Can Lyme Disease Progress into Multiple Sclerosis?

Hi--I am fighting Lyme for over 2 years now. It took me 15 months to be diagnosed, I was on Doxy and Claritho last fall for one month (got terribly ill) and this spring was also diagnosed with Sjogrens and (though the doctor didn't bestow the official title of Lupus) I am ANA positive. (I tested positive for Lyme by CDC/NYS criteria and saw the bullseye).

My nerve pain and numbness is getting worse and worse, everyday is pain. I have more numbness weakness on my right than my left. ALL day long I have tiny muscle spasms and twitches all over my body, but mostly legs.

Last night for the first time I experienced excruciating calf spasms (Charley Horse) during sleep.

My questions is...this is so similar to someone I know with MS, can Lyme eventually turn into MS? I am currently doing the Wahl's Protocol and Ozone but no improvements. I had an MRI 4 months ago that showed some "encephalopathy" but no lesions. I don't know if I should keep fighting Lyme or pursue MS testing. I don't want to ignore it and have it get much worse if it is MS if there is something I can do.

Has anyone experienced this? Thanks and God bless all of you.

Also, possibly genetics determine if it can go into MS or not. Just a theory. The cause of MS is still unknown so it's a possibility! I am very interested in this topic because I like many here was put through MS testing due to my age and symptoms.

Low magnesium levels in the blood can cause severe charlie horses in the calves in addition to heart palpitations. I had to have a cardiac angiogram this past Monday due to what now appears to be Lyme Carditis (still not confirmed by lab testing) but I was having terrible palpitations all day Monday and they checked a bunch of labs prior to the heart cath and the only thing abnormal was my Magnesium level. Within 30 minutes of getting the IV magnesium, I noticed the palpitation were nearly gone. I usually take a very good multivitamin in the morning and evening, but had been NPO (nothing by mouth) for 18 hours prior to the hospital labs being done so I had not taken my normal vitamins. So it might be worthwhile to have your magnesium level checked.

I have had burning in my feet, but not head (it's numb!). I am sure others will comment but I think foot pain is common with Bartonella. Have you treated for that? If not, it could be why you are not getting better. I have not treated Bart but suspect it could be the cause of most neuro stuff. 3 months of antibiotics for Lyme did not really change any of my symptoms. I should have kept going and tried out different combos for Bart or Babesia but ended up jumping into LDI. I have a hard time sticking to one thing which will likely be my downfall! I believe Rifampin, Bactrim and a few others are good at hitting Bart. Others can give you more info on antibiotics and herbs if you need it.

Hi - I don't know the answer to your question, but you are in my area, i live on Long Island, your email is unavailable. If you would like to chat, shoot me an email, I have a whole network of lymies in NYC and LI !!

Thanks kyo I will look into it. I will try to figure out how to email you Chapelle.
Thanks to everyone. I learn more on these forums than any where else.
Please let's update occasionally---this way we can all learn from and hopefully help each other.

Stay strong

Why not try a more slowly advancing herbal protocol? Many find that if they ramp up too quickly, they come crashing back down. I healed my 40 yr old infection with herbs only, after being an abx failure.

Buhner's is the one I recommend most often, it's very easy to tailor it to your specific needs and you have full control on how fast you ramp up the dosages to help avoid serious herxing like you did on the Chinese Herbs.

The most important thing is to not give up! Keep looking for what will work to help your body heal - and we are all here to help you along the way!!

Oh also; I too have the twitches, spasms, cramps, etc...taking addtl magnesium apart from the multivitamin is essential because whatever mag. Is in your multi will be used just in the assistance of calcium absorption...

With that said, I think I get your question if LYME can RESULT in an M.S. scenario of destroyed myelin sheath....in my opinion-YES!!! but I'm not a Dr OR scientist!!!

Or...you can have Lyme symptoms...that mimic MS symptoms.

I was sent to a Neurologist early on - pre-lyme diagnosis...because of symptoms...but MS was ruled out in my case - because of the clear MRI, along with the array of symptoms - that included ones that aren't typically MS.

Traveler and Girlie know may more than I do about all these topics. I do know that I've read that some people diagnosed with MS eventually tested positive for Lyme and after treatment a repeat MRI showed there were no longer the lesions that are characteristic of MS.

I've had the MRI and it was negative, but that was probably more than 10 years ago. A friend who was diagnosed with MS started with numbness on her face. I never realized it but I've had symptoms that could be attributed to Bell's Palsy. I wonder about my friend because I haven't seen her in years. She was my co-leader for Girl Scouts and on one camping trip we had a girl with a tick bite. I wonder now not just about my friend by also about my girl scout. I gave the dad the speel about the rash. Now I feel guilty because either of them could have Lyme.

So my recommendation would be "don't borrow trouble". We know that Lyme&co cause all the symptoms you find in MS. Treat your Lyme and make sure you treat it for at least two months after you no longer have symptoms, but also remember symptoms overlap between Lyme and the cos. Definitely tell your friend about what you have learned about Lyme.

The symptoms you mention are symptoms that many people on here have. Even the completely weird symptoms you would never mention to anyone else can be found here if you ask. If you ask, you will also find out when during treatment people had them disappear. My favorites are the pulse I hear in my ear when I lay my head on the pillow and burning hot skin. I thought the ear pulse was normal until a little over a year ago when my husband said he never had them. I even had a few people say they had the hot skin. I would have a temperature of 97 and then my doc put her hand on my arm and pulled it back like she had touched a hot stove. It was something she had never experienced before.

So keep reading posts (for new info) and keep up your treatment. You can get to the point where you are symptom free, just read Traveler's story.

Hope you have a good day,
Kim

Your second number with the range of 60-360 is the Natural Killer cells. My number was 41 (low) which indicates chronic infection. I have read that possibly mold, heavy metals, EBV, etc can also lower the CD 57 number. I have all those except for mold. I am not sure how much stock to put in that number and I'm sure others who have Lyme can chime in if they have had a normal number.

I did not have a spinal tap either, but a spinal MRI. What MRI's did they do? I believe brain MRI's will show lesions that affect the face, eyes, etc. Spinal MRI's (Cervical and Thoracic) will show lesions on spine that cause the symptoms in arms, legs, etc. Spinal lesions are harder to detect on MRI. MRI's should be done with "MS protocol" and I would also investigate type of MRI (open vs. closed (preferred)) and strength (1.5T or 2T). Trust your instincts and do what you need to do for peace of mind.

LDI isn't something you do yourself. A trained doctor will give it to you or administer it. Yes, there is a "special mix" for Lymies. We had a thread not too long ago on LDI if you want to do a search.

Right, but you still have to get that from a doctor. Sorry I wasn't clear.