I am currently going through Lyme & Bartonella treatment from a tick bite in northern Michigan last summer. I've been to multiple doctors, had multiple blood panels and blood tests(Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia, Erlichia, etc). I wanted to share what I've learned in hopes that it helps others. This is what I've learned (it's kind of lengthy):

- Lyme exists everywhere on Earth as delivered by avian/mice/tick/deer/animal populations and it is adept at survival in many hosts for a long time. These tick bacteria are very adept at subverting portions of a hosts immune system to maintain their existence in the host. Healthier or adapted hosts can clear the bacteria, in all forms, easier that immuno compromised hosts.

- Ticks can transmit Lyme within 10 minutes of feeding depending on the blood circulation from the host and saliva transmit rates. Co-infections like Bartonella (24+ strains), Babesia, Erlichia happen in a very large percentage of bites. The 'bullseye rash' may or may not appear depending on Lyme strain, the host immune system, and how the two interact.

- Lyme feeds on collagen is ubiquitous in the body, that is why symptoms can occur everywhere and sporadically depending on immune response (local and systemic). Lyme uses Manganese to facilitate it's "feeding process" (Stanford has a in-vitro study on Claritin which disrupts Manganese in this mechanism).
I've had brain fog, slight dizziness, eye film, tendon inflammation (ankles/elbows/hands), sore neck/shoulders, streaked rashes (bartonella), all sporadic.

- 6 weeks after tick bite, I successfully diagnosed myself with Lyme and Bartonella. This took 3+ months for a handful of doctors and blood tests before doctors agreed. (Listen to your body, but don't go nuts and overexagerate ;-). See below

- A dermatologist prescribed 1 200 mg 1 week after my tick bite roughly following CDC guidelines (useless). ~17 days after tick bite a 100 fever with severe achilles tendon inflammation (painful almost ruptured). Started 3 week Doxycycline 100 mg (2x day) from Urgent care doctor. ELISA, Western Blot IgG, IgM both negative (summary only, no antibody blots provided). Some brain fog improvement on Doxycycline. 2 week flares of my achilles tendon issues while on Doxycycline. Doxycycline extended to 5 weeks with no improvement. My primary care doctor said 3 weeks cleared it up, remaining symptoms were from something else (I dropped that dr). Next internist did more blood tests and suspected something. Out of pocket Igenex (out of pocket) test at 2 months indicate negative Lyme, with trace amounts of 3 Lyme specific antibody stains and 1 antibody shared with chlamydia. Infectious Disease doctor at 2 month mark said I was cured and that they would only treat symptoms caused by unknown with rheumatologist and neurologist with pharmaceuticals. Infectious Disease dr ignored my Bartonella claim due to ankle tendon pain and a week later ignored my email photo of Bartonella specific rash. I timed another set of Bartonella tests with my primary care (new) at 3 months and a peak in my symptom cycle. An insurance covered PCR (dna) test was negative while out of pocket Igenex Bartonella FISH (antigen) test that I found and asked the doctor to submit, was positive from blood samples taken that time/arm. My primary care y is striving to learn more about Lyme now and admitted the CDC was incorrect. I started acupuncture and Chinese medicine 3+ months in and it makes a difference. I finally saw a Lyme doctor 4+ months after the bite (I was on the waiting list for 2 months), I am getting additional western herbal treatment in combination with Chinese herbals. Things are improving but I get occassional spikes in symptoms (all over), which is usually what people are hampered by during treatment (antibiotics and/or herbal). Sadly, my case history is less severe compared to many.

- Lyme testing (antibody/dna/antigen) via blood is problematic because the bacteria prefers to feed on collagen tissue and is rarely hanging out in the blood flow. The CDC, per Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), recommends a garbage test first (ELISA - inconsistent results from same blood draw). The Western Blot results are often summarized instead of displaying entire results (it ignores Lyme specific antibodies related to defunct vaccination that almost nobody received). USE Igenex (Palo Alto), Galaxy Labs, or dnaconnexions for more reliable results (still not guaranteed).

- Lyme vaccination would be extremely difficult since the bacteria can change its outer surface protein (OSP) depending on host and location within the host. Vaccination antibodies work against these proteins. The Lyme vaccination from the mid 1990s targeted protein 34 and 1 other OspA (I cannot remember). Both of these antibodies ARE IGNORED by the CDC Western Blot test unless you used a lab with more expertise.

- The CDC and Infectious Disease doctors ignore millions of clinical observations and real world treatments in favor of small studies subject to selection bias (see uptodate.com and read through the studies). ILADS doctors, herbalists, and Chinese medicine/acupuncture actually treat chronic patients and their clinical perspective and evidences is often discarded as non-scientific by the CDC (which is bullshit, this data is all relevant). The CDC does not emphasize and has spent almost no resources to iteratively address the shortcomings in their positions and improve poor testing.

- Because of poor testing and misinformation from the CDC, many people are misdiagnosed with MS, Dementia, arthritis, Alzheimers, etc and I've met a number of them in my limited circle of contacts. Kris Kristoferson's case is very common. For example, brain autopsies of beta-amyloid deposits (Alzheimers), have many of these bacteria in them. In short, antibiotics are not sufficient to clear the bacteria in ~100,000+ cases per year (lots of studies and clinical cases showing antibiotics won't work). Many people are prescribed steroids or other immune suppressing pharmaceuticals, or associated 'medicines' for neurological conditions (I was pushed to a rheumatologist).

- Treatment: Chinese herbal, Western herbal, some antibiotic, vitamin supplements, acupuncture, intermittent water fasting (16-24 hours helps me with herxing or bacteria die off). Fasting also helps with autophagy and neutrophil trap activity (neither one of those works well with sugar in the system).

- Improvements: awareness, better bacteria testing, better blood panels to track immune state at regular intervals throughout life (cytokine, chemokine, interferon, etc), more awareness of treatment options (pharmaceutical and/or herbal). EDUCATION and EMPATHY should be major goals of any doctor.

- Resources: www.ilads.org, "Healing Lyme" by Buhner, Lyme Literate Doctors, and own/friends/family experience.

- key points:
listen to your body, educate yourself, be your own advocate, be open to treatment approaches, strengthening your immune system is always the best option (some genetic abnormalities aside)