advice for poor circulation

Hi, I just joined the site and wanted to talk about the symptoms I am experiencing. I was diagnosed with Lyme in December. My blood test did not come back positive, but my doctor was certain I had Lyme. I had the classic bulls eye days after removing a deer tick from my leg. The doctor told me in advance that the test may come back negative because it was so recent.

Anyway, I was on antibiotics for 3 weeks and was feeling pretty good overall, aside from some headaches and pain in my knuckles. In the past couple weeks, however, I have begun to have numbness in my left leg and arm, as well as some swelling in the leg whenever I am wearing socks. The left arm feels like it is slightly asleep.

I did a search for the symptoms and found a thread on this forum from a few years back, pretty much describing exactly how I feel. I did not see anything about whether the issue was resolved or not. I am going to try and see my primary doctor soon...but I am also considering seeing a specialist. I think I will take daily aspirin at least until I see the doctor, as what I read before talked about Lyme thickening the blood and leading to the symptoms I am having.

Welcome Zappa. You have such good fortune to have a doctor that treated you without a positive test results on a piece of paper.

I don't have any idea about thickening of the blood, but I do know that lyme causes just about everything. When you read the thread it will list a slew of symptoms and golly is it a huge list of "can gets."

Someone with more knowledge about blood thickening will be along shortly and answer you. I just wanted to say hello and welcome you. There really is a lot of information on this forum.

Hi Zappa!
Welcome to our community! I'm so glad you found us.

And thank you for going to that New to Lyme thread and reading through it! There is a ton a helpful information there!

3 weeks of abx (antibiotics) is rarely enough time in treatment.

Just so that you know, the tingling and numbness that you are experiencing is likely from Neuro Lyme, so the aspirin may not be very helpful.

You will want to find an ILADS trained doctor, not one that has self proclaimed themselves as a LLMD or an ID Doc (Infectious Disease Doctor), as ID docs believe Lyme is hard to catch and easy to treat, and don't believe in the reality of chronic Lyme. Go to the ILADS site to read the new (2014) Treatment guidelines to get you started on your healing journey:
www.ilads.org/lyme/treatment-guideline.php

For information on finding a​n ILADS ​(International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society)​ trained​ Lyme Literate Medical Doctor(LLMD) in your area, you will need to enable your email option in your profile in order to receive any recommendations, as we don't allow doctor's names and contact info to be posted on the forum for several reasons. You can enable your email option in your profile, under 'edit profile'. Be sure to click the submit button to actually save your preference.


​You can send me an email by clicking on my screen name or the small blue envelope under my screen name. I may have contact information for some LLMD's in your area as well.​ ​Please include your state (or province) and area that you would like to find a LLMD in and I will be happy to share the names I have.​


You can email the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance at [email protected]​ for LLMD referrals and you can go to ​tbdalliance.org​​ to learn more about these infections.


You can 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​​


ILADS has their own referral system as well:
ilads.org/ilads_media/physician-referral/


​

I've never heard that a person should take prilosec while taking Doxy. There are no interactions that I have found.

If you have a good lead on a good LLMD, I would encourage you to research it and take it if you can.

Most doctors believe that 3 weeks is all that's necessary - that's thanks to the IDSA - so it's not really your Doc's fault. If he's open to your pursuing treatment, hold on to him as well!! Some GP's aren't too happy when their patients seek out Lyme treatments.

I did get your email, I just hadn't seen it yet! I've been composing an email for another member, sorry.

For this test: EIA w/REFL IGG, IGM Western Blot value of 97
Was there a reference range, or can you tell us what lab was used? Usually a value of over 90 is considered positive on this test.

On these two test results:
BABESIA IGG & IGM ABS

EHRLICHIA Chaff AB IGG IGM

Were there any numbers, including some reference ranges on them?

3 weeks is pretty early, but I'd like to double check if you don't mind on these tests. If you can find the extra information, it might be helpful. If not, going by symptoms is what is necessary anyway. Even the CDC says: "Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks. Laboratory testing is helpful if used correctly and performed with validated methods."

www.cdc.gov/lyme/

Here are the other results, although there is no specific value for them:

BABESIA IGG & IGM ABS

BABG value <1:64 reference range <1:64

BABM value <1:20 ref range <1:20


EHRLICHIA Chaff AB IGG IGM

IGG value <1:64 ref range <1:64

IGM value <1:20 ref range <1:20


The tests were sent to the local hospital's lab. Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.

Thanks again for your help and advice.

Perhaps I posted them incorrectly? The doctor said I did not test positive for any of them. He also said my rash was quite typical. This is all very confusing at the moment. I did manage to find an ILAD doctor in my area and she has amazing reviews. One site had 134 reviews for her and all were glowing. They all gave her 5 out of 5 stars. I will call her office Tuesday and hope to be able to see her soon. I also joined a yahoo support group for Lyme in Massachusetts.

I think astroman is talking about an INR level...that's what my Mom gets done every week because she takes Coumadin.

And, while I'm not as familiar with Western Blot interpretation, I'm not seeing positive Babesia or Erlichia results with what you shared.

That's not to say you don't necessarily have these infections because there are multiple strains of each.

Your rash is highly suspicious IMHO.... since it was preceded by a tick bite and followed by the symptoms you shared, I think your doctor did a good job with diagnosis.

My DIL got bit by a nymph deer tick a couple of months before I got bit. She had an insanely huge rash on her leg - not much unlike your rash....no bullseye. She developed flu-like symptoms and was started on abx (not doxy because she was breastfeeding)....2-3 wks' worth? She's been fine ever since and delivered a healthy baby boy last year. I try not to worry about any of them and am thankful everyone seems fine.

We can't fault our doctors for following IDSA guidelines and those guidelines shouldn't be failing people.....but they do in a large number of cases.

Lyme isn't the only health condition for which guidelines fail patients. I know the AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) guidelines fail thyroid patients.

For most of us, having Lyme translates into a crash course while trying to negotiate the proper care....not easy for those dealing with debilitating symptoms.