How to Be Properly Diagnosed

After going through eleven years of doctors not knowing why I was sick, I've picked up some tips for doctor visits and have researched Lyme disease diagnosis in particular.

My number one tip, which borders on a pet peeve, is that your health is your responsibility. Doctors can be a wonderful help for you, but your body needs you to pay attention to it. It was only when I decided to listen to my body and help it that I started walking on the road to recovery which has lead me here. My number one tip:

• Your health is your responsibility.

If you are not feeling well, I highly recommend keeping a sick journal. Every time your body tells you something, write it down. You are the only one who can feel what you are feeling, so document everything. This is helpful for three reasons:

• You might forget something important.
• After a long wait to get in to your appointment you will be stressed and will have limited time to see the doctor. Being organized helps with both of these.
• You will notice patterns in your health which are key for Lyme disease diagnosis.

Knowledge is power. I truly believe that more people need to know how the body works. 99 percent of what I've learned about health and my own body was not taught to me in school or college. I learned it from being curious and wearing a hole in my library card. If you want to feel better, start by knowing your own body. In my own health, I've found that understanding the following has been truly priceless:

• The ten body systems and what each does
• How the immune system works
• How the nervous system works
• How the circulatory system works
• How the brain works
• What hormones and neurotransmitters are
• The effects of stress on the body
• Nutrition's effect on the body. The Weston A. Price Foundation has the best information on nutrition.

Knowing these things gives you a basic understanding of one of the only things you can't replace: your body. It isn't hard to learn these things. Just make sure that your sources are legitimate, such as textbooks or articles from medical journals, and that they are up to date. Go ask a librarian for help if you don't know where to start. I used to be a librarian and we love research.

If you think you may have Lyme disease, and you are looking for a diagnosis one way or the other, here are some tips for finding a good doctor that I've picked up:

• Talk to your friends and co-workers who have been really sick to see if they know a good doctor. Sick people know what and who have helped them.
• If a doctor doesn't listen to you or doesn't respect you, RUN! They can't help you because they will never know what's wrong with you.
• If a doctor can't explain what he or she is doing or why, RUN! For whatever reason, they won't give you the info you need to make educated decisions about your own health.
• If a doctor looks at the clock more than they look at you, RUN! They are not concentrating on you, and you don't need half thought through advice.
• If a doctor thinks that he or she knows it all, RUN! They stopped being students and are not prepared for the unexpected, so they will be blind to many options.
• The best doctor, in my experience, is one who wants to have a conversation with you about your health, is willing to let you challenge their ideas, will research what they don't know, will respect the fact that you've done your own research, and who understands that they are just human, taking care of themselves as well as others.

Once you have your information and have a doctor you can trust, don't forget the following in the doctor's office:

• You are not an idiot. You are there for a reason and deserve to be listened to and taken seriously.
• If you feel a little better in the office, that is because of adrenaline. You were not miraculously healed by the doctor's aura, you were nervous and got some emergency power from your adrenal glands.
• Have your sick journal with you and ready.
• Talk to the doctor about what your body has been telling you, and always trust and fight for your own intuition.
• If you aren't satisfied with what the doctor is telling you, challenge them to think outside the box and dig a little deeper.
• The doctor's education does not nullify your own experience and research. 

If a doctor doesn't know anything about Lyme disease, tell them what you know and want. For example, I told my doctor the following:

• I had had most of the common Lyme disease symptoms chronically for at least five years, some for ten years.
• ELISA screening is very inaccurate.
• A rash is not always present after infection (I couldn't remember having one at that time).
• I wanted them to look into clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease rather than testing.

If you feel hopeless after a doctor's visit, don't give up. Try someone else or try something alternative. You don't need a diagnosis to feel better. There is hope out there with Alternative Medicine which supports the body's ability to heal itself without a diagnosis. I found that hope and will pass it on in later articles. However, I really like having a diagnosis because I understand why I suffered for so many years. If you are like me and want to know for sure, I hope these tips help you.

Kelly