New to lyme.......a few questions please?

27 days ago i woke up with a headache and stiff neck (in the back at the base of my skull). throughout the day i began to get fatigued, and the headache worsened and i developed a fever by evening (101.3). that night i couldnt fall asleep and i began to get pain all over my body....pins and needles and my joints hurt. this went on for about 4 days and i assumbed i had the flu so i called my doctor. they did a flu swab but thankfully also ordered a lyme blood test. (and from what i am reading i am lucky because most people get misdiagnosed for a long time). i was put on doxycicline 100mg twice per day starting on friday june 19. a few days later i was feeling much better and gradually felt better for a couple weeks. i was told that the results of my western blot test showed that "lyme test is positive but for past disease, not present. were you ever treated for lyme in the past?" i was confused because i've never felt like i did the week i went to see my doctor (awful) and have never been tested for lyme before. anyway.......this past week out of the blue i developed a foggy head feeling and got tired almost instantly. the fatique has now lasted 5 days along with the foggy head feeling........it also feels like the back of my eyeballs are sore when i move them. i have 7 days of doxy left to take, but i have also started taking probiotics 3 days ago, and also started taking "cats claw 500mg and olive leaf extract 500mg" both 2 times per day. i learned about detox baths this week and tried that.


my questions are:
why am i feeling worse this week?


is 200mg per day of doxy strong enough? (i am only 130lbs).


i keep reading that the doxy needs to be taken for atleast 3 months to kill all the lyme......so should i ask my doctor to continue it for 2 more months?


if they are correct and this isn't a new case of lyme, does that mean that i am past the point of completely healing and will always have chronic lyme now and why did i never have any symptoms of lyme until a month ago.....and all the classic symptoms? (i never had the bulls eye rash and dont recall being bitten though)


how do i know if i have one of the other tick illnesses or co-infections? does it show on the western blot test? i am worried i have on of those and aren't being treated for it properly.

thank you

Hi insidegroove - Welcome to our community! I hope you find this to be a supportive, knowledgeable group of people - and a place to ask questions, read, learn, and even vent!

I wouldn't put too much stock whether the lyme test showed 'past disease'.
I'm assuming that you showed positive bands for IgG...(and not IgM) Showing a response to either IgM or IgG on the Western Blot is enough to indicate lyme disease.

Your symptoms could be indicative of active lyme disease plus coupled with the blood test...I would say you have lyme disease.


So, no, 100 mg twice daily of doxy, isn't enough. It's okay to start off that low, but you need to get to 200mg twice daily to effectively kill the bacteria.

You need to keep treating until there are no symptoms/signs left plus an additional for 4-8 weeks - this will mean months of treatment.
It is good that you have added Cat's Claw and Olive leaf extract to your regimen.

No, you are not past the point of healing...many people have healed after years of untreated infections.

You are feeling worse because you are having a herxheimer reaction. This happens when treating lyme - the die-off of bacteria produces endotoxins - flooding our system and the result is an increase in symptoms.

Please read the "New to Lyme?...Start Here!" thread at the top of the page - full of great information - and pay particular attention to the detox section. If you employ several detox methods, it will help alleviate your symptoms when you herx.

thank you for the replies everyone........i'm glad i found this forum because it's scary when you feel like this and dont really have any answers from your PCP.

I am taking a probiotic once per day now, have been for 4 days now, along with the cat's claw and olive leaf extract. honestly i feel much more fatigued that past few days since i started taking those three along with the antibiotic. i feel so lethargic today. i assume it's that all the extra goodies i am taking are helping to kill the bad stuff which is why this is happening.

i'm just confused because i have a friend with a family member who was diagnosed with lyme just 2 days before me..........we both took 100mg of doxy twice per day for a month.........she is feeling great and says she is back to normal while i am feeling terrible and my wife keeps telling me "well she is doing fine so what's wrong with you?"

i am schedule for another western blot test this week because my PCP wants to "see if i'm improving".

I would encourage you to refuse getting that second Western Blot. It will actually work against you, as it will most likely come back negative since your infection is still obviously ongoing. The tests only look for antibodies, not the bacteria itself. And these bacteria can trick the immune system into not seeing them, so no antibodies are made and the longer you have the infection, the harder it is to get a positive test.

As Girlie said, it's hard to explain why we all have such different healing paths, other than that's common with Lyme for all the reasons Girlie pointed out.

I'm so sorry your wife isn't looking into why you aren't getting any better instead of saying comments like that. She needs to get educated on this as well to be honest. It will make life for both of you a lot easier if she understands what's going on as well.

The reason you are beginning to feel worse is because you are herxing - there is an overload of toxins in your body and it can't keep up with the detoxing needs on it's own. Please do start helping your body detox - this is just as important as the treatments themselves! We have a lot of really great information on how to help your body detox in our "New to Lyme? Start here!" thread that sits at the top of the forum.

You can ask all the questions you want....don't worry about that.

Well, when I was on doxy, I was approx. 128-130 lbs and I was on 200 mg twice daily.
So, that should be fine....

When you increase to 200 mg, make sure you increase your detoxing - unless you are already detoxing like crazy...

Here are some more ideas for detox/body support:
1. Add some fresh squeezed lemon juice into some of your glasses of water.
2. Add some hydrogen peroxide to your baths.
3. Buy a natural bristle brush and dry brush your skin before the baths.
4. Light exercise
5. Take lots of probiotics
6. Support the liver - an example is Milk Thistle Seed Extract. (supplement)

In just added that information to the "New to Lyme? Start here!" thread that sits at the top of the forum. Any time you feel the need to refresh your memory on what things you can do for detoxing, it can be found there.

sincere thank you to everyone for all the usefull info! i am actually feeling good again the last three days....herx is over i guess? my energy is back and no other symptoms except for light sensativity (i feel like i am squinting outside constantly, and inside i feel like everything is brighter than normal).....and i have a nagging headache. does anyone know if those are both from the Doxy itself? i just have a fear about these "coinfections" i keep hearing about.....but from what i read they are pretty serious and i would know if i had one of them.

yesterday i was able to convince my PCP to extend my Doxy longer than the 28 days, but she encouraged me to stick with the 100mg twice per day instead of increasing to 200mg twice per day just because she said as skinny as i am and how much it is already effecting me with stomach aches and sun exposure, she thinks increased dosage may do long term damage to my body. i guess even the 100mg per day for 3 months is better than only 28 days so i will try it

so 3 months of 100mg twice per day is considered "untreated"? just wondering.......because right now after 25 days on 100mg twice per day of Doxy i feel like the Doxy is kicking my butt. i feel like i'm in a fog most of the time and have headaches just about every day, my skin burns in the sun even with sunscreen on.

i'm afraid of what i will feel like on 200mg twice per day and will it make me herx again right away? i just spent all last week herxing and had zero energy.

Agreeing on Girlie's choice!!! It's what I would recommend as well.

Many times it takes a very high concentration of Babesia parasites to be in the blood at the exact time the sample is being taken for testing in order to get a positive for Babesia.

A general rule is that co-infection testing is less reliable than Lyme testing - which is horrible.

Yes, the possibility of you only having Babesia is definitely there - but watch for more symptoms of the other infections to come out as you are treating. It's very common to have that happen.

And, yes, Babesia can be treated successfully. Although you do need to be sure to use the right medications at the right dosage.