Jenna’s Lyme Blog

Throughout the ups and downs of the disease, the internet has been my salvation – allowing me to get support from other sufferers and eventually allowing me to extend a helping hand too.

The beautiful silver lining of this horrible disease is the wonderful friendships that are forged through the shared experience of Lyme that has been made possible through this blog and through a handful of forums I participate in.

Some people are still able to work with their disease, but due to the extent of my pain and weakness, I have been bedridden for much of four years and have struggled to find ways to earn money on the internet.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, big companies pay individuals and small companies with websites or blogs (or through emails) affiliate commissions on their products.

Posted on August 7th, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Coping with Lyme Disease, Discussion, Product Reviews. Comments: 3

There are many problems with the PCR test but the largest being (in my opinion) that by the time a person is diagnosed by the ELIZA antibody test and then the western blot, a PCR will likely be negative due to the time it takes for the spirochetes to disseminate into the victim’s body.

If however, this new DNA sequencing test could replace the ELIZA test and be administered immediately, we would have a much better chance of diagnosing Lyme early, treating it early and reducing the number of missed cases that end up as debilitating chronic cases.

Posted on July 30th, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Discussion, Lyme News, Research and Development. Comments: 5

Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is a skin condition that takes a progressive course that leads to atrophy of the skin in a variety of ways but sharing certain common characteristics.

Not surprisingly, involvement of the peripheral nervous system is frequently observed as a part of ACA (numbness, tingling, pain…)

As we know, clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosis are almost unlimited. They can affect the skin, nervous system, muscles, joints eyes, ears, any organ including the heart. With ACA, the skin becomes papery thin and almost shiny and transparent so that the blood vessels, veins, arteries and tissue can be seen through the skin in various degrees which give the skin a pinkish/bluish color.

Posted on July 30th, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Lyme News, Neurological Lyme disease, Symptoms. Comments: 4

SeraCare develops and manufactures the highest quality, biologically-based products, and offers a broad range of related services, backed by impressive combined expertise in virology, serology, immunology, and molecular biology. They are seeking plasma donors with positive diagnosis of Lyme disease and willing to pay on a regular basis for the plasma donations.

For those of us who suffer with Lyme disease and the financial devastation it brings, this could make the difference between feeding your children and struggling to a soup kitchen.

Posted on July 25th, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Lyme News. Comments: 2

Advice from Web sites and chat rooms usually does not apply to you. No two people are ever to be treated the same. To seek advice on the Internet is a concern of most physicians and healers. Sometimes you can find mature balanced support from those who are healthy, but not new advanced and solid credible information for your medical care. Many leaders in tick-infection medicine report they are quoted incorrectly, and that the information is often wrong, sometimes dangerous and wastes time and money.

Posted on July 23rd, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Co-infections, Coping with Lyme Disease, Great Imitator, Neurological Lyme disease. Comments: 8

Tick and flea-borne infections cause isolation. They ruin relationships due to resulting fogginess, poor insight, depression, various addictions, rage, extreme hostility – even violence – and refusal to get treatment. Bartonella is likely the worst offender, but Lyme and Babesia and their die-offs can also increase these problems. Isolation leads to decreased treatment options. It can ultimately lead to divorce and the loss of family relationships and friendships. This, in turn, leads to decreased resources and support while ill. Isolated humans, as Mother Teresa often said, are the poorest beings on earth.

Posted on July 22nd, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Co-infections, Coping with Lyme Disease, Great Imitator, Lyme News. Comments: 5

The entire article, “The Plague of Ignorance Regarding the Ignorance of a Plague” (Chronic Lyme Disease) by Dr. Scott Taylor

Posted on July 21st, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Coping with Lyme Disease, Discussion. Comments: 3

A report published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in October 2008 predicts increased risk for water-borne illness around the Great Lakes, potentially affecting 40 million people, due to an increase in climate-related extreme rainfall that could overwhelm storm water and sewage systems, potentially diverting raw sewage to Lake Michigan – a key source of drinking water. This will add to the already soaring epidemic of Lyme disease.

Posted on July 21st, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease. Comments: 5

It is one thing to lump a couple hundred of sufferers into a group of psychosomatic patients…but how do medical doctors respond to the hundreds of thousands of Lyme sufferers from all 50 states who are becoming more ill and increasingly fragile?

It is time for medical doctors to take their heads out of the sand and re-commit their allegiance to the Hippocratic Oath

Posted on July 19th, 2010 under Chronic Lyme Disease, Discussion, Lyme News, Personal stories, Research and Development, Symptoms, Treatment Protocols. Comments: 6