Wondering if anyone has any personal experience with this - symptoms they've experienced, etc. And how difficult was it to get diagnosed in Alberta? My understanding is that the single test done in this province is highly unreliable and you're much more likely to get an accurate result by sending your blood to the US for testing.
It is very difficult to get diagnosed, there is testing done in the states and some in Germany I believe. There are very few doctors in Calgary who deal with it and a lot of the medication and testing is not covered by AHS. The waits to get in and see a doctor are pretty crazy (~2 years) and Lyme can present with the same symptoms as many other illnesses. For some reason the Canadian healthcare industry is not as willing to acknowledge Lyme as the US.
a guy at my dads golf course got it, out on vcr island, and he was misdiagnosed either there and diagnosed properly in Phoenix, or vice versa, I forget.
The outcome was, he was a guy that used to walk the golf course 2x daily, to a guy that can barely walk at all, and has severely limited movement in general. Golf is a long distant memory now.
Not trying to worry you, but it is pretty serious to not be diagnosed properly.
Chronic Lyme disease is a scam. You heard of fake news, well this is a fake disease. Lyme disease does exist but so many people are getting their symptoms misdiagnosed as chronic Lyme disease.
One interesting thing is that one side argues that this disease wildly underdiagnosed and we dont know the true numbers of people that are impacted, while many doctors and scientist believe its over diagnosed incorrectly currently.
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If you found a tick on yourself you can send it in for testing to know for sure whether it carries the disease or not. A colleague was telling me he knew an individual in Ontario who got Lyme disease and no doctor was able to properly diagnose her for years until she ultimately died from it. Really extreme and rare case but don't ever rule out Lyme disease, especially if you found a tick on yourself or spend a lot of time in nature.
Lyme disease is rather en vogue among the internet diagnostic crowd as a hopeful reason to explain a waste basket of not uncommon chronic symptoms. Virtually everyone considering that they have Lyme disease apparently knows a friend of a friend who was misdiagnosed until a miraculous diagnosis & cure in the US. Not saying you don't have it, but it's quite rare in Alberta, particularly if you don't have a tick bite history from elsewhere.
Ask your GP for a referral to an infectious disease specialist if you think you might legitimately have it.
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I am not sure weather to consider myself lucky or not, but in my lifetime I have yet to have picked up a tick.
as a complete aside, how about those lonestar ticks that somehow make you allergic to meat. a friend of mine on facebook was saying it was a government created thing to get people off of meat.
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Oddly enough - I just heard this afternoon a friend of a friend's kid was bit in Calgary in their yard and contracted Lyme...either a huge coincidence or it is indeed the new "gluten intolerance"
35 blacklegged ticks (i.e., Ixodes ticks) found in Alberta were positive for B. burgdorferi, all of which were found on animals.
147 blacklegged ticks found in Alberta were negative for B. burgdorferi.
1499 non-blacklegged ticks were found within Alberta. Local Alberta ticks such as moose ticks and Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks (for example, Dermacentor species) do not carry the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in humans.
1101#ticks were found outside Alberta.
What this means for Albertans
Between 1991 and 2016, 87 cases of Lyme disease were reported to Alberta Health. All were reported as having been acquired while travelling outside of the province in areas where the bacteria causing Lyme disease and the ticks that carry it are known to circulate.
From 2013 to 2016, there was almost a three-fold increase in the number of ticks submitted by Albertans. The proportion of blacklegged ticks positive for B. burgdorferi has not increased.
Based on the current evidence, blacklegged ticks are not reproducing in Alberta.
In Alberta, the risk of being bitten by a blacklegged tick is low. The risk of being bitten by a blacklegged tick infected with B. burgdorferi, the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in humans, is even lower.
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35 blacklegged ticks (i.e., Ixodes ticks) found in Alberta were positive for B. burgdorferi, all of which were found on animals.
147 blacklegged ticks found in Alberta were negative for B. burgdorferi.
1499 non-blacklegged ticks were found within Alberta. Local Alberta ticks such as moose ticks and Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks (for example, Dermacentor species) do not carry the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in humans.
1101#ticks were found outside Alberta.
What this means for Albertans
Between 1991 and 2016, 87 cases of Lyme disease were reported to Alberta Health. All were reported as having been acquired while travelling outside of the province in areas where the bacteria causing Lyme disease and the ticks that carry it are known to circulate.
From 2013 to 2016, there was almost a three-fold increase in the number of ticks submitted by Albertans. The proportion of blacklegged ticks positive for B. burgdorferi has not increased.
Based on the current evidence, blacklegged ticks are not reproducing in Alberta.
In Alberta, the risk of being bitten by a blacklegged tick is low. The risk of being bitten by a blacklegged tick infected with B. burgdorferi, the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in humans, is even lower.
I love your numbers and all, but my Naturopath said my chronic fatigue is actually Chronic lyme disease. Good thing I spend $500 per month on vitmains and supplements to cure me.
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An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced and alternative ideas are not considered.
People are getting diagnosed in the US but not in Canada? Maybe a problem with the US system and a propensity to over-treat.
What are the odds a lot of these lyme disease diagnoses are followed with an opioid prescription?
The eastern seaboard also the prime area for disease carrying ticks and happens to be the most concentrated population in North America. So while over diagnosis may be an issue it certainly isnt uniform affect over the US based on CDC maps
The eastern seaboard also the prime area for disease carrying ticks and happens to be the most concentrated population in North America. So while over diagnosis may be an issue it certainly isnt uniform affect over the US based on CDC maps
Indeed. Onondaga Lake Park has signs up about it. The county did a survey of the area and found there to be a deer tick every three square feet of the park. I've had 2 of them on me just from my own back yard. Two of my neighbors have been diagnosed with Lyme disease. I saw the bull's eye one neighbor's arm, the other guy's doctor found a bull's eye on his scalp.
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Lyme Disease
