Find a Lyme Literate Doctor

My recovery only began when I found a Lyme literate medical doctor(LLMD)—a doctor following the latest research and treating those suffering from chronic Lyme.

Sadly, because of the politics and controversy surrounding Lyme today, many doctors believe that no Lyme bacteria survive in the body after a couple of weeks of antibiotics. Others believe that a Lyme infection can last longer, and that long-term treatment is needed. These courageous doctors help patients get better despite the position of the Infectious Disease Society and at great risk, by the way, of being reprimanded by their local medical board. Testing is not reliable at this point, with 50% false negatives, so Lyme specialists must rely on their expertise to make a clinical diagnosis considering your history, your symptoms, and more.

Doctors may tell you everything from “You don’t have Lyme” when in fact you do, to “It’s all in your head, you’re making up symptoms for attention.”

A Lyme literate doctor has seen thousands of patients like us, and will say, “You have Lyme, I believe you, I can help you get your life back.”

Get referrals through these organizations:

• The Lyme Disease Association
• LymeDisease.org
  
• International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS)

Find a support group by searching online in your area. NATCAPLYME runs groups in DC, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina; click HERE. Online support groups can be a great resource, too, if you can’t get out and about.

Friendships with fellow Lyme patients who “get it” (when friends and family and doctors don’t) is one of the best things you can do for yourself!