Psychoses, ticks and butterfly rash

A man I know well (have known him all my life) is about 60 yrs old now. He has been put in a mental institution because he had some schizofrenia-like episodes. threaten to take his life and all sorts of other stuff. Anyway, I care about him because he is so nice and so normal and I am thinking something is causing this. He used to be an electrician and worked with aluminum and probably other toxic stuff. I don't know much else, just that his son is having neuro problems too. No neuro problems on either side of family. From what I understand from his wife, he has swellen legs but not knees and he had a blood vessel rupture in 2009 in his brain when he had another schizo like episode. He is on disability since 2009. He lives in Europe. He has a farm. The animals and the rooms in which the animals are, are infested with ticks.

He got the butterfly rash and he has been getting it whenever he is super stressed on and off for 20 years! I found out that from his wife, he is still locked up. I didn't talk to him in over 10 yrs.

What do you make out of this? Can ticks cause the butterfly rash? I looked on line and it seems it can. It seems it can also be lupus. What do you guys think? I feel so bad because it could have been any of us locked up in a mental institution if all this can be caused by tick bites.

Thanks!

Barb:

Thanks so much for your answer. I don't know if tick bites cause lupus, but he got the butterfly rash. It is not on his face, it is on his chest. Tick bites cause Lyme disease and Lyme disease and other infections may cause autoimmune diseases, but I am thinking maybe there is a connection with whatever is going on with him, since both are present: the rash and the ticks. I found many articles on line where people were diagnosed with lupus only to find out that they have lyme disease and after treating lyme disease the lupus symptoms disappeared and ANA was negative!

I checked the symptoms of lupus and since I don't know exactly his medical history, I don't know if he has at least 4. Living in that part of the world doesn't help. Instead of finding out what causes this rash, the drs gave him creams to get rid of the rash and that's it!

Yes, it may affect his disability. He is on disability because of "mental" problems, which I think is caused by something else. He is a very gentle man and I feel something else is wrong with him. I think Schizofrenia (many drs agree with me) is caused by bio-chemical imbalances and infections. I think treating the rash or the schizo-like episodes without treating a hidden infection is plain stupid. It's like treating the symptoms rather than the cause.
He's been having gout and RA for a long time, his legs swell, strangely enough sometimes only one leg, but that's all I know so far.

Strangely enough, in the same country, I have another friend that got this rash that comes and goes on her face. She pulled more ticks out of her body than she can count! So I do believe there is a connection but the drs are treating the rashes. I did find out an article in which this rash may also appear on people that get lyme disease. Maybe is a different strain of lyme disease and these people get a rash that is not the typical Bull's eye as we see a lot with Lyme in US.

I can't call my friend's wife but I called her sister in law to find out what other symptoms he has.

Thanks again, may the treatment for Lupus one day be found. May you find peace and healing. I don't have lupus but I did have lyme and bartonella.

Post Edited (Simela1) : 1/17/2015 2:50:57 PM (GMT-7)