Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Fibromyalgia

Hello,

I've recently been diagnosed with RA and possibly Fibromyalgia. I had a serious case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever about ten years ago. I'm starting to wonder if these issues aren't related. The following forum has quite a few people that have had RMSF followed by RA, fibromyalgia or other less specific pain issues down the road.

Let me know if you've had a similar experience after RMSF.

http://forums.wrongdiagnosis.com/showthread.php?t=1853&page=1

Post Edited (SKBE) : 6/25/2011 4:49:47 PM (GMT-6)

Holy cow...you need to find a lyme literate MD. (LLMD)

RMSF is a tick borne disease. And do you know what other tickborne illness has identical symptoms to Fibro..LYME DISEASE!

If you have a positive test for RMSF then it means you have been bitten by a tick at one point...and that means you should strongly consider lyme if you are having Fibro-like symptoms.

Testing for lyme is miserably insensitive. They miss 70% of the cases. I originaly tested negative and was told it was Fibro. I finally got a proper diagnosis from an ILADS trained LLMD and have been in treatment for 14 months. I'm 95% back to my "normal" self and should be done with treatment and at 100% later this year. I didn't think this was possible.

I suggest you check out the lyme forum here, or other lyme sites like lyme net. You will see most lyme doctors and researchers believe fibro is really undiagnosed lyme. Most symptoms go away for most people with long term lyme treatment.

Problem is...lyme is controversial. The mainstream medical community believes the current tests are accurate and lyme isn't a big deal. But hte ILADS doctors beleive differently and the latest science is backing them up.

CHeck it out please! You can get well with proper treatment!!

bcb,That's great that you're doing better. I hope you reach 100%.

I thought of Lyme disease early on during this ordeal and was tested. The test came back negative. As you say false negatives are pretty common. I was also on a dosage of Prednisone at the time. I've read that anti inflammatory steroids can increase the false negative rate. I've gone for a second opinion on my Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosis and the rheumatologist is weening me off the prednisone in order to see my inflammation level without the drugs.

Once I'm done weening off I'll ask for another test.

Which test should I ask for? Last time I think they gave me a Lime Titer test. I've seen reference to a few different types.

I know this is an old thread, I hope it isn't closed. At my first exposure to massive amounts of ticks and bites occurred around 1984 or slightly earlier. The first illnesses that sent me to my family dr. were diagnosed Shingles and Pleurisy. Simultaneously. On the heals of that chest pains, large muscle twitching and fasculations, and symptoms that were diagnosed panic attacks, as well as muscle pain, and spasms. I don't recall at that time if fevers were present, I'm sure they were during the first two diagnosis. I was treated with various anti inflamatory meds including long term prednisone for a full year before out of desperation my Mother took me to a University Hospital for treatment. They too assessed me as having Fibromyalgia, and had me discontinue the current meds. Long story short, debilitating symptoms, low grade fevers, high fevers, continued off and on for many years. I did finally get tested for Lyme in the mid to late 80's, showed a couple antigens, but was not diagnosed positive.

My Internist sent me to get tested for all tick borne diseases in May, and I was called by the Health dept. that I'd tested positive. At their request I got tested a second time less than 2 weeks later, then never heard anything. On a visit to my Internist in July I asked my Internist about the tests. He said he'd forgotten to check. I was positive the second time as well, so he started me on Doxy, and on the 20th of this month I took the last of my 4 weeks of pills. Yesterday evening I registered a temp of 100.1 after a day of very blurry vision, and not feeling well at all. The closest Dr. specializing in this, or at least Lyme disease, is a 2 hour drive away and frankly I am not up to it. I'm at a loss and so is my Internist. It's hard to tell what symptom to blame on what disorder. Which I have many more I've not mentioned.