Imagine this: one night, you awaken from sleep feeling itchy all over. You scratch and scratch, eventually getting back to sleep. The next day, you feel like your skin is crawling. Your hair just doesn’t feel like your hair. A few days later, you see skin lesions on different parts of your body. You go to a dermatologist who looks at the lesions and prescribes a cortisone cream or thinks it might be scabies and prescribes an anti-scabies lotion. These don’t help.
Later, when you examine one especially itchy lesion with a magnifying glass, you see some sort of stuff coming out of your skin: red threads, yellow threads, black specks. You see and feel a sandy sensation in your bed.
Now you get worried.
You pull of a few threads and put them in a matchbox or a cellophane envelope and return to your dermatologist. He scrapes or biopsies a couple of areas and says “nothing, just normal skin” or “clothing fibers” and suggests a tranquilizer for your anxiety.
You go online and type “parasites under skin” and a bunch of repulsive skin conditions appear, but you were already checked for these. Then you retype your request as “threads coming out of skin” and start reading about Morgellons disease. When you finally reach the Wikipedia article, you know you’re in trouble.
Whoever wrote the wiki article (and based on the writing style, I suspect it was the people over at quackwatch.com) is pretty dim in the compassion and concern department. Basically it’s “Morgellons, eh? It’s all in your head!”
The Morgellons-Lyme-Bartonella link
Anyone who has suffered from a chronic condition with no positive test results (like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue) has heard a doctor say “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, so you must be depressed.”
With Morgellons, you’re more likely to be called deluded. You think you see threads. Or maybe you’re planting them into your skin yourself. Red threads? Blue threads? “Let me refer you to a psychiatrist.”
Now you’re in a pickle. Someone has entered “delusional parasitosis” into your electronic medical records and the diagnosis is yours forever, like someone tattooed it across your forehead. In fact, years ago some cynical physicians coined the term “matchbox sign,” meaning when a new patient brings evidence of a parasite in a matchbox, save time and send her immediately to a psychiatrist.
If you’re curious to see a few of these thread, specks, etc., click here and scroll down, but—WARNING–some of the photos require a strong stomach. Yet even when doctors are shown photos like these, patients are simply not believed. The alleged expert on Morgellons at one of Chicago’s major teaching hospitals is neither an infectious disease specialist nor a dermatologist, but rather a psychiatrist.
However, some years ago, California nurse practitioner Ginger Savely, who had been working extensively with Lyme patients, discovered that her Morgellons patients were very frequently testing positive for Lyme. Later, Canadian veterinarian M.J. Middelveen noted a similar thread/filament-producing condition in cattle called Bovine Digital Dermatitis (BDD). Both Lyme and BDD were caused by a spirochete, a type of bacteria that’s a cousin to syphilis. Middelveen contacted physicians who had been taking their Morgellons patients seriously and inquired if they had tested blood for spirochetes.
Fast forward: when the vast majority of Morgellons patients tested positive for the familiar spirochetal infection, Lyme disease, or a second tick-borne (and flea-borne) illness, Bartonella, Middelveen published her findings in several leading dermatology journals.
And the silence was deafening.
What Savely and Middelveen had shown, later confirmed by other Lyme researchers, was that 90% of Morgellons patients tested positive for Lyme or Bartonella. These were patients who either knew they had Lyme disease but had received inadequate antibiotic treatment (less than three weeks) or, alternatively, were completely unaware they had Lyme but now tested positive for it.
In addition to their skin issues, many of the patients with persistent Lyme had been feeling unwell for years with fatigue, muscle/joint pains, brain fog, and feverishness. Like those with Morgellons, they had been repeatedly told “we can’t find anything wrong with you.”
CDC limits Lyme definition
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now reports there are 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease every year. Although Lyme originally came from the East Coast, it’s appearing in high numbers in Michigan, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois. The number of new Lyme cases now exceeds the number of new cases of breast cancer (246,000) annually.
Keep in mind that the annual 300,000 new Lyme cases is likely a very low number, representing only patients actually diagnosed with Lyme via a blood test. Add to this group the patients who got a “summer flu” and didn’t go to a doctor as well as those who went to a doctor but weren’t tested for Lyme, and the number is much (!) larger.
The CDC has chosen to limit the definition of Lyme to the acute form (flulike illness appearing a few days after a tick bite). It ignores chronic Lyme disease, the condition that can follow an inadequately treated acute case or an undiagnosed (and never treated) acute case that is allowed to fester for years.
The reason for the CDC’s position (shameful, to my mind) is this: blood tests for chronic Lyme are frequently negative. So if the patient has signs and symptoms of chronic Lyme but no positive test result, there is no disease. End of discussion.
But now we’re learning that the Lyme spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) has the unique ability to change its shape and form as part of a survival strategy that allows it to hide. This means it can elude the patient’s immune system as well as the medical testing systems we’ve developed.
Current approach
So the current thinking in American medicine is this: Morgellons is a delusion and patients who believe they have it need a psychiatrist. When presented with evidence that Morgellons is caused by chronic Lyme disease, the response is “Well, chronic Lyme is a delusion, too.”
Where you’re chronically ill and doctor after doctor writes you off as seriously deluded, you feel extremely isolated and depressed.
Earlier this year, I read an article about the annual Morgellons meeting held in Austin, Texas, every April. Both patients and physicians are invited. Unfortunately, there are more of the former than the latter. One patient said, “I’d rather have cancer than Morgellons. At least doctors pay attention to you.”
As a follow-up to this undeniably cheerless article, there actually is a treatment protocol for a Morgellons patient who tests positive for Lyme. Several of us at WholeHealth Chicago recently attended the International Lyme and Associated Diseases (ILADS) meeting in Philadelphia and learned that doctors are getting good results with a three-drug antibiotic protocol.
Not surprisingly, since the spirochete of Lyme is a cousin to the spirochete of syphilis, the program is similar to that used for tertiary (advanced) syphilis.
But what US doctors really need is a crash course in Compassion 101.
Be well,
David Edelberg, MD
Oh, another thing. The combination of these drugs will make you sick as a dog for awhile. I think that means they work. Drink plenty of liquids and all the good stuff you already take like Stevia, etc.
Robin Generaux
This might be late in the day but my Lyme/Morgellons is as follows. Doxycycline 100 mg twice a day. Rifampin 300 mg twice a day. Dapsone 25 mg a day week 1. 50 mg a day week 2. 75 mg per day week 3. 100 mg per day week 4. Week 5 100 mg Dapsone twice a day through week 8. Maintain Doxy/Rifampin regime. Dr. has prescribed other meds which I don’t take because I have had 95% improvement. The second week the lesions went away. If your doc won’t prescribe go to an online physician. Expensive but you won’t be sorry.
Robin Generaux
This is great info, I’m so glad you are getting a good result. I cannot find a doctor to prescribe, do you know of any specific online physician or type of physician that I could seek out?
Marina Hatch
I have suffered from Morgellons for many years. Like you have pulled fibers, crystal like shards, sand like substances, black specs, small black hexagons and a few other really gross things from my skin. All is documented in photographs. 8 months ago I was introduced to a whole protocol which I would love to share including homeopathics, herbal supplements, detoxification, electromagnetic treatments and magnets. After 8 months I am virtually symptoms free. I admit the detox was pretty uncomfortable but short lived and I started getting relief within 3 days. I had it so bad, I believe it was killing me. I am living proof there is an answer! Dr. Heidi Hoke of Vitae Pondera, LLC is who gave me back my life with this protocol…it works!!
Rhonda McCracken
Would you please share what you did to clear yourself of the skin disease
JEN
Unfortunately, the three drug protocol keeps changing based on periodic unavailability. We’re now handling this by telemedicine visits which will include ordering the meds that would be available. If you ever do want to schedule, gather all the tests you have undergone and attach them to the forms we would have you complete.
Dr E
WHAT IS THE 3 drug protocol!
Really!
We are suffering, tortured!
Please add the name of the three drugs!
Lina Taylor
The best place to test to determine if a tick borne illness was the trigger for all this is Infectolab. Here is the website. You or your doctor can order a test kit from https://www.infectolab-americas.com/bulletin
Although they offer a lot of tests, just get the Elispot for Borrelia Burgdorferii (Lyme Disease). If this is negative,the Klinghardt Parasite Protocol can help
https://www.prohealth.com/library/parasitic-infections-a-common-lyme-disease-co-condition-42563
Dr. David Edelberg
Can someone please tell me where to go and be treated for this debilitating problem? I’ve been suffering for three years and I’ve had all the biopsies and bloodwork to no avail. I’ve got plenty of pictures and videos of things that cannot be explained such as moving fibers/objects/microscopic things that are aggressive as well as emitting light which have all been filmed coming out of my skin. I’m in New Jersey. Thank you so much
Marianne
The study, published March 28 in Discovery Medicine, also found that these “persister” Lyme bacteria were resistant to standard single-antibiotic Lyme treatments currently used to treat Lyme patients, while a three-antibiotic cocktail eradicated the Lyme bacteria in the mouse model.
For their study, the scientists isolated slow-growth forms of the Lyme bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi. They found that, compared to normal fast-growth forms, the slow-growing forms caused more severe arthritis-like symptoms and resisted standard antibiotic treatment in test tube as well as in a mouse model. The scientists found that a combination of three antibiotics — daptomycin, doxycycline and ceftriaxone — cleared the Lyme infection in the study mice. The scientists now hope to test the combination in people with persistent Lyme disease.
“There is a lot of excitement in the field, because we now have not only a plausible explanation but also a potential solution for patients who suffer from persistent Lyme disease symptoms despite standard single-antibiotic treatment,” says study senior author Ying Zhang, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Bloomberg School.
From sciencedaily.com
Emily
Most insurance does not cover Lyme literate doctor and it is too expensive. Please share the treatment information
Emily
Hi Emily –
Are you in the Chicago area? If so, our lyme literate practitioners accept health insurance.
Best,
Dr M
cliffmaurer
PLEASE BE SO KIND AS TO STATE THE PROTOCOL.
BETTY
Betty. Find a “lyme literate” physician in your area and discuss your particular symptoms with them. Based on clinical presentation and lab tests, protocols will vary. Good luck.
Dr. R
I had to go to European Drs to diagnose this very real disease american health 4 hospitals 4 clinics 2 emergency cares and two specialists failed to even properly test me and all said Delusional. still trying to get My Primary care Dr. to test me for it I have infected people I have unique strain and am ready to jump off a cliff. Man America you are lying a tad to the Populous why Population control cloud seeding chemtrails transhumanism Robot Technology.. People Send me home to Scotland if you have to lie about this I will gladly go home to find a cure Tony
tony flynn
I see a Lyme literate doctor and thankful I can gather up the funds to do so. Many have taken their lives because of the current system and/or inability to pay for a Lyme literate doctor. I take 6 different pills (difficult case because I’ve sufferred for 10 years). But the pills that are discussed are changed out. So there are different combinations not the same 3. I’ve been in treatment for 2.5 years and thank god for the treatment. I haven’t tried dapsone but actually wondered back in the day if it would help. Isnt that for syphilis? Does anyone else find it coincidentall that our government did a experiment (Tuskegee) years prior to this crap hitting the fan? At any rate, thanks for writing an article that is truthful and empathetic.
Sharon
Thank you Dr for being one to State the truth of this matter. It has ruined my health, my life, and now I have 3 and 6 year old daughters who obviously obtained this affliction from me. It has shut my life down in the last couple of years to the point of being bed ridden most days, and any “good” days though far and few between, I’m very grateful. It’s affected my fiance too. I wish only for a little bit of life resembling that of good health as before being afflicted with this nightmare. Many thanks.
Alisha in NC
The link below contains an email from Dr. Randy Wymore, scientist from Oklahoma State University studying Morgellons. This email contains the names of specific antibiotics. In addition to the ones he mentioned, Dapsone has also been proven very effective in both topical (5% or 7.5%) and oral forms. Unfortunately, in its oral form, it is very hard on the liver, and therefore difficult to get a doctor to prescribe unless they have experience prescribing it and monitoring liver function.
Katelyn
I don’t see a link
Kath
Please give details on exactly how to cure this. What is the exact combination of antibiotics? Where can we procure these drugs and from whom? This is a life-altering and painful condition and I have already spent thousands on doctors on two continents who simply shove me out of their offices telling me to “use soap for sensitive skin”. When I first fell ill I cried myself to sleep for months, was completely disfigured and unable to leave my home. I continued to work (from my home office) spending hours more than usual due to extreme fatigue and pain. I’m somewhat better but still not cured, and still very traumatized and anxious. Please, someone, reach out and help!
April
I’m glad that some of us are being helped-but I too cannot afford a lyme literate doctor. I am disabled. The antibiotics are so important. When will someone help us out of this horrible mess. Thank You for all you do!
Inez
What 3 antibiotics are effective
Felicia
Have all these symptoms. Lyme test negative. Last doctor asked me if I was hallucinating.
Kevin larson
My wife and I experiencing this malady!
Dwaynne McKamey
The threads are called fibers, mainly white, black, red, and blue, however there’s also clear, and slightly larger opaque fibers that may even be emitting hyaluronic acid. The fibers themselves are made up of keratin and collagen.
Lori K Burnham
So…for those of us reading your article that have Morgellons, you left us hanging. You see I don’t test positive for Lyme, and therefore I’m allowed no treatment. I went to an LLMD, whom I no longer can afford. They took two drops of blood out of my pinky, placed onto slides, onto an electron microscope, and boom…there they were…spirochetes. So you say there’s a treatment that similar to treatment of Syphilis using three antibiotics, but you don’t say what they are…I’m hanging here…do tell.
Lori K Burnham
Thank you so so much for writing this! It means the world to sufferers, like my self. For anyone still questioning the reality of the disease after reading this article, I want to affirm that this is very real (the threads/fibers are real, and they are really coming out of the skin. 🙁 tears. thank you, again.
Glenda
Wonderful article, thank you for writing it! My 3 little girls and I all have Morgellons and now have proven transmission in utero with matching infections as my own- relapsing fever borrelia, and bartonella henslae. ALL MY BEST TO YOU AND YOUR PRACTICE, FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!! (SEATTLE, WA.)
Katie Yussuf
There are new findings that the threads are marine life based. I’m looking forward so seeing more progress in this arena. Very scary stuff.
Cori
Amazing article…thank you for sharing your knowledge. Hopefully your readers share this info with others and maybe help someone with this condition.
Denise Reinke
The threads are a product of a chronically inflamed skin cell. They are not from the Borrelia itself nor are they a textile product.
Dr E
So are the emerging “threads” real or not?
Donna Balfe
This was so touching. Thank you so much for treating chronic Lyme.
Jenny Delgado