Physician That Treats Lyme Disease (Charlotte, Washington: insurance, live, professionals)
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Charlotte had one of the nation's pre-eminent Lyme Disease specialists, Dr. Jemsek, treating Lyme Disease patients from all over the world, but the medical establishment here in NC disagreed w/ his approach . . .
Are you familiar w/ the controversy surrounding protocol and standards of care for treating Lyme Disease?
Finding a doc who will treat Lyme Disease here in Charlotte is difficult, especially if you are looking for one who will do more than hand you a script for 4 weeks of antibiotics.
I have already came across what you are saying. I visited Dr Jemsek's website yesterday. Not only is the disease hard to diagnose but you can't even find a doctor to diagnose it. All of my searches on the web have resulted in nothing. I'm not even sure what specialty of doctor to seek, internal med, rhumatologist or clinical pathologist, etc?? I'm still baffled why these boards are so afraid of diagnosing this disease. Thanks for your input.
Lyme Disease can be so tricky since symptoms are often confused with other medical problems. Because it's prevalent in the Northeast, seems that is where a lot of the experts are.
Go here for a referral to a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD):
And good luck - been there, done that! I don't envy what you're going through.
And don't be afraid to travel a bit to get the help you need. I see a rheumatologist at DUKE and after six years of misdiagnosis, utter frustration, anxiety, anger, bitterness and simply not finding the appropriate medical professionals in the Charlotte area, I was beyond discouraged when someone suggested DUKE. I was relieved to discover professionals who are experts in their fields and compassionate.
I don't like long drives but it thrills me that I finally found what I was looking for within a reasonable driving distance and I would've gone further if necessary.
You might want to check with Dr. Lantos at DUKE. Here is his profile:
The other route would be to seek out an epidemiologist in this region and see if he/she will be more open to the latest research involving Lyme Disease. Sadly, the medical board here are all wrapped up with insurance companies. Since it is expensive to treat Lyme Disease properly (my opinion, wh/ definitely does not jive w/ that of the medical establishment!) . . . the whole situation is a tangled up mess. I think eventually the medical community will have to "come around" and recognize the research on the disease and its treatment but that doesn't look promising for the near future, especially w/ our insurance industry being way too influential in these matters.
I would ask my Doctor before asking this on a website.
Mike, the problem is . . . the docs are not gonna go a "non-traditional" route to treat Lyme Disease and so the treatment can end up being worthless. You need to read up on the controversey b/f telling someone not to come here for suggestions. Folks who have lived here know others who have gone thru/ treatment for Lyme Disease, either successful treatment or treatment that did not go far enough and has left people w/ ongoing issues that the medical establishment here is not willing to address for fear of losing their licenses.
It is a very controversial subject, especially in this state.
I started writing about Lyme Disease back in the 80s, when it was still a fairly new diagnosis. There is a lot of debate within the medical community about the disease and its treatment, but most docs won't touch it. So it is not as easy as asking a doc for a referral. I know of several folks who have literally spent YEARS being referred f/ one doc to another and no one gets to the root of the problem, b/c docs don't want to treat w/ IV antibiotics over the long term, as that will get them in trouble w/ the state medical board here - plus insurance companies will not approve the treatment. It is a lot more complicated that the uninformed are aware.
Mike, the problem is . . . the docs are not gonna go a "non-traditional" route to treat Lyme Disease and so the treatment can end up being worthless. You need to read up on the controversey b/f telling someone not to come here for suggestions. Folks who have lived here know others who have gone thru/ treatment for Lyme Disease, either successful treatment or treatment that did not go far enough and has left people w/ ongoing issues that the medical establishment here is not willing to address for fear of losing their licenses.
It is a very controversial subject, especially in this state.
I started writing about Lyme Disease back in the 80s, when it was still a fairly new diagnosis. There is a lot of debate within the medical community about the disease and its treatment, but most docs won't touch it. So it is not as easy as asking a doc for a referral. I know of several folks who have literally spent YEARS being referred f/ one doc to another and no one gets to the root of the problem, b/c docs don't want to treat w/ IV antibiotics over the long term, as that will get them in trouble w/ the state medical board here - plus insurance companies will not approve the treatment. It is a lot more complicated that the uninformed are aware.
The power of the internet and bam! only one search on Google and here's what I found http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/
They even have a doctor referral program. Maybe this would help?
The power of the internet and bam! only one search on Google and here's what I found http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/
They even have a doctor referral program. Maybe this would help?
I wish it was as easy as BAM. Been doing research for the past two days. It amazes me when you have to join a group to get a physician referral b/c doctors don't want there names associated with Lyme.
The power of the internet and bam! only one search on Google and here's what I found http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/
They even have a doctor referral program. Maybe this would help?
One would think that would help, but if you do your research, you will find that even that society says the docs are reluctant to have their names listed for referral. They have a set up on the site where you can only search once every so many days (30 days? 90 days? I dont' remember) . . . and they rotate the few names they have . . . and only give out a maximum of 3 at a time . . . so no one doc will be inundated w/ calls.
Even if you are able to get the name of a doc, that doesn't mean they are willing to accept new patients, either, as none of them want to have attention called to them b/c of the drugs they are having to prescribe for treatment.
Then you have the whole issue of insurance on top of that.
Truly, it is not a simple situation at all.
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