Under Our Skin

What is apparently happening according to this mostly convincing documentary is that

(1) some people get a chronic form of Lyme disease and, (2) the insurance companies don't want to pay for the long-term treatment required, and (3) their method for avoiding the costs is to deny the disease exists. (4) Additionally, the sufferers are accused of faking it or having it all in their heads.

Furthermore, doctors who treat (and apparently cure) patients with chronic Lyme disease are threatened with losing their medical licenses because the medical establishment believes that the long- term use of intravenous antibiotics (as seen in this film) is harmful.

If all of this is true then this is a national disgrace of a criminal nature.

However, according to the article in Wikipedia, "Chronic Lyme disease is a generally unrecognised diagnosis that encompasses 'a broad array of illnesses or symptom complexes for which there is no reproducible or convincing scientific evidence of any relationship to B. burgdorferi infection.'" One of the citations that Wikipedia gives is an article in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The documentary shows several persons who were bitten by a tick or ticks and contracted Lyme disease but continued to have horrendous symptoms months or years after they should have been cured. Then these same persons are treated with intravenous antibiotics over months or years and then become free of symptoms.

At issue here is did the antibiotics cure them? And if so, what was it that was cured?

My belief is twofold (1) that the infectious agent Borrelia burgdorferi disrupted or compromised the immune system of these people so badly that it took months or years for their bodies to recover, and (2) the infectious agent was able to hide from the immune system in biofilms within the body for months or years. Consequently, in the first case, the antibiotics did not cure them. The passage of time and perhaps love and good life style choices did. In the second case gradually the antibiotics may have cured the disease. In other cases the immune system may be keeping the bacteria at bay.

By the way, the disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi is only one of many similar diseases caused by tick bites throughout the world. Consequently, when doctors are not able to find the Lyme disease agent in a chronically sick person it may be the case they are looking for the wrong bug.

I invite the reader to see the recent Australian documentary "Our Battle Ongoing: Lyme Disease in Australia" (2017) for more information. There is also an "Under Our Skin 2: Emergence" 2015 that brings the viewer more up to date. Interested people should also read relevant literature on the Web and reach your own conclusions.

As far as this documentary goes, it is very well done, nicely edited, clearly presented and seemingly fair, but alarming. Perhaps a subject like chronic Lyme disease IS alarming and should be treated as such.

I hope that this documentary will encourage more research so that we can understand what happens to the relatively few people who get "chronic Lyme disease" and find a cure that spares them months and years of pain and suffering.

--Dennis Littrell, author of "The World Is Not as We Think It Is"

If you only have the opportunity to watch one documentary in 2009, watch Under Our Skin. This very chilling documentary covers the controversies surrounding the diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme Disease -- an epidemic larger than AIDS. It follows several different patients as they fight for their lives after being told that their symptoms are "all in their head" and that chronic lymes disease doesn't exist. It follows physicians who are putting their licenses on the line to help these patients, and also covers the criticisms of doctors who do not believe chronic lymes disease exists. By the end of the movie you will have gone through a roller coaster of emotions, and if you never knew much about lymes disease or what it was and why it's currently the biggest health issue debated by doctors all around the world -- you will now. It brilliantly covers all aspects of the debate, and digs deep into the current guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of lymes disease set forth by the center for disease control.

Lyme Disease is called the 'great imitator' because it can mimic almost any chronic health condition including: Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Alzheimers Disease, Parkinsons Disease, Fibromylagia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lupus, Anxiety, Depression, AD/HD, and the list is endless. It can show up as any autoimmune disease, and almost any psychiatric disease. Lyme Disease is an epidemic ruining peoples lives. It is important for everyone to watch, because as the number of people who contract lymes disease increases, so will the amount of people being misdiagnosed as one of these other chronic conditions. It is very important for people to become aware of this tick-borne illness.

At no point in the movie do you get bored, and it really builds up tension as the movie continues. It covers the emotions of the whole controversy over lymes disease brilliantly. The movie really takes you for a ride. This is absolutely the most important movie this year that everyone MUST watch.

I am one of the several patients that was misdiagnosed and was basically told I was crazy. Thank God for my physician that I met 1 year after all the symptoms started knew enough to say "has anyone ever tested you for Lyme Disease". I was 14 years old when i was diagnosed and I am now 31. I live everyday with some type of pain or aliment. Every doctor that goes through medical school now and who is currently practicing should see this video. It may help them to better understand what we "Lyme Patients" go through on a daily basis. Also may better understand and learn to start testing people for the disease. I also think all the medical insurance carries need to see this so they stop turning our claims down. We are not crazy, and if they ever had the disease they would understand each and every second of what we go through. I am going to let my family physician as well as all the physicians that treat me see this film. let's get the word out there!!!!! We are the only ones who can do it!!!!!! The world needs to listen to us!

This film is not only superior in quality and professionalism, it is probably the most important health documentary in the world today. It uncovers a pandemic that affects millions of people in every state in the U.S. and every continent in the world. It exposes the politics and greed that lead to massive ignorance in the medical community and keeps millions of people sick. It is the eye opener that has paved the way for thousands to get the help they desperately need and has opened the door of baby steps toward badly needed reform. It takes a long and hard look at a disease that affects millions who are misdiagnosed with more than 300 other diseases and conditions, it is amazing to see the time, information, creativity, and comprehensive overview that is covered in the film.

Open Eye films did an outstanding job on this almost 2 hr. documentary!

It presents the facts as they are for us chronic Lyme patients who are not diagnosed promptly; under treated in antibiotics, and thrown into the Lyme war controversy! We didn't ask to be in controversial disease where our insurance companies refuse to pay their fair share for our Lyme appointments and treatments!

I've had chronic Lyme 40 yrs. this Xmas; 34.5 yrs. misdiagnosed by 40-50 Dr's! Unacceptable!.

The IDSA Dr's. need to be working with our ILADS, international Lyme associated disease Dr's. so that we chronic Lyme and co-infection meaning other diseases the ticks carry, can get better and into remission.