I thought i had lyme disease

[kewa13]

About two months ago i went to the doctor for temporary facial paralysis, numbness and tingling in my hands and feet.  They tested me for lyme disease and I tested positive.  I have been on doxycycline for about three weeks and i still have all of the original symptoms.  I made an appt with a lyme specialist, who I have not seen yet.  My primary doctor said the lyme might be late stage and I might need IV.  In the mean time I was sent to a neurologist.  He said it is very rare to get those symptoms from lyme and that I should be tested for lupus and ms. He said you can test a false positive and I might not actually have lyme.  I now have to wait until I have the spinal tap and mri.  Of course I am a little bit nervous and I was just wondering if anyone else had similiar symptoms with lyme, or might it be something more serious.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

From the clinical presentation, these diseases (lyme, MS, or lupus) may indeed be hard to delineate and I agree with your neurologist that the tests he requested may help you in pinpointing the problem.  I am also not sure which condition would I prefer having since each can really have its strong draw backs.  Lupus for example, is a chronic disease that may require chronic intake of steroids.  MS is a chronic demyelinating condition that can worsen over time.  Whatever the case, I hope that your doctors will be a step ahead in treatment and over all care.  I hope everything will turn out fine.

Regards and God bless.

[Carol in PA]

Yes, many people with Lyme Disease have presented with the symptoms that you have.

For more information, see:
Wild Condor's Lyme Links
http://www.wildcondor.com/lymelinks.html

Carol

[patsy10]

The symptoms you describe are very common in lyme disease and if you have it, 3 weeks of doxy will not fix it.  I had all the neuro tests run...spinal tap, MRI's evoked potentials, EMG before I started antibiotics.  I wanted to make sure it wasn't MS.  All my tests came back normal.  I have improved considerably on antibiotics.  I have never had a positive lyme test but I had the bullseye rash that is diagnostic of lyme.