Hi Ticker,
Thanks again for the information. Today was a bad day all day as far as my health. But I was able to call a support group called The Michigan Lyme Disease Associate. In my area a nice fellow and a doctor named Neal answered. He is 70 and has had Lyme since 1989. He is still treated today with tetracycline. His wife also has it. They are being treated by Dr. Ledtke up in Saginaw. He sent me some great information by email. I wanted to let you read a little he wrote me. I copied it and pasted it here:

Karl, here is the periodically revised and updated email that I send
out to folks who inquire about Lyme disease and the best Michigan
doctors who treat it. A few of the links that I've been sending to
people may no longer be active, but I haven't had time to check them
all. If you find dead links, please let me know which ones they are.

For comprehensive information, look at Dr. Joseph Burrascano's
Guidelines on Lyme Disease (See attached file). Most Lyme-literate
folks consider Dr. Burrascano's Guidelines to be the gold standard
for diagnosis and treatment, because they are based on the results of
his many years of actually treating thousands of Lyme disease cases
in eastern Long Island, where the disease is a major public health
problem: [url]http://www.lymenet.org/links.shtml[/url] .

However, many, if not most, academic researchers strongly disagree
with aspects of Burrascano's approach, particularly those having to
do with length and aggressiveness of treatment. The newly-issued
(late 2006) but medieval guidelines for treating Lyme and other
tick-borne diseases from the highly conservative Infectious Disease
Society of America are based on an old-fashioned, simplistic view of
the disease and a total rejection of ample evidence in the refereed
medical literature for adopting a more aggressive approach to
treating a highly variable, persistent, and complex spirochetal infection.

The infectious disease specialists in this area are very conservative
in their approach to Lyme (i.e., subscribe to the misguided ideas of
rheumatologist Alan Steere) and most seem to believe there is no Lyme
disease in Michigan. In fact, there is no Lyme-literate MD that I
know of in the Ann Arbor area. There are only a few doctors in
Michigan that I consider to be Lyme-literate (i.e., they understand
the disease, are familiar with the latest research findings on
neuroborreliosis in North America and Europe, and use aggressive
therapeutic methods found by other lyme-literate clinicians to be
successful in treating this widely-misunderstood disease:

(1) Michael A. Ledtke, MD, in Saginaw, MI (989-793-7779) and . My
wife and I go to Dr. Ledtke. He is trained as a family physician, has
Lyme disease himself, and has treated his own children for Lyme. I
know that there is currently a long waiting list to see Dr. Ledtke,
for he cannot increase the number of patients he is currently seeing
without jeopardizing his own health. However, if a person strongly
suspects he may have contracted Lyme disease and can find a
supportive family practitioner who is willing to consult with Dr.
Ledtke by phone, that arrangement has worked out for some patients
who live as far away as California.

(2) Arnold Markowitz, MD, 2112 Cass Lake Rd., Keego Harbor, MI
48320-1272 (248-681-0360). I have never met the man, and I
understand that he sometimes has a gruff demeanor, but both the MLDA
and I have been referring people to him for some years now. The
reports I have gotten back on him were generally quite positive.

(3) At a 2005 meeting of the Michigan Lyme Disease Association
(MLDA), I also have heard favorable reports about Dr. James L.
Ziobron, a DO near Romeo, Michigan (although he has some questionable
ideas about removing old mercury amalgam fillings and chelation
therapy) - his office is at 71441 Van Dyke Rd., Bruce, MI 48065, at
32nd and Van Dyke (586-336-3700).

(4) Other Lyme-literate doctors that I've recently heard about (from
Dr. Ledtke) are Robert DeJonge, D.O., 2251 East Paris Ave. SE, Grand
Rapids, MI 49546 (616-956-6090), and

(5) Kevin T. Stephan, MD, St. Mary's Duluth Clinic, 400 East 3rd St.,
Duluth, MN 55805 (218-786-3737).

There are two excellent books that I recommend to people who want to
learn more about this disease (both reasonably-priced paperbacks):
"Coping with Lyme Disease: A Practical Guide to Dealing with
Diagnosis and Treatment," by Denise Lang and Kenneth Liegner, M.D.,
and "Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease and Other
Tick-Borne Disorders," 2nd Edition, by Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner.
Both may be ordered online from ***********


Thank's again Ticker I'll keep you posted.

Hey Ticker, I found a support group in Michigan. I spoke to the leader Neal, who is a 70 year old male and was diagnosed with Lyme back in 1989. He is still being treated with tetracycline daily. His wife also is being treated for Lyme. His doctor is the one referred by you, Dr. Michale Ledtke. Neal says that he is excellent in treating Lyme and also has Lyme disease himself as well as one of his children. I also have two more LLMD in Michigan that Neal recommends. There may be a wait and I have had these symptoms for 17 months and I need an answer. I am really frustrated. I have the lab kit sent by IgeneX and will send my blood in for diagnosis while I wait to se the doctor.

Just wondering you said that you were extremely ill by the time diagnosed. How long were you physically ill before they found out it was Lyme? What blood tests did they run? Did you ever have the rash? Did you develope any cardiac or neurological conditions? Before diagnosis,did you ever run into a problem with a doctor or doctors not believing you? I am having this problem. They say "its anxiety its depression" here take these pills. Of course now I realize I'm not seeing the right doc.

Thanks for the help!