My first post - please help!

Good evening, everyone! I will try to explain my situation as briefly as possible. I am Brazilian and live in Brazil, but since my husband is from Ohio, we visit the U.S. every year. Last November, we visited Florida with his family. We all spent a day at Honeymoon Island, where my legs got destroyed by some sort of invisible insect. 3 days later I got a very ugly bite, which looked nothing like the other ones. When we got back to Brazil, I had a fever for some days, flu like symptoms and the bite got kind of hard inside and really hot. I didn't give much importance to these events, as I had no idea that Lyme existed, until my life completely changed! Since November I have experienced tingling, weird vibrations in my left leg, shorts of breath, insomnia, panic attacks, blurred vision, chest pain, awful memory, among other unpleasant things! I have had many exams done, including MRI and Lyme serology, all normal! I can't sleep without zolpidem, I can't remember anything without making notes on my phone, I feel disconnected from the world and it is all really scary! I have seen multiple doctors, who know nothing about Lyme, since it is not common in Brazil at all. A month ago, I saw an infectologist who believes I have Lyme despite my negative test and prescribed me 100mg of Doxycycline twice a day for 60 days. I have been feeling a bit better since I started the abx, but the neurological symptoms persist. My biggest fear is that it is not Lyme after all and I have something else. I am afraid of going blind or even dying when I have a 18 month baby to look after... anyways, if anyone can help me by giving me some advice, I will be truly grateful!
Can anyone take a look at the picture of my leg and tell me if it looks like a Lyme bite, please?
May God bless you all!
Here is the image:
https://imgur.com/gallery/p1OAOpO

Good evening from Canada

I'm afraid I can't tell if that's a tick bite. I'm not sure you can tell if something is definitely a tick bite? But others would hopefully be able to shed more light.

Usually you get assessed by a Lyme literate doctor but since you don't seem to have access to such - have you tried taking the Horowitz Lyme MSIDS questionnaire? I have heard it's a great screening tool - the doctor who first treated me swore by it. Type that into Google and you'll find the questionnaire online.

Lastly I'm not sure 200mg Doxy per day is sufficient to treat Lyme - isn't the normal dose for Lyme 400mg/ day? Perhaps others more versed in this can respond.

Could anyone else help, too? Please please please!

Your symptoms are very similar to my symptoms over the years and with a known bite, I certainly would rule out lyme.

Do you have a copy of your test results? What tests did they run? If you can post the results of any test, maybe we can help you decipher them. The reason being is that a negative test with lyme does not necessarily mean you do not have lyme and if certain bands have shown up, it would be indicative of lyme. On the other hand, if they only ran a simple ELISA, perhaps you can go to a different doctor and try and have more definitive testing done.

When I was trying to find out what was wrong with me for years, the first dr I went to ran a lyme test and told me it was negative (as it was). However, five years later when I actually got a copy of the results, the bands that shows up were lyme specific and I knew at that time I needed to see a lyme specialist.

Hi there springsjean! The Lyme test that I took is called "Igg Igm - serology for Lyme Disease" here in Brazil. I wonder if it is the same as ELISA, commonly performed in the U.S. It doesn't show bands, just came out as "negative", with no further information. The infectologist who saw me was 100 percent sure I have Lyme, despite the test result, but it is so confusing to be diagnosed with something that exams don't confirm!
What exam should I try to take? The western blot? It is a very expensive test in my country, so I must be sure that it is the right one to take before paying so much :/
The doctor prescribed me a lumbar puncture as well. Is it a trustworthy test for Lyme and MS? Does anyone know? Thanks!

Jhonny G113, in my country, even Lyme is unknown. When I tell people that I have it, they look at me like "???"
I completely understand what you mean! Lol
Is Bartonella also treated with Doxy? Is it possible to fight borrelia and bartonella at the same time? I know nothing about my treatment being the right one :/

danikacs said...
Hi there springsjean! The Lyme test that I took is called "Igg Igm - serology for Lyme Disease" here in Brazil. I wonder if it is the same as ELISA, commonly performed in the U.S. It doesn't show bands, just came out as "negative", with no further information. The infectologist who saw me was 100 percent sure I have Lyme, despite the test result, but it is so confusing to be diagnosed with something that exams don't confirm!
What exam should I try to take? The western blot? It is a very expensive test in my country, so I must be sure that it is the right one to take before paying so much :/
The doctor prescribed me a lumbar puncture as well. Is it a trustworthy test for Lyme and MS? Does anyone know? Thanks!

If it's for lyme - don't bother - it's not a reliable test. Maybe do the Armin Lab test Elispot/Ispot test (Germany) instead.

If you're wanting to rule out MS - get the MRI that looks for lesions.

The lumbar puncture does come with some risk.

Hello again, everyone! So, the test I had done and came negative for Lyme was indeed ELISA. I have just called a lab to ask for information about Western Blot and they said that if ELISA comes negative, they can't perform the Western Blot, I don't know why... is this also the policy in the U.S.? I am going to pay a lot to go see the only Lyme specialist I've found in São Paulo so far... I pray he can help me! :/
Has anyone had negative ELISA and still had Lyme anyways?
Thank you for all the replies!

The key is hot or warm it is a tick bite for sure

Oi danikas let us know how you are doing.