Is there a “golden rule” for how
long the symptoms last if antibiotics are taken early?
My story is more promising than most I have
read on the site. I was infected 6 weeks ago while hiking the backcountry in
Tennessee (we live in Florida). Although we are skilled hikers and travel the
world, I didn’t find the deer tick until 3 days after it had embedded. My
progress was classic – bull’s eye rash (which thankfully I took a photo), low-grade fever, major headache, stiff
neck, fatigue, and vomiting. I pride myself as being a strong woman, but this
brought me to my knees, literally.
Thankfully, one call to our family doctor and he prescribed 2-weeks
of Doxycycline (which I started 9 days after being infected) and blood tests. No surprise, my blood tests came back negative (I’m scheduled for another
one in 5 weeks). The Infectious Disease doctors won’t see me until I have a
positive test (ironic because then it’s too late).
Yesterday (5 weeks into this disaster), I went back to our family doctor
with the same symptoms which are now keeping me flat on the couch and my
head feels like it’s in a vice. The doctor (surprising for a Florida doctor
from what I have been reading) gave me 6 weeks of Doxycycline, anti-inflammatory
and a muscle relaxer plus a referral to a neurologist.
That’s my story.
Short compared to most and early intervention which hopefully has saved
me the prolonged pain I have been reading on this site. My question is….with
doing all this, when does it stop hurting? 
Is there a “golden rule” for how long the symptoms last if antibiotics are taken early?