difficulty swallowing... Cipro for Lyme???

I started abx on August 10th, so it has been almost 3 weeks.  I was doing pretty well the first 2 weeks, but this past week I have been in a lot more pain, new symptoms,  a lot of brain fog, and last night, I could now swallow, I have had a hard time taking the pill and I am still having  difficulty swallowing, even my own saliva--I have to lower my head to do it because if I keep it straight I am almost chocking.  It is scary, the only time that happened was about 10 years ago, when I was sicker than I am now.  I wonder if I got lyme 10 years ago, or I got it 2 years ago during summer.  It may have happened again somewhere in between, but not quite so severe, as I did not pay attention to things that came and went.  I was diagnosed last winter with Lyme and have not been tested before then.

10 years ago I took Cipro for 3 weeks.  Would Cipro solve Lyme?  An infectious disease doc told me Cipro doesn't do anything to Lyme, but I have seen people here on the forum taking Cipro....

Thanks!

Post Edited (Simela) : 8/28/2010 1:44:23 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Simela
I have trouble swallowing from time to time. For me it is because of Hashi's Thyroiditis most of the time - other times I have no clue as to why I have that trouble! Have you had your thyroid levels checked? If so, were your T3 & T4 levels checked or was it just a general TSH? Sometime I will drink a cup of decaf herbal tea just so that I can put honey in it to coat my throat a little before taking pills. You could also try just taking a small amount of honey on a spoon before taking your pills.

As for the Cipro, I have been here for a bit & I have seen a whole bunch of different combo's of abx used. If a person can 'catch' these infections before they go chronic I guess it's possible for just one abx to work, but most times it takes a combo of them as these little critters have a protective form (often referred to as "L" form, or cyst form) where they can quite literally ball up & are able to resist the abx. This is one of the main reasons LLMD's will use a combo - one to break up the cyst & one to kill the bacteria.

At least that's my understanding... :)

A lot of people with LD find that a more natural thyroid med works better, although I have found it to be more expensive with my insurance. You might try looking into this? Also check into Adrenal Fatigue, as these work in conjunction with each other.

Lyme can absolutely cause difficulty swallowing in the absence of thyroid dysfunction.  I have been battling this since June 2008...it was so bad that I was unable to get any food or liquid down at first...went to hospital because of the dehydration, and was put on TPN (fed through an IV/PICC line in my arm). 

Two years later and I'm STILL struggling to swallow, though I can manage most solid foods if I'm careful.  Liquids are a big problem (have to eat something solid after, or the liquid doesn't go down), and forget about swallowing pills...not gonna happen.  I have a feeding tube as well, for a medication that I cannot do IV, and am trying hard to get off the IV food and transition to at least fluids through the feeding tube (but my gut and my insurance co. are not making this an easy thing to accomplish...seems the ins. co. would rather pay for the TPN & IV hydration than pay the much, much, much lower cost of feeding tube stuff because I'm not eating through the tube, just taking in liquids & meds...oddly enough, the med I take through the feeding tube is the med that enables me to eat solid food the normal way...without it, I cannot put anything in my stomach). 

But I digress...  Basically, the Lyme has caused major problems with the motility throughout my gut - mouth to the "other end."  For more info on how Lyme can really mess with the GI tract, see http://thehumansideoflyme.net/viewarticle.php?aid=62

 

Thanks, ladies. It is stories like Razzle's that make me feel like I am making a big deal out of nothing! OTOH, it is better to take all of the symptoms seriously.

Hey Trav:

I told my husband that Dr. Masters said :" Absence of proof is not proof of absence" and he asked "what does it mean"???

I said: "what does it mean??? I thought I am having a Lyme head!" He didn't get it, I had to explain it to him!

I guess I still have most of my brain intact, which is good news!