What is going on?

HI Wildgarden!
Welcome to our little spot! I'm so sorry to hear of the issues that your entire family are dealing with!

It would be very helpful for you to read through our "New to Lyme? Start Here!" thread that sits at the top of the forum - if you haven't already. It's packed with important information, symptoms lists (as Lyme rarely travels alone!), informative links, links to pdf's that are really helpful and more - including a list of questions you can ask any doctor that you are seeking treatment from!

Did you ever take abx for the RMSF? If so do you remember what kind, how long and possibly even what the dosage was? The bottoms of your feet hurting could be a sign of Bartonella - that's a classic symptom of that infection.

Lyme can be transmitted sexually - although there aren't many cases where it's been proven. There are those that still stick on the side of it being controversial, but there has been several documented cases.

It's not uncommon though for whole families to "come down" with Lyme and other tick-borne infections. Everyone lives in the same space, walks through the same yard, is around the same pets, and so on - so it's not surprising, really. Actually calling them tick-borne infections is misleading, since the infections can be spread by fleas, mites, bed bugs, mosquitos, all biting flies and more.

Testing is really poor for these infections - the most knowledgeable LLMD's (Lyme Literate Medical Doctors) will usually diagnose based on symptoms (clinically). A few of the reasons the testing is so poor is because there are over 100 strains of Lyme in the US alone - 300 world wide - and only about 4 or 5 strains are being tested for. Lyme can also change into other forms in order to evade our immune system, besides being able to suppress it so that it can't really mount up an attack. As for the co-infections like Bartonella, Babesia, and RMSF, they too have many different strains and only a few strains are being tested for. So a negative test result really doesn't mean much - especially if you have a lot of the symptoms of one or more of these infections.

Stress of all kinds often happens just before a flare of symptoms from these infections. So even the simple act of doing a detox can bring out more symptoms, especially if she had some emotional upheaval going on for any reason, or any other stress in her life.

Please do let us know how the doc's appt goes!!

So the doc didn't feel that your boyfriend's daughter's symptoms fit in with Lyme disease or any other tick-borne illness?

As for you, from the info that you have given, you need to consider that you likely have chronic RMSF (like me) - and there's even less info on the chronic form of this particular infection. I have located one pdf that has quite a bit of info on the Rickettsia infections- RMSF being the main one- but it's pretty "sciencey" and it doesn't talk about any treatments to recover from the infections.

With your other symptoms though, it quite likely that you have Lyme and/or Bartonella, so I would like to encourage you to consider getting treatment. There are at home protocols that you can do, if money is really tight. They aren't cheap, but the cost is much lower than seeing a LLMD. Most of them are herbal, but effective. Here is a link that can take you to a listing and brief explanation of the more popular at home protocols - but please don't consider using the "Salt/C" one, it's actually dangerous and wasn't put together by those who have studied these infections, so it would be ineffective as well.
www.lymediseaseresource.com/Protocols.html

Here's the link to that article that I spoke of about Rickettsia infections: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01472.x/abstract

From the reading that I've done, many Holistic doc's are now thinking that these infections are far from stand alone diseases. It takes a combination of stress factors for the body to be vulnerable - things like mold, viruses, and other factors.

It's the Marshall Protocol that warns to stay away from vitamin D. They state that the body handles it wrong if the person is infected with cell wall deficient bacteria. That it converts it instead to a secosteriod and too much of this is harmful. If you would like to read more on that, here is a link: www.lymebook.com/marshall-protocol.

It does sound as if your boyfriends daughter may have been infected before birth with those symptoms. I went through a lot of that while growing up myself. I'm sure glad to know that someone is finally looking into it! Dr. Charles Jones is known world wide for his treatment of children with these infections. It could be helpful for you to do some reading on there as well. www.drjoneskids.com/

Igenex is one of the top labs for detecting Lyme infections, but even their tests are limited because they too are only testing for 4 or 5 strains of the Bb bacteria. I do hope that you get some good results back soon!

Please remember to get you started on some treatment too!!

I wanted to leave you a commit. I was never bit by a tick, my husband or son either. Yet we all three have Lyme. I also felt the house I lived it was getting me sicker. I did some research asked a few people that has lived in my area for years, and sure enough I see a pattern. The former owner, and daughter has was the same issues as I do. I am not sure how we got the Lyme disease but I am willing to bet, it has something to do with the old house.

We couldn't just up and move, but it got to the point I had no choice. I can tell you I am only on day two in the new place , and I feel 60 percent better. I am not in pain all day, I just feel better. I really think some of the older houses can make a person sick. My doctor told us to move and we did, but it took a while.

I hope you find some answers, I also found if I left the windows open in the house I felt a little better.

Just me.