Lyme Rash? Please Help!

[samplerfree]

Found this rash on my calf earlier last year, but didn't think much about it. 6 months months later, I started getting a strange array of symptoms that seem to change and come-and-go (fatigue, nausea, weakness). I have been visiting doctors since these symptoms started. Could this be Lyme?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[JackieCalifornia]

About the rash -- when you see a doc about this situation, take your cell and show the doc the foto you posted here.  To my understanding, rashes are of interest when they are seen, but their absence does not rule out an infection.I never saw a rash of any kind on myself or my family member, so don't be discouraged by the lack of a rash.  

NonLLMDs know that, but the stiff-necked docs who insist on seeing a spreading, circular rash are setting the bar too high for reality.

So the presence of a rash is helpful, but its absence is not proof that you do not have Lyme.  As the saying goes:  "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."  

Meaning:  no circular rash doesn't mean no Lyme.

[samplerfree]

Thank you so much for the information JackieCalifornia! I am so glad to have found this community. Yes, could you private message me with LLMD information? I understand the need to keep names private.

[JackieCalifornia]

There is a patient-oriented group in California called CALDA, short for the California Lyme Disease Association.  Check their website for information on how to find an LLMD.

I can also recommend my own LLMD, who is well known in the Lyme arena and is an excellent doc and a kindly human.  I can send you a private message with more information through this website, so that his name is *not* posted in public.  

(California is pretty broadminded about how docs treat Lyme and its co-infections, but as a rule of thumb, we don't post *any* LLMD names here, as a matter of discretion to protect our LLMDs anywhere.  Without them, we are all cooked.)

[samplerfree]

Thank you for the reply JackieCalifornia. I appreciate it.  

Do you know how I can go about finding a Lyme doc in Northern California Bay Area (San Jose)? There seems to be a lot of conflicting information regarding Lyme, and I would appreciate any advice as to where I can start looking for a doctor. Do you think the rash looks like a Lyme rash?

[JackieCalifornia]

Welcome --

Sorry to hear what you are going through -- it sounds like you've surely got *something*, and if you're not making progress satisfactory to you, then I would get a second opinion from a Lyme doc.  The worst you will find out is that you *don't* have Lyme, and the Lyme doc might be able to give you suggestions of what to look into next.  

It's what I would do -- let us know how it goes and how we can help, okay?  Go for it!!