An awesome discussion everyone - and a great question, Chapelle.
I had a few thoughts but not sure they're very well expressed and I apologize--I'm too tired to edit. :(
Since there is SO MUCH misinformation, lack of information, lack of evidence, research, consensus, etc... not only for lyme & co but for many illness - all of the degenerative diseases like ALZ, Parkinson's, MS---none of them are well-understood or have a "known" root cause and if what many researchers suspect is true (that the cause is bacterial) then it's all a guessing game and we're hedging our bets with doing our best to eradicate a possible cause.
(eradicate = meaning kill what we can and dominate what remains as much as possible)
You just have to gather information, evaluate it within the context of your health and lifestyle, genetics and ancestry and make the best decision for yourself. From what very little we know about
these microbial infections and the unbelievably numerous variables that exist in all of our DNA--there is likely never to be a "one-size-fits-all" answer.
The more I read, the more I'm convinced that what started as a benign microbe that has been around since the stone age was adapted into a biowarfare "tool" due to its strong infectious capabilities. This modern microbe was designed to mutate. The labs where it was cultivated were grossly mismanaged and the result was the lyme explosion of the 70s.
While the .gov will NEVER reveal the truth behind this, I find it's necessary for me to understand this very likely origin in order to connect the role it's played in society's resistance to acknowledge the current epidemic and lack of control and understanding of it, and how it's possible it can be manifested differently by people--and how I fit into that puzzle. My intention is not to fear-monger or stir up controversy, but my process needs to include assumptions about
x,y and z so that I can make decisions about
how to move forward and plan long-term. Others may be able to skip all that.
So, as a fast-growing infestation throughout the country it is already morphing into various strains and finding new vectors and carriers and companions, etc. In other words lyme & coinfections are here to stay and I think we've seen only the tip of that iceberg. As terrifying as that feels, the very odd reality is that those of us who are in treatment likely have one helluva leg up on the rest of the population--including the vast majority of the medical community.
There is strong evidence that certain DNA mutations can determine whether or not you have a natural susceptibility or resistance to manifesting lyme in a healthy or unhealthy way--but I think most people have the Bb bacteria in their bodies. Thus, as was previously shared--owning the bacteria doesn't necessarily result in lyme disease. Some 90% of Americans have HHV-6 or Epstein Barr Virus but don't produce symptoms. I think there are many examples.
So, let's assume most of us have Bb in our bodies. I think it's also safe to assume that the Bb can manifest itself into various pathogenic diseases (ALZ, Parkinson's, MS, etc.) that are currently assumed incurable (although I think this is only because they don't yet understand or can agree to a cause). But not everyone is diagnosed with these diseases (even though most of us have the bacteria), so some of us must be able to manage the microbes better than others.
The problem with that theory is that most people don't get the ALZ dx until the disease has done enough damage to present with symptoms. But since that is generally later in life, the Bb has been there a long time by then and since the medical and science communities are not approaching ALZ as an infectious disease, we'll never know exactly when the Bb start causing irreversible damage unless we're specifically looking into it and getting tested/evaluated.
A question for all of us here with Bb in the brain (suggested by cognitive issues or neuro issues or lesions evident in MRIs, etc.) - are these sx exhibiting early stages of _____ (fill in the blank)?
If so, and if those symptoms subside with effective treatment--we're assuming the infection is now mostly removed from the brain. So how does this affect our risk down the road for those degenerative diseases?
MY history
I never had clear lyme & co symptoms until I took various abx over the course of 13 months. I had a severe sinus infection that wouldn't go away with all the various abx MDs were giving me--and eventually it dropped into my chest as bronchitis.
Turns out it was a fungal infection and while the abx just made the infections worse, and some of these abx are actually used to treat lyme & co--they stirred the lyme & co hornet's nest. Next thing I know, I've developed pretty strong and identifiable symptoms. And once I google them and lyme kept popping up, I was able to get myself to an LLMD and started my treatment.
I don't think that Bb is the root cause of my current unhealthy state unless I was infected when I was a child. Instead, I have always had a hard time with EBV and I also had some DNA mutations that put me at risk for a challenged immune system. The lyme & co was just a bonus.
So my treatment goal isn't just to dominate the Bb infection and the other infections, bacteria, viruses, fungi that plague me. That's just one stage. The ultimate goal is to heal all of it and get my immune system strong again and heal the other body systems that have been weakened or damaged along the way. I am assuming my lyme & co treatment will be successful (in that I will emerge 90% symptom-free) and then I think my main focus will eventually be my gut.
This might actually take the rest of my life LOL but certainly, the lyme & co treatment is one very critical stage of it.
Tease the disease
I'd like to think that treating the infection is a good way to test your immune response to see if it can remain dominant over the infection and also to test to see if your body is just naturally resistant to the microbe (i.e.--no symptoms/herxing means you're good).
For me, until there is a way to know for sure how the bacteria is manifesting, I'm probably going to be on some antimicrobial for the rest of my life. It's also really really important to always maintain a healthy immune system, to manage stress, to eat well and to be mindful of other stressors that could tip the scales unfavorably. And this gets more important with age.
Most of us are using our symptoms to gauge our progress with treatment--so being asymptomatic has to mean something for those of us who were not always asymptomatic. But it may not mean the same thing for those who have always been asymptomatic.
However, we've all read the stories or know someone or are one of those people who were asymptomatic... until they weren't--I think you mentioned that in your initial post, Chapelle. If it were me, I wouldn't want to take the risk that I've just been lucky to a point and a tipping point could bring down the house of cards. Other people have better genes than I do, though.
SO I think we have to keep in mind that we all are dealing with a different context for why we are symptom-free sometimes and why we aren't. Look into your health history, that of your parents and grandparents--have your DNA investigated... There just isn't enough definitive research about
the current epidemic. We have to make choices we can live with now--and into the future.
-p
Post Edited (Pirouette) : 5/14/2016 10:20:52 AM (GMT-6)