Lyme disease is a devastating disease that affects millions of people throughout the world. It is one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the United States and Western Europe, with over 329,000 new cases reported each year. If you are suffering from chronic Lyme disease, your symptoms might look similar to Irlen Syndrome, or light sensitivity and sensory stress, as well as many neurological and autoimmune diseases and conditions. 

Thankfully, that means that an accurate diagnosis of symptoms and their origin, via a specialized evaluation by an Irlen Diagnostician, may help relieve symptoms immediately with Irlen spectral filters and individualized accommodations to decrease sensory stressors.  Stressors are both biological and environmental and can impact the effectiveness of other treatments. By minimizing or eliminating the overwhelming and pervasive sensory stress, the body can begin to heal more effectively.

What are the most common symptoms of chronic Lyme Disease?

 

Light sensitivity Visual stress especially during reading, driving, or working at the computer Eye strain, pain and excessive blinking or squinting Eyes feeling dry, burning, or constantly watering Sensory stress: tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory, etc. Headaches or migraines Flu-like symptoms: chills, fever, stiffness Persistent malaise and fatigue Joint or muscle pain Swelling in the joints and tenderness of tissues

Tremors, neurological tics Stiff neck, hand, wrist, or lower back problems Muscle weakness Motor coordination problems Lack of attention span (ADD/ADHD-like) Speech problems Short-term memory deficits Difficulty concentrating Restless sleep, difficulty staying asleep or feeling rested upon waking Weakness and endurance for mental and physical activities Hypersensitivity to mold and other allergens

Why is Lyme Disease such a growing issue?

Unfortunately, due to the broad range of symptoms, co-infections and a lack of acceptance by the medical community and United States government, Lyme Disease continues to be misdiagnosed. Lyme Disease can appear to mimic the symptoms of other diseases, and often produces inconclusive test results with many false-positives and false-negatives, leaving nurses and doctors without a concrete idea of what is going on. When patients are misdiagnosed, the damage can become systemic and wide-spread. When the symptoms get worse, they can cause a lack of attendance at school or lost workdays, permanent damage to the body and cause other treatments to be less effective over time. The diagnostic tests available are often ineffective or too costly to be readily available, due to the mysterious nature of the disease and lack of training by medical professionals in the precipitating factors and diagnostic complexity.

Reported Cases of Lyme Disease, United States 2012.

Reported Cases of Lyme Disease, United States 2017.

Maps from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov. 

Lyme Disease is also growing due to climate change and the expanding presence of ticks throughout the country. Animals are carrying the ticks over larger areas and people are traveling further, where it can spread to areas where medical systems may not have the necessary experience to properly diagnose the condition. With more tick populations able to thrive without dying off during the winter months and people traveling more, it makes sense that the likelihood of being bitten by a Lyme tick would increase. When a tick bite transmits Lyme Disease and it goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, chronic symptoms can manifest years later and be misdiagnosed again, resulting in treatments that are ineffective and often costly. Post-treatment Lyme Disease symptoms mirror those that happen in the earliest stages, like those listed above.

How can Abilities OT Irlen Diagnostic Center help children and adults with sensory stress symptoms that may be associated with Chronic Lyme disease?

Irlen Screenings and Diagnostic Testing can reduce symptoms in one to two sessions and either produces results immediately or does not, so the guesswork is eliminated.

Specialized Irlen Spectral Filters along with individualized accommodations and treatments, which calm the brain and reduce stress related to undiagnosed or misdiagnosed light sensitivity, can provide long-term relief. Even if the process doesn’t immediately work for you, ideas for managing stress will always be provided as part of the intervention suggestions after testing. Such a profound and simple, immediately effective process could provide a lifetime of relief or even just short-term benefits.  

Irlen Spectral Filters are custom fitted to each patient to ensure that they are as effective as possible, and, although look life sunglasses or optical tints provided by eye care professionals, they are vastly different. When looking through Irlen spectral filters, colors are accurate and white stays white. Colors are not perceived as dark or shaded, even though the color may be dark or have a rich tone. Whether RX or PLANO lenses, the entire body and mind can be calmed by filtering adverse spectral bands of light via individual layers of colors—stress is minimized or eliminated completely. Migraines, headaches, anxieties, fatigue, visual distortions as well as learning, working and daily living stressors can be improved or even eliminated.  Once your general well-being is achieved, other interventions can be more effective and less costly because overwhelming stress is minimized or eliminated. 

See our website,  videos, testimonials and the numerous of videos on youtube.com about Irlen syndrome, method, research and clients telling their stories to help you help yourself and your loved ones, many after years of seemingly endless frustration and searching.  Check out Irlen Foundation for the most update research on Irlen Syndrome.