Not sure if I have lyme disease?

Hello! Last Sunday, I was talking on the phone for around 30 minutes and after I hung up I noticed that a bug had bitten me within that time span (I am sure that no bug was latched onto my legs before that). A couple days before, a black tick landed on my arm in my house and I flung it off instead of killing it. First, the bite looked like this 30 minutes after I discovered it: http://i66.tinypic.com/2h4yo1k.jpg

The bite was initially swollen, raised, and EXTREMELY itchy for the first couple of days. Then 3 days later, I noticed that the bite had started to take a bulls-eye shape. I have NO other symptoms of lyme disease but my friend had lyme disease so I wanted to stay safe and went to my doctor. She saw the bite and diagnosed me with lyme disease and put me on ONLY 2 weeks of doxycycline since she said I'm at the very early localized stage. I am wondering if this prescription is enough since we caught it super early or if I should ask for more? And if the chances that I will make a full recovery are high? I am a 17 year old female about to start college soon.

ALSO if the tick DID bite me, it only latched on for around 20-30 minutes so could it be possible that it transmitted lyme's disease in the short amount of time? I read that it takes more than 24 hours?

This is what the bite looks like currently: http://i65.tinypic.com/2cdjzwh.jpg It is not swollen/raised anymore but it is itchy when I touch it.

Hi xxttnxx!-

Welcome to our community! I am happy to see how proactive you are! I am happy to hear that you have caught the early signs!

Girlie gave you some very great information!! Please look into it!!!
Take this disease very seriously, if left untreated, it can really make a mess of your life.

Best Wishes!

Girlie said...
oh - and not the tick doesn't need to be attached for 24 hours to transmit lyme disease.

Yes, since you've caught it early your chances of full recovery are high.
That's why I'm suggesting longer treatment - it becomes much more difficult to irradicate once it becomes chronic.

Should six weeks of doxycycline, 100mg twice a day be enough? Thank you so much for the advice everyone, it means a lot. I've been pretty scared for the past couple of days :(

I know it sounds like a lot of antibiotics for a long time - but compared to what us with chronic lyme take...it's not.

Hi Xxttnxx,
Welcome to our community! I'm so glad you found us.

I also agree that you need at least 200 mgs of Doxy twice a day for at least 6 weeks to avoid developing chronic Lyme. Should you develop any other symptoms, treatment needs to be extended and other abx (antibiotics) need to be used as well.

Also, as Asmoline suggested, probiotics - take 2 hours after the abx - will be a wise choice even if your doctor doesn't mention it (they almost never do) to help replenish the good bacteria in your intestines so they don't get damaged during the abx usage.

And, we are here, should you have any more questions, or have difficulty finding a doctor that will treat you like this. Your health is far more important than a doctor's opinion that you don't have Lyme, or don't prescribe enough treatment. Take it from those that have been told these things.

Definitely could be a herx.

to help with the symptoms - start detoxing. Start with one or two methods...and every few days add in another.

When you treat - the die-off of the bacteria produces endotoxins...which ramp up the inflammation...and cause a herxheimer reaction - meaning you will get increase in the severity of current symptoms, in addition to new ones.

Detoxing is your best defense.

Here's a link to some good detoxing:

www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

Here are some of the ones I do daily...or almost daily:

- drink 8 glasses of water
- squeeze fresh organic lemon juice into some glasses
- take warm epsom salt baths
- dry brush my skin before the baths
- light exercise
- take a liver support (example: Milk thistle extract)

These are the Guidelines (Burrascano's)


EARLY LOCALIZED - Single erythema migrans with no constitutional symptoms:
1) Adults: oral therapy- must continue until symptom and sign free for at least one month,
with a 6 week minimum.

EARLY DISSEMINATED: Milder symptoms present for less than one year and not complicated by immune deficiency or prior steroid treatment:
1) Adults: oral therapy until no active disease for 4 to 8 weeks (4-6 months typical)

You're welcome...

So, now with the new symptoms...I'm thinking he falls into the early disseminated category

xxttnxx - you should be treating 4-8 weeks AFTER you're symptom free. That will mean you definitely need more antibiotics.