Yay!! I love stories like yours, well, at least the part about the psychiatrist, not the part about struggling to get a diagnosis.
I, too, have qualms about long term antibiotics. But I know a woman who was so afraid of antibiotics, she wouldn't give any to her 12 year old daughter. They spent a fortune on hyperbaric treatments, supplements, ionic therapy and a bunch of other "alternative" treatments. Three years later, the poor girl is still miserable and missing out on adolescence because she's isolated at home in pain. The dad finally stepped in a few weeks ago and insisted on heavy duty abx.
So, my conclusion is that the long term abx might be hard on me, but whatever harm it might do, it would surely be a whole lot less than what Lyme was already doing to me. And my system can recover from abx use, whereas it would not recover from permanent damage done by ongoing Borrelia infection. (Note-I am still taking $$ of supplements to help me through the treatment process,)
Isn't it amazing how the disapproval of a doctor weighs heavy on us? Even when we aren't satisfied with what that doctor is saying?
Check out the movie "Under Our Skin." it will probably help you feel better about your treatment. :)
Good for your doc!
And I know how you felt, apologizing and hanging your head explaining to the doc. I did that with my ophthalmologist, and he had about the same reaction your doc did: yes, it's serious, and good that you're taking treatment. YAY! VALIDATION!!!
You say above: "I still don't know if this is active lyme or an old and already fought off case that I'm fighting for no real reason"
If the bugs were dead, you wouldn't be having symptoms, imo. I don't buy the theory that the nonLLMDs have, about 'post-Lyme syndrome' -- which is the theory (or to the nonLLMDs, the correct view) that if you still have symptoms after a couple weeks of treatment for Lyme, then it's your immune system OVER-REACTING to bacteria that are no longer there.
The rule of Occam's razor says that one should "select among competing hypotheses that which makes the fewest assumptions and thereby offers the simplest explanation of the effect." My view exactly: if you still got symptoms, you still got bugs.
Hang tough! You're doing great!!
yipee hurray,one for the good guys. I love hearing that because I have been where you were and validation is the best. Many of us have been there. I was told, despite all my symptoms, that I was in remission because of the western blot. wrong.....
Good attitude, Good Luck. keep us updated.