I have been up the last several hours reading through your entries and have learned quite a bit! My 16 year old daughter was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 9/08. She started in 7/08 with severe headaches, fever, neck stiffness, light sensitivity, back pain, overall fatigue, joint pain, especially in the knees, and stopped walking at the end of 7/08. There was no sign of a tick bite, so you won't be alarmed to find out that we went through several months of hospital admissions, testing, and a final diagnosis that she was imagining her symptoms and should see a psychiatrist!
After getting rid of all of those doctors and finding Dr. "J" in CT, he confirmed that she did have Lyme and thought she had Bartonella as a co-infection. We just got our labs back from IGeneX, Clongen, and Specialty Labs, and she actually has Babesia Duncani and Babesia Microti. Prior to this he had her on Zithromax, Plaquenil, and Rifampin. He took her off the Rifampin and kept the other two, and has added Mepron 750 mg. 2 tsp BID. He also had us get Artemisinin 200 mg. and she is taking that twice a day.
We are also see a naturopath who has her on a high dose of probiotics, Vitamin C for minor bruising, a homeopathic remedy for her legs as she is not able to walk any more, and minerals as she is low on magnesium, manganese, and zinc.
My question is: Does anyone know how long it will be before she experiences some sort of relief? I almost want her to go on IV antibiotics but after reading some of the entries this a.m., I am afraid. She doesn't want to go through that procedure prior to the holidays anyway, and inasmuch as she is 16, I have to respect her wishes. I need a little encouragement as I would like to see her walk again very soon and get back to school to be with her friends, even if she has to manage her pain while doing so.