Hi guys. I fear I might have lyme disease. Many of the symptoms I have been experiencing over the past months sounds like lyme.

Current Symptoms: Facial pressure, brain fog, fatigue, joint pain (left leg), big toe left leg (cracking sounds), visual problems, ringing in ears, burning pain left arm and evident scar left side neck, sleep disturbances, digestive problems, depression, severe anxiety at times. I feel like I've had all the 300 symptoms at one point of another.

The story:

Initially I thought all these problems were due to my wisdom teeth, so I had them removed, 1 week of amoxcillin (here is where I started to notice great improvement in my condition, specifically on the 2nd day and then downhill from there). At this point I had some weird oily/black stuff coming out of my back, face, neck and right up to the left shoulder.

I also had a sinus,ear infection, and skin infections (very lyme like). Treatment was Biaxin 500mg (7 days) and antibiotic ear drops respectively. At this point somewhere around day 3, I had heavy drainage from my back (specifically where my L5-S1 microdiscectomy surgery (1.5 years ago) incision was, my gp assured me the infection was limited to the skin, "no tunnels" as the wound had healed long before), I always did notice unusual swelling in the area, which I assumed was all part of scarring/healing process from the back surgery. I was given fusidic acid for the wound. Once it stopped draining and sort of healed two what look like teeth like marks became visible. I also had minor drainage from my left foot, and the same teeth like marks.


I've come to the conclusion I have lyme disease. Please if you can provide some input, I am very scared right now.

Post Edited (vish24) : 10/30/2011 8:36:22 AM (GMT-6)

Hi Vish!
WOW! Not sure what happened with Achievinggraces' link, but here is another link to take you to the Canlyme website: www.canlyme.com/

Also, if you would like to use Traditional Chinese Medicine, I have the name and contact info of a practitioner in Toronto that treats Lyme.

I would also like to welcome you to our forum! Please do learn as much as you can about these infections, as they are very complex, but your understanding will help you with your treatment. We can help you find answers to your questions as well.

Like Achievinggrace has said, the drainage doesn't sound like anything I have read (yet?) about any of the tick-borne infections - although of course I don't know everything!!! Although that in no way says that you don't have Lyme. A Lyme Literate Practitioner can help you sort this all out.

Please be aware that testing leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to tick-borne infections (TBI's), as there are many, many strains of the different infectious agents and only a few of each are currently tested for. For example Lyme Disease has over 300 strains world wide and only three or four strains are tested for.

Please let us know how things go and if we can be of any help to you!!

Hi Vish,
What do you mean "this came out today?" Did it just show up? Can you get a good close look at the bite to see what the dark spot looks like? If so, can you describe it for us?

How long ago did you get this bite? If it was quite recent, then it looks like it could be a possible bulls eye rash. If this is the case, then you need no testing. Lyme Disease is the only thing known to cause a bulls eye rash.

You can google around to find more pics to compare to or here is a link to some more Lyme Disease pictures: /www.google.com/search?q=bulls+eye+rash&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=FWI&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1024&bih=526&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=-LWtTuqZKYansQL6iZHnDg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoATgK

You will see that darker skinned individuals (like you) will often present with a rash similar to what your picture shows, a red spot with an area of clearing - often the outside ring can't be made out real well, or it looks almost like a bruise.

I'm interested in hearing what others will have to say once they see your picture as well.

Below is the rash post pulling the little black thing out. You can kind of make out the pinking outside ring as it spreads to the left. I recall feeling really sick for no reason a few months ago, but I don't remember the bite. I do remember some itching in this exact location. All of it correlates well as I took many a walk through the nature trail in shorts. I should mention, that while on the antibiotics I've been having this nasty black residue all over my face, front of the neck, back of the neck, and left shoulder blade side. I used some antibacterial soap to clean the stuff off and noticed my face muscles come back alive....my neck is still stiff however.

I noticed this in one of the warnings on emedicinehealth.com:

Call or see a doctor if any of these conditions exist: "The tick cannot be removed from the skin, or the head and mouthparts remain in the skin after removal.

So it's definitely a possibility that this is some left over part of the tick.

Hi Traveler. You might be right, after pulling the thing out I still have some needle like remnant in the skin which is causing some deep pinching like pain and bruising, I'll have the doctor look at it today.

I either got bit this summer, most probably early sometime around may-august (is it possible for the symptoms to appear this early?) or around may-august 2010. I took most of my walks during this time.

Ideally, I would like to be treated with antibiotics but then again I don't really know how effective traditional medicine is in treating something like this. Thanks for the help.

Post Edited (vish24) : 10/31/2011 4:13:06 AM (GMT-6)

I just pulled something very weird out from the dried out wound in my back. It was just stuck there and as I pulled it out, some blood/pus came out (almost as if it was still attached). I feel like this tick might have been chilling in the soft incision for quite a while, it kind of explains the drainage (localized skin infection?). What do you guys think, does it look like a dead tick ??

Ya I'm trying to find one here in Toronto atm.

I've been detoxing (lime water + peroxide epsom bath) for the past three days and boy does it make a difference. My Lyme test came back negative, but I think it might be due to the fact that I got it done right after the week of antibiotic treatment. My doctor is still unable to find a suitable LLMD (but I was able to convince him to give me 2 weeks worth of Biaxin XL (500 mg). Should I continue to detox while on the antibiotics?

I fear this self-treatment regiment might be a bit premature.