“Lyme is the most scary MUS”
Written by Huib, published Sunday July 31st, 2016
The Dutch medical Journal “Medical Contact” has recently been publishing a number of columns about Lyme Disease, written by doctors. This journal is the main source of information for Dutch GP’s. Here you can read the translation of the column published on July 25, 2016, written by Dutch neurologist Emile Keuters.
To be translated
“Teken zijn gemene gluiperds. Hun tactiek is om zonder de persoon in kwestie te alarmeren, langs de enkel omhoog te klimmen tot kniehoogte of, erger, hogerop en daar ter plaatse pijnloos hun zuigsnuit in te brengen. Ik vind dat een eng idee. De kans op besmetting met Borrelia is aanzienlijk en wij kunnen die bacterie niet eens behoorlijk aantonen. Ik raad mensen altijd aan om de pijpen van de broek in de sokken te doen bij wandelen in het bos en alsnog daarna in de oksels, knieholtes, liezen en rond de geslachtdelen te zoeken naar teken. In de neurologische praktijk ben ik niet zuinig met antibiotica bij twijfel over borreliose. In onze regio komen veel besmette teken voor. De kinderen en volwassenen met vroege neuroborreliose die ik heb gezien hebben me aardig bang gemaakt. Ik vind het daarom niet gek dat groepen patiënten met somatisch onvoldoende begrepen lichamelijke klachten elkaar vinden in zoiets angstigs als de ziekte van Lyme. Angst en tobberigheid zijn immers, veel meer dan depressiviteit, geassocieerd met SOLK. Lyme is de engste SOLK.
Jaren geleden had ik een patiënt die bij de Oosteinde Walborg Kliniek in Amsterdam was geweest. Hij was een habituele overbelaster die niet begreep waarom hij zo afgebrand was totdat hij na uitgebreid onderzoek hoorde dat hij chronische lyme had. In een pseudowetenschappelijk epistel werd ik uitgenodigd om kennis te nemen van de ernst van de situatie en vooral om de antibiotische behandeling op me te nemen. Het ging om een langdurige behandeling met opeenvolgende en op elkaar afgestemde antibiotica, die alle veronderstelde stadia van de Borrelia-bacterie zouden doden. Die stadia, zoals cystes, bestaan helemaal niet, maar de patiënt wilde het erg graag en ik heb dat gedaan. Ik heb maandenlang in opdracht van de kliniek antibiotica voorgeschreven terwijl ik me daar helemaal niet lekker bij voelde. Het was eens maar nooit weer. Ik had geluk dat een en ander zonder complicaties was verlopen, want die kuren waren niet mals. Het duurde nog eens een jaar voordat de patiënt openstond voor een meer psychologische ingang.
Later merkte ik dat dit een bekend verdienmodel is. In Weert hanteert het laboratorium Pro Health en de behandelpoot daarvan, NovioMedic, dezelfde tactiek. De huisarts krijgt de opdracht om de geadviseerde behandelingen uit te voeren. Alle complicaties zijn voor de huisarts, en de verzekering betaalt. Daardoor verdienen de genezers uit Weert veel geld aan de supplementen die mensen uit eigen zak betalen, gesterkt in hun ziektebesef door internetfora, radio- en televisieprogramma’s en de medewerking van de artsen die de diagnose blijkbaar eerder hebben gemist. De ziekte van Lyme is een bloeiende handel voor medische boefjes.”
drs. Huib Kraaijeveld
"This book perfectly describes the plight of millions of patients, who suffer from chronic Lyme Disease in many countries all over the world."
Prof. Christian Perronne, France
"This book is a gift of truth and passion to humanity."
Mia Morales, Lyme patient, USA
"I received the book exactly on the day that I had decided to end my life. Huh?! Yep. I am 35 years old years and have been ill for 19 years. Now I know why: Lyme. Everyone should read this book!"
Miranda, the Netherlands
"This book offers a new practical, human centered way of dealing with health information. It is also ringing a bell for the new time how to work together towards health and thriving."
Kim Schimmler, MD, Germany
"This pioneer's work made it perfectly clear that, when "i" becomes "we", even illness becomes wellness."
Frans Vermeulen, journalist, the Netherlands
"In his crucial work on Lyme disease, dedicated social researcher Huib Kraaijeveld does not pretend to have all the answers, but guides us towards asking the upsetting and essential questions."
Prof. Cees Hamelink, professor Communication Sciences & Human Rights, the Netherlands
"This book reads like a thriller! It touched me deeply and I am sure it will change the course of history."
Linda Graanoogst, journalist, the Netherlands
"Well, I am wiping my eyes and blowing my nose, while tears stream down my face. I guess that is a good sign. You hit the nail on the head claiming that Lyme survivors need 'understanding'. I would like my own partner to read this book."
Anodea Judith, PhD & author, USA
"What an awakening perspective! Huib has successfully set a quantum leap for understanding and managing Lyme disease by common people."
John Wong, bestselling author, Singapore
"A true and unpretentious caretakers' guide to understand Lyme. This book will help you to completely understand what your friend is going through; regardless of the symptoms they have. I wish it had been written ten years ago, because it can actually save lives!"
Cheryl Versalle, Lyme patient, USA
"This book actually speaks to people beyond its target audience (caretakers of people with Lyme Disease): people like me who are not travel companions, but to whom it is not hard at all to have or develop understanding and compassion. This makes the reach of this book bigger, much bigger if you’d ask me. I am amazed a book can do all of this!"
Saskia Steur, business blogger, the Netherlands
"This book reads like an exciting novel, were it not that it concerns a deadly serious issue. It calls to contribute and take care of each other and our world. Read, weep, feel and act!"
Manfred van Doorn, leadership expert, the Netherlands
"A creative and very intelligent vision to dive even deeper into the world of Lyme, to look at yourself, other people, but also the entire world around you."
Friend of someone with Lyme
"The book indicates that Lyme disease can be a sexually transmitted disease. This will cause a tidal wave of awareness all over the world. Like the child in the old fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes, who exclaimed: 'But the emperor is wearing no clothes!'"
Ola Aniel Petterson, STD campaign leader, Sweden
"What a brilliant sociological work! I am sure it will have much impact."
Professor Neuropathy, Germany
"This book is a big eye opener. Both for friends of people with Lyme disease as well as for people with Lyme. Or for any other health issues, for that matter."
Martin Möhrke, medical research leader, Europe
"I cannot read any other book for more than two minutes now, in this hell called Lyme. Yet yours I cannot stop reading! I should have put it away hours ago to clean the house. But I simply cannot stop."
Ineke, wife of a husband with Lyme, the Netherlands
"This book is a delight to read. It offers soft candlelight and warm campfire camaraderie on an often dark and lonely journey."
Laura Bruno, medical intuitive Lyme expert, USA
"A very honest and yet witty way of helping those with Lyme disease. This book is full of ideas on how to help your friend with Lyme, as a travel companion on this crazy journey called 'Lyme'."
Lisa Hilton, Lyme advocate, USA
"Both the personal experiences as well as the author’s sharp mind turn this into an incredibly inspiring book that raises the consciousness of its readers."
Kara, ex Crohn disease patient, the Netherlands
"Tempting, informative and eminently readable! Shifting the Lyme Paradigm is an absolute eye-opener for those who are not aware of what the journey of Lyme disease entails."
Terri Mackinnon-Cross, CEO WorldLymeDay.com, Canada
"This book gave us the recognition and acknowledgment, which were like a band-aid on an open wound."
Sara, Lyme patient, Belgium
"Very insistently written based on intensive, almost existential, personal experiences, this book also gives a clear overview of all relevant information for both patients and caretakers."
Jan Eendebak, former chairman Lyme Foundation STZ, the Netherlands
"A relief to read, written by an expert who shares his dedication to his own path with us, and brilliantly written."
Muna, mother of a daughter with chronic Lyme, the Netherlands
"Playful, frightening, informative and encouraging."
Merel, kinesiologist, the Netherlands
"This book made me realize that there is too little known behind the phenomenon Lyme. In a challenging manner the author provides understanding of Lyme disease and suggestions for tackling this disease. I have 'prescribed' this book to many of my patients and mostly astonishment was soon followed by recognition. An absolute must for anyone with (still) unexplained symptoms or the people close around them."
Duco Kanij, osteopath, the Netherlands
"This book guides you through the labyrinth of Lyme swiftly, while it took us YEARS to even get this far."
Eugenie van der Linden, ex-Lyme patient and therapist, the Netherlands
"This book is an absolute 'must read' for everyone! For patients, for family and friends, and for doctors who can finally learn that Lyme is more than what is written in their textbooks and that they should not be able to dismiss "unexplained" complaints as psychological too quickly!"
Anne Fierlafijn, MD, Belgium
"Shifting the Paradigm of Lyme is not like any other book on Lyme that I have read. It appeals to a higher consciousness, and is analytical in an introspective way that is pleasant to read. This book is a friendly and warm reminder that no Lyme patient is ever alone."
Thomas Grier, biologist, USA
"This book show how caring friends can intervene to provide succor and alliance ‘against the odds’ of a potentially serious and very complex illness that is still poorly understood by mankind."
Kenneth Liegner, MD, USA
