And now...GERD, tender/throbbing lymph nodes in neck, body aches, etc.

Hello, everyone. I've been away from the forum for a while because I was doing very well, so well that my LLMD decided it was time to go off all abx and see how it went. That was in February of this year, but by the end of March I was having little symptoms cropping up again- skin sensitivity, the tell-tale headaches, some pain in my achilles, etc. Before reporting back to my LLMD with the symptoms, I don't know why but I had this suspicion that perhaps my symptoms were more related to candida than they were to a return of Lyme. With that I upped my intake of acidophilus and thought I'd see if anything changed before my next LLMD appt. They didn't.

The doctor didn't seem to think it was candida, so he put me back on Vantin and off I went. This time though, about two weeks after starting the Vantin again, I was eating lunch- a Boca Burger on flat wheat sandwich bread when I suddenly felt nausea which came on so suddenly I had to rush to the kitchen sink to keep from puking on the floor. Now, I've NEVER had any stomach issues while taking any of my abx so far aside from mild nausea when I was taking doxy and tried doing 200mg without food a couple times. Now after that Boca Burger incident, I have the food stuck in my throat feeling a lot, and acid in my throat as well. This is ongoing.

Also, a couple weeks after going back on the Vantin, I began having bladder issues. I was constantly up at night going to the bathroom and never feeling fully relieved. This went on for a few days so I went to see a urologist, who said my urinalysis showed no signs of infection, proteins, etc. Clean. Also checked my prostate (fun haha) and that was fine as well. The urologist ordered a bladder/kidney ultrasound and a KUB just to be safe because I was scheduled to have a vasectomy a couple weeks later and we couldn't proceed without knowing what was going on. Now I was really beginning to have suspicions of candida again and I stopped taking my Vantin and once again upped my acidophilus intake. This time taking double what I did the previous time. It didn't really help.

After I had the vasectomy, I had to take a different cephalosporin antibiotic (name escapes me right now), and during recovery my bladder issues and everything else began to recede. I chalked it up to the abx and thought perhaps it really was Lyme again. Here's the thing though, the GERD continued, and then I began having really sharp pains in my abdomen on the left and sometimes right side which felt like nothing I've experienced before. The pain seemed close to the skin almost...not deep in my abdomen, and they would be very very quick pains which I seemed to only feel if I was up and walking, never sitting down. I'd feel them very sharply for just a second or two while walking and then nothing. And my stomach didn't hurt to press on in the very spot where the pain would occur. Very strange. Something to do with my surgery perhaps? Seemed unlikely since it was my stomach and not my groin area at all.

Now the LLMD has me on zithromax, and the bladder issues are basically gone. No problems evacuating, and I can sleep through the night again.

Fast forward to now and for the last four or five days I've now had sporadic throbbing sensations in my lymph nodes all around my neck, including one that's right near my windpipe. They're slightly tender but not very swollen. I feel that they are tender when I move my head far enough that it stretches my neck a little. Called the LLMD about this on Monday and he basically said it could be something viral and we'll just see if the lymph node tenderness calms down before my next appointment in a few weeks.

I still feel like the urologist and the LLMD are missing something and that it might be candida and not so much Lyme at this point, if at all.

I'd love to hear some opinions from all of you. Thanks for reading. Cheers.

Thanks, Razzle. I've searched around and went ahead and ordered some of the probiotics called "Prescript-Assist Pro" and I also picked up some kefir. I'm trying to adjust the diet as well, but it has been difficult since I eat with my family and they do not need to be on a candida diet. Lunch time is easy but dinner is tougher to work out.

For cyst busters, I have never been on flagyl or tindamax. I was on plaquenil for one month back in February of 2012, and it caused a herx which sent me to the emergency room with a massive panic attack. I had a few of them while on it, but then I gradually got better following. Nothing but antibiotics such as bactrim, doxy, & vantin (cefpodoxime) and POA Phytolens (which I haven't taken since March) after the Plaquenil was stopped. Now I'm only on zithromax.

I just feel confused because I've never had stomach issues, bladder issues, OR lymph node tenderness throughout my treatment beginning back in January of 2012 and I was really doing well up until now. Now I feel like I'm falling apart.

Bartonella testing is as bad as Lyme testing. You might want to do some reading on Dr. James Schaller's site: www.personalconsult.com/, as he has done extensive research on Bartonella (and Babesia).

Is it just the one lymph node swelling? If there are more swelling - even if they aren't as swollen - then it could just be your body trying to sort out the toxins from the blood. That's one of the main 'jobs' of the lymph glands. I had to take a tincture that my doc made to keep my lymph glands from looking like baseballs! And they were swollen all over my body, but the ones in my neck were by far the worst.

With Bartonella, as with all of the Lyme and other related coinfections, symptoms can come & go, change, and new stuff can start at any time. This is one of the big reasons Lyme/coinfections are so misunderstood, misdiagnosed, denied, etc.

There is no one-size-fits-all list of symptoms, diagnostic method or treatment protocol, which makes doing high quality, acceptable to the "establishment" research on these diseases extremely difficult.

Thanks Traveler, and Razzle. After doing a bunch of reading, I'm really beginning to think there's something besides just Lyme going on, and it may very well be bartonella based on my symptoms as of late. Though I've never had fevers or the red, irritated stretch mark rash. But over the last couple days the throbbing pains in my lymph nodes has really jumped up a couple notches. I'm having them in my groin now and I can't even be on my feet walking around for longer than 10 minutes before I get heavy throbbing pains in those nodes.

From what I've read it seems that zithromax is commonly prescribed for bart in conjunction with another antibiotic, but I'm thinking even just having switched to zithro recently (I've never taken it before) that it's causing a bad herx and the lymph nodes are suffering as a result. Sound like I may be on the right track perhaps? Of course I'll bring this up with my LLMD, but my next appointment isn't until June 7th. If this keeps up I might have to ask to push up that date.

Thanks again, I sincerely appreciate your input.