New to the forum, highly suspecting my issue is Lyme

Hi everyone,

I noticed that I was bit by a tick in central Kansas on 4/27/2012. I scratched my stomach that day and noticed that there was a tick on me. I don't know how long it had been there. I freaked out and tried to quickly remove it. Unfortunately I broke the body off and the head of the tick stuck in me. I threw away the body of the tick and made it to the doctor the next day. I wish I knew the proper procedure then, I would have done things way differently.

I pretty much forgot about this incident until I remembered it about a month ago after desperately trying to find how to fix myself of all of the issues I have been having over the last year.

I called the doctors office today and got more info on my visit in 2012.
They said that I didn't have a bulls eye rash but it was 1cm bite.
They said that I was given 14 days of doxycycline. I hardly remember this, but I always did what the doctors say.

More info about me:
25 year old male, 6'2", 170lbs
Had shingles 3/8/2011
Had mononucleosis 9/24/2012
Tested positive on IGG and IGM for EBV 10/25/2015
Tested negative for H. pylori 10/25/2015
Tested negative for HIV, Chlamydia Trachomatis, and Neisseria Gonorrhoea on 10/25/2015

Waiting on ELISA lyme antibody test, another EBV test, mercury and lead tests to come in.
I know this lyme test is only about 50% accurate but I have Kaiser Permanente health insurance and this is what they did.

My symptoms:

General:
-Fatigue
-Mild hair thinning on the top/front of my head
-Sore throat
-Difficulty swallowing (throat feels tight and dry)
-Excess mucus (possible post nasal drip)
-Low body temperature (Last three doctors visits were: 97.2F, 97.6F, 97.3F)

Cardiac:
-Chest pain
-Strong heart beats, my body shakes when I'm laying down. (Especially when I'm on my back)

Gastrointestinal:
-Abdominal cramping
-Stomach hurts 24/7, gets worse after eating. Doesn't seem to make a difference what I eat.
-Bloating

Musculoskeletal:
-Foot pain, primarily heels (Diagnosed as plantar fascitis)
-Joint/Muscle pain (knees hurt bad but they aren't swollen)
-Lower/Upper back pain
-Neck pain and stiffness
-Jaw pain when opening mouth wide
-Lots of cracking noises

Neurological:
-Headache
-Light-headedness
-Difficulty concentrating
-Can't explain myself clearly, like I can't find the correct word a lot of the time
-Poor short term memory
-Vision disturbances, floaters, auras
-Eye strain, eyes feel dry (lots of blinking)
-Two types of tinnitus, buzzing and ringing
-Ear pressure

Neuropsychiatric:
-Mood swings
-Irritability
-Feel overwhelmed easily

Stool:
-Normal color, not too light or dark
-Tiny white specks, think i'm not digesting food properly.

I know this is a lot of information to take in at one time. I appreciate any and all help that this community can give me. I really need to find a solution. Thank you!

Thank you for all of the info and links!

I enabled my email option as well.
I'll send you an email right now.

Krazy4, I hope it is not lyme, but it sure sounds like a lot of my symptoms.

Fingers crossed for ya.

If it is, you have come to the most supportive place there is. And, tons of information gained by experience that is totally invaluable in your journey.

Sorry you hurt.

NEED HELP WITH LAB TESTING. MY FIRST LABCORP TEST HAD AN IGM TITER OF 2.27 WITH BAND IGM P23 PRSENT AND IGG 41 PRESENT. GOT TREATED FOR 21 DAYS. A YR PAST AND SYMPTOMS HAVE WORSEN. LOTS OF NERUOLOGICAL PAIN TO FEET AND ARMS, FLUSHING, TWITCHING, TENDONITIS OF FEET,ANLKE KNEE, HIP AND HAND. KNEE AND HAND PAIN. BONE PAIN. RED PALMS WHEN HEAT SENSATIONS START. UNABLE TO TOLERATE HEAT. HAVE HEAT AND FLUSHING DURING THE DAY AND DURING SLEEP. IGENEX TESST RESULTS POSITIVE IGM 41++ IGM 23-25, 31 AND 39 INDETERMINATE, IGG 41++ AND 58++, IGG 31 AND 39 INDETERMINATE. ALL TEST FOR AUTOIMMUNE, CANCER NEGATIVE. MRIS ALL NORMAL. HELP IS THIS LIME OR SOMETHING ELSE.

Roxy68 you can create a new thread in the lyme disease forum.
It looks like someone has actually done it for you.

Also try not typing in caps lock, it helps people read your post easier.

Krazy4,

Excellent presentation of symptoms and history. Take a copy to any providers you need to see. Efficient treatment becomes easier when you make it clear to your doctor what is occurring.

The past medical history could be a contributing factor to your condition, but it cannot account for everything. Depending on the delay in starting antibiotics you could have received a Lyme infection that had already spread hematogenously. In this case a short course of antibiotics is insufficient. Doxycycline is effective, but the Borrelia bacteria can "hind out" in places that are not penetrated well by antibiotics. If the bacteria behaves in vivo the way that it does in vitro then it can form cysts. This is controversial, but has been confirmed in some studies. Some have observed that doxycycline, and other antibiotics can induce the bacteria to become inactive and form a cyst.

This is what I personally experienced. Doxy was very effective in reducing symptoms after several doses, but would eventually return a week to several or more weeks after stopping the antibiotics. The problem is that long-term antibiotic use can have significant side-effects, and still not get to the bacteria. It just sits there waiting. Antibiotics can also wreck havoc on your GI system.

The most effective home remedy for restoring GI health for me is Kefir (any supermarket) and Saccharomyces boulardii made by Jarrow (Amazon). Kefir has 12 active cultures and one strain of yeast. The S. boulardii is also a yeast, but it cannot invade the body tissues. It only passes through your GI system and needs to be replenished after several days. Both of these can help in getting rid of the bad bugs in your GI system, which GI specialists have increasingly come to realize are very important to your overall health. The advantage for this strategy is cost and availability. Kefir is around $4.00 for a bottle, and the S. boulardii is also cheap. Definitely worth trying to see if it gradually improves your GI function.

Kott

Kott

Kott said...
Krazy4,

Excellent presentation of symptoms and history. Take a copy to any providers you need to see. Efficient treatment becomes easier when you make it clear to your doctor what is occurring.

The past medical history could be a contributing factor to your condition, but it cannot account for everything. Depending on the delay in starting antibiotics you could have received a Lyme infection that had already spread hematogenously. In this case a short course of antibiotics is insufficient. Doxycycline is effective, but the Borrelia bacteria can "hind out" in places that are not penetrated well by antibiotics. If the bacteria behaves in vivo the way that it does in vitro then it can form cysts. This is controversial, but has been confirmed in some studies. Some have observed that doxycycline, and other antibiotics can induce the bacteria to become inactive and form a cyst.

This is what I personally experienced. Doxy was very effective in reducing symptoms after several doses, but would eventually return a week to several or more weeks after stopping the antibiotics. The problem is that long-term antibiotic use can have significant side-effects, and still not get to the bacteria. It just sits there waiting. Antibiotics can also wreck havoc on your GI system.

The most effective home remedy for restoring GI health for me is Kefir (any supermarket) and Saccharomyces boulardii made by Jarrow (Amazon). Kefir has 12 active cultures and one strain of yeast. The S. boulardii is also a yeast, but it cannot invade the body tissues. It only passes through your GI system and needs to be replenished after several days. Both of these can help in getting rid of the bad bugs in your GI system, which GI specialists have increasingly come to realize are very important to your overall health. The advantage for this strategy is cost and availability. Kefir is around $4.00 for a bottle, and the S. boulardii is also cheap. Definitely worth trying to see if it gradually improves your GI function.

Kott

Kott

Thank you, just trying to make it as easy as possible for someone to help me.

I definitely understand the long term effects of antibiotics and I am afraid of using any more of them honestly.

We think alike when it comes to probiotics! I have some Organic Pastures raw milk kefir and the Jarrow S. Boulardii that I use too! haha :)

kyo07 said...
When you said your body shakes when laying down do you physically see it shake or is it shaking on the inside. I have shaking/vibrations inside but not visible on the outside.

I mainly shake on the inside from my heart beat.
I can see my heart beat shaking my stomach on the outside though.

Hope that makes sense.

krazy4, hang in there. My ELISA test was negative too. Igenex and symptoms made it clear to the doc. You can't help but think it is something else. I did too. And, you wake up thinking you will be better the next day. That is normal too. Then you get angry and just want a bacteria zapper to kill the suckers! Then you mellow out and realize that stress about the disease actually can make you sicker feeling.

I take a lot of deep breaths.

By the way one of my first symptoms was a racing heartbeat. So you are not alone there. In fact I can be watching a mellow movie and take my blood pressure and I will be 126/70 and my pulse will be 101. I have no idea why. Just know you are not alone.

I have white coat syndrome and my blood pressure was horrible in the doc office. I would go 150/90 easily. The first thing they did was put me on blood pressure medicine. So for 2 months I did as they said. Then I quit the BP meds and decided to take my readings and write them down and average them out. I am fine without blood pressure meds. I just need a doctor that doesn't so easily write a prescription. Sheesh every time I see him he says do you need an anxiety pill. I think that is because he looks at the BP and does not listen to me. Frustrating.

So glad you joined us.

I've been doing research on candida overgrowth and it appears that the symptoms are almost identical to Lyme disease.

I'm thinking I might have a candida overgrowth in addition or in place of lyme disease.
Reason I say this, is because my symptoms started in my gut and then other symptoms followed.

Anyone with experience on candida?
It seems that a lot of people with Lyme disease deal with this too.