Does this sound like Lyme?

[nafstan]

2 months ago I noticed an itchy spot on my wrist.  Two raised bumps, red, small rash around, not bullseye. Noticed this in my office.  No tick or other bug ever noticed.   Itched a little, not too much.  It went away mostly over the last two months.  

3 weeks ago I start feeling "weird' in the head and have biceps weakness, quadriceps weakness and tightness alternately.  Hamstring tightness every now and then.  Some days its mostly biceps/forearms, some days legs....some days both.  Periods during the day where I don't feel much of anything wrong.   Labs came moderately High for Creatine Kinase, a muscle enzyme.  

I'm on day 11 of Doxycycline and day 6 of Naproxen (Aleve) for the muscle inflammation.  Feeling generally better, but it just isn't going away.  Enough time?   Wondering if this is Lyme, bacterial, viral, or if its autoimmume related (like myositis) or even if Lyme can cause myositis.  Dr. wants me to try prednisone for the muscle inflammation but I'm afraid to weaken my immune system if it could be Lyme related.   He doesn't know or particularly think the "bite/rash" I noticed is related.  Says it could be, might not be.  My lyme and Erchliosis test Western Blot, etc.  he said were negative.

Any ideas?

[nafstan]

Thanks.  The flip side is that if it isn't Lyme and there is as good a chance that it isn't, then prednisone is precisely what I should be getting in the case of an early stage myositis.  Prognosis is always better they say when treating myositis very early.  Waiting to find out if its Lyme could take months. Myositis too.  So, sounds like rock and hard place.  Almost have to guess which or take both meds an hope for the best.

[ree427]

I agree about not taking steroids because at this point you are still unsure about a diagnosis. As far as antibiotics for Lyme, the standard 3-4 weeks may not be long enough. From what I have read with early Lyme and a rash, antibiotc therapy should continue until symptom and sign free for at least one month with a 6 week minimum.
As far as Lyme causing your symptoms or some other disorder, I am not sure. A symptom of Lyme is obvious muscle weakness, but I just not sure whether it can elevate Creatine Kinase.
In my opinion, it would be wise to continue antibiotic treatment in case it happens to be Lyme because there is relatively no harm in taking the doxycycline, avoid the steroid and take something else for inflammation, and continue to monitor your symptoms. If symptoms persist, you may want to look in to possible co-infections also. These are just my thoughts and hope you feel better soon.

[ewford]

Do NOT take prednisone or any other steroid!  Period.  Contact ILADS  (www.ILADS.org) as fast as possible to find a Lyme literate doctor near you that knows Lymes cannot be resolved in 4 weeks of ABX.  Normal doctors rarely know about the nasty coinfections that come along with Lyme.  They take diff drugs to eliminate and you need to address certain coinfections first, like babesia.  Do not waste time with standard doctors, you will get 8 diff pain relievers for 8 diff symptoms and not cure a darn thing.  As far as your western blot and ehrliciosis test being neg, the Western blot is a pee poor test looking for DNA of ONE type of borrelia, there are over 200 known. You might not have Ehrlichia, but might have Bartonella, Babesia, Brucella, Rickettsetia, Infectious Mycoplasma...etc.  See a Lyme doc asap, I cannot stress that enough.