Well, I'm wondering if that's all it takes to be on ILADS list of LLMD's - attend one week-long conference.

But, this Dr. you saw sounds good. At least he can start your treatment and then refer you to a LLMD if needed.

One question: Bartonella isn't on that list of co-infections that he thinks you have. Rifampin is a bartonella antibiotic.

The decision to use antibiotics or herbals...is yours to make. (or both)
You could wait awhile..as you said you're feeling better on the herbs...so maybe give the herbals some more time..?
You can always go to the antibiotics later on...in a few months, if you feel it's something you want to do.

Kathie - can you remind me - how long you suspect you have had Lyme disease?

Girlie, I know I've had it for 2-3 years, but think it may have been longer. I've suffered from chronic migraines for years and had to have a knee replacement when I was in my mid 40's. (Very young for that surgery) Was that really osteoarthritis or could it have been lyme-related, even back then?

It's been at least 2-3 years. I hadn't been feeling well for a while, when in early 2014 (after doing some lab tests for thyroid and anemia which were negative) I went to a Lyme specialist. They did not test me for Lyme, diagnosed me with adrenal fatigue, and treated me for that instead. !!!???!!! At that point my symptoms were weight gain, daily headaches, sleep disturbances, severe fatigue and increasing muscle weakness. (It became more and more difficult to walk up the stairs to my apartment). I felt off balance...I had to hold on to the railing to go up or down stairs, and I often felt like I was going to fall over. Treatment for adrenal fatigue didn't help. The following year (2015) I developed cardiac symptoms (PAC's and bundle branch block, TMJ, migrating joint pain and swelling. I had to have a cholecystectomy last summer which I now believe was lyme-related. Then I was diagnosed with RA last December. I had another knee replacement in January.

I just read that that combination of antibiotics are effective for Chlamydia Pneumoniae and arthritis...interesting... He seems to know his antibiotics!

I was delighted, Traveler! And quite surprised. I wasn't feeling very hopeful after the way his office staff treated me, but he was very nice AND knowledgeable!

I'm going to talk with the DO that I'm working with. I really trust her. She and I are both concerned about the effect of antibiotics on my gut health/immunity. I'll probably stick with Buhner for now and pray that I win the lottery. ;)

I will email you his contact info.

"I just read that that combination of antibiotics are effective for Chlamydia Pneumoniae and arthritis..."

Well, you just taught me something about treating chlamydia pneumonia, Kathie! Thanks...

I'm hearing a lot of LLND's/LLMD's now using Armin Labs in Germany for the Elispot test.

Oh, Kathie

I apologize if I'm preaching to the choir but are you aware of the types of thyroid levels healthy people have?

As a thyroid patient for the past 9 years, I've come to realize that not all medical professionals are aware of this particular fact.....and I suffered needlessly until I learned it myself and rallied for the proper care.

If you're not familiar with healthy thyroid levels, I'll gladly show you how to interpret your labs and how they relate to those a healthy person would have.

Quick Thyroid 101:

The thyroid produces two main hormones: T4 (thyroxine) and T3 (triiodothyronine). T4 is our storage hormone and is converted into T3, our active hormone. 20% of the conversion happens within the thyroid and the rest in various body areas (brain, pituitary, muscles,etc.).

TSH stands for thyroid stimulating hormone and is produced by the pituitary in response to the body's need for thyroid hormone (which fuels every single cell of the body). TSH is most responsive to the amount of T3 (active hormone) in the bloodstream.

An elevated TSH indicates an underactive thyroid - the pituitary is screaming at the thyroid to produce hormone. However, there are many, many things that affect TSH: infections, antibodies, pituitary dysfunction, etc. TSH can be skewed low because of these things and, therefore, it's not a reliable indicator of thyroid function.

Doctors get all caught up with the sensitivity of the test. Great, they can measure small amounts of TSH. That doesn't mean the test is a reliable indicator of thyroid function.

If you want the full skinny on proper hypothyroidism diagnosis and treatment, here's a good read:

www.thyroidscience.com/hypotheses/dommisse.feb.2008/dommisse.feb.2008.pdf

And, if you scroll towards the bottom of the following link, you'll read about the 300 different symptoms a person might experience ala hypothyroidism:

hypothyroidmom.com/300-hypothyroidism-symptoms-yes-really/

For whatever it's worth, a healthy person has TSH 1.0 or lower. Since TSH can fluctuate as much as 200% over the course of a day, I don't have confidence that your TSH level indicates healthy thyroid function.

Thyroid-savvy doctors look at the actual levels of usable thyroid hormone to evaluate thyroid function: Free T4 (T4 or thyroxine, free direct) and Free T3 (tri-iodothyronine, free, serum).

Unfortunately, your doctor didn't run the right tests. You got an outdated thyroid profile.

The thyroxine test measures T4 that is bound to proteins and not usable by the body.

The T3 uptake test is an obsolete test in which T3 is used as a reagent in the test. This test measures how well your thyroid hormone binds to binding proteins. It's used to sort of estimate your Free T4 level when calculated with a T4 (thyroxine) result

And, you guessed it - the Free Thyroxine Index represents that calculation.

Why run all these lame tests that are trying to guesstimate your Free T4 level (and don't even measure your Free T3 level) when the actual tests are available to do so?

The fact that you tested negative for thyroglobulin antibody means you might not have autoimmune thyroid disease. You'd need TPOab (thyroid peroxidase antibody) and TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin) testing for complete autoimmune thyroid testing.

No matter what, even though you didn't list the range for your thyroxine result, I'm thinking the high end is probably 12. Your level is too low. If your body isn't producing enough hormone that's bound to proteins, it's a pretty sure bet you don't have much hormone available for your body's use.

Loss of the outer third of the eyebrows is a classic symptom of hypothyroidism. I hope you pursue Free T4 and Free T3 testing...and my offer for help remains :)

Sounds like an amazing Dr. to me! Really, really, really fabulous! Really grateful for the in-depth thyroid explanation.

Cpnhelp.org. ..recommends third abx but if you are rifeing and herbs ...get scripts filled and fridge em ?

Happy to help - I have to do *some*thing with all my research ;)

The reason those MD's thought your levels were fine is because they were "normal" (aka in-range).

Lab ranges are based upon bloodwork done on mostly sick people. (think about it - it's the sick people who are going to the doctor the most and having bloodwork done).

Since thyroid lab ranges are skewed towards hypothyroid levels, waayyy too many people remain undiagnosed because their levels fall within a faulty reference range - the estimate is 30 million Americans.

Now, if doctors paid more attention to symptoms like they did before the invention of the TSH test, we wouldn't have this problem. Amazingly enough, when a patient presented with elevated cholesterol back then, they got a prescription for Armour thyroid (first-ever thyroid med). Hypothyroidism is the #1 cause of elevated cholesterol.

For whatever it's worth, a very large percentage of Americans (50%) have evidence of past infection with chlamydia pneumonia....

www.cdc.gov/pneumonia/atypical/chlamydophila.html

I suspect you're the type of person to avoid fluoroquinolones...

Best of luck to you moving forward!! I look forward to "talking thyroid" with you ;)