Documentary: Undercover in German Lyme Clinics

[duncan]

A quick Google check finds that John Caudwell's country home, where he and his family live most of the time, is Broughton Hall, near Wetwood, Staffordshire. He bought this home 22 years ago. If you put "Wetwood, Staffordshire" into the Big Tick Project UK Map, you find that it's not even high risk area for tick bites (it's medium risk).

Perhaps this reflects on the accuracy of your records. If so, welcome to the predicament many communities in the US fear themselves in vis-a-vis CDC reports of Lyme prevalence by state.

 

[Hip]

Perhaps this reflects on the accuracy of your records.

Perhaps, but the Big Tick Project looks well organized, and was set up in recognition of the growing problem of Lyme disease.

The Big Tick Project complied their tick map by asking vets throughout the UK to count the number of ticks they found on dogs each week, and to send the ticks to the University of Bristol for identification.

If you zoom right into the map, it will tell you which species of tick were found on dogs in the area, using the following color coding scheme:

sheep tick Ixodes ricinus (shown as a green dot on map)
hedgehog tick Ixodes hexagonus (yellow dot on map)
fox or dog tick Ixodes canisuga (violet dot on map)

It says here that in the UK, Lyme disease is known to be carried by the above three ticks.



In France they are also suddenly getting concerned about ticks, and are creating their own tick map:

France launches 'tick alert app' in frantic bid to map Lyme disease explosion as blight 'moves North'

The article says that France now gets 30,000 new cases of Lyme disease per year.

 

[duncan]

@Hip, yes, that does look cool. Does anyone actually check the ticks for pathogen burden?

Edited to add: Where I live, over 50% of ticks carry at least one TBD. Now, cross-check that against a Scandinavian study that suggested less than 3% of people bitten by infected ticks contract Lyme. How does that math play out? Is someone wrong? Could it vary by species or even strain?

More data hopefully can only help.

 

[Hip]

@Hip, yes, that does look cool. Does anyone actually check the ticks for pathogen burden?

As far as I know, they did not check which infections the ticks carried; they just mapped the locations and the species of the ticks found on dogs by vets local to each area.

 

[duncan]

It is still a good exercise.

 

[pattismith]

@Hip, yes, that does look cool. Does anyone actually check the ticks for pathogen burden?

Edited to add: Where I live, over 50% of ticks carry at least one TBD. Now, cross-check that against a Scandinavian study that suggested less than 3% of people bitten by infected ticks contract Lyme. How does that math play out? Is someone wrong? Could it vary by species or even strain?


More data hopefully can only help.

Two studies published in France in 2017 about zoonotic Rickettsia and Babesia:
First identification of Rickettsia helvetica in questing ticks from a French Northern Brittany Forest

• Sarah I. Bonnet ,Richard E. L. Paul,Emmanuel Bischoff,Martine Cote,Evelyne Le Naour

• Published: March 1, 2017

"Tick-borne rickettsiae are considered to be emerging, but data about their presence in western Europe are scarce. Ixodes ricinus ticks, the most abundant and widespread tick species in western Europe, were collected and tested for the presence of several tick-borne pathogens in western France, a region never previously explored in this context. There was a high tick abundance with a mean of 4 females, 4.5 males, and 23.3 nymphs collected per hour per collector. Out of 622 tested ticks, specific PCR amplification showed the presence of tick symbionts as well as low prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi (0.8%), Bartonella spp. (0.17%), and Anaplasma phagocytophilum (0.09%). The most prevalent pathogen was Rickettsia helvetica (4.17%). This is the first time that this bacteria has been detected in ticks in this region, and this result raises the possibility that bacteria other than those classically implicated may be involved in rickettsial diseases in western France."

https://hal-anses.archives-ouvertes.fr/pasteur-01570199/document


Low prevalence of zoonotic Babesia in small mammals and Ixodes ricinus in Brittany, France
Maggy Jouglin 1 Grégoire Perez 1, 2 Alain Butet 2 Laurence Malandrin 1 Suzanne Bastian 1

Abstract : In order to evaluate the zoonotic risk due to Babesia spp., especially B. microti, we investigated their presence in 597 individuals of five small mammal species and in 2620 questing nymphs of Ixodes ricinus in rural landscapes of Western France (Brittany). Small mammals (rodents and shrews) are indeed suspected to be reservoir hosts for B. microti, and the tick I. ricinus is the vector of the three main zoonotic species in Europe, i.e. B. divergens, B. venatorum and B. microti. Only one bank vole carried B. microti (genotype "Munich") and only 13 and 2 nymphs of Ixodes ricinus ticks carried B. venatorum and B. capreoli respectively. According to these results, prevalences observed for zoonotic Babesia (0.17% for small mammals and 0.50% for ticks), indicate that exposure of humans to this infectious agent is probably low in western France.

https://hal.laas.fr/ECOBIO/hal-01533216v1

 

[pibee]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

Only thing that kills Lyme persisters in vitro, (and candida!) but doesnt kill any of the gut microbiome, is disulfiram.

that's what I'm trying now.
Lowest risk i think. Except should be super paranoid about alcohol, including tinctures.
I did 5 days of disulfiram, then I got my too high CellTrend and got so depressed that I had to stop disulfiram because I couldnt promise myself I wont get drunk (yes, I sound alcoholic too ). But disulfiram stays in the body so long, you cant drink safely for days even weeks after it. not sure. But i waited a week until I got drunk

2 group of researchers confirmed disulfiram kills persisters in vitro, Kim Lewis and someone else, I forgot who. Zhang didnt test it , so it seems. Animal trial is on the way but should have already been published this summer...there are 2 people who tried it besides me, one success story (she is blogging about it on FB), and other person stopped because severe reaction (he doesnt know if it's herx). So... I'm third and with my overlap with high stress and many things happening I cant claim if it did anything in 5 days.

 

[perrier]

My daughter had 13 positive or equivocal test results from several different U.S. labs for Borrelia burgdorferei and other tickborne infections. She did not have a bullseye rash.

For two years she was treated by an ILADS doctor who specializes in treating Lyme Disease with state-of-the art antibiotic cocktails, along with alternative treatments. She had a PICC line for several months.

At the end of two years, she was worse than when she started. She is now bedbound about 23 hours a day, and suffers tremendous pain from tendinosis, possibly caused by the fluoroquinolones she was given.

I am so desperately sorry and pained to hear this dear Advocate. It's a horrific situation. And I find there is not enough outrage over the thousands of such cases. I guess we should be out demonstrating, asking for help. But the caregiver is trapped,for she is needed around the clock.

 

[Hip]

By the way, for those with Lyme, there is a story here of how hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in a soft chamber (mild HBOT) at home led to remission for one Lyme patient. Oxygen is likely toxic to Borrelia, as Borrelia are more-or-less anaerobic bacteria and cannot deal with high levels of oxygen, so that may be how HBOT treats Lyme. But it took over year of daily treatments in a soft chamber at home before this patient attained remission.

Although home soft HBOT chambers may be beyond most people's budgets (they cost $6000), I speculate in this thread that breathing 100% oxygen using a non-rebreather mask and an oxygen concentrator machine (which cost $300) will be just as effective as a soft HBOT chamber.

 

[pattismith]

Although home soft HBOT chambers may be beyond most people's budgets (they cost $6000), I speculate in this thread that breathing 100% oxygen using a non-rebreather mask and an oxygen concentrator machine (which cost $300) will be just as effective as a soft HBOT chamber.

I have one, I would be silly not to give it a try...Do you know how long a session should last?

maybe @Learner1 would tell us?

 

[Learner1]

I do 60-80 minutes 3x a week.

 

[Hip]

I have one, I would be silly not to give it a try...Do you know how long a session should last?

If you are using a properly set up non-rebreather mask, and assuming your oxygen concentrator machine supplies close to 100% oxygen, then the concentration you will be breathing in will also be close to 100% (whereas if you use a simple face mask, you will only be breathing around 40% oxygen, which is why a non-rebreather is I think necessary in order to get the required high concentration of oxygen).

At concentrations of around 100%, oxygen can begin be toxic to the lungs after breathing it continuously for around 24 hours. But I would guess that something like 60 minutes of breathing oxygen once daily would hopefully be safe (although I have yet to find any medical literature that confirms this).

As mentioned, the Lyme patient who went into remission after a year or so did daily 60 minute sessions in their soft HBOT chamber. So I think you would want to mirror that protocol as much as possible, and thus also do daily 60 minute sessions.

The Lyme patient said they felt the first change in their status after about 2 months.

 

[Learner1]

You could also look into 10 pass ozone which is faster and more intense. 3 weeks with 5 sessions per week.

Its described here...

http://thepowerofozone.com/ozone-high-dose-10-pass/

There are 2 brands of machines made in Germany. I have a friend who did it for chronic EBV with good results and I've spoken to a Lymie with multiple coinfections who did it with Dr. Robert Rowan and he says its the only intervention that's helped him.

It's important to monitor antioxidant levels and compensate.

 

[TrialAndError]

I'm a bit skeptical about chronic Lyme too, at least in regards to the current testing and proposed treatments. (A chronic infection is certainly plausible and I am NOT discounting that). I've read too many reports of false positives and stories of people who've spent months or even years on IV antibiotics and not gotten any better. One of these people I know personally. Lately she's been battling constant vomiting and I can't help but wonder if it's from all the antibiotics she's on.

I don't want to discourage people who've been diagnosed with chronic Lyme but that is just what my personal exposure to the issue has been. I'm certainly no expert!

An MD told me yesterday that blood tests can be fooled by antibiotics that you're taking.

Also, about 10 years ago, I was denied Doxycycline by the Infectious Disease Specialist at a major Canadian hospital, because he wanted to wait for blood test results, despite my bulls-eye rash photo on my camcorder, and list of symptoms printed out, including inability to mentally multiply 6 times 3.

The specialist doctor also said that we didn't have Lyme in Canada. So, I showed both doctors pages of printouts that, yes, we have Lyme in Canada. I also showed him an article that the Lyme test was less than 60% accurate, and that I could be a vegetable mentally by the time that report comes back.

Fortunately, the young ER got pity, and gave me a 6-week Doxy prescription after the specialist doctor left.

Today, I'm in the same boat almost. I've beaten the Early Lyme, but my friend who is two weeks ahead of me in the same "bite series" of insect bites (identical type of unusual bites, 1mm holes, look like mini-volcanoes) is now experiencing really bad Lyme/Bartonella symptoms.

I only got 2 weeks of Doxy, but took 800mg/daily for 72 hours, and my initial dose was 200mg, not 100mg. (Per Johns Hopkins suggestion iirc).

Comments on all this? I do not want to be in chronic Lyme.

My friend (neighbor) is experiencing worse mental fog, pains in the head, pains in the abdomen, depression, anxiety, etc etc.

I have "cleared" all symptoms, including: Anxiety, feeling of hopelessness, feeling detached from reality, vision issues, etc.

Only have some fatigue at 6pm or so, requiring a nap of 15 minutes.

Energy is very high again, except for my late afternoons.

Any information/comments for me and my friend/neighbor would be really appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[Sundancer]

One flaw I think in the Lyme disease theory is that there doesn't seem to be an epidemic of animals getting it. I am talking about pets here, who might be regularly exposed to ticks and who has owners who would notice if they were sick.

It has never been mentioned to us at the vet (they do recommend dosing with a preventative medicine for various insects and worms, but we don't always do it, or do it regularly enough so that they don't get bitten). I would often speak to pet owners and none of them have ever mentioned their pet having Lyme.

debate about Lyme, just as difficult as ME itself.

about animals, as far as I know, in Austria dogs can get a shot to prevent them getting Lyme. It seems the amount of infected ticks has been always higher there. As if the source of the illness comes from there.
I think Austria is working on vaccin for humans too.

Chronic lyme exists, and no need to have ME or get it from it. One of my in-laws has had chronic Lyme. He is a farmer, so always outside. After getting tick-bite and 10 days doxy he did not recover. was told to see a psychiatrist, moved heaven and earth, made awful lots of noise and in the end ( two or three years)came to a neurologist who tested spinal fluid and set him on intravenous AB. I don't remember how long, think months.

Result is that he could take up his work again, the deterioration of his joints was halted, the psychiatric symptoms were gone. But all in all he is much better for it. It's the pain in his joints that still troubles him and reduces the amount of work he can do, not energy-problems.

I read somewhere that the borrelia monster fucks up with the glutamate-route, so producing the psychiatric symptoms.

I had ME when i got a tickbite 15 years ago, I very suddenly got totally new symptoms, one of them being half-paralyzed face. I got 2 months doxy, contrary to protocol at the time which ordered 10 days. After some days the rubber became face again and other symptoms disappeared. But after some weeks an awful flare up of ME happened, its left me bedridden for half a year, but I've slowly recovered from that.

I'm still grateful to my former GP who ordered that two months...Some time ago I read a piece of research saying that a month of AB is not enough to kill the borrelia-monster in all the patients.

 

[Sundancer]

Another more general question, are there documented cases of Chronic Lyme with ME-like symptoms being completely cured by antibiotics?

Me, but I'm not documented ( and had ME before and after)


edit:
see, brainfog has not cleared up, I did have lyme and am sure the doxy has cured me ( and caused mito shutdown) but I did not have chronic lyme, grateful for that

 

[Lala]

I have not seen the document, because I do not speak Dutch nor Danish, so hard to comment. But nor Armin lab nor BCA lab recommends any kind of treatment, only doctor from clinic can do this, so this sounds very suspicious. Who suggested treatment to these people? LTT is very sensitive method, so it is very well possible this test catches people who were once infected with lyme but they are asymptomatic due to well functionig immune system. As far as I know doctors in BCA treat symptoms, not tests...

 

[Markus83]

I'm not sure the links to the video in the first comment work anymore. Can anyone post a link from where the video can be downloaded?

 

[Thinktank]

I'm not sure the links to the video in the first comment work anymore. Can anyone post a link from where the video can be downloaded?

https://www.npo.nl/zembla/18-10-2017/BV_101384732
With Dutch subtitles

 

[Markus83]

This link works for you? My browser addin shows "This video can not be viewed from your location"