Possibly back on antibiotics (help)

[trob25]

Ugh, typo nightmare in my excitement - I don't have lyme, the end lol.

[beth22]

That's great news. You must be so relieved!

[Bobbie]

trob,
I agree -- great news. I went to one of my 100 docs. yesterday, and he said this appears to be a bad year for ticks so everyone should check themselves daily. No one here needs Lyme's Disease since it usually involves taking antibiotics for a lengthy period.

Congrats on being assertive, Trob. In today's world, this is the only way you will receive the best medical care. Remember, docs. are not Gods -- although some are "wanna bees." Many are excellent, but they are human and make mistakes -- which can contribute to why some of us have so many medical issues.

If a doc. doesn't answer your calls, call again and again. See FAQ-Doctors: Visits & Directory of State Medical Licensing

[trob25]

Thanks for your help/support again everyone. I am relieved at the good diagnosis, not completely as I still need to "watch out" for any other symptoms, but I am glad I didn't just take antibiotics without question, even with a mad doctor telling me I was only harming myself. He's a good doctor, but he was just frustrated thinking that I was letting myself get sicker for no good reason, but hey, if I got C-diff one week after taking these, I'd have to stop taking the meds and go back on Flagyl again anyway, solving nothing.

I got my confidence to question doctors or even drop them from you guys, never in my life before C-diff did I ever question a doctor for even a second, now I think I know more than they do about both Lyme and C-diff lol!

[trob25]

Ok, well I guess my getting better and having the doc think I didn't have lyme was all a fluke, because over the last 24 hours my lyme symptoms have hit me with a vengence, sweats, joint/muscle pain, hand tingling, like a freight train from fine last night, almost feeling perfect again, to this.

I'm probably going to have to go back on abx, son of a b*&%

I have a prescription for Amoxicilian next to my bed, thinking of getting it filled tonight because lyme can get bad. I know Amox is considered high offender, but my first bout of abx associated D occurred on Doxy, and my C-Diff was a result of later Cipro round, Amox has always been fine with me, well prior to C-Diff anyway it caused the least trouble and always made my lyme symptoms feel the best.

I am so frightened/angry right now. I can give this till Monday, but the fact that at went away then all came back like this is a good sign it's lyme. Unless it's the most insane, 2-3 week long viral infection I've ever had, a viral infection that has no sore throat/coughing or fever, which doesn't seem likely.

[beth22]

You mentioned in an earlier post that your doctor said it might be a "mono" flare up. If you've had mono in the past, maybe you should ask the doctor to test you on Monday and see if it that or something else. Is there any way to contact the doctor over the weekend??

[trob25]

I can try the on call number tomorrow morning, I hope that's it. Same symptoms indeed.

[anlockwood]

Been wondering how you were doing? Did your symptoms let up at all?

[trob25]

Hey Anlock, thanks for asking. I felt like hell Saturday and when I woke up Sunday I had a headache and bad dizziness and shoulder pain, so I was thinking it was all over and I would be on antibiotics Monday. But as Sunday progressed the headache faded, the dizziness went away and my muscles all stopped aching. Today I was even better, but I went to the doctor anyway because this keeps happening, I get horrible symptoms, then they go away almost completely, then come back.

Basically, he was leery of sticking me on abx this time, which shocked me due to his quick suggestion two weeks ago. But considering that the symptoms keep coming and going and the fact that the lyme doctor didn't think it looked like an all out lyme outbreak, he hesitated. He showed me my actual lyme results and the header actually said "Lyme Disease - Negative" but one band in my blood Igm, was high, which could signify lyme beginning or simply something else. I asked him to test me for mono and he also tested me for some other vitamin deficiencies/diseases things and lyme again to see if there has been a change since last time.

He thinks there is a chance it could be viral even though I'm not visibly sick. I asked if he thought having a viral thing for 3 weeks happens and he said yes, people can be sick for a month with viral illness and he's seen some odd things lately where people thought they had lyme and it was a virus of some type. He also mentioned that a viral thing might not always show up in blood tests.

So no abx, which is good for my C-diff prospects, but more waiting. I need to see if my symptoms get worse or if my tests show something else. I'm not out of the woods yet. Telling him I had IBS currently ongoing seemed to put him off a quick abx dose considering my system is not yet back in order, 10 months down the road.

[anlockwood]

Well I am glad you haven't gotten any worse and for the meantime can hold off on the ab's. Hopefully you continue to improve. My mom had Lyme's years back. She got it laying out in our driveway in town! She was a nurse and didn't catch that was what the bite looked funny from even though she knew better. She started treatment soon thereafter but she was one of the unfortunate ones that developed severe arthiritis from it. I will continue to keep you in my prayers and hope that this too passes!

Amanda

[TheVike]

What do the bites look like from these ticks? What are the symptoms, how long does the bite remain noticeable on the body...basically any details and why AB's for it?

[trob25]

What do the bites look like from these ticks? What are the symptoms, how long does the bite remain noticeable on the body...basically any details and why AB's for it?

Well first, not everyone gets the mark from the bite, which is a large red bullseye or blotch. I got the mark the first time I got lyme in 2005, right in the center of my chest, but the second time in 2007 I either got bitten and didn't notice or had a relapse, but either way, there was no red ring, only 30% of people get the actual mark. The mark does not go away if you get it, until you take antibiotics.

Symptoms can vary by people, but they are flu like. You can get a fever, joint and muscle aches and a headache. These are bad muscle aches, first time my neck locked in place and I couldn't move it for days until I went on antibiotics. For me, my arms and hands always ache, hence the fear of a relapse here. You can also have urinary symptoms and brain fog. Later stages, which I also had, cause excruciating debilitating joint pain.

You need abx, because if untreated you develop temporary or permanent neurological damage to your eyes, brain, general nervous system. Not to mention, the arthritis, which can last forever. At this stage, you need IV antibiotics to hopefully recover.

Typical abx dosage is Doxy for 2 - 4 weeks, atypical med is Amoxicilian, which is given to children and pregnant women, but if I have it, I may take it as I always did better with Amox than Doxy. Some docs think people need Flagyl + abx to bust the cyst form of lyme (sounds like C-diff aye?) and the abx to kill the floating spirochetes, last year I was on all those meds, but the Flagyl was for C-Diff so I figured I had it covered anyway. Let's hope.

[trob25]

This story continues....So my second lyme tests came in today, interestingly the lyme titers are still elevated, but they are lower than the first test on the same IgM band. Western Blot came back lyme negative. So there is something going on, maybe it's resolving on it's own, maybe not. The nurse who called thought I was on 10 days of Amox, but that's probably the original note, so instead of taking a prescription over the phone I made an appointment to go to the doctor tomorrow morning. Pending that appointment, I may come home with a brief dose of meds, my personal original diagnosis for myself (lol, I'm my own doctor now) for 10 days. It will be Amox or Doxy, god help me, if I do need it.

The odd thing is, I am having something happen to me. I'm actually ok most of the time, but every day my arms feel kinda dead and my hands will have little aches if I move stuff around. My heart is doing extra beats some days (old condition of mine, corrected with surgery, but acts up in a lesser way when sick) but other days it's fine. Now and then I have a dizzy spell, but it's brief and infrequent, skipping multiple days before returning.

I feel like I have lyme disease "lite" a small case that is an internal relapse, not a new infection, that might clear on it's own or not. I'm glad the titers came down, but maybe this is like lyme's last stand in my body. Perhaps if I can survive 10 days of abx, it will be gone for good. I just need advice on when to take Probiotics while on abx, is it just the furthest you can get from taking the abx? Like if every eight hours, you take them at the 4 hour mark in between?

[trob25]

Your right with the timing of probiotics take them exactly between antib doses. Florestor being a yeast can be taken with antibs at anytime, Kefir has both yeast and bacteria and might be usefull

I love your description
Lyme disease "lite"

Roy

Thanks Roy and glad you like my description lol. Anyway, I've just go back from the doctor and I need to go on 10 days of abx. I have no choice really, more of the lyme bands activated and not treating it now means longer term antibiotics later or permanent damage to my body. So, this is one of those situations where abx are necessary to survive. I just pray that I do not get C-diff again, I will be a train wreck every day I take these and for 3-4 months afterwards.

Here goes.

[Suezer]

Good luck Travis, just keep eating a healthy diet and keep up the probiotics. I will keep my fingers crossed for you!