Aa
What do you think???
This may be long but I am so looking for answers. I am 38. I grew up in CA. I don't remember getting bit by a tick but it could have happened as we went camping a lot and traveled to Canada wilderness. I remember as a young teen getting really dizzy all the time and having neurological issues that no one could ever figure out. At 17 I got a sever case of what they thought was mono but it never tested positive and subsequently I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. My adult life I have stuggled with extreme fatigue...beyond normal. It is debilitating. My symptoms are worsening lately. I have low bp (95/62), a low basal body temp (96.6 - 97.3), severe dizziness upon standing that leads to blacking out, convulsion type episodes and occasional fainting, my legs feel heavily weighed down, cold extremities (blue toe/fingernails when slightly cold), migraines. I struggle with depression because I always feel so bad and I feel so bad I have no motivation to do anything. I am a stay at home mom so not much gets done... The husband is not sympathetic or happy about that!! More stress. I get random twitches or shakes in various places (eye, finger leg), I have restless leg syndrome and I sleep horrible. I wake up probably 10 times a night. My hands are always falling asleep at night too.
Ok, I officially sound like a complete mess!! ;). I have a brain MRI tomorrow and a neurologist appt on Tuesday but i am starting to wonder if I should peruse Lyme disease. Any thoughts???
If you got this far ...thank you. And sorry!!!! ;)
B
Ok, I officially sound like a complete mess!! ;). I have a brain MRI tomorrow and a neurologist appt on Tuesday but i am starting to wonder if I should peruse Lyme disease. Any thoughts???
If you got this far ...thank you. And sorry!!!! ;)
B
I'm glad the docs are taking this seriously --
have you poked around the internet searching for images of various rashes? You might find some ideas there.
Hang tough! Let us know what you find out, ok?
have you poked around the internet searching for images of various rashes? You might find some ideas there.
Hang tough! Let us know what you find out, ok?
I actually had a spot on my foot biopsied today, they are all over my feet, some on my legs, red rashes on my breasts and some on my arms. I thought it might be hives from a reaction to one of my many medications but my doctor says she has not .seen hives on feet, so she took a biopsy to make sure it is not from an infection. I can let you know when I get the results.
correction: I was unclear above about the meaning of 'spreading' rash:
"Thus if you have multiple, irregular rashes that don't by themselves expand (but instead pop up in various separate places), I would not first think of Lyme."
"Thus if you have multiple, irregular rashes that don't by themselves expand (but instead pop up in various separate places), I would not first think of Lyme."
Welcome to MedHelp --
Sorry to hear about your rash. I don't think photos can be posted here, no mechanism to do so.
Are the allergy meds working?
You might look up tinea corporis online and see if that looks like your rash.
To my knowledge (and I'm NOT medically trained), Lyme rash tends to be one circular rash (or at most only a few such rash spots), because they are a reaction to a tick bite, and the body reacts to the specific bite area, not generally over the skin. The rash spreads outward from a central point, enlarging as it goes, with the central area clearing. Like the proverbial bullseye.
Thus if you have multiple, irregular, spreading rashes, I would not first think of Lyme.
Garlic is effective as a home remedy against viruses and other invaders, and I can't imagine even if it's a bit old that it would cause you to break out in a rash if you have no previous allergy to garlic (and I've never heard of anyone being allergic to garlic.) Also it seems a food allergy would not take days to spread across your skin without other signs of allergy.
Again, the key question is: are the allergy meds working? Or is the rash still there, or still spreading? If you search online for images of rashes with a descriptive word like 'round', you may find something that looks like yours.
Sorry not to be of more help -- let us know how you progress -- will be interested to hear, and wish you well --
Sorry to hear about your rash. I don't think photos can be posted here, no mechanism to do so.
Are the allergy meds working?
You might look up tinea corporis online and see if that looks like your rash.
To my knowledge (and I'm NOT medically trained), Lyme rash tends to be one circular rash (or at most only a few such rash spots), because they are a reaction to a tick bite, and the body reacts to the specific bite area, not generally over the skin. The rash spreads outward from a central point, enlarging as it goes, with the central area clearing. Like the proverbial bullseye.
Thus if you have multiple, irregular, spreading rashes, I would not first think of Lyme.
Garlic is effective as a home remedy against viruses and other invaders, and I can't imagine even if it's a bit old that it would cause you to break out in a rash if you have no previous allergy to garlic (and I've never heard of anyone being allergic to garlic.) Also it seems a food allergy would not take days to spread across your skin without other signs of allergy.
Again, the key question is: are the allergy meds working? Or is the rash still there, or still spreading? If you search online for images of rashes with a descriptive word like 'round', you may find something that looks like yours.
Sorry not to be of more help -- let us know how you progress -- will be interested to hear, and wish you well --
Hi Jackie Just read your reply to Bfvission and its so nice people such as you try to help others. Please can you tell me is it possible to post Photo's on here ? as I have a red rash on my legs,ankles,and feet,I am having treatment for it.It started with my left foot big toe .So thinking it was my shoe rubbing I put on a sticking plaster,next day a red rash started to appear as stated above and as the days went on progress got worse all shapes and sizes round big small but really angry looking.Well my daughter took me to our local Hospital and My rashes caused quite a stir with a lot of Doctors taking pics of my legs.Well after 4 hours they decided checking with Google etc. it was an allergies and gave me some tablets for relief from Hay Fever and other allergies .My own Dr prior to Hospital visit supplied me with some ointment which I was advised to carry on rubbing in several times daily I have not said the name of both in case we are not allowed because of advertising ,If it is allowed of course I will say on request .Now to what myself think my rashes were caused by is me eating raw Garlic which was well out of Date ,I say this to see if anyone else has had the same or similar reaction eating raw garlic.I must say the rash is now slowly diminishing.
What Jackie said^^ was excellent. Most doctors never think about Lyme if the Labcorp Western Blot shows "neg". They never consifder the "pea soup" of coinfections found such as Bartonella, Babesia, Rickesettia, Human Granuloma Ehrlichia, Infectious Mycoplasmas,etc. If only doctors would do that testing and realize that those coinfections make Lymes more morbid, then it might be diagnosed better.
As it is now, people will be diaged with Fibro, Hashimotos, MS, Lupus, sometimes ALS, Dementia, Somataforms ( it's in your head), Parasite pychosis (something crawling under your skin) or Munchausens Syndrom.
If you could give a more detailed account of your symptoms, it might help. And as Jackie said....do NOT give up!!
As it is now, people will be diaged with Fibro, Hashimotos, MS, Lupus, sometimes ALS, Dementia, Somataforms ( it's in your head), Parasite pychosis (something crawling under your skin) or Munchausens Syndrom.
If you could give a more detailed account of your symptoms, it might help. And as Jackie said....do NOT give up!!
Welcome.
There is no need to apologize to us here -- we understand what you are going through.
No one here is medically trained, but like you, we have travelled a long road to learn about possible Lyme infection.
If I were in your situation, I would see the neuro as you plan, have the MRI, and even ask the neuro if you could have Lyme. Most neuros are not believers in Lyme, so be prepared to have your question dismissed with a quick "No." But that's okay, you tried.
Then get copies of the tests the neuro runs, and always keep your own copies of all tests, because they may come in handy for future docs.
If the neuro is not interested in pursuing Lyme, then I would, in your situation, find a Lyme specialist. I just searched on google for 'lyme disease arizona' (without the quotes), and there were many interesting links to help locate a Lyme specialist (often referred to by us patients as LLMDs, meaning Lyme-literate MDs -- not an official title, but useful for us.)
An LLMD can be any kind of doc, but what is important is that they take Lyme seriously. You may get lucky and your neuro may be broadminded, but don't be surprised if he's not. Just sayin'.
You can get Lyme pretty much anywhere, regardless of what the doctors say. It's all over California and is found throughout the US, but the nonLLMDs still take the official position that Lyme is only found back East and in parts of California. Sadly, ticks cannot read maps to know where they are not allowed to go, so they are everywhere, including Europe and South America and Australia and probably everywhere else too. The medical community is in denial, or at least part of it is.
There is a website called ILADS [dot] org, run by the main LLMD organization, International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. You might find it interesting. The tab 'About Lyme' has Burrascano's 'Diagnostic Hints...' which you may find interesting to compare your symptoms and history to.
The ticks are the size of poppyseeds, and often are not seen or felt. If the legendary bullseye rash occurs (and half the time it doesn't), it could be on the scalp and not seen. Absence of rash and tick does NOT mean absence of Lyme.
Also there are other diseases those same ticks carry, and an LLMD knows to look for that.
The tests for Lyme are NOT very accurate, so it takes an LLMD to take a careful history and exam to figure out what to test for, and then to be able to properly interpret the tests, which are notoriously inaccurate.
Does all this sound terribly gloomy? Yeah, it does. But the GOOD news is that if you have Lyme+, it's treatable. Not quickly, but doable. You don't list any symptom that I have not had or heard about from other Lyme patients. This doesn't mean you have Lyme, but it means looking into it with an LLMD might be a good move. It's what I would do, and I went through 20 docs to get diagnosed.
Let us know what you do and how you do, okay? And hang in there.
There is no need to apologize to us here -- we understand what you are going through.
No one here is medically trained, but like you, we have travelled a long road to learn about possible Lyme infection.
If I were in your situation, I would see the neuro as you plan, have the MRI, and even ask the neuro if you could have Lyme. Most neuros are not believers in Lyme, so be prepared to have your question dismissed with a quick "No." But that's okay, you tried.
Then get copies of the tests the neuro runs, and always keep your own copies of all tests, because they may come in handy for future docs.
If the neuro is not interested in pursuing Lyme, then I would, in your situation, find a Lyme specialist. I just searched on google for 'lyme disease arizona' (without the quotes), and there were many interesting links to help locate a Lyme specialist (often referred to by us patients as LLMDs, meaning Lyme-literate MDs -- not an official title, but useful for us.)
An LLMD can be any kind of doc, but what is important is that they take Lyme seriously. You may get lucky and your neuro may be broadminded, but don't be surprised if he's not. Just sayin'.
You can get Lyme pretty much anywhere, regardless of what the doctors say. It's all over California and is found throughout the US, but the nonLLMDs still take the official position that Lyme is only found back East and in parts of California. Sadly, ticks cannot read maps to know where they are not allowed to go, so they are everywhere, including Europe and South America and Australia and probably everywhere else too. The medical community is in denial, or at least part of it is.
There is a website called ILADS [dot] org, run by the main LLMD organization, International Lyme and Associated Disease Society. You might find it interesting. The tab 'About Lyme' has Burrascano's 'Diagnostic Hints...' which you may find interesting to compare your symptoms and history to.
The ticks are the size of poppyseeds, and often are not seen or felt. If the legendary bullseye rash occurs (and half the time it doesn't), it could be on the scalp and not seen. Absence of rash and tick does NOT mean absence of Lyme.
Also there are other diseases those same ticks carry, and an LLMD knows to look for that.
The tests for Lyme are NOT very accurate, so it takes an LLMD to take a careful history and exam to figure out what to test for, and then to be able to properly interpret the tests, which are notoriously inaccurate.
Does all this sound terribly gloomy? Yeah, it does. But the GOOD news is that if you have Lyme+, it's treatable. Not quickly, but doable. You don't list any symptom that I have not had or heard about from other Lyme patients. This doesn't mean you have Lyme, but it means looking into it with an LLMD might be a good move. It's what I would do, and I went through 20 docs to get diagnosed.
Let us know what you do and how you do, okay? And hang in there.
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