lyme arthritis in leg

      I was recently diagnosed with lymes, tested positive about 2 weeks ago,and just finished my28 100 mg doxycycline antibiotics. apparantenly this is the normal treatment for early stage lymes. According to what i have been reading, this alleviates or eliminates symptoms in most individuals. Unfortunately for myself, i was experiencing symptoms for quite some time,( approximately 6-9 months) before i finally visited a doctor. My primary symptom involves moderate to substantial leg pain behind my left knee.It feels like its in the tendons that join in the back of the leg behind the knee. The pain is worse, the more I am on my feet, and gets especially bad more in the afternoons or evenings. I am afraid I may have bypassed the early stages of lymes and could be in a intermediate or what they call chronic stage of lymes. I am only basing my opinion on what i have read,the fact that this leg pain was vaguely present up to 9 months before I sought treatment,and also the fact that the 2 week treatment of doxycycline did nothing to alleviate my leg pain. I would like to communicate with others who have similar arthritic leg pain related to lymes and how they are treating it.

Hi sufrinranger!!!
WElcome to our forum! I am really sorry to hear of the troubles you are having, but you have come to a good place to learn!! We are a caring, understanding & helpful group here, so I'm sure we can help you figure out what is most likely going on.

You could have easily been infected by something other than a tick nine months ago. Any little critter that can bite an infected animal or human & survive, can go on to infect other humans & animals. So you could have contracted this from a spider, mosquito, biting flies or whatever.

Quote from Mikazmat;
"Apparently the spirochete can be anywhere in the body within this time....then they duck and weave, dodge and hide from all immune system attacks and meds."

Mikazmat gave you some great advice here & through-out the post!! Lyme actually has three different forms that it rotates through - spirochetal (I think I spelled that right??), L-form & cyst form. The only form that abx can penetrate with good success usually is when it is in it's spirochetal form. It can also evade the body's own defenses as it can actually hide within other cells of your body.

My GP has dxed me with Lyme Arthritis, as I have all of the symptoms without having any arthritis markers in my blood. For me, it's now involved most joints - large & small.

My knees & my hips & hands give me the most trouble though, and I have lived with these tick-borne infections for so long now (a suspected 40+ years) that there is no way to know just how much of what I have is permanent.

You do really need to get into be seen by a specialist - an LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor), a LLND (Lyme- Literate Naturopathic Doc), a Holistic Healer, or , like me - I see an Acupuncture Doctor who is also a Master Western Herbologist and a Master Traditional & Modern Chinese Medicine. He/she will be able to assess what kind of abx (or other treatment) you need to be on, for how long & the best way to approach your specific situation.

There is no one-size-fits-most as far as treatments go, so it takes someone quite well versed in TBI's (Tick Borne Infections) to be able to interpret what is going on. This is why it is sooo important to see a Lyme Literate doc. - TBI's take advantage of each & every one of a body's weakest points to get in & get a good hold.

Reading will be your best way to beat this! If you are educated about what is going on & understand that there are sooooo many symptoms that are caused by tick-borne infections, you will be better able to help your LLMD to help you.

Also get a copy of your LD test results, and the last set of blood work you had done, as these will hold valuable info. It will also help us to help you!!

As Mizcat suggested - please read the thread at the top of the forum titled "New to Lyme?...Start here". It has a lot of really good info that you will be able to refer to time after time. It helps to explain a whole lot as well, like what symptoms are possible, how to read Western Blot test results & so on.

Holy smokes!!! so obviously I feel like "talking" today - - so in order to prevent an entire novel being posted - I'll leave it at that for now!! giggle!

Please feel free to ask any questions & please let us know how you are doing!!!