Lyme Disease and MS

[leesalow]

In early 2007 I awoke one morning with numbness of the left side of my body-neck, shoulder and arm. The week before my gen prac ha done an adjustment to my back and suggested I get routine massages for what has been 4 years of musculoskeletal aches/pains. Also took antiinflammatory during those years to no avail. Anyhow, I never told anyone about the numbness but was scared of it. It left as quickly as it came only after 3 days or so. Thruout the spring and into summer I had at least 3 occasions that I would be doing any given routine thing in my day and my right eye lid would go into this droop & the vision would go whack. This would last for a few hours & usually I felt exhausted & nauseated as well at the time. My husband was home 2 of the times & witness. Without fail,within hours this droop is gone & life resumes. I brushed each occurence off because the next day I would be feeling fine. I should mention that during the 4-5 years I have been going to gen prac that I would repeatedly tell him I have days of exhaustion then I'm fine. Deep muscle and bone pain in major joints coming and going as well during this whole time. In the summer of 08, the heat outdoors was the worst, I would be exhausted walking to the mailbox and back and one day we are standing outside talking and I tell my husband I feel really weak-then I passed out. So yeah, back to doctor-gp- who says, I think we might need to see a neuro. The neuro basically thinks he is seeing me for Syncope. I share most all symptoms in great concern with him and we do MRI of brain. He tells me I have some demylenation going on (my brain is like a tire were his words) but it comes with aging. I'm 41. In meantime he sends me for bloodwork & then numbness in my toes begins for 2 weeks on-left foot. Within weeks I awaken and my upper torso, front to back is numb.-lasted for 5 weeks simultaneously with an ear ringing that began and has never left.  We do another MRI of brain and Cervical/Thoracic, report reads 1 new small round lesion on pons (brainstem), the same 2 lesions that were there initially, one triangular in shape in the white frontal matter 12mmx10mmx12mm on right side of brain and another deep white matter lesion below that one. Radiological reading says: indicative of MS, small vessel disease or ischemic disease. Anyhow, bloodwork comes back and boom " LYME Disease-active and present".(4 test done to verify) Also, elevated ANA 1.8?  So I am immediately started on Doxycy and Amoxcill, and at the same time having a lumbar punc (spinal)---the neuro told my husband, he bases MS on 90%MRI and clinical, the other 10% on spinal results. So we are thinking this is incredibly scary, lyme and MS at the same time. Well, spinal came back "no bands" and like magic,  neuro says, you do not have MS. So he is basically ready to dismiss me from his care & I am seeing an Infectious disease doctor who says I've had lyme a year or more perhaps. ----OK somebody help me understand. I am now on an 8 week round of IV antibiotics-Rochephin for treatment of lyme disease and I must say that yes, I am better overall by all means. It's almost time to celebrate I think because I can actually think straight and have more energy, aches and pain usually just in my neck and knees but not everywhere. No eye droops, numbness gone--some facial twitchin on right side around the eye and cheek though/ears still ringing too---My question to you doctor, is 2 other specialist, a neurosurgeon that did a myelogram on me and my cardiac doc (who I was also sent to because of fast heart rate and pvc's during this diagnosis phase of lyme) said, I should keep a baseline of the lesions on brain. Have periodic MRI's to see if more progression is occuring, etc. ---neurosurgeon told husband and myself that he bets I have MS and lyme. He also said that anything more than 1 lesion w/clinical symtoms is an indicator of MS and I have 3. Back to neuro appt in late Jan of 08 which is not the neurosurgeon, he is only neuro and a great doctor I might add, he says again, This is all lyme and that he is not worried about the lesions on my brain at all. I am not going to run around and seek out the diagnosis of MS and feel if I do have it, it's going to present itself once again at some other point or if I'm lucky enough, never have another serious episode. It was a wild and scary year for me. I am still concerned though particularly with the lesions. Would you like to give some thought to my concerns? I have one week left on my lyme treatment. My husband and I agree that i've had 'something' wrong 5+ years. I would like to add that when I was 18 and in the airforce briefly, I was told I was colorblind (reds/brown) and the year before I worked for a group of eye doctors and during the time had shared with them that I had a blind spot in my right eye vision. They said I had scar tissue in the deep tissue of my right eye and every doctor since when I have my eye eyes checked mentions the scar tissue in my right eye. ----is all this crazy stuff associated? Does lyme cause MS? Could I have both? It's almost been a year now since things went completely haywire in my body--was a serious decline in overall health from march 07 to Dec 07..but doing better now. ON my last week of lyme treatment thru IV---:):):)
Missisissippi Girl

[patsy10]

I'm not a doctor but wanted to let you know lyme "causes" MS.   It can cause lesions that are the same as MS lesions.  MS has no known cause so it sounds like you have MS (multiple lesions) from lyme disease.  Hopefully you will recover.  Some people find their lesions go away or reduce in number after antibiotic treatment.  Have you researched this illness at lymenet dot org? Have you seen a lyme specialist?

[ukcountess]

do not want to scare you but had an inlaw in 40s who died of ALS typre symptoma (on a ventillator for a year ) His wife said he was pos Lyme's and insisted that that was the diagnosis and kept up with antibiotics until he passed away. I am an RN and now have similar symptoms myself. One neuro said classic MS the other is still trying to decide w/more tests. In the meantime I have worsened. Other nurses have told me that Lyme disease can cause all of these things and may not have gone away w/Rx antibiotics. I have not even been tested for this yet. So keep making these neuro ( you may need another opinion ) if your symtoms do not go away or worsen. MS is no t proven by spinal tap and is diagnosed more on symptoms and MRI.