Lyme Disease in our Pets

[Heather3418]

Hi my name is Heather and I am from the MS Forum.  Do any of you know if treatment is available (or necessary) to  our pets that test positive for Lyme Disease?  Is the treatment for them, the same for us?

I was bitten by an infected tick 5 years ago and treated within 3 days of the bite, after the typical rash and bull's eye circle was found around the bite.  I remember taking antibiotics for quite some time.  Should I ever be followed up for blood testing, to make sure the disease was irradicated from my body?  

Thanks so much for you help.

Heather
From the MS Forum

[wonko]

Heather,

If you were family, I would insist that you get treated with antibiotics in light of your recent tick bite.  I would take you to the doctor, explain your past experience with Lyme, and refuse to leave with out an Rx for 2-3 weeks of doxy.  If necessary, I would lie and tell your doctor that you did have a bull's eye rash after this recent bite.  I would want testing both now and after the antibiotics, at least ELISAs and preferably Western blot.

Please, take it under serious consideration.

As I recall, you are already battling MS and fibro.  Please take all steps to protect yourself from Lyme.  You are also a treasure, and with Lyme, time is of the essence.  You are obviously more aware of this disease than most people are.  Take advantage of what you know and protect yourself.

  
  

[patsy10]

Welcome to the lyme forum.

I believe dogs are treated if they test positive for lyme disease.  Some vets test for it routinely as part of the yearly heartworm test.  My friend's dog just tested positive and he was treated despite having no symptoms.  

I would get tested for lyme if it was me.  It is possible you could have been bitten before you were diagnosed with MS.  Even if you don't remember a bite.  I would want to know in case the MS was caused by a lyme infection.  In this case it would be more treatable.

[Heather3418]

Thanks for giving me so much information.  I do not have any fevers, night sweats, cough/congestion, stiffness, rashes or roving pains.  That's what makes me think that I was indeed "cured" when I had the first tick bite years ago.  I was treated with antibiotics so quickly and watched carefully, that I think they really got it the first time.  

I am fortunate.  I was bitten by another tick a couple of days ago and am watching that now for any signs of the bull's eye and rash.  Ticks seem to like me.  Hopefully they die cause my body is full of Copaxone for the MS.

My son in law has not only Lyme Disease but proven Lupus.  He is in really bad shape and very ill.  He was in the hospital for a long time.

I've missed you dearheart.  It's been a long time since we have "talked."

Thank you again for giving me so much info.  You are a treasure.

Big Hugs,
Heather

[wonko]

Hi Heather,

I know little about the treatment of pets, hopefully someone else can chime in on that.

Responding to the other part of your post:  As with anything, there's no replacement for early detection and treatment of Lyme.  The fact that you know you were bit, saw the tick, got the specific rash, and quickly sought treatment is excellent-you are a model informed citizen!  

There are cases in which people such as yourself, who present with acute Lyme and are treated and "cured," can in the future develop Lyme-like symptoms with no known cause, often with little to no serology to support persistent or reinfection.  Yet many such patients do improve with addition treatment for Lyme.  This is one class of chronic Lyme patients.

I'm in a different group:  I had no idea this was Lyme, because I don't recall a bite or rash in my life, and had an usual presentation.  This delayed my diagnosis for over 1.5 years.  The infections (I also have at least one co-infection) got so deep inside of me that a standard course of antibiotics is insufficient.  I've been on 3 different antibiotics for 4.5 months now, and my doctor has speculated a full year for my treatment.

For both groups, those whose initial treatment for acute Lyme failed, and those who went over a year undiagnosed, many opt to get treated by a so-called "LLMD," or "Lyme literate" physician.  (This is more of a term made up by patients, most doctors don't care for it in my experience.)  These doctors are willing to treat outside of the IDSA guidelines, acknowledging that chronic Lyme exists.

Even after long-term treatment, chronic Lyme patients can have residual symptoms.  Others can drive Lyme into a very convincing remission, only to have symptoms return/reappear over time.  More research is needed to understand how the bacteria is able to hide in the body.  There are several partially supported theories about Lyme going into a cyst and/or biofilm form, that allows it to "hide" from the immune system.  Lyme exhibits relapsing/remitting behavior in some patients, suggesting that Lyme can go dormant in the body only to stir up trouble again later on.

I know in your case since we've "met" before that you knew you had MS before your incident with "Rocky" the tick.  So it's a matter of questioning if Lyme is complicating your MS, as opposed to whether or not you have MS.  Due to the contested and complicated nature of chronic Lyme, I don't think there is an easy answer.  I don't think a mainstream doctor under IDSA guidelines would take your concern seriously.  However, a good LLMD could help investigate the matter.

Ticks carry more than just Lyme bacteria, they also can transmit a host of co-infections.  Many of these additional bugs respond to different medications than the Lyme, it is therefore possible to be cured of Lyme but have persistent symptoms from the co's.  This is another reason why an LLMD can offer more help than a regular physician, as they are more aware of the co's and how to treat them.  We have another thread on the 1st page now listing common co-infections.

I've read Quix say that Lyme can cause all of the symptoms of MS, and more.  Do you have any symptoms that seem outside of (the large realm) of MS symptoms?  Especially things like fever, night sweat, persistent cough/congestion, stiffness (can be in one or two large joints OR all over in Lyme, there is not a simple single pattern!), rashes (any weird rash, not just a bull's eye), roving pains, ... There are probably more, and of course there are tons of sx that overlap.