3 quick questions: floaters, unrelated infections, treatment while waiting

I see clouds of normal floaters at times, little spots drifting around with my eye movement. Many times I see long, ropy wormlike things drifting around intermittently within the clouds of spots. They look translucent, with a few little darker colored sphere/globe things spaced throughout. I drew a handful of them earlier this year just for the hell of it, then months later noticed how similar they look to the photos of Lyme under magnification (except the spheres aren't visible in pictures). Is this possibly what I'm seeing or is it a more common particle that happens to share the same basic shape?

I was diagnosed with an Erythrasma infection this year; a superficial bacterial infection of skin-on-skin areas. This typically affects people in the tropics and/or the very obese- I'm nowhere close to either. The infection has been there for maybe 10+ years without self resolving, incorrectly diagnosed by many doctors the whole time and it seems to very suspiciously line up with the amount of time I think I have had Lyme. It responds to abx, but I got pulled off them when I started to have a reaction 4-5 days in (herx in retrospect) and it relapsed. I was thinking this may have had a chance to stay this long due to me being immune-compromised. Is that a likely scenario or is this possibly a more direct complication of chronic Lyme?

I'm visiting my PCP tomorrow. We have a very good relationship and he's been dogged in trying to get a correct diagnosis over the last few years, but he knows nothing about Lyme. I'm in the process of trying to select a LLMD to work with, but it will likely be weeks at least before I can see anyone. My doc has thrown me on a dozen different random medications in the last year just to see if I have a positive reaction, thereby helping with the diagnosis. I'm sure he would at least start me on oral abx if I asked; would this be worthwhile to do while I wait to see a LLMD or is this possibly going to compromise the treatment I would later start? I was planning on getting a full co-infection panel done before beginning, as I know it will mess with test results.

Just had my post bloodwork visit with my PCP. He had bumped the visit back a few days so he could "prepare" to discuss the test results. After about 3 minutes of me explaining the finer points of the western blot test it was painfully obvious he hadn't done any research and wasn't going to be able to be of any use for diagnosis or treatment. I basically convinced him to rubber stamp any labwork (ran a full co-infection panel today) or basic meds and he agreed to assist with guided treatment when I get on a program made by an experienced Lyme doc.

I went ahead and had him write for 200mg/day doxy for the next month so I could be on something while we wait to shake out the details with a LLMD. I figured this could serve as an antibiotic challenge should the new doc want more testing or could possibly provide some reduction in symptoms. Is there a downside to starting a mediocre dose oral abx for a long term infection?

The ones I'm talking about look very similar to the one in the bottom right of your drawing; long, skinny, frequently bent and twisted up in different shapes. Most if the individual cells are hard to see, but there's always 2 of them that stand out clearly, one near the head (tail?) and one about 1/3 of the way back from the first.

Symptoms are all over the place. The primary issues are usually crippling muscle and joint pain, but it's basically everywhere now. Eyes, ears, cognitive trouble, buzzing/weakness/numbness in extremities, constant muscle twitches, fatigue, headaches and neck problems, abdominal pain, low fevers, hand and foot pain- I wake up literally screaming some mornings because it feels like something's boring a hole in my heel.

 

Lymester said...
Wow I wish my doctors were so cooperative. Most of mine are gatekeepers to health care, and I have to kiss their asses to get them to open the gate. Walking egos with prescription pads.

 

All of the specialists I deal with are like that. I'm supposed to sit there doe-eyed and nod like and idiot while they feed me some garbage diagnosis based on zero evidence. The day I first heard my PCP utter the phrase "I have no idea" I knew I should stick with him. I'd rather work with someone who can admit when he's in over his head than work with someone who's pretends to be completely confident in the same situation.

Post Edited (Spall) : 9/9/2011 1:04:04 PM (GMT-6)

Well he wrote me for a month of 200mg. I see a LLMD in just over 2 weeks; I could just step up the dosage myself in a few days and have plenty to last until the appointment. I don't think my doc would want to up the doseage, as he was hesitant to do 200mg in the first place.

I'm already getting itchy head to toe, which is consistent with every other time I've been on abx for unrelated conditions in the last 5 or so years. I'm pretty sure that's the start of a herx for me. What typically follows is hives, swelling and brutal gland pain around the face, throat and all the bendy bits (inside of elbows, armpits, back of knees, etc). In the past I've been put on prednisone to halt the reaction when my throat starts to swell; obviously I know thats a big no no now. I've taken benadryl in the past to help- would this be a problem for any reason? Would it be reasonable to have an epi pen in the house for future heavy duty doses, or is there a better way to handle a potential histamine shock?

The itching and hives planed off after the third day. I spent the last few days sleeping almost nonstop, waking up an hour or two at a time to take medication and trying to eat/drink something. I made the mistake of taking a doxy on an empty stomach and laying right back down to fall asleep... made it about an hour before waking up to sprint to the bathroom and hurl it all back out. I read a little more about how to take it correctly and it's been fine since.

Overall I'm pretty encouraged that at least something productive is happening. I feel like a bomb has been set off in my head and I'm sleeping like my drinks have been drugged, but it's tolerable. The only thing giving me real trouble is a pain in my hip/upper thigh. It feels like a giant deep tissue bruise, but there's no visible bruising. The joint itself doesn't hurt more than normal, but the muscle and even the skin hurts like hell; the fabric from clothes brushing against it when I move is hard to tolerate. Not sure if it's something to be concerned about, but I'm definitely keeping an eye on it. I'm crossing my fingers that this is as nasty as things are going to get until dosages are cranked way up...

Yea, I'm headed back in to the doc tomorrow. All the allergic stuff is calmed down, but the hip thing is pretty brutal. I'll play it safe for the next few weeks while I wait for my LLMD appt...