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Allergies freaking out, high eosinophils
Has anyone else got lots of allergies associated with Lyme?
They go through periods of flar-up when they all become more intense and I get new ones, and I'm in the middle on one now (have been for a few months). I have a high level of eosinophils too, which makes sense.
I'm getting nastly skin outbreaks, I have allergic eczema on my arms all the time and I brone out into an allergic reaction to a silver ring I've been wearing for years, with red and flaky skin all round my finger. Not to mention nasty gut symptoms from loads of foods and endless sneezing and itchy eyes from just about anything in the air.
I just cannot see any pattern or logic to this. It flares up every few years or so, randomly, then eventually settles down. I wonder if eos are also active against some tick borne disease?? Ones I know about are lyme, bart and erlichia which is supposedly cured now) and chlamydia pneumoia and mycoplasma as additional infections.
I know ant parasitic drugs are used to help us, I wonder if the body's own anti parasitic white blood cells (eosinophils) can also help and sometimes get active for this reason.
Any info, anyone?
They go through periods of flar-up when they all become more intense and I get new ones, and I'm in the middle on one now (have been for a few months). I have a high level of eosinophils too, which makes sense.
I'm getting nastly skin outbreaks, I have allergic eczema on my arms all the time and I brone out into an allergic reaction to a silver ring I've been wearing for years, with red and flaky skin all round my finger. Not to mention nasty gut symptoms from loads of foods and endless sneezing and itchy eyes from just about anything in the air.
I just cannot see any pattern or logic to this. It flares up every few years or so, randomly, then eventually settles down. I wonder if eos are also active against some tick borne disease?? Ones I know about are lyme, bart and erlichia which is supposedly cured now) and chlamydia pneumoia and mycoplasma as additional infections.
I know ant parasitic drugs are used to help us, I wonder if the body's own anti parasitic white blood cells (eosinophils) can also help and sometimes get active for this reason.
Any info, anyone?
I keep having "Hey, me, too!" reactions to your posts! I lost my voice completely the day before my fever and malaise kicked in when I was first infected. It was veI thought it was the Lyme, but maybe it was the Bart. (Hoarseness is on the Burrascano symptom list)
My hoarseness only lasted a couple days until I started the antibiotics I took for a week, not knowing what I had. It was very memorable as I could barely croak out a couple intelligible words. The hoarseness never came back. Maybe if it had, Iwould have recognized it sooner.
My hoarseness only lasted a couple days until I started the antibiotics I took for a week, not knowing what I had. It was very memorable as I could barely croak out a couple intelligible words. The hoarseness never came back. Maybe if it had, Iwould have recognized it sooner.
Sorry to hear you have hit a bad patch -- sending you all good wishes for a speedy upturn. J.
Maybe I should consider easing in. I get so sick of these infections my instinct is to go in with a sledgehammer!
Bactrim is the one I found magically effective gainst Bart, I didn't know rifampin worked on it too - I was also on that. And minocycline.
Good luck!
BTW my finger was getting better and the rash had faded a lot, but today it has flared up worse than ever and is spreading. It looks a bit like a burn. So at least I can be sure it isn't a straightforward allergic reaction, because I haven't put that ring or any other one near my finger!
Oh and drat I have totaly lost my voice again. This happened 3 years ago, I spent almost 9 months unable to speak. I am pretty sure this is bart too.
Jeez I am so sick of all this.
:(
Bactrim is the one I found magically effective gainst Bart, I didn't know rifampin worked on it too - I was also on that. And minocycline.
Good luck!
BTW my finger was getting better and the rash had faded a lot, but today it has flared up worse than ever and is spreading. It looks a bit like a burn. So at least I can be sure it isn't a straightforward allergic reaction, because I haven't put that ring or any other one near my finger!
Oh and drat I have totaly lost my voice again. This happened 3 years ago, I spent almost 9 months unable to speak. I am pretty sure this is bart too.
Jeez I am so sick of all this.
:(
Yeah..could be just a skin sensitivity triggered by Bart. I guess I am lucky in that I didn't have any skin issues with my Bart. I did have noticeable anxiety, though.
When I had to go on herbals, my PA said that if I still had Bart, I should see symptoms flare up within a week. (That is consistent with your doc saying it reproduces every five days.) Since I didn't, we have concluded mine is gone. (Of course now I need to deal with the Babs infection that has been playing a great game of hide and seek.)
My doc told me that Bart can go intracellular as well, and that meds like Biaxin, Cleocin, and Minocycline will work against both Bart and Lyme. I don't know what you've already tried, but it sounds like your doctor is really good. Maybe when you're ready, you can ease back into treatment instead of going full bore.
When I had to go on herbals, my PA said that if I still had Bart, I should see symptoms flare up within a week. (That is consistent with your doc saying it reproduces every five days.) Since I didn't, we have concluded mine is gone. (Of course now I need to deal with the Babs infection that has been playing a great game of hide and seek.)
My doc told me that Bart can go intracellular as well, and that meds like Biaxin, Cleocin, and Minocycline will work against both Bart and Lyme. I don't know what you've already tried, but it sounds like your doctor is really good. Maybe when you're ready, you can ease back into treatment instead of going full bore.
Sorry to hear that but totally understand. I was one of the small percentage that got tendinitis from Levaquin, now just started Rifampin for Bart's doing better.
Healing thoughts and hugs coming your way.
Healing thoughts and hugs coming your way.
I'm still treating bart but only with a herbal mix from the lyme doc. It's just not really strong enough. I need to go on abx but the bart developed resistance to the one that really worked so I'll have to try something else. And I don't have the courage for abx again just yet.
Not so good.
Not so good.
Hmmm, then maybe it's the constant contact against the skin and not so much what the material is. Dunno.
I really believe ours is Bart's related since we both have been wearing rings for years. Like my oxygen tubing in the hospital gave me painful lesion behind my ears. They pop up when they want to and since I haven't been wearing the ring for several weeks, the lesion is still there leads me to think its Bart's. my LLMD thinks so too.
Are you still treating your Bart's?
Are you still treating your Bart's?
Funny you mentioned the allergy to gold. I suddenly remembered my grandmother had a latinum wedding ring because she got a rash under gold when it touched her skin. So you're right, maybe it's just me adn nothing to do with bart or lyme. Though it does seem odd that it suddenly flared up in the middle of a bart flare up.
The ring I had a rash from was silver. Sterling silver so should contain very little or no base metal. Like Mojogal, I'd been wearingthe ring for 8 years day and night, literally never took it off, and then the rash suddenly came out of nowhere.
I once had a similar but milder rash from the back of my watch, which was stainless steel.
I've heard of nickel allergy. I do wonder, though, if it's not specifically a reaciton to the metal but rather the skin freaking out simply because there is something touching it all the time.
Well I'm just musing out loud and going nowhere with this!!!
My doc told me that bart reproduces right under the skin and then migrates into the body once every 5 days approximately. Therefore if it is flaring up, it would make sense that the skin is particularly sensitive and presumably full of white blood cells etc trying to wage war.
I do have puffy skin lately too, my friends have commented that my face looks puffy and kind of bloated. Though maybe that's more to do with fluid retention... just don't know.
The ring I had a rash from was silver. Sterling silver so should contain very little or no base metal. Like Mojogal, I'd been wearingthe ring for 8 years day and night, literally never took it off, and then the rash suddenly came out of nowhere.
I once had a similar but milder rash from the back of my watch, which was stainless steel.
I've heard of nickel allergy. I do wonder, though, if it's not specifically a reaciton to the metal but rather the skin freaking out simply because there is something touching it all the time.
Well I'm just musing out loud and going nowhere with this!!!
My doc told me that bart reproduces right under the skin and then migrates into the body once every 5 days approximately. Therefore if it is flaring up, it would make sense that the skin is particularly sensitive and presumably full of white blood cells etc trying to wage war.
I do have puffy skin lately too, my friends have commented that my face looks puffy and kind of bloated. Though maybe that's more to do with fluid retention... just don't know.
One of the metals frequently mixed with gold or silver (and used in most costume jewelry) is nickel. Lots of people develop nickel allergies. My father noticed his when he got a red, peeling rash under his gold wedding band, which he had been wearing for over 30 years at that point. I developed a milder nickel allergy in my mid thirties, although my gold rings don't bother me. Cheap jewelry and some silver pieces do. I haven't worn a watch in over 8 years. (Can't afford a gold one!)
My allergist said some allergies reduce with age, but we can also develop new ones at any age. Obviously it has something to do with fluctuations in the immune system.
I had horrible grass allergies when I first moved to this area. But in the last few years, they have been minor, with last spring being my mildest allergy season ever. I wonder if my allergies declined because Lyme was quietly suppressing my immune system.
But at the same time, my eosinophils are high, too. My nephrologist is concerned I may be in the early stages of developing an allergy to my penicillin. We are going to recheck next month.
Sorry I am not much help! I am coming to the conclusion that the best thing I can do for my immune system is eat a super healthy diet.
My allergist said some allergies reduce with age, but we can also develop new ones at any age. Obviously it has something to do with fluctuations in the immune system.
I had horrible grass allergies when I first moved to this area. But in the last few years, they have been minor, with last spring being my mildest allergy season ever. I wonder if my allergies declined because Lyme was quietly suppressing my immune system.
But at the same time, my eosinophils are high, too. My nephrologist is concerned I may be in the early stages of developing an allergy to my penicillin. We are going to recheck next month.
Sorry I am not much help! I am coming to the conclusion that the best thing I can do for my immune system is eat a super healthy diet.
Mine came all of a sudden after wearing the ring for years. It looks like the Bart rash.
and PS, as I think about it further, I think I've read that gold is the LEAST allergenic of metals, so the likely culprit is the base metal that gold and silver are mixed with to make them durable.
If this sounds applicable, you might try not wearing your jewelry for a few weeks and see if it gets better. Lyme might have your immune system on high alert too, so that what otherwise might not annoy can do so now. again, fwiw.
If this sounds applicable, you might try not wearing your jewelry for a few weeks and see if it gets better. Lyme might have your immune system on high alert too, so that what otherwise might not annoy can do so now. again, fwiw.
Re rash on a ring finger ... are you ladies wearing a ring on that finger, or is it just by chance that it is your 4th finger where the rash occurs, without metal contact?
My grandmother was allergic to some jewelry -- gold, I think -- and her wedding ring had to be platinum to avoid rashes. I never saw the rash, so don't know what it looked like. She could also have been allergic to whatever the gold was mixed with to make it hard, and in those days (half a century ago) I don't think the dermatological testing was that precise. Just a thought. (PS she lived in the woodsy part of the country, so who knows, maybe she had Lyme! Dunno.)
My thinking is that this may be a separate issue from your infections, but of course there could be a link. fwiw.
My grandmother was allergic to some jewelry -- gold, I think -- and her wedding ring had to be platinum to avoid rashes. I never saw the rash, so don't know what it looked like. She could also have been allergic to whatever the gold was mixed with to make it hard, and in those days (half a century ago) I don't think the dermatological testing was that precise. Just a thought. (PS she lived in the woodsy part of the country, so who knows, maybe she had Lyme! Dunno.)
My thinking is that this may be a separate issue from your infections, but of course there could be a link. fwiw.
You are right. It is strange how my ring finger is like yours, all of a sudden, then I get those scratch type, which hurt at first, then fade to a scar like scratch, it is very frustrating.
Thanks Jackie, It seems bart can cause a huge variety of rashes. Some of them really horrific looking, lucky for me I don't have anything that bad!!
I saw a thumb that looked like my finger with the ring. I also think my "eczema" on my arms is either bart of maybe erythema migrans, or else bart which cam apparently cause a very similar rash.
I have a suspicion that a lot of the time, a patient has lyme and bart and even the doc isn't sure which one is causing a certain rash.
Mojogal, I don't know if different rashes means different strains of bart, I was only wondering about that. It just seems strange to me that the same bacteria could cause totally different rashes.
I saw a thumb that looked like my finger with the ring. I also think my "eczema" on my arms is either bart of maybe erythema migrans, or else bart which cam apparently cause a very similar rash.
I have a suspicion that a lot of the time, a patient has lyme and bart and even the doc isn't sure which one is causing a certain rash.
Mojogal, I don't know if different rashes means different strains of bart, I was only wondering about that. It just seems strange to me that the same bacteria could cause totally different rashes.
re photos of bart:
I just googled
bartonella pictures
and got a wide assortment of photos with different presentations, as you are describing above.
If your google browser is not set to automatically show images, then on the left side of the screen is a navigation list, and 'images' is there. click and it will show only images, no text. You can click on the images, tho, and find the site where the image is posted.
Other browsers may work too, I'm just a googlehead.
I just googled
bartonella pictures
and got a wide assortment of photos with different presentations, as you are describing above.
If your google browser is not set to automatically show images, then on the left side of the screen is a navigation list, and 'images' is there. click and it will show only images, no text. You can click on the images, tho, and find the site where the image is posted.
Other browsers may work too, I'm just a googlehead.
Yes, i think its Bart's reaction. I get both types, the scratch type and the cherry type, so does that mean I have two strains? Not sure, but all I know is I hate them.
I call them my "ghost scratch" because I can get a red scratch from no where, i say , kidding a ghost must have scratched me. There is no reason for it.
Very frustrating. Sorry, don't know any sites that show them that I can remember. I do remember seeing both types once online.
I hope that helped some. Take care!
I call them my "ghost scratch" because I can get a red scratch from no where, i say , kidding a ghost must have scratched me. There is no reason for it.
Very frustrating. Sorry, don't know any sites that show them that I can remember. I do remember seeing both types once online.
I hope that helped some. Take care!
So you think it's the immune system reacting to Bart? I've been having a pretty bad bart flare up for a while, so that would make sense.
Do you know any sites with a good range of bart rash photos? I have never had the cat scratch/stretch marks one, but I do have lots of cherry angiomas, which are another type of bart rash - maybe a different strain?
If you got a bart rash by your wedding ring, I wonder if mine is another type of bart rash... if there are other types.
Thanks for the info! :)
Do you know any sites with a good range of bart rash photos? I have never had the cat scratch/stretch marks one, but I do have lots of cherry angiomas, which are another type of bart rash - maybe a different strain?
If you got a bart rash by your wedding ring, I wonder if mine is another type of bart rash... if there are other types.
Thanks for the info! :)
Hi, I get allergies all the time. I take Benadryl every night.
I got one on my engagement ring finger which LLMD said is a Bart's lesion. I still get Bart's lesions. In the hospital, I got one behind my ear from where the oxygen tubing went.
Have you tried Benadryl? It doesn't make all lesions go away but helps with break outs.
Sorry you are getting these. I know how annoying they are and my blood tests show the same and I believe for that reason.
Sorry, my Lyme brain is slow. Hope I make sense.
I got one on my engagement ring finger which LLMD said is a Bart's lesion. I still get Bart's lesions. In the hospital, I got one behind my ear from where the oxygen tubing went.
Have you tried Benadryl? It doesn't make all lesions go away but helps with break outs.
Sorry you are getting these. I know how annoying they are and my blood tests show the same and I believe for that reason.
Sorry, my Lyme brain is slow. Hope I make sense.
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