Circulation - Thick Blood?

Diagnosed with Borrelia Burgdorferi & Bartonella

I've been dealing with internal vibration (mostly left side) for 17 months. In addition to the vibrations, I've been having some kind of circulation issues for 8-10 months. I have a varying levels of tightness, numbness, aching, tingling and swelling below the left knee. None of these symptoms are over the top, but they're unsettling. In addition, my entire left leg (hip down) appears to be slightly larger than the right leg. It would be difficult for someone else to see the difference between the two, but I can.

The circulation issues and vibrations don't tend to bother me when I'm up walking, in bed, or when I'm driving in the car. They seem to act up mostly when I sit. When it's really bothering me, I throw on some compression socks and try to elevate my leg. It doesn't help much, but I do it anyway.

Last February (2018), I had a little pinch in my hip, but my flexibility was fine. My chiropractor did an X-ray, and it was discovered that I had minor arthritis. Nothing looked bad. Space in between the ball and socket was great. I had an X-ray in April (2019), and I was told I the space was gone (flexibility isn't as good) and I need a full hip replacement. I just made an appt for a second opinion.

In 1987, I got a varicose vein in my left calf, when I was pregnant. It never bothered me until the Lyme set in. I recently had to have a laser treatment shut down the enlarged vein because it started to cause my leg to ache. A year later, it was discovered that I had to have the same thing done on my right leg. Crazy stuff.

So, with all these leg issues, I'm kind of freaking out. It's one thing after another. I've recently read that Lyme can cause blood to thicken. If that's so, perhaps that's the reason for most of my leg issues.

If you've experienced similar sensations, I'd love to know what you've done to combat the symptoms.

Thank you SOOOOO much.

I've had problems with numbness and tingling in my legs at and below my knees and also swelling, all of which seemed to have improved with my other symptoms. Most of the time one foot and leg up to my knee would be much more swollen than the other. I really had trouble when I had to sit or stand for long periods of time.

I do think Lyme and coinfections can cause blood to thicken, but I think that trouble with varicose veins is probably caused because of the fact that bartonella causes your veins to grow at an abnormal rate. I had a lot of strange looking veins that appeared all of a sudden.

Donjr said...
Highly suggest lumbrokinase I buy doctors best brand from amazon, also L-arginine plus and coq10 and your hypocoagulation issues will be fixed. Goodluck

I took Lumbrokinase for several months (May through September). The pressure, numbness, etc may have started around then. Interesting! I'll ask about the others at my next appt.

Thank you!

saraeli said...
A VEGF test (if high) could help you figure out if the vascular issues are due to bartonella. (High vascular endothelial growth factor means your body is producing more blood vessels than it should be, which happens normally in pregnancy but otherwise can indicate tumors or bartonella.) (Low VEGF can be associated with mold illness.)

Also thins blood: L-arginine, ginkgo, aspirin, sulfuric compounds, dan shen.

Good luck!

Thank you saraeli! Looking forward to my appointment, tomorrow. I'll be asking some specific questions about this.

Absolutely a longterm Lyme infection can certainly be associated with thick blood, and inefficient circulation. This is actually quite common in Lyme patients. I had elevated platelets for a long time before starting treatment recently, and I havent checked them since, but I'm certain they are lower now. My blood flow has improved greatly since starting treatment with doxycycline and herbal tinctures recommended by herbalist Stephen Buhner. In his book "healing lyme" Buhner explains how borellia bacteria cling to the endothelium in blood vessels and create biolfilms (bartonella behaves similarly) in these areas after extended periods of infection. In fact many of the herbs Buhner recommends are actually blood thinners. One of the most important parts of lyme treatment is to get the blood flowing correctly again to properly disburse oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and extremities, and to disrupt bacteria and their biofilms by flushing them out and preventing them from adhering to blood vessel walls.

Unfortunately, unless your doctor is using a new super-accurate bartonella test, I'm not sure that a negative test means the bartonella has gone away. But on the other hand, if you are also having a improvement in your bartonella symptoms, it might be a good sign.

One of the other members here would know more about it, but I think DNA Connexions tests are more accurate than the standard tests.

Wow! I thought theses two test were some of the better tests. Ugh!

Girlie said...


We have lots of members who do think the dna tests are good/reliable.

Galaxy labs for bart IS one of the better ones.

My LLMD doesn’t use testing to determine when treatment is done.
Many llmd’s dont.

Keep an eye on symptoms - and if the last few don’t resolve or you get others returning - act right away.

I have not been treated for Babesia.

I'm currently taking Bicillin, and I'm continuing to have very common lyme symptoms. It feels like I may be having a die off, but I don't know for sure. Today, I'm experiencing head stuffiness and pressure in ears, skin crawls, waves of numbness, crackling neck, muscle twitching and burning, to name a few. From what I understand, my Borrelia Burgdorferi is still active based on my last test.

The first time I took the DNA Connexions, I exercised and sweat before taking my urine sample. It came back with Bartonella. Later, my doc told me that I had a rare strain of Bartonella, but she didn't tell me what it was.

The second DNA Connexions test, I had a massage, and I got a negative result. The massage didn't feel like a deep-tissue massage. My doc said the results of many tests aren't always accurate. So, even after this negative, I continued to have symptoms, so we continued Bart treatment.

Galaxy was the third test. They use blood and do a Culture, Serum and Whole B tests. All came back negative.

My concern is that if the strain I have is rare, maybe they're just not picking it up. I don't know. As we all know, there are way too many variables with lyme.

Girlie said...
Both PCR and WB tests have false negatives - you need to look at symptoms... along with response or lack response to the treatment .

Yes indeed!
I don't reel cured, but I definitely have a list of unanswered questions.

Thank you for everything you do.

saraeli said...
Sorry if this already has been addressed, but when I hear "vibrations" my mind goes right to mold. Have you looked into mold toxicity at all? Mold and Lyme and bartonella can be indistinguishable from each other if you look at symptoms. Plenty of people become sensitized to mold once they contract Lyme or other infections, and then they treat and treat for Lyme and co-infections without lasting improvement. Just another idea.

I mentioned this to my doctor, yesterday. She asked if I'm exposed to any mold that I know of.

My husband and I build our house thirteen years ago, and we have a very dry basement. Sometimes, we do get some mold on our bathroom ceiling, but my husband bleaches it away. I don't really think that mold would be an issue. Is there a blood test that can be done to check mold sensitivity?

I hear you. It's maddening to feel so much go wrong, especially when you had an idea of yourself as a healthy person.

There are two urine tests (Great Plains and Real Time) that test for which mycotoxins are in your system. There are blood tests for genetic susceptibility to mold illness, and tests for other markers of mold-related inflammation https://www.survivingmold.com/diagnosis/lab-tests That same website has a visual test you can do from home for $15 called the VCS test. There are dust tests you can do for your home - an ERMI or a HERTSMI-2 - that measure and identify the molds present (some of course are more troubling than others).

Mold itself can be tricky. Do you have ducts in your heating or cooling systems? A bathroom vent? Any sort of air conditioners? Carpet in a basement, bathroom, or mudroom? Jetted tub? Skylights? The mold on the ceiling in the bathroom could be superficial or it could indicate a bigger issue, perhaps growing behind the tub surround or in the wall. Moisture in a mattress that didn't get dried right away? A front-loading washer? A drip under a faucet? Any used furniture, the history of which you might not know? Any sort of drywall or particle board that has been exposed to water even briefly can grow mold. And of course exposure can come from workplaces and cars as well.

You might be totally right that there's no chance of mold, I just wanted to offer a few ideas. If you have not checked out Toxic by Neil Nathan, then you might find it interesting.

And of course, good luck finding some answers!

Thanks Sara for providing the mold testing info.

Between you and WalkingbyFaith - this forum is covered.