Lymes disease coming back??

[Skiddajane]

My boyfriend (almost 17) had lyme disease a few years back, and it took him a year to finally get cured.  Now, he is having the symptoms of it.  He says they're not that bad, but he has been having joint pain, headaches, sore throat, and he feels dizzy.  I am insanely worried that his lymes is coming back!!  He doesn't want to get it checked out, because he said that the doctor that cured him was terrible and cheated his family out of money.  Can Lyme disease return? (He initially got it from his mother whom was pregnant at the time. The Lyme disease didn't show up in him until many years after his birth.)

[Ricobord]

The longer he waits, the longer it will take to treat it. I encourage him to get to a good LLMD as soon as possible.  He could contact a local Lyme support group for doctors names. They often know who is good and who isn't. Hopefully he can avoid a cheater this time.

[mojogal]

Yes, his last Doctor most likely didn't treat him long enough. They say to be treated at least 2 months after feeling good. I would do it 4 months myself.

I would tell him to find a good LLMD . He could email ILADS.Org and ask for any near where he lives. He could also google LLMD but he won't have anyone he could use as a reference. Either way I wouldn't go back to the old Dr.

[cave76]

There may be several reasons that your friend is having symptoms again.
We can't ever forget that it may not be Lyme disease. The symptoms of Lyme are also the symptoms of other diseases----- which is why  a good Lyme specialist will often try to rule out other diseases first before treating.
But assuming it IS Lyme, then he could have been bitten again. (People don't always see a tick or know they've been bitten).

Another very possible scenario is that because Lyme disease can go into remission (feels like cured) and then come back again at a later time and he may having a flare up. If he got  it from his mother, congenitally, and didn't show symptoms until much later---- that just shows how Lyme can lie and wait.

I'm sorry  he had a bad experience with his former doctor---- but he should really see a Lyme literate doctor about his fears.

But it could be something not related to Lyme, remember. A good doctor can help him with that.

Keep us posted and try to convince him to see a Lyme literate doctor.