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RUQ pain; all tests normal
For almost 3 weeks I've had RUQ pain and have had every test under the sun from blood work, sonogram, cat scan w/contrast, HIDA w/cck, and endoscopy, allllll normal. There is no rhyme or reason to the pain, it comes w/or w/out eating regardless of type of food. I've eliminated all fatty foods, still the pain persists. I was diaged w/Lyme and took the antibiotic regimen and thought all was ok. The past few days I've also had issues w/ acute joint pain and my hands have swelled which was how I first found I had Lyme-i went to dr for the swollen hands & wrists and was tested and came back positive. Could the Lyme have anything to do w/this apparently undiagnosable but not imaginary pain? Has anyone experienced anything like this?
Yeah, sounds like your initial round of antibiotics failed to kill it completely. You definitely want to get to a Lyme aware doc ASAP, as it only gets worse with time. I've read statistics that around a quarter of people who get the inital 3 weeks of doxycycline go on to have disseminated Lyme, which is really unacceptable.
You'll probably have to push hard to get the care you need. Don't just accept a doctor who says you have fibromyalgia and here's a bunch of scrips for your pain and brain fog! Find someone who will treat you until you're well. LLMDs are your best bet (Lyme Literate Medical Doctors), but it might be challenging to find one that takes Medicare. Try a local Lyme support group for recommendations. I hope you find a good one quickly!
You'll probably have to push hard to get the care you need. Don't just accept a doctor who says you have fibromyalgia and here's a bunch of scrips for your pain and brain fog! Find someone who will treat you until you're well. LLMDs are your best bet (Lyme Literate Medical Doctors), but it might be challenging to find one that takes Medicare. Try a local Lyme support group for recommendations. I hope you find a good one quickly!
Nutrinut Bob makes good comments above about gallbladder issues -- it's something I don't know about at all. You could try searching on line for
lyme gallbladder
and see what you get that might be helpful.
As to your antibiotic treatment, it sounds like you were given the 'mainstream medicine' approach of a short course of antibiotics. Mainstream docs believe that is sufficient, but Lyme specialists do not, unless the infection is caught very very early after the bite. I never knew when I was bitten, and it took a long time to get diagnosed, so I was too far down the pike for a short course of abx treatment.
I'm guessing you were given doxycycline. It was the original drug for Lyme, but to my knowledge, Lyme specialists have generally moved on to other antibiotics with fewer side effects ... doxy can be hard on the stomach.
See what the internist says, then let us know and we'll give you some ideas of what we might do in that situation. No one here is medically trained that I know of, but we're happy to chat.
The urgent care docs may or may not be attuned to Lyme, but Lyme is not generally susceptible to a quick cure like other ailments an urgent care doc would see. Most of us here have found that having a dedicated Lyme specialist was necessary to get the level of medical understanding required to deal with Lyme, which is an unusual and tricky disease not well understood by most docs. You need special tests to know if you have any co-infections that the Lyme tick may have carried, and it takes a Lyme specialist to figure out which those might be.
28 days of the right abx might make a cure, but also might not, if you have been infected for a long time. Many of us have no idea when we were infected, including me.
See what the current doc says, let us know the results, and we can give you ideas of which direction we might go. You might be able to find a Lyme specialist who will work with you on the cost.
Best wishes --
lyme gallbladder
and see what you get that might be helpful.
As to your antibiotic treatment, it sounds like you were given the 'mainstream medicine' approach of a short course of antibiotics. Mainstream docs believe that is sufficient, but Lyme specialists do not, unless the infection is caught very very early after the bite. I never knew when I was bitten, and it took a long time to get diagnosed, so I was too far down the pike for a short course of abx treatment.
I'm guessing you were given doxycycline. It was the original drug for Lyme, but to my knowledge, Lyme specialists have generally moved on to other antibiotics with fewer side effects ... doxy can be hard on the stomach.
See what the internist says, then let us know and we'll give you some ideas of what we might do in that situation. No one here is medically trained that I know of, but we're happy to chat.
The urgent care docs may or may not be attuned to Lyme, but Lyme is not generally susceptible to a quick cure like other ailments an urgent care doc would see. Most of us here have found that having a dedicated Lyme specialist was necessary to get the level of medical understanding required to deal with Lyme, which is an unusual and tricky disease not well understood by most docs. You need special tests to know if you have any co-infections that the Lyme tick may have carried, and it takes a Lyme specialist to figure out which those might be.
28 days of the right abx might make a cure, but also might not, if you have been infected for a long time. Many of us have no idea when we were infected, including me.
See what the current doc says, let us know the results, and we can give you ideas of which direction we might go. You might be able to find a Lyme specialist who will work with you on the cost.
Best wishes --
That's about enough ABX to make borrelia angry. RUQ=in general, a gallbladder problem, something commonly encountered in Lyme patients, lots of cholesterol there for the borrelia. I remember my long ago gallbladder pain, especially after fatty meals, sometimes made me vomit. Kept me thin though. 54 and I weigh the same as I did in high school.
Hi-first, thanks for responding!! The Lyme was diaged several months ago, I was given 1 antibiotic and the name escapes me. I wasn't tested for anything else to my knowledge. Another issue I have is i'm on Medicaid and my dr's don't really explain things well as they seem to always be in a big rush so I try to research online as best I can and try and have good questions ready when I do see them. I'm seeing 1 more internist for the RUQ pain today, hoping we can get somewhere. I'll go to the Urgent Care and ask about those other tests; thanks again for the help!
Welcome -- sorry to hear of your situation.
How long and with what meds were you treated for Lyme?
Were you tested for any other diseases (bartonella, babesiosis, and others) which often come along with Lyme?
How long and with what meds were you treated for Lyme?
Were you tested for any other diseases (bartonella, babesiosis, and others) which often come along with Lyme?
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