Doctor thinks i have lyme disease

[Bigander]

Well, i went to the doctor yester day because i had a worsening pain in my elbow joint for 3 days. He asked me some q's and since i had full range of movement he ruled out the muscle and the tendons. And he said w/ my unusual sleepiness lately he thinks it is lyme disease. So i'm waiting for the blood work (had to get stuck 3 times b4 they found the vein), but the doc says the test is only 50% accurate. He did put me on pain killers and antibiotics to play it safe. Man this stinks though cause i tire really easy right now w/ the drugs.

 

[Indiana]

Sorry to hear that.

On the plus side, be glad they are on it early. Lyme disease does nasty things to you and is notoriously hard to diagnose (so I hear). Get well soon!

 

[maxpower]

A coworker of mine got it earlier this summer.

I have had 7+ ticks on me this year! They seem worse this year.

Like Indiana said, glad they got it early.

 

[Pyro Pro]

I was bitten by my first two ticks, on the same day, earlier in the summer (wasn't even out in the woods at all that day, either). About 2 weeks later a nice big bullseye rash formed on my knee, and though the tick that had been attached there had been way too big to have been a deer tick, the doctor put me on antibiotics for two weeks. Cleared up the rash, though I did get a pretty bad sunburn at NARAM because the antibiotics made my skin more sensitive to the sun.

 

[SwingWing]

Both my dog and my oldest daughter have had Lyme Disease. It nearly killed the dawg, and she still suffers from arthritis in the joints and reduced kidney function. It was caught early in my daughter, mostly cuz the dawg had had it, and she has no ill effects at all.
I hear ya about the "hard to diagnose". The doctor only checked my daughter because we demanded it, and she admitted to being completely surprised when the test came back positive. Some other quack was trying to diagnose it as meningitis, till the results came back from the blood test. IIRC, there are false negatives, but no false positives on the test.

 

[foose4string]

I was put on antibiotics for Lymes a few weeks ago, but was told to quit taking them when the blood work came back. They ruled out Lymes, even though I had many of the symptoms. I had two instances of finding a tick on myself a few weeks before, but they weren't attached long, and I showed no rash. They aren't sure what it was. Several days of fever, all over achy, tired, cold sweats at night, migraine type headache, arthritis type pain, then finally had a seizure before being admitted to the hospital. Never had a seizure before in my life as far as I can recall. In a way I wish it was lymes, then I would have an explanation and treatment. Not knowing kind of stinks. The doctor was adamant that it wasn't lymes,

 

[Pippen]

Sorry to hear this. A very close friend of mine has it and as it wasn't caught early it's been very debilitating. Take good care of yourself and get plenty of antibiotics!

Foosestring, the blood tests for Lyme are still in the highly unreliable stage and early treatment is critical. I'm surprised that the docs pulled you off the antibiotics just because the blood test was negative. I'd be looking for another opinion and continue the drugs just to play it safe. FWIW, my friend's symptoms were more of the neurological symptoms as opposed to the arthritic and her first blood test came back negative.

 

[powderburner]

Lyme disease is scary stuff. Listen to the doc and take the medicine until you are certain you don't have Lyme and are in the clear.

Hope you feel better fast, whatever it is that got you!

To discourage ticks, here is one place to use sulfer powder that might be a better application than making black powder. Yeah, it's an old-timey thing, but it works well.....dust that sulfer powder all over your shoes, sox, and calves. Works to discourage chiggars too.

 

[chanstevens]

I've picked up a few ticks and seem to have avoided it (Ohio ticks apparently don't carry the nasty stuff), but a buddy/co-flyer who got tick-eaten at NARAM-45 in Indianna came down with it almost two years later! Worse, there are apparently two types, and he got the nastier of the two. Says it will never actually go away, as it lives inside the blood cells, and because it's the bizarre secondary version, his insurance coverage doesn't recognize it. He blew through something like $20-30k in treatments like spending a couple days a month in a hyperbolic chamber and loading up on nutrition supplements. He's gotten through it for the most part, but for almost a year looked like he'd aged 40 years.

Bottom line--tick repellent is right up there with sun block as the first thing out of my range box each launch, and let's hope you got the "easy" lyme rather than the hard one.

 

[AKPilot]

Man, I'm sorry to hear about your illness. I have to admit I know little about the disease but I know it can't be a good thing.

Get well soon.

 

[zundap]

Sorry to hear that, Bigander. Good thing they caught it early, easier to treat. When I was your age, they didn't know what it was or what caused it. So it usually went untreated. Around these parts the little devils carry spotted fever as well. Another time proven way to repell ticks is garlic, eat lots of garlic. A clove a day keeps 'em all away. Also works on mesquitos, biting knats, chiggers, no-see-ems, vampires, rabid dogs, tax collecters, family, friends, neighbors, preachers, children, men & women, young & old.........

 

[SwingWing]

I've picked up a few ticks and seem to have avoided it (Ohio ticks apparently don't carry the nasty stuff

The Deer ticks that carry Lyme disease are the size of a pin head, and often cannot be seen without magnification or at least the eyesight of a miconmaxx builder. The regular old "dog ticks" don't carry Lyme disease.

 

[Starcommander]

I was bitten by my first two ticks, on the same day, earlier in the summer (wasn't even out in the woods at all that day, either). About 2 weeks later a nice big bullseye rash formed on my knee, and though the tick that had been attached there had been way too big to have been a deer tick, the doctor put me on antibiotics for two weeks. Cleared up the rash


Hummm, I was on antibiotics for several months. I had the classic bullseye rash, but only 20% or so show symtoms. It is hard to beat it, so I wonder about only two weeks of antibodies, unless the doses were massive.

Oh, and it really does a number on your joints.

Jack

 

[Peartree]

I've picked up a few ticks and seem to have avoided it (Ohio ticks apparently don't carry the nasty stuff),
Bottom line--tick repellent is right up there with sun block as the first thing out of my range box each launch, and let's hope you got the "easy" lyme rather than the hard one.

Still it pays to be careful. I know several Ohio folks who have gotten it and it is indeed a wicked bug. The worst danger seems to be late diagnoses.

 

[SwingWing]

Interesting map of lyme disease outbreaks.