Help! Trying to rule out Lyme/Babesia

HI there! I'm a 23 year old male living in CA and I've been trying to find the cause of my health issues since I became sick seemingly out of nowhere just over 5 years ago.

It started with just gut issues in 2013. One day I had what seemed like a stomach bug for a few days and after developed chronic digestive symptoms which was mainly diarrhea/loose stools, some gas, and discomfort. All the way to 2018 my symptoms were ONLY digestive and some anxiety/depression that resulted from those issues. I have never had any symptoms of joint pain, muscle pain, or really any chronic pain anywhere.

In mid-2018 I did a round of antibiotics (Rifaximin, to treat for potential SIBO) and they helped a great deal with the gut issues, I now felt like I could go outside without worrying about where the nearest restroom was, but I felt way more fatigued, physically weak, and started getting some brain fog a few months after.

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I've done testing through my healthcare, Kaiser Permanente which was:

Bartonella henselae ab, IgG1:64

Bartonella quintana ab, IgG<1:64

Bartonella henselae IgM< 1:16

Bartonella quintana ab, Igm< 1:16

B BURGDORFERI AB, EIA, QL NEGATIVE

I've also done a test through Armin Labs, which is here: (https://imgur.com/gallery/Rg1nU7B)
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The reason I suspect Babesia is I seem to have most of the symptoms such as low cognitive function (brain fog), "pressure" headaches (only recently), anxiety, depression, temperature deregulation, and sleep problems.

I only remember having a tick bite once when I was WAY younger, no rash or any sickness followed that I can remember. Also according to an infectious disease doctor it’s incredibly rare in the area I live in CA.

Overall, I'm so incredibly confused and frustrated. I don't know whats causing my health issues. It seems like it could be Lyme or Babesia, but at the same time could be an issue with thryoid/adrenals! I have some Hypothyroid issues and that just adds to the confusion. I'm also on a restricted diet due to the ongoing (but now much more manageable) gut issues.

Sorry for any ranting but I'm so tired of being sick and tired and at the same time not knowing whats the cause. I hope someone can offer some advice, the next step I might take is doing some Babesia tests through IGeneX, but they are $700+ !!!

Its probably lyme. I had the head pressure as well which is annoying as hell but doesn't feel like a traditional headache. I also had the temperature deregulation. I had to always be cold and even 70 degrees would be hot as hell for me. I had the brain fog and my short term memory was going down the drain. I also had crazy weird sleep problems. After 1 month of doxy all of these are gone except the head pressure which is MUCH lighter now. I also had air hunger which is suppose to be a hallmark symptom of babesia which is completely gone now with the doxy. It can also be caused by lyme. All of the symptoms you listed can be from lyme but you are right they can also be adrenal and thyroid. Get a full thyroid panel to rule it out. Try to do this as soon as possible. Also don't bother with babesia igenex tests they aren't good. Just get lyme tests. All of these are reversible if you get treatment.

CamFortyFive said...

I’m still on the fence about the Babesia IGeneX panel. What other tests/methods specifically could I use to help determine if Lyme/Babesia is what I’m dealing with? I already did a test through Armin Labs as linked in my post.

DNA Connexions has a PCR analysis that looks for DNA of a number of tick borne pathogens, including Lyme, bartonella, babesia, ehrlichia, and others. You can still have false negatives, but my understanding from my doc is if it’s positive, then it’s 100% accurate - no false positives.

As for the infectious disease doctor who thinks it’s incredibly rare in your area - most conventional doctors anywhere in the world believe that. They’re wrong. What IS incredibly rare is for people with any type of tick borne disease to be accurately diagnosed and treated quickly and effectively for a long enough period of time. These infections are not in the same category as a sinus infection, UTI, or the flu.

From what I have read on this forum, even people in Lyme endemic areas with full blown symptoms have been told utterly ridiculous lies by doctors who simply do not want anything to do with acknowledging or treating tick borne diseases.

CamFortyFive said...

Coolio278 said...
Its probably lyme. I had the head pressure as well which is annoying as hell but doesn't feel like a traditional headache. I also had the temperature deregulation. I had to always be cold and even 70 degrees would be hot as hell for me. I had the brain fog and my short term memory was going down the drain. I also had crazy weird sleep problems. After 1 month of doxy all of these are gone except the head pressure which is MUCH lighter now. I also had air hunger which is suppose to be a hallmark symptom of babesia which is completely gone now with the doxy. It can also be caused by lyme. All of the symptoms you listed can be from lyme but you are right they can also be adrenal and thyroid. Get a full thyroid panel to rule it out. Try to do this as soon as possible. Also don't bother with babesia igenex tests they aren't good. Just get lyme tests. All of these are reversible if you get treatment.

Thank you so much! I have been dreading getting the diagnosis because I always thought it’s next to impossible to get better. I can’t tell you how much it lifts my mood to hear you talking about getting better.

Regarding the pressure headache, did yours get better or worse around eating? Mine seem to sometimes start and sometimes go away after eating.

I’m getting a full thyroid panel done soon actually, and I hope to get some answers there to hopefully start feeling better.

I’m still on the fence about the Babesia IGeneX panel. What other tests/methods specifically could I use to help determine if Lyme/Babesia is what I’m dealing with? I already did a test through Armin Labs as linked in my post.

Try this. Eat 6 cloves of garlic a day and see what happens. All my really bad neuro symptoms went away within a week of doing this. My pressure headache isn't affected when eating. It will sometimes increase when concentrating a lot but that was before treatment. Its pretty random but it is almost 24/7. What would happen is the pressure would increase for around 3-5 seconds a few times a day and then go back to being the normal pressure. I think this type of pressure headache is unique to certain illnesses. Even when i have gotten really mad i would get fuming mad i would get a headache for about 30 seconds and it would go away. This pressure in the head is a lot different than when your head hurts from stress.

A lot of people get better but they just move on. The people that post about these chronic lyme stories have other problems and I'm pretty sure its a very weakened immune system or an immune system not as strong as others due to genetics. Or they have another illness on top of lyme such as babesia or bartonella or others which makes it a lot tougher on the body. There are probably people who have lyme for 40 years and don't feel a thing or any symptoms while others end up becoming disabled. It all depends on the person.

I had lyme for about 8 years and i didn't feel a thing for the last 7 up until last year. And on top of that i lived in a VERY moldy house.

Are you being exposed to mold? Do you feel better away from your home or work?

Please don't dismiss this possibility if your house is modern, and doesn't have that nasty musty smell. Only a tiny amount of mold can hurt you if you are sensitive. Houses in Northern America are built in a way that there is a possibility of mold forming inside the walls etc.
Where I used to live, we had a problem in our bathroom ventilation system, after two years of living there a plumber came and said that instead of sucking the air in, the fan actually did the opposite... We've been breathing the air from the vent piping. There was also a completely dry mould stain on the wall from a leak that happened and was fixed long before we even moved in, but dead mold is also dangerous. In that place I had symptoms of sneezing, dry eyes, terrible headaches, but I was functional, my symptoms were pretty "flat" and consistent. After we moved in a different place is when i became severly ill. The symptoms you experience depend on the type of mold you're being poisoned by. I still don't know where the mold is hiding in the house we're currently living in, however, the house is old and has wooden floors, the climate is damp, and now that I am away from the house I feel better. Please consider this as a possibility and think about it. I was sick for a year (seeing llnd) when I suddenly realised that my problem is mold, I just thought until then no, no musty smell and I can't see any, so we don't have mold in our house.
My borrelia test result is also weak positive, I probably have it, and it is maybe the culprit that turned on some epigenetic switches for me to become sensitive to mold, but my acute problem that I could have died from is mold. Yet we only treated lyme for so long..
As famouls LLMD M.R. says, before treating lyme, make sure it's not mold illness. I wish everyone treating lyme did this. https://www.treatlyme.net/lyme-disease-treatment-guidelines
https://www.treatlyme.net/guide/mold-toxin-illness-lyme-toxin
This is just a thought...