Hello all! I'm a 25 yr old female from Jersey. Lately, I've become very concerned that I may have Lymes. I live in an woodsy country area of NJ and unfortunately the disease is very popular amongst the locals. For the last year or so I've been having strange symptoms:
*night sweats
*numbness in arms/hands
*tingling sensation on the top of my head
*severe body aches on my shoulders, neck and back (these are the most debilitating of the symptoms)
*exhaustion (always tired regardless of how much rest I get)
*always feel like I have a cold (stuffy nose, stuffy head, watery eyes)
I have researched a heck of a lot about Lyme's plus I know many people who do have the disease and have offered me some insight. Many of the people say that the symptoms I describe are very familiar with the symptoms they experienced before diagnosis. Now, I am ready to get to the doctor and get blood work done the only issue is I have absolutely no health insurance. Does anyone know an approximate price it would cost me out of pocket to get the lyme's blood test done?
I really don't want to prolong this but the financial issue is a huge factor. Also, any suggestions on how to relieve these body aches...I have tried all OTC medications like Tylenol etc, muscle rubs like Icy Hot, hot and cold compressions and nothing seems to be doing the trick.
Hi the first thing you want to do is to find a Lyme literate MD or LLMD .Most of us dont have inasurance and Lyme treatment can be devastating financially.You will want to get a Lyme(not Lymes) test from Igenex lab.It sounds by other symptoms that you could also have babesia or Bartonella, two of the most common co-infections of Lyme.
You might consider looking into alternative treatments to help keep costs down, salt/c Zhang Protocol, Buhner, Jernigan, nutramedix herbs.First line of attack might be doxycycline though to see what it can get to.
Any treatment , when working, may cause a herx, or temporary flare up of symptoms caused by die off of the bacteria.This is normal though often painful.The use of a good detox protocol is important
Last edited by karmicwhirlwind; 02-22-2010 at 03:08 PM.
Reason: Please read the posting rules
If you think you have Lyme (singular) Disease, and it sounds from your symptoms that you certainly may and ... if you are short on $, you could forgo the tests. LD testing is unreliable. Many with Lyme actually test negative. Even with Igenex Lab you could come up negative but still have Lyme. I happened to have tested positive, but most of the lymies I know did not. But we all have Lyme Disease
Instead of worrying about testing, you could start researching various protocols that you might want to try. Salt/C worked best for me and I tried a zillion different things as well. Finding an LLMD would also be good but, again, if you don't have the cash ... Unfortunately, those docs are usually very expensive to boot!
I am in the same boat you are in financially. The doctors here are in denial of Lymes in VA and the doctors didn't want to believe all the symptoms and treated me like a hypochondriac. So knowing I was physically and mentally declining I went to the lab myself and had the test done and it cost me $89 in which I was positive. Some states you have to have a doctors order. Call your local lab and find out if you can walk in and have one done yourself. Good luck! Hope your negative!!!!!!!!!
Lyme causes inflammation and Motrin would be the better OTC pain reliever. My LLMD told me to take 1000mg of Vitamin C four times a day. Milk thistle helps liver support. There are other supplements that can help you with kidney function, immune system support, and adrenals.
You also want an LLMD and not an infectious disease specialist. There is a difference.
Regarding the cost, do what you need to do to get a correct diagnosis now rather than pay more for being misdiagnosed later.
The good thing about Dr. D. Jernigan--as an energy doc he can diagnose everything in one visit, so you get your money's worth. Do the CRT test $100 and his BRS $300 + and buy his book at his website. The office sets new patients up for 2 weeks, but if you can't afford that, tell them you're only coming for diagnosis and see what supplements your body is ready for. Make sure you see Dr. J.--he's the expert.
I was wondering if your symptoms come and go. I have some of the same things as you. They tend to come and go. I can feel pretty ok and then all of a sudden the tingling on the head will start and neck pain out of nowhere. I get weird feelings in my body.Aches and pains all over, but like I said, not always. You wrote this post a while ago. Any news with your condition? LaLa
