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Lyme Disease Denied by Australian Government

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posted on Jun, 5 2012 @ 02:00 PM
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Lyme disease is the ignored pandemic, that can be found on every continent, that can be disguised as other diseases, and overlooked by doctors.

I live in one of the hot spots in the US. I have suffered from it, my son now has it for the second time. There are places in the US where it doesn't exist, that seems very strange to me, lol.

I have known people to get it 3 times. Its a horrible disease, I thought I was going to die.

With the crazy spring we had, the US now is facing one of the worst years on record for the lyme disease Endemic, and parts of Canada too.

The incidense of Lyme Disease has doubled in the US in the last 20 years.

This disease, if left unchecked, can be outright dangerous and deadly. AT the least, it will leave chronic conditions that the sufferer will have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
Long term Lyme can cause heart damage, nerve damage, encephalitis, even paralysis.

So while doing reasearch on my poor tot who is miserable with a raging fever, I came across many articles from confounded citizens on how the Australian Government refuses to acknowledge Lyme Disease.


Why? I don't know. To think it can't reach your shores is just silly. We have so many non native species in teh US, it is not even funny. We have to battle Africanized bees, tarantulas, Japanes Rose, Cudzo, mustard grass, and now my favorite, the Asian stinkbug.

It wouldn't be that hard for a cargo ship with an infected mouse to deliver the vector to your door.

I read so many posts from poor, sick Australians who want a diagnosis but they just can't get it, whose doctors insist they got it from traveling overseas when they don't even own a passport.

Maybe an Aussie can shine a light for me on why the government would refuse to acknowledge such a serious disease.

This article accusses the government of basing the information on a faulty study:


Russell and Doggett (1994) could not isolate any Borrelia DNA from the common Australian ticks collected from the Eastern seaboard. They collected 12,000 ticks but only tested 1038 with PCR. Throughout the study they assumed that only the B.burgdorferi strain can cause Lyme disease


McManusFoundation

The article then goes on to say that three other studies confirmed the presence of Lyme in Ticks.

From the NSW:


In Australia, Lyme disease has been detected in returned travellers who have acquired the infection while travelling overseas. Although clinical presentations of a ‘Lyme-like illness’ without a history of overseas travel do occur here, the cause of such conditions has not been determined. While locally-acquired Lyme borreliosis cannot be ruled out, there is currently little evidence that it occurs in Australia. Diagnosis of


NSW

But some doctors are now insisting it is there.


A Doctor's Crusade



posted on Jun, 5 2012 @ 05:09 PM
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It's almost like there's a stigma attached to the disease. I've heard that there's doctors in Canada that refuse to test for it, saying it's not here, and yet there are many people that have chronic illnesses from it. It's like doctors cannot admit they don't know about something, so they say it doesn't exist in their area.

People have to be able to send the tests to the US to get better testing, our tests are garbage. They might test negative up here, and positive when sent to the states.

Even here in Saskatchewan, areas that have a heavy tick population, the doctors and vets were saying that our ticks don't carry lyme disease, yet Alberta and Manitoba, and the state to the south of us, all admit to having lyme carrying ticks.

This year, the ticks have moved north, up to where I am, I've found at least 50, on the dogs, and me, and my next door neighbour says he's never seen one. I'm checking us constantly, I hate the feeling that a bug could be feeding on me, and I wouldn't know unless it's still crawling around ~~shivers~~
I've heard the longer the tick stays on, feeding, the more likely the lyme disease can transfer, and/or if the tick is removed wrong, the disease gets squeezed into the person or animal.

If I ever see the dreaded "bullseye" mark on me, in a spot where a tick was, I'm going to be very insistent that the doctor does something about it. I guess antibiotics are needed promptly?


Russell and Doggett (1994) could not isolate any Borrelia DNA from the common Australian ticks collected from the Eastern seaboard. They collected 12,000 ticks but only tested 1038 with PCR. Throughout the study they assumed that only the B.burgdorferi strain can cause Lyme disease

So they left about 11,000 ticks untested. Meanwhile, not all ticks carry it, but if even 300 of the 12,000 have the disease and bite people, that's still 300 various chronic illnesses that can happen.

It's sad that yet another country is denying that this disease is there, if people don't get help, they're left with undiagnosed chronic illnesses of all sorts, and doctors telling them that it's all in their heads



posted on Jun, 5 2012 @ 05:23 PM
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Am Aussie and am well aware of this particular situation. In fact there have been a number of news stories here in Oz that have brought up the fact that people with Lyme Dis here have to go overseas to receive treatment, worst part is one family in particular, both the parents suffer from it, and a little tot like your own is in constant pain from it, but its still bloody denied, and treatment is not given. I am with you I do not understand why the denial. We have ticks like everyone else, if that is the case, then you would think that with the Ticks come lyme disease. Logical you would think wouldnt you. Rather scary to. It seems to re-enforce my skepticism of doctors even more. Treat the symptoms and not the cause. If the cause is something that they dont understand, totally deny...



posted on Jun, 5 2012 @ 05:25 PM
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Here is a link to You Tube on article relating to this.

www.youtube.com...:en-US
fficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=w1&gl=AU

Also here is something on it I havent heard of:

au.news.yahoo.com...
edit on 5-6-2012 by The_Seeker because: Added another link



posted on Jun, 6 2012 @ 12:18 PM
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Because if Oz has records of people surviving and recovering from Lyme disease, then it will be more difficult to push a vaccine for Lyme disease. This is my best guess.

Lyme disease took hold in the US long before the vaccine controversy and ensuing vaccine push on the public. I'm sure someone is attempting to develop a vaccine - I can't imagine this disease has been overlooked. Many in the US have already been exposed, or know someone who has, and as a result, it is becoming part of our culture - something that belongs here.

However, it's new to Oz. A vaccine will me much more enthusiastically embraced by a nation which isn't on the record as suffering the disorder being vaccined against, than it will be in a country who's been dealing with the disorder for over two decades and yawns when Lyme is mentioned. Therefore, Oz will be the vaccine's "target market", with the expectation that orders for vaccines generating from that country will eclipse orders from all other countries combined.



posted on Jun, 6 2012 @ 05:56 PM
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reply to post by snowspirit
 


I read how some Canadian doctors refuse to believe in it too. The hotspots in the US are the northeast.
do they think the ticks come to a screeching halt at the Canadian border? lol
They are all sitting at the rainbow bridge saying: none of us have money, we can't cross into Canada!

Though one article I read said that some doctors were sent noticies in 2010 that yes, it does exist in Canada, and this is how you treat it.


The methods of treatment is still contested, you get anti biotics for a month. but a lot of experts are saying that you need two months minimum to effectively kill it.

people report chronic problems even after treatment, even if the test comes up negative.



posted on Jun, 6 2012 @ 05:57 PM
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reply to post by The_Seeker
 


The thing that perplexes me is that it is not an expensive test, it is not expensive treatment. you get antibiotics for a month.

if left untreated,that is when it turns into an expensive problem.



posted on Jun, 6 2012 @ 06:31 PM
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reply to post by chasingbrahman
 


There was a vaccine developed, it was found to be ineffective, and was removed in 2012.


hhhmmmmmm;


Lyme disease (LD) is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. The vaccine for Lyme disease is no longer available. It was discontinued by the manufacturer in 2002, citing low demand. People who were previously vaccinated with the LD vaccine are no longer protected.


CDC

in 2010 over 30,000 Americans were diagnosed with Lyme. Who knows how many went undiagnosed.

There is no need for a vaccine?? We have it for dogs but not for people??
edit on 6-6-2012 by nixie_nox because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 7 2012 @ 06:51 PM
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reply to post by nixie_nox
 


I don't have any sources to back myself up, purely anecdotal, but a lot of people I've come in contact with claim they have gotten Lyme Disease from that very vaccine. I'm not committing either way to the truth of that statement, just repeating what has been told to me... more than a few times.

I know exactly when and where I picked up Lyme, and I didn't have a rash nor see a tick. (Did get a couple positive tests many years later, tho, after numerous negatives. Think they poked me at the right time of the spirochete life-cycle.) Not blaming the vaccine in my case, just that I can understand how one can be very sure about how they get infected even if there's not "proof" per say.

I totally believe these Aussies. What they're going through now isn't so different from how things were ten-fifteen years ago in the good ole USA. Had to go to the east coast for treatment back then, and a lot of those doctors have seen time behind bars for their involvement in long-term IV antibiotics. (Among other things, but I can't get into that without incriminating people. There is totally a Lyme Disease underground and we help each other out lol.)

The Aussies have a fight before them. Luckily, there are alternative treatments widely available now (not just long-term antibiotics), and other options besides going through mainstream doctors. It's undertaken with a certain amount of risk, but what medical treatment isn't?

It's very hard to be ill and disbelieved. Things have gotten better here. Far from perfect, but better. I hope that things move faster for them in Australia, and that less people have to go through the isolation and depression before things change.



posted on Jun, 7 2012 @ 07:05 PM
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reply to post by Dontshootthemessanger
 


30% of people don't show a rash. or the rash is so small it is confused with something else. plus always calling it a bullseye rash is deceiving too, as it can be splotchy and not round.

i had a rash, my son didnt. it can show up in places you don't look or can't see.



posted on Jun, 7 2012 @ 07:32 PM
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reply to post by nixie_nox
 


Absolutely agree, and that may have been the case. I honestly don't know, now that I think about it.
My point is more along the lines that it's not as cut and dried as the CDC makes it seem. Those ticks are tiny and hard to see, and just because a patient doesn't report a tick bite or a rash doesn't mean that Lyme should be considered impossible. I don't doubt I was bitten by a tick, but I surely never saw it. I didn't believe it could be Lyme for years, because the doctors never considered it an option, and my symptoms were pretty classic.

ETA: Good for you guys, or the doctor, or whoever figured out it was Lyme without the rash for your son. Things have improved. That's seriously so good to hear!



edit on 7-6-2012 by Dontshootthemessanger because: clarity

edit on 7-6-2012 by Dontshootthemessanger because:



posted on Jun, 7 2012 @ 07:44 PM
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Lyme disease has always been around but we are susceptible to it because we don't consume the right foods and immune system blockers are added to things so we don't have reactions to foods. Food companies don't want us having histamine reactions to their foods. This blocks our immune system from fighting these kind of things as we are exposed to them. Dandelion greens and some plantain from the yard can help as can onion and garlic in your diet. Having a well acting immune system stops these problems quickly before they get out of control. Free range chickens are always eating ticks, they probably pass on immunity in their eggs. We have changed way too much in the diet. There are people who know more about particular applications than I do, maybe one will also respond.

.



posted on Jun, 14 2012 @ 01:00 PM
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Had to add my 2 cents when I saw this thread!
I'm from the US & have had Lyme disease for 19 years!
I was misdiagnosed for the first 13 years even though I had two bulls-eye rashes!

The problem is, if you have the test too early, nothing shows up yet!
When you first have the rash, it's a localized reaction to the bite. You haven't made a full-body response & antibodies to the Lyme bacteria yet! Then the doctors say, "Your test came back negative, you're fine!"
There are a very few docs who now treat first & test after, to make sure it's gone.

Because I wasn't treated for 13 years I developed Guillain-Barre & was paralyzed from the neck down.
When I was life flighted 150 miles from home, the first thing they asked me was if I had any tick bites or rashes!
When I said yes, 13 years ago, they were furious! They couldn't believe the doctors & specialist that I had seen were so incompetent! At first I don't think they believed me!

I was scheduled for a spinal tap for the GB. I had read that sometimes Lyme will show up in a spinal when it doesn't in a blood test. So I asked them to check for Lyme while they were doing it. Sure enough, positive!

When I was transferred to rehab for physical therapy for the GB, they had an infectious disease specialist see me. I was put on antibiotics for 3 or 4 weeks. I felt great immediately! No more profuse sweating or shortness of breath! Even through 2 weeks of rehab & struggling to learn to walk again I felt great. I wasn't uncoordinated or exhausted anymore! They said they never saw anyone going through rehab, who was so happy! I told them it was because I was normal again!!! Having GB & being paralyzed was a piece of cake compared to having Lyme Disease!!!

I didn't realize how much I had lost until I had it back again!!! Lyme for me, snuck up on me little by little. Having sweats?-perimenopause. (For 10 years!) Exhausted?- of course you are, you have 5 kids! Can't get a deep breath?-exercise more! Doctors don't listen!!!

Unfortunately, in little less than a year the Lyme was back! They told me it was a whole new case.
I now think it wasn't. I think after having had it for 13 years, that 4 weeks of antibiotics wasn't enough to completely wipe it out! They never did a follow up test after I was treated, to make sure! Another BIG mistake!

Every test that I've had over the years since I was first treated, has come back at least a 5. The last one last fall was a 7. I've had so many different kinds of antibiotics! The first kind I was given, that worked so wonderfully, was Vibra-Tab? They stopped making it!!! Doxycycline is the generic equivalent here. Been on it numerous times...it doesn't work. We had a family doctor years ago, who said don't ever get generics, they don't always work for everybody! Which makes me wonder if this is why there an increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria!
(But that's a subject for another thread!!!)

I doubt that after 4 weeks of a name-brand antiobiotic, I developed resistance to every kind that they have tried since!!! I think I had too little too late, & VT was what worked the best for me! Am I doomed to a lifetime of Lyme?
Will the other antibiotics only take it down a number or two? I don't know?

Here's what I've learned on my own & from the doctors & specialists over the years....

1.) The ticks in their life cycle feed & can drop back off. There are various hosts. Deer, mice, BIRDS. (Which may be how it got to Australia....on migratory birds! Either carrying stowaway infected ticks, or infected birds who were then bitten by normal ticks!) Any mammal can be a host, even your dog or cat.

2.) Any blood sucking insect could theoretically be a carrier. Ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, etc. Any infected insect that injects an anticoagulant to feed, could transmit it to you!

3.) Lyme Disease is caused by a spirochete, like syphilis. It theoretically can be transmitted the same way!
Which opens up a whole new can of worms!!!
I don't think that anyone who has had Lyme should donate blood either!!!

4.) Most doctors don't know squat about Lyme Disease & worse don't know how to read the tests! Time for some of those fancy seminars that they go to, to be devoted to it!!!

5.) If you think you have Lyme, read, read, read!!!! Demand a test. Get a copy of the test! Change doctors. Ask other people who have had it. Network. Start a support group. Join an online one.

There's my long winded 2 cents worth. Hope it helps someone!!!
Don't give up! Stay positive. We're all in this together. Knowledge is power!

Best wishes.
WOQ




Oops! #1.) What I meant to say was, any warm blooded animal, not just mammal. I DO know a bird is not a mammal!!!

edit on 14-6-2012 by wasobservingquietly because: Lyme brain!!!



posted on Jun, 14 2012 @ 01:50 PM
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I too am a Lyme survivor. I live in MA and contracted it in summer of 2007. At the time I was rehabbing my dad's house and thought the bite my wife spotted on my butt was a spider bite from crawling around in the attic. There was no 'bullseye' becasue the bite was at least a few days old when she noticed it. A few weeks later I woke up with a swollen left knee. Consider the physicallity of what I was doing I assumed I had slammed my knee. I wrapped it up and went back to work. Within a few days the pain and swelling travelled to other joints --- all on my left side. I also developed a cough, night sweats (like you would NOT believe), crushing fatigue, brain fog and a host of other symptoms. I have some medical background and knew right then what was up.

It happened to be a weekend and was told by the ER that I should contact my Dr on Monday which I did. He had me tested for Lyme (and other stuff) and turfed me to a rheumatologist for my knee. They aspirated my knee and gave me a shot of cortisone and lo-and-behold my symptoms went away --- for awhile. They came raring back in spades a few weeks later. I again went to the doctor (by now I could barely walk). The rheumatologist adamantly denied that I had Lyme. I had some 'idiopathic arthritis' he said and was put on prednisone for a year. I was tested for everything from AIDS to Parvo Virus as well as Lyme and all negative. An infections disease 'specialist' told me if I had Lyme I'd be sicker because of the prednisone (which is an immune suppressant). I was weaned off the prednisone after over a year and then on-and-off it for the next 3+ as the disease would flare-up. I never felt well, just somewhat less bad.

I dumped all the doctors and got a new primary guy. In Fall 2011 he decided to test me for Lyme one more time. 10-out-of-10. Off the charts. All of a sudden everyone's hair was on-fire. I was sent for an MRI and spinal (LP) to see if my CNS was involved. They wanted to send me back to the same infectious disease clown that had blown it years before. No way. I contacted the head of infectious disease at UMass Medical Center and she agreed to see me. They were horrified I had never gotten antibiotics (depsite the fact that I had literally begged for doxycycline when I first fell ill). They placed a central line (mid-line like a PICC) and I had to give myself IV ceftriaxone 2g every morning for a month. Within a week I felt 100%. Small flare-up 2wks in and then all clear. She even asked me to present my case to 2nd year students at the medical school.

I had thought severl times I was dying. Thinking I had some strange undiagnosed disease that was going to take me was awful. Truly awful. I feel awesome now and as was said earlier it wasn't until I was well that I realized how sick I had been. I ended my IV treatment in February and have been 100% since.

This disaese is no joke. Dr's, for the most part, are clueless. My experience cost me thousands of dollars, resulted in 5 CT scans, an MRI, an LP, and a central line and an untold number of lab tests over 4 years. All because some clown wouldn't write a script for doxy in the beginning.

Some points for earlier posters:

Once your titers are up it can take quite awhile for them to go back down. So there's no way to know if you've contracted Lyme again. If your titers ARE elevated, however, you're at a somewhat lowered risk of getting Lyme again since your immune system is locked-and-loaded.

DON'T let Dr's take control. Be your own advocate and take charge of your own care.

Think twice before looking for the supposed 'Lyme-literate' practitioners. Many are self-deluded and others are simply cashing-in. Sad, I know. Seek-out a true infectious disease expert that has expertise in insect vectored diseases.

After last winter this country is in for an epidemic. Watch your loved ones and especially your kids. The symptoms (especially early) can be deceptively benign. I recommend every see the Duke documentary 'Under Our Skins'. You can watch it free on Hulu.



posted on Jun, 14 2012 @ 02:50 PM
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It's a conspiracy.

There are lots of biological parasites loose in humans, so much so that you don't want to hear it.

They communicate, without a wireless plan. I watched a cop (on admin leave) with an alleged IQ of 140, completely melt down when made to consider that water has a memory. He wasn't quite up to discussions of parasites that can 'talk' to each other. He was drunk, had a car, and probably a gun, so I didn't push it.

Worms, toxo plasmosis, come to mind.

Probably a good idea to have deworming meds, and the latest antibiotics, in your BOB and or Family Bunker.

At least you won't be missing anything when the television monitor ceases to function, due to 'digital upgrades' you won't pay for, at long last, because they rarely talk about the diseases, let alone their demographic. For example, one website states that 50% (or more) of the French carry toxo plasmosis. They said it was on account of the rare meat they like, in France.

It makes dating more exciting, since it affects men and women differently, like his and her sex aids (KY his and her) I guess, so they leave all this stuff alone. Men will become less risk averse, and women will become more compliant. I also see that whenever this little bug is mentioned, the person gets few stars for the bother. Also, it exposes schizophrenics, so they certainly don't want a simple cause/effect vector that could be taken from the equation. MIC party wants mental evaluations, not bug free bodies.

Next time you meet someone in the mental health field, try mentioning the relationship between schizophrenia, and toxo plasmosis. They'll fall dumb, in most cases. It's overlooked, perhaps deliberately ignored. You might as well be talking to a Christian whose mind has wasted from years and years of bad preaching they thought was the word of God.

Last week someone posted images of some huge brain organism, a parasite, and I didn't want to see it. In a way, it's less scary than persons who act insane on their own. At least you can wonder if they act that way because of some parasite you'll never know about. A comfort zone, so to speak.

It's a conspiracy.
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posted on Apr, 23 2013 @ 04:22 AM
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i know this thread is nearly 12 months old but i hope someone sees it instead of creating a new one.

my aunty went up the north coast of New South Wales in january and was bitten by a tick. it remained in her toe for 24 hours before having it removed.

within 2 weeks she was sick. and just got sicker and sicker. i saw her today and the confident working women who lived a full life is a shadow of herself. not working, not participating in life, can barely leave the lounge.

she has an appointment with a lyme specialist on monday....but the fight here in australia to have someone believe its lyme is INCREDIBLE.



posted on Apr, 23 2013 @ 06:57 PM
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reply to post by bellagirl
 


Wow, I just stumbled back on this thread today too!
We were in Australia in Sept & I couldn't believe how many people had never heard of Lyme!

Your Aunt should make sure she gets a month of antibiotics, minimum!
Before they even do a test, because odds are, it will come back negative!
One specialist told me, "There is no accurate test for Lyme,
all you can do is treat the symptoms!"

My sister was sooo sick, for years, & her test came back negative!
Luckily she found a new doctor & is doing better, but after years of not being treated,
she will probably end up having chronic Lyme too!

I found a tick on my grandson when he was 3. A week later he had a huge bull's-eye rash!
It lasted a week, but of course it takes so long to get a doctor's appointment,
that the rash was gone before he could get in to see his pediatrician!

The doctor ordered the blood test, results took 2 weeks,
& of course it came back negative too!
He said they would just watch him for a few months!

I flipped out when my daughter told me!
She said I didn't know more than a doctor did!
Well, with everything that I've been through, I guess I do!!!

'Luckily' he got a high fever & she took him to the ER & told them about the rash.
They put him on antibiotics right away thank goodness!
His twin sister had something on her scalp a few weeks later.
It was swollen, had pus in it, a black spot in the middle & it was red around it.
But because she had scratched it & it was hard to see with all her hair,
we couldn't tell for sure if it had been a tick, or if there was a bull's-eye rash.

My daughter didn't even bother with the pediatrician, she took her straight to the ER!
They never gave her the blood test, just put her right on antibiotics!

It shouldn't be the luck of the draw,
whether your doctor is educated about such a horrible, debilitating disease or not!!!
Here in the U.S. they have even found people who were diagnosed with M.S. & Alzheimers,
actually had Lyme Disease!!!

There is so much to learm yet....
Good luck to your Aunt!!!
Let us know what happens!
WOQ



posted on Apr, 23 2013 @ 07:56 PM
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an issue near and dear (tick) to me
bit in 1992, bullseye rash, flu symptoms for 3 days..then all better...nothing untill early 2008...avid biker, backpacker, martial artist ect.....started with 'pulled muscle' that just wouldnt go away for about 2-3 weeks..and when it did another 'pulled muscle' ...recover and repeat..sleep problems, body pain...by late 2009..a constant ache in the body...early 2010 the 'dizzy spells set in and some shortness of breath

im pretty bull headed and unless i wake up dead or bleeding im not seeing a western doctor
early 2010 was when the research i was doing paid off....lyme disease...did alot of research and treated myself....after 8 months i felt like a new person...not whole but much better....still have issues but very managable and now armed with true knowledge, i can fight and live


lyme is very real..have know a few who were diagnoised with it after dr's himmed and hawed about what could be wrong...and then...'hey, they have lyme disease'......catch it right away, much easier to get rid of...if not...western medicine is of no use..long term conventional antibiotics will do more harm than good

lyme, in my opinion is a genetical manipulated bacteria, developed by the u.s army or u.s. govt that did not work out like they hoped and got away...and turned out to not be what they wanted anyway but still usefull in the long term manipulation of the population, another tool to make the population more on dependant private medical corporations and govt fund medicine which all act together as a form of control.......sorry, i was ranting there for a minute



p.s. i'll be more than happy to give more details..just IM me...."knowledge is power"



posted on Apr, 24 2013 @ 06:45 AM
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thanks for the replies guys....they are appreciated.

she was started on antibiotics early by a doctor who knew. unfortunately...she also had an appointment with an infectious disease doctor who told her to cease the antibiotics. as she was feeling well she did.....MAJOR MISTAKE.

hopefully after seeing the lyme specialist monday she will be back on track.




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