My daughter was bitten by a tick on the Vineyard three years ago during our annual family vacation at an up-island rental. Her husband removed it & we thought nothing of it. She eventually developed flu-like symptoms, panic attacks, etc. Six months later in South Carolina she had a miscarriage which triggered a myriad of neurological symptoms which dozens of neurologists, ER doctors, Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy doctors & surgeons, psychiatrists who told her it was all in her head & tons of tests could not explain why she was continually becoming sicker everyday! An ER doctor in the midst of this questioned if she'd ever been bitten by a tick, to which we responded yes. But The ELISA test was too late in the game & came back negative. She continued to suffer tremendously. And any other doctor who questioned if she'd been tested for Lyme was given our usual response: Yes she was tested & it was negative. We were not Lyme literate. Well here we are 3 years after the bite. She ended up with double stars on significant bands on a Western Blot. She was treated in AZ by a clinic for 13 weeks with IV antibiotics and many other methods to try and kill the bacteria, costing tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. She had to quit her successful job as a artistic director for an advertising firm due to this devastating illness. Her husband's a 5th grade teacher. She is still not well & struggling every day let alone every hour. She's now been put on oral antibiotics & supplements. And a new DNA test has recently revealed that she not only still has the Lyme Borrelia bacteria, but also has the co-infections of Bartonella (which we suspected due to the "cat scratches" she develops on her skin periodically), Babesia & Ehrlichia! This has been a very traumatic road she's been down, along with those supporting her. Her symptoms range from seizure-like shocks radiating through her head to hearing fluctuation & sensitivity, tinnitus, visual disturbances, facial paralysis, low grade fever, tingling & numbness to her head & extremities, buzzing in her feet & hands, the list goes on. The medical community through out this country must listen to doctors such as Dr. Zubcevik and begin treatment to individuals asap. When it reaches a chronic state its so difficult for the person to deal with. She struggles facing every new day knowing what she has to battle! So thank you Dr. Zubcevik! I pray the nation listens!

She is very fortunate to have you as her cheerleader! Many others have families that deny there is anything wrong which makes fighting this illness much harder. Thank you for standing by your daughter and sharing with others!

You are very very kind. I honestly wished she would've kept a journal. To have put this into a book would have been so helpful to others suffering while feeling alone. But she is struggling so horrendously that she's been unable to do so. Very hard to see someone suffer day after day and know that you must kill the bacteria but the process makes you unimaginably sicker when you're dealing with neuro Lyme. Thank you, again for your kind words!

Not kindness, just simple decency to respond to your trials. I completely agree with Sharon hansen, and salute you, until all physicians admit how little we actually know about Lyme, more will suffer. thank you for sharing your story it has educated me.

Thank you. I want the world to know the devastation & debilitation this illness can cause. We need Dr. Zubcevik to share her information with the masses! Again, thank you.

go to Raymedy.com, maybe move to the Netherlands for a few months while your daughter gets better. hugs.

Each summer for several years I got bitten, but was diagnosed and treated with Doxy, which remediated most of the symptoms . Three year ago, however, it went undiagnosed and became disseminated. That's when all hell broke loose. You and others here have described the life-altering changes, neurological and otherwise, so all I'll say is that I'm grateful it didn't happen during the years when I was responsible for supporting my family. That would have been truly devastating for all concerned.

The article didn't really offer much hope for those of us whose "barn door" was unknowingly left open too long, with the horse long gone. Like many others others, I'm now trying to live productively under very challenging circumstances.

As a side note, I have no patience for those in my area who resist and condemn efforts to control the deer population. I used to think the worst impact of having them grazing on my property was the loss of shrubbery. I now know it's more about the loss of life as I knew it.

Its the rodents that bring the ticks so close to us far more than the deer, thats why we needs Coyotes & foxes, 96% of thr diet is rodents

I hear foxes in the backyard at night and always wish them well in their hunting.

You need to understand the role of the deer in completing the tick's life cycle, as well as the impact of alien invasive shrubs like Japanese Barberry on creating the ideal environment for ticks.

Marian. What is your community doing to reduce ticks and overpopulation of deer? We are looking to talk with other communities.
www. Northforkdeer.org Southold NY

Get the booklet free online entitled: "Managing Urban Deer in CT"

At this point, just getting people to stop buying and planting barberry is a challenge. We only have about 600 people here in the winter. What is very scary is that the population is not large enough or with deep enough pockets to allow these problems to go unchecked and become even more expensive. My husband and I go around and do talks, but the interest is not high. It is very frustrating.

Could you clarify your mention of barberry?

Barberry provide an ideal habitat for ticks. Where there is a limited infestation of barberry (say, in your garden) there will be a 300% increase in tick population per acre. Where barberry has invaded and is uncontrolled, there will be a 1200% increase in ticks per acre.

In addition, mice love barberry, and they're the ones who deliver they nymphs to areas where humans tend to spend time outdoors during warm weather. The dear are an end-of-life-cycle feeding station, but the barberry and mice are the generators of the primary disease vector for humans.

My understanding is that deer just move the tick around a larger area than rodents

Indeed ticks do need the mice early in their life cycle. But as adults, in order to mate and lay their 2000 eggs they NEED LARGE MAMMEL , USUALLY DEER blood supply. If deer are at sustainable numbers of 10 per sq mile then tick numbers are vastly reduced. see info on tick borne diseases as well as deer damage: www.northforkdeer.org

Read the free online book: "Tick Management Handbook" by Kirby Stafford, PhD Wildlife Biologist, or just watch his short YouTube video about deer herd reduction and Lyme disease.

Deer herd reduction in urban areas is almost impossible. Most landowners do not cooperate. A lot of oversight is needed to manage the hunters. I am not aware of areas where Lyme is firmly established reporting Lyme reduction after deer population reduction

And hunters move deer in very large areas.

That was done 50 years ago. Deer populations exploded over large areas on their won.

This is true, but it is more complicated than that...especially when a hunter kills a deer and transports it a long ways by car. Hunters in Nova Scotia are asked to skin the deer in the field and burn/bury the skin.

How about people quit killing every snake they see! Snakes are very effective in controlling rodent populations, without the negative side effects of cat borne diseases: http://www.huffingtonpost.c...

We also need zoning to allow chickens & guinea fowl in residential neighborhoods. They decimate both ticks & Japanese beetle populations, for a win-win.

My husband says we could also do with more guinnes....

unless you can host a large number of hens they won't protect you

Don't forget hawks either!

Indeed ticks do need the mice early in their life cycle. But as adults, in order to mate and lay their 2000 eggs they need large mammals blood supply. If deer are at sustainable numbers of 10 oer sq mike then tick numbers are vastly reduced. For more info on tick borne diseases as well as deer damage: www.northforkdeer.org

i dont 100% believe that because thr is plenty of ticks and lyme in many areas where thr are no deer. hunting industry exagerattes info about deer to justify hunting

And more cats out there hunting.

Actually cats eat too many birds, including too many endangered warblers

I won't disagree with you that cats do kill many birds but my two leave way more rodent carcasses on my deck than bird carcasses.

The NY Times just had an article today about how a restored cougar population could cut down on the deer population, which would save lives from car-deer collisions. I don't think they were adding in the benefits of tick disease reduction. http://www.nytimes.com/2016...

Because it would not reduce tick disease reduction

I pray that treatments are found that can totally eradicate the bacteria and allow the body to rebuild that which the bacteria destroys. I honestly believe these bacteria have morphed into many varying sub-species possibly becoming antibiotic tolerant. It's truly not easy to cope, but hand in there!

I pray that they release another vaccine, like they used to have. It boggles my mind that Lyme is so widespread to the point of being a spring-fall epidemic in the Northeast, yet we don't have a human vaccine for it anymore.

Don't please don't pray that they released another vaccine. Although that won't help because they are getting ready to release one. That is why it started coming out more in the news recently was to scare people into getting the new vaccine. Earlier this year they okayed it on human studies. I say this because the first line vaccine gave people I'm. That's what caused the epidemic. Every person I know of that had that vaccine either either got so sick with lime that it killed them or cripple them or are now sick as hell and being misdiagnosed by their doctors because of the fact that they got the line vaccine. Anyone who got that vaccine now test positive for Lyme disease, but the doctors tell them it is just the antibodies in their system from the vaccine. If that was the case they would not all have key lyme symptoms.

I am a member of a citizen's group in Southold on Long Island in NY, working to reduce tick borne diseases and reducing the deer over population. (Deer are the blood meal for adult ticks to reproduce and also have severely damaged the understory of our woodlands. ) What is your community doing to reduce both the tick and the deer numbers? We should trade information on effective solutions. ellen wexler www. northforkdeer.org

stop killing deer and rodent predators. we killed all the wolves, cougars, lynx, etc and we wonder why we have a lyme explosion. stupid humans.

Two words in reply to your question about what our township is doing: not enough. Every once in a blue moon they'll authorize hunters to cull the number of deer -- but not in the woods adjoining my property. And as far as I know, there's been no effort to reduce the number of ticks.

A friend of mine has successfully raised guinea hens. He reports that they are very intelligent and respond to training.(think pigeons) I have heard that they are voracious eaters of deer ticks. The challenge would be to bring domesticated ones into woods and collect them afterwards so they don't become victims of predators.

It's the mice who are carriers.

There are other treatments besides antiobiotics. There is the Cowden Protocol, which are herbs with antiobiotic properties. There is the RIFE machine, which helps many people. Also, it has been found that many people with Lyme plateau during treatment because many also have metal toxicity. There is a theory that the Lyme bacteria hold on to mercury and other metals as protection against the immune system. There is a urine test that uses the drug DMSA to pull out metals in order to measure levels in the body. People with heavy metal toxicity in their bodies can use the drugs DMSA or DMPS to chelate the metals out of their body, or some go the natural route and use spirulina and activated charcoal. Also, it is a theory that the Lyme bacteria form a biofilm that antiobiotics cannot penetrate. The Cowden Protocol includes serrapeptase, a substance that breaks down the biofilm. An excellent book that touches on some of these topics is Dr. Richard Horowitz's book Why Can't I Get Better? Solving The Mystery Of Lyme and Chronic Disease.

Yes to everything you've said. While in clinic my daughter was treated not only with the ABX but chelation treatments, supplements, ozone saunas, infared saunas, Irad treatment to cause openings in the blood-brain barrier while administering antibiotics which then allows them to penetrate into the brain, etc., & started the Cowden Protocol with the detox tinctures (Burbur & Pinella) and now has added additional tinctures to aid in killing the bacteria. Dr. Horowitz's book is outstanding!

Sounds like she received thorough and excellent care. :) This disease is so terrible.

Definitely to both of your statements. After all that treatment she's still suffering. The out-of-pocket cost which is so tremendously expensive & required medical loans, etc., becomes another very disturbing piece to the Lyme puzzle; so many people are suffering with no ability to come close to funding the necessary treatment!

This sounds very much like the path my own 25 year old daughter has traveled the past 3 years. She went diagnosed for 5 years and has Lyme and Bartonella. Tried just about every treatment available and drained our bank account with little change in her condition. She found information on bee venom therapy and wanted to try it....I was skeptical. Well, she is in her 8th month of stinging her back 3 times a week with live honey bees and she has had more improvement than with any other treatment. One of her major symptoms is incapacitating fatigue and this has lessened by about 75%!! She still has a long way to go with her pain, neuro and other issues but she says things are so much more bearable now that she has some energy. There are 2 good facebook groups that have good info and explain the protocol. They are: Healing Lyme Disease with Bee Venom USA and Bee Venom Therapy for Lyme Disease. Praying for you and your daughter. God Bless.

Do more than pray as "God helps communities who help themselves." Reduce the over-population of deer and you will greatly reduce the ticks.
( as well as save the understory of the woods due to deer overgrazing. We have lost dozens of animals, insects and plants due to having 10 times the deer numbers that is sustainable in nature.

Yes, there are so many parts to that problem too- many doctors who know about Lyme are Naturopathic physicians, which not all insurance will cover. Then too, if you try alternative solutions (RIFE machine or Cowden Protocol/herbs, or infrared saunas) insurance of course will not cover those either, yet they are not cheap by any means. Another problem I've come across is that I personally have become allergic to all the inactive ingredients in commercially produced medications (as in I will stop breathing) so I must get them compounded. Insurance will not cover these as the FDA does not approve of bulk powders (which is the form that the active ingredient comes in.) So for example, when chelating metals, I would pay about $200 per month for DMSA. If I wanted to use DMPS it would be $35 per pill (a typical treatment would be three pills per day, 7 days on 7 days off, for one to two years!) Treatment at a dedicated Lyme Treatment Facility is out of the question (cost-wise) for many. My biggest hope is that we get our health care situation in this country turned around. I will do everything I can to help such causes.

You may find some help with NAET - allergy elimination. It uses muscle testing to find out what your body is sensitive to, and then the second part is it can eliminate the allergies also. Muscle testing can be done on anything, so you can literally test the supplements/medications you are thinking about taking, to see if your body will reject them because there is a sensitivity to it. Also, MHA - meridian health analysis, can help catalogue thousands of substances and your body's sensitivities to them. Sometimes there is so much damage to the gut by the illnesses, that patients develop lots of food allergies which need to be identified so you can stop upsetting the gut, then rebuild it and start getting more energy from the food you eat. When the gut is damaged, any number of problems can be introduced into the bloodstream through a compromised intestinal wall.