Tag: chronically chill

legally we don’t have Lyme in Australia because we “don’t have deer” but. we have so many deer. so we probably have Lyme and our medical officials are bullshit!

Yeahhhh….. I don’t understand why Lyme is so controversial and there’s been reports of people getting bitten by ticks in Australia, getting the Erythema Migrans rash and presenting all of the Lyme symptoms but since Lyme doesn’t exist in Australia (uwu) they obviously don’t have it. The only way it gets taken seriously is if they LIE and say they got a tick bite in a different country. It’s so ridiculous and I’m bitter with y’all. 

ALSO there have been forms of Borrelia found in ticks on other Australian fauna (kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots) and a researcher has found ticks carrying Lyme in Australia but all of this has been omitted from studies. Deer ticks are not the only ticks that carry Lyme anyways so! [X] 

The Australian Government DOH views: [X]

The documentary following the struggle of Lyme sufferers and people in the medical profession trying to prove Lyme is real in Australia: [X]

Obviously I’m not fully educated on this topic and I have never been to Australia, but it seems like far too many people are suffering and are be ignored because of some misconceptions. 

Hi! If you’re ok with answering: How do doctors view chronic lyme in your country? Were I’m from it’s kind of seen as a “non-disease”, and a lot of people who suspect they have it go abroad to seek treatment. I’ve had multiple health problems since my lyme infection 4 years ago and must doctors I see just kind of shrug and say that chronic lyme is a myth. Do doctors take you seriously/give you the help you need? Sorry if this is to personal a question! Lots of love!

Oh I’m totally fine with answering most asks about my chronic illness, as long as it isn’t something that’s excessively personal!

As a whole, the United States does acknowledge that Lyme Disease is a thing you can get here, and that it can get to a stage where it’s chronic. It often is called “Post-Treatment Lyme Disease”, which is semi-inaccurate because it only applies to the people who got antibiotics for Lyme in the first few weeks of having it and didn’t successfully get rid of it, so it became chronic. Many of us weren’t aware of/didn’t present the early symptoms so we never got antibiotics.

That being said, just because they believe you can get it in this country does not mean they’re good at believing you, diagnosing you or treating you. The CDC has ridiculously overstrict criteria for diagnosis and many people simply can’t fit that. Even if they have Lyme. Apparently the person who wrote the criteria didn’t believe in chronic Lyme. (But it’s certainly better than having to travel to other countries to find someone who will take you seriously, which is ridiculous…)

I saw many, many, many doctors who refused to test me for Lyme because I never presented the bullseye rash. Others tested me but ran the tests that would always provide negatives because they don’t actually test everything they need to. It was only when I started seeing a naturopath that she actually ran some of the right tests to show that I had a bunch of co-infections that are extremely common with Lyme, and we both agreed that the symptoms fit. It took me going to a Lyme specialist naturopath to get the official diagnosis (this May, years after fighting for a diagnosis!) which even fits the ridiculous CDC criteria so there’s no way anyone can say I don’t have it!

So, Western Med doctors completely failed me, and naturopaths believed me and caught the infections when it was nearly too late. I’m not saying that all Western Medicine docs are bad, but I’ve yet to find one in my area that’s decently educated on Lyme Disease. And that terrifies me, because Lyme is becoming so prominent in the states that people are calling it the next epidemic and people deserve to be believed in and properly treated.

I watched this really interesting documentary on YouTube about Lyme Disease in Australia (where it’s thought you can’t get it). It’s an hour and thirty minutes long but worth the watch if you’re interested in learning how shitty healthcare is with Lyme. (^For people who don’t have Lyme, or for people who do!^)

just so you know

cardozzza:

chronicallyannoyedwithpain:

nocturnalvisionary:

fogblogger:

thatdiabolicalfeminist:

the US minimum wage that we all agree is too low to live on ($15,080/yr) is far more than many legally disabled people receive in benefits

the maximum SSI for a single person is $8,796/yr
if a disabled person marries another, each drops to a max of $6,600/yr

while you’re fighting for 15 maybe look at that too

Not to mention we aren’t allowed to have more than $2,000 saved at a time. EVER. Like EVER or we lose all benefits completely. In the bank, in cash, it doesn’t matter. The government literally keeps us poor, while also making us pay immense amounts of money for health care that we require to even survive or function (let alone work enough to be able to get off of benefits, not to mention that there are a ton of people who will never be able to do that anyways). It’s a very, very broken system and not one that was ever meant to actually help anyone. 

Plus, “marriage equality” is still a huge problem for disabled people (as you can see), which is something almost everyone is ignorant to/doesn’t care about. 

DO NOT LEAVE DISABLED PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR ACTIVISM. 

Btw that’s $733 a MONTH they want us to use for rent, food, and everything else. I asked once why it’s so low- how that’s even fair. She responded that they only factor in how much it would cost for rent and for food (with food stamps). That’s it. That’s all the government thinks we need to live. Rent and food.

And in case you weren’t aware, the disabled cost of living is much higher than the fully abled cost of living.

Mobility aids are expensive.
Medications and supplements are expensive.
Special diets to accommodate illnesses are expensive.
Avoiding a long list of allergies is expensive.
Wheelchair accessible home and car modifications are expensive.
Hiring someone to do all your cleaning and laundry because you can’t is expensive.

And yet they still give us so little money that abled people couldn’t possibly live on it.

Also, disabled people often are less able to cook cheaper healthier meals, which almost always take more energy, time, and physical effort (not to mention being able to go grocery shopping) than, say, ordering a pizza, or even just throwing a premade pizza in the oven.

tiredtrauma:

Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can’t have physical problems.

Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can’t be disabled.

Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can’t be chronically ill.

It’s not your fault that some people don’t understand, even if these people are close to you, like family or friends.

Do you ever get super frustrated by your illness? Today I started getting extreme muscle pain and spasms which I think are due to not being able to eat due to my illness. I sat in a room and cried because it hurt so bad and I couldn’t even get up to go to choir which is a passion of mine.

ALL THE TIME. Daily. It’s so damn frustrating to feel like your body is failing you.

Something that’s been helping me learn to accept it and minimize the self-hatred is realizing my body is actually trying it’s best. Now, it isn’t doing the a perfect job, obviously. If it was, I wouldn’t be in this situation.

I’ve been changing my thoughts from “my body is failing me” or “my body is giving up” to “my body is trying it’s best” or “after all this shit, it’s still going” in a sympathetic voice.

It reminds me of when one of my kittens tries something but their bodies and brains just aren’t equipped for it yet. I don’t blame them, they’re giving it their all. They just don’t have to resources or capacity to do it and it’s kind of adorable.

Yeah so anyways my pain-riddled body is actually the equivalent of a confused kitten that’s genuinely trying it’s best given the circumstances, and I’m proud of it even though it usually doesn’t do the right things.