What Should be my treatment be do I have lyme?

Here is some background info

31 healthy male in excellent shape.

Was tested for lyme (neg) had all kinds of other blood work all ok. Ekgs, xrays, cat scans

Symptoms

No energy
Headaches
Eye twitching and feel like it is closing
chest pain on left side
achy all over esp in back and top of feet.

I have talked to other docs that I know and all of them said I have lyme symptoms and I shuold be treated. Doc had me on 200mg of domocycline for 14 days. I feel worse now. I had some people say I should be on alot stronger drug and higher dose. I am trying to get in to see my Doc by the end of the week. Any input would be helpful.

Thanks

I would not put all my eggs in one basket....while waiting for a lyme dx be sure to have the doc look for other things. Heart problems, MS etc.

I took abx for 3 weeks and I was fine for a couple of months and then I relapsed. Whatever you do, if it is lyme, make sure you get more than 14 days of abx. Otherwise, it may come back to hunt you and it may get a lot uglier. I believe at least 6 weeks is appropriate because bacteria dies in month cycles. 3 weeks may miss the entire cycle and leave life bacteria in your body--you may be ok for a while, but that may not last long!

My LLMD has to have a knee replacement because of lyme! He's been treating thousands of people and most recently he got it and didn't even realize it until it destroyed his knee! THere is no one size fits all treatement, but if I were you, I would demand at least 6 weeks of abx.

I am on my 6th week secont time around (I was treated for 3 weeks last year) and I still have symptoms. My LLMD prescribed 2 months of 2 different abx that I have to now take at the same time. If you think this is not fun, it will be even less fun the second time around. LLMDs suggest to stay on abx for 2 mo after ALL symptoms are gone.

GOod luck

Wow, your story and symptoms sound a lot like mine. I was 27 when I got sick three years ago - was in the prime of my life with a great job and in my last semester of college in pre-law...was in pretty great shape, too, though I'd had an extensive history of migraines. The pain started in my left side (ribs were sore and extremely tender to touch) and slowly spread to the rest of my body until I ached all the time like I had the flu. I felt like it was impossible to get out of bed in the morning and I started getting to work later and later, until eventually I couldn't sit in the chair any longer... I didn't have eye twitching, but other muscles in my body would (and still do) twitch for days...sometimes it'll be one of my knees, sometimes my outer thigh, or wherever...it will twitch for so long it starts to hurt. My feet are one of my biggest complaints, though it's the soles that hurt to walk on...just a deep and painful ache.

The fact that the Doxycycline made you feel worse is a good sign you have Lyme - the first LLMD I saw said he'd never seen a patient who didn't feel worse once they started a treatment due to the Herxheimer (or Herx) Reaction.

You are so fortunate to have a doctor who is open to diagnosing and treating you for Lyme! It took me over 30 doctors to get the help I needed...and a LOT of very invasive tests that I knew I didn't need, but put myself through to rule other illnesses out. Like others have said, the tests for Lyme aren't very accurate, so Lyme is often a clinical diagnosis once other diseases are ruled out (M.S., Lupus, etc.). If you're really new to Lyme, you may be interested in the documentary Under Our Skin - it's so informative and will give you a good idea of the issues we all struggle with throughout our recovery process.

I hope your doctor knows enough about Lyme to get you the treatment you need before it's too late...this is such a scary, nightmare of an illness...

Good luck!

Rachel

Post Edited (madrivergirl30) : 9/16/2010 11:34:57 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Magik!!
Welcome to our forum!! I am sorry that you have a need to be here, but you have found a really good place for information sharing, helpful people, and understanding of what you are going through.

It would benefit you greatly if you would read the sticky at the top of our forum titled "New to Lyme?...Start here", as it is a lot of info that we Lymies believe is crutial for a ''Lymie" to know.

I am glad you chose not to see an ID doc. There are a whole lot of them out there that won't even recognize that a person with Lyme may actually need to be on abx long term, much less that they themselves should treat for that long or longer.

I have used Dr. Joseph Burrascano's "Advanced Topics on Lyme disease so very many times for educational purposes, for me & my gp!!! I would suggest that you download the entire document (it's a pdf file), as I still refer to it frequently.

Anyway, here's what Dr. B has to say in this document about a "good" treatment. It matters quite a bit as to what stage you might be in to be sure your treatment is adequate , but based on the assumption that you are only in the early stages of this disease - the "Early Disseminated" stage. You would be having milder symptoms for less than 1 year and not complicated by immune deficiency OR prior steroid treatments. those persons need to have oral therapy until no active disease for 4 to 8 weeks. This usually takes 4 to 6 months of treatment."

And of course from there the treatment only gets more intense - when you are using abx anyway.

The abx of choice for Dr. B for more recent infections is Doxycycline - adults should take 200 mgs with food - often doses of up to 600 mgs daily are needed.

I hope this is of some help...
Trav

That would depend on which co-infection you are referring to.

First of all - I am not a medically trained professional - so I am pretty much guessing.
Secondly, I believe you would find it to be a great benefit to download Dr. Burrascanos "Advance Topics on Lyme Disease". Just copy & paste into a search engine & it will bring up the pdf file for you to download.

Next - Did you mean Babesia? Since you asid that the chest pains were mainly of the left, is it possible they are connective tissue pain- pain between the bones?

yeah this is what I was thinking. The chest pain is in the heart area. feels like a steady pain.

Madrivergrl is quite correct!! The treatment that will work for you will have to be the one that is tailored to your body specifically. There is no one size fits all - or one size treats all in this case!!

I started taking cat claw and also b12. My head has been itching and I have this brown blotch on the palm of my one hand. Just another thing to add. who knows.