Should one treat the whole family for lyme?

[laure]

I have been thinking about this for awhile now, so I'll roll it out there and see if any of you have opinions on this. Dd10 has lyme, has had it for probably over 2 years, responding wonderfully to treatment. which makes me think about her older brother. Son 19, wonderful boy, Ivy league engineering student, so likely no brain fog there... BUT he has social difficulty, (quite withdrawn in group settings), was a horrible colicky baby, very clingy toddler, lots of strange OCD-like behaviors as a child, including some coughing tics, sniffing of hands, etc... we always chocked it up to him being a bit of an odd duck. He does a lot of research of all things on his own, and claims he thinks he is a bit autistic. Of course we try to quell these thoughts, because it will only encourage his anti-social behavior, give him an excuse, etc. He is a happy person, and people like him, has a few close friends from home, girls love him, (Dad's good looks). Other than allergies, he is very healthy, although he does get skin rashes and boils on a somewhat regular basis...again I always thought allergies. Sooooo, do we test this guy for lyme? Even if he was positive, do they treat someone who is basically asymptomatic? What about me, perhaps I gave it to him, do I get tested? My stomach could not tolerate long-term abx anyway... and I feel fine. We all spend huge amounts of time outdoors, in the woods, etc. Both my teenagers work in the woods all summer (hiking counselor and trail crew worker). Any thoughts/ideas appreciated!

[KeithandElizabeth]

I definitely think that it would be a good idea to check the whole family for lyme disease. I would even add the herb Samento prior to testing in order to bring out any spirochetes (lyme) that could possibly be hiding in the organs. Our LLMD usually prescribes 6 weeks of antibiotics OR the herb Samento prior to lyme testing if he suspects that lyme could be involved.

 

Elizabeth

[MichaelTampa]

I would encourage you all to at least do some of the simple/cheap tests that insurance will mostly cover, like CD57 from Labcorp and ELISA and western blot. And, also, I think a very good idea to find a long checklist of lyme symptoms, I've run across these on the web here and there, and have them filled out. Try to get at what symptoms might really be there that are being explained away as supposedly having other reasons. I think the key to doing this well, is you have a lot of help from someone else who spends a lot of time with the person. People get caught up in the way their life is, they can easily lose track of what normal is for the rest of the world. I suggest this because, look, lyme treatment is no picnic, there has to be a significant reason to do the treatment, so this might help assess what reasons there really might be for treatment.

[sf_mom]

I just wanted to add... If you are not terribly symptomatic and positive for Lyme there are so many ways to approach staying healthy that do not include antibiotics but prevent downward spiral.

 

Our Dr. does treat some 'just' homeopathically.

 

I support you doing basic WB via Igenex on your older son and yourself.

 

-Wendy