Hi everyone, this is my first post and it's a long one, so please bear with me.
In late June I noticed a bite that after a few days developed into the typical bullseye rash on my right thigh. At the time I had no other symptoms that I can recall. I saw my doctor who ordered a Lyme test from Quest and prescribed me Doxycycline 100mg x2/day. The Lyme test came back negative, but I was expecting this as I knew a false-negative was possible this early on.
After three days on the Doxy, I developed absolutely terrible anxiety and fear for no apparent reason. In hindsight, I realize this could have been a herx reaction, but I am not sure since I read that many people have had adverse reactions with Doxy. I talked to the doctor and was told to stop taking the Doxy; the next day I started on Bactrim 800-160 2x/day for 10 days.
At this point I was hoping for the best and still showed no other symptoms. I took the Bactrim consistently the first few days and my rash healed. This is now early July where I was doing a lot of traveling and was very busy socially. Needless to say, I was not consistent with taking my Bactrim but eventually did finish it (it took me almost twice as long to finish.) At this point I was concerned with taking another Lyme test as I was told to wat at least 6 weeks.
The following week or two I began to develop a stiff neck, achy joints and extreme exhaustion with pain behind my eyes, poor memory and feeling like I was moving in slow motion. I also started feeling sort of numb, like my emotion was escaping me. This caused pretty extreme anxiety and I became worried. After calling my doctor and asking for more antibiotics to be safe, I was told to just wait for the second test. I began getting quite concerned that I actually had this disease and did a ton of research on it regarding different stages, treatment and generally learned quite a lot (I wish I had taken it as seriously at the very beginning.)
My second Lyme test was taken as soon as possible (exactly 6 weeks after the initial one) and it came back "negative" with only IgM band 23 showing as reactive. I spoke with my doctor the next day and he prescribed me 500mg of Ceftin x2 a day for 10 days. He ordered a complete blood work which came back fine, aside from low Vitamin D levels for which I started taking a supplement.
In the meantime, I spoke with a Lyme-Literate APRN who reviewed my previous lab work and assured me that I am still in a two month window where I should hopefully recover. He prescribed me another 10 days of my current dosage of Ceftin.
I am almost done with my first 10 days of Ceftin and have been taking it religiously (on time, no alcohol,) and have been eating clean and healthily and making it a habit to run most days every week to detox. Aside from the first two days when I started the Ceftin where my symptoms actually got worse (herx reaction?) and I was quite depressed, I have actually been feeling much, much better. My neck no longer hurts, my fatigue has lessened by 70 or 80% and my aches in my joints have also greatly lessened, but are still there from time to time.
What I have been struggling with the most is wondering if I would be where I am today if I had just taken the Bactrim as prescribed and taken this more seriously (and had been more knowledgable.) My worries are that it is too late to beat this thing, if I do in fact have Lyme, and that I will be stuck with it for life. Although the Ceftin has been helping immensely, I worry that I will start to feel terrible once I finish the course (as I have read this happens sometimes.)
In your experiences, is it possible for me to get well considering my medication history for this, the timeline and my current medication/lifestyle? Is it possible to still experience symptoms due to dying bacteria? I know it could be so much worse, and that's what I am afraid of happening. I am doing my best to stay positive and hopeful despite the few sleepless nights of worrying. Any info would be much appreciated! Thank you for reading!