hi i have so many of the lyme disease symptoms its a shame.. i was diognosed with fibromyalgia 18 years ago, i was recently bit by a tick had the rash and it went away didnt go to the doctor until a couple of months got put on doxy, but still feel the same. i was wondering i kept the tick in the bag does anyone know if testing the tick has good results? i have had all kinds of blood work and nothing to show for getting weaker every day please. send any info thank you..sw.
If anyone of you have ever actually had the "BULLSEYE RASH"....
Then you definitely have lyme disease....
The bullseye is caused when your antigens and killer cells go to the bite site and try to kill off the aliens that have just entered your body.....
The clear center is from the bite site out to where the red ring begins...the red ring is where the good guys have met up with the bad guys.....inflamation occurs and well....
you're infected....no question about it!
AMZSR
Hey there OldAlly,
Carol and anyone telling you the lyme disease tests are pretty funky especially thru a lab like labcorp or quest...even I would hazzard a guess at most every hospital lab they might try to find mr" Borrelia burgdorferi SPIROCHETE", the major bug in lyme disease or TBD(tick borne diseases...and I do mean the plural that can include babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, bartonella(cat scratch-like fever)...etc and so on...
cause exactly what I've read in your post as well as most of the other posts...
It's a small world...I've been researching statins and neurological problems and I ran accross this website....
Unfortunately, mainstream medical doctors around the globe are scared as doo doo to treat anyone with these diseases....so...they'll send your labwork to a lab they know will not have the proper methodology to detect your infection...and besides it's hard to find because it (the bacillis/retro-virus/fungal)protein shape-shifting alien in our bodies delivered by arachnids-I suspect anything that takes blood meals off of unsuspecting humans...is hard to find....usually never in cereberal spinal fluid, rarely in the blood, and biopsies of the brain liver heart etc every organ of the body as well as eliminating the myelin covering of every nervous system in the body.....not to mention reeking havoch in the brain after it passes through the blood brain barrier and screws with the synaptic messages the brain is trying to put out....we often call this Brain-fog or neuro-lyme or more correctly neuroborreliosis .....spirochetal infection by the cousin(much more learned) of Syphilis....another spirochete....but in America....we have 200 different varieties of this (in Europe 300 different species) not to mention the co-infections previously referred to as whatever the little critters may have picked up from every meal and from it's own mamma before you happened along and it used you for it's very next meal...
sorry.....
Get to one of the better labs like IGENIX or STONEY BROOKE and get a REAL TEST!
Then you'll probably get some antibiotics for a month and the duck will claim you're "certainly cured"....don't believe a word of it....
AMZSR
Maybe the campylobacter and swollen knees was really lyme....I have all your symptoms and more. My arms and legs feel like they are not connected to my body or the signals just aren't getting there. I had 3 bullseye rashes back in 1992. Had all this stuff back then, got better after taking antibiotics, only to have it all come back again after a surgery. I have never tested positive for lyme but have all the symptoms, the rash and I improve on antibiotics.
Here are some other things that can cause neuropathy:
1. Monoclonal gammopathy
2. Lupus
3. CREST syndrome
4. obstructive sleep apnea
5. hypothyroidism
6. celiac disease
7. diabetes
8. Lyme disease (try one of the other tests for it, just as a confirmation)
9. syphilis
You should take this list to a rheumatologist and ask to be checked for all of them.
I have a confirmed diagnosis of Lyme disease and experience almost all of the symptoms you describe. It took almost 10 years to get an accurate diagnosis. The first test I took came back negative so the Dr. dismissed Lyme Disease even though I had been bitten by a tick years earlier and had just returned from living in Philadelphia for a year. I kept getting progressively worse and finally sought help from other doctors who also dismissed Lyme based on the initial test.
Finally, I located a doctor that specializes in Lyme Disease. He recognized the symtoms right away and ordered tests from a lab that specializes in Lyme disease. Needless to say - I was positive. I am now on antibiotic therapy and have just started nuerontin for the neurological problems. I am happy to say that I am beginning to respond to treatment and now have almost as many good days as bad.
If you suspect Lyme Disease DEMAND the appropriate tests. According to my doctor, Lyme Disease is very difficult to diagnose in blood tests and there are only a handful of labs in the U.S. that specialize in testing for Lyme. Post back if you need a list of the labs and I will get them for you. GOOD LUCK!!
OldAlly,
The pain you describe sounds like neuropathy.
Here is a page with some info:
Neuropathy, Signs and Symptoms
http://www.neurologychannel.com/neuropathy/symptoms.shtml
They were right to test you for Lyme Disease, as Lyme can cause neuropathy.
However, I bet they used the ELISA test, which misses at least half of known Lyme cases.
Even the Western Blot tests for Lyme only check for a couple strains, and there are several hundred strains.
This means it's possible you have an infection with Lyme bacteria, and they just haven't found it yet.
This happens more often than you would believe, and it will take some effort on your part to investigate the possibility.
Read the info and symptoms at the Canadian Lyme Foundation.
Ask questions about getting the right tests done at the discussion group, LymeNet.org.
Wishing you the best,
Carol
I'm having similar symptoms. The intense pain started in my heels and i was immediately misdiagnosed with "plantar faciitis". After a years worth of non-responsive treatment, my dr. finally decided something else was going on, since then, the pain has moved up my legs and into my hips and lower back, the burning is excruciating. I've had all the tests, nerve conduction, blood tests, MRI's and nothing seems to show any kind of cause. The pain is worst in the areas that take the most "body weight", ie, feet and buttocks. I'm on 3200mgs of Gabapentin(nuerontin) with no adverse side effects and it helps a little. I've been going to Stanford Univ. for the past year and they now have me on Mexiletine which helps significantly but hte side-effects are tough. I will be 52 next month and can't imagine having to continue the rest of my life with this pain...so I know how you feel.