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Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

madinamerica.com

11–20 of 51 posts

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#12
post #3

> Every day, in doctors’ offices across the US—as well as in Canada, the UK, Ireland, Amsterdam, Australia, Sweden, in 80 countries and on every continent Amsterdam is not a country. The country is called The Netherlands. Amsterdam is the capital.

Well if we want to be difficult about this, Ireland really isn't a country either. It's a geopolitical region with two separate states on the same major island.

Pointing out that Amsterdam is a city and not a country isn't really "being difficult."

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#13
post #8

This reminds me of Morgellan's disease. Insisting something is real doesn't make it real. I don't know anything... can someone share a more evidence heavy article from the same side of the argument? The medical profession doesn't just turn it's back on treatable (e.g. profitable) diseases.

I don't know either, but the presentation was a little off-putting to me as well. It seems somewhat odd to refer to the "journey" you took with your son as "the hero's journey".

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#14

Well now I don't know who to believe.

I'd say believe the people and views supported by factual evidence, instead of appeals to emotion - I found the original article to be one long exercise in how to write things that would annoy a debate coach.

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well if we want to be difficult about this, Ireland really isn't a country either. It's a geopolitical region with two separate states on the same major island.

Pointing out that Amsterdam is a city and not a country isn't really "being difficult."

But it's off topic and not constructive.

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#16
I'm unclear on why this is on the frontpage of HN. This seems to be another medical advocacy group that are searching for explanation of their symptoms, and have convinced themselves of a cause.

There have been several studies on their claims, none of which show that their symptoms are caused by a persistent infection:

> "The assumption that chronic, subjective symptoms are caused by persistent infection with B. burgdorferi is not supported by carefully conducted laboratory studies or by controlled treatment trials. Chronic Lyme disease, which is equated with chronic B. burgdorferi infection, is a misnomer, and the use of prolonged, dangerous, and expensive antibiotic treatments for it is not warranted."

http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMra072023

It doesn't help that the article is written by someone who apparently is working hard to sell books about how to treat this - https://lymemadness.ca/

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#17

I had lyme for a few months and it was just awful. My brother had it undetected for nearly a decade and had an incredible number of muscle and joint issues, including surgery to burn nerves in his back because the pain was too much and he was on all kinds of drugs. After the 12th doctor he went to over the years, one finally tested him for lyme and he had more than 20 times the highest normal limit for lyme infection…

I've been treated for lyme twice. The first time the well known bullseye surrounding a bite mark appeared and is what triggered my first time getting treatment. I believe it was 10 days on a an oral antibiotic. The second time I was treated, I was treated more for preventative reasons. I found a deer tick embedded in by shoulder and took pictures so the doctor wouldn't been weary to possible treat a non-issue with antibiotics. I try not to take antibiotics unless I absolutely need too. Except lyme, if left untreated, can wreak havoc. Sometimes I worry that I either wasn't on the antibiotic long enough or perhaps I've been bitten again. I wish we would focus more time and resources into more easily diagnosing this disease.

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#18
post #8

This reminds me of Morgellan's disease. Insisting something is real doesn't make it real. I don't know anything... can someone share a more evidence heavy article from the same side of the argument? The medical profession doesn't just turn it's back on treatable (e.g. profitable) diseases.

Yes it does, all the time. Before Diabetes was a known condition, it was considered a mental disorder. Then diabetes became widely understood, but for a short time hypoglycemia was considered a mental disorder. Nowadays, hypo and hyperglycemia that are triggered without actual blood sugar level changes, are considered a mental disorder.

I know, because there is someone in my family with that last one. But if you do enough research, it turns out there are specialists out there, who are studying exactly that condition, and claim it to be related to something in the pancreas. But talk to a doctor outside that small circle? Mental disorder.

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#19

I had lyme for a few months and it was just awful. My brother had it undetected for nearly a decade and had an incredible number of muscle and joint issues, including surgery to burn nerves in his back because the pain was too much and he was on all kinds of drugs. After the 12th doctor he went to over the years, one finally tested him for lyme and he had more than 20 times the highest normal limit for lyme infection…

'chronic lyme disease' does not necessarily equal 'sequelae from lyme disease': many people getting treated with fuck-off antibiotics for chronic lyme have never actually gotten a diagnosis of lyme

(that is not good)

Re: Lyme Is 'All in Your Head' – A Wake-Up Call to Mental Health Professionals

#20
post #3

> Every day, in doctors’ offices across the US—as well as in Canada, the UK, Ireland, Amsterdam, Australia, Sweden, in 80 countries and on every continent Amsterdam is not a country. The country is called The Netherlands. Amsterdam is the capital.

Well if we want to be difficult about this, Ireland really isn't a country either. It's a geopolitical region with two separate states on the same major island.

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