Why Choose Infectious Disease Care At Vanderbilt
- Skilled clinicians
Our team includes doctors, advanced practice nurses and other providers with special training in preventing and treating serious illnesses that are caused by bacteria and viruses.
- Online health portal
We want to make your experience as seamless and stress-free as possible. You can use our secure online portal, My Health at Vanderbilt, to contact your care team 24/7, schedule appointments, manage medications and access your medical records.
- Yellow fever vaccine
The Vanderbilt Travel Clinic is the only one in Middle Tennessee providing this important vaccine. Travelers may not enter certain countries without proof of yellow fever immunization.
- PrEP clinic
Our full-time PrEP clinic, which serves people at risk of contracting HIV, goes beyond dispensing a prescription. We take a holistic view of your sexual health.
Diagnosing Chronic Lyme Disease And Lyme Disease Test
Diagnosing chronic Lyme disease is no simple matter since similar symptoms are seen in other infectious or autoimmune diseases like Epstein Barr, chronic fatigue, lupus, fibromyalgia, arthritis and even depression.
A combination of the Western blot and ELISA testswhich measure specific antibodies in the bloodare often recommended, but the test is flawed. For one thing, it takes time for antibodies to develop before the tests can register their presence and, for various other reasons, it is oftentimes inconclusive.
A direct microscopy, which is often performed by holistic health practitioners in combination with other physical exams and patient history to develop a diagnosis, is another option. Often, it is a comprehensive review of your symptoms in addition to the direct microscopy that can best identify chronic Lyme disease.
Waking A Sleeping Giant
Unfortunately, just when I felt ready to share our journey with you with my familys blessing, of course I began experiencing symptoms that my doctor and I eventually figured out were related to Lyme. My symptoms and recovery have been completely different than my husband and childs, and it taught me that theres no one-size-fits-all approach to Lyme that fits for everyone.
For me, everything started when one non-standard test came back out of range, and I immediately started therapies for the most likely causes. Now, one thing to know about stealth infections like Lyme is that they dont really like it when you find them. When I started addressing things head-on, it felt like I woke a sleeping giant. I am still trying to find the words to describe what that experience was like.
Maybe you think waiting to share makes me inauthentic, but I agree with Brené Brown, who wrote in one of her many books that sharing our stories on a public level when they are still very raw is not brave or vulnerable in a healthy way. I needed to own my story before I could share it with you. I needed to gather my strength to do hard things, not be distracted by negative or hurtful comments.
Ive learned so much that I hope will be valuable to you or to someone you love. I know intimately the pain so many of you feel, and I wish I could hug every one of you and tell you that you are not alone.
* We no longer live in the Nashville area.
Recommended Reading: Cvs Minute Clinic Lyme Disease Test
How University Infectious Disease Treats Your Illness
While youre working with the doctors at University Infectious Disease, you may have different diagnostic procedures. These procedures will help your doctors identify whats causing your symptoms.
In addition, our team uses some of the most advanced laboratory methods to detect infections. We also work with radiologists who use innovative imaging technologies to find diseases, like MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging.
As your academic medical center, we offer testing and imaging methods that are offered at very few places in the region.
Lyme Disease In An African American Child With Downs Syndrome
Welcome to another Inside Lyme Podcast with your host Dr. Daniel Cameron. In this episode, Dr. Cameron discusses the case of a 3-year-old African American child with Downs syndrome, developmental delays and disseminated Lyme disease. By Dr. Daniel Cameron “A case of disseminated Lyme disease in a child with skin of color” was published by Bax and colleagues in the journal Pediatric Dermatology.¹ The child, who had trisomy 21 (Downs
Don’t Miss: Lyme Disease Symptoms And Treatment
What Does A Lyme Disease Tick Bite Look Like
In 70 to 80% of Lyme disease cases, there is an appearance of erythema migrans, or a very pronounced tell-tale rash typically, your skin will look like a red bull’s eye, or target-shaped rash. There will often be a pustule center to this bull’s eye. Please see the photo in this article to familiarize yourself with its appearance. Please note that other bitessuch as spider bitescan appear like this, so if your rash has this appearance, please see your healthcare provider and get tested right away.
Chronic Lyme Disease Statistics
- 72% of Lyme patients see four or more physicians before receiving a diagnosis.
- 36% of Lyme patients are unable to receive a diagnosis before at least six years of illness. 84% of Lyme patients are not diagnosed within the first four months of illness.
- 75% of Lyme patients experience severe or very severe symptoms.
- 63% describe two or more of their symptoms as severe or very severe.
*Statistics pulled from MyLymeDatas 2019 Chart Book by LymeDisease.org
The best Lyme disease doctors are not okay with the way that these statistics read and are therefore constantly looking for ways to innovate new treatments and technologies. They dont take no for an answer and actively listen and thoughtfully when their patients describe their symptoms. If you are looking for a Lyme disease doctor, we recommend asking your physicians the following questions:
- Do you have experience treating tick-borne illnesses?
- How do you diagnose Lyme disease? Which specific lab tests do you use to confirm diagnosis?
- Do you test for co-infections?
- Do you prescribe antibiotics or herbal remedies?
- Do you have any Lyme-specific success stories you can share with me?
- Do you strictly adhere to CDC testing criteria or are you open to alternate methodology?
Also Check: Lyme Disease Flare Up Treatment
Do Your Research And Get Referrals
You can learn a lot just by researching doctors and reading patient reviews online. You can also connect with other patients through local and online support groups for various tick-borne diseases. Asking other patients to recommend or share their own experiences with different doctors can be particularly helpful when youre trying to locate and learn about physicians who specialize in various tick-borne illnesses.
The following sites can connect you to online support-group forums or help you identify different tick-borne support groups in the United States:
Nearby Jackson Tn Hospitals
* Provider Directory Terms of Use:
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You are prohibited from using, downloading, republishing, selling, duplicating, or “scraping” for commercial or any other purpose whatsoever, the Provider Directory or any of the data listings or other information contained therein, in whole or in part, in any medium whatsoever.
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Also Check: Can Lyme Disease Cause Hair Loss In Dogs
What Is A Lyme Literate Doctor
If you have been diagnosed with Lyme disease or post-treatment Lyme diseasebe it just recently or some time agochances are youre still wondering what to do next. Diagnosing and treating tick-borne diseases is highly complex, and finding a doctor who not only believes in Lyme disease symptoms but is also is trained and experienced to care for Lyme disease patients, can seem next to impossible.
Lyme Literate doctors are exactly what they sound like: specialists who understand Lyme disease well enough to treat it effectively. They can comprehend the vast range of symptoms that may indicate a Lyme disease infection, as well as recognize the various stages of Lyme disease and its wide-ranging co-infections.
Unfortunately, finding a Lyme literate doctor isnt always easy. There are several doctors that do not believe in the severity of Lyme disease cases, and even more so who believe that post-treatment-Lyme disease does not exist at all. We recommend asking the following questions to help you narrow down your search and find a doctor that can actually help you!
- What is your experience treating those with tick-borne illnesses?
- How do you diagnose Lyme disease? Do you use any specific lab tests to confirm diagnosis?
- Do you test for co-infections?
- Do you prescribe antibiotics or herbal remedies?
- Do you have any patient success stories you can share with me?
- Do you strictly adhere to CDC test criteria or are you open to alternative methodology?
Potential Barriers To Accepting A Lyme Disease Vaccine
Welcome to another Inside Lyme Podcast with your host Dr. Daniel Cameron. In this episode, Dr. Cameron discusses the potential barriers to the public’s acceptance and utilization of a Lyme disease vaccine. By Dr. Daniel Cameron The study, Understanding consumer and clinician perceptions of a potential Lyme disease vaccine, was published by Devchand and colleagues in the journal Health Education Research.¹ It has been two decades since the LYMErix vaccine
Read Also: Antibiotics For Lyme Disease In Humans
$20 For 20 Ties In 2020
Pete has not worn the same tie since traveling to New York halted and staying home for COVID-19 began in March. He thought it would be fun AND charitable to auction them off to you! 20 ties, for $20 in 2020.
HERES WHAT YOU DO:Donate $20 to Twin Cities Lyme Foundation
THEN:Make sure to watch his Twitter and Instagram feed on December 31st Pete will announce # of ties , 20 = number of winners. Winners will be chosen by putting donation receipts in a hat and picking blindly.
WHY?It takes $2300 to grant one person an office visit to receive consultation and proper diagnosis for Lyme disease. Your donation is tax deductible and very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance and good luck to the fortunate winnersBring on 2021!
I Had The Lyme Disease Rash Too
It just so happened that I took a picture of one particular rash that appeared a couple days after a tick bite 2 years ago.
My rash looked like the 3rd and 4th ones from the top, pictured here.
About 60% of light-skinned patients notice a unique enlarging rash, referred to as erythema migrans , days to weeks after the bite. On dark-skinned people, this rash resembles a bruise.
Thats the only time I can remember getting a rash after a tick bite. In the past, my tick bites would just itch and turn red. No big deal. But this time it turned into a full-blown rash and you could feel the fever in it.
The photo from the tick bite that led to my rash was taken in June of 2006. They say that Lyme Disease shows itself many months, if not years, after the actual tick bite. So I guess this could be true in my case as it has been nearly 2 years since that tick bite occurred. So I guess Id been living with Lyme Disease in my body for about 2 years prior to my diagnosis.
Did you know that Lyme Disease isnt the only serious disease you can get from a tick bite? Heres a list of all tick-borne diseases.
Recommended Reading: What Tests Are Done For Lyme Disease
Strategies For Finding A Good Lyme Doctor
The first thing I did after my Lyme diagnosis was spend as much time and mental energy as I could researching Lyme disease. I needed to understand a little more what treatment options were available and how they compared.
I had a general idea that I wanted to find a good integrative LLMD to help guide me through the treatment process. I wanted a doctor who would take the best that modern medicine has to offer while also understanding what other alternative treatment modalities could bring to the table.
Good luck on your doctor search!
Heres The Movie Trailer For Under Our Skin:
Professionally, I pursued my Masters Degree in Family Therapy at Texas Tech — where I obtained invaluable expertise and experience helping people with a wide variety of physical and emotional health issues. Personally, I think it’s useful when people realize that they’re not the only one going through a difficult time. So any time that I think my personal health experiences would be helpful to someone else going through the same thing, I will share my story here. With health issues that I’ve personally experienced and health products that I’ve found beneficial … I do my best to provide my own raw and honest firsthand experiences that I think others would appreciate hearing about and find helpful. I’m grateful that I have a number of friends who have also been willing to share their very personal stories here — regarding their own physical and emotional health. When I’m not writing about health topics, you will find me sharing Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide .
Recommended Reading: Elisa Test For Lyme Disease
Myths About Lyme Disease Transmission
The CDC current stance is that In most cases, the tick must be attached for 36-48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted. However, according to this study, the minimum attachment time for transmission of infection has never been established.
It was once assumed that ticks couldnt transmit Lyme until theyd fed for a long time the rationale was that when they are very full they regurgitate some of the contents of their stomach into the host, including the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that causes Lyme.
However, what we now know is that Borrelia burgdorferi can be found in tick salivary glands, not just their stomachs, making rapid transmission more possible. Also, if a tick has fed partially on another host before attaching to someone, it can accelerate the rate of transmission.
Mechanisms for early transmission of spirochetes have been proposed based on their presence in different organs of the tick. Studies have found systemic infection and the presence of spirochetes in the tick salivary glands prior to feeding, which could result in cases of rapid transmission. Also, there is evidence that spirochete transmission times and virulence depend upon the tick and Borrelia species. These factors support anecdotal evidence that Borrelia infection can occur in humans within a short time after tick attachment.
Other tick-borne illnesses are known to be transmitted in as little as ten minutes.
How University Infectious Disease Doctors Can Help You
Our expert team focuses on diagnosing and treating infections. We treat the following illnesses, in addition to many others.
- Infections of bone, joints and orthopedic hardware
- Skin and soft tissue infections
- Heart valve infections
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and other diseases carried by ticks
- Tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases
- Infections in people with cancer or low immunity
- Fungal infections
- Urinary tract infections
Our goal is to provide you with state-of-the-art, compassionate care. For example, we create a unique treatment plan for each patient. In addition, we offer a variety of convenient treatment options. These include outpatient IV antibiotic treatment.
Recommended Reading: Lyme Booster Shot For Dogs
Who Is At Risk For Lyme Disease
If you live in a wooded area, or spend a lot of time outdoors, especially in the states of the coastal northeast, Mid-Atlantic states, Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern California, Asia, Europe or South America, you can be exposed to the blacklegged ticks that carry Lyme disease. If your home is built in a formerly rural area that displaces large deer populations, you are also at risk for Lyme disease. Animals that can carry Lyme disease include:
- White-footed field mice
- Horses
What Is A Chronic Lyme Disease Doctor
A Lyme Disease Doctor, also known as a Lyme Literate Doctor, is a specialist who understands Lyme disease well enough to not only comprehend the vast ranges of symptoms, stages, and co-infections that may indicate a Lyme disease infection, but also to address them effectively. Unfortunately, not all doctors are open to treating Lyme disease, and even if they are, it is an incredibly difficult disease to diagnose.
Known as the Great Imitator, Lyme disease has the unfortunate ability to be able to mimic hundreds of other illnesses, which is why it sometimes takes years for patients to receive both proper diagnosis and treatment.
Recommended Reading: Cat’s Claw And Lyme Disease