Any Lyme disease sufferers out there?

[kinnip]

I suspected Lyme was the culprit, and today my doc confirmed it. I'm in the second stage. The initial stage must've been pretty mild, then resolved. About a month ago I took some antibiotics for an infected tooth and it caused the bacteria to split up and colonize. I seem to have gotten treatment just shy of having some long-lasting neurological issues. My knee will likely have some arthritis from here on.
What an awful experience. The pain is vicious. I really look forward to being able to think clearly again. I've been making all kinds of mistakes at work over the past couple of weeks. It wasn't until the last three days that things got bad. Today is my first day on antibiotics. I'm wondering how long it will take before I get some relief.
What I didn't realize about Lyme is that the most infective stage of tick is the nymph. The doc said I wouldn't have had a chance to notice one of those. In fact, he was pretty clear that all the hype about checking for ticks to avoid Lyme is wishful thinking.

 

[chickenpea]

are you on deoxycycline?

 

[bheila]

PineBurrowPeeps suffers from Lyme disease. Hopefully she'll see your post.

 

[kinnip]

Quote:
I'm on doxycycline and a steroid pack.

 

[BarkerChickens]

I was treated for Lyme Disease a few years ago with doxyclycline for something insane for 4 months. I actually think I stopped after 2.5 months or something because a different doctor said 4 months was too long. I had two different doctors each run a test for Lyme disease (each test was a different kind). One came up with a STRONG indicator that I had Lyme Disease (he said I was in a later stage, but I also have systemic lupus, which as similar symptoms, so who knows for sure). The other doc said I did not have it at all. Go figure. The second test was the ELISE test; however, and that tests for antibodies, which 30% of sufferers don't produce. So, the first doc said that the two tests combined mean I had Lyme Disease and did not produce the antibodies. The doxycycline made me nauseous! But, since I have had no problems! It has been ~4-5 years now.

 

[kinnip]

Ditto on the nausea.

 

[CritterHill]

My 5 year old had it last summer. She also has rheumatoid arthritis. Getting her pediatrician to listen to me was nearly impossible. They kept looking at her and telling me that it was her RA acting up.

I took her every other day for a week until someone took me seriously. Turns out she had lyme.

We had her on antibiotics for 5 weeks (3 weeks is recommended) because she was immune suppressed. She perked up after a week or so, but had residual pains for weeks.

Good luck. Take lots of Motrin, it seemed to help with the pain.

 

[gypsy2621]

I have Lyme disease also,early second stage,
Ask your Dr to put you on Neurontin/Gabapentin 300 once a day. it helps with the pain and also helps with thinking clearly. I take it at night as i do not like the fuzzy head syndrome.
It is an anti seizure med but it works, there are some minor side effects, like swollen feet/fluid retention and such and a possibility of seizure if your prone.

I have a seizure disorder to go along with the Lyme so it helps me more than would be for people who do not suffer seizures. but the pain relief is well worth a few side effects.

when your in pain constantly you can not think, breathe or function clearly.
I have been living with pain all my life and the Lyme attacking unaffected joints has been twice and better more painful. it gets to the point you have to wonder how much more pain you can endure.

 

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
Three weeks is too short, you have to be on it long enough to break the reproductive cycle of the spirochete, which is 28 days. Five to six weeks is advised if you're in that acute to chronic stage. After that it can take months of antibiotic treatments (mostly IV) to beat it, if it can be beat at all. It's a nasty disease.

My son was diagnosed when he was 12, he was almost chronic, but they caught it in the nick of time. I had no problem convincing the pediatrician with the research I found what the treatment protocol should be (this was eleven years ago, right when Lyme was beginning to be a problem around here), but he felt he should refer my son to Boston, Children's Hospital, where the fancy-dancy pediatric rheumatologist decided by looking at him that he didn't have it - idiot. One of her resident doctors did the proper tests and prescribed the treatment - the same treatment I'd found in my research. If it were up to that idiot primadonna my son would have developed full-blown lifelong Lyme Disease.

 

[Boondachs]

i caught it TWICE from tick bites but thank god caught it within about 3-5 days from the date of the bite.