Fibromyalgia and Lyme

Chronic Pain & Wellness Solutions                       Dr. Donald Liebell
                 Complementary & Alternative Medicine -                                               477 Viking Drive Suite 170
     Backed by Mainstream Science, Research & Technology                                                              Virginia Beach, VA 23452
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 (757) 631-9799

Dr. Donald Liebell 477 Viking Drive Suite 170 Virginia Beach, VA 23452

Fibromyalgia & Lyme

Dr. Donald Liebell
Chronic Pain & Wellness Solutions:
Structural Correction
"Energy Medicine"

Do You Suffer From Any of These "Fibromyalgia" Symptoms or Conditions?

* Speech difficulties
* Impaired visual/spatial
   processing
* Heart problems
* Knee pain/arthritis
* Dizziness
* Migrating joint pain
* Chronic Neck Pain
* Muscle pains/ muscle
   twitching
* Headaches
* Excessive fatigue
* Adrenal Burnout
   Syndrome
* Memory Problems
* Numbness
* Tingling sensations
* Paralysis
* Dyslexia
* Seizures
* Irritability
* Depression
* Panic Attacks
* Mood Swings
* Obsessive Compulsive
   Disorder (OCD)
* Sleep Problems
* ADD/ADHD
* Chills, sweats and
   skin flushes
* Tremors
* Bell’s Palsy
* Optic neuritis
* Trouble swallowing
* Distortion of smell or
   taste

At first Lyme disease was thought to be mainly an arthritic illness, but it has become clear that some of its most serious symptoms are neurological and psychiatric."

Brian A. Fallon M.D., Masters of Public Health, Harvard Mental Health Letter, October 1995

Psychiatric Research Study Reveals 33% Cases Have Lyme Bacteria

"Borrelia burgdorferi infection can cause psychiatric symptoms, leading to psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, and that perhaps about 10% of psychiatric inpatients may be suffering from neuropathogenic effects of Borrelia burgdorferi

Tomáš Hájek, M.D.
Beáta Pašková, M.D.
Daniela Janovská, M.D.
Radvan Bahbouh, M.D.
Peter Hájek, Ph.D.
Jan Libiger, M.D.
Cyril Höschl, M.D., M.R.C.Psych.

American Journal of Psychiatry

“Lyme disease can masquerade as a host of psychiatric ills, confounding doctors and driving patients to question their very sanity”

"Neuro-borreliosis, Lyme
disease, lnfects the
central nervous system, and brain... and could be mistaken for a host of other ills

Pamela Weintraub - Senior Editor, Discover Magagine

"Lyme - the Great Imitator" - Psychology Today, May/June 2008, Author, "The Cure Unknown - Inside the Lyme Epidecmic"

"Although Lyme disease may be suspected, the laboratory tests available to most clinicians often lack sensitivity and thus are read as negative for Lyme disease. Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or multiple sclerosis (MS) may be erroneously diagnosed"

Robert C. Bransfield, MD

"Lyme Disease, Comorbid Tick-Borne Diseases, and Neuropsychiatric
Disorders"

Psychiatric Times Dec 1, 2007 v24 i14 p59

“Since having Dr. Liebell’s treatment, I have begun to get my energy back full force. My head and body do not hurt and I feel the fog has lifted!”

Shannon H.,
Virginia Beach

"What do you have to lose? You've tried everything else now try the best! I've come off of all the medications I was taking for Fibromyalgia and Lyme and only use the homeopathics and feel better than when I was taking medications."

- Vicki Tucker

Click HERE to Read Her Entire Story and other Lyme Recovery Success Stories

“My pain is gone most days and my days of total exhaustion are a thing of the past”

Roberta Robertson, Maryland

"I’ve been doing homeopathy to help my body with Lyme disease for a year. I could tell within a few months that it was working, and continues to do so. It just takes time and perseverance. Homeopathy puts your immune system back in action"

Jennifer Wojtala, Virginia Beach

Click HERE to Read Her Entire Story and other Lyme Recovery Success Stories

Pregnant Mother’s Recovery:

“I really don't have any symptoms, and have had no problem or side effects from the treatment. My quality of life has improved 100% from where I was 5 months ago.

I feel human again”

Amanda M., Williamsburg, VA

"People who think antibiotics are their only hope need to give this a try... they don’t have anything to lose. Not only did I have Lyme disease, but I had a few other issues also that needed to be treated.

I personally guarantee they will feel better than they ever did, and they have a doctor that actually gives a damn!"

- Karen Spivey,

Windsor, VA

“I’ve had Lyme disease for some time, but Dr. Liebell has been treating me for the past 6 months. Since I began treatment there has been a slow and significant change in my energy and feeling of well being.

I am so impressed with Dr. Liebell and his staff and would highly recommend him, as I have complete trust and faith in his methods.”

Duke Shannahan, Onancock, VA

"Antibiotics may work, and you may have to have several rounds of treatments as well. They are devastating to the body and clear out all of your good bacteria. Why would you choose that when you could take a treatment that makes you feel better while you take it? There is no negative to the homeopathy, plus the treatments are easier to take then the antibiotic therapy (where in some cases you have to walk around with an IV drip for days or weeks)."

Sarah Gondreau, Virginia Beach

Could Your "Fibromyalgia" Really Be a Case of Misdiagnosed Lyme Disease?

By Dr. Donald Liebell, D.C., B.C.A.O, B.A.

Is Fibromyalgia really an “invisible disease?”

Are you truly suffering from some mysterious syndrome of unknown causes? Is it possible doctors are taking the easy way out by furnishing this bizarre sounding diagnosis, instead of making the crucial effort to delve into the cause of your symptoms?

Could it be they can’t handle the truth of what they might find?

If you have been searching for answers for your Fibromyalgia misery… this could be the most important article you’ve ever read.

All diseases and symptoms have causes—whether they are known or not… whether the medical establishment accepts them or not, or admits their existence.

Droves of unfortunate souls have been disastrously doomed with the diagnosis of “fibromyalgia”… when the tick-spread bacterial infection known as Lyme disease was lurking silently below the surface—the cause of their grisly torment.

If all your medical tests have been normal—and you were told it's fibromyalgia... Lyme MUST be seriously reconsidered.

Perhaps you think Lyme was long “ruled out” with blood tests. Unfortunately the medically accepted “standard” Lyme blood tests are extremely faulty, controversial, and often ill-fated. In the end, diagnosis of Lyme or fibromyalgia is largely a matter of opinion, which may be based on only a minuscule fragment of actual medical evidence.

No actual laboratory test or measurable medical finding exists for Fibromyalgia.

And unless you remember being bitten by a tick, and saw a red circular rash develop around the site of the bite… you may never be able to get a 100% accurate diagnosis of Lyme.

Without this vital evidence, many people are given up on—the true cause of their condition never medically investigated… the “cookie-cutter” diagnosis of fibromyalgia the result.

Of course the wrong diagnosis results in the wrong treatment!

Drugs such as Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Savella have been rampantly prescribed to treat fibromyalgia symptoms —without a shred of evidence (or apparent concern) of their CAUSES. Our medical establishment has clearly demonstrated that this is an acceptable treatment approach.

Do you think it is?

Do you think indefinitely taking prescription drugs to mask the symptoms plaguing you is a logical way to restore your health?

If your “fibromyalgia” is indeed the consequence of infectious disease transmitted by a tick bite… how could the “fibromyalgia medicine” you’re taking be appropriate treatment?

In my practice, I routinely encounter patients who tell me that long ago, their doctor “ruled out Lyme” with blood tests. Even more people tell me Lyme was never mentioned or even considered!

Could it be that it is simply more convenient (and financially beneficial) to diagnose fibromyalgia than chronic Lyme disease? Chronic Lyme is extremely problematic to medical professionals—to such a high degree that many simply do not acknowledge its existence altogether!

Search the Internet for symptoms of fibromyalgia. Do the same for Lyme disease.

Go ahead… do it.

You’ll be shocked to discover that the symptoms are stunningly similar… dare I say identical?

I dare.

But it seems the majority of doctors don’t “believe in” chronic Lyme disease. Once upon a time, the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia wasn’t medically accepted either. Many doctors still think it’s a sham. They tell you, you’re a hypochondriac or that “It’s all in your head!” The irony is that some of these doctors are unwittingly semi-correct.

According to Dr. Paul Fink, past president of the American Psychiatric Association, Lyme disease can contribute to EVERY psychiatric disorder in the “Diagnostic Symptoms Manual IV.”

So if your family doctor or rheumatologist has pawned you off to the psychiatrist as a “nut case,” maybe you should ask if they’ve read about Lyme in their medical journals:

A study published in 2002 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, revealed that 33% of the psychiatric patients had signs of Lyme infection!

Nevertheless, the prescriptions for fibromyalgia drugs keep flowing. The acceptance of fibromyalgia as a legitimate medical condition seems to have catapulted a progressively growing, multi-billion dollar niche within the pharmaceutical industry.

The same cannot be said for chronic Lyme disease. The mere thought of it is a medical nuisance.

It seems like it’s just plain easier for doctors to put on blinders to Lyme. Unlike “fibromyalgia,” there are no FDA-approved prescription drugs to treat its symptoms. There are no “designer” drugs to kill the various microbes that can invade your brain, rob you of your memory, and detonate destructive neurological consequences. The only “approved” treatment offered by traditional Western medicine is a few weeks of oral antibiotics.

That’s it… case closed… done deal.

Unfortunately this approach was intended for acute infections, immediately following an observed tick bite with the sometimes appearing characteristic “bull’s eye” rash (or the somewhat rare positive blood test).

But what about the severe neurological, joint, and muscular consequences of a progressive chronic infection?

One of the failures of the traditional Western medical system is the misguided notion that chronic illness can be treated in the same fashion as acute.

Chronic Lyme disease is extremely complex; it does not respond well to “traditional” treatment. There are very few doctors who are capable of helping people who have it. Prior to seeking treatment from me, some desperate Lyme victims have turned to a small handful of physicians who have appointed themselves “Lyme Literate Medical Doctors.”

They are willing to make the diagnosis of Lyme, rather than fibromyalgia. Unfortunately, their treatment approach consisted of long-term, high-dosage antibiotic therapy (for months or even years!) Medical scientists have warned that this approach, while it may bring relief to some; is dangerous, and suppresses immune system function (the opposite of what your body needs to truly get well). Several of these doctors have lost their licenses for such over-prescription of antibiotics and other drugs in treating chronic Lyme.

Perhaps pharmaceutically-minded physicians may not have the vision to consider treatment methods beyond antibiotics. My suspicion is that this pharmaceutical approach is the only thing that makes sense to them. Nevertheless, I do feel they deserve credit for being savvy enough to acknowledge chronic Lyme… rather than joining the fibromyalgia-pushing majority.

Can you see why it would simply be easier for the average physician to go the fibromyalgia route?

With good reasons, very few physicians are willing to risk their licenses by prescribing such. In addition, the complex condition of Lyme/Fibromyalgia is much more than a mere bacterial infection. It has implications for the brain and entire nervous system, immune system, joints, digestive system, and many other areas the entire body.

"What about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?"

Maybe you’ve been told somewhere along the line that you had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This was once a very popular diagnosis, for the symptoms likely triggered by the Epstein Barr virus, which is associated with infectious mononucleosis (“mono”). But there’s no prescription medication for something caused by a virus.

Could it be that “fibromyalgia” was a convenient (and highly profitable) replacement diagnosis for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

[An entire article devoted to this subject is available on this website]

It is my experience that chronic Epstein Barr virus infection is quite common for people with chronic Lyme disease AND fibromyalgia. The Centers for Disease Control say Epstein Barr is incredibly common period! In addition, bacteria called Mycoplasma are commonly associated with this virus, as a nasty “one-two punch.”

Dr. Sam Donta has served as consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Director of the Lyme Disease Unit at Boston Medical Center and a Professor of Medicine at BU Medical School. He too, has noted that chronic Lyme, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia have very similar symptom patterns. As a bacteriologist, he views fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue from an infectious disease viewpoint.

The notion of a SINGLE cause for fibromyalgia/Lyme and many other diseases or syndromes is pitifully simplistic. The human body is complex, and so is illness.

Diagnostic tests for Lyme and other infectious diseases have been historically flawed and inconsistent. People have a wide variety of symptoms that can be triggered or complicated by several causes. Diagnosis and treatment is not remotely as easy and accurate as it appears on television!

So the beat goes on… more “fibromyalgia” diagnosis, and indefinite pharmaceutical management—with little investigation into chronic Lyme (and even less awareness of effective drugless treatments). The mantra is fibromyalgia has no cure… but it can be “managed” with prescription drugs.

With all the science and technology available in the world… is this really the best advice doctors can come up with?

This is precisely why a total-body wellness approach is necessary. My wife suffered from chronic Lyme disease. My daughter and I had Lyme too. My research led me to find an extraordinarily effective, drug-free approach to recovery from chronic Lyme/fibromyalgia. A body-strengthening, rather than a disease treating approach was the answer. It is a sophisticated approach that involves principles of homeopathic medicine and a specialized acupuncture system. You can read the whole story in a separate article on this website.

Lyme has ghastly, life-wrecking consequences. If you’ve been told you have fibromyalgia, you owe it to yourself to investigate it. Take the time to read my other articles on the subject of fibromyalgia and Lyme, as well as the letters from my patients, who got their lives back through proper treatment.