Chuck Bryant

Yeah, and here's the thing.

Like many times that can take care of the problem.

So it's not like they were just lazy and not doing their work.

But I think they closed the book a little too soon, and a lot of people do, because that round of oral antibiotics, if you catch it early, it can really work.

And I think they say, what, like nine times out of ten, if you catch it early, then that will work.

Right.

They're so persistent with that assertion that if you find a tick on yourself and you live in an area where Lyme disease is known to thrive, if you can't say how long that tick's been on you, they're probably just going to give you that round of antibiotics prophylactically.

Yeah.

And again, like you said, in a lot of cases, and I believe from what I've read—

The vast majority of cases in early stage Lyme disease, that round of antibiotics should work.

Yeah, and they say that if you, and this is from the American Lyme Disease Foundation, quote, if you live in an endemic area, have symptoms consistent with early Lyme disease and suspect recent exposure to a tick, present your suspicion to your doctor so that he or she may make a more informed diagnosis.

All right, show up to your doctor and say, Madam, sir, I would love to present my suspicions to you.

Please sit down.

Well, they're saying you still sort of need to be your own advocate because it is so hard to diagnose still.

Because if you're going on symptoms alone, like we said, there are hundreds of things that share those symptoms.

And Lyme disease may not be the first thing they think of.

That's a huge problem with Lyme disease.

Another huge problem is that the test we use to test for Lyme disease doesn't actually test for the B. burgdorferi bacteria.

Right.

It tests for the antibodies that should be present in your bloodstream if you have a bacterial infection.