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Are These Bartonella Marks?

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Posted 4/4/2015 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
Link to Photos:

http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/JimboThunder/library/?sort=3&page=1

I have had these marks on my upper thighs for quite some time now. I never really paid attention to them though. However, I was reading through some of the Bartonella threads on here and it described long red marks as a sign of Bartonella. That made me think of these marks I have one my upper thighs. I have two on each side.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Post Edited (JimboThunder) : 4/4/2015 5:17:39 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/4/2015 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
Hey, Jimbo!! Welcome to the Bartonella Club!! Honestly I can't tell you that you definitely have Bartonella, but those sure do look like the Bart rash!

Do you have any of the Bart symptoms? I seem to remember reading that you do, but I have a tendency to get people & their symptoms mixed up on here- sorry!!!

And are you seeing or have you made an appt with a LLMD yet? You will want to be sure to show him/her those marks - and if they disappear, then be sure to show them these pictures.

For future reference, put something in the picture like a pencil or coin so that the doc can have some idea of the size.
Posted 4/4/2015 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Traveler,

I greatly appreciate your response. After seeing my current LLMD for around 4 to 5 months and running all kinds of tests, I was just diagnosed with Lyme about two months ago (My symptoms have been 2+ years). She put me on a combo of 3 abx along with serrapeptase. I have yet to see any real improvements though. She didn't diagnose me with any co-infections, but my next appointment is on April 23 and I plan on bringing this up and showing her.

The main symptoms are:

Extreme Bloating (I do not have any discomfort, pain, or flatulence however)
Development of Significant Food Allergies
Dry Mouth and Difficulty Swallowing At Times
GERD Symptoms and Acid Reflux (Has receded a little bit since I cleaned up my diet)
Intense Brain Fog
FatigueInflamed Lymph Nodes
Pain In Back of Neck and Upper Back
Occasional Muscle Aches
Oral Thrush

Thankfully I have not experienced any significant neurological symptoms.

I read that Bartonella was often associated with GI issues, so that combined with these marks really caught my attention. The GI symptoms and issues were the first to come on. The fatigue, brain fog, and the rest of my symptoms soon followed.

Post Edited (JimboThunder) : 4/4/2015 6:03:38 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/5/2015 2:11 PM (GMT 0)
I think it would be a very good thing to show those pictures to your doc! It could be very important to your healing from Lyme as well as from Bartonella. Lyme and Bartonella together often make Neuro symptoms a lot worse, including GI issues (which operate from nerve impulses).
Posted 4/5/2015 8:00 PM (GMT 0)
Jimbo,

It definitely looks like it could be Bart. I would definitely show them to your doc as Traveler suggested. My Bart marks tend to come out of nowhere and disappear the same.

Also, do you have a good diet? Yeast can cause a lot of symptoms, such as brain fog, bloating, oral thrush, muscle aches, dry mouth, food allergies and leaky gut issues. It might be worth looking into if you have not already. I know-it is not fun to think about yeast!!!

Good luck!
Posted 4/5/2015 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
I think it could be bartonella. I didn't even know about bart rashes until I went to see my first llmd in 2006. I had gained weight in 2003 and thought it was just a stretch mark. But nope it was a bartonella rash. I thought it was weird to have just one stretch mark.

It has since faded but it took years. I haven't treated for bartonella yet.

My symptoms seem different than yours. Mine are:
-severe insomnia
-bladder dysfunction (mostly controlled by Seroquel and Celexa)
-lots of vision symptoms
-anxiety
-severe PMS

I'm sending off a blood sample to Fry labs on Wednesday. Not exactly sure what is being checked (I tested positive for bartonella years ago at Fry Labs but I hear they have more advanced testing now).

I would definitely show that photo to your doctor if you haven't already.

Oh yeah I agree with the person who posted above about yeast causing brain fog. It's awful.

Hugs!
Posted 4/5/2015 10:08 PM (GMT 0)
Lymie Girl,

Yeast/Candida is initially what I thought it was as did my LLMD before she had gotten all of the results back from my tests. I had oral thrush and a lot of my symptoms seemed to line up with Candida. I went on a Candida diet for several months along with Nystatin, but to no avail. In addition to the Nystatin I also did oil pulling twice a day for 20 minutes each with coconut oil and that didn't anything for the oral thrush either. In the mean time, my LLMD ran some tests for candida and they came all came back negative. After lots of other blood work and such, she confirmed that it was Lyme.
Posted 4/5/2015 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
Kayaklove,

So there are tests you can do to confirm Bartonella? I imagine they aren't always the most accurate just like the Lyme aren't, but if you know of any reliable ones that you could share, I would greatly appreciate it. I will ask my LLMD about them at my upcoming appointment.
Posted 4/5/2015 10:55 PM (GMT 0)
Mister Mike,

Off the top of my head, I am not sure which tests exactly. I can email my LLMD and ask if you want? But my last appointment she went over a whole bunch of my tests results in depth with me and explained why it wasn't candida. I have definite oral thrush, but nothing more. The Lyme tests she ran came back negative, but based on lots of other signs and things going on with my immune system and such, she was extremely confident that I had Lyme. Apparently the Lyme has suppressed my Immune System to the point where even with Nystatin and oil pulling, the oil thrush won't go away.

Also, there would be no real impetus for the onset of Candida. I was an incredibly healthy kid and hadn't ever really been on any serious antibiotics for any length of time. The only abx I had really ever taken was some for only 1-2 days after I got my wisdom teeth out. Other than that, none whatsoever. If I got a bad cold or a sinus infection, I would always just let it runs its course and I would usually get better within a week or so. Never any abx, just let my immune system do it's thing. So nothing from an abx perspective would have cut down on my healthy gut flora and allowed the yeast to procreate.

Furthermore, while I did eat quite a bit of carbohydrates, I still ate pretty darn healthy diet before the onset of all of these symptoms and I hardly ate any candy or sugar. I don't like chocolate, so that played a big part in my avoidance of sweets. So nothing from a poor diet perspective would have given them a foothold either.

So there really wouldn't be any real impetus for candida to develop based on those things. But yeah, I dove head first into the Candida protocol along with all of the suggested supplements and everything for 4+ months and nothing improved whatsoever.

It has almost felt like a wild goose chase. First I thought it was acid reflux, then GERD, then candida, and now Lyme. And now possibly also Bartonella.

Post Edited (JimboThunder) : 4/5/2015 4:59:12 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/6/2015 3:54 PM (GMT 0)
There are tests for Bartonella, but as you suspected, they aren't that reliable either due to the fact that Bartonella can suppress the immune system - which also explains your difficulty in getting rid of the oral thrush. It sounds like your body was able to keep the Candida from going systemic, but couldn't completely overcome it - possibly due to the Bartonella and Lyme.

Oops- edited to finish the though!! idea "Doh!"

Bart tests aren't reliable due to immune suppression or because you have a strain that isn't being tested for. I believe they only test for 2 or 3 of the over 25 strains of Bartonella.
Posted 4/6/2015 4:49 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with Traveler.

You can have Candida with normal tests. It can sneak up on you too. It's a good idea to address it before it before it becomes a huge problem. It can really mess with everything. Carbs are a killer.

So much of the Candida diet is counter-intuitive as well, such as no beans, even brown rice! Even coffee feeds Candida. I'm working on making my diet more strict. I eat so much healthier than anyone I know. But, it is not good enough to fight off Candida. It's not fun or "fair," but I want to get my health back. I'm determined!

Definitely talk to your doc about Bart too. Good luck!
Posted 4/6/2015 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
Lymie Girl,

Yeah, I was extremely strict with my Candida diet. I ate nothing but vegetables (non-starches) and all of my protein came from chia seeds and hemp. Avocados were a life saver on the diet as that is where I got a lot of my calories. I did that for around four months while taking 100,000 IU of Nystatin 3 times a day. No improvement in any of my symptoms what so ever, other than maybe a little from the diet.

So yeah, I hear you, it definitely stinks. But as you said, it will be well worth doing to get your life back.
Posted 4/8/2015 5:45 AM (GMT 0)
Definitely there are tests for bartonella. How many strains they test for I'm not sure. The lab is called Fry labs and they are located in Socttsdale AZ.

I didn't realize that flashing lights are a symptom of optic neuritis. Nor had I ever heard of optic neuritis until looking through Dr.H's book "Why can't I get better?" a few hours ago. I have flashing lights and all my symptoms are neurological. Yes I have never been treated for bartonella.

I am semi-functioning but no where near being symptom-free.

Anyway that's my experience. I'll let you know what I find out from the tests.
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