staph and neurological/muskuloskeletal symptoms?

[nbogosian]

Have been to 3 doctors now and none of them have been able to figure anything out.  Had my left great toe suddenly lose function in the winter, felt numb and such, then gained back its strength (emg showed acute axon loss).....had tingling throughout body for three weeks including face.  Then most recently (3 weeks) have felt knee stiffness/weakness....and even more recently (2 weeks) have had tiny red bumps popping up on BOTH knees, and going up thigh.....the bumps are growing in number.  Some surround a hair follicle.  Some have a white bump in center..  These are small.....1/8 inch, maybe.  They don't itch.  But they're all of a sudden.

wondering if staph infections can cause nerve damage.  If they're "colonizing" or only in chronic cases.  I have this gut feeling that my problem is infection related, bu infectious disease dr. doesn't think so.  Heading to a neurologist next.  Only event I could possibly connect to a time of infection might have been one night I just randomly got very weak and started throwing up.  ....not very common for me to throw up.  Like maybe once every 2 years.  But this experience preceded my toe weakness by about 2 to 3 weeks.  

[wonko]

My WBC count was usually normal (I had a several rounds of blood tests during the year I was bounced from doctor to doctor trying to diagnose my illness), but was high once or twice.  My primary care physician (the same one who refused to order a Western blot...) shrugged the high WBC count off, saying "maybe you got a hangnail."  

The systemic symptoms of the original poster (involvement of nerves, joints, skin) is consistent with Lyme disease.  While I do think it is a good idea to see a neurologist, a neurological disorder would not affect the joints and diseases like MS don't usually start off with widespread symptoms, but instead specific lesions on the brain or spinal cord affect specific areas of the body.  

And it is easy to miss the smoking guns of Lyme disease, those being the tick bite and the bull's eye rash.  The ticks carrying Lyme can be as small as a poppy seed, and they tend to find discrete locations on the body to bite.  And not everyone will develop the classic bull's eye rash.

Another factor that can complicate the diagnosis of Lyme disease is that ticks carry bacteria other than borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes what we in the US call Lyme disease (named after Lyme, CT, the same infection is also referred to as borreliosis, especially in other countries).  So in addition to Lyme, ticks may infect one with babesia, bartonella, ehrlichia, or others.  These co-infections require different tests, and those tests are generally considered even less reliable than the ones for Lyme disease  One can even have Lyme co-infections but not Lyme disease itself.  It all depends on what that nasty little tick shoots into you.

I can say that I have experienced most of the symptoms listed above due to my Lyme disease and co-infections.  Of course, there are other conditions with overlapping symptoms so I think the strategy to rule out as many other culprits is key.  However, if further testing and consultations do not lead anywhere, I would suggest to keep Lyme disease in mind.  Again, owing to the disagreement among doctors regarding how to test, diagnose, and treat Lyme disease, the burden often falls on the patient to pursue Lyme more deeply.  For example, I saw about 8 doctors/specialists before actively seeking out an ILADS member MD.  Had I not taken that step, my LD would not have been diagnosed or treated.

[Jhnmarton]

Lyme's disease or boreliosis is a very specific infection which, like wonko said is difficult to determine.

It may manifests in high lymphocyte count and low neutrophil count, however such indices may be seen in many other infection diseases.

So what I'm trying to say is that the lymphocyte count will just tell us that there is an infection in the organism, however it will not point to the type of infection.

If your WBC (overall white cell count) is within normal ranges then it is more likely that your symptoms are not caused by an infection.

[wonko]

The standard testing for Lyme uses a 2-tier system relying first on a screening test.  If (and only if) the screen is positive do must doctors consider the more detailed and informative Western blot.

The medical community is quite polarized on the subject, with the majority of doctors defending the in place testing and standards but with a solid minority that contests that the tests are not sufficient to catch all cases and that Lyme is a clinical diagnosis.  You can read more about this at the ILADS website, which should be easy to find using any search engine.  (ILADS - International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society.)

It is also the case that the tests don't detect the bacteria that causes Lyme directly, but instead detects the antibodies the body makes in response to the infection.  Early after infection, the body may not yet be producing antibodies leading to negative tests.  In late stage Lyme, the immune system may be too fatigued to produce a strong immune response, also leading to negative tests.

I have late diagnosed Lyme, and I did test negative on the ELISA screen several times, preventing me from getting a Western blot (that did show Lyme) until I specifically sought out an ILADS member physician.

[nbogosian]

hi - yes I've gotten lots of blood tests, of which the lymphocyte was one.  I guess it was normal.  Been tested for RA, Lupus, CFS, Lyme antibody, vitamin deficiencies, thyroid problems, and quite a few others.  All look normal.  Going to a neurologist in a week.

Question:  if my blood work would look normal - why don't all the people infected with Lyme take so long to figure out their problem (well, the majority that do take yeas to find out).  Isn't Lyme an infection?

[Jhnmarton]

Hello Nbogosian,

Have you been through any tests? What did your blood test say?
If it was an infection it would have shown on the lymphocyte count.

Nerve damage can be caused by different conditions including parasites. Have they been ruled out by your doctor?

Do your relatives suffer from any hereditary diseases? Has this been looked into by your doctors?
Please keep us posted on what your neurologist would say.
Regards, John