Morgellons: The legitimization of a disease: A Factual Guide by the World's Leading Clinical Expert Paperback – October 22, 2016

My ordeal began in July 2016. What was originally a painful tick bite from way back in 2005 became a full-blown parasitic infection involving multiple systems of my body. My immune system was compromised and a multitude of infections took root. Life became very complicated.Between July 2016 to March 2017 I saw 17 doctors of which four were Infectious Disease, three dermatologists, two urologists, one immunologist, and a large handful of MD's with varying skill and experience, but mostly abysmal intellectual curiosity. None of these doctors were helpful to me.My search for help also led me to 13 ER visits, several admittances, and one very bad experience where a professional abused their power and imposed their will on me. Modern hospitals have a shameful lack of knowledge about tick-borne disease and parasitic infections.Through this experience I have come to understand that Health Canada is an utter failure in terms of the diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne diseases. There is no knowledge to be had here, and the MD's are scared for their license when being asked to sign off on outside lab tests. Fear pervades the medical profession in Canada. Canadian labs do junk tests that are unreliable and unnecessarily cause suffering.Lyme and morgellons are close cousins, but Lyme is not morgellons. Tick-borne infections typically present co-infections, and ticks can carry several types at the same time. Lyme (Borrelia), Bartonella, Babesia, Erlichia, Mycoplasma, Rickettsia are just a few of them. These are well-documented.In this book Dr Savely is casting a huge floodlight on a sorely ignored and horrible disease, the disease of fibers. If you are unexperienced with morgellons, the symptoms can seem ripped out of a science fiction book, but I assure you they are in fact true.Dr Savely presents two poignant case histories to clearly explain how miserable life can be once you have this problem. Especially when nobody seems to understand it or want to help you.Dr Savely also discusses the various solutions that have worked for the many many tick-borne disease cases she has worked on, and that portion of the book can serve as a guide for MD's seeking to bring their level of knowledge up to date.DIY ninjas may also be tempted to look into those solutions, and I can say from experience that many if not all of her suggestions have a sound basis not only by being close to those of Dr Joe Burrascano (ILADS, who has worked on tick-borne disease treatment since at least 1984 - when his first treatment guidelines edition was issued), but also because her philosophy is integrative, and overlaps with natural and holistic medicine.If your tick bite has become a nightmare, read this book and it should give you some peace in knowing that you are most definitely not alone. The solutions are also another reason. Get in touch with Dr Savely and ask about availability for a meeting, her website and email address are easy to find on google.Lastly I would like to thank many people on Lymenet (flash dot lymenet dot org) for helping me get to Dr Savely, to treatment, but most of all - to a state of mind that I have not remotely had since July 2016. If you want to read my story go visit lymenet and see my post "Desperate in Montreal, Canada" in the "Seeking a Doctor Section".Buy this book!And then check out Lymenet, you'll be happy you did.

First, some background:I first heard about Morgellons in grad school, probably around 2007-2008. It was either a magazine article or a TV bit, I don't even remember. I do remember feeling skeptical of the patients' stories, but also thinking they could not possibly have made up the SAME bizarre constellation of symptoms they all experienced. So I approched this book with very little actual knowledge about the disease itself.On to the actual review:-Despite its scientific-sounding (and super-long) title, the book is easy to read, and a fairly quick read. It reminds me a little of a "whodunit" novel--trying to find the cause of the mysterious lesions and filaments-This book also presents a wealth of information about this misunderstood illness, provides a well-researched history of the disease, and debunks myths and conspiracy theories about the disease. I don't have a medical background, but I do have a graduate degree involving research, and the information provided here seems well-documented and sound.-The author includes fascinating case studies of her own patients, complete with (somewhat graphic) photos. I read the digital edition and the photos are in color, apparently in the print edition, the images are black and white, but you can see them in color on the author's website. It would probably be more convenient to have color photos, but I imagine the cost of the book would go up exponentially.-Probably most helpful for patients and practitioners is the section recommending specific treatments (both over-the-counter and prescription) for the symptoms and for the illness itself. About 10% of patients recover fully, Dr. Savely explains, but around 90% show at least some improvement in symptoms.I imagine in twenty, fifty, or a hundred years from now, Dr. Savely's research will be lauded as groundbreaking. Right now, there are plenty of skeptics regarding this disease. As with many new diseases, since we don't know the cause, we like to attribute the symptoms to an effect of the psyche; cancer was once thought to be a result of repressed emotions, and before that "Consumption" was thought to be caused by an especially overexcitable or creative nature. I imagine that, with advances in technology and research, Morgellons will also eventually be proven to be a "real" disease, and perhaps we will even have a cure for it. Until that time, this book provides an in-depth look at a horrific and (in my opinion) largely misunderstood physiological illness. Great book.