Scroggins said...
Thanks for the replies. One additional factor that made me conclude it was babesia was the appearance of a cluster of small pink dots on my hand and wrist, which I've read is associated with babesiosis. I'm hoping I'm wrong about that.
not as far as i am aware
babesia can cause purpura or petechia - but these as the name suggests are v dark - crimson or purple - not pink - and not localised to any particular region - they can be anywhere on the body - usually dispersed rather than clusters.
they may also occur in healthy people
any disorder that effects the clotting system can induce them - eg viruses like covid - and many other things
in general we all have to be mindful of confirmation bias in our attempts to self diagnose
our brains are hardwired this way - to only see the evidence for a theory we have come to believe/ suspect - and exclude / ignore / under represent anything that does not fit - its evolved as a time / effort saving technique for much simpler day to day decisions - but is an obstacle to objective thinking around complex issues - so it takes deliberate effort to counteract it.
examples of how we can do this are
*spend the same amount of time ( or more to counter the hard wired effect) weighing the evidence that does not fit the suspected cause - as evidence that does
*look at all the other possible causes ( differential diagnoses ) and weighing the evidence for and against these in the same way
inflamed brains confronted with possibilities we are fearful of, or worried about
, ie anything to do with our health in persons who have suffered a chronic illness, are even more prone to this effect.
that is not to say you don't have Babesia - more that the symptoms described could be explained by many other things and so some more objective evidence would be needed before you could safely conclude that is in fact Babesia.