I just wrote a long reply to this and poof! It disappeared!
Well, here is the abridged version: Not sure when infected, probably in '01, diagnosed in '08, almost 4 years of combination oral antibiotics. Went from terrible neuro symptoms, pain, fatigue, heat intolerance and holding on by a thread to part-time work to much improved, full time work, some residual pain and very slowly improving fatigue.
It's a long road, but it can be trekked.
After an 8 year long battle for my life with neurological Lyme and coinfections, I finally have my life back due to hyperbaric oxygen treatments...I have my own chamber and use it daily...
I'm not really sure when I first got sick ... I think I came back from a trip to the East Coast one summer, not feeling very well, but thinking I was just tired from doing too much -- you know how that is! The docs had no explanation for my fatigue and sometimes heart irregularities.
Then two years later, I came back from another summer trip to the East Coast much worse -- similar symptoms, only stronger and more alarming. After many docs and almost a year later, I finally had a Lyme and babesiosis diagnosis.
I was treated first for the babesiosis, with Zithromax (generic name: azithromycin) plus Mepron (generic: atovaquone). 4 months treatment time.
Then when that was done, I was treated for Lyme, first with Biaxin (gen: clarithromycin) and Omnicef (gen: cefdinir), and then switched to Zithromax (gen: azithromycin) and Flagyl (gen: metronidazole). As I recall, the switch in meds was because I was having a bad reaction to treatment, but it may have been that the doc didn't realize my problem was the probiotic I was taking and not the antibiotics. I don't know.
So .. there are several approaches -- the playbook on Lyme is still being written, so there is no 'one size fits all' approach to be had.
And that was a few years ago, so the current approach to treatment may by now be entirely different, and of course, different from doc to doc and patient to patient.
Thanks Jackie :) what abx did you take ? How long was it until you we're diagnosed or was it inmediately?
I was diagnosed with Lyme and babesiosis (similar to malaria). My doc treated the 'babs' first, and that took away the worst of my symptoms. Then we moved on to Lyme. Total treatment time: about 9-10 months, as I recall, but everyone is different due to differing infections and immune systems. I was still fatigued and worn out (like after having a baby!) for a good while, but eventually got strong again.
I also had some bad reaction to a probiotic I was on, which complicated matters.