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just infected with lyme 11 days ago

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Posted 5/16/2012 8:34 AM (GMT 0)
hi everyone. my name is walking wolf and i'm 41 yrs old. on may 5th i was bitten by a deer tick. i pulled it off leaving the head in. deep in my subconscious i knew that was dangerous but i was gaming online and didn't think anything of it. a coupla days later the bite swelled up a tad and up until the 14th when i was able to get to the e.r. i developed the following symptoms: achy joints, mild off and on fevers, torso and arm sweating after eating, neck ache, fatigue in the head, no appetite, loss of sex drive, mild central ongoing headache, shooting pains in random muscles and joints, a small lump came up in my right hand over night and the next night the knuckle over the bump was aching a bit, (after two days of 100mg doxy my right thumb joint where it attaches to the hand is sore) forgetfulness, itching and stabbing pains in the tick bite, back ache.

now tho the neck ache, big joint aches, back ache, shooting pains are gone. that was before i started doxy. i still get the lo fevers, constant fatigue, and dull headedness, tho i can still brighten up enuf to play an intense online game of Combat Arms Cabin Fever. the headaches are the ones that are kinda dull but if i sneeze...OW! like my brain is gonna explode. the tick bite just itches a tad now. i've taken like 4, 100mg doxy since the prescription. i'm told by other lyme victims that the 10 day course the e.r. doc gave me was not enuf. i figured that already based on my extensive research into this disease. so i found an online drugstore in canada that sells doxy legally without a prescription. i bought 180, 100mg doxy hyclate for 64$. i'll take a 3 month course of that along with what i have now just to be on the safe side. i may take 300mg a day tho just to be sure. i've got to kill this stuff. doc said to come back if it got worse but my only ride is an elderly neighbor who i can't depend on all the time. there are only two LLMD's in alabama and i don't know how to contact them. but then i could never go see them anyway, i have no means to. i don't own a car or know how to drive. i don't trust the docs here in this town. so it's up to me to either try and treat myself with a crapload of doxy and hope it HEALps me ...cos i have no friends or family that can take care of me if i get profoundly sick. i hate the idea of losing my apartment and all my tools, (i'm a multi-talented prolific artist) and my need to make things, to go into a nursing home.

what i want to know is, given my symptoms and the time i was bitten just 11 days ago, is there a chance that i will develop ''incurable'' lyme disease and it progress and i wind up in crap creek like so many others? can i beat this? is 11 days too long to go without starting doxy? did i develop too many bad symptoms in 9 days for me to be able to beat it? i have a high metabolism. would that help the spirochetes to multiply faster? will 200mg a day for 10 days really kill what was allowed to go untreated for 11 days?

any info will be greatly appreciated. i've never felt this bad or worried over my health ever. aside from lyme there's all those co-infections to worry about. the e.r. doc never even mentioned those. that's what i get for living in alabama. i do wish i was back in asheville n.c. i bet i could get help there. my prayers go out to everyone here. i feel yer pain even if it's just a small portion of what you have.

Post Edited By Moderator (achievinggrace) : 5/16/2012 4:54:43 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/16/2012 11:02 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Walking Wolf,

Welcome to the forum. It certainly sounds like you have done your research.

I did have to edit your post to have it fit in with the forum's rules. if you'd take a look at those guidelines before you post again, it would be appreciated.

We also have a "New to Lyme ?" thread at the top of the forum which may help you out with your research. There is a section on detoxing which could help you lessen your symptoms.

It does sound like you have caught this early and are jumping right on it. the important thing to do is to treat beyond when your symptoms go away.

Hope you feel better soon.
Posted 5/16/2012 11:17 AM (GMT 0)
Doxycycline 200mg twice a day, for at least 2 months past the point of no symptoms is what is usually recommended for Lyme.

Coinfections may or may not be cured with Doxy, depending on which one(s) you have.

Do what you can to boost your immune system, for example: Eat raw garlic every day, avoid sugar like the plague (because sugar suppresses the immune system), eat organic as much as possible, and eat lots of colorful fruits & veggies.

Exercise (if not over-done) is also important to keep the blood flowing so the antibiotic can reach all the tissues, and it also helps keep your overall level of health better.

Herbs don't require a prescription, and there are some good herbal Lyme protocols out there. Astragalus is excellent for early Lyme. Grapefruit Seed Extract is also good for Lyme because it kills the cyst form of Lyme.

You still have a good chance to kick this before it becomes chronic.

Some books you might like to read for more info on fighting Lyme/Coinfections on your own:

"Healing Lyme" by S. H. Buhner
"The Lyme Disease Solution" by Dr. K. S.
"The Top 10 Lyme Disease Treatments" by Bryan Rosner
"Beating Lyme Disease" by Dr. D. J.

Detoxing also is likely to help with the die-off (herxing) and also can help reduce the severity of the symptoms from the infection(s). See the thread at the top of the forum for those new to Lyme for more info on detoxing.

I hope this helps...take care,
Posted 5/16/2012 12:40 PM (GMT 0)
thx folks for the info. much appreciated. will a blood test show the existence of co infections? will the labs folks know what to look for if they're not familiar with lyme disease? and yes i do eat very healthy. i can't give up beef and bacon but i eat nothing out of cans. if it looks like it was made in a lab i don't eat it. nothing processed. i eat only dried beans, rice, frozen and fresh veggies, fruit, i bake my own bread, drink filtered water (my 10 stage reverse osmosis filter, LOVE it) dumped sugar for agave nectar and raw honey, been usin that for a month now and i eat nothin with sugar in it. the only sweet thing i consume is tea with nectar or honey. been eatin elephant garlic for the last week and in my new pot of beans now (i know the power of garlic) i just discovered it and WHOO it's warm stuff! i take vitamins, more zinc now to boost immune system, gonna do some hi dosage vit. C as soon as i get some, and i've been drinking stinging nettle tea which is vitamin rich. i'm a white cherokee hippie, i love the natural healthy things. i'll get some astragalus and grape seed extract too. and i'll take the whole bottle of the doxy i ordered. (please hurry up and arrive!) 180 count. i'll take 3 a day for a few weeks then drop to 2 a day, just so i can use it all cos it was expensive and plus i do wanna make sure i kick the spirochete's microscopic butts outa my body. and a friend on youtube in her vid said she bought a small sauna, believing the heat helps kill the bacteria. i have been taking baths (water bill's gonna be i lil hi this month) just to deal with achyness and chills. so i'll take take baths a few times a week during my doxy treatment to maybe overheat the lil ******s when they're weak from the doxy. give them all a lil microscopic heat stroke. i read somewhere, a lady said that you expel all the dead spirochete cells in yer waste during herxing. is that true? sounds right to me. yer body surely doesn't absorbs them, it's collected and done away with. lol she said it smelled like death but worse. sounds to me it smelled like road kill. omg lol. is that what i can expect? thx again. awesome site here. glad i found one that wasn't years old with dead threads.
Posted 5/16/2012 4:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hi walkingwolf - just wanted to say welcome to the forum! I'm glad you're being so proactive about your health - there's no reason to expect for it to become "incurable" as you said, though it is important to be mindful of it if in the future, after you're feeling better, you start to feel sick again. Often the biggest reason people get so sick is misinformation, so I'm glad to hear you know what you're up against.

As far as the co-infections, I'd hope any old doctor could run the labs - I've never gone to med school but I'd assume some of it is pretty standard. The only thing is that the tests may not be 100% reliable so that's something to keep in mind.

Herxing - yup, we've gotta get rid of all that waste! Usually when you're herxing it means you've got more waste, toxins, dead bacteria, etc., than your body can get rid of - it's like a traffic jam. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water to flush all that stuff out, and keep up with the healthy habits. Hope you feel better soon!
Posted 5/16/2012 9:33 PM (GMT 0)
I meant to say Grapefruit Seed Extract, not grape seed extract. They are two different things. Grapefruit Seed Extract has a lot of anti-microbial effects; grape seed extract is used primarily for antioxidant support.

Coinfection testing is even less accurate than Lyme tests, unfortunately. It is fine to get tested for coinfections - IGeneX is best, but other labs may also be able to run the tests, just keep in mind that a negative result does not mean you don't have the coinfection.

I test negative for all coinfections, but by symptoms, I've been diagnosed with Bartonella. I also personally suspect that I have Anaplasma.

Glad you are taking proactive steps to kick this thing in the rear before it becomes too entrenched. Keep it up! :)

Take care,
Posted 5/17/2012 7:12 AM (GMT 0)
You have a very good chance of being completely cured by even a short course of doxy if you caught the infection at the 11 day mark. I forget the exact data, but there's some well done large scale studies that showed a success rate well over 90% with a 2 week course of treatment within the first month or so. Now that success rate can be bumped up closer to 99% of you treat for a few months instead of a few weeks, so I would certainly agree that it's worthwhile to take the extra meds you ordered online. The success rate of treatment starts to fall off if you delay treatment for a few months and gets much worse around the 4 month mark, so don't worry too much.

You also should get very little herxheimer reaction from the treatment. Many people treating an early stage infection get nothing at all, while those that do experience a reaction usually just get a slight elevation in fever/aches and need to sleep a bit more than normal. You'll more likely get some side effects from the doxy itself, but that won't be a herx.

You should certainly be aware of possible complications and know what the signs are that point to a persistent infection/coinfection, but again, you are probably in the clear. If this turns into a spark that motivates you to live a little more healthy, then great, but don't get all worked up about a chronic infection or start spending tons of money on stuff at this point.
Posted 5/17/2012 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
I suggest checking out herbs that'll support your liver, limph, and adrenals, too. Keep things flowing!
Posted 5/17/2012 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
Your symptoms are so systemic and sudden, I wonder if you already had been exposed to lyme, and this bite tipped the balance?

Seems a lot to happen in 2 weeks to somebody who has such a healthy lifestyle. I've had it for years, but the symptoms didn't rear up and really bite me until a few months ago.
Posted 5/19/2012 11:58 PM (GMT 0)
thx for all the support and suggestions. 2 weeks after being bitten the only symptoms i have is like a persistent "crick" in the upper left muscle in my neck and this blinkin' mental fatigue. my physical energy is back to a degree, altho i did have to sit on the floor of the tub to conserve energy while i was combing out my curly locks, lol. just too tired to stand for a bit. and my libido finally returned. yay! poor mr. happy. he was unconscious a few days like i had had way too much to drink. very disconcerting. i've never been exposed to lyme before. i think i removed a tick years and years ago when one bit me but i never got sick. i guess i developed a lot of bad symptoms fast cos it was my first exposure to lyme. i read that there's a 1-3% chance you'll get lyme from a tick bite. but this guy was on me for around 12 hours i think. fortunately, for the past coupla months i changed my eating habits to a more natural one. NO processed foods, filtered water (my reverse osmosis filter) went from refined sugar to agave nectar and raw honey, quit coffee for teas, i always eat garlic in everything and cayenne, been taking vitamins, and had been drinking and eating stinging nettle which is very healthy stuff. so my immune system was pretty prepared for this. i have no idea if i have co-infections, i was never given a blood test. i researched the babesia, ehrlichia. and bartonella. all 3 list fatigue as one of their symptoms but i don't have any of the other symptoms. either the doxy killed the ones it was able to, or i didn't get the one it can't. the e.r. doc just said to come back if after taking the meds i still didn't feel well. as far as my research goes fatigue is mainly a lyme symptom and can persist for years after completely destroying the infection. and whether i know it or not my body with help of the doxy will do away with the dead cells. i read that herxing which can create lyme-like symptoms as the cells die off, possibly releasing toxins to try and fight the meds, doesn't always happen. you can kill them all without that reaction. some ppl try to force a herxing with increased dosages of meds. but i think with enuf time, regular meds and herbal supplements that build the immune system and those with antibacterial properties i can rid myself of this garbage completely. i went thru BulkHerbStore's catalog and picked out a lot of herbs for that. then i found a NICE 50$ cast iron hand cranked coffee mill that will grind powder fine. i'll powder all the herbs and use a lil potato starch and honey as excipients. pinch off pill size balls of the dough, flatten them a bit and slow oven dry them. make my own herbal pills that way. use those in conjunction with the doxy. lol i thought it would take a while to get my order of doxy. i was psyched out tho. the pharmacy was in canada. i was given a tracking number. when i used it, the pills originally shipped from...delhi, india! the next day they were in new york, this morning, in b'ham, 60 miles north. they may be in the mailbox right now. they said 5-7 days and they were right on. not even done with my 10 day course i got at the e.r. so i won't have to worry bout going a few days without them. i think imma beat this stuff. if i had the co-infections i'd be having symptoms. my immune system has been pretty good so far tho overall. i haven't had a cold since '08 i think. i've only had the flu once. i've never had a flu shot. i guess i'll be one of the fortunate ones to beat lyme. altho if the fatigue stays around a while, that will not do me good as a prolific artist if i don't have the energy to create. but as far as my research goes it could be A LOT worse for me. i'm just glad i actually found the tick that gave me the disease that docs tend not to believe in. in my case the symptoms started days after the bite. the doc was open minded and said it was better to play it on the safe side and go with doxy. he said if i had any fear it was lyme he'd go ahead and prescribe it, that it wouldn't hurt me if it wasn't lyme. i wish all docs were like him. but i did need more meds, so...i just ordered my own. 180 should do the job. i'll take 200mg morning and night for a coupla weeks just to boost the percentage of spirochete killing efficiency and then go back to 200mg a day till i take them all. i was told that even after the symptoms go away it's still best to take doxy just to make sure. i guess its cause the fewer lyme cells there are, the better you feel, but if you stop doxy and they're not all dead, they'll just divide and come back and you'll get sick all over again. plus i might as well take them all cos they were 64$ and i have no other use for them. glad i found that pharmacy. now i can just sit here and not have to worry my neighbor about taking me here and there again. just take my pills and heal. ahhhh. thanks again for all the nice suggestions, information and support. much appreciated. my prayers are with you all who are suffering. ~hugs everyone~ peace.
Posted 5/20/2012 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
also, concerning grapefruit seed extract i found this on a search for some, (no health food stores in my town): "Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) comes from the seed, pulp and white membranes of grapefruit. It has a reputation as an antifungal and antibacterial agent, but when I discussed your question with Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., director of the Fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, and an authority on botanical medicine, she said that it is unclear how potent GSE is as an antibacterial or antifungal. She said that many grapefruit seed extracts on the market are adulterated and noted that a German study of six commercial grapefruit seed extracts showed that five of these products contained benzethonium chloride, a synthetic antimicrobial often used in cosmetics and other topical preparations, as well as the preservatives triclosan and methylparaben. Dr. Low Dog adds that this finding is consistent with those of other researchers who have found benzethonium chloride or triclosan in samples of liquid and powdered grapefruit seed extracts. When grapefruit seed extract is used topically (say, for treatment of athlete's foot as I have recommended), the presence of these synthetic substances is not a big issue. But she cautions that grapefruit seed extract often is recommended for treatment of infant thrush (also a fungal infection) and says she would not recommended putting a potentially adulterated product in an infant's mouth or that anyone use it internally." --Andrew Weil.M.D.


so i had this idea for making my own version of something similar. put the seeds and peeling with a tad of juice and filtered water into a blender and liquifying it all. then poor the slurry onto a cookie sheet and slow dry thoroughly. then break up the dried puddle into small pieces and use them to make a vodka tincture the way you do with herbs. its all about getting what's in the pulp and seeds---out, in concentrate. the oils, chemicals and nutrients. it may have the same effect as what i would buy, but safer since its homemade.
Posted 5/20/2012 12:42 AM (GMT 0)
OR, maybe grind the pieces up and steep them in coconut oil and use it as a topical treatment. strain out the matter first tho after a few months. coconut oil is the BEST stuff i recently discovered. VERY healthy for cell regeneration and skin. its also a very nice aphrodisiac i can attest. also i saw where it really helps to slow alzheimer's. it may help with the fatigue and brain fog of lyme. tho i think there really isn't much we can do about that. this is different then alzheimer's. different cause and effect. can't generalize the foggyness.
Posted 5/20/2012 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
wow. so tired. just walked to the mailbox. about 180 yards round trip. guess i'll get my meds monday. boy am i tired. this fatigue sucks. dang, i have GOT to go buy groceries tho tomorrow morning. it's a 10 min walk to the store and i carry it all in an A.L.I.C.E. pack. around 25-35 lbs. i usually march everywhere i go. a purposeful energetic gait. but this time i was like, ya whatever. looked like a slacker with nowhere to be. i do hope this degree of fatigue passes in a few weeks. i feel like i'm 60 years old.
Posted 5/20/2012 11:39 AM (GMT 0)
You also should be taking high potency probiotics if you can.  Or make your own Kefir.

The Doxy will kill the "friendlies" in your gut and can lead to yeast overgrowth.  So this is why the probiotics are really important.  I take my dose of probiotics 4 hours after my last antibiotic dose in the evening so that the "friendlies" have all night to re-establish themselves in my gut.

And another herbal protocol you may want to consider looking into is detailed in Stephen Harrod Buhner's "Healing Lyme" book.  He is a master herbalist and the book is loaded with excellent information.

Posted 5/20/2012 2:42 PM (GMT 0)
cool thanks. i was JUST researching probiotics and came here to ask if i needed them. the doxy isn't giving me diarrhea, and i read that if you don't have that, then yer fine overall. but over a month period of taking doxy, there's no telling how many good bacteria i may be killing. been lookin at how to make kefir online. it seems to be extremely healthy for the intestines. gotta find a good place to buy the grain for a decent price. finding a low-temp pasturized, non-homogenized milk will be impossible here in my lil country town. ultra pasturized organic milk won't work, i learned. it's too dead to support a culture to grow in it. raw milk is best with it's natural active cultures. i wonder tho, could i add a little buttermilk with its cultures to the milk i shouldn't use (the only milk i'll be able to buy) and let it hang out in there for say, 12 hours on the countertop and then add the kefir grain. i don't know if i can create a raw milk substitute that way. i've had kefir before when i lived up north with a lot of health stores in town. its dern good stuff. like runny fruit flavored yogurt. i'd eat it all the time if i could. i'll figure out a way to do it. maybe advertise for raw milk here. there's gotta be a farmer in this hick town somewhere. or i'll just buy some probiotic pills online. this dern town has NOTHING. i hate it here. but i can't beat the rent in this apartment. i save a LOT of $ living here. i'll look up healing Lyme too. thx. peace.
Posted 5/20/2012 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
found a source for kefir grain. i'll make it with organic coconut milk. love that stuff anyway. http://www.culturesforhealth.com/

also i think raw honey is good for restoring beneficial bacteria so i'll sweeten the kefir with it and stir in some pulverized fruit like bananas and berries. berries are good for bacteria too.
Posted 5/21/2012 5:10 PM (GMT 0)
so. i received my medication today. i'm concerned about taking it. it's called Doxip-100. it's produced by Combiotic Global in India. i researched the pill and it is a generic doxy. also it may not be up to fda standards and may not contain enuf doxy to be effective. its a small clay-colored (lol it might BE molded clay for india) almost 1/2 in long 1/8 wide pill. when i ordered it there was a picture of the blue doxy capsules we're familiar with. i thought that's what i was getting. anyone ever hear of this form of doxy? i did take two after a gentleman in a Q&A page said he had taken them for a week and felt ok. but maybe they're weaker compared to the reg. blue doxy. i don't know. i just may take the risk and go to my doc and tell him my lyme situation and hope he's open minded enuf to give me 20 more days of doxy since that's the usual course even for a new bite. if he won't then i guess i'll just take my risk with these or maybe just go back to the e.r. i just don't want to take a lesser drug that does no good and develop chronic lyme in time. so has anyone ever heard of Doxip-100? i can't find much online like other folks. thx.
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