Having Lyme and Possible Transmission to your loved ones?

My husband seems fine. I have no idea how long I've had Lyme, though. The few I know with Lyme haven't passed it on either, but I think it can happen to some.

I believe Lyme and bart can be passed on sexually, bart probably even by kissing. Mycoplasma is definitely passed on sexually and is actually now believed to be the most common STD in which the vast majority of people have it but show no symptoms and testing isn't as standard as the other STDs. There are lots of people who got lyme and or bart from sexual transmission.

My girlfriend of 6 months would kiss me and we had unprotected sex by accident once when she suggested, but after I said it's not safe and we had a talk and used condoms ever since. She would kiss me lots, and one day she said she couldn't sleep and her body felt like it was burning. Then that was it! lol she had no symptoms ever since. So it doesn't seem she got sick from me. I was on treatment the whole time.

It seems like it wasn't so much an issue for her in the relationship and she was glad I talked to her about it, but it was more of an issue for me because I don't feel safe with it, and it is a lot of work to treat and get well. It seems like we are no longer together but she does call every so often, I have decided to focus on getting completely well before entering a new relationship again.

So for the 6 months we were together, (together very frequently too), she didn't get sick from me. But I would advise using protection. My LLMD said when using antibiotics and on antibiotic treatment the risk is dropped big time, and that includes risk of sexual transmission. So it is very unlikely if you are on 2 antibiotics or more even with unprotected sex to transmit it. I would say better safe than sorry though and to use a condom until finished treatment.

LymePickle- you said there are lots of people who get lyme, bart, mycoplasma and other co infections from sexual transmission? Not to sound rude, but where is the proof? I am a very scientifically minded person, and to me I need to have proof that it was passed on by lab tests or through other evidence. People who live in endemic areas claim they gave it to their spouse when in reality they could have easily have gotten bite by a separate tick. I'm not saying its not sexually transmitted or that it is, but I need proof.

Dave there is definitely proof that it can be transmitted. I've seen many articles posted here and elsewhere. Hopefully someone else has some links as I can't really search right now. Otherwise, I'll look into it for you in the future.

DaveNJ41 said...
Hi Sarah,
Can you please send me some of the articles if you don't mind?

I am not Sarah, but there u go

Culture and identification of Borrelia spirochetes in human vaginal and seminal secretions
f1000research.com/articles/3-309/v3

Sexual transmission of Lyme disease: challenging the tickborne disease paradigm
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1586/14787210.2015.1081056

I think it matters very much what is the immune status of the healthy person. If you happen to have flu or some low immune status, i think it is quite possible to get infected. After-all the only difference between transmission by a tick and sexual is that the tick's saliva is immune suppressive. If however you are immune suppressed to begin with ...

Dave
I know a woman whose husband was diagnosed before I was. They didn't realize it could be sexually transmitted and she now has it too.

I agree with CD that someone with a very healthy immune system won't get it but why risk that. I wouldn't wish this on someone I hated (if I hated anyone).

Using protection and having her take something like Astragalus and immune boosting supplements should protect her as much as someone can be protected. Protect but don't push away. It's wonderful you're seeing someone so lovely.

Janet

DaveNJ41, there is a couple of documentaries on Lyme. They are definitely told from the Lyme patient side. The first is called "Under Our Skin". it can be found on youtube just by searching "under our skin full". The documentary follows a couple of Lyme patients and prominently features some of the top Lyme docs.

One of the patients follows a couple to just after their wedding. She is very, very sick. The second is "Under Our Skin 2" which picks up 6 or 7 years later. Unfortunately, in this one the husband now tests positive for Lyme. He is not symptomatic, but is positive. It may also be available on youtube, but when I saw it I had to purchase it.

If you watch the documentaries, understand that these cases are some of the most severe and are intended to sway opinion in the favor of ILADS to try and change the way Lyme is handled in the US. But these are real people. I don't want to scare you but the film shows the realities of some people who get sick with Lyme. The point is you need to get treatment as soon as you know you have it.

The answer to your question is yes it can be transmitted sexually. It can also be transmitted from mother to fetus. It can also be transmitted through breast milk.

So you should be using a condom. You also need to make sure that you are in treatment so that you can get the bacterial load down. This doesn't mean forever, just until you no longer have a bacterial load that makes you "contagious".

Some good docs will put a women on prophylactic antibiotics due pregnancy to ensure the fetus doesn't get infected. I passed it to my son (and possibly my daughter) but more likely during the pregnancy.

Like Garden Peace, my husband has not been infected (that we know of - no symptoms). But if you can avoid it, better not to throw dice.

Have your girl friend watch for symptoms. Some of the early symptoms are pretty innocuous and are hard to distinguish.

As a parent, you should not be having unprotected sex any way. You don't want to take a chance of having a baby neither of you is ready for. Sorry, can't help doing my parent lecture.

Kim