Hi Slada,
Yes, even with no Bullseye rash, and you not remembering a bite - you could still have Lyme. Here's why - only about
40% of those who have been confirmed to have Lyme ever experience a bullseye rash (I never did), although there are
many different rashes that are common with Lyme & other tick born illnesses.
Even though you don't remember a bite, doesn't mean that it didn't occur - a tick, in it's nymph stage is as small as the period at the end of this sentence. It would be soooo very easy to not find one that attached on your scalp!
What's more is, even though you are being given a blood test, you can still test negative even though you do have Lyme & other tick born infections. The reason is that if the infections have moved into your tissues - then it's no longer in your blood for the test to pick up the antibodies. This is why you should see a qualified LLMD, they know what the 'clinical' signs are - the symptoms & can make a diagnosis based purely on your symptoms. This is also why you will see at the bottom of my post you will see that I have a quote from a very well respected researcher, & Lyme Doc - "Absence of proof is not proof of absence".
As for the symptoms we have?? There is an excellent list of the symptoms in the thread "New to Lyme? Start here".
Here is one of them, (there is another one in that thread that is much more comprehensive) courtesy of Cajungrl:
Descript
ion, symptoms, and treatments of co-infections:
Babesiosis:- is a malaria-like protozoa illness that invades, infects, and kills the red blood cells. Symptoms include fatigue, night sweats, chills, fever, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, headache, dark urine, muscle pain, joint pain, nausea, and jaundice. Treatment is an anti-malarial combined with an antibiotic--often Mepron with Zithromax (or Biaxin or Ketek).
Ehrlichiosis:- is a bacterial infection that invades and infects the white blood cells. There are two types of Ehrlichiosis: Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis (HME) and Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis (HGE). Symptoms include malaise, fever,
sweating, nausea, dry cough, headache, muscle aches and
pain. Treatment is most often Doxycycline.
Bartonella:- also known as cat-scratch fever is a bacterial infection. Symptoms include swollen, painful lymph nodes, muscle and/or joint pain, nausea, vomiting, chills, anxiety, insomnia, red rashes. Treatment is often Levaquin or Rifampin.
Mycoplasma:- is a bacterial infection. Symptoms include fatigue, breathing problems,
headache, muscle pain and soreness, nausea, lymph node pain, and cognitive problems. Treatment
is usually Doxycycline, Minocycline, Azithromycin, Clarithromycin, or Ciprofloxacin.
For more information on the co-infections, see "Everything You Need To know about
Lyme Disease (2nd edition)" by Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner and Dr. Joseph Burrascano's Lyme Treatment Guidelines at:
www.ilads.org/burrascano_0905.html
Please be sure to get a copy of your test results & post them here when you get them!
Hope this helps some.
