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Posted 11/17/2012 1:36 AM (GMT 0)
So, I came home two months ago with really sore ankles. I though I should soak hem and after I did, they swelled up. The swelling didn't go away for a couple weeks until a podiatrist injected both with cortizone. The swelling disappeared but the pain remained.
Weeks later the pain started to subside and I started feeling really tired. I started getting headaches that I could deal with but soon, they became unbearable.
It's two weeks now and I can barley work. My head hurts horribly all the time and it won't go away. My CRP and ESR is elevated and my bloodworm and catscans are clear. I just started Doxy 4 days ago and don't really notice a difference. I tested for lyme twice and it came back negative - which I know doesn't mean anything. I live in NY and am often in high grass. Any ideas??
Posted 11/17/2012 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
This is a tough one because sore ankles are not highly specific to Lyme (although they are common with bartonella). Have you consulted with a LLMD? Do you know what lab was used for your Lyme tests? Did you have a western blot done? Did any bands come up present on the western blot? Have you had a CD57 done?

What dose of doxy are you taking and for how long will you take it? Do you feel any worse since you started doxy? If you have felt worse, that could be a sign of herxing.

NY is highly endemic for Lyme so my inclination is that if you have any concern that you may have been bitten by a tick it's best to find a LLMD quickly and treat this quickly before it gets worse.
Posted 11/17/2012 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
My nutritionist gives seminars on lyme so he's pretty knowledgeable. I did all the lyme tests including the one they send to the lab in California and Western Blot - negative.
I'm taking 200 ofDoxy, 100 in the morning and 100 at night. I don't think I'm getting worse - pretty much staying the same..I'm scheduled for a brain MRI to see what's going on and why the headaches and dizziness is so persistent but I can imagine what that would show.
Posted 11/17/2012 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
In some Lyme patients a brain MRI shows lesions. It's mainly used to rule out other things though.

200mg of doxy is quite low and considered bacteriostatic. It cannot kill the bacteria, it can only prevent it from reproducing. It might work for uncomplicated early cases, but it definitely doesn't work for everyone. Most LLMD's use doxy at 400mg and combine it with other meds or herbs because doxy only treats the spirochete and not the cystic form or cell wall deficient.
Posted 11/18/2012 10:30 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Tailswrapper!
Welcome to our site!! I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through, but hopefully we can be of help!! I see that Summer3 has given some great advice already.

I would like to encourage you to read through our "New to Lyme? Start here!" thread, as it's packed full of important information, symptom lists, informative links and more. Most who read through it say that it's really helpful.

Is it possible that you have had some milder symptoms of Lyme (&/or other tick-borne infections) and had chalked them up to something else? If so it could be that then your ankles started in, you got a steroid shot and that pushed the infection(s) to spread further. Steroids are not a good thing with an uncontrolled infection, although you didn't know about it, your doc should have.

Summer3 is right about the dose of Doxy as well. The 200 mgs a day will not kill the bacteria. Most knowledgeable Lyme Literate Doctors will prescribe at least 400 mgs a day, but usually it's 600 mgs a day. At those doses though, you will need to be sure to eat something before taking your abx in order to protect your stomach from the harsh effects of the drug. There is a great link in the "New to Lyme?" thread that will explain that and more about Doxy.

I'm glad to know that your nutritionist is knowledgeable about Lyme, but you will need to be taking anti-infective treatments- either pharmaceutical abx or herbal abx - in order to beat these infections, and you will need a practitioner that knows about these incredibly complex infections.

If you need help in finding a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor (LLMD) or a Holistic doc, please do let us know! We have a great group of people here who want to help each other. You will need to enable your email option in your profile so that others can email you suggestions for Practitioners, as we don't allow that info to be posted on the forum.
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