Hi,

Just curious if anyone else with Bartonella and/or Lyme has noticed that their skin is easily indented by bed sheets? I know most people have this to some extend but the severity seems to correlate with Bartonella treatment.

It's been getting kind of extreme lately... Sometimes when I wake up I look like a complete replica of my bed sheets. Had to actually warn a family member recently before they saw me as my entire face was indented 😂.

Good news is that it always goes away within 30 minutes... So it's not something I worry about but I am just curious what's behind it and if other people have this? I've also found this thread by someone who posted about this 9 years ago, with sort of the same issue:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=2939446

Thank you.

yep, I have this to some extent also

for me i think its seems to be getting very gradually worse the longer the illness goes on.

it may be linked to the disorganising effect bartonella has on both the microvasculature and the micro lymph vessel system, - which together regulate the amount of fluid in our skin and other tissues (fluid naturally leaches from the blood vessels into tissues and is supposed to be drained away again by the lymph system at an equivalent rate leading to the status quo).


the video interview on YouTube with Marna Ericsson on bart streaks - by Jake ( AKA Bartonella babe ) describes this scrambling of the collagen bundles in skin and also the lymph and blood vessels
together with the gumming up of the microcirculation with fibrin that we already know about - and the general breakdown of integrity of the structure of the skin due to collagen damage from lyme and bart - is what is driving this phenomenon - i would guess.

i would hope that it will correct once the infection is under control and the immune system normalises

Thank you all for the replies, this is really interesting to me that there are more of us with this issue! Although, I wish we didn't have it of course!

WalkingbyFaith said...
All my life up until I got sick at age 39, I would get imprints from everything - socks, underwear, creases in clothing, chair cushions or weaving, wrinkles in pillow case, scratches and rubs.

I was sent to an allergist when my illness began. He noticed my splotchy, sensitive skin and was intensely focused on my skin. I thought he was nuts, because I had always had splotchy complexion, livedo reticularis, and easily indented skin.

Interesting WalkingbyFaith!! I wonder if he was trying to diagnose you by looking at your skin. I feel like that's a lost art. There's so much to learn from the skin and I remember someone saying that they used to pay a lot more attention to that in diagnosing people. Sounds like a good allergist/doctor.

WalkingbyFaith said...
I have long suspected that I have had Bartonella lifelong or since early childhood. I never had a known tick bite, so I will never know what really triggered the initial onset of life altering illness. It’s possible I had one or more infections in childhood and then acquired other infections at initial onset, but I will never know.

It seems like we have a lot of the same skin issues. For what it's worth I also don't recall a tick bite. I did however test positive for Lyme on many bands.

In the thread that I linked in my original post there is someone who says he has "My socks, bath towel, etc. all make marks." Sounds like there are several more of us!

Garzie said...
the video interview on YouTube with Marna Ericsson on bart streaks - by Jake ( AKA Bartonella babe ) describes this scrambling of the collagen bundles in skin and also the lymph and blood vessels
together with the gumming up of the microcirculation with fibrin that we already know about - and the general breakdown of integrity of the structure of the skin due to collagen damage from lyme and bart - is what is driving this phenomenon - i would guess.

Interesting that you have this as well Garzie. I will have to take a look at these videos again. My skin is such a mess lately. Sometimes I wonder if the Bartonella has just completely settled in my skin layer and is living quite comfortable there 😠.

saraeli said...
One doctor (an IDSA infectious disease specialist, but very smart and kind in general) was intrigued by this and thought it must mean I had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It can happen with MCAS and dehydration as well, though, which seems to be the case for me! It doesn't happen to me anymore.

That's encouraging to hear that it doesn't happen anymore saraeli! Seems like it can resolve then.

Garzie said...
but some days i think this must just be my immune system finding more stuff to go at as it gets slightly more healthy - as my overall function has certainly improved in this time - whereas before all this stuff was likely there and my immune system was just in such poor shape that it could not see the bugs or do anything about them.

This is a great way to look at it. I've been making progress too so I think this is indeed what's happening.
Thank you very much Garzie, onwards and upwards indeed!

Thank you running wild that's a great point. I will look into that!

Notime4lyme said...
I found Japanese knotweed seems to help my skin (I have acne, and if I get cut it heals really slowly). I don't know if it is just a coincidence though, with some of the other things I'm taking.

I have been wondering the same. I have recently noticed livedo reticularis again, especially around the inner knee area, after not noticing it for years. I had also been getting very slack with my herbs. I decided to make the effort to get back to taking knotweed twice a day, so I will see if it has a positive effect.