Rash changes while on treatment

Hey all.

I have tested positive for Lyme twice now, even under the CDC "requirements." I would have been bitten/infected about 15 years ago and only recently got tested. I have been on treatment now for 3 months. Started out with IV Rocephin + and oral Doxy (1 month). Have switched over bc of the confections to azithromycin (500 mg) which I have been on for about two months now. I am no longer on the IV.

During the IV portion of my treatment my rash started to dissipate pretty rapidly, but since it was on the fading phase of its life span before treatment (mine expands, disappears and reappears)- I didn't pay too much attention to it. Once I switched over to azithromycin - the strangest thing has started to occur to this rash that I have had for 15 yrs now and has behaved like clock work. Before the old one had phased out, a new one appeared and has started its expansion and gaining a clearing in the middle. As of now it almost looks like two new rashes are growing on top of the clearing of the old one that had almost phased out. I have been on antibiotics for 3 months- going on my 4th month. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?

I won't be taking additional antibiotics. My doctor's reasoning was due to how poorly I was doing on the combo I was on before. I could barely get out of bed. Normal day to day functions were out of the question. Work- forget it. I believe that is why the doc switched me over to the azithromycin to see how I would respond. It turned out that the test results later revealed I had some co-infections that would be better treated on the azithromycin anyway. So far, each month seems to be a bit better. The only concern was the developing rashes, but the explanation you gave makes sense. My worry was that I wasn't being given "enough" juice to kill the Lyme and co-infections off and that the rash was evidence of that.

CherryBlossom said...
I won't be taking additional antibiotics. My doctor's reasoning was due to how poorly I was doing on the combo I was on before. I could barely get out of bed. Normal day to day functions were out of the question. Work- forget it. I believe that is why the doc switched me over to the azithromycin to see how I would respond. It turned out that the test results later revealed I had some co-infections that would be better treated on the azithromycin anyway. So far, each month seems to be a bit better. The only concern was the developing rashes, but the explanation you gave makes sense. My worry was that I wasn't being given "enough" juice to kill the Lyme and co-infections off and that the rash was evidence of that.

Well azithromycin isn't usually enough to get at the coinfections after a 15 year old infection.

Both chronic bartonella and babesia require more than just azithromycin, doxy and Rocephin.