Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Lyme Disease Specialist In Wisconsin

Must read

The Little Bite Cost Me Quite A Lot Says Hawthorn Hollow Naturalist

Lyme disease Awareness: Daryl’s Story

A tick clung to Nancy Carlsons hip after a workday spent outside in 2013.

It wasnt abnormal.

I pull ticks off all the time, its not a big deal, Nancy Carlson, a naturalist at Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum on Green Bay Road, said.

She was taught as a naturalist that a bulls-eye rash should raise concern about contracting Lyme disease. When she was bitten, it never appeared. READ MORE.

Green Medicine Of Wisconsin

Lyme Disease Association, Inc.

Save this Information for Your Records:

About LDA DOCTOR REFERRAL SYSTEM ©Welcome to the Lyme Disease Associations LDA Doctor Referral System ©. LDA made updates and enhancements to its prior system and has launched a new site to provide patients with information about doctors, other practitioners, testing labs, and pharmacies that are knowledgeable about chronic Lyme disease and often about many other tick-borne diseases . Many of the doctors listed are often referred to as Lyme Literate Physicians/Doctors . Tens of thousands of patients have successfully used the prior LDA system to locate Lyme and TBD resources.

Terms & Conditions and GuidelinesBecause there is a negative political climate surrounding Lyme disease, many LLMDs do not want their names posted outright on the internet. LDA has tried to balance the doctors wishes with patients need to find a doctor. This new system is a result of that compromise and therefore:

Some providers may not specifically treat Lyme and TBD but see patients who have symptoms associated with Lyme and TBD to address those specific symptoms. Contact the provider to confirm.

It is your responsibility to contact the providers office to confirm the current address, directions, nature of services provided, and all other provider information before you make an appointment.

LDA does not accept or reply to any comments on:

Our Practitioners Are Experts In Lyme Disease

Debra Muth ND and our Lyme literate practitioners treat patients from Wisconsin and all over the United States. Greg Brown MD is one of the only physicians who treats children with Lyme disease.

We test patients for Lyme disease with the IgeneX Western blot test, immunoblot and I spot testing. These tests are more accurate than the conventional PCR testing that most physicians perform. Our functional medicine approach includes Ondamed biofeedback and thermography evaluations, which assist in finding the underlying causes of the symptoms. We evaluate you for symptoms and consider your entire health picture when making a diagnosis and creating a treatment plan.

Our team understands that Lyme disease can become a chronic condition, and other infections can play a role in the symptoms. People can have viral, fungal and parasitic infections that affect symptoms and make the disease more difficult to treat.

The longer you have Lyme disease, the more difficult it is to treat. In part, this is due to the stress on the immune system. Focusing on restoring proper immune function is an important part of our treatment.

Read Also: Lyme Disease In Dogs Rash

Tick Bites: Lyme Disease Symptoms

Lyme disease is spread by deer ticks and is caused by a spirochete bacteria name Borrelia burgdorferi. When the bacteria reach the bloodstream and are spread throughout the body, it can cause signs and symptoms ranging from mild to severe.

Pathophysiology

Deer ticks are the vector insect of this kind of disease. B. burgdorferi lives in the saliva of the tick and when the tick bit a person, the bacteria is introduced inside the body. B. burgdorferi will then travel the bloodstream and infect different body parts such as the nervous, integumentary, and musculoskeletal system.

Its most noticeable symptom is the rash that it creates, which is an immune response of the body to the invading foreign bacteria. The rash is developed by the time the deer tick bit a person. The tick’s saliva is a perfect nourishing substance for the bacteria. The tick’s saliva itself contains chemical that can disrupt or damage the local immune system. When the skin’s immune system is compromised, it can serve as a breeding ground for the bacteria. From the site of the bite, the spirochete bacteria will then asexually reproduce and will spread outwardly. This is the main reason that lyme disease rash is circular in appearance. In some unknown reason, the neutrophils, which are the body’s antigen for invading bacteria, do not respond promptly to the site or failed to take action.

Early Stage

Circular rash has 5 to 6 inches diameter “Bull’s eye” rash

Signs of inflammation may or may not be present

News: Wisconsin Lyme Doctor May Be Back To Treating Patients Soon

Just Ask Us: Can ticks in Wisconsin infect people with Lyme disease ...

In November 2011, Dr. John Gregory Hofffman, MD, who had treated Lyme patients for 20 years, had his license suspended by the Wisconsin medical board. This left 1300 Lyme patients scrambling for other medical care. This week, the medical board endorsed an agreement that may allow Hoffman to resume treating his patients.

Mike Nickel, moderator of the WisconsinLyme on-line support group, gives this update.

The Wisconsin Medical Board has endorsed the Agreement reached by the DSPS and Dr. Hoffmanns attorney.

Dr. Hoffmann will be able to resume practice as soon as a mentor has been established to oversee his practice on a weekly basis. The mentor process is in the works and should be completed shortly. Dr. Hoffmanns attorney will notify him when he is able to resume practice.

Dr. Hoffmann must undertake rigorous CME self study and pass an exam to be given 4 months from now.

Dr. Hoffmann is NOT allowed to accept any new patients.

Its quite possible that Dr. Hoffmann will be reinstated fully if all of these obligations are met.

Please do not contact Dr. Hoffmanns office until youve been notified that the mentor is in place and he can resume practice. This information will be posted on Wisconsin Yahoo and e-mailed to group leaders throughout the state and elsewhere.

You May Like: Are Lyme Disease Tests Reliable

People Are Also Reading

Pauley belongs to a cohort of patients with Lyme-like symptoms but negative test results or patients with positive test results who suffer from lingering symptoms long after treatment. They call it chronic Lyme disease, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labels it as Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. The CDC says there is no known treatment for the condition.

Their symptoms are always real. Theyre experiencing them, said Dr. Joyce Sanchez, an infectious-disease associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin who treats Lyme patients with persistent symptoms.

If someone is having physical symptoms and isnt feeling listened to, then theyll have mental health repercussions and then that will impact their physical well-being, she said. And then its a spiral that if you dont address both components of health, youre not going to make much progress on either side. And they will continue to feel sick.

Wisconsin Watch talked with five Wisconsin patients, all women, who have been searching for validation and experimenting with personalized treatments as part of a long and sometimes grueling battle with the illness. The infection comes from tiny ticks primarily found in the northeastern U.S, including in Wisconsin which is a hot spot for Lyme, ranking No. 5 among states for Lyme cases in 2019.

It Just Takes Over Your Life: Wisconsin Teens With Long Covid Face A Frustrating Array Of Symptoms And Unanswered Questions

WPR March 7, 2022

Every time I would sort of get one new symptom under control, another thing would come up, one teen said.

Previously from WPR/Wisconsin Watch: Where am I going to be in a year? Paul Mathis chronicles life with symptoms that wont go away

Read Also: Symptoms Of Lyme Disease In Dogs

Diagnoses: Viral Infection Arthritis

Freitas Lyme journey began in March 2019 as she battled monthly bouts of fever. She had trouble falling back to sleep late at night. Her hair rapidly fell out. And her body ached and her neck was stiff. She suffered from severe pain in her joints, bones and chest. She also felt tired. At first, Freitas attributed the exhaustion to the bladder surgery she had undergone in April. Fevers hit her in June and again in July.

The unbearable pain made it hard for her to work. It felt like someone was scraping the inside of her right knee with a knife. By August of that year, Freitas took a medical leave, unable to work.

She checked into a Madison hospital for a couple of days. She said the doctor ordered a variety of tests but not for Lyme. Freitas was diagnosed with a viral infection, which she said failed to explain her full slate of symptoms, including electric sensations on her face and arms and forgetfulness.

Four summers earlier, Freitas said she similarly felt eye pain, knuckle pain, fatigue, forgetfulness and headaches. She recalled a rash that had stayed on her leg for at least three weeks. Freitas saw a rheumatologist at St. Mary’s in early July 2015.

The doctor noticed a red spot on her leg, but it was not the classic Lyme sign of “bulls-eye” rash. She recalls being tested for Lyme, but the two-step testing came back negative.

Is Lyme Disease In Wisconsin

Lyme disease symptoms resemble COVID-19

It doesnt matter if you are in Wisconsin or any other part of the world. These pesky little ticks have migrated almost all over the world. And whats sad is because it mimics over 300 other diseases, research is at its infancy when many have suffered through the ages thinking it was something else. And if Im correct by listening to my body and curing myself through simple means, its a shame we all dont know about how simple it can be, and quick you can heal.

Heres more info Iv found simple to get on top of Google, but please do visit my 15 minute read of how and what I did to cure myself. It just may help you or others you know suffering from Lyme Disease.

Read Also: How To Confirm Lyme Disease

Wisconsins Chronic Lyme Patients Embrace Alternative Treatments Rack Up Big Bills

  • Zhen WangWisconsin Watch
  • 0

Alicia Cashman is a patient and an advocate for people with Lyme disease. She has been battling the symptoms of Lyme disease for more than 10 years and runs the Madison Area Lyme Support group in Madison, Wis. Over the years she has treated her symptoms which included migrating joint pain, extreme fatigue, insomnia and mental fog with a variety of antibiotics, as well as homemade capsules, creams and tinctures. She was photographed at her former home in Sun Prairie, Wis., on Jan. 31, 2020.

Crystal Pauley, a former physician assistant, didnt believe in so-called chronic Lyme disease until she became sick.

Many health care providers reject chronic Lyme disease as a diagnosis. One 2010 survey found that just six out of 285 primary care doctors surveyed in Connecticut an epicenter for the tick-borne infection believed that symptoms of Lyme disease persist after treatment or in the absence of a positive Lyme test.

When Pauley worked for the Gundersen Health System, she remembered hearing about a friend from high school battling chronic Lyme in Australia. But she had her doubts. Im working in the medical field, she said. Weve never learned about that.

Facial Nerve Dysfunction After Treatment For Lyme Disease

In their study, Wormser and colleagues found that 6 of the 11 Lyme disease patients suffered from facial nerve dysfunction an average of 13.1 months following the onset of treatment with corticosteroids.¹ 52-year-old man with tearing of left eye when eating mild residual weakness left side. 51-year-old man with mild residual left sided weakness dryness left eye after speaking a lot, left sided facial muscles feel abnormal.

You May Like: Lyme Vaccine For Dogs How Often

Lyme Disease And Tick

Lyme disease patients have difficulty finding doctors with experience treating Lyme disease. For the past 25 years, LymeDisease.org has been connecting patients with Lyme-literate practitioners who specialize in caring for patients with Lyme disease.

We are happy to connect you with your nearest Lyme literate practitioners contact information. Please note, however, we are not privy to the status on each individual offices payment/insurance practices or if they are accepting new patients, with that said, we do encourage you to use the information available to contact the offices directly.

We Specialize In Lyme Disease Diagnosis And Treatment

Protect yourself from ticks and tickborne illnesses

Debra Muth, N.D., is one of the few Lyme literate practitioners in the state. She is an expert in this field and approaches Lyme disease from a functional medicine mindset, meaning she treats each individual as a whole person, not just a case or a set of symptoms.

Dr. Muth tests for Lyme disease using the more accurate Western blot test, instead of the conventional PCR testing favored by much of the conventional medicine community. She treats Lyme disease in Wisconsin with plans that are not available from a conventional medical doctor.

These co-infections must be addressed in addition to Lyme disease. Patients who are dealing with Lyme disease in Wisconsin need to find a Lyme literate practitioner who understands this devastating disease and is willing to work diligently to help them regain their health and quality of life.

Dr. Muth and the staff at our functional medicine clinic near Milwaukee treat patients from the Midwest and other parts of the country who have Lyme disease. Contact us today to get help.

Also Check: How Many Ozone Treatments For Lyme

Lyme Disease Reporting And Surveillance

Category IIlocal public health department

Reporting should be completed within 72 hours upon recognition of a case. For more information, please visit the Department of Health Services Disease Reporting page.

As of January 1, 2022, a new Lyme disease surveillance case definition went into effect. Please refer to the Lyme Disease Case Reporting and Investigation Protocol, P-01735, for more details.

A video for health departments and their partners on Lyme disease data and resources.

Guidance resources

DHS surveillance resources
Provider resources

Testing

Diagnosis

Treatment

Do All Tick Bites Cause Lyme Disease

No, not all tick bites cause Lyme disease. Only deer ticks can spread the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. And most people bitten by one of these ticks don’t usually get Lyme disease because:

  • Only a small number of these ticks are infected.
  • An infected tick must be attached for at least 12 days to pass the bacteria.

You May Like: Can You Recover From Lyme Disease

Alternate Treatments Offer Relief

Freitas now takes Epsom salt baths Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and uses an infrared sauna for detoxification, saying it makes her body feel better.

And she now takes 30 pills each day, interspersing antibiotics with herbs and dietary supplements, which cost upwards of $1,200 a month.

Maria Alice Lima Freitas is pictured at her home in Middleton, Wis., on Oct. 6, 2021, with some of the treatments she takes for Lyme disease and other co-infections. She says she currently pays about $1,200 a month in medicines, vitamins, supplements and treatment costs. Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Watch

“For babesia Im taking liquid gold Mepron,” said Freitas. “It’s really expensive. Its 50 bucks for 80 milliliters, which lasts two weeks.”

She gave up dairy, gluten, and sugar to reduce inflammation.

And she meets with Shor monthly online from her house at a charge of $250 per visit, which insurance does not cover.

“It was to me the money is well paid. Im having peace of mind,” Freitas said. “I feel like Im getting better.”

Freitas said she started gaining back some weight in June. Her mind has become a bit clearer. Her long-term memory seems back a bit, too. “Im getting out of the graveyard,” she said.

Said Oppenheimer to his wife: “What Im seeing is youre better relative to the beginning of , because youre still not good.”

And she still holds out “a little flame of hope” of one day becoming a doctor just like her dad.

Infectious Disease Clinics On The Froedtert Hospital Campus

Tick season begins in Wisconsin

Infectious Disease Clinics are located on the Froedtert Hospital campus in the and .

The clinics are staffed by Medical College of Wisconsin faculty and nurse practitioners and are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. 4:30 p.m., except on holidays. They offer:

  • Comprehensive diagnostic and state-of-the-art treatment options offered for patients with conditions including:
  • Bone and joint infections
  • Sexually transmitted diseases including chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis
  • Skin and soft tissue infections
  • Tick-borne infections, such as
  • Transplant-related infections
  • Comprehensive services for HIV clients, including:
  • , a medication that can be taken on a regular basis to reduce the risk of getting infected with HIV.
  • On-site pharmacist, social worker/case manager and psychologist
  • Services funded in part by Wisconsins Ryan White Program
  • Access to a variety of clinical trials sponsored by industry and the National Institutes of Health
  • Treatment and consultation for contagious diseases such as:
  • All physicians are board-certified internists, infectious diseases fellowship-trained and highly experienced in diagnosing and treating infectious diseases. Combined expertise and concurrence with guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America ensures the most comprehensive care possible for patients.
  • Academic medical center environment allows team members to actively participate in clinical trials, research and Infectious Disease Fellowship Training Program.
  • Recommended Reading: Houses In East Lyme Ct

    More articles

    Popular Articles