Does this sound like lyme?

[awkweird]

I am a 20 y/o male, whose been having health problems for 3 years. I have muscle swelling (inflammation), muscle twitching, brain fog, swallowing difficulties, balance problems, and fatigue. I don't ever remember having the characteristic bullseye rash. I've been tested for everything under the sun including Lymes (Though I'm not sure how accurate the tests in Canada are). I'm really not sure what is going on, But I was hoping someone who has been through something similar can maybe help. Thanks

[justanamatuer]

In the interest of full disclosure, I do still have occasional symptoms. My last Severe "attack " was Oct 2011, so less than a year.

   However with that being said, the couple other people I know first hand who have undergone the treatments, Jackie, and youvegot are reffering to also still have symptoms.

    The fact is there seems to be little proof at all that any of those treatments are at all more effective than simply Doxy.

[justanamatuer]

Just to be sure you arent reading me wrong.
   Yes thats Three - Five thousand dollars for the initial visit and testing from a Lyme specialist.
   Yes that visit to the ER that my GP insisted upon cost me Eight Thousand Dollars !!
    Yes I know a few patients of the Lyme specialist who have had over one hundred thousand dollars of medical treatment.

[justanamatuer]

I had lyme in my body for over a year before it manifested symptoms. I do know first hand what pain and problems it can cause. In addition to the usual symptoms I had, numbness, slurred speech, severe confusion, and more.
    That being said ,from what I have seen as a patient, there is no harm in starting a heavy routine of doxy, whereas many of the others, (roceferin) and such seem to have some far worse side affects.
   As far as cost  goes, I have no health insurance and when I went to make an appointment with a "lyme specialist" they told me the initial visit would be three to five thousand !!!
   I have been sent to the ER after having a flare up of Lyme, telling my Dr what was wrong, yet being misdiagnosed as having a pulmonary embolism. that visit cost me 8 grand !!!
    The best treatment I have found has simply been months of Doxy, it is incredibly effective . I have also coupled the Doxy with several other alternative cures.
     I think its terrible how much of the medical community denies the severity and complication of Lyme, however an equal crime is providing a patient with 100 thousand dollars of treatments that cause severe side affects !
     The Doxy may not in fact be an ultimate cure, however taking it will normally at the very least result in the person feeling much better and then they can add in whatever additional treatment they need. I do not believe it will scew the results of a spinal tap should they get to that point.
    Anyone that is experiencing Lyme sypmtoms should just get on Doxy ASAP.  As I said the important thing would be to take it long enough. The biggest reason Doxy often fails is it is commonly only prescribed for 2 weeks.

[JackieCalifornia]

I agree with other comments here that do-it-yourself doxy is not a solid gameplan.  

Doxy was the original treatment approach for Lyme, but much has been learned since then about the nature of Lyme bacteria and their peculiarities.  

Doxy also doesn't take into account the other diseases ("co-infections") that often accompany Lyme.

[youvegottobekidding]

After 3 years, it is far to late to cure this with doxy alone. You'll need a mix of several antibiotics, and only a lyme specialist is going to know what will work best for you.
Also, the majority (I believe) of us sadly also have one or more tick-borne co-infections and they will have to be treated too. The swallowing and balance problems make me think you need to be tested for bartonella, for example.

In the first 6 months of getting ill, time is of the essence. You've gone past one of the deadlines now, so I would do your research thoroughly and get a good doctor to handle things from here. Faffing about with a therapy that is not strong enough will at best only give you short-lived relief.

If you are desperate for symptoms relief meantime, I would suggest a few nutrients.

Magnesium will help with muscle twitching and possibly the swallowing thing.
Vitamin B12 (sublingual tablets) may help with balance.
Vitamins A, C and D and zinc and high dose probiotics will help you immune system in its fight.
Omega 3 oil reduces inflamamation.

If you do decide to try these, let me know and I will write out the correct therapeutic doses that my lyme doc has prescribed me (when you have lyme, taking the RDA will be nowhere near enough).

[Ricobord]

I am under the impression that there are many cases of late stage Lyme that oral doxy just will not cure.  A three year infection usually requires a more complex regimen and longer term treatment.

And Jackie's advice is excellent...to let a Lyme Literate MD order the tests you need. It can be difficult to figure out what tests to order, unless money doesn't matter.  

I did it the other way around as I was so incredibly sick, I didn't want the delay of waiting 2 weeks for an appointment, then waiting another 10 days for test results.  At that point I was going into the hospital for severe pain, and when I got out, the scary tachycardia kicked in with heart rates up to 155.  I wasn't sure I could wait a month.

At that point, I didn't care about the cost.  It wasn't trivial, though.  My full Lyme panel and full coinfection panel cost $1255.  The good news is that I got nearly $800 back from insurance because my primary doc ordered the tests.  If I had done the testing through the out of network LLMD, my insurance co. would have given me half that much. In my case, it paid off in time and money.