I "think" my daughter has Lyme

[mellowyellow1970]

I'm sorry this is so long. I like to be detailed. My 6 year old daughter has been having flu-like symptoms on and off for a few 2 months....The longest back I can remember  her complaining about anything was her stomach hurting but we attributed that to drinking too much milk which we stopped and so did the stomach pain, so we thought we had that figured out? Every now and then she seemed to get warm and complained about her head hurting. She did go to the doctor but that was inconclusive and it went away. About 2 weeks ago she got a fever of 102 and it kept coming and going. After 3 days I took her to the doctor. Her symptoms were the fever, head pain, neck pain, swollen gland about 2 inches under her left ear  on her neck. She was pale and lethargic. She also had a rash which started behind one ear than ran under her hairline to the next year. It was not circular. So, the doctor of course said it was probably a virus etc.. etc...I requested a blood script b/c we do live in upstate NY in the woods so we check for ticks daily. She has had a tick embedded in her but I'm not confident it was for as long as the 36 hours they tell me. Well, she gave me the blood script but told me not to do it for 2 more days and only if she spikes a fever each day. Well, of course the next day she didn't and I went against my instinct and didn't have the blood drawn. This past Saturday she spiked a fever again...is complaining about her neck, her head, ...the swollen gland is back and she says it hurts. I took her yesterday to get her blood drawn. Afterwards we went to eat and I noticed the left side of her face looked different! Her smile was only going up on her right side. When I came home looked that up and came across the Bells Palsy! So, do you think she has lyme? I have an appt w/ the doctor today and I know the blood tests won''t be back, but if he doesn't start antibiotics...should I demand  them? Should I take her to someone else? I just feel like  everything I have done so far has been wrong and delayed and I am very worried how long this has been in her system. Can anyone offer me any advice? thanks  

[patsy10]

It does sound like lyme to me.  It takes several weeks for antibodies to form so blood tests will be normal in early stages.  Testing is very unreliable at any stage of the  disease so someone can test negative and still have lyme disease.

[Alidora]

This definitely sounds like Lyme disease. Bell's palsy in a 6-year-old? I don't know of any other condition that can cause this. Plus all the other symptoms she's showing, AND the rash, AND the fact that you live in a hotbed for Lyme...

You need to bring your daughter to a Lyme-Literate doctor (LLMD) as soon as possible. If you want, I can give you the number of my LLMD who works in upstate NY (near Plattsburgh). Just PM me.

You can also contact a Lyme support group to find which LLMD is closest to your area. Here you will find the groups for your state:
www.lymenet.org/SupportGroups/UnitedStates/NewYork/

And here's the link to a very good Lyme forum, where you can get help from TONS of experienced Lymies: flash.lymenet.org/scripts/ultimatebb.cgi

Good luck!

Dora