AdviceNeeded: What to do after a negative western blot test

Hello & thank you so much for your advice!

I have been feeling very sick for about a month now and really convinced I have lyme disease. I just took the western blot test with my doctor and it came back negative. I have just seen my general practitioner so far so now I am wondering what I should do next. I have my next appointment on Monday.

Should I ask to start antibiotics anyway, see a specialist or get different tests done?

I am a student living in Bethesda, Maryland near Washington, DC. I have looked up Infectious Disease Dr's but would appreciate it if anyone had advice. I am under the impression that Lyme literacy doctors cost out of pocket so I would prefer to look into options my health care will cover first since I currently do not have an income.

Right now I am practicing a diet of no gluten, diary, sugar or alcohol.

I travel a lot and have been in Africa and India this year. I was residing in Spain until May then moved to Washington, DC. This summer I spent a lot of my time in Connecticut where lyme is very prevalent.

Here are my symptoms:

about 1 month ago I started having digestion problems followed by terrible headaches in the front of my head.

With the headaches I had floaters and flashing lights.

I would get episodes where I felt sick to my stomach, dizzy, would have to make a bowl movement and then have a terrible headaches. I had pain in my ring fingers and around my wrists. I was making around 6 bowel movements a day. I had pain in my pelvis.

Shortly after this started my sinuses began killing me. Under my cheek bones were very painful and my vision was blurry. My doctor said my sinuses were touching but I had no infection. I am doing a neti pot treatment. It helps but my sinuses are still sore.

Now I have a stiff neck, swollen glands in my jaw, neck and back of my head. I can't work out and have very limited energy. I used to work out 5 days a week. Two weeks ago I got terrible heart palpitations and felt very disoriented. This has continued since then when I am sleeping but to a lesser extent. My doctor said she heard a slight heart murmur when she checked my heart. No other doctor has ever detected this.

At night I wake up every 1-2 hours. I get sourness in different places in my body. Recently my upper back has felt like someone is stepping on it and there is a prickly sensation.

Most recently I have had a hard time getting air. I feel like I can't take a deep breath or get enough oxygen.

All of my symptoms come in waves. They are the most intense at nighttime after dinner.

Since I have traveled a lot I want to make sure I do not have another illness or parasite related to being in India or Africa. I have read a lot of others posts though and my symptoms seem to be right in line with lyme.

I appreciate anyone that can give me their advice and support on how I should continue to pursue this illness. Thank you

Hi and welcome to our forum.
You are fortunate that you reside near one of the best llmd's in our country. I know the first visit with an llmd can be expensive up wards from 350 to 850 dollars for the first visit, but then the next visits are much lower between maybe 240 to 350. (Just a quick example could be different for some..


Most llmds have you come back once a month and sometimes every 2 to 3 months.


Anyways Lyme and co is costly to treat but you want the best treatment so you can get on the path to wellness..


Check out The Jesmek Clinic In Washington D.C. we dont normally post llmd's name here for privacy but he is well known.

There are members here that go there also.


Hope this helps, Jo