Noddy, I lived in Wisconsin in 1975. My house was on Dutch Hollow Lake, about 15 miles from any paved road .... lots of woods lots of deer and a five mile snowmobile trail which became a dirt biker's dream. I spent hours each day blasting up and down that trail. It became a ritual to check for ticks before I went into the house and there were plenty to be found
I can remember two lesions, one on my thigh, one on my belly ..... circular with a red dot in the center. I wondered what they were but filed them under not worth much thought, until 1988, the year I was diagnosed with PD. I worked in a hospital at the time so I had access to a medical library and spent a lot or time trying to understand my disease. I found an article on lymes in a medical journal complete with a photo of the lesions I had discovered on my leg and belly ... mystery solved with a new mystery to replace it. I was sure I had lyme as the symptomatology was nearly identical.
I took my findings to my neurologist only to be pronounced to be 'in denial' of parkinson's. I was not to be deterred .... I plead my case to my primary care doctor and he agreed to a two week trial of an antibiotic. at the end of the trial nothing had changed. I felt crushed, defeated ... relegated to parkinsons.
Zoom ahead to 2006, I developed severe back pain and went to the emergency room for relief. I was taken to nuclear imaging where I was found to be passing a kidney stone. They also found a tumor on my small bowel. I had that removed and on biopsy it was determined to be non malignant. It was a lymph node that was 'reactive'. The cause was a massive infection at some point in my life. back to the computer ... more research.
Long story shorter;.... I found this;
James L. Schaller, MD, MAR, PA, DABPN, DABFM
www.personalconsult.com
Is It Parkinson's or Lyme?
Are Young Adults Regularly Misdiagnosed?
Michael was a smart man in his 30's who was an actor with moderate success. He was, however, a little too impressed with Ivy. Meaning, anyone who worked as part of an "Ivy League" faculty was like a great heavenly Gnostic sage, offering the great pearls of truth. If he only knew the reality.
He was from New York and had enjoyed a wide range of vacations in the past, including hiking in the lovely New York mountains.
Lets look at the simple basic symptoms of Lyme disease.
Primary Symptoms That Are Reported to
Diagnose Parkinson's Disease
* Slow intentional movement -- if you want to go to another room it is hard to initiate this action, and once you are moving it is hard to keep going and get to the kitchen.
* Tremors in almost any part of the body when you are resting.
* Rigid or Stiff muscles -- one of the reason's folks with Parkinson's have frozen expressions
* Poor balance -- my grandfather had Parkinson's from the influenza in the 1910's and this was a serious problem. He would finally get moving and he could not keep his balance and would fall.
* Eccentric walking -- features include a wide based gait, with poor arm movement and tiny steps.
Other Parkinson's Signs
The neurological dopamine damage in the brain can cause many other symptoms. Indeed, a very wide range. Here is just a sampling:
* Psychosis and agitation
* Eating trouble -- since the muscles of eating are acting poorly, food can collect in the back of the throat. Swallowing is a very complex muscle and nerve action.
* Excess sweating and excess saliva.
* Trouble with urine and stool control
* Depression and hopelessness -- I recall my grandfather telling me over the space of fifteen minutes that he was not always this way. I was sad he said, this since I knew he was a vital and active lead RCA engineer in his time, and an avid dancer and golfer.
* Skin dryness and other skin trouble
* Eccentric handwriting including tremor signs at the point of initiation before the writing started and then very tiny letters.
* Low volume speech
The Diagnostic Disaster
The heart of the Parkinson's diagnosis is ruling out other neurological disorders, since these symptoms are found in many disorders. Most importantly, the symptoms above can occur in neurological Lyme.
As has been very well described, neuroLyme can present in a hundred ways and is called the "Great Imitator." Yet many Neurologists do not take this seriously and never consider Lyme in Seizures, ALS, Migraines, MS, Strokes or hundreds of other neurology or psychiatric diagnoses.
Since Lyme is the leading vector illness in the US, and lab tests are commonly utter junk (See 20 articles on this fact on my web site), it is easy to miss. Lyme with Parkinson's symptoms looks exactly like real Parkinson's. Exactly!
Parkinson's is progressive over years. But so is Lyme.
Parkinson's waxes and wanes, and so do the spirochetes of Lyme.
****
Michael had four labs look at his blood and urine, and in conclusion it was felt he might have Lyme. After eight weeks these tests were repeated and he was clearly positive -- perhaps because some Lyme was killed and pieces caused a large immune response and some parts were found in both the urine and the blood.
In six months he was the best he had been in four years, and was using a greatly reduced Parkinson's medication dose.
He had three SPECT Scans, which are nuclear exams of how the brain is eating.
The first SPECT Scan showed eight lobes with a patchy Lyme-like finding.
The second looked much worse. We suspect it was worse from the death of so many Lyme bugs and their release of toxins in their outer membrane increasing inflammation.
The third SPECT scan was markedly improved, but not yet normal.
Michael is planning on doing more work, and is pleased with his progress. He suspects he got Lyme while camping about eight years ago.
For more information on the link between Lyme and Parkinson's symptoms go to:
www.lymeinfo.net/multiplesclerosis.html
My Best Regards,
Dr. J
See also:
*
www.canlyme.com/lymepark.html
*
www.geocities.com/lymeart3/pd-links.html
*
www.benabraham.com/html/lyme_disease_-_cause__spread__.html
*
www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=81262
Dr. Schalle
Since early December I have been receiving daily intravenous rocephin and it appears to be helping..I've got about three months to go so we shall see. What caught my eye with you was the multiple systems involved.
Find an infectious disease doctor if you feel you want to heck it out.
You can learn more by googling lyme associated parkinsons
good luck and hang in there
He has PD as does my friend Dan from whom I have heard nothing.
