Am I getting adaqute treadment for recent lymes infection?

I was recently diagnosed with acute Lyme disease and have been on doxy 100mg twice a day for a total of 24 days but don't seem to be getting better. On June 20th I got a spell of lightheartedness and felt like I was going to pass out, the next day I woke up with a headache. It lasted throughout the day and I am still getting frequent mild headaches today. When I got home from work I was so completely exhausted that I could not keep my eyes open. I slept most of the next 3 days, but during that time I noticed a rash on the back of my leg and got in to see my doctor right away. Although it did not look to him like the typical Lymes disease rash, he gave me 10 days of doxy (100mg twice a day) since I do live in an area with a large tick population. All the blood work came back normal including the Lymes antibody. A couple days later I ended up in the emergency room with a 103 degree temp. They did more blood work and Lymes test and all came back normal. about a week after I had finished the antibiotics I started getting back, neck, shoulder and chest pains. They would come and go in different places. I went back to the doctor and this time the Lymes test came back positive. They prescribed me another 14 days of doxy and sent me on my way. It's been over a month now since I first started the antibiotics. I did have a pretty good week a couple weeks ago where I though things were stabilizing, but then a few nights ago I started having trouble sleeping. One night as I lay there I started to get anxiety type symptoms.. A burning "pins and needles" sensation waving through my entire body, my neck was tighter than usual, numbness and tingling in my arms and legs, numbness and tingling in top of head, shaking, shooting pain in my thumb, and left arm feeling really heavy. The next day I continued to have the numbness and tingling in my arms, legs, top of head, and face. I went to the ER the next day at the advice of my primary physician and was seen by a neurology Dr. He did a basic workup and said that there was nothing to worry about and it was most likely related to stress. The next night was ok, but then again last night I got chills before going to bed and panic attack symptoms. I continue to have the neck, shoulder, and back pains. Also tightness in the jaw and arm, tiredness, mild headaches, and head cloudiness. Is this normal for acute Lymes after being treated? It is possible I am not get adequate treatment? Could it still be progressing?

HI Huskies!
Welcome to our forum!! I am so sorry that you have had to go through all of that! Unfortunately most doctors are quite ignorant about Lyme and other tick-borne infections. As Jessica and Cat have said, you appear to have the typical Lyme Disease symptoms, and a knowledgeable LLMD (Lyme Literate Medical Doctor) is where you need to go to get adequate treatment. Most knowledgeable LLMD's will diagnose 300 - 400 mgs of Doxy a day, and many times as much as 600 mgs a day for at least 2 - 3 months after all symptoms have disappeared. So you can see that the 200 mgs a day for less than 1 month isn't enough to get rid of the bacteria.

If you haven't already, it would be beneficial for you to start with reading through the thread at the top of the forum titled,"New to Lyme?...Start here!!", as it is packed full of relevant information and informative links that have been put together by our members here! We also have a pretty good search function on this forum to help you narrow down your search for information from past posts. We must be our own health advocates now! The best thing to arm yourself with is knowledge!

Unfortunately Lyme Disease is very political and it is those that have these infections that suffer the consequences. There is no test that can rule out Lyme or any other tick-borne infection as they all rely on the body recognizing that there is an invader. Lyme Disease can actually hide in our bodies - by going either into a cyst form or going into what is known as a cell wall deficient state - making it virtually invisible to our body's defenses. The tests also only test for at most 3 strains of Lyme, there are hundreds of strains - so if you happen to have one of the strains that are not being tested for, your test will come back as negative.

I was seeing a LLMD who used to say "Absence of proof is not proof of absence!"

For information on finding a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor(LLMD) in your area, please email our long time member, Dan's Mother at:[email protected]

You can email Stephanie at: [email protected] You can also go to: www.turnthecorner.org/bod.htm if you want to learn a little bit more about Lyme Disease.

You can also go to The Lyme Disease Association and search for LLMD's 3 times in a month. You have to register first. Here is the link:www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=277&Itemid=74

You will want to find an ILADS (International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society) doctor. The ILADS site is another great place to read to get you started on your Lyme journey. www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/treatment_guidelines_clearing_ilads.html

Once again Welcome!! We look forward to getting to know you better through your posts! Please feel free to ask questions, vent a little and even share your experiences here!

Congratulations, Huskies!!!
Happy to hear that you will be starting to detox tonight! You won't regret it! Although I would like to caution you to start slow and easy. Some people experience herxes from the detox baths. I did! You might want to start out staying in the bath for only 10 or 15 minutes the first time and see how you do.

Actually, what you experienced sounds like a herx. I would recommend that you use the foot bath tonight and then try another detox full bath tomorrow - only don't stay in longer than 10 or 15 minutes.

Are you dry skin brushing and drinking plenty of lemon water also? Your body is overloaded with toxins and the detox bath got rid of some, and stirred up lots more! Now you just need to direct them to the right way out!!!

Good for you for taking action!!! Unfortunately the reaction of your GP is quite typical in this country. That's why we have to support and protect our LLMD's - they are the only ones willing to go the extra mile with us to help us recover fully.