Recovery from tick diseases is a long haul

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Even after finally admitting that there is Lyme disease in Arkansas – the last state in the country other than Hawaii to confirm that – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) maintain that it is very rare in the state.

“Arkansas is in the low-incidence category based on geographical patterns of disease in the U.S., as well as past reports of the disease in the state. Arkansas is among the group of 31 states where the incidence of Lyme disease has been less than 1 in 100,000 persons from 2005-2014 and among 15 states where the incidence has been under one case per million persons in the same timeframe,” said a recent press release from the ADH.

That flies in the face of reports from hundreds of people in Arkansas, including at least a dozen around Eureka Springs. How could it be so rare when one couple alone, Jeff and Lee Jeans, both got Lyme disease from tick bites a year apart? And it makes no sense, either, to Leanne Wingrove and Jeannie Feltmann, who were friends who lived near each other in the Buffalo River area when they contracted what they believe was Lyme disease decades ago.

Both women did not receive the appropriate medical treatment at the time, and became disabled because of severe health problems.

“There were no doctors who were really helpful,” said Feltmann, a self-employed fiber artist who believes she was first infected decades ago when she was a homesteader in Newton County and got hundreds of tick bites. “The only advice I could get was my mom told me to make out my will.”

Feltmann said that according to the CDC, Arkansas is ground zero for ehrlichiosis. She wasn’t initially tested for Lyme disease, but tested positive for ehrlichiosis in 2016 and Bartonella henslea (nicknamed cat scratch fever) in 1986. Feltmann later learned that her mother was prescribed DES while pregnant with the result that Feltmann was predisposed to tick illnesses and other illnesses such as multiple chemical sensitivities.

“I was down flat out a lot with what I think was a blend of different tick diseases,” she said.

In addition to extreme fatigue, Feltmann had bullseye rashes about a dozen times through the years. She had tremors, brain fog and a lump under her armpit that was removed. A local physician diagnosed her with fibromyalgia saying that was the only diagnosis that fit. Feltmann said some people who get Lyme are misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia, or other conditions like Parkinson’s.

Feltmann met up with her old friend, Leanne Wingrove, five years ago after Wingrove also moved to the Eureka Springs area. Wingrove suspected Feltmann had Lyme disease. Feltmann went to her doctor and was tested for Lyme, but had only two bars out of six bars on the test that CDC requires to be a positive for Lyme. Feltmann said the test criteria is far too stringent, and she believes that even two bars means you have chronic Lyme. But her doctor said he couldn’t treat her for Lyme.

“He couldn’t order too many tests for things the CDC says don’t exist in Arkansas,” Feltmann said.

Feltmann said she has been dealing with other tick-borne illnesses in addition to Lyme disease, and has what is known as Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome.

Wingrove recommended treatment with a Rife machine, a harmonic radio device, in addition supplements and a complete regime for cleansing toxins that are created when the Lyme bacteria is killed off.

“It you kill too many at once you, can get toxins that harm the liver,” Feltmann said. “If you don’t detox, you will be very unhappy. Detox is like the worst hangover. I drink a gallon of water spread through the day.”

She is grateful that while not fully recovered, she is not a sick as she used to be.

“It is five years since Leeanne helped me start to get well,” said Feltmann, who lives off grid near Eureka Springs. “I thought I would be dead in that amount of time the way it was going. The tremors were so bad I used to not be able to drive. Now I almost never have tremors.”

Her advice to others with chronic Lyme disease is to consider the Rife machine, herbal supplements and get on detox right away so you don’t have to be permanently disabled.