Mosquito or other insect bites a cause of CFS?

Hi, I am from the UK and about 4 months ago I was bitten by quite a few mosquitoes on a night out.  Now I have been bitten many times in my life - one time visiting my family in Australia I counted over 50 bites on my body (yeah they really liked me) - and have never felt any symptoms after such frenzies until my visit to Oxford, shortly after the flooding (we had a very wet summer, which sucked).

I had gone to a party, enjoyed a drink or two and went to bed fairly late.  When I awoke, I remember feeling VERY ill, I could barely move, all of my muscles were aching, I had a severe headache, I felt like I had just sailed the Seven Seas - blindfolded.  My head was all over the place and trying to form a sentance was like putting circle shapes into square holes with a toffee hammer.  My first thought was; was I drugged?  I've never done drugs in my life - save for alcohol - so i would have no idea. I also suffered the digestion and sickness for only that week which can be followed by a typical viral infection.

Now normally after being bitten the small lumps on my skin would heal after an average of 3 days, except 4 out of the 10+ bites I had taken did not look the same... They looked like huge scratch marks - slashes - along my lats.  They were never itchy, just slightly sore, and as I could not see them directly they went unnoticed for a week until that one day i decided to pose in the mirror .  Before this point I just figured I had a bad case of the flu. I proceeded to make the doctors appoinment. These marks took about 3 weeks to heal.  Has anyone else ever have something similar?

The first doctor I saw was instantly concerned with what he had seen and asked if I had a payment plan or insurence to cover my time off of work - "WHOA wait a minute!  How long do you think I'll be off of work for?!".  His initial response was that I may suffer from Post Viral Fatigue and would feel 'down' for some time and that should rest and complete a course of antibiotics.  He would not speculate or even humour me with an idea how long my - what was a mild fatigue and severe flu like - symptoms would last.  I was booked in for a blood test which came back negative. This cleared me for Lyme disease, diabetes, AIDs and showed that all my internal organs where working as normal.

I've now seen a total of 5 doctors, and have had 2 blood tests only 1 doctor of which had good knowledge on CFS.  If I had not seen him at this early stage, I could have been passed around like a dirty nappy by each doctor like my aunty had been for the last 2 years with no diagosis.  My aunt believes she was bitten around the time her CFS started when she was working around in a garden which had a stagnant pond.  My good friends father, he has been diagnosed - early luckily - 6 months ago, he was away travelling and he had taken some nasty looking mosquito bites too.  What I am trying to determine is; are these coincidence or a likely cause.

I would be pleased to hear you accounts on what you believe caused/triggered your CFS.

I finally had my 1st appointment with my specialist regarding my CFS. I was fortunate enough to have a whole one hour session discussing my symptoms, the possible causes and aims for my imminent life changes. We discussed, to no indepth, potential diseases I may be suffering from. We ruled out Malaria and WNV from me not sharing enough of the typical symptoms or the fact I haven't left the country in almost a year. My most severe symptoms occured within the 1st week, however I was heavily fatigued from the start too. He felt that as I had taken a course of 'strong' antibiotics (I forgot to ask what I had taken, it seems so long ago to remember what I had - I think it was most likely Phenoxymethyl-Penicillin) it had killed off the most likely bacteria that gave me the initial illness. In comparison to others I feel my symptoms are now mild to moderate, I can do my house chores with frustration and fatigue, but I can still do them... I'll just have to take a 2 hour power nap afterwards. Also I was very strong, lifting materials all day long and on the days I hadn't been working quite so physically I'd work out at home for and hour or so. But there is no way I could go back to work, being a builder it would be far too dangerous, using the machinery and cutting tools - I dread to think what would happen if I suddenly 'came down'. I'm so much weaker now, opening jars used to be a specialty of mine. Moving house recently has taken it's toll and I moved only the lighter items by myself and I done it all over a 2 week period so I wouldn't be hit so hard.

Well after pages and pages of researching online, it would seem that ticks are not the only cause of Lyme disease, just the MOST likely. Mosquitoes can be to blame too. This was something I did not know, and the doctor confimed that with me and agreed that I should take another blood test specifically for Lyme. With my lack of knowledge I just assumed - and had my trust in - the compentence of the UK's NHS (National Health Service (government and tax funded)) that my 1st and 2nd (taken in the 1st and 3rd week after infection) blood test woud have indicated any such disease. To my horror, my doctor tells me that these 'standard' blood tests are unreliable and I should take specific blood tests. How on earth are any of the UK CFS sufferers going to find a 'positive' conclusion to their illness and finally be guided on the road to recovery (or the resources to cope better) with answers such as "Well I have your blood test here Miss, and it's negative... but we don't know what it is really".

I'll have to do some more research into encephilitis, I haven't considered that yet.

Thank you hippimom2 for your reply. I've noticed your contributions to many others queries, I'm sure your support and advice on such subjects has helped greatly.

Regards

RockBoy81

The lyme tests are not always reliable but it could be worth a try since you know you have been bitten. There is a test in US called the Bowen test that a danish doctor, Marie Kroun is recommending. She is the only LLMD in Scandinavia. The test I think has been approved in the US for lyme testing. There are some other tests that people like as well like the western Blot. Igenex has some good testing methods.

Maria

I'm brand new to these boards and have just been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. Clinical symptoms and positive by both CDC and IGeneX criteria. I had tick bites many years ago but no rash or anything at the time. My niece, who lives on the East Coast, had a tick bite a year ago and had the characteristic bullesye rash which was left untreated. She has never tested positive by any test but has a lot of clinical symptoms. Shows the range that is possible with Lyme.

The tests also depend on your ability to produce antibodies and how you respond to the particular strain of Lyme that you may have.

There doesn't seem to be a test that can detect the bacteria directly. The tests use an indirect method instead. It's all very confusing when we're used to thinking of tests as definitive.

I'll be visiting the CFS board a lot - exercise intolerance, malaise, and brain fog.

Sounds like a possible Bartonella rash--related to Lyme disease and often present with Lyme. Here is a picture:
http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/PhotoAlbum_RashBart.html