How many diagnosed with Lyme and co infections?

[Filmmaker]

You may be right jgkarob, true MS is certaineley more complicated than lyme, not because of CCSVI or anything, to me the main "unknown" cause, resides in the difference between women and men affected by MS, WHY is it that 75% of MS cases are women? Why is it that 75% of auto immune diseases affect women? why is it that 90% of cases of fibromyalgia which is not autoimmune, are women? Yet fibro does have many common symptoms with MS. If MS was only due to one external infectious agent, then there would be no reason for men and women not to be equally affected. So here is my hypothesis:
MS is fibromyalgia + infection of the brain. Now what is fibro? what does it have to do with femal hormones, why does it go in remission usually after 20 years of undefined illness? aha, if we could answer that, that would be huge step... by the way, fibrr is not due to CCSVI or anything wrong with the body... it is a diagnosis by elimination.
Other cases of fibro en up being MS or an other auo immune disease. What is it that leads from fibro to MS or sth else? an infection...
To me MS, is fibro + lyme in many cases! Maybe not all, but it IS worth checking into lyme as the main brain infection. But abx will not solve the fibro problems that women have... I actually would be very curiious to know how many women affected with MS also have fibro symptoms and how many men...

[jgkarob]

'Mean annual incidence rates for laboratory-confirmed cases have risen from 0.06 per 100,000 total population for the period 1986 to 1992, to 0.64 cases per 100,000 total population in 2002, to 1.1 cases per 100,000 total population in 2005.3 The highest rates in the USA are 69.9 cases per 100,000 persons in Connecticut.'

This is from http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Lyme-Disease.htm

It's fairly conclusive data. I have no experience with fibro, despite being female, sorry.
I have benign RRMS which is well controlled right now and have none of the problems that you describe.
It is of course, very possible that many cases of MS in the US and Canada do come from Lyme's disease.

MS can be confused with Hughes (treatable and reversible). Is this the same for Lyme's Disease?
Those who have theses diseases are not counted in the MS statistics after being diagnosed.
MS is still here and is far more likely to come from low vitamin D3 levels, Epstein-Barre and/or CCSVI - but the situation is obviously rather different in the US.

[Lyon]

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[Filmmaker]

jgkarob, may I ask you if you are under or over 40 years old? MS also seems to affect differently... The other major question is why does MS affect between 20 and 40 mostly? If you are over 40 and your MS started on your 20's, did you notice any turning point when you turned 40?...

[jgkarob]

I was diagnosed when I was 39 in 2000.
My first bout was in 1993 and I had odd episodes afterwards. I had double vision at 39 and was diagnosed quickly due to the type and placement of the lesions.
I have a type of MS that has turned out to be non-progressive. As I had been having almost constant relapses in that year of diagnosis, I was advised to start a DMD. Luckily, it's worked well for 10 years and cut the relapse rate.
About 4 years ago, I cut out gluten and pulses.
My fatigue was so bad by that time that I could only walk a short while before having to rest.
I did six months on a raw food regime then moved to a Paleo-style diet.
I don't have much fatigue now and you'd never know I have MS.
This approach worked for me, but finding an approach that works is trial and error.
It meant moving countries - I was housebound in the UK, as I felt drunk if I tried to walk for more than 5 minutes.
This doesn't happen here and I think it's due to two factors. Less humidity and far less information to process. My eyes and brain can't cope with lots of people or images flashing past and I get dizzy and feel very drunk.
The irony of MS, is that there's no universal panacea.
I'm nearly 50 now.
I did notice that the MS changed about five years after diagnosis, however I'm still RRMS and I consider myself to be very fortunate.
x

[Filmmaker]

Interesting you were diagnosed at 39...(which is almost 40) while the majority of us got diagnosed at 29... I still wonder what happens in women bodies when they turn 20 or 40... there muct be some change that "boosts" the MS... Glad your MS is under control! I think diet is very important.

[jgkarob]

So do I, but for newly-diagnosed people the right diet for them is so difficult to work out.
Do they go for Swank/Ornish, high carb, ultra low saturated fats?
Or for a low carbohydrate approach to keep the blood sugars balanced.

The irony is, that both approaches work - but finding which approach is right for their health is a bit of a nightmare.
It's easier in countries where you pay for your healthcare, but in most of Europe, you have to talk your doctor into ordering the tests.
It's easier to try it and see, but then, you have to want to follow a certain diet. If you don't, or aren't ready for the big lifestyle changes, then you will end up resenting the diet.
But yes, diet is very, very important. I think it's subdued my MS since 06.
I still need Rebif/LDN but I'm not so scared for the future.
Keeping mobile with rubbish knees is more difficult. Ah well, no gain without pain (well, actually ibuprofen and Voltaren gel!)
xx

[Algis]

while the majority of us got diagnosed at 29

We probably lack a lot of data...
I was diagnosed at 36 (1998). 'til then I've been in an exploding health It got on me like a shot in the back... 4 years after I was with a walker, and now permanently in a wheelchair....

So all is darn subjective I guess...