A little Lyme goes a long way!

[In_The_Wind]

Y'all may remember the bug bite I was complaining about last October. Well anyway by the time I went to see my doctor the bite site was still obvious but the bulls eye was gone. So, all winter long I've complained about feeling like I'm aging quickly this year.

Well ... yesterday I had blood work done. Looks like I may have had Lyme Disease for around 5 months.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Sorry to here that.

This is some nasty crap,Family friend went to the Doc after his shoulder pain just got to be to much to handle,thinking he had wrecked his shoulder from doing roofing jobs,he was amazed to find out there was a Tick stinger still buried under his skin. Long story short,he ended up wheel chair bound two months later. Lyme Disease is not to be ignored.

[In_The_Wind]

3. Did he eventually recover?

If the test come back positive sometime around mid-week I'll be taking Doxycycline for about 3 weeks.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Sorry to say,

no he did not. Still wheel chair bound,the disease attacked his whole muscle system. I believe he is now in a Nursing Facility from what I last heard.

[In_The_Wind]

6. I'm very sorry to hear that.

[tosh]

2. Take your doxycycline.

They should prescribe you a double round (2 weeks is - or WAS - normal, so 4 weeks) since it's been in your system so long.

I went through this - 2012 or 13. Didn't have the bulls-eye rash and so ignored it until the "roving body pains" got so bad that I knew SOMETHING was really wrong

The doxy cleared everything up for me and now I keep a prescription on file for a prophylactic dose if I get a tick bite, no testing necessary anymore.

Sending vibes your way for a full recovery!

[In_The_Wind]

5. Thanks for a scary story with a happy ending.

I thought it was a spider bite because the bite location was so darned painful.

When I noticed a progressive bright pink skin discoloration moving around my torso I really started worrying. Then suddenly on Thursday March 2nd every muscle in my leg cramped up like a massive Charlie Horse.


Thanks so much for the vibes.

[panader0]

7. Yikes! Get well soon.

[In_The_Wind]

10. Thanks, panader0.

[Aristus]

8. Ah, the perils of trying to make a diagnosis remotely.

You told me you thought it was a spider bite. Rather than considering the likelihood that it was a tick bite instead, I went in the direction of something other than a bite at all.

Whenever I have patients presenting with what they call a spider bite, it's almost always something else; an ingrown hair, an abscess, etc.

My instructor for Adult Medicine was right: when all else fails, look at the patient.

[In_The_Wind]

9. Aristus, my dear friend ...

Even my doctor did not know what the problem was when he was looking at it in real life.

Part of the problem is that I waited until my normally scheduled appointment, a full 2 weeks after the bite happened.

There was no bulls eye when I looked at the bite. Nor was there a bulls eye when my doctor examined the bite area, only an odd shaped dark reddish area.

However, it was as I said ... a bite not something else.

[Aristus]

11. A bulls-eye lesion isn't necessarily pathognomonic for Lyme Disease.

The first thing on your doctor's differential could have been erythema multiforme or something.

There are fewer slam-dunk diagnoses in clinical medicine than one might expect.

[RobinA]

12. Luckily,

my Dr. didn't need a bullseye to get me tested. I felt like a bad flu with an insane headache and had red blotches all over me that moved around. Doxycycline for three weeks fixed me right up. I never did know where the original bite was. Do believe them when they tell you the antibiotic makes your skin more sensitive to sun.

My father, on the other hand, had a classic bullseye for a month and never even felt under the weather.

[malthaussen]

13. Ouch!

Sending vibes your way:

-- Mal

[In_The_Wind]

15. Thanks Mal

I'll be starting Amoxicillin this evening.

[Fla Dem]

14. Hope the doxycycline does the trick and you're feeling better real soon.

[Demsrule86]

16. Take antibiotics...strong strong...this is a political disease.

They will tell you there is no such thing as long term lyme...don't believe it. You need serious antibiotics...IV ones. My niece has been battling this disease for over ten years...my sister has fought to keep her alive. She has arthritis, diabetes, liver issues and can barely see. You have caught it fairly early. With good treatment, you may be able to head it off. Good luck.