Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to check-in and say "HI" and remind the Limbo Landers that if you haven't been checked for Lyme Disease, you might want to think about it.
I know there are new people posting on here all the time looking for answers, so quick update.
Thought I had MS for a year. Had brain MRI 20+ lesions not typical for MS...loads of other tests all negative. UCSF MS said this is NOT MS. A year later, I get myself tested for Lyme through Igenex labs, with a postive test with a co-infection. Started ABX and within one or two weeks, literally all my symptoms went away including the numbness which has never returned since starting abx. My symptoms were:
Facial numbess/tingling
numbness in left foot
pulsating/vibrating feeling in left leg
Sudden onset of major anxiety
Buzzing in Scalp
Trembling in hands
Electric type shock feeling in right side (happened once, but made me hit the ceiling)
This list is only a partial list of my symptoms. Lyme and MS symptoms mimic each other VERY closely. If you are in limbo and have no diagosis, please get checked for Lyme Disease.
Also, note that I had a lumbar puncture and it was negative for Lyme. Only 20% of people with Lyme show in their spinal fluid I've read. My neuro asked me "if I had lyme disease" upon reviewing my MRI.... He was a younger doctor, so probably more up-to-date with regards to lyme disease. Left untreated, lyme can cause many many problems.
Anyhow, I'm still on ABX (have been since Jan 2011). I am doing SO MUCH better. There is something called a "herx" reaction that people have when there is a large amount of die off of bacteria in the body. I do have occasional flairs of my leg pulsating feeling, but NOTHING like it was before meds. I will probably be on ABX for at least a year or longer. But, that's okay. I know I'm getting better.
Also, you DO NOT have to have had the rash and many people with Lyme don't even realize they have been biten by a tick. Ticks can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence.
Remember too.....you need to go to an LLMD (Lyme Literate MD) for accurate test reading. My Igenex lab results went to my regular doctor who didn't know how to read them and told me my test was negative. Finally, two months later, I looked at the test, and realized it was positive. Igenex has a website. You can google it.
I could go on and on, so if anyone has any questions, feel free to send me a message.
Take care,
Carrie