My "is it really Lyme?" thread...

Hello everyone.

I stumbled upon this forum whilst freaking out and searching everything I could on the internet about Lyme. Now, let me tell you my story...

about three days ago, I woke up (way too early) by the incessant itching I felt on three different spots on my body (left forearm, mid left thigh and lower left torso). I felt no pain and nothing seemed off at the time, since I'm usually getting bitten by mosquitos all the time so it didn't seem uncommon.
However, after a few hours, the symptoms of these bites seemed different. They swelled up more than the usual mosquito bites, developed tiny blisters on their centers (I'm assuming the actual bite points) and were still extremely itchy.

What I immediately did (perhaps stupidly) was to put tape on it, since only that stops the itch. And it did actually work. The next day the bites persisted and I applied fucicort lipid cream on them, since it was given to me for a centipede bite, so I thought it'd work on those too, whatever they were. Mind you, I found no tick afterwards, only managed to kill a mosquito that, judging from the blood, had eaten a proper meal, so I left it at that.

Still though, the cream did absolutely nothing. On the contrary, it seemed to make the darn things... angrier! Let me note that I burst the little blisters on two of them and they did subside a bit, but the on on my arm was the worst and kept on going strong, swollen and red.

So, by early afternoon of day two, I noticed the usual bullseye pattern forming, only on the bite on my arm. I kinda dismissed it and went for a drink, but on the third day the bullseye was pretty clearly formed. So, first thing I did was ride over to the pharmacy and get some amoxil (500mg amoxicillin tablets) and have already started (took two by now, one every eight hours).

Now, to the point (finally); why am I asking if this is truly Lyme.
I never found a tick.
I'm a little doubtful about contracting it from a mosquito or a spider, I'd probably feel the pain, even in my sleep.
My girlfriend who sleeps with me didn't get bitten, although bugs do prefer me over any other person in a group.
I have not had ANY signs of the other symptoms.
I live in Greece and Lyme is extremely rare over here.

Now, I do fear Lyme and I believe rightly so, and I am aware that the bullseye rash is pretty much solely associated with LD, AND, I suspect that a tick might've found its way to me from a stray we saved a month ago that did have some that walked around the house, but she was treated and we sought and destroyed every single one we found weeks ago, with no other signs of them ever since.

Also, I live in a relatively small city, on a first floor apartment and I don't frequent forests or any other flora.

Another note. I have NOT been to a doctor since I can't afford it after having lost my job (and therefore my insurance, too) and even worse, I truly do not trust local doctors and hospitals enough and my fear of a misdiagnosed LD is greater than whatever drawbacks a preventative course of abx would have on me.
I do however have an appointment with a dermatologist tomorrow, although I'm not keen on stopping the abx whatever her diagnosis, especially considering the bullseye rash seems to have subsided significantly after the first pill.

I do apologise for the lengthy read but I wanted to give you every detail, so you can help me, perhaps, with this... predicament I find myself in.

I also have a few pictures, so let me post these too, perhaps they will be of help.

So, these are of the first "phase", when the bullseye had not yet manifested.

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This one was on the second day, when I was still a little doutbful about it.



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And these were on the third day, when it became much clearer... (also, right after applying fucicort again, notice the extra... anger!)


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Many, many thanks in advance!

Hi Captain Lucky, welcome to the forum!

Oh my gracious...well it looks like you were bit by a wolf spider (hence the two dots) or another type of bug that has the "fangs" and leaves the two dots. We have a ton of wolf spiders around here--ughhh theyre ugly! Also, I have two dots healing right now from a spider bite from about a week ago. It is unlikely that you'll feel a spider bite you in your sleep.

At any rate, its mind boggling because personally, I DO believe that lyme AND its co-infections can be transmitted by other vectors than ticks such as spiders or mosquitoes.

They say only certain ticks carry lyme and I KNOW for a FACT that is not true....if they can do a bloodmeal then they can transmit disease is what I say! Seriously.

If I were you, as Mister Mike stated above, get your hands on at *least 30 days of Doxy while its still early. Doxy is best because it touches the majority of infections and can do alot of good if the infections are still small and havent multiplied. There is only a small window of time before lyme can start disseminating in body. Always best to be better safe than sorry if you can help it~~

Best to you!

-Courtney

Hey Captain Lucky, and welcome.

I am in greece, too and have Lyme, though the doctors here will tell you I don't, lol. I also got the EM rash, but it was diagnosed as ringworm and fucicort cream made it MUCH worse. The doctors here refused to even consider lyme and in the end I had to back to a doc in the UK for diagnosis and to sort out treatment. I am doubtful of how much help you'll get from a dermatologist etc here. I also am not working now, so no IKA, and imho would say don't waste your money - just buy the antibiotics (doxy are very cheap from the pharmacy)

I am on rhodes and the place crawls with ticks in tbe wintet, but my LLMD said it could just have easily been a mosquitoe.

I hope you have nailed this pronto and do not suffer any long term consequences.

Thanks for the reply silly sheep, nice to be here!

Well, I went to the dermatologist today and, as expected, she dismissed a LD diagnosis immediately and categorically. I came right out with my thoughts about Lyme and how it's common knowledge that this kind of target rash is symptomatic of LD but her rebuttal was that this does appear as some bodies' overreaction to a mosquito bite and I should not worry, nor should I have taken the abx.

Well, sorry but I didn't bite (pun intended)! Granted, the rash had nearly completely disappeared, leaving only the two bite marks on the skin (that is also symptomatic considering the target rash progression). Which she didn't examine much further either, anyway. When I mentioned that fucicort just seems to irritate it, she said that it was supposed to be like that. Ok, she's a doctor and bound to know her profession better than me but I'm seriously apprehensive about a possible misdiagnosis and I'm not gonna risk it over a cheap and relatively harmless course of abx.

I'm gonna keep on the amoxicillin until tomorrow, when I'm gonna switch to doxy (the only doxy I seem to be able to find here is vibramycin, and with 8 pills per box, I'm gonna need at least five of them!).

I really do hope that I nipped this in the bud...

I do have another question, though, and a sensitive one, at that.

Is LD sexually transferrable? Should my girlfriend get on abx too? I mentioned this to her but she's extremely dubious about what most of the people who actually have or had it say, and instead would listen solely to the doctor's opinion. But still, I wouldn't want her to develop any symptoms later on, just because of this. Any advice?

Mister Mike said...
Hopefully those that are more versed in antibiotics chime in, but my understanding is that amox is ok, but that doxy is much better, especially during the critical time after infection.

Not sure if that is a spider bite based on your additional info (although it certainly looks like one), but that also looks like an EM rash- don't know what else could cause that.

Oops, just saw your reply! I guess it kinda does look like a spider bite, but considering the look of the other two, I seriously doubt it... Whatever it was, it did its filthy job just fine...

As for the abx, I suppose it couldn't hurt to try doxy as well, although I'll have to consult someone more knowledgeable on the subject of the actual switch and its "mechanics".


BDL, yes, you can just walk into any pharmacy and buy abx off prescription. At least amoxicillin (penicillin), doxy and other wide spectrum abx are readily available. And pretty cheap, too, thank god!

Hi Captain Lucky!

Welcome to our community! I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to get around to saying welcome!

You have posted pictures of a "picture perfect" Bulls eye rash, and so there is little doubt that by whatever means you got the bite, you likely have Lyme disease, as it's the only thing that produces a bulls eye rash.

Please get in to see an ILADS trained LLMD as soon as you can, as this is not an infection that you want to wait and see what happens. Believe me, I was infected for 40 years before getting the treatments I needed to heal.

Please let us know how we can be of help.

So, a little update, even if just for my own peace of mind.

It seems I have indeed caught it early. I'm on my eigth day of antibiotics (amoxil) and tomorrow I'm switching to vibramycin (doxy). The rashes had gone since the third day since the bite and are now completely healed, if I didn't know I actually got bitten I wouldn't be able to discern them from the rest of my skin.

Also, I'm asymptomatic so far. No LD symptom manifestations whatsoever. Which, I suppose, is a good thing...
The abx don't seem to irritate my system, either. No intestinal distress, no pains and a "DIY" liver stress test (alcohol, lol) showed that everything's ok.

So, considering the above, I'm kinda dubious whether this was indeed LD, although the rash did speak for itself...
So, should I keep taking the abx for a month and then just quit?

Thanks silly sheep, did not know that about doxy. Would be really hard to keep out of the sun right now, though... Tough luck for me, I guess...
edit: Would it be wiser, perhaps, to stay on the amoxicillin instead, considering there's absolutely no way I can avoid the sun, and sunscreen doesn't seem to help much with phototoxicity.

As for the abx course, thankfully, I did assume the worst from day one (well, two, actually!) and I guess there's not much risk in continuing the abx, considering the risk within the alternative!

Many thanks, once again!

Post Edited (Captain Lucky) : 5/16/2015 6:40:29 AM (GMT-6)

Yes, if you can't stay out of the sun, Amox would be a much better choice.

And please do stay on the full treatment for LD. I'm a very good example of why people have to be treated and get rid of the infections.

Hey captain lucky,

Glad you checked back in and so glad you are without symptoms. Yep, those 8 pack tablets are a pain in the behind and I was on 4 tablets...and did they make them taste so foul on purpose??

If you want to get them 'in bulk' without the raised eyebrows tell the pharmacy they are for your dog's chest infection - my dog was 'prescribed' them (aka I was told by the vet to go buy them for him from the pharmacy) and they ordered me in a bunch and sold them to me quite happily, no questions asked!!

Seriously, glad you are OK :)