Public Service Announcement
Lyme Disease cannot be contracted through casual contact. Hugging or shaking hands with a Lymey is completely safe. Even if you share a drink or food (not that we ever advise that you share food and drinks with anybody), you will be safe. Please be considerate and don’t act weird and be afraid to come in contact with them, because they cannot make you sick. It is very hurtful to see people act nervous around them. They need human contact just like any other person.
On the opposite end because Lymeys have a compromised immune system, the environment becomes challenging and hazardous for them. Many things healthy people take for granted in their daily lives, such as the ability of their immune system to fight off ever-present germs, or being able to move comfortably in many environments. When you interact with a Lymey take these factors into consideration and be very careful not to pass anything on, if you have a cold or something like a sore throat. Even a simple cold can make a Lymey tremendously sick and cause them to suffer for weeks, even months to come. Know that they are being polite around you to not hurt your feelings, while they are scared to death to get infected; because they know the consequences.
I don’t know that we can get Lyme disease from sexual intercourse. Read tons of research on both sides. What I do know is I’m no doc, only someone with Lyme trying to get well and spread only knowledge PROVEN true. Like, yes it can be passed through the placenta-blood. Sexuly while strongly rumered is just not proven yet. And most ppl I know with Lyme, myself included, don’t say we are Lymys bc we aren’t. We are ppl with Lyme, or ppl in remission who spread the word. But we are all entitled.
As far as I know it has not been proven that we cannot transfer lyme casually. It is present in all bodily fluids. And it is not easy for us to get colds because our immune system is compromised. I may be wrong about all of this, however, and would love some references to your conclusions.
Paula,
There is not much research available to prove or disprove the idea of Lyme being contagious. I understand your point, but perhaps you misunderstood me. Lyme can be transmitted through pregnancy or sexual interaction. My point is that you will not get Lyme disease through causal contact like by hugging or shaking hands. This is no different than having AIDS. At the beginning people were afraid of people with AIDS. The more people got educated the more they realized it is not as easy as they think to contract AIDS, at least not through casual contact.
Now as far as our immune system goes, just as any chronic illnesses, you as the sick person need to be very careful not to contract any viruses or other infections, as your body isn’t strong enough to fight off simple infections because your body is preoccupied fighting other infections and it is exhausted and weak. I am not sure, if you are sick or not, but this is pretty common knowledge and it is an advise our LLMDs give to us all the time to avoid exposing ourselves to viruses or infections. I don’t think I need to provide any proof for this one. I hope all this addressed your concerns.
Have a Happy Lymey Day!