ANy advice? Please!

HI I am new here as I dont know where to turn. I just gave birth to a healthy baby girl end of August. Normal pregnancy, normal delivery. Discharged and home a week when i began having the feeling of a hot knife in my left should blade and it hurt to take a deep breath. Went to ER b/c Dr though embolism. Had a CT scan and neg. THx God...Left there and saw PCP for follow up- I developed High BP. Chalked it up to no sleep and lifestyle change... Approx. 5 weeks PP (last wk of Sept) I awoke with a pea sz bite on my middle back. It developed over a few days to be about the sz of a quarter/half dollar but weird shaped like a kidney bean slightly itchy. Then about 3 days later I went to bed with the most extreme exhaustion (newborn) and felt a 'rush' of pain in my legs. Thought I was tired as hell and didnt think a thing of it. Then over the next day I felt stabbing burning prickling tingling all over my legs specifically knees down, both sides, right side more. This lasted 10 days in varying degree, sometimes felt the back of the knee was burning and on fire. Legs fell asleep esp when elevated. Stopped for 3 days and was on and off for a while. Went to PCP to retest the BP - still elevated. Showed him my legs and he said it looked like 'phlebitis' vein inflammation..? Sent me vein surgeon..did ultrasound no blood clots pain like hell even to the touch, specifiaclly inner side of knees. Nobody checked the bite. Next up the neurologist..MRI spine (2) nothing..EMG nothing.. All great except what is wrong? AM I focusing on the bite too much?? Have two dogs, both slept with me the night prior to the bite. Been to the dog park with them throughout my entire pregnancy..pulled a tick off of each last month...Now my symptoms feel like electric shock more concentrated in the knees back and side..down the legs a little, i feel as if someone is lightly drumming their fingers on my left cheek every so often for about 3 weeks now and when I went to get a blowdry to try and feel better, I wanted to rip the shampoo girls fingers off it was so irritating...? Who doesnt love a shampoo? Any body?? Could this all just be epidural related? My PCP now wants me on Cymbalta and I dont need it. I am not imagining this pain...

I got really sick right after having my daughter (second child) also. I didn't feel well during the last 2 months of pregnancy, but all symptoms flared severely after delivery. My LLMD said that I had a dormant Lyme infection and the immune system is suprresed during pregnancy, which caused the flare after delivery.

Over the next year, I got sicker and sicker and was ALL over the place trying to figure out what was wrong. I had many Drs. say that it was PPD and anxiety and prescribe psych. drugs. I knew something was really wrong though-PPD doesn't cause severe pain, vomiting, vision problems, muscle twitching, tingling, burning, a vibration sensation, etc.!

Stay strong, advocate for yourself, and go w/ your gut instinct. You need to find a LLMD (Lyme Literate MD) to appropriately test, evaluate, and treat Lyme. You will not get anywhere as far as a Lyme Diagnosis goes with a regular PCP, Neuro., Cardio., etc. I asked over 15 Drs. to test for Lyme and they blew me off or ordered inaccurate tests.

No, an epidural would not cause those symptoms.

I would be very suspicious of Lyme based on the bite mark and your symptoms.

First of all, Congratulations on the new baby!!!!

pregnancy can trigger Lyme disease symptoms. Pregnancy can also trigger other autoimmune type issues also.

You probably should find a Lyme Literate physician. If you live in the S.F. bay area, there's a OB/Gyn lyme literate doctor in Los Altos. That would be the best choice for you, and the baby.

It's very important to understand that "if" you are expressing Lyme symptoms that soon after delivery, your newborn is infected also. Newborns tend to have the most problems with Babesia right away(one of the co-infections) fevers are common. If the hospital still has the baby's cord blood or heal prick blood, it could be tested.

In the mean time, the Cymbalta, after taking for a couple of weeks could help with pain. Its given to fibromyalgia patients.

If you cant find an LLMD, try to find an Integrative Health doc or a Naturalpath. They tend to look at the whole picture of whats going on in the body, linking all the pieces together.

Very best wishes for you and your newborn!!!

Hi all and Ty! I did see a llmd yesterday and he wasn't sure either. However due to the fact that all other tests were negative with other Dr. He is treating for lame. Original west blot was negative a few was ago. The bite did cone after birth..leg symptoms too. But would i feel pain in both legs? so foxy twice a day for now...he tested for lme and co infect. .So if it is all negative..do i still have it? The

Hi. I am taking one 100mg in AM and two in PM. Doxy
i also saw my results from my pcp last week and they all said
'absent' except Igm 23ab..said present...?? 1 band so far...do i have it?

You are not alone! I think what binds us all together is the crazy path of severe symptoms without conclusive diagnosis..of anything and doctors who refuse to consider Lyme disease even though it is a raging epidemic.

Find a Lyme-literate doctor in your area and ask for the culture test by Advanced Laboratory Services at http://advanced-lab.com/spirochete.php.

Don't give up! The faster you can diagnose your illness the faster you can treat it and get your life back. It must be so hard with a little one to take care of!

Blessings,

Jenna

IgM are the first antibodies to show, indicating a recent infection. Band 23 is highly specific to Lyme - it indicates that the Outer Surface Protein "C" of the Lyme bacteria has been found - or rather a reaction to it has been found in your blood. This means that you do have Lyme, as nothing else will cross-react to it.

You can read more here: www.anapsid.org/cnd/diffdx/wb.html

I am surprised that your LLMD has you on 300 mgs a day and not 400 mgs - but that may be because of your recent delivery of your little one. I would ask though.

Have you read through the "New to Lyme?" thread yet? If not, please do, it contains some important info about taking Doxy, as well as symptom lists so that you can know what is 'normal range of things' that can be experienced with these infections. Things like pains that are intense one day and not there the next, herxing and how to detox to keep that at a minimum (as our bodies don't heal well when we are herxing) and more.

And if I may vent...b/c I was a lil PP sad and anxious, my dr thought I was even MORE nutty with these symptoms and I said to my hubby the same week I got the bite AND the leg symptoms " honey do you think it all could be from this bite"? grrrrrr Then I asked my dr who said oh we will look at it but probably not. I want to kick myself in the a## b/c I didnt persist and he didn't ask to see it!

Hi thx again...his tests are the LLMDs tests lol
so i wonder what he will do if band is still only 23 positive..?
In all fairness the LLMD didnt know my PCP drs blood results but when i called his office they said continue meds..

My symptoms also flared after my son was born. That was 18 months ago and I'm still very sick. I didn't even consider Lyme as a possibility until a couple months ago when the rheum said I tested positive (he then sent me for a western blot which was negative by CDC standards).

Like you, I was also told it was a post partum thing. I saw doctor after doctor, month after month. They all pushed antibotics and told me I was depressed. Thank goodness the rheum tested for Lyme. That's what brought me to this forum and started my education on this disease. I have an appt scheduled with an LLMD in Feb. I can't wait to begin treatment. It's been a long, tough few years. I had vague symptoms before my son was born. If I had to guess I'd say I've had Lyme disease for at least 12 years.

I'm so glad to hear you've started treatment! One thing I've learned is that we have to be persistent and sometimes even pushy with docs. I can't tell you how many times I've just tried to go along with the doctor's advice, only to come home so sick and so disappointed with myself that I didn't insist it was a pp thing.

How long have you been on abx? Are they helping your symptoms? I'm glad you've found this forum. Lots of wonderful people with great advice!

Hang in there, Toridemi!
Whether it's from Lyme or Bartonella, healing is out there for you! My leg pain and muscle cramps/spasms/twitches were so bad that I couldn't stand for more than 20 minutes and that has improved tremendously with treatment.

Neuro Lyme and Bart can both make you wish your legs belonged to someone else! Most of the time we carry more than one infection, especially true for those with chronic Lyme, so be sure to be checked for symptoms of other infections.

WOO HOO!!! Results are in!! Don't hold your breath or be too disappointed though if the tests don't show anything - remember the tests leave a whole lot to be desired!

Please do let us know what the results are though!!

Ok im back..dr said i am showing positive to igm 23 for lyme and thats allbut they will treat me b/c as u all said..it is.lyme exclusive. They also said the co tests were negative and that the pain in knees and legs is probably not neurological but rather inflammation..phew