Hi Everyone,

New here and have a bunch of concerns and questions and need help figuring out where to start.  Sorry for the long post, but I am wondering if I have Lyme or a coinfection of Lyme…..

My daughter had a bulls-eye rash on her arm last summer and the emerg doctor said it was a spider bite and sent her home.  The rash disappeared by the next day.  I saw the bulls-eye rash again back in January and it disappeared again quickly.  (Does “disappearing quickly” sound characteristic of Lyme?)  I have recently read from a few different sources that Lyme can be spread within humans/families….is this true?  (I thought it had to be through a direct tick bite.)

Fast forward to now……in the last couple of weeks, along with a regular cough/cold, I have had a new and very odd/unsettling symptom come up which is waves of anxiety / panic / racing thoughts and a bit of a detached feeling.  I have also had waves of warmth over my back and head, tension and jitteriness in my arms, dry mouth, sore stomach, headaches.  These symptoms all sound very classic “panic-attack”-like symptoms, but I feel like it’s something else.  (I can also identify with other Lyme/tick-borne illness symptoms.)  Can anyone relate to this….does this sound like Lyme?  Aside from some headaches, I don’t feel achy or stiff or sore.

I did the Horowitz Lyme-MSIDS Questionnaire and depending on how I answer a few of the symptoms I fall into the “you possibly have a tick-borne disorder” to “you have a high probability of a tick-borne disorder”.  I don’t recall being bit by a tick, but based on my daughter having the bulls-eye rash, I am wondering if indeed I and/or both of us have Lyme or a coinfection.

What do I do now?  My doctor thinks (at least as a starting point) this is related to digestion and anxiety and I think she will quickly shut down the likelihood of Lyme and not do further testing in that regard.

I have called an LLMD office and am waiting to hear back on an appointment but they are booked until June and suggested I get Lyme testing done in the meantime.  So….I spoke with Igenex last week and they recommended the Lyme Immuno Blot Panel 3.  They said it is replacing the Western Blot and is 90% accurate.  They also recommended the Co-infection Panel #3 and said it is rare for results to be incorrect.  (90% accuracy seems high/unlikely from what I am reading?) Does anyone know if these tests would also test for mycoplasma (via PCR)?

For anyone that has been where I am, what would you recommend from your own experience…what would you do?  I know this could be a variety of things and am trying to figure it all out....without going broke or losing my health.

Welcome worthy.

Since your daughter had a bullseye rash - I suggest you do take her to a LLMD. Lyme rashes can come and go - not sure if spider bite rashes can?

Can it be spread with casual contact? There are differing opinions on that.
But, it's possible that you and your daughter were both in an area where there were a lot of ticks and you both got bit.

You could go ahead with the testing and bring the results to the LLMD appt.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money - you can just get the Lyme testing done and forgo the co-infections as they are even more inaccurate...and most LLMD"s will clinically diagnose them..OR treat you for all three B's anyway (Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia)

I think you should both have an appt.

"As for treating children, there are few who will take kids on. It's hard enough for adults to find a good LLMD but even more difficult for children. It's a sad reality and simply unacceptable. I've had doctors turn us away - refusing to see or help my kids. SAD, really really sad.

I did not know that. That is unbelievable!!!

Just to add....we have all been really tired and complaining of sore (not upset) stomachs. My daughter has been saying she doesn't want to go to school because she is tired, her stomach hurts and yesterday that her head hurts. I am feeling the same but maybe it is all related to our cold (which seems very run of the mill variety, not anything like the flu or pneumonia, etc......unless it is myco p - my dr wouldn't test me for it even though I asked!).

Hi and welcome,

Since you are in Canada , I would reach out via email to "Girlie" our head moderator, she is also from Canada and should be able to answer those questions.

I see she previously responded to this post but she may not see your newer response about Canada.

Take care and I wish you and your family the best of healing, Jo