Possible Lyme in Florida

   about a month ago, my wife and noticed a round red spot on the back of my calf about the size of a nickle. I didn't think much of it and it went away. Around this time, I was in an area in the woods where I could have picked up a tick. This was about 4 weeks ago.

   Fast foward to now. Last weekend, while working, I started feeling off.  My energy level suddenly fell off, I had muscle cramps in my legs,  my overall ability to focus or concentrate was gone and had stabbing pain in my joints. The lymph nodes in my neck seemed swolen and very tight. I just didn't feel right.

  I was so worried that I drove straight to the ER. After waiting for 4 hours, I got aggravated and left. Went to see my primary the next day. He thought I was dehydrated and did a bunch of blood work. Did a full CBC, CMP and Creatine Kinase workup, everything coming back perfect.

All through last week I felt very tired, with most of the same symptoms. By the weekend I felt better with very few of the symptoms present like they were. Monday night after work I came home and worked pretty hard in the yard. That evening, my entire body was in cramps. The rest of this week, I have not felt great and I am prepared to be tested tomorrow.

My questions to everybody are. Does this seem like the begining stages of Lyme? Is the Western Blot the best test I can have? I have read about the ELISA, but it seems that the Western Blot is the most effective. Sorry this is so long, but if this is what it is, I just want to try to catch it as quick as possible. P.S. I never would have even thought to think of Lyme Disease as the problem until my neighbor suggested it. He is from WV and says he's seen it alot.

Thanks for your help,

Jeff

Jeff, based on what you've shared, it definitely sounds like you have been infected. As merrygirl said, the chances of Lyme antibodies showing up in a blood test at this time are pretty slim. Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis, and yes, it can usually be confirmed with a blood test, but not always, and usually not this soon after a tick bite.

Here's the best advice I can offer you. See a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) asap. LLMD's are the only qualified doctors who really know and understand this disease. PCP's, no matter how good they are, usually have very little knowledge of Lyme disease. Most of them will even deny it exists in your state. Even if they do believe Lyme exists, they don't take it seriously.

Yes, the only reliable blood test that you want to have is a Western Blot (from Igenex Labs), not the ELISA test. Again, most PCP's will want to do the ELISA, but this test is only accurate 30% of the time. Even a Western Blot test can come back negative, but that doesn't mean you don't have Lme disease. It just means that the Lyme antibodies haven't been detected yet.

The sooner you get in to see an LLMD, the better off you are. If you were recently bit by a tick, your chances of a full recovery are excellent with antibiotic treatment. Your LLMD will most likely start you off on Doxycycline as it is the drug of choice for treating early Lyme disease. He/she may want you to take it for as little as six weeks up to six months, depending on what your symptoms are. Your LLMD will not wait to get your blood test results back before starting you on abx if he/she suspects you have been infected. If Lyme is suspected, treatment will begin immediately.

Again, the sooner you get treated, the better your chances are of a full recovery, but don't let you PCP try to tell you to "wait and see" or "it's probably not a tick bite" or any number of other things they tend to tell Lyme patients. Just spend some time reading this forum and you'll see how much people here who were diagnosed a long time after their Lyme infection how horrible this disease has affected them. This is nothing to play around with. Take it seriously, very seriously, because if you don't you will end up getting much more sicker and have far more symptoms than you're experiencing now. You won't regret seeing an LLMD and getting proper treatment asap, but you will regret if you listen to your PCP try to minimize the seriousness of having Lyme disease.

If you need names of LLMD's in your area, or if you prefer a LLND (naturopathic doctor) click my email icon on the upper left side of my post and send me an email. I will send you links to some websites that will refer you to a qualified LLMD/LLND in your area. Let me know what part of Florida you're in too and I might have a name for you of a LLMD depending on where you live.

By the way, you're fortunate to have a neighbor who suggested you be checked for Lyme disease. He may have done you a very BIG favor.

Glad you found us here at Healing Well!

Gary

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't do what I did and listen to the drs tell me it wasn't lyme.   I didn't know the controversy and bizarreness of how a negative test could still mean you have lyme.  I simply went to a dr. with stabbing pains in joints and heart and sudden severe anxiety.  She ran lyme and three bands showed up but I never got a copy cause she said it was negative so I believed her.  I went 4 years undiagnosed despite my valiant effort to find out what was wrong with me.  I now learn that my bands were sufficient enough for a positive clinical diagnosis, although I still test negative to this day.  The sooner and quicker you get treatment the quicker and easier it will be to get rid of.  Keep pushing or go to an LLMD - NOW!

Hello Everyone,

     Thanks for all of the replies. Went to PCP this morning and told him my concerns. He was receptive and agreed to give me the Western Blot test and write me a scrip for "Doxy". He was very intersted to find that through my research, I have found two cases from the same exact area that have been repoted to the CDC as definate Lyme Disease Positive.

    I don't know for sure that I have this, but I sure don't want to take the chance. Everyting just seems to add up. I am starting the "Doxy tomorrow and from what I hear I will know if I have it or not based on the effects of the med's. Thanks for the valuable info and good luck to everyone dealing with this problem.

Thanks,

Jeff

Yeah, I am pretty happy with the way my doctor responded to this. He gave me the Doxy in 100mg dose, once every twelve hours. He only wrote it for 10 days for now, but said he would refill it after seeing the test. I know regardless, I need to get it for 6weeks.

What are Probotics? It says to not take this with food unless it messes up your stomach, did you have problems with that? Taking this every twelve hours, I was going to do it at 8:00a and 8:00p. I usally don't go to bed until 9:30 or 10:00. Should that be good?

Again, thanks for all of the comments and advice. I appreciate it. Jeff