Lyme Disease

I have a US friend studying for 3 years for a PHD at Cambridge University.  She has Lyme disease (a treatable tick born infection, not passed from human to human) and needs to keep in touch with a doctor on a fairly regular basis to monitor her condition.

Anyway, she feels that her Cambridgd GP is not fully aware of the condition and she would like to 'self-refer' to see a specialist - any ideas on where she should go or who she should go to??  She's happy to pay.

Any bright ideas will be passed on!

this reminds me, as i have the same thing and luckily have been feeling ok as of recent......but not all the time

i signed up for private insurance so i could get treatment if necessary but have no researched any local specialists.

she should be seeing an infectious disease specialist.  that's who helped me when i had it bad a few years ago (i could barely walk and had facial paralysis).  I'll be looking for an infectious disease specialist if it plays up again.

now, I'm just living with the sideaffects. 

Your friend could try contacting the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine (www.lshtm.ac.uk ).  I know Lyme's isn't "tropical", but LSHTM would be centre/agency that knows most about it, and they should be able to tell you nearest specialist/hospital to Cambridge.

My ex-boyfriend had it about 15 years ago, but it took the docs 2 years or so to diagnose it.   
They first told him to pull himself together and stop being a wimp, basically.  Then they decided he had ME.    Dont know how they finally worked out that it was Lyme, but once they did, and treated him, he recovered.   Although even now (or when i last saw him) he had a very low exhaustion threshold (if there is such a thing!)... once he got tired, he would go downhill fast and there was no 'second wind'. 

Lyme disease really scares me- I am moving back to New England and I knew of several people there with it.  It is on the rise in the UK too, so I was keen to know more about it and found this
http://www.wadhurst.demon.co.uk/lyme/index.htm

, it might help with the name of a Consultant over here.  If you can find UK specific support groups/forums, they often discuss Consultants on boards like that.

Very interesting article in either Eve magazine or She (happy to send it to anyone if they want it) about a lady who was finally diagnosed with it over here and she went through hell being treated for depression, poor thing.

Amy- hope it doesnt affect you too badly anymore

well i'm tired all the time now.  if i get run down i can barely function,  i can be in bed for days. 

my brain actually gets tired over the course of the day from working.  i have 20x20 sight and sharpness in the morning and by the end of the day i'm mixing words and need glasses.

also i still see differences in one half of my face, as do doctors.

i also have rhumatoid authritis, my hands lock up and ugh.....it's just terrible.

But i'm better off than some, i had no permanent organ damage.  I had it for a year and a half before i was diagnosed and it's quite dangerous after a few months.  i knew something was wrong but doctors would NOT listen. 

Thanks for the tips folks.  Lyme Disease sounds most unpleasant - hope Aimiloo keeps on top of it.