My Latest Visit to Steveston

My Latest Visit to Steveston to See my Lyme Doctor

Any time your doctor prescribes coffee as an effective medicine and tells you more is better should be considered a good day!

Yesterday, I went to Steveston (Richmond, BC, has absorbed this quaint and beautiful cannery town, now a museum of the dying BC fishing industry).  It was my monthly trek to see the only doctor in BC that I know of who is actively treating Lyme disease.

My doctor is a Naturopathic Doctor, or ND, who has been university trained in more than one health discipline, and has passed the test that allows him to prescribe antibiotics, something that other provinces have talked about, but have not yet implemented.

The problem is that Naturopathy has some built-in problems of its own that can make it a bit of a mine field for folks like myself who can't get treatment in the regular medical system, due to the heads up their posterior, willfully ignorant, arrogant, elitist Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons in virtually every region in Canada, the USA and Europe, with the possible exception of Germany, who completely and vehemently deny most modern science relating to Lyme disease.

Many NDs claim to be able to treat Lyme disease, but when you visit them, a few quick questions will usually show that you've gone to the wrong doctor.  More and more NDs are licensed to prescribe antibiotics, but very few know anything about Lyme disease, and they will not provide the treatment needed.

In my quest for a Lyme Literate ND (LLND), I ran a gauntlet of some pretty strange folks (in my opinion) who were all very nice, but knew practically nothing about Lyme disease, and who often were dipping pretty deeply into the pond of Metaphysics...

Furthermore, many NDs visit Lyme disease seminars, which are very short and give an opportunity for them to meet with the speakers.  They are very quick to give their cards to these speakers and say they are licensed to treat with antibiotics, but the reality is that they are simply trolling for patients and have no intention of really learning anything about Lyme disease.  Many of them have already pretty much made their minds up about what works for everybody in a "one-size-fits-all" mentality that is almost as bad as the denial of the mainstream medical profession.

Unfortunately, you and I have to do our own due diligence when we are referred, because these poor, overworked speakers at these seminars simply cannot.  They share the names of the NDs with those looking for treatment, but they know very little about the doctors.  You can't assume you will get proper treatment simply because a Lyme expert has given you a name.  You have to research every one separately and ask a lot of questions.

Thanks very much to Dr. Murakami, who answered my call about the ND I am now seeing and gave me his approval of him, I now have a good ND.  And to top it off, he prescribes coffee as part of the treatment!  (Before you snort in derision, find out why!  Lyme sufferers, such as myself, have HUGE and DEBILITATING energy problems, and it's very difficult to overcome them.  Suffice to say, the coffee is only part of the regimen, and requires a number of other things to work.)

But did I mention?  I have to drink lots of coffee!  Now THAT is a prescription I won't be ranting about!

Progress Report... Ugh... Chronic Lyme Disease Really Sucks

by Dave Cottrell

It is now September 29, 2012.  I have been sick with Lyme Disease since the end of 2007.  Prior to that time, I was extremely healthy, and able to literally outperform most men half my age.  I could walk from sunup to sundown without resting.  I could run up and down ladders all day.  My thinking was clear, my ability to multi-task was very good, and my mind was sharp virtually all the time.

By mid-October of 2008, however, I had to finally admit defeat and walk away from an excellent position at an excellent company due to an inability to properly concentrate, combined with an overwhelming fatigue that had set in, intense pain over much of my body, inability to sleep, terrible sweats, and many other lesser problems.  It was no longer possible for me to properly focus and think for any length of time, making me somewhat less than a valuable asset to the company I was working for.

Fast forward to today.  It has taken a long time and many unfruitful trips to many doctors and specialists, but I have finally found a doctor, a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) licensed to prescribe antibiotics, who recognized the symptoms of the disease a retired doctor had already said I have (Lyme Disease), began antibiotic treatment along with natural and homeopathic treatments, and immediately drew blood for a Western Blot, which came back positive to 1 chance in 40,000 of being a false positive.

Due to the fact that it took SO long to get treatment, combined with several false starts (five days of Amoxycillin when I first fell ill, and 6 months of antibiotic therapy a year and a half later), getting well has become a long term battle, but the bottom line is, I AM getting better.

The disease has taken a very deep hold of me, and I have a number of persistent co-infections (things I have tested positive for), including Bartonella and Babesia, which combined have greatly suppressed my usually very strong immune system.

However, there has been a very marked improvement.  I am not the best gauge of my own improvement, as I still feel quite sick, but my wife and others have noticed the improvement, and the fact is, when I look back at my activity level at the beginning compared to now, there has been a very big improvement.  My energy has probably improved to around sixty percent of what it used to be, making the pain much easier to handle, and my ability to think and concentrate has returned to about ninety percent.

Today, as the title line says, "Ugh..."  I do not feel well at all, the pain in my face and feet is very strong, and the fatigue is quite strong.  But this is a bad day.  It is not a normal day.  That is a vast improvement from a year ago, when this would have been a good day!

If the reader or the reader's loved one or acquaintance suffers from chronic Lyme Disease, take heart.  It is treatable.  Is it completely curable?  I don't have that answer, yet.  But I do have hope.