About the Book

Allie Cashel suffered from chronic Lyme disease and its complications for more than seventeen years–but the medical community refused to recognize her symptoms as the result of infectious disease. In Suffering the Silence: Chronic Lyme Disease in an Age of Denial, Cashel paints a living portrait of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, featuring the stories of chronic Lyme patients from around the world and their struggle for recognition and treatment.

In the United States alone, 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, and it is estimated that 20% of them go on to develop chronic symptoms of the disease, including muscle and joint pain; digestive problems; extreme fatigue, confusion, and dizziness; sensations of burning and numbness; and immune-system dysfunction. Despite these numbers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) claim it is impossible for the Lyme bacteria to survive in the body after standard antibiotic therapy. For these chronic patients who have their suffering routinely dismissed by doctors–and even family and friends–the social effects of the illness can be as crippling as the disease itself. 

Suffering the Silence is a personal and provocative call to break the stigma and ignorance that currently surrounds chronic Lyme disease and other misunderstood chronic illnesses–but it is also a message of hope and comfort for Lyme sufferers, encouraging them to share their stories, seek out treatment, and remember that they are not alone.

The book is published by North Atlantic Books, a health and wellness publisher based out of Berkeley, CA, distributed by Random House. Suffering the Silence is available for purchase in stores and online.

“I've read several books on Lyme disease, but none have so succinctly captured this illness from the perspective of one living with the health complications and the surrounding controversy. If you have or suspect you have Lyme disease, you'll definitely want to read this book.”

-DARCIA HELLE (AMAZON.COM TOP 100 REVIEWER)