Lyme? Very confused

Hello to all,

Since I was a young boy I have always been an avid outdoorsmen, spending plenty of time in the woods and grasslands both in upstate New York, and several regions of Italy including Sicily. Altough I never recall actually having a tick attached to my body, I have seen plenty of them around including on hunting dogs. In November of 2005 I was returning from a outing in Upstate New York, Columbia County tobe exact and I noticed 2 ticks crawling on my sleeve as I was driving. I was startled and could only manage to brush them off without going off road. I never tought anything of it and never had any symptoms, except for eczema which I think is hereditary. IN december of 2010 upstate new york my father had a tick attached to his back and developed a rash, he went in for blood work and came back positive for lyme and a co infection. After about 2 months he developed what appeared to be and was diagnosed as a staph (mrsa) skin infection, which went away with keflex. A month later I deveoped the same exact infection and was treated with doxy for 2 weeks at a time on 3 occasions as it would go away and come back. My first question is can that be related to Lyme?  I was in Sicily in September of 2011 and accompanied some friends on a hunting trip, upon exiting the woods I noticed I had several ticks crawling up my legs (wearing shorts  it was very warm) and swept them off again. I immediately went home and showered and inspected myself and found nothing. about a week after I came back from Sicily [EDITED] and it totally sent me into a massive panic attack for like an hour I was completely in a different place(it had been a while) A few days later I went to play a game of soccer with some friends and had to stop immediately as I became very confused, and derealized fuzzy and just really strange feeling. It felt as if my brain was not getting blood or oxygen.  I went home and tried to relax. After a few days it happened again worse this time. Then I statrted to get very very tired I was actually bedridden for a week with blood shot heavy eyes fatigue and soreness. With a bunch of other symptoms such as rocking pulse and heartbat, pain in my forearms, neck, and hands. Then I developed muscle twitches and gerd and a constant spaced out almost high feeling that would not go away. Iended up in the ER as i was driving and had to pull over because I tought i was going to pass out, I felt really strange with lack of brain oxygen feeling. I [EDITED] statred to google my symptoms and do tons of research, and Lyme started to pop up. It took 3 months before I could get to an LLMD which was my first choice before going to other doctors. I was tested with Igenex and my IGM was 39 IND and 41 + and my IGG was 31++ and 41++. The doctor diagnosed me with lyme disease no co infections. Also my ANA direct was POsitive Abnormal and I had low platelets (124) mininum normal being 145.

I have faith in the doc but is it possibile there is some other problem with me. Could the panic attack have triggered and old dormant lyme infection? Or could the panic attack have triggered anxiety disorder? He prescribed me Doxy 200mg for 30 days with a refill for another 30, but I will see him before the first script is finished. Shouldnt I be taking more types or stronger doses of abx, or do you think he is trying to see how I react??? So sorry for the long winded unorganized post but my brain feels like mush. God Bless all of you for helping, any answers or insight is truly and greatly appreciated.

Thank you - Joe

Post Edited By Moderator (borderlyme) : 2/24/2012 3:05:58 PM (GMT-7)

Hi Joe - welcome to the forum! So sorry I had to edit your post - please take a look at the forum rules when you get a chance www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=46&m=106997.

Are you taking the doxy just once a day? The minimum dose should be 300mg in order to kill the bacteria - anything lower is effective in preventing the bacteria from reproducing, but that's the extent of it. Doxycycline is usually a pretty standard treatment by itself for early infection - however as the bacteria can take other forms when being attacked (such as by antibiotics), other types of antibiotics can be required.

Have you been tested for bartonella? Anxiety is often a symptom of bartonella - although it's common with Lyme, as well.

As far as whether or not you reactivated a dormant infection - it's hard to tell. A lot of times stress can trigger a relapse, or illness in general - perhaps the panic attack was a bit too much extra stress on your body.

If you haven't already, you might want to check out the "New to Lyme" thread - there's a lot of really useful information in there about Lyme and coinfections, and it really helps to do your research so you get a better sense of what you're dealing with, and what your options are.

Best of luck - and remember we're here for all the questions you have and all the support you need!

No need to apologize I'm sure you didn't realize!

Even through Igenex, testing isn't that helpful - it's one of those things where if you get a positive test, it just makes everything a lot easier, but so, so many people get a negative test or only a few bands who do have Lyme. Sometimes the test will become positive with treatment, as your body produces more antibodies to the bacteria.

My concern is that you're only taking 200 mg of doxy - that'll stop the bacteria from reproducing but it isn't a high enough dosage to kill the bacteria. Maybe bring this up to your doctor? It's my understanding that most LLMDs treat by Burrascano's guidelines - do you know if yours is? It might help to bring a printout of the guidelines with you as I think it lists the necessary dosages - here's a link if you need it (might be helpful in general just to take a look at it!) www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf

Do try to take the acidophilus regularly - you need all those healthy bacteria! If your stomach is bothering you, you may not be getting enough probiotics to begin with, or enough different strains of bacteria - I don't mean to overwhelm you, it's just something to keep an eye on if you're having trouble with your stomach.

Not everyone herxes, either. Generally the worse the herx, the worse off your detoxification pathways are - sounds like between the exercise, sauna, and baths, your body is doing pretty well!

By the way I also had a panic attack. And I am not an anxious person at all (I am the least anxious person you will ever meet). I didn't even know what it was at the time when I had it. It wasn't until I looked it up when I knew what it was...

I did end up passing out too, just once. I don't worry about it happening agin, but I completely know that feeling. It is a very good thing that you pulled over!

doxy hurt my stomach too, went to the ER even. 100 twice a day isnt enough.
ive been having better time on clarithromycin 500 mg twice a day.
consider bartonella, even if it didnt show up, its elusive

It definitely sounds like Lyme Disease.

Lyme Disease and the co-infections CAUSE anxiety and panic attacks, not the other way around. My LLMD said that Bartonella often causes depression and Babesia often causes anxiety and panic.

The dizzy, spacey feeling is also very typical of lyme and co-infections. I have that also.

Check to see if your LLMD is ILADS trained. A true LLMD will have ILADS training. As others mentioned, 200mg of Doxy is not enough. It's not a high enough dose and it won't treat the cell wall deficient or cyst form of lyme. You may not be herxing because the dose isn't actually high enough to kill the infection, although it will keep it from reproducing. Your dr. may just be taking it slow at first, which is recommended! Starting too many abx. all at once can cause severe herxing and be dangerous.

As far as co-infection testing, it is even more inaccurate than lyme testing. A good LLMD will diagnose you clinically with co-infections. Although, sometimes co-infection symptoms don't really start to show up until lyme disease treatment is started. My LLMD said that Bart and Babesia are "opportunistic infections. My Bart symptoms showed up a lot about 2 months into treating lyme and the Babesia symptoms showed up about 5 months in, after starting Bart treatment. It's complicated and hard to treat, which is why a great, knowledgeable dr. is the key to healing.

Just start gathering a list of questions to ask your dr. to make sure he's the right one for you.