Question about Lyme Arthritis - Traveler and Revive please read!

Hello, for those of you who have been following my "success story" Please do not be alarmed! I am not regressing one bit - just trying to understand something. Once I understand this topic, I will then be able to write the thread I have been meaning to write....and no I don't have lyme arthritis, but understanding it will help me come to a conclusion about something. Sorry to be so vague!!

So, we know lyme can cause lyme arthritis - can anyone tell me that if once you get lyme arthritis is stays with you? In other words, they say those who get lyme arthritis in the late stages, it becomes chronic. But for me, after everything I have read, I strongly believe that anything can be overcome, even arthritis. Traveler, you said you had arthritis as a child - you don't have it now, correct?

Secondly - I still have a pinched nerve in my shoulder, thanks to lyme, and there seems to be a bit of a controversy in general over whether or not these "leftover" symptoms are still the lyme acting up causing the problems, or that these symptoms are just due to the damage done by lyme.

My belief in my case is that I am just now recovering from the damage done. This is what my LLMD believes as well, she says that Lyme has more of a systemic effect on the body, and that just one issue with shoulder pain would not be due to active lyme. However, I remember Revive making a mention of a friend who only had one symptom - lyme arthritis in one shoulder (or knee, can't remember which joint), and she tested positive for lyme - I wanted to know, Revive, if she was treated and healed or no? Because if abx took care of it in a matter of a few months, then I am guessing it could be possible that lyme can lay active in only one part of the body (But in my opinion I would highly doubt this). Howver if she never recovered, or if it took years for the arthritis to subside, then I stand my ground in believing that lyme can do enough damage that it would leave the body inflamed for a long time. And also the blood tests can remain positive even if you no longer have symptoms - this may have been what happened with her - I am thinking maybe she had lyme for yrs, didn't know it, ended up with lyme arthritis....

Thoughts?? Thanks!!

Yeah, same here. Ive had lyme for just a few months and remaining symptoms now are pain in knees and fingers on my arms, along with muscle twitches. My LLMD got me off atbs after being on them for 6 months so now Im trying to figure out is it still lyme of just damage or even permanent arthritis

thanks for your input garden peace.

wow, traveler, very interesting! thank you so much for sharing! Yes, you did tell me once about the nerves taking 7 yrs to heal - so it looks like I am on the right path to believing that the leftover symptoms of nerve damage as well as inflammation (arthritic like joints) does not necessarily mean that the lyme is active. your opinion is appreciated as always!!

my first severe sx were stabbing/shooting pains and peripheral neuropathy from Lyme that sent me to a neuro for a year.

Then arthritic pain and stiffness crept in to most all of my joints, which I was sent to a rheumy to diagnose and treat. None of my blood work showed any RA markers either, but x-rays she took showed inflammation in hands, wrists, shoulders, knees and feet. Also her office exam showed limited range of motion. She first diagnosed gout, then some obscure form of arthritis, then wanted to put me on prednisolone... that's when I fired her.

We'll after getting to my second LLMD and starting IV Rocephin the arthritis has pretty much resolved. Last summer I golfed for the first time since seeing the neuro 2008. And this year I've gone snow shoeing several times.

I still have lingering minor neuro issues and some fatique, but I can live with that at my age.

My friend had pain and swelling in her knee, got to the point she could hardly walk. She was getting PT and things got worse and her GP finally said, I bet you have Lyme. She took a short course of doxy, I think like 6-8 weeks and it cleared up. I think they found it within 5 months. I can't believe she's cured in such a short time but I'm not going to scare her. But she does have arthritis in other joints and has for a long time but she is also 64 and it runs in the family. We rode horses for years in the woods so maybe she has had Lyme for a long time and just doesn't have symptoms that are debilitating and she's ignorant to the fact it's Lyme. The arthritis she has is just pain and no swelling like the knee got.

I think I need to mention something that this conversation reminded me of now that I went through when I was in high school. I spent over a year in a knee brace- the pain was so great that I didn't sleep but 2 hours a night most nights for the entire time.

They ran all kinds of tests on my knee, there was no doubt that I was in tons of pain - I was actively training horses by that time and I had to stop. I couldn't sleep. I had trouble holding down food most days because of the pain, so no one doubted my pain levels and my wonderful doc worked hard to find the source.

He even did arthroscopic knee surgery (it was a "new thing" back then!!LOL!), thinking I had a tear that couldn't be seen by scans or on a MRI or anything else he tried. I even woke up during surgery - boy that was weird! Anyway, after surgery, his comment was "That's the healthiest knee I've ever operated on!". Everyone was dumbfounded as to what was wrong, but about 4 months after surgery, the pain was all gone. We were all amazed, but I went back to training horses and went on to college.

Fast forward to today - I have more trouble with that knee than any other part of my body, except my hips. But that's another story.