FOX 5 Special: LYME & REASON 

I'm so glad to see this video. I was bitten years ago, but lately it's really got me worried, because I'm having huge issues with the mind fog, more then ever, and having trouble even talking, going completely blank in the middle of conversations not having a clue what I just said, or sometimes cannot speak words, having trouble just getting them out. The pain symptoms, and fatigue have been a constant battle. I wish doctors would stop acting like their a God, and humble themselves a bit to stop being know it alls, and actually listen to us.

No one understands what we suffer through. Even our closest loved ones. Relationships of all kinds can suffer.

Thank you for speaking out on Chronic Lyme. It's a terrifying and painful disease. Youve done so much to help and I'm so grateful.

Excellent job. You communicated well how devastating Lyme disease is to "body, mind and soul." It's changed my life completely.

This was really well done. Thank you for raising awareness for this awful disease. I've had Lyme as long as I can remember. I got bit when I was almost 2 years old and now I'm 15. I just got diagnosed last February. I'm severely debilitated, I'm confined to my bed and I use a wheelchair to get around. I've had multiple ICU stays and the doctors thought I was going to die. I somehow pushed through and now we are trying to find a treatment that will help me. I have to travel across the country every 3 months to see my LLMD. It's awful that insurance doesn't cover anything. I'm hoping I can get into remission but I know how much of my body has been destructed. It's scary going to sleep at night and not knowing if you're going to wake up in the morning. It's scary to see how little people care about Lyme when you're dying. It's such a tough illness. Everything gets taken away from you in the blink of an eye. If you think you have Lyme please see a Lyme Doctor, it's a very severe illness that can be deadly. I have hope that one day Lyme will be recognized, not sure when but eventually it will be!

Thank you, Fox5, and thanks Dr. Phillips, Dr. Spector, Ally Hilfiger and everyone else for becoming advocates for the millions who are too sick to advocate for themselves.

Thank you for sharing. We need more people like you to get something done about this horrific disease .

I contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, last year & a mistake on treatment left me untreated for a month. I lost my job, robbed my 401k empty on snake oils & doctors, lost many friends; and as of today, lost my home. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October, and refuse to address it due to message boards of people in similar situations & all saying that after thyroid removal, they deteriorated. I would rather die a slow death from cancer than to feel like this or worse for the rest of my life.

Thank you Fox5 for this special report. We need more like this to be shown on TV to make people aware about Lyme. This sucject has been silent and suppressed for too long! I am a Lyme advocate and fellow sufferer. I never had the bullseye mark and went for years misdiagnosed with many other diseases. Once I found a LLMD I started aggressive treatment with both antibiotics and alternative healing methods it took almost 6 years to start to get my life back. It's better now but I still ride the roller coaster with flare ups. Our medical professionals need to be more educated about Lyme and the many co infections that the Ticks are now carrying. It's important to include the co infections since some of these can cause just as much if not worse damage then just Lyme. I did not hear anything mentioned in the video about these co infections. Babesia is one of these co infections that has to be treated with anti malaria drugs. Unfortunately we who have gone the Lyme route are more educated then the doctors about such medical references. Most doctors will not even think to try and test for co infections. It's a project just to get them to test for the Lyme! Then of course the tests are not accurate enough to give a positive result. There are thousands of people walking around thinking they are suffering from MS, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and even ALS who do not have these illnesses... They have Lyme! People are also dying from this disease because of the lack of education and insurance coverage. The CDC continues to keep people sick with their nonsense that Lyme is easy to cure. This may be true if you find the Tick and get antibiotics right away but that's not the case. Doctors are bound by the CDC guidelines that want you to be tested ( which tests are not accurate ) and then have to wait weeks to months before getting a treatment for a short time ( which is not long enough ) while this bacteria is taking a hold throughout your body. People should not have to fight with their doctor to get help. Lives are at stake here. How many children will be crippled or die because of the blinders the medical world have to put on because of the ignorance of the people who dictate these useless guidelines! Please continue to have specials like this one to expose the truth.

send the bill to the depth. of homeland security, plum island.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! This special will help SAVE LIVES

This is by far and wide the utmost horrific pain I have ever been in throughout all of my entire life.

I'm a vocalist that worked professionally in Nashville, at Opryland, for years, but after getting Lyme, my music and my life was put on hold. Been bedridden for years, but not giving up and still fighting with natural remedies. I contracted Lyme and two co-infections-Bartonella and Babesia, after pulling a tick off of me in '08. It was where I couldn't see it or feel it because it was in my hair-line, at the back of my neck. On top of the tick making the area numb, as it usually does, my fingers were also numb, due to getting hit by a nerve block for other back issues. I didn't feel it there and it had been there for over 3 days, until the tick had become engorged and swollen to the max. I almost puked, when I found it and pulled it off. I saw it and never thought anything about Lyme because didn't know much about it and I flushed it down the toilet. Of course, the wrong thing to do and 2-3 months later, I was so ill with flu-like symptoms and my adrenals went out and an Endocrinologist thought that I had Addison's disease and was treated for it. Then, my thyroid was giving me trouble and my neck was swelling up with a goiter. I was lost and thought that I was dying, so like so many others...went Doc to Doc..to no avail, until I found my LLMD. He sent my blood-work off to Igenex and they called me with the results and sent me the lab results of Lyme. I cried. After 8+ yrs now, I to this day have never been treated with ANY abx. I just deal with my symptoms and use natural remedies... essential oils. I find it utterly amazing that I found them and believe that The Lord sent them to me. It was a true blessing that I started using them, the same year that I pulled the tick off of me or I might not be here right now. Truly believe that my EO's have been what has kept me alive this whole time and due to a LOT of prayers. Glad in a way that I've never taken ANY antibiotics for the Lyme or co-infections because I am afraid of long-term treatment with them. You only make your system weakened, for when you really could need them later and them prove to be un-effective. If I had caught it early, like at the beginning, I would have taken them, but not after they've been let loose to grow wild throughout my body. Would it really do me any good? I donno...but feel it would be redundant to do so now. :/ If, I had only gotten a positive test result from the NL's or NS's that I went to for years, then I would have know years earlier and possibly wouldn't have suffered all the years that I have. There were 4 different test run, by 4 different docs(NS and NL) and they all were negative. The docs even seemed to be angry or aggravated that I thought that it could possibly be Lyme, even after the tests proved otherwise, but what other answer was there? I did pull a tick off of me and it only made sense to me. My left arm still will go paralyzed and this has happened to me, at least 4 different times. The whole left side of my body has gone paralyzed too and my weight sky-rocketed to 199. My joints started to lock up and the pain was horrendous. My body would ache down to the bone and still does on some days...today. My knees and elbows would lock and actually, feel like a tree-branch being broken, just to move them. I can say that I have literally been through H*** on earth...but thank God everyday, I'm still surviving. :) I would LOVE to participate in any way I can in helping others to become more aware about Lyme. IF there is anything that I can do, I will. I do have some professional friends that are also willing to help and they are on the top right now, in the music business. They said that they would be willing to help in any way possible and would love to be a part in giving benefits or whatever it would take, to help research Lyme. Just get back with me and let's get the ball rolling. God Bless...and thank you for the spreading of the info about Lyme, to others!!

This is a powerful video segment on the oversimplification of Lyme disease by CDC and IDSA diagnosis and treatment standards, for an infection that is widely recognized by microbiologists, immunologists, and Lyme-literate clinicians as a persistent, immune evasive infection that can persist despite the kind of antibiotic challenge that is recommended by the IDSA and by the Federal agency in charge of how doctors are supposed to think about Lyme disease. I have yet to see the CDC or IDSA contend with the conclusions of authors of peer-reviewed scientific research in journals of record whose findings make very clear that Lyme bacteria can evade and confuse mammalian immune systems in ways that interfere with our innate and adaptive immune responses, rendering currently recommended diagnostic and treatment studies wholly irrelevant to a reality-based evaluation and management of patients whose multiple symptoms likely relate to untreated or incompletely treated Lyme disease. The CDC and IDSA are guilty of creating the chill effect that prevents doctors from taking such research into account. Health insurance reimbursement bias bars doctors from engaging in patient-centered, accountable care of patient who have, or might have, persistent Lyme disease. Patients are disenfranchised by collusion between the health insurers, professional societies, and federal agencies that are forcing the medical profession to pretend that Lyme is much simpler to diagnose and treat than the peer-reviewed medical literature has shown to be true. One of the key concepts in treating untreated or incompletely treated Lyme disease is to conduct a therapeutic probe using antibiotics that cover both the spirochete and dormant forms of Lyme bacteria. No study that has failed to do so can claim any relevance to the immune evasive reality of Lyme disease. Only treatments that take away the Lyme bacterial "hide and seek" capacity out of the equation are worth discussing. The glaring question remains: Why do the CDC and IDSA insist on over-simplifying the complexity of Lyme-related infections? Their failure to take into account the long parade of research showing why persistent Lyme is hard to both diagnose and treat and treat would be silly were it not also so scandalous and tragic. My thanks to Drs Phillips and Spector, to the Lyme-suffering patients who were brave enough to share their stories, and to the crew that put together this most profound telling of our nationally disgraceful handling of Lyme bacteria as a commonly missed answer to the question, "What happened to my life?" Keith Berndtson, MD

This video was so well-done! Thank you for bringing awareness to Lyme disease and the truth of what so many of us are dealing with. Awesome job!

A lot of people are having success treating Lyme (and/or related infections) with colloidal silver. Please try. But you need a good brand (small particles) or make it yourself, start low dose and build up (and may need to space out the day with probiotics). May need to take it for 1-2 years and be patient and persistent through the horrible die off/ Herx reaction. I use DMSO also to improve absorption through my body. DMSO is also good for pain. It has helped and you won't turn blue!. Where I live there is no Lyme test, no treatments so it is DIY. Infectious diseases doctors told me Lyme does not exist (even though I got it in USA possibly). Luckily I am a medical scientist and topped the course, so I told them to pee off (and I am a drop out med student, as I didn't like the mercenary motivations of the students). Best wishes. (Many people with diagnoses of Parkinson's, MS, dementia, ME/ CFS, fibro etc, actually have Lyme or Lyme like illness and would improve on this type of treatment, but don't tell big Pharma that as they don't profit off you getting better).

This is very accurate and what we Lyme Advocates are trying to tell people. Thank you Fox 5 for a great piece of work.

I have Lyme. Been battling Chronic Lyme since May 2012 since the Dr in the ER didn't treat it aggressively enough with strong antibiotics. He should have given at least 4 weeks worth and only gave about a week. Now I battle this everyday.

Thank-you for doing this! The truth needs to get out about how serious this disease is!! Things need to change so people suffering can get the help they need.

Sad that dogs can get lyme vaccine but ppl can't. Been battling Lyme for 5 years. It's hard.

Thanks you for doing this interview. We hope to see more awareness in the future about the Lyme epidemic. Would be nice if the CDC were doing the right thing and putting out PSA's for prevention. In the meantime, we will and as well as many other Lyme warriors spread info...Appreciate you for doing this!

For those with Lyme you need to know where it came from. You won't like it. Search Lab 357 or Plum Island Bioweapons.

Thank you for this....I have been sick for over 37 yrs w/ NO Doctor who knows anything about these diseases .....But hey, I'm lucky, I was put into Hospice 3 weeks ago, SO I get to Go Home soon !

Thank you for this report. Please keep talking about Lyme Disease!

It's not just from ticks but fleas, horse flies, humans, humans, humans. Why can't they get with the program.

Don't forget the secondary fungus infection that can get you after high doses of antibiotics for the treatment of Lyme.

And while all this "controversy" goes on, we are stuck in the middle, suffering because all the lack of effort and study for this scourge has been allowed to continue to this very day!!! nightmare!

This is my second fight with Lyme. It started in 2007 and then again in October, 2016. I almost lost my job a little over 2 months ago. I am working again, after almost getting fired bec/of memory problems at work, probably due to Lyme. However, lately I am struggling with feelings of chronic feelings of being cold all of the time and a new pattern of chronic, extreme fatigue. I have very, bad pain constantly in my right hip, and am having great difficulty walking on that side. I need to find a new Lyme Dr. I live near NYC.

I've had Lyme for 10 years now but just diagnosed with it last year.

I believe the CDC is rediculous, those with Lyme are DYING. My sister is one of those people. Please pray for Krista she is in the late chronic stage. She has severe neurological, cardiac and severe morgellons. Over a 4 year period, misdiagnosed 32 times. I fear it will be soon.

Here's a doctor who had to force people in medical community to help. Imagine those not so fortunate.

sorry to everyone going through this :(

Is there a follow up news report on these stories; what has happened to them and how they are doing now?

This disease ruins many lives but research to find a cure is almost nonexistent . Those effected by this epidemic must advocate for research and laws to protect doctors and provide support for patients, including a mandate requiring insurance carriers pay for all treatment prescribed by ILADs doctors.

It says prevention is better than cure, stay safe people 💙

Im from South Africa, I have lymes disease. My sister also has lymes and our family is destroyed. THe financial burden has been great. Unable to work properly and medical Aids in South Africa refuse to admit lymes exists in South Africa.

For anyone interested: After 15 years on those awful opioids to relieve Lyme arthritis pain, I found that Cymbalta has cut the pain in half, most days. I'm certain that I have "chronic" Lyme disease, although no doctor will yet diagnose it as such ... and there is no effective treatment. GL!

As many people there is that has this why isn’t there more media coverage? Why is this so covered up ?

I was bit by a Rocky Mt. Tick in Utah when I was eight. Being a dumb eight year old, I just plucked it off of my skin and smooshed it. I didn't develop Lyme Disease. I wonder, is that more common in eastern ticks?

I had lime disease over 18 years ago I had the bull's-eye rash I was in New Hampshire at the time and went to the hospita. the CDC was there at the time and they told me I had a spider bite went back to Connecticut to my doctor he pulled out a medical textbook and said you have Lyme disease. I was one of the lucky ones I caught it early

Thanks

Hey channel 5, did you ask where Lyme originated. Research project paper clip

sickening - created by govt

I like to give the explanation that it hurts because I can't breathe but then it hurts when I breathe. 😩

Extremely interesting!!!!! makes you think !!!!!!

How is possible that they have to go in a trial to help the people when at least is 300,000 new cases every year and i bet is going to be higher numbers since this disease is spreading very fast..God bless all of us and give us strength!

Can't wait to get healed,I'm scared I'm gonna die.always tird,sleeping,back pain and I isolated myself to prevent from spreading it to my grandbabies an others.been on quarantine before the corona.just waiting patiently for help ....

ah, and by the way, DEET is useless as repellent for ticks.

It is tragic.

The answer is a prevention from tick bites by all mothers. We must educate all Mothers about all methods of avoidance of bites. e mail for complete paper

Please read and click the green here at the end of the page to read the court case! Fascinating read

We need help is in my heart already

Where is the new research???

Sadly, Dr Neil Specter crossed over not long ago. We were hoping to meet since he lived only 2 hrs away. He's a great example of Lyme carditis and cardiologists misdiagnosed him! THEY should be educated on it. It's malpractice for drs to misdiagnose sooo many people who refuse to believe anyone else that their drs might be wrong.

why are there so many treatments for pets, but nothing for people?! I took my dogs to the vet the other day and they offered the Lyme vaccine for them. I got them vaccinated. I asked why they don't have anything like that for human beings, with no answer.

If every L.D. patient will take it upon themselves to be aware of what people say about their health, then we can educate the public about L.D. too. If I hear anyone describe what could be L.D., I make them aware that they could have L.D. and they should get tested to rule it out as the reason for what they are suffering. I carry literature in my purse to share as well. I encourage them that it is treatable with antibiotics and tell them how to find a Lyme literate doctor in their area. I have had some people follow my advice and find out that they did have L.D. I try not to overwhelm anyone with too much info. Just enough to make them see the need to be tested.

Not hearing much about Initial infection vs re infection and then co-infections.

Almost all of us have lost friends and family because they don't understand or believe us.

Wrote a Lyme disease brochure with the help of 2 Lyme-literate doctors. Will email a copy to anyone interested. God bless, Elaine

It is painful.

Oh and by the way , the friends you thought you had ? well they are gone . I miss having friends , anybody else going though that ?

Most people are missing with multiple other things. So they cling to and begin to own and believe those things are the root cause when in fact, they aren't. So they are prescribed meds and get worse or don't get better.

That's where I am.

And it is proving Relentless. In my life.

We have to stand against CDC together and fight for R lifes !

Yep

I was hospitalized for 5 days, cost $30,000

Help Me!

Bingo!

Crazy

Lyme disease is an epidemic and why is that why?

I would imagine, the more likely "lyme" areas, would hold a much higher and probable number of "head trauma" aka TBI, cases. I'm no scientist, but there's no expert, like that of whom was born with it. I always use to congratulate (still do) my baby sisters many accomplishments; there's Only One Book/Streets/Survived/ Lived , Book I've ever read though, myself. It's because of Christ Jesus, alone, that I know all I have been taught, regarding this disease. If there's (AND THERE IS A LOT) hope for me; you're already well on your way to being healed.

victim of the CDC and the IDSA..........blood on their hands for so many sick children as well as adults

That's me and add Bells Palsy. Ruined my life. 😢

Lets focus on the disease not the celebs

Your concerned about patients getting "unproven treatments?" DO YOU HAVE LYMES???????

FOX news please keep talking about this. People are dying. Peoples lives are being ruined. We need change!!

Of course even this well-done reporting says that "in the majority of cases, a bulls-eye rash appears" -- That is just Plain NOT TRUE. I hate that misconception.

Squirrels and other rodents also carry "Deer Ticks".

"blessed" HA

iradicate the ticks!

They had to put in the religious deception.................