does lyme disease mimic or cause other conditions?

You were bitten by an infectious tick. Maybe you know when... maybe you don’t. It injected you likely with bacteria, viruses, and protozoa (single cell parasite), and maybe the meat sugar, alpha gal. 

Was tick-borne infection the single cause of ALL of your symptoms? 

Not likely. The popular public medical opinion (from those who are savvy enough to acknowledge chronic Lyme disease) is that Lyme “mimics” dozens of medical conditions. 

I consider this concept to be grossly simplistic and fiendishly deceptive. 

While it is certainly true that many symptoms and harmful physical changes do not take place as direct result of Borrelia (Lyme bacteria) infection; it seems crystal clear that it lights the fire for significant deterioration throughout your body. 

When your body is weakened by destructive invading microorganisms, it renders you less capable of handling other problems. 

This is no great medical revelation. Yet, when it comes to broad-based medical acknowledgement of Lyme as a genesis point for multiple maladies, there is mostly silence.

When your immune system is weakened by ANY infection, your body can become fertile ground for countless other microbes to flourish.

When your immune system is high functioning, you are capable of fighting off all kinds of viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi. 

Why wouldn't you become susceptible to many other diseases as a result of the immune suppressing force of Lyme? 

Is it accurate to call Lyme the “Great Pretender?” 

NO...is it actually the great INSTIGATOR! 

I think calling it the great pretender is plain stupid! 

If an individual, who was feeling great in perfect health, was bitten by an infectious tick, one may logically assume that any ACUTE symptoms would be associated with tick-borne infection. 

However, it is frequently the case that the bite victim is unaware of the bite; no tick was ever seen or felt, and no red mark or characteristic bull’s eye rash developed. This person might over time, develop various symptoms that depending on what doctor, or type of doctor seen, could be diagnosed in a variety of ways:

A general medical practitioner might diagnose the patient with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

A neurologist might diagnose the patient with peripheral neuropathy and prescribe Neurontin. 

A rheumatologist might diagnose the patient with fibromyalgia syndrome, and prescribe Lyrica. 

A psychiatrist my diagnose depression and prescribe drugs for such. 

All of the hypothetical (but very common) diagnoses above could be well-justified. Nevertheless it would be blatantly inaccurate to suggest that Lyme disease “mimicked” these conditions. 

Lyme Borrelia is but ONE type of infectious microorganism that trigger dozens of symptoms. Many medical diagnoses are merely stating in Latin, what the patient said in English:

Patient: “I have pins and needles down my legs with numbness in my toes.”

Doctor: “You have peripheral neuropathy.”

or…

Patient: “I have headaches only on my left side, behind my eye, and I feel dizzy, and I throw up.”

Doctor: “You have Migraines.”

or...

Patient: “My whole body hurts… I can’t sleep, I’m always tired, and I feel depressed.”

Doctor: “You have fibromyalgia syndrome.”

My patients regularly described the above scenarios as their experience with previous doctors. The fact is that these diagnostic names frequently lack any substance of CAUSE factor. This is shameful because any symptom can have various or multiple causes. 

I passionately desire truth in advertising. More crudely put, I have an extremely low tolerance for BS! In my opinion, there's an epidemic of it in medical diagnosis. Patients tell their doctors their symptoms in English... and they get the same words back, but in Latin!

In my opinion, when it comes to chronic illness and symptoms, a diagnosis without at least one proposed cause factor associated with it, is an incomplete diagnosis.

How about: Lyme induced Migraines? Or Peripheral neuropathy associated with chronic Lyme disease? 

Could it be that medical diagnosis truth in advertising would be disruptive to the health care system? 

If fibromyalgia was recognized by the public as being directly (or even indirectly) triggered by Lyme disease, would that not affect public perception of FDA approved fibromyalgia drugs, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Savella? 

Would fibromyalgia patients be questioning their Lyrica-prescribing physicians about treating the underlying cause (which in my experience is commonly Lyme)? 

Unfortunately, as long as the bulk of so-called conventional medicine entails treating symptoms by mating each with a drug (ignoring cause factors), tick-borne infection associated illness will not be diagnosed. 

Since there’s substantial evidence that long-term antibiotic usage is an unhealthy practice (for all conditions, not just Lyme), I suspect it’s much easier, convenient, and lucrative to diagnose everything else but Lyme.I would be curious to survey every doctor (of every specialty) and find out if their medical case history forms and/or their consultation include inquiry of tick bites. In my opinion, it should be an integral part of ALL medical evaluation. 

In my practice, every chronic pain sufferer, regardless of symptoms or reason for consulting with me, is questioned about a history of tick bites and/or Lyme as a diagnosis. 

Since the academic medical literature is loaded with evidence that Lyme seems to be capable of affecting any system of the human body; I’m not taking any chances with your health.

Take a look at my website page that lists the potential symptoms associated with Lyme disease. That should lay to rest the preposterous and putrid principle of medical mimicry and "Great Pretender" garbage! 

It's simple: Give the Liebell Clinic a call at (757) 631-9799 to find out how we can support your quest to improve your health, whether you've been given a diagnosis, or not. Wellness care is our specialty!