Suspected Lyme and suspected herxing

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the lengthy post, as there is really no one who can tell me anything here not even doctors.

I am very new here and in fact I didn't even know Lyme exists for very long. I come from a big city in Asia where nobody really hear about tick, not to mention Lyme. However recently I traveled to Germany and was bitten by a tick, not knowing what was that except it's a living thing of a poppy seed size, I brutally plucked it out. Rest for history, I went to hospital to remove the remaining. To think back, the tick would have been on me roughly at least 36 hours.

I didn't think much about it, next week I had sore throat and took some cold medicine. I also felt weak and pain on my right calf (like I couldn't walk down the stairs putting pressure on my right leg), but I thought I sprained my foot.

The second week I came back home, went to chiropractor for the calf, it didn't help but after a day it was gone but my left foot started to hurt and went swollen a day or two. I thought I hurt myself again. I also kept sneezing, sore throat and runny more but thought it's pollution. Concerning fatigue, I felt tired but I thought i have jetlag.

Now at the end of second week, my legs don't hurt anymore and other stuffs seem normal. But I start to have a red oval rash of 4cm NEXT to the bite site, it's not bull eye shape though. It expanded over 3 days and at first the doctor said it's probably just dermatitis. But on day 3 it looks a tiny bit bluish on the most outer rim and a bit lighter just inside the rim. It doesn't itchy or pain, just warm.

The doctor admittedly say he had never seen a case of Lyme, as with most other doctors in the city. There might have been a case of two people got from traveling, but most doctors only saw it in books. He was freaking out a bit at day 3 while the becogem cream doesn't help, and it still got bigger. He decided to give me a course of doxycycline of 2 weeks, 200mg twice a day. Yet, neither him or me is sure whether it is Lyme.

So I took doxycycline the first time this morning (local time, about 9 hours ago), and the strangest thing happened. After 3-4 hours I felt extremely exhausted like I haven't slept for 3 days, my brain doesn't seem to work (in a way like I'm drunk or in sloth mode, very slow) and my throat hurts like full blown urti. If of any help, I also feel anxious. I have taken doxycycline (200mg daily) before for malaria prevention, but I didn't not have similar experience. I felt so strange that I googled if this is a side effect that I overlooked last time I took it (not likely as I took it for more than a complete month), and came across the term herx reaction.

Now, I'm wondering 2 things:
1) does this reaction take place so quickly as in matter of hours? And do what I experienced seem like it?
2) do everything add up that I possibly really got Lyme? I had been told repeatedly it is very rare even in Germany that I actually believed that I can't be so unlucky. At the same time the "symptoms" were not really bad that I didn't even think about it until I got the rash (which is by no about 8cm) nothing was really that bad that I can't suck it up, and to be honest the discomfort I got after I started the antibiotics is more obvious discomfort than before. But I don't have muscle pain now as well. Can this really be Lyme? But no one would even know here...
3) is 2 weeks doxycycline be appropriate /enough? The discovery of the tick was 29th May.
4) any thing I should pay attention to, as I am really ignorant in the whole thing?

Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks in advance for any advice!

Alison

Welcome to the forum Alison8 - I'm fairly new to all this as well, but just wanted to give you some encouragement. You have come to the right place. Most everyone here are so helpful, and give great advice. Ask all kinds of questions!

So sorry you are having symptoms, but hopefully you can get this under control now. It's much better to treat this in the early phase, so push for the longer course of antibiotics! Best of luck and welcome Alison8, Denver1

Welcome Lmlyme,

The first step in healing is to know what is wrong. It sounds like you are learning quickly. This form is a wonderful resource of information and support. Welcome.

Alison8, I am also new to this and had symptoms very similar to your own including immediately feeling worse and exhausted when started on doxycycline.
Hang in there!

Thanks all for your support and help.

This morning I got up feeling still exhausted, and suddenly coughing a lot with sore throat, and still not able to get my brain works much... But so far not bad, just feel really strange.

Does this happens in wave after each time I take the twice daily dosage of doxy?? Or is it usually constance? I'm hoping this feeling would subside over the weekend so that I can still work next week...

Also the oval rash near my bite site still got bigger, after I started doxy yesterday. Is it normal? Would it disappear eventually as a sign of killing of the bacteria?

Also, I read that it's not accurate if I take test now, but when can I take test for sure if I got Lyme or other stuff? The whole thing still baffle me, that a poppyseed size thing can make such trouble and stress... And I guess I'm still kind of denial that I really got Lyme...

On the other hand I know I'm lucky to learned it early and found help, the sister of a friend of mine got it really bad because of misdiagnosis of different doctors.

So I guess I should stay positive, and just chill...

Thanks bluelyme.

I checked a bit, babesia seems to feature fever or feeling of hotness - which I never have.

More I feel fatigue... so I don't know if I might have bart too.

I don't know what I should do... since the doctors here know next to nothing

I agree with Girlie.

Also, are you detoxing? You may need to increase your detoxing to help with that feeling, and to make it so you can work next week.

The rashes can reappear at any time during treatment, which is unusual, but quite normal for Lyme. Many of us never see a rash.

I do have to ask, if you are getting the treatments you need without the test, what would be the reason to test at this point? Your reaction to the meds is common for Lyme. If you need it for insurance purposes, you will need to stop the meds for about 6 weeks and then test (that's IF I'm remembering correctly - get other's opinions!).

Please do let us know what you find out, and we will see if we can offer more suggestions.

For the most part, the testing isn't good enough to completely rule out those infections (Bart and Babs). The best way is to trial treatments for those infections, and watch for a response of some kind - either herxing or an easing of symptoms.

Keep looking over that list and adding in more detoxing routines slowly. If you need suggestions, please ask and we will see what we can do to be of help.

I advise you to do a parasitic cleanse just to be sure you're clearing everything out because you probably got a cocktail of infections. I would definitely introduce a couple of anti-parasitic herbs and stay on them for at least two months. I took biopure 10 in 1 for 3 months and reached up to 120 drops until I finished 10 days ago. I had plenty of symptoms (neuro and physical) and they didn't subside until I used anti-parasitics. Don't forget to detox or you will make everything much harder to treat (gut binder, detox baths..etc). Good luck with everything!