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I think I have Bartonella from cat scratches

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Posted 6/2/2021 2:56 PM (GMT -5)
Hi all,

My tail of a story (pun intended): about a month ago my cat was very sick so I took Rocky to the vet. Rocky had a bacterial infection (vet said from fleas which he contracted from a guest cat that belonged to my Aunt, that cat died from old age and Aunt moved out). Vet gave me a syringe with liquid Amoxicillin for Rocky and my almost 14 year old cat fought me every time I tried to give him the syringe (but I was able to do it). Needless to say he scratched me several times (I tried wrapping him up in a towel) and drew blood on my hands and arms.

about a week later I didn't feel right so I ordered Jernigan's lymogen, borrelogen, and neuro-antitox for 3 months which I have been taking for 2 weeks now. Been taking detox baths twice a day (epsom salts and hydrogen peroxide) and dry skin brushing before the bath.

I know nothing about bartonella.

I feel tired and have a low grade fever yet I'm functioning (I'm a caregiver to my 95 year old Mom who has vascular dementia).

I also have this rash on my thigh that keeps on growing (this is new). It's blistering but no pus. It's not like the photo's I saw online. This is not a thin pencil-like rash. It's about 1 inch wide.

Please don't suggest conventional antibiotics because I'm allergic to them.

EDIT: My first symptom was pain in my left hip which I first thought was caused from moving a 5 cubic foot freezer inside my house. I'm not a spring chicken anymore as I will be 65 years old. Then the pain radiated down to my left leg. That pain is much better and the throbbing in my left leg stopped. So basically my symptoms are the rash, low fever, and fatigue.

Any advice would be much appreciated,
Denise
Posted 6/2/2021 3:59 PM (GMT -5)
Can you upload an image of the rash? Maybe others w bart can take a look. I'm curious as I had a rash a while ago that sounds similar

Can go to https://imgbb.com/ and upload the image then paste the URL to the group
Posted 6/2/2021 5:39 PM (GMT -5)
Hi dcd, thanks for the link. I will try to put a photo that I took.

I've been putting bentonite clay (I have the powder and make a paste) on the rash to draw out the toxins. It doesn't itch at all. I'm just surprised that I have this and that it keeps getting longer.

I was thinking of getting tested but I'm conflicted about it. It's been so many years that I had lyme and I don't know if IgeneX is still the best place.

How long did your rash last? Did you put anything on it?

https://ibb.co/qbxwwbm

Denise
Posted 6/2/2021 6:47 PM (GMT -5)
From the photo it looks like the cats gave you hookworm. So sorry you're dealing with this!
Posted 6/3/2021 6:53 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks Saraeli, I don't know what it is. I researched hookworm and it states that the rash is itchy where my rash is not. As I was researching I stumbled on shingles so now I'm wondering if I have that.

I had chickenpox as a child but I read that shingles can come out later in older adults such as myself.

I could go to Urgent Care but I don't know if they could give me a definite diagnosis. I really dislike playing the guessing game.

Maybe taking lysine would help? I really don't know and for once in my life I'm totally baffled.

Thanks again,
Denise
Posted 6/3/2021 7:48 AM (GMT -5)

Deejavu said...
Hi all,

My tail of a story (pun intended): about a month ago my cat was very sick so I took Rocky to the vet. Rocky had a bacterial infection (vet said from fleas which he contracted from a guest cat that belonged to my Aunt, that cat died from old age and Aunt moved out). Vet gave me a syringe with liquid Amoxicillin for Rocky and my almost 14 year old cat fought me every time I tried to give him the syringe (but I was able to do it). Needless to say he scratched me several times (I tried wrapping him up in a towel) and drew blood on my hands and arms.

about a week later I didn't feel right so I ordered Jernigan's lymogen, borrelogen, and neuro-antitox for 3 months which I have been taking for 2 weeks now. Been taking detox baths twice a day (epsom salts and hydrogen peroxide) and dry skin brushing before the bath.

I know nothing about bartonella.

I feel tired and have a low grade fever yet I'm functioning (I'm a caregiver to my 95 year old Mom who has vascular dementia).

I also have this rash on my thigh that keeps on growing (this is new). It's blistering but no pus. It's not like the photo's I saw online. This is not a thin pencil-like rash. It's about 1 inch wide.

Please don't suggest conventional antibiotics because I'm allergic to them.

EDIT: My first symptom was pain in my left hip which I first thought was caused from moving a 5 cubic foot freezer inside my house. I'm not a spring chicken anymore as I will be 65 years old. Then the pain radiated down to my left leg. That pain is much better and the throbbing in my left leg stopped. So basically my symptoms are the rash, low fever, and fatigue.

Any advice would be much appreciated,
Denise

I never knew what bartonella was either until about 1 year ago. Until I was bitten up by fleas (my neighbor had tons of cats and dogs which they never took care of) and I felt exhausted migraines, sore throat, and this wierd rash on my hands/fingers was so itchy, and a sore throat. The doc only tests for like 1 or 2 strains of bart and then I was goi g to use tests for 15 strains for $1,600 which I wasnt going to spend no offense lol. I would self treat if I were u because tests are so weak or in accurate most times. Also i had swollenymph nodes, and your allergic to all antibiotics? That's what I thought I'd get so sick I'd almost drop and pass out and I'd vomit,but found out I was herxing on the antibiotics due to the bacteria coming out of my body.same thing with my mom she thought she was allergic to penicillin all this time, come to find out shes not allergic abes just herxing from the bartonella bacteria lol. Antibiotics make me feel like I dying no doubt ,detox is the most important, u can take herbs ,bt I'd suggest at least 1 antibiotic like erythromycin maybe?
Posted 6/3/2021 8:47 AM (GMT -5)
So the cat scratched your arms and hands, but the rash is on your leg? A hookworm infection would create the raised rash right by the cuts, so combined with the lack of itching, you're probably right that hookworms aren't the culprit.

Is it very painful? Shingles seems like a good guess if it's one-sided, in sort of a stripe, and very painful. My partner had shingles a few years ago, and was miserable - definitely tired, low fever, and a thick stripe of raised red blisters on one side of his neck that hurt and burned.

Lysine or monolaurin would be my go-to treatments for shingles or any other type of chronic or reactivated virus. Researched Nutritionals makes transfer factor supplements that can be helpful as well, if you consume dairy.

What was the cat's bacterial infection, if you know? Bacterial infections tend to produce high fevers in the acute stage, but of course not always.

I wish I had answers for you! We adopted a puppy last winter who came with giardia and hookworm, so I am acutely aware of those as possible infections right now. This doesn't really sound like Bartonella to me, but who knows?
Posted 6/3/2021 1:36 PM (GMT -5)

MedicalNerd said...

I never knew what bartonella was either until about 1 year ago. Until I was bitten up by fleas (my neighbor had tons of cats and dogs which they never took care of) and I felt exhausted migraines, sore throat, and this wierd rash on my hands/fingers was so itchy, and a sore throat. The doc only tests for like 1 or 2 strains of bart and then I was goi g to use tests for 15 strains for $1,600 which I wasnt going to spend no offense lol. I would self treat if I were u because tests are so weak or in accurate most times. Also i had swollenymph nodes, and your allergic to all antibiotics? That's what I thought I'd get so sick I'd almost drop and pass out and I'd vomit,but found out I was herxing on the antibiotics due to the bacteria coming out of my body.same thing with my mom she thought she was allergic to penicillin all this time, come to find out shes not allergic abes just herxing from the bartonella bacteria lol. Antibiotics make me feel like I dying no doubt ,detox is the most important, u can take herbs ,bt I'd suggest at least 1 antibiotic like erythromycin maybe?

The reason I have a difficult time taking conventional antibiotics is because I was given them like they were candy when I was young (I had swollen glands all the time as a child) so the doctor would give me penicillin which I became severely allergic to later on in my life. When I found out I had ehrlichia I was given doxy which I couldn't keep in my stomach even though I took doxy with food plus I felt even more sick from taking the doxy (the amount the did stay in my body). Herbal medicine works much better for me with no side effect.

Thanks for your input!
Denise
Posted 6/3/2021 1:43 PM (GMT -5)

saraeli said...
So the cat scratched your arms and hands, but the rash is on your leg? A hookworm infection would create the raised rash right by the cuts, so combined with the lack of itching, you're probably right that hookworms aren't the culprit.

Is it very painful? Shingles seems like a good guess if it's one-sided, in sort of a stripe, and very painful. My partner had shingles a few years ago, and was miserable - definitely tired, low fever, and a thick stripe of raised red blisters on one side of his neck that hurt and burned.

Lysine or monolaurin would be my go-to treatments for shingles or any other type of chronic or reactivated virus. Researched Nutritionals makes transfer factor supplements that can be helpful as well, if you consume dairy.

What was the cat's bacterial infection, if you know? Bacterial infections tend to produce high fevers in the acute stage, but of course not always.

I wish I had answers for you! We adopted a puppy last winter who came with giardia and hookworm, so I am acutely aware of those as possible infections right now. This doesn't really sound like Bartonella to me, but who knows?

Well, I am guessing it was shingles after all, not bartonella as I was ready to go to Urgent Care this morning and when I looked at the rash it was not red anymore but brown and healing. So I'm on the way to recovery. Wow, those detox baths are so powerful, yeah, they still amaze me.

I called my vet and asked him if he knew what type of bacterial infection my cat had and he didn't know. I did read that shingles can pop up from stress and I was stressed out by my cat being sick as I love him more then anything. I was so scared for him. He could have scratched my upper thigh as he scrambled so fast when I was giving him the syringe of medicine. You know how fast cats can be.

Anyway, as of today I feel back to myself with no fever and my energy is back. I'm just so happy that this rash is no longer red but brown and flat.

Thanks everyone for your input, so much appreciated!
Denise
Posted 6/3/2021 1:59 PM (GMT -5)
Glad to hear you're doing well now, Deejavu.

Yup, I know all about cat scratches....we got a lovely little kitten a few weeks ago...
Posted 6/3/2021 4:55 PM (GMT -5)
Thanks Girlie, I was scared because I take care of my Mom thus the thought of having a coinfection or another strain of lyme made me really nervous. If I was alone I still wouldn't like it but I'm not.

That's great that you got a little kitten! I love both dogs and cats and my cat thinks he's a dog, lol!

I hope you are doing well,
Denise
Posted 6/4/2021 10:04 AM (GMT -5)
I had shingles. That does not look like a shingles rash to me. If you had shingles, I am pretty sure you would know it.

In order to successfully treat this (even with herbs), you need to find out what it is. I would recommend going to the dermatologist.

Have the Jernigan’s herbs helped with the tiredness and low grade fever?

Are you willing to use other herbal medicine besides Jernigan’s? If so, you might want to try astragalus, as this is a new illness. For bartonella, houttuynia, Japanese knotweed, and Chinese skullcap would be my top 3 choices. You can get these from Woodland Essence. If you prefer knotweed in powder form, you can get 1 lb bags of powder from 1st Chinese.

Post Edited (WalkingbyFaith) : 6/4/2021 9:08:07 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/4/2021 10:16 AM (GMT -5)
As far as testing, Galaxy Diagnostics is the premier lab for bartonella testing. It’s not cheap.

If I understood correctly, it was YOUR cat who scratched you, right? Were you ever scratched or bitten by the other cat? If not, it might be easier to get the vet to test your cat for bartonella.
Posted 6/4/2021 2:39 PM (GMT -5)

WalkingbyFaith said...
I had shingles. That does not look like a shingles rash to me. If you had shingles, I am pretty sure you would know it.

In order to successfully treat this (even with herbs), you need to find out what it is. I would recommend going to the dermatologist.

Have the Jernigan’s herbs helped with the tiredness and low grade fever?

Are you willing to use other herbal medicine besides Jernigan’s? If so, you might want to try astragalus, as this is a new illness. For bartonella, houttuynia, Japanese knotweed, and Chinese skullcap would be my top 3 choices. You can get these from Woodland Essence. If you prefer knotweed in powder form, you can get 1 lb bags of powder from 1st Chinese.

Thanks for the information WbF. My doctor was able to fit me in late yesterday and he said that he was positive I have/had shingles. He took a sample from the crusted over area which was sent to the lab. I should hear soon but I believe my doctor (which is rare for me). He told me I should have seen him when it first started as he could have given me an anti-viral medicine but stubborn me, I didn't. Now he wants me to get the Shingles vaccine, why oh why is everyone pushing vaccines?

I stopped taking the Jernigan herbal remedies (even though they contain an anti-viral) since I don't have bartonella.

I feel fine as far as fatigue and I no longer have low grade fever. The rash is healing (crusted over) so it's just a matter of time now before it disappears. I believe that the detox baths and putting a layer of bentonite clay on the rash helped a lot.

Thanks for telling me about Woodland Essence and the herbs. I do have astragalus from years ago (I will throw it away since it's old and I never took it). I'm open minded to all herbs for all different ailments. I give my Mom a teaspoon of D-Mannose every day to prevent her getting UTI's. So far so good.

I told my doctor about my cat scratching me and he said this was definitely a shingles rash and had nothing to do with my cat since my cat had a bacterial infection and shingles is viral.

I guess I'm lucky that this rash never itched, didn't cause pain, etc. Either my immune system is good or something. My only complaint is it has been annoying being the location so I have been wearing dresses since jeans rub against it.

Thanks again for your input!
Denise
Posted 6/4/2021 3:24 PM (GMT -5)

WalkingbyFaith said...
I had shingles. That does not look like a shingles rash to me. If you had shingles, I am pretty sure you would know it.

Hi again WbF, just an afterthought... I didn't post the entire photograph for personal reasons as I was embarrassed since the beginning of the rash started on a personal area of my body. Maybe that's why it didn't look like shingles to you.

What did you take when you had shingles? How long did it take to heal? I'm just curious because this is the first time I ever experienced shingles (hopefully the last as well but one never knows). Next time I will know immediately what it is. I just got really scared and connected my cat to my not feeling well due to the timing of both our episodes (for lack of a better word).

Thanks again!
Denise
Posted 6/5/2021 7:41 AM (GMT -5)
Hey, Denise. When I had shingles, the first symptoms were pain and burning that started in both hips and lower back. At first, I thought I was herxing, but it felt different than any of my Lyme/bart/mold symptoms.

The rash didn’t start until a couple days later. It started in the groin in my bikini line. I actually had a pre-existing appointment with the Functional MD when the first blisters had showed up. I told her about the pain on both sides. At first (to her DISCREDIT), she insisted that shingles only occurs on one side. (This is NOT TRUE.). Then I showed her the blisters, and she knew it was shingles and prescribed Valtrex.

The blisters were tiny and looked a lot like contact dermatitis. What was interesting was once I started the Valtrex, the blisters stopped erupting, but I could see where the rash was on my skin. The area that first had the blisters in my groin never really hurt. The largest area on my right hip hurt and had awful twitchy nerve pain.

I had long term nerve pain and numbness that would flare periodically. I thought it went completely away after taking Flagyl last July for something else, but it has resurfaced again in recent months.

I think I did feel like I had a slight fever and fatigue. I know I did when I got it the second time. The second time, I caught it quicker and started Valtrex before I got any outbreak of rash.

Oh, BTW, even though I started out with pain on both sides, I only had the outbreak on the right side.

Post Edited (WalkingbyFaith) : 6/5/2021 6:45:09 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/6/2021 11:08 AM (GMT -5)

WalkingbyFaith said...
Hey, Denise. When I had shingles, the first symptoms were pain and burning that started in both hips and lower back. At first, I thought I was herxing, but it felt different than any of my Lyme/bart/mold symptoms.

The rash didn’t start until a couple days later. It started in the groin in my bikini line. I actually had a pre-existing appointment with the Functional MD when the first blisters had showed up. I told her about the pain on both sides. At first (to her DISCREDIT), she insisted that shingles only occurs on one side. (This is NOT TRUE.). Then I showed her the blisters, and she knew it was shingles and prescribed Valtrex.

The blisters were tiny and looked a lot like contact dermatitis. What was interesting was once I started the Valtrex, the blisters stopped erupting, but I could see where the rash was on my skin. The area that first had the blisters in my groin never really hurt. The largest area on my right hip hurt and had awful twitchy nerve pain.

I had long term nerve pain and numbness that would flare periodically. I thought it went completely away after taking Flagyl last July for something else, but it has resurfaced again in recent months.

I think I did feel like I had a slight fever and fatigue. I know I did when I got it the second time. The second time, I caught it quicker and started Valtrex before I got any outbreak of rash.

Oh, BTW, even though I started out with pain on both sides, I only had the outbreak on the right side.

Thanks WbF, very interesting. My pain first started in my left hip and then radiated down to my left leg. I had bought another freezer to stock up on food (my regular freezer is not so big) and I carried it into my house myself using my dolly (again, I'm an older person). So I thought I pulled a muscle or something.

Then about a week later the rash came (also by my bikini line) and spread. I just "assumed" bartonella because of my cat.

You're lucky you already had an app't with a doctor, I should have went to my doctor immediately but I'm stubborn even though I like my doctor very much.

That's interesting that the rash can appear on both sides. I decided not to get the shingles vaccine. I guess I'm lucky because my rash didn't itch or cause pain, it was basically annoying due to the location it was. Now it's pretty much all healed.

Jeepers, you have been through so much between lyme, mold, etc. I hope you find healing in all that you are suffering from.

Denise
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