What are my chances of infection?

Hello.. Trying to figure out what's been afflicting me for the past two years.

Health issues ... I was suffering exhaustion and joint pain/tendinitis prior to a trip to North Carolina in 2015. After returning, the pain in my arms and hands increased significantly, and continued for 7 months.

In fan 2016, I came down with a viral infection. I work at a school and a lot of the students and teachers had the same. It took a couple weeks to resolve, but my immune system w as compromised and I ended up off- on again sick, graduating to an intestinal illness that lasted 4 months. Severe pain and discomfort. Eventually it went away, but the very day I got sick, a paresthesia developed in my hands--pulsing heat, followed a few weeks later in my feet.

I tried Chinese herbs for a while, but they didn't seem to do much. After six months of herbs I got a comprehensive test done in Korea that showed a past infection of hep A, and current elevations in ALT/AGT. They have me some supplements and the enzymes returned to normal. Doctor said this was common with long term ingestion of Chinese herbs.

Other than the paresthesia, I feel very healthy. However, my mind has not been healthy for a long while. Panic attacks, depression, irritability, suicidal thoughts. If I don't feel the nerve pain, I don't have these thoughts, but even when the paresthesia is mild ( which it is most of the day), I have to fight obsessive-compulsive reruns of the past two years.

I am seeing a neurologist in a month and will probably be prescribed an anti depressant next week. I had the Elisa teat, which showed negative; should I advocate for a western blot? There aren't any llmds nearby., but I have one doctor that is fairly receptive.

Y'all have a lot more experience than I... What do you think of my chances, based on info above? The parenthesis is warm sensations, pain in left hand, sometimes a feeling of pressure. My hands have a biers spots stigmata... Deep red with white spots sprinkled about, a form of vasoconstriction. No numbness or tingling, no weakness. Just strange sensations that, to be honest, have started to reduce somewhat this summer, once I finally was able to somewhat rest. I suffered very poor sleep for the past couple years, but it has been improving. Really, everything is improving, except....

My biggest concern is the anxiety/obsessive thoughts. I have two little kids I'm raising, and though I keep the mask on pretty well, it sucks to have this distraction.

I have noticed that the parenthesis reacts/diminishes to certain massages and stretches, albeit temporarily. I still have a lot of pain in my forearms, though it isn't noticable unless a massage--tennis elbow in both arms, muscle,and tendon and wrist pain.

Because of all this, I'm not sure as to the cause, but see some similarities to lyme. I'm trying to determine possibilities before visiting neuro, and blood tests have eliminated the most common reasons of nerve issues.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Post Edited (ivance) : 7/25/2017 2:54:56 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Ivance, welcome to our community

Your symptoms could be Lyme disease.

I think it would be wise for you to get tested. You can call Igenex Lab (California) and they will send you a test kit for free. Igenex specializes in Tick-borne disease testing.
You will need a Dr. to sign the lab req - the best bang for your buck is the Lyme WB IgM and IgG for total of $210.

We can help you interpret the results when you get them.

While waiting for the results, you can schedule an appointment with a LLMD....it can take several weeks to months to get in to one. Then you can take your Igenex results to the initial appointment.

www.igenex.com

We can help you find a LLMD: Start a new thread: "Looking for LLMD in/near_____" and fill in the blank.

Then enable your email (through 'my Profile') so members can send you names privately.

In addition to recommendations, you can also email me, and I will check the list of LLMD"s I have and send you names.

We encourage all new members to read through the thread at the top of the page: "New to Lyme?..Start Here!" It's packed full of useful information.

Edited to add: You can also do a WB through whatever lab that your insurance pays for...and see if it does show anything. But if it doesn't...then realize that there are many false negatives. ...especially with the labs that aren't specializing in tick borne disease testing.

Yes there are many false negatives. But, with the WB, even if it's a negative result, there often are indicators - lyme specific bands may show up - even if it's not enough bands or right combo of bands to be a 'positive' test result...if that makes sense.

So, best bang for your buck with Igenex is the Lyme WB Igm and IgG for $210.

With effective treatment, yes the neuro stuff should resolve. I don't think the paresthesia will heal until you treat it properly. You may have some periods of time when the symptoms are waning...but if not treated, they will come back at some point.

Yes, you can have some symptoms disappear even without treatment...people have some good weeks or months - but if untreated...it will come back.

I have not been so lucky....mine are with me every single day...for the past 4 years.

Glad you have only minor symptoms.

It could be your immune system is dealing with the problems on its own, IF this is lyme.

But adding something to boost or to modulate your immune system could even help more.

I had loads of paresthesia symptoms during active lyme, and they went FULLY away with treatment.

I used mostly herbs and supplements, plus homeopathy and light as treatment, so nothing too invasive.

I would avoid antibiotics in your case, because if your immune system is dealing with the problem, it's better to strengthen it than weaken it. Taking antibiotics will cause flora imbalance, no matter how many billions of probiotics you may take.

That's just my non-medical opinion.

I also lived in S Korea!!! I really loved living there, lovely people!

bluelyme said...
Sound kind of lyme like .bartonella can also cause many of your symptoms ...ever had cats?

Not to hijack this thread, but I've had similar symptoms. What is the cat connection? I have two cats.

ivance said...


One of my friends told me that the antibiotics are risky, and it's better just to live like you have lymes, e.g., healthy. I also think that taking antibiotics at the beginning of my sickness basically wiped out my good flora and resulted in the intestinal discomfort.

No - don't live with it...at some point you could have low immunity - sick with something else...or a stressful event...or just aging...etc. and then it will hit you hard.

I would take care of it now.

If you don't prefer antibiotics - then why not do an herbal treatment - like Buhner or Cowden?

OK, I ordered the kit from Igenex. What's the difference between getting the bargain WB test, and the PCR serum / PCR whole blood? If I test positive, would I need to then do a full co-infection panel? Also, for those who healed, do they usually do a full antibiotic for lyme & each co-infection and then follow up with herbs for a while? What would be a general time-line for someone with a reasonably healthy immune system but 2+ years infected (i.e, what's the usual course of the antibiotics)? Thanks for any info.

Thanks for answering these questions. I have one more: I was reading the merits of oral vs. IV antibiotics. For neurological symptoms such as what I'm displaying, which would be better? The report was somewhat divided as to the cost/option ratio of doxycycline or ceftriaxone. Would it be better to try the oral route first? Also, I'm assuming that any antibiotics would be taken with probiotics. I used Custom Probiotics last year to fix my gut issues from the first course of abx.

Part of the reason I ask these questions is that there doesn't appear to be much in the way of LLMD anywhere close to where I am, and the one that is available doesn't have the best reviews.