Under Our Skin--now on Netflix

[wonko]

This isn't the newest of news, but the documentary "Under Our Skin" is available for instant watch through Netflix.

I've read that it is also getting played on some PBS stations.

I own a copy of the DVD, but I like that now it can be watched through Netflix because that makes it easier to share with friends and family.  I do not think the movie is perfect in every way, but I do think it is a good way to familiarize people who are not aware of either the impact that Lyme can have on our lives or the medical controversy surrounding it.

[wonko]

I definitely can see both sides of how folks react to the film:  It can be alarming if you are not expecting to see people who are so sick, and it can be validating to have the devastation of Lyme/TBI shown.  Overall I'm glad the movie is more readily available.  I think there are a lot of folks with Lyme who don't know it, but they may be very dismissive of the idea.  I think the movie does a good job of pointing out that something beyond the traditional understanding of Lyme as "hard to get, easy to cure," is going on and affecting many lives.

I'm thinking of gently suggested some people in my life to watch it so that they may have a better sense for some of what I've gone through.

[ree427]

I own a copy of this movie and I am one of those quite debilitated from Lyme and it's co-infections. I found some segments of the movie to be encouraging b/c it shows a few really sick people getting better. I guess it could be frightening if you are not that sick, but encouraging if you are one of the unlucky ones who are. I am glad it is getting out there in the general public.

[JackieCalifornia]

I also suggest watching the movie if you want to understand more about the controversies about diagnosis and treatment, BUT with a warning:  

The movie shows a small number of actual Lyme patients and what they have gone through, but some of the patients shown are in terrible shape.  Not every one with Lyme, and probably most people with Lyme, do NOT have such severe symptoms such as muscle contractions so severe as to be unable to function day to day.

There are many 'walking wounded' Lyme patients, who carry on in day to day life going to work and taking care of family, and only a small number (how small, I don't know) of Lyme patients end up as bedridden and debilitated as in the movie.

===>>> My point is:  if you see the movie, please do NOT be frightened that you are very likely to end up non-functional like some of those in the movie.  Most of us do not.

A number of the Lyme patients shown in the movie came to the showing I attended and took questions on the stage afterward.  At first I couldn't figure out who they were, because they looked SO healthy compared to the frail and twisted people in the movie.  The movie, for dramatic effect, leaves a more alarming impression.