What Are The Symptoms Of Lyme
In the acute stage, you may experience the following symptoms:
In the chronic stage, you may also experience:
Without treatment, Lyme disease can eventually cause a range of other symptoms. Among the most common are weakness or numbness in your limbs and neurological disorders.
Pa Woman Says She Was Sickened By Risky Lyme Treatment
Ashley Pettis started to have trouble concentrating at the end of spring semester in 2013 at Lancaster Bible College, and soon began to feel sluggish and achy.
Ashley Pettis started to have trouble concentrating at the end of spring semester in 2013 at Lancaster Bible College, and soon began to feel sluggish and achy.
Exhausted by the end of the summer, she was found to have mononucleosis. But later, she still felt sick, and went that fall to Haverford Wellness Center in the Montgomery County town of Harleysville, seeking answers.
Clinicians there said she had late-stage Lyme disease, a chronic form of the tick-borne illness that is diagnosed in an estimated 300,000 Americans a year.
The treatment they administered was controversial: five months of heavy-duty oral and intravenous antibiotics costing tens of thousands of dollars that her insurance would not cover. In June 2014, suffering severe abdominal pain, she landed in the Grand View Hospital emergency room, where physicians removed her gallbladder and delivered a shocker:
Pettis did not have Lyme disease at all.
Now Pettis, 22, and her father are suing the Haverford Wellness Center and Domenick Braccia, the self-described Lyme literate physician who treated her there. They allege that Braccia was negligent and reckless, administering an unproven and harmful treatment.
One fact not in dispute: Medicine has a long way to go in figuring out the riddle of Lyme disease, and its diagnosis and treatment.
What Treatments Are Available For Lyme Disease
Conventional treatment for Lyme disease is a course of antibiotics to destroy the bacteria responsibly. Early intervention should kill the bacteria, but if youve had Lyme disease for a while, you will need intravenous therapy too.
Meeting Point also offers therapies that can kill pathogens of Lyme disease, its coinfections and toxins, restore neurological and immune balance, and ease the symptoms, to help you recover. Some of the techniques we use include:
- Intravenous Ozone Therapy
In the chronic stage, you may also experience:
Without treatment, Lyme disease can eventually cause a range of other symptoms. Among the most common are weakness or numbness in your limbs and neurological disorders.
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Is It Really Lyme
Some doctors believe these patients are simply reporting symptoms commonly seen in the general population or those of a secondary condition such as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. This assumption lacks proof, counters Minnesota family practice doctor Elizabeth L. Maloney, in a 2016 article, Controversies in Persistent Lyme Disease, published in the Journal of Infusion Nursing, given that there are no tests of cure for Lyme disease or biomarkers that can identify the presence of PLDS. The bulk of the evidence, she adds, generally supports the group of physicians who believe that such symptoms are most likely directly attributable to the previous Lyme infection and represent treatment failure.
Providing a glimpse of what life is like for many following a Lyme diagnosis is a published survey of 1,087 people. Dr. Maloney notes, 72 percent rated their health as fair or poor compared with 16 percent of a general population of similar age. They averaged 20 days of poor physical and 15 days of poor mental health per month. Thirty-nine percent had stopped working, and an additional 28 percent had reduced their work hours. Thirty-nine percent had spent at least $5,000 out of pocket for Lyme-related expenses.
Weve had some children who needed to be in the intensive care unit with life-threatening complications.Billl Moore
How To Find A Lyme
When youre dealing with Lyme disease or other tick-borne infections, it can be a daunting task to find a doctor whos familiar with the illness throughout its various stages. Your family doctor or primary care provider may be able treat you when your symptoms correspond to an acute case of the condition. But where do you turn for Lyme disease treatment if your illness doesnt check the traditional boxes for the infection? Or if the disease has progressed to a later stage? Thats where a Lyme-literate medical doctor or Lyme specialist comes in. These physicians have additional training in the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections. Here are resources to find a provider who understands your symptoms and can help guide you toward recovery.
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What To Bring With You
You will need to bring the following items:
- Your insurance card
- Previous medical records, if any.
- List of all your medications, including the dose and the times you take them. Alternatively, you may want to just bring them with you.
- A list of all your concerns so that you may discuss them with the scheduled physician.
What Are The Most Common Chronic Lyme Disease Symptoms
Early symptoms often resemble the flu or general fatigue, so you may not connect the symptoms with a tick bite. About 70-80% of those infected with the bacteria develop a rash, which begins at the bite, then gradually expands. It may develop a bulls-eye appearance, but it can also look like an ordinary rash.
If the infection is left untreated, it spreads and causes symptoms like joint, muscle, and bone pain. In severe cases, Lyme disease leads to nerve pain, an irregular heartbeat, and brain inflammation. Schedule an appointment with the team at Ramos Rheumatology if you have any Lyme disease symptoms to ensure they catch it at an early stage.
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How Can I Find A Top
You can use Zocdoc to find Lyme Disease doctors who are highly rated by other patients. These ratings are based on verified reviews submitted by real patients. Every time a patient completes an appointment booked on Zocdoc, theyre invited to review their experience. Each review must comply with Zocdocs guidelines.
A Comprehensive Approach To Lyme Disease Treatment
Lyme Disease is the perfect example of a condition that requires not only antimicrobial therapy, but also comprehensive physiologic balance . As one of the few practices nationwide that focuses on integrative pediatric Lyme disease, we provide our patients with an alternative to the conventional one-size-fits-all treatment approach. We go beyond just treating the symptoms to determine the real cause of illness and provide our patients with a clear explanation of their medical problems. When evaluating a patient for possible tick-borne illness, we consider symptoms, physical findings, and laboratory results. Our tick-borne illness experts design and implement an individualized comprehensive pediatric Lyme disease treatment protocol for each patient. This inclusive diagnostic approach is in line with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society . Our comprehensive model of individualized care is designed to maximize the chances for a positive clinical response that can restore your childs health.
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Advanced Care For Infectious Diseases
Penn State Health is known for advanced medical expertise. As an academic medical center, we see patients with even the most complex and rare diseases. That means you work with an experienced team thats knowledgeable about your condition. Families choose us for our:
- Advanced expertise in all types of infectious disease and complete care in one place
- Proven experience treating HIV/AIDS, with our cross-functional team approach that brings together doctors, nurses, nurse coordinators, dietitians and substance abuse/prevention counselors to ensure complete care and support
- In 2018, our HIV/AIDS program was awarded additional funding for medical case management. Medical case management provides support outside of the clinic to help meet clients basic needs such as food and housing so our patients can better focus on their health. These support services are provided to eligible individuals in the following counties:Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntington, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Perry and York.
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Contact Us & Directions
Directions
Haverford Wellness is an Integrative Healthcare Center located in the Harley Commons Shopping Center, Harleysville, right off Route 63. Our modern professional complex has convenient and easy accessibility with plenty of off-street parking. We are on the first floor, Suite 4.
From Allentown and Northern Locations:Take 476 South to Exit 31. Make a right at the light after the tolls, heading towards Harleysville on Sumneytown Pike . This turns into Main St. as you reach the town of Harleysville. Follow for 2 1/2 miles to Harley Commons Center on the right. Park in the rear of the building. Our office is in the breezeway to the right as you go through the glass entrance doors from the rear parking lot.
From Philadelphia and South:Take 476 North to Exit 31. Make a right at the light after the tolls, heading towards Harleysville on Sumneytown Pike . This turns into Main St. as you reach the town of Harleysville. Follow for 2 1/2 miles to Harley Commons is on the right. Park in the rear of the building. Our office is in the breezeway to the right as you go through the glass entrance doors from the rear parking lot.
Our medical office is located in Harleysville, just outside Philadelphia.
We have received many calls from patients who dont know where Harleysville, PA is located. So here are some estimated driving times from some of the most populated surrounding areas:
Pennsylvania PA
Baltimore, MD About 2.5 hrs.Hagerstown, MD About 2.5 hrs.
New York
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What Is The Best Treatment For Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is treatable and can be cured in most people, but its vital to begin treatment with oral antibiotics as early as possible. Dr. Ramos and Ms. Sokoloski may prescribe doxycycline, amoxicillin, cefuroxime, or another antibiotic to cure the infection.
They may also recommend supportive therapies that help your body fight the infection and heal more quickly, like intravenous nutrition therapy to boost your bodys natural healing ability and high doses of vitamin C.
Lyme disease treatment will be the same even if the disease spreads to other parts of your body. Most of the problems caused by Lyme disease, including arthritis, are cured with comprehensive treatment.
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Lyme: Pittsburghs Growing Epidemic
Ever since her Peace Corps days in Uganda, Libby Ernharth has been fascinated by infectious diseases. In Africa in the 1990s, she first saw the havoc wreaked when parasites and other tiny organisms make their way inside of human hosts.
Later, when she became a physician assistant in Pittsburgh, she dealt mainly with first-world infectionsthe consequences of our diets, of our smoking, our chemotherapies and our medications. For the first decade, rarely part of her practice were diseases passed from ticks to humans, most commonly Lyme.
She remembers clearly the day that all changed.
About nine years ago, we had a patient in complete heart block at St. Margarets . He was an active healthy guy in his 50s but was passing out from a low heart rate. The morning of the procedure, the consulted us because this patient had a fever. They didnt want to put hardware in a guy with a fever. Ernharths physician colleague also noticed that the patients face on the left side was drooping: Two clear signs he had contracted an infection caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferiin other words, Lyme disease from the bite of a tick.
Thats where it all started. Ever since, during Lyme season, all fevers in our minds are from Lyme until proven otherwise. Thats how endemic we are here, says Ernharth, who works with a group of physicians at the North Hills private practice, Romano, Pontzer & Associates.
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What About The Lab Tests
There are several problems with conventional lab tests for Lyme Disease: Most labs used in the U.S. do not properly test for Lyme and its co-infections, making the results inaccurate. Furthermore, Borrelia Burgdorferi is a special kind of organism that can curl up into an undetectable little ball and hide in tissue, which means it wont be in the bloodstream when testing, once again leading to an inaccurate test.
None of this should be new information for many doctors that are literate in Lyme Disease. Secondary and Tertiary Lyme Disease are well-known conditions in which Lyme did not present initially as mentioned with a rash, but rather presented in a different system of the body. At Meeting Point, we do a full tick-borne lab workup of borrelia and its multiple co-infections. While typical functional testing can cost thousands, our lab partner, Vibrant Wellness, has cut costs significantly by using proprietary cutting-edge microchip analysis. In fact, their test has the highest specificity and sensitivity of any tick-borne test.
Best Lyme Disease And Bannwarth Syndrome Doctors Inpittsburgh Pa
We found 2242doctors who treat Lyme Disease in Pittsburgh.
Doctors who treat Lyme Disease in this region have an average rating of 4 stars. Below are some of the best options around Pittsburgh. The providers below have at least 2 or more past patient ratings, so you can be confident that these providers have the experience that you are looking for.
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Lyme Arthritis In Children Can Present Throughout The Year
The studys objective was to evaluate the seasonality of pediatric Lyme disease in three endemic regions in the United States, writes Sundheim. Participants had been treated at 8 different medical centers throughout the Northeast and UpperMidwest. Of the 690 children with Lyme disease, 77 had a single EM lesion, 247 had early disseminated disease, and 366 had arthritis, wrote the authors. Children with early and early-disseminated Lyme disease
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Identify Doctors Trained In The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Tick
You can access a variety of online resources and directories to locate doctors who are specifically trained in identifying and treating tick-borne illnesses. These do not have to be infectious disease specialists they can be physicians from any practice area who simply have extensive experience with tick-borne diseases.
It is particularly important to find a Lyme expert if you suspect that you may have Lyme disease, since it is the most frequently misdiagnosed of all tick-borne diseases. Finding a Lyme-literate medical doctor a physician who is familiar with the vast range of symptoms that may indicate infection at various stages of the disease, as well as potential coinfections and other complexitiescan help ensure that you get the right treatment, right away.
To find a doctor who is also a Lyme expert, you may want to explore the following resources:
Note: Some of these organizations may require you to submit a form or create a login to access their databases.
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There Are2242doctors Who Treat Lyme Disease In Pittsburgh Find The Best For You:
- Rated 4.20 out of 5 stars, with 1307 Federal St Ste 304Pittsburgh, PA15212
- Rated 4.60 out of 5 stars, with 1307 Federal St Ste 304Pittsburgh, PA15212
- Rated 4.60 out of 5 stars, with 501 Penn AvePittsburgh, PA15222
- Rated 3.70 out of 5 stars, with 995 Greentree RdPittsburgh, PA15220
- Rated 5.00 out of 5 stars, with 3830 S Water StPittsburgh, PA15203
- Rated 3.70 out of 5 stars, with 3720 Brownsville Rd Fl 1Pittsburgh, PA15227
- Rated 3.70 out of 5 stars, with 2000 Oxford Dr Ste 220Bethel Park, PA15102
- Rated 3.40 out of 5 stars, with 495 E Waterfront Dr Ste 250Homestead, PA15120
- Rated 4.00 out of 5 stars, with 733 Washington Rd Ste 401Pittsburgh, PA15228
- Rated 3.30 out of 5 stars, with 5769 Saltsburg RdVerona, PA15147
- Rated 3.10 out of 5 stars, with 3601 5th Ave Ste 5APittsburgh, PA15213
- Rated 3.30 out of 5 stars, with 1000 Higbee Dr Ste D202Bethel Park, PA15102
- Rated 3.40 out of 5 stars, with 100 Delafield Rd Ste 313Pittsburgh, PA15215
- Rated 3.70 out of 5 stars, with 1307 Federal St Ste B300Pittsburgh, PA15212
- Rated 4.40 out of 5 stars, with 3005a Banksville RdPittsburgh, PA15216
- Rated 4.40 out of 5 stars, with 5769 Saltsburg RdVerona, PA15147
- Rated 4.20 out of 5 stars, with 815 Freeport RdPittsburgh, PA15215
- Rated 4.40 out of 5 stars, with 300 Fleet St Ste 100Pittsburgh, PA15220
- Rated 3.80 out of 5 stars, with 1140 Perry HwyPittsburgh, PA15237
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.
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