, after 14 years together, finally legally able to marry. There was lobster and champagne and a crazy Gordon Gekko-style house on the beach. I sang a few songs, made a toast, and cried happy tears.
I woke up two days later, back home in NYC, with a crushing head and neck ache. It was weird, but I figured I would sleep it off and be better in the morning. It took a few days, but I recovered.
That Saturday, I got out of the shower and saw a faint red circular rash on my shoulder with a bug bite in the middle. My knees buckled. I called for my husband, Andy, “HUNNEEEE! I have LYME!”
He really didn’t think so.
I banged on my neighbor’s door, still in my towel, “Rachel! Look! Lyme!”
She told me no way.
But I knew, and I walked to the ER.
The fresh-faced doc took a quick glance at my shoulder and said it looked like Lyme, and to thank God I wasn’t one of those “crazy Lyme people” that never gets better because they caught it too late.
I filled the CDC recommended 21 days of 200 mg of Doxycycline and fully believed I’d be okay.
I followed up with an infectious disease specialist from NYU a few days later, to be safe. He reassured me that I would have no complications since I caught the bite within a week.
I was relieved.
A month later, my breast was swollen. I was vaguely aware of a deadly cancer that presents this way, and rushed to my internist. She sent me to an oncologist at Mt. Sinai who was kind enough to make room for me that day. He did not know why I had this symptom (“too much soy, hormonal, maybe”) but was certain it was not cancer. I saw him two more times to be sure. He was puzzled by my fixation and panic since he had ruled out the worst.
So was I.
By November, my arms were profoundly weak. A fork felt like a bowling ball. I noticed my heart was palpitating and racing at night and I could not fall asleep. When I dozed, I woke up in a sweat. Every time I closed my eyes I saw horrifying faces melting into each other. I told Andy I was seeing monsters.
I was suddenly scared to be alone.
I went back to my long-time doctor. She believed something was up but didn’t know what. She sent me to a sports medicine guy who barked, “You’re weak! You need to lift weights!”
I told him my sternum was sore. And my ribs. My bones. I asked him to order me a chest wall MRI. He thought I was nuts but did it anyway.
I was so weak from the 5-pound weights I lifted in his office that the next morning I couldn’t wash my hair.
I whispered to my sister-in-law, “Something is very wrong.”
I went back to the ID doctor and asked if all this could be related to Lyme and he said no. I told him I heard there were Lyme specialists and asked if he could refer me to one. He laughed and said, “Oh God. A bunch of shysters!”
My gut said he’s wrong.
I saw a second ID doctor who also claimed there was no way I still had Lyme, and when pressed, added that he was positive because he “went to medical school” and the antibiotics I took “killed Lyme 100 percent of the time in the test tube.”
My radar was blaring.
By now, I was short of breath and went to a cardiologist who said my heart function was like “a 70-year-old man’s.” Tears streamed down my face as I lay there gasping for air and she could not help me.
It is Christmas week 2014. I am in California with Andy resting at our friend’s heavenly farm. I am too weak and short of breath to walk from my bed to the car. I can’t sleep and stay up all night crying. I am a shell.
I ask Andy to Google all of my symptoms and just tell me what’s wrong. I know I am dying.
He pulled up the famous Dr. Burrascano checklist and gasped. I had 37 out of 60 symptoms. Full-blown Lyme.
I now know none of these doctors were aware of recent scientific studies showing Lyme can persist long after you finish your woefully inadequate CDC-recommended short course of antibiotics.
I am enraged and overwhelmed and terrified.
By the grace of God, my friend knew a specialist, a Lyme-literate doctor, in San Diego, four hours away, who mercifully agreed to see me over the holiday if I could get to him.
He listened for 10 minutes and calmly said, “You have Lyme. Lyme does all kinds of weird things, but you’ll get better. Amazing that I am only the 12th doctor you’ve been to. Most find me somewhere between 20 and 100.”
I finally relaxed.
I flew home and started the three antibiotics he prescribed. In days, my muscles and joints calmed down. Within eight weeks, my brain fog lifted and the melting faces stopped. My heart recovered normal function by April. I could breathe!
This “shyster” saved my life.
It has been exactly a year since I started proper treatment for Lyme and the miserable co-infections (which require drugs other than doxy) that invariably come with it. I am about 95 percent better. I am still on and off various antibiotics and Chinese herbs, but there is light.
Last week, I signed up for MyLymeData, a project of LymeDisease.org. It’s a means for patients like me to wring some benefit out of our horrific Lyme experiences. By sharing information about our symptoms and treatment—including what worked and what didn’t—we can help point the way for medical researchers who are searching for a cure for Lyme.
Please join me! Click here for more information about MyLymeData.
Dana Parish is a New York-based singer/ songwriter whose work has been recorded by Celine Dion and other stars. A version of this article originally appeared in the Huffington Post. Click here to see her other Lyme articles.
Most statistics say that if you catch Lyme right away, in the first week, it’s 90% curable. Your chances go down after that. Dana’s story tells what happens if you are one of the other 10%.
I wonder if she already had a mild, subclinical infection, maybe from a previous unknown bite, at the time she was bitten at the wedding.
In some ways I think it’s harder for people like Dana, who were already treated for Lyme, to get a diagnoses than for someone who has never been diagnosed and treated. Doctors believe the meds work. They don’t want to admit what they’ve been taught is wrong.
I have symptoms of swollen sore areas around my knees and posterior neck heaviness and ache. They exacerbate and recede constantly. Doxycycline for 10 days makes it feel better but it always comes back worse. I take lots of turmeric and olive leaf plus whatever I think might help. Also Claritan seems to help. Would love to know what the other two antibiotics are that she was put on. My lyme has been working on me since 2008. Bitten three different summers, twice each. Does don’t want to hear about it. Once treated…..no more lyme. Not!
We would recommend you be evaluated by a Lyme-literate doctor, affiliated with ILADS.
Thanks for your story Dana. This is very typical of the current situation and why the 4 week Doxycycline protocol is wrong. It might work in a test tube, but not in the human body. My LLMD who has treated TB and other diseases has always said 2 to 5 years on rotational antibiotics both oral and intravenous. TB for example requires this kind of treatment and it is recognised that it requires long term antibiotics. I am not sure who dreamed up the 4 weeks Doxycycline, however the IDSA took down this recommendation from their website a few weeks ago.
It is also important to be diagnosed for co-infections. Bartonella bacteria for example often uses the same biofilm produced by Borellia bacteria (Lyme) to evade the immune system. Bartonella is far more common than first realised, and recent studies in the US have shown that up to 20% of domestic cats carry this bacteria. And Babesia (parasitic) is quite common in domestic dogs. Ticks that have fed on these domestic animals and then biting humans will transfer these diseases plus what ever else they were carrying in their gut from previous animals or rodents.
Consult a recognised LLMD who will know how to correctly diagnose your infections.
Editor’s note: The IDSA did not “take down” its Lyme guidelines. I believe the writer is referring to the fact that the National Guidelines Clearinghouse removed the IDSA Lyme guidelines from its federal database.
dana, thanks for your story; i knew your name was familiar, but couldn’t remember why until i read HUFFINGTON POST … bingo!
best wishes to you.
bettyg, iowa lyme activist
47 yrs. chronic lyme
35 yrs. misdiagnosed by 40-50 drs.
unacceptable!
Did your blood test positive or negative for Lyme?
Thank God for Dr Burruscano’s protocol which is what I followed back in 1997 after being misdiagnosed for years and with disseminated lyme and coinfections. Thank God my rheumatologist interned in Lyme Ct. Thank God my infectious disease doctor did a lot of work on block island and recognized the Babesia Factor. This was before they put a gag on all the ID doctors. I did not start to recover from the Lyme until we treated the Babesia. I still have issues that come up from time to time. I often wonder why the Docs have no problem with believing than shingles can come from a dormant chicken pox virus, but the believe that lyme is completely eradicated. GO WITH YOUR GUT. There is so much more info out there now and the focus is on recovery. 20 years ago, people were looking at it as a death sentence and if you were on a board, it was very negative. I chose to walk my own alterative path with a mix of meds when needed.
I thought that about the shingles theory too. They also have no trouble believing Hep C is chronic or that HPV causes cancer.
Then why is it such a stretch to believe Lyme can survive treatment and become chronic? Why is it so hard to speculate that Lyme could possibly cause neuro diseases like MS, ALS, and Alzheimer’s when it’s able to cross into the brain?
On the farm we have trouble with Leptosporosis, another spirochete disease. It can be chronic in cows and cause them to abort their calves. We have to vaccinate every year. People can also get it and I don’t doubt it can be chronic in us too. It is spread by raccoons, rats and possums and may be another Lyme co-infection.
So when I went to two doctors with a known tick bite and also told them I was from the farm, do you think they tested me for it? Of course not. When the Lyme tests came back negative, (first had one positive band), I was not tested for any other TBI or zoonotic infection. Defies common sense. My gut tells me I picked up something from that tick and possibly something on the farm. A vet could’ve done a better job.
Hi Dana. I don’t know why I am crying as I read your story. I think they are tears of relief that you are getting treatment. So many of us never get adequate treatment. I and a very few others have been trying to talk a young 31-year-old young woman into not taking her own life because of Lyme. She has suffered so much from Lyme, been deserted by her family and lost her child. We will not win in her case I am afraid, but you will. God bless you and your “shyster” doctor. I hope you do not resent my faith in God because I am praying for you and hoping for you. It is extremely rewarding to see, especially a young person, recover from this devilish disease. I will keep you in my prayers.
Hi Dana! Your story is all too familiar to me. I, too, continued to have symptoms after presenting with a bullseye rash and getting one month of doxycycline treatment. The doctors kept telling me that the doxy cured my Lyme disease and whatever remaining symyoms I was having was due to another cause. I had relapsing symptoms for 26 years, always mentioning Lyme to the doctors which was met with deaf ears. My condition ultimately resulted in nerve damage and brain lesions, significant neuropsychiatric symptoms that left me unable to work. I do truly wish that the system would abolish the notion of absolute cure after 21-30 days after antibiotic treatment and start treating patients individually. Medical follow up after a month of treatment is so critical with an open mind to continued treatment with an evaluation of co-infections. Good for you for following your gut instinct and advocating for yourself.
I had a tick on me for two hours, it just made a hole. It was the second tick bite so it is possible that the first tick bite infected me and the bacteria went dormant. I got bit with the first tick in November, and it was engorged on my arm. I got two weeks of doxy — even though the pharmacist said it was the worst bite he had ever seen. I had no symptoms so thought I was safe. The second bite, just made a hole and set the whole thing off. The two weeks of doxy was not enough, and got knows what germs were given to me from the second tick, but I did not get antibiotics right away because I thought I was safe as it wasn’t on me yet for 24 hours (and didn’t even realize I could have bacteria hiding from the first bite because I thought I was adequately treated). Well, it was slow to come on, but two weeks after the bite I was full blown flu-like symptoms and a mess. It started out where a thumb joint hurt, then an elbow joint, then hard to sit, and then I got worse hot flashes, and then completely sick. And the urgent care recognized it as lyme disease and gave me two months worth, but I still had three fingers that were numb and tingly as the worst symptom, but I had other symptoms as well, odd twitches, uncomfortableness in my skin, anxiety … and now after 3 years of solid antibiotics of doxy, azithromax and plaquenil, I have been off for one year and holding steady. I am ever suspicious of it showing up. I did try some herbs on and off too. And I might pick those up and have a few drops every day just to keep my system inhospitable to any bugs that still might be hiding in my system. While I am much better now, I am weakened and not the same as I was before the infection. I hope one day I will feel much stronger and maybe feel as I did back then, but time and getting older counter that ability too.
I discovered I had late stage Lyme at age 60 and was finally connected with a Lyme Literate Doctor after 8 months of being misdiagnosed by many physicians. There is not a single doctor in GA that treats Lyme beyond the very limited and short Doxy CDC protocol. But, who can blame them, the CDC headquarters is here in Atlanta. And in this state, the CDC plays the game of Whack a Mole whenever any doctor pops up who treats or reports a case of Lyme in GA. And, in typical CDC logic, without any cases or reports of the disease, GA is considered Lyme free.
I was forced to visit a phenomenal physician in Washington DC who has been bringing me back to where my life can start over again. My prayers and love goes out to the children and young people who must fight this scary disease with doubting doctors and CDC lunacy. Please try to get to a LL Doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment; hopefully it will be life changing.
BP
From Lyme free GA
I was bitten by a deer tick in early Summer of 2014. I found the tick still attached to my shoulder blade, along with the EM Rash. It was a Saturday night when I found the tick and EM rash. I quickly removed the tick and flushed it down the toilet and called my PCP on call. I reached a doctor who was on call for my GP. She agreed to give me her Email address and I sent her a photo of the EM. A few minutes later she called me and said “You have Lyme.” My best guess is that the tick was attached no more than 48 hours because it was only partly filled with blood. The doctor on call called my pharmacy and filled a 30 day 100mg Doxycycline prescription to be taken twice per day. I picked it up the next day because the pharmacy was closed by the time she called. I went to my GP that Monday and saw the nurse practitioner who confirmed Lyme. She said 30 days of Doxy and I won’t even know I was bit by a deer tick. How wrong she was. After 30 days I felt zero better and worse. Headaches, muscle and joint pain, sleepless nights, cognitive impairment already. My GP saw me next and gave me an additional 30 days of Doxy- with just a little improvement. She said “You are well on the road to recovery and are fine and cured.” I had my doubts. 6 months down the road all my symptoms were worse. I saw my GP on and off for 6 straight months and she did zero for me- no recommendations except maybe see a Psychiatrist and start going to the gym!!! Yeah right!! I started the Stephen Buhner Protocol using LB Core Protocol from Green Dragon Botanicals in Vermont. I saw some improvement so then added herbal tinctures from Crescent Moon herbals in Maine. Last summer of 2015 I was still not so great but hoped for the best. My GP gave me the Elisa test which not surprisingly came back negative. I asked for the Western Blot and she said NO- that she could only give me that if the Elisa came back positive and she insisted I did not have Lyme or co-infections anymore. At the time I had bad pain in my shoulders and legs and she dismissed them as hypochondria and again told me to see a Psychiatrist. Last Fall of 2015 it started to get bad. Symptoms were worse than ever, and I continued on my herbal protocols and added Silvercillin (A form of colloidal silver) and also started Results RNA glutathione. I can honestly say I did notice any big improvement using those 2 products for a month- maybe it takes longer. Today is March 22 2016 and my symptoms are still pretty bad. My health plan Harvard Pilgrim told me that Naturopaths are not accepted on my plan for months on end. Out of sheer curiosity I called them a few days ago and got a different answer and was told yes- so I found an LLMD naturopath in Amherst NH (GreenHouse Naturopathics_ who accept my insurance Harvard Pilgrim. There are a few caveats. It’s $50 per visit and I have to pay for the Igenex blood test out of pocket ($250 for the Igenex basic Lyme panel) If I get the complete co-infection test it’s a whopping $699 out of pocket- which I cannot afford. I also have to pay out of pocket for any herbal or non standard meds that the Naturopaths sells since they are not recognized as pharmaceuticals except for antibiotics if she prescribes them for me. I am hoping as I see her in June that I can be cured. I still feel pretty sick- in fact am home from work sick today as I could barely stand when I woke today and was feeling very nauseas- something I have not yet felt. I am starting to do Detox bath today and will also try Oregano Oil and some high quality probiotics when I can afford them. Lyme sucks. I have no family and live alone and it’s very hard. *I raised my daughter alone as my former wife left me in 1993 when she had an affair and I raised my daughter all by myself. I had my daughter all her childhood at my home typically 3-5 days per week as I wanted her in my life and she was and always will be the most important person in my life. She moved out of her room in my home last Summer to live with her boyfriend. It killed me when she left- and I still have never gotten over her leaving- but she comes over for dinner and movies as often as she can. I get scared at night when I go to bed. Life is scary when sick with Lyme and/co-infections. I am going to be 58 in a few months and living alone is brutal. I cannot even date as with Lyme I am just not in good enough health to be a good date- plus research now shows that Lyme just may be a STD now. Great…..
Jody, I’ve raised my daughter alone too. (My husband left me, in 2003, when I got too sick to run our business any longer.) She’s getting ready to go off to college in a few months and I’m freaking out. Maybe we can be pen pals? Lol.
My LymeCo story is too long to post here, but we have alot in common with our history.
Sorry for hijacking your thread, Dana. So glad you never gave up and happy to hear you found what you needed.
A giant thank you for sharing your story, Dana, and for being a voice for the rest of us, in your articles, on Huffpo. Keep ’em coming. I feel there’s a change brewing.
~ Michele – Lyme (@tickedofflymie).
Cleveland, OH,
On Facebook there are support groups for each state with a list of LLMDs in your area. Don’t give up.
And thank you too, Betty, for all you do in the Lyme community. ☺
Hi Michelle and Stephanie- and anyone else who responded. Sorry I did not respond sooner. I am seeing a Naturopath in Amherst NH in early June to see if she can help. It’s called GreenHouse- and has plenty of good reviews. I took off 3 days from work this week as I was so out of it I needed some time off. I’ve been going to bed early, using lavender oil on my pillow at night to help too. My symptoms lately are not good. I believe I have Babesia now too. I get chilly/sweaty and feel cold in my hands and feet and my temperature dips as low as 96 at times even in bed. I’m a vegetarian and try to eat the best I can- but being a single parent, having a daughter in college who still greatly needs my help, and a mortgage, credit cards etc life is really on the edge most weeks- but I manage to survive. My PCP is not good. We’ve had heated arguments about Lyme and Co-infections and she insists I do not have Lyme or co-infections because “She says so” and I get so mad at her I could scream- but I do not. For now I must keep her as she has admitting privileges to the town hospital – so for now I have nom choice but am searching. I think I am going to try the “new” Buhner protocol for Babesia which uses some new herbs that Stephen recommends: Sida acuta, Alchornea cordifolia, and Cryptolepis sanguinolenta blend for the treatment of babesia. I may even go back on his Lyme protocol too as it helps with the Lyme: Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) (Green Dragon Botanicals) – 1-4 tablets 3-4x daily for 8-12 months;
Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa) (Green Dragon Botanicals) – 1-4 tablets 3-4x daily for 2-3 months, then 2-3 capsules 3x daily [for additional sources see: cat’s claw alternatives];
Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus) (HerbPharm tincture) – 1/2 to 1 tsp upon rising and at lunch;
Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus) – 1,000mg daily (not to be used in chronic lyme)
Stephen is now also recommending Ashwagandha (withania) to help remedy sleep problems at night and brain fog – 1000 mg at night just before bed.
Thanks everyone for your kind words. It sucks living alone and having no one to talk to or be with- but it is what it is and I learn to accept what I cannot change- at least for now 🙂
Michelle you can email me anytime at jody90@yahoo.com
Jody, one of the worst things is to isolate yourself. Try and find any type of support groups. A positive environment and a place where you can share your issues is so helpful to your mind and body. I am sorry you are going through all this and feeling alone. There are people out there that care.
I was bitten by something almost three years ago. The next day I had a horrible rash on my lower leg but it looked nothing like the typical bullseye Lyme rash. I immediately went to my doctor who a sent me to a dermatologist. It was biopsied and I was given 10 days of antibiotics because I tested negative for Lyme and Rocky Mountain fever I thought I was OK. Boy was I wrong. My nightmare was just beginning. Two months later the rash returned on both legs. My lower legs began to swell and hurt. I went to a hematologist, rheumatologist, vascular doctor, and another dermatologist. After numerous blood tests, ultra sounds, x-rays , MRIs , cat scans, trips to the er I’m no closer to getting answers and my symptoms and health continue to deteriorate. I have constant pain in my legs and arms. I now can barely stand or walk. I have headaches. I’m exhausted from doing a simple task like brushing my teeth or combing my hair.
I have shortness of breath and feel like I’m having a heart attack. I can’t sleep. I sometimes can’t remember common words or names when I’m talking. My arms go numb.I spend most of my life on the couch. When I suggest to the many doctors that I have seen that perhaps I have Lyme they look at me like I’m crazy. One even laughed. I need help but I don’t know where to go. I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
anonymous, try here:
https://sites.google.com/site/lymedoctors/ohio
bettyg, iowa lyme activist/llmd coordinator
I’m a wildlife biologist, more or less immersed in ticks for my job years ago, but when symptoms began they all said “there’s no Lyme in California, no worries”. So I went undiagnosed by 16 highly paid, ‘expert’ MDs for 15 years. It altered my life needless to say. Now the Babesia is chronic and a much bigger problem than the Lyme. It’s been a nightmare roller coaster. I still get very inadequate treatment because I can only get in to see my Lyme MD about twice a year at best thanks to her schedule. The whole Lyme epidemic and treatment scenario in this country is a travesty and needs much more attention from the media.
My husband has been tested a few time and the results always come back that he doesn’t have it .?He has a rash all over his body and now carries a pen they do not know what caused it . He has pulled a number of ticks off one being after a result of a bullseye . He now to a point he can barely function at work his arms are week he has a hard time to hold them up . Lost not sure where to go doctors say depression lack of vitamin D ect .
Recommend you see a Lyme-literate doctor who is affiliated with ILADS. More info about Lyme disease: https://www.lymedisease.org/quick-lyme-intro/
The things that have helped me more than antibiotics or any other medicine are the Gerson nutritional therapy and lots of vitamins. I did 2 years of the Gerson diet and saw improvements in heart, stomach, and head symptoms from all three about 50% to all three about 85% normal. The improvements persisted after stopping the diet but keeping the vitamins. I never see anyone else mention this so I hope others might benefit. The diet is less expensive than drugs but more expensive than a standard diet.
Hello Guy,
I am in my early 60’s and this is the szecond time I was bitten. The originnal was 20 years ago and I went into remission with a ddrug called Ruild.
This time I caught it but with co-infections such as babesia, etc. I also now have CIDP which I have to take IVIG. I have been taking Roximycin which is the generic of what I took years ago. As long as I take this I see some improvment but I still have the sweats, CIDP The IVIG maybe stopping as my Cobra is up this month.
What vitaims have helped you?
Regards,
Elaine
My e-mail address is elaine423nj@yahoo.com
I had no idea I had Lyme’s til my legs gave out in March of 2015..I was admitted to the local Hospital, every test and MRI came back negative… I was getting mega doses of steroids and have no idea what else..I work up one morning with the nurse telling me what a bad seizure I had during the night..didn’t tell me I was totally paralized on my left side ..arm ,leg hand, and foot ! another MRI.. now I have a swollen brain stem on the from a bacterial infection and have lesions on the right side brain stem…I couldn’t eat, drink walk, talk, feed myself ,use the bathroom …The neurologist had mentioned Lymes but everyone blew him off…then they did a lumbar puncture and send it to the CDC…I was in a nursing home from April 16th til July 1st..I received antbiotics , predizone , and I don’t know what else IV for weeks. The Rehad dept.was fantastic! I left in a wheel chair but able to walk with a walker and use of my arm… the week after I got home from the nursing home I had a appt. with the neurologist and the test had finally after 3 months, came back Positive for Chronic Lymes..he told me I had probably had for 2-3 yrs . I don’t even remember getting a tick…he said probably from the dogs..
All I know is I am 63 yrs old and do not want to live this way the rest of my life …Physical Therapy said m gait was no better so they pulled me out.. I am regressing my speech, my brain.. I spell backwards , can’t remember how to spell or times and dates, the Urologist says the incontience is neurologic ..I can get no where with anyone..please excuse the mis-spelling I have no auto correct on this computer…
I’m sick, depressed and tired…the night I had my seizure the Doctor said I would not live through the night , so my daughter came over to my home and took every thing I had of any value..I have most back but she still has some…50+ years of memories in my picture box., but I made a liar out of him I came to and was’t a vegatable after all.. my next step is to go to a better doctor and see what he can do !
We recommend you find a Lyme-literate doctor affiliated with ILADS.
It’s 1:30 am here and your post left me in tears. Because I too am just a shell of who I used to be! Thank you for telling your story!
Lyme is such a horrible disease, its the worse thing I’ve ever been through & still going through! Please doctors wake up & save us & make us well, we are not lying, & millions have it, how can you explan that & that we don’t have Lyme?? Lyme doc’s have & can save our lives & MD’S & DO’S think we are all just nuts or depressed, please read my lips: I HAVE LYME DISEASE!!!!!!
Why at this late date is the medical community failing to recognize Lyme? People are dying as a result. Why?
I’m in desperate search for someone to help diagnose my daughter who I now suspect has Lyme disease. We are in the “20-100” doctors she has seen and three specific tests for auto-immune and/or Lyme. Nothing has been diagnosed. We live in AZ but would be willing to drive to San Diego to meet this specialists. Could you please send his name.
Hi Dana! Great article. Would you be willing to share the name of the Lyme specialist you saw in San Diego? I was recently diagnosed with Lyme & am desperate to find a specialist or a doctor who knows how to treat this monster…?? I’m a San Diego resident.
Dana, how crazy that by the grace of god, the doctor I recommended to you, who diagnosed your Lyme, completely missed my sons Lyme and bartonella. Didn’t even test him! Grrrrr