It's been a year, I don't know if I have lyme or what.

well whats the risk in taking doxycycline for 28 days on my own?

igenex test was not performed, she said unneccesary and that my "lyme is gone" LOL

28 days of doxy isn't enough if you've had this for a year, and there are also co-infections that can be passed along with Lyme. Different drugs are used for different infections, and if you don't kill the co-infections, you won't(typically)kill the Lyme.

When you say high anxiety, and elevated liver enzymes, that makes me think of Bartonella. These diseases are extremely complicated, and treatment of late stage Lyme and co's is not a on size fits all treatment plan. Many require long term combinations of abx to get rid of it. If you do take the doxy, you have to have a minimum of 400 mg a day(two 100mg pills a day won't touch it), and if you have Bartonella you need something else with it I believe...but by no means am I an expert, so take this info with a grain of salt, and double check before you self treat.

It's best to find an experienced LLMD(they are not all equal)to make sure you can eradicate it, and up your chances of it not coming back in the future. The new to Lyme thread(very 1st post)has a ton of info, that might help you understand what you're dealing with.

It's hard to take when you haven't had to deal with medical problems before and being a young person. There are a lot of nice and helpful people here, so listen to what they have to say since many have been through a lot with it already. I agree that you shouldn't treat it yourself.

I got very ill in my late 20s, maybe with Lyme and it was hard to go through at that age. Keep coming back here to learn. You have your whole life ahead of you, so start fighting!

Hi ls I had similiar symptoms. Tried the doxy thing. Then switched to amox and it has helped with the symptoms quite a bit. Doing 1500 mg a day.

I agree with Sooverthis that Bartonella could be involved. A good combo would be Doxy or Mino/Rifampin for 4-6 months minimum plus a cyst-buster like Tinidazole. Good chance that helps significantly with your symptoms and best if you add herbs such as Samento and Banderol though there are many to choose from. Shouldn't be hard to find a good LLMD if you do your research.

Tough to treat with only alternative therapies. I have a mild case and I even started with antis for 3 months before going natural. Both have helped me considerably.

To get a diagnosis, do either the IGenex Western blot or check out the new iSpot Lyme test. IGenex was great for me compared to other labs but not everyone has as much success as I had with showing positive bands.

I haven't been put on antibiotics, my LLMD does not use them and since my ELISA test was negative my MD wants nothing to do with discussing lyme, in fact I have a new doctor now because people are tired of me.

When I was so ill in my late twenties, I went to 2 or 3 MDs and they all basically told me I needed to get a life, but I did find one who helped eventually, a ND. So don't let them discourage you too much. Many Lyme patients switch doctors along their road to recovery. I do hope you find one soon who will listen well and look for a way to help you.

Well I can tell you that I'm in full remission and I didn't do it with abx. So the choice is yours - either way you will have to learn all you can about these diseases to better help your doctor, no matter what kind of doc you use.

YES!! There is a huge issue with just seeing what happens! I didn't get the treatment I needed and my symptoms would come and go through out my life....until one day it hit me so hard that I couldn't function any longer. From there it didn't take long and the infection moved into my brain. I couldn't carry on a simple conversation, couldn't follow written or oral instructions, follow patterns, write words and math was out of the question. So don't take the "wait and see" approach - the only ones who say to do that have never gone through it themselves or with a loved one.

Testing leaves a lot to be desired - most of the current testing relies on the body to produce antibodies - antibodies that the disease keep the body from producing! So it's no wonder that even the Western Blot misses at least 50% of those that truly have the disease. Not to mention different strains of the bacteria that aren't tested for, and people that are supposed to know how to read those tests really don't have a clue!

I will say that your symptoms sound suspiciously like Lyme, and if it is a possibility, you seriously don't want to mess around with it! If you choose to treat on your own - and I don't recommend it as there are many things that could complicate your treatment - like co-infections, biofilms, sending the bacteria into it's cystic forms and more - please at least read through Dr. Joseph Burrascano's "Advanced Topics in Lyme Disease". You can find a link to it in our "New to Lyme? Start Here!" thread. Oh, and if you haven't read through that yet, please do!! It's packed with important information about these infections.

opugirl:

I just sent you an email from my gmail account re: referrals in NJ/PA.  Any help you might be able to provide will result in my eternal, heartfelt thanks!  :)

laura, send me an email

Post Edited By Moderator (Traveler) : 10/8/2013 3:17:09 PM (GMT-6)