Lyme disease season

Last year nearly a thousand people in Ontario tested positive for Lyme disease. It’s an illness that mimics other viruses, but can leave you bedridden.

Lindsay Beauregard has Lyme disease and went to the Sponaugle Wellness institute in Florida last year for treatment.

“In November of 2016 I felt like I got hit by a bus, something is wrong, something is not me”.

The 41 year-old says her family doctor tested for everything but Lyme disease. She was sick for over a year before she was tested for the tick borne illness.

“I was tested twice in Canada, once in Hamilton, once in Niagara both of those tests came back negative”.

Beauregard sent her blood to a lab in California for a second opinion and the test came back positive for Lyme.

She was at the Florida clinic from June to December last year.

“A combination of detox and heavy IV treatment through antibiotics”.

The treatment cost her over $120,000 and it took a toll on her personal life.

“We lost our house, my husband and I are separated it affected every single relationship in my life had I not gone I’d be dead.”

Doctor Ninh Tran of Hamilton Public Health admits early testing for Lyme disease isn’t always accurate and it’s difficult to diagnose.

“If a person doesn’t have the classic bulls-eye rash it can be hard to distinguish from forms of arthritis or flu like symptoms.”

Five months after her treatment, Lindsay Beauregard isn’t healed but she says she’s feels more like herself.

“My bad days now are 95% better than a good day then”.

Lyme experts here in Ontario say the only way to get Lyme disease is from an infected black legged tick which can be found in wooded areas and tall grass. They recommend that if you’re in those areas wear lots of bug spray, long sleeves, pants, and socks and always check for ticks when you get out of the woods.