The Boothbay Region Health Center is committed to becoming “lyme-literate” because we know that we live in an endemic area for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. We intend to be the first place patients think of when they suspect they’ve been bitten by a tick and/or begin to feel symptoms that might be the result of tick-borne diseases. We know we still have a lot to learn in order to be considered truly Lyme-Literate. But we’re working on it. We’re already becoming more adept at quickly diagnosing Lyme and its many co-infections because we use the best labs in the country for early detection and diagnosis of Lyme, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Bartonella, Erlichiosis, Powassan, etc. Once diagnosed, we begin the appropriate treatment immediately and also refer patients to local specialists. In September, we ran a workshop in which patients with chronic lyme met with our providers and staff to learn more about the patient experience surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of tick-born diseases and why it’s so problematic.
We learned a lot from the patients. The biggest take-aways included:
- Test any tick a patient brings in for multiple diseases. It’s cheaper to test the tick than the patient. And then you know right away what you may be dealing with.
- Suspect Lyme and/or another co-infection (Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Bartonella, Erlichiosis, Powassan, etc) whenever a patient presents with certain symptoms, with or without any known tick encounter. (We now use a tick-borne disease symptom screening tool that helps).
- Use labs that specialize in diagnosing tick-borne diseases from the outset. Don’t waste time sending samples to generic labs.
- Understand that these diseases quickly become chronic. They are difficult to eradicate and they re-occur under stress. Treat patients with understanding and respect when they continue to report the ever-changing symptoms that these diseases create.
- Successful treatment needs to be both Allopathic (standard western medicine) AND Naturopathic. There are treatments that patients will need in addition to antibiotics and other medicines. These often include acupuncture, ozone therapy, herbal remedies, nutrition, and many other ways to support healing. Patients specifically requested that we include naturopathic treatments and respect and partner with the naturopathic practitioners they trust and use.
We’re hoping to add a Naturopathic, lyme-literate practitioner to our staff. If you know of anyone who would be available to work part-time in the Boothbay Region, please let them know we’re looking.