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Lichen striatus - connected to Lyme?

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Posted 11/2/2016 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Has any of you ever heard about a condition called 'lichen striatus'? It's a skin condition, uncommon in adults and the cause is unknown, but I am wondering if it can be related to Lyme and Co.?

I am trying to 'connect the dots', figure out how long I could have been infected with Lyme. I've had many 'weird' symptoms over the years and one of them was a very odd looking rash on my calf. It resembled tiny red dots aligned in an almost perfect line going along the back of my leg. It was extremely itchy, soon after I noticed the rash the itching spread all over my body (but the rash did not). No doctor could figure out what it was, I was treated for allergies etc. with no effect. After 4 or 5 months of severe itching (imagine that... at work I had to hide in the washroom multiple times during the day just to scratch in peace, lol) it just stopped one day, just like that. I searched and searched, and it seems like it was lichen striatus - the googled symptoms are a perfect match to what I was experiencing.

I know Bartonella can give various skin symptoms and rashes, but have you ever encountered this particular condition? Could it really be connected to Bart, Lyme or any other tick-borne disease, or is it just a wild guess?
Posted 11/2/2016 8:27 PM (GMT 0)
Bump
Posted 11/4/2016 8:00 AM (GMT 0)
Anyone...? ;)
Posted 11/4/2016 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
After a little reading, I have been able to come up with a possible situation - lichen striatus is associated with lichen sclerosus. www.ejpd.com/en/issues-2/item/1232-lichen-sclerosus-associated-with-lichen-striatus

There is a link between lichen sclerosus and Borrelia (Lyme):
www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/02/link-between-lichen-sclerosus-and-borrelia-burgdorferi-infection

Also, there are many dermatological manifestations of Lyme, and both are inflammatory conditions.

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3561368


www.jwatch.org/jd200807110000004/2008/07/11/lichen-sclerosus-and-borrelia-burgdorferi-are-we

I hope you find this helpful!
Posted 11/4/2016 2:31 PM (GMT 0)
April_Ryan- You have got me thinking. Many years ago my husband got horrible Lichen Planus with the rash you are describing and also in his mouth. After a quick Google search it seems the only difference in the 2 diseases is one (Planus) affects more the mucous membranes. It took about 2-3 years for him to recover. His appeared after a mandatory nasal flu vaccine. But now I am wondering if there is a Lyme connection. But that is the time I became sick too.
I am glad you're better now though....at least from that. ;)

Traveler-
Where do you do find this awesome info? lol.. Some of the sites I usually try for good scientific research usually require and account and fees. Grateful for you and your insight!
Posted 11/4/2016 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
LOL! Thank you. Over the years, I've learned a few tricks for finding information. One is to try variations of search terms - others are using different web browsers (Firefox, Google Chrome, Explorer), using different search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo) and I use Google Scholar for a lot of things as well.

There are a lot of scientific articles I can't get access to more than a summary, as I had to make a promise to hubby that I wouldn't start joining all the sites and have to pay their yearly access fees! But, if you copy and paste the title of the article into your web browser, and note the authors, you can sometimes find it in a free version.

And persistence. LOL! Sometimes it will take me days to come up with enough information to make sense of something, so I carefully bookmark what I feel I need in my search, and tag it with words to help my Lyme brain find it again.

Of course, with so many years on this forum interacting with others, I remember some of the things that others have suffered with while infected. For this thread, I remembered that there have been others asking about Lichen______. So I started with the common name of Lichen and Lyme for my search terms, and then worked my way through, finding common ground with the different forms of lichen, and then connecting lichen to these infections.
Posted 11/5/2016 10:14 AM (GMT 0)
Traveler - you're the best, as always! :) Thanks a lot for your time and effort.

The info provided in those articles isn't clinching though - I understand there might be a link between lichen-like skin symptoms and Lyme, but it can't be determined for now. I also read that Bartonella can cause many different skin symptoms. But I doubt it is the case, my Bart test results weren't conclusive enough plus I am only IgM possibly-positive, IgG came out negative. And I don't actually have typical Bart symptoms I guess.

I just wish I could figure out what was "wrong with me" for the major part of my life. I've had so many symptoms that no doctor could attribute to any disease. And what is really curious - the severe GI symptoms I've been experiencing since my teenage years almost went away just after barely two weeks of antibiotics. I'm so confused... (but happy!)
Posted 11/5/2016 6:17 PM (GMT 0)
There is very little evidence that is 'clinching' when it comes to these infections - partly due to the controversies, and partly due to the lack of scientific studies. Most of what is done is done "on a wing and prayer' and trial and error still. We have got a LONG way to go before we know very much about these infections and how to effectively treat them.

One thing you can do is to 'trial' some treatments to see if they help any. Sometimes that's all we can do.

GI symptoms are often caused by the vagus nerve damage. This is typical of Lyme, although Bart does definitely contribute to GI issues as well. I've had severe GI issues all my life thanks to these infections. They are easing up, but it is very obvious to me that when I'm infected they are much worse. The fact that you had some success with alleviating some of your GI symptoms with abx that they are mainly due to an infectious cause.
Posted 11/5/2016 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
I've heard about Lyme causing vagus nerve damage, but is it really reversible? Did you notice your GI symptoms going away when you had got your Lyme under control - I mean before you got reinfected?

I thought I might have had something else I hadn't known about - like giardiasis, some other parasitic protozoa or harmful gut bacteria that abx are taking care of now.
Posted 11/5/2016 9:15 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, my GI symptoms were very, very low level while I enjoyed my time without infections.

Lion's mane has been scientifically proven to help rebuild the myelin sheath, which is what gets damaged most often with these infections:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12675022

www.livestrong.com/article/509385-lions-mane-mushroom-for-nerve-damage/

Depending on what your exact symptoms are, they could still be from these infections. I have had slowed gastric emptying, intestinal cramping (by far my worst issue), low stomach acid, leaky gut and likely a few more things that I have never bothered to get diagnosed for.
Posted 11/5/2016 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, I will look into that!

For me the most debilitating symptoms are bloating, gas and cramping. I also had some problems with constipation and feeling kind of 'blocked' - I always used to leave the toilet feeling like I am not done. Since I started taking antibiotics I 've been having very regular and 'healthy' bowel movements, like never before. I guess Lyme could have impaired my gastro-intestinal transit, that led to gut flora imbalance and that, in consequence, could have caused leaky gut.
Posted 11/5/2016 9:59 PM (GMT 0)
Definitely not out of the range of possibility! I have talked with some people that have had that happen. Also be aware that Candida can cause a lot of GI issues as well - so the combination of the two could be worse than ever.

Best of luck on this!
Posted 11/5/2016 10:09 PM (GMT 0)
I keep Candida in mind, I stick to my diet and take a lot of probiotics. Thank you again, you've been very helpful and supportive! It really makes me feel better to know there are people out there who experienced similar problems and dealt with them, it gives hope.
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