A woman in her 40s saw her daily life turned upside down after being bitten by a tick infected with bacteria linked to Lyme disease. Overwhelmed by pain and constant fatigue, unable to find treatment in Quebec that will bring her relief, she has to turn to Mexico.
Warning: passages in this article refer to suicide.
A mysterious evil
Charlotte Labrie-Gagné can’t say exactly when she was bitten by a tick. They were inexplicable symptoms that made him suspect something was wrong.
“I started with a toothache, it spread to my ears, then it turned into migraines,” she says. I got muscle pains in different places every day and got more and more tired.”
The symptoms worsened to the point where she was unable to see a light source or a car. Some days she can’t even walk.
• Also read: Have you been bitten by a tick? Here’s everything you need to do
After three years, a more detailed search test finally allowed him to make the official diagnosis: chronic babysiosis bartonellosis.
It’s a co-infection of Lyme disease, a bacterial infection caused by a tick bite, explains Dr. Amir Khadir, infectiologist and microbiologist at the Pierre-Legardeur Hospital Center.
Simon Clark/QMI Agency
“When a tick bites a human, it can transmit various bacteria to them. It could be Borrelia burgdorferi that causes Lyme disease, but also Babesia and Bartonella.”
Little accessible care
In order to be able to determine the origin of her symptoms, Charlotte Labrie-Gagné had to pay $2,800 to get tested in the United States. Before the diagnosis, she says, she struggled to be taken seriously by the specialists she consulted in Quebec.
“They look at us and we don’t see that we are sick. It’s hard because they don’t believe us. There were times when I said to myself that I would rather have had cancer because at least we know it exists and the course of action is clear,” she confides.
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A private infectious disease specialist enabled him to relieve his symptoms through long-term treatment with antibiotics, but this specialist doctor no longer practices.
“If I’m able to be minimally functional, it’s thanks to these antibiotics. I only have two renewals left and no other doctor will agree to prescribe it for me,” worries Charlotte Labrie-Gagné.
With kind approval
treatment in Mexico
After going a year without a babysiosis bartonellosis doctor, she researched other treatments. “I found some in Europe, but they cost $150,000,” she says.
However, one must be particularly careful with “the treatments that have been developed in the parallel private medicine of certain countries,” emphasizes Dr. Khadir. He deplores the exploitation of the plight of people who cannot be reached for treatments at extremely high prices that defy regulation.
• Also read: Why do women suffer so much from chronic pain?
Speaking to other people living with Lyme disease and their co-infections, Charlotte Labrie-Gagné learned of the existence of a treatment protocol that is offered at a lower cost in Mexico. Dubbed the Stemaid Protocol, the treatment aims to revitalize the patient’s immune system through the injection of stem cells and the use of ozone and herbal medicines.
dr Khadir declined to comment on the Stemaid Protocol, of which he knows little.
To be able to pay for the treatment, which costs more than 60,000 Canadian dollars, Charlotte Labrie-Gagné’s wife started a crowdfunding campaign. On the campaign page, she informed the donors that a place in the clinic had become available for May 1st.
“I want to get better to fight for others”
The hope of being treated in Mexico drives Charlotte on. However, the pain and isolation are hard to bear.
Once very active, she sometimes spends her days in the dark because migraines and fatigue don’t allow her to do anything else.
“I can’t even take care of my dog, my boyfriend has to do everything in the house. As long as I continue to be in pain and useless, I thought about seeking medical help in dying,” she admits.
“You just want to stop hurting yourself, you can’t take being in your body anymore. Only in my group [de personnes qui souffrent de la maladie de Lyme et ses co-infections], there were six suicides in 2 years. amelie [Champagne] was the last. There had to be deaths for us to be interested in our fate,” Charlotte laments.
This is another motivation for her decision to seek treatment in Mexico: “I want to get better to fight for others.”
Why is prolonged antibiotic treatment so complicated?
It is the result of “one of the most persistent controversies in modern medicine”, according to Amir Khadir: the “Lyme Wars”.
In the 1990s, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) refused to officially recognize the chronic forms of the disease, recommending courses of antibiotics lasting 2 to 6 weeks.
Although organizations like the National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESS) in Quebec have now recognized the chronic form of the disease, doctors are reluctant to prescribe lengthy treatments.
However, longer antibiotic treatments lasting more than 6 months are necessary to eliminate dormant bacteria in the patient’s system, says Dr. Khadir. But more research is needed to determine the exact number of months antibiotics should be given, he adds.
Quebec in the eye of the storm
The province needs to prepare for many more cases of Lyme disease in the future.
“Ticks move with the animals they feed on. These animals are migrating further and further north because of climate change. If Quebec isn’t already in the eye of the storm, it will be very soon,” warns Dr. Khadir.
• Also read: 5 things worth knowing about ticks and Lyme disease
In his opinion, it is important that health professionals become more aware to better diagnose Lyme disease and its co-infections: “40% of patients will have negative biological tests. Doctors need to be better at recognizing the symptoms.”
IF YOU NEED HELP
Quebec Suicide Prevention Line
• www.aqps.info
• CALL 1 866 (277-3553)