I think I might have Lyme...

I have had Lyme a couple times in the past. My blood-work in the past has shown up as showing I had it, but it is not active. I go for new blood-work tomorrow MDL in Hamilton NJ. I understand they are one of the 3 recommended labs by the Lyme Disease Organization.

I also have an early morning appointment with a Neurologist tomorrow.

In the past 10 days after taking Cephalexin for an skin infection I started getting muscle fasciculations. (Muscle spasms and twitches) It started in my left foot. Then worked through both my legs and starting to feel them in my torso. I have felt them before over the past year usually when I would eat a lot of sugar, but all of the sudden after starting that Antibiotic (Cefalexin) it as gone crazy and out of control and is non stop. It has gotten much worse since coming off the Antibiotic even though it started when I started taking it. It was only in my foot the day after I started and stayed that way until coming off the antibiotic.

I also suffer from UC since my early 20's but have kept it at bay for the most part by taking Asacol. One weird point to note that years ago taking antibiotics would cause UC flare. Was in remission for 15 years. Over the past year I noticed small flares got better on Antibiotics not worse.

about a month ago I started having pain in the right side of my neck. I could not turn all the way to the right without pain. The pain was almost completely gone once I started the antibiotic but is starting to come back a bit. 2 nights ago I had severe burning sensation in the neck. Very weak and hard to turn it without feeling the burn.
Clicking in left ear. Went away on Antibiotics and came back after finished.
Pain in left ear. Went away on Antibiotics and came back after finished.

These symptoms happen every time I go on antibiotics for any kind of infection or when I have gotten dental work that required it. And they are happening now being off of the medication.
Numbness in body, tingling, pinpricks
Burning/stabbing sensations in the body

Past sever days: Loss of appetite,
Joint pain and stiffness
Shifting joint pains
Muscle pain or cramps
Poor muscle coordination, loss of reflexes
Difficulty breathing at night. (very bad)
Disturbed sleep: too little, difficulty falling or staying asleep
Feeling as though you are losing your mind
Forgetfulness, memory loss (short or long term) Been happening for a while but has gotten very bad lately.
Confusion, difficulty thinking (Bad for a while but worse lately.)
Difficulty with concentration, reading, spelling (Bad for a while but worse lately.)

Other symptoms over the past couple of months.
Headaches for days.
Tingling of nose and face
Stiff neck
Stiff feeling in throat, but not really sore.
Heightened allergic sensitivities to certain foods it seems.
Heart palpitations
Diminished exercise tolerance
Mood swings, irritability, agitation
Anxiety (Who wouldn't with all of these symptoms.)
Aggressive behavior / impulsiveness
Poor work performance
Attention deficit problems, distractibility
Confusion, difficulty thinking
Difficulty with concentration, reading, spelling
Disorientation: getting or feeling lost. (Many time when jogging I get confused with where I am at in places I have been jogging for years. Only lasts 10 seconds before I get my bearings straight.)
Floaters/spots in the line of sight
Word finding problems (constantly over the past month or 2 and drives me crazy)
Decreased interest in play (children)
Extreme fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion
No fevers lately but there was a time back about a year ago that I was constantly running low grade fevers with no explanation.
I get these burns on my body that last one day here, the next day it's moved. It's like a feeling you were dragged across the carpet, but it usually only stays in one place for a day before it moves on to another place. Goes away in a week and eventually comes back.

My primary only marked me off for Lyme Disease Western Blot, but I got the answer from a Lyme specialist here in NJ who cannot see me till May but they told me what other tests I should add.

I camp once per month in the many places in NJ and PA for the past few years with my son who is Scouting. So many places to get bitten as well as right in my back yard where I see Deer all of the time. My biggest fear is they will say the Lyme is not active and I think that is what is causing all of these problems. The Spasms are driving me nuts, some are obvious some you cannot see, but I feel them all and it's working its way up my body!!

If people agree they think this could be Lyme I would like to know other things like what might be able to help until I can get some treatment. The spasms are insanely difficult to sleep with.

Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, welcome here!

about your question, I suggest you to regularly do detoxing. Bacteria produce a lot of toxins, so this would be a good way to help your body. There are plenty of methods, so choose some of them that you like.

In addition to the detoxing suggestions in the New to Lyme?... thread, here is a link to a website with even more:

www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html

Effective detoxing will help flush out the toxins created from the die-off of the bacteria (either from treatment...or just the regular life cycle ).
Flushing out the toxins will help lessen the severity of the herxheimer reaction and reduce the symptoms.

I hope you keep reading, posting, and ask any questions you have. This is a supportive and knowledgeable group of people here.

Some people have found that supplementing with magnesium will help with muscle spasms and fasciculations.

I had the fasciculations - and it didn't help me...but it's definitely worth a try.

Also, the detoxing can help with them. Start with a few methods...and every few days you can add a new one.
You need to do multiple detox methods daily...and if you have a lot of toxins in your body, it could take awhile before you see results.

I will definitely try that tonight... I hope it helps me get some more sleep.

Yes I have to figure out what to eat. Been living on egg whites and some melon because they seem to not cause a worse reaction with the spasms. Not very hungry. Forcing myself to eat. Pains today are getting bad in joints. Upper body getting weak. Really feel run down like I'm getting sick. I've only been averaging about 3 hours a sleep a night. I hope I can sleep tonight and feel a little better tomorrow.

I go to get my testing tomorrow.

I stopped taking my UC meds a few days ago. Any recommendation if I should go back on Asacol HD? I also stopped my Nexium. I've been popping a few tums if the heartburn gets bad at night and sipping water if its bad during the day. Any opinions?

Also, got results back on some blood work. My Magnesium I'm confused on. I thought he told me on the phone that I was low. Its a 1.7 when it says it should be between 1.6 and 2.3. I was hoping that might be low and causing the spasms.
My Platelets are low but he said that it was just a little low. 148 when the range should be btw 150 and 379. Also said my Bad Cholest was in the good range, but good Cholest was too low.

Vit D. looks ok now and was bad last year. I have been taking supplements.

The lab messed up on the B6 test I asked them to run because they used the wrong vile so I had to go back today to give them new blood.

Tomorrow I go to get my Lyme test done. The nice people at Doctor R's office in Neptune were nice enough to tell me what to tell my doctor to ask for on the Lyme test even though I was no a patient yet. Then I put myself on the list to visit him in a month when he has his next opening.

I also go to a regular Neurologist tomorrow. He will probably tell me its not Lyme when gets the results but we will see. I know I have been bitten 3 times at least. 2 times had rash. 1 time did not but went on 3 weeks on abx anyway.

I just hope I can get a little longer sleep tonight then I did last night.

Post Edited By Moderator (cd3764) : 4/6/2016 5:42:38 AM (GMT-6)

Ditto on the magnesium. In the medical field it's called the relaxing mineral. They give it IV for heart attacks and also to women in pre-term labor as it so relaxes the smooth muscles.

Can't see how a nice epsom salt soak before bed wouldn't be good for you. Let us know.

There apparently is a test that can point to active disease. One of the doctors in the Lyme Summit mentioned using it but I cannot remember the name right now. Wait, here is a link you can look at.

http://ispotlyme.com/healthcare-practioners/

hang in there! You aren't alone!

Thank you all.. And Sorry about posting the doctors names. I will make sure I do not do that in the future.

Feeling awful at 2am. Burning in face and head now. Right leg stopped bothering me now back to the left. Feel nauseous after waking. I wish this would not take so long for results to come back. Thinking I may end up checking myself in to hospital tomorrow. Can't stand these feelings. I really felt much better yesterday except for the fasiculations and twitching of right foot.

Has anyone had these symptoms? I remember early when things started getting bad my right foot felt like every muscle in the foot was tightened for many hours. Not the same thing is sort of happening to my thumb. It feels like it's still as a board and it's harder than normal to bend it. Anyone have symptoms similar to that?

To me, the fact that it is "come and go" and "moving around" makes it sound much more like Lyme.

Also, I have been using Magnesium spray in addition to the epsom baths and my twitching has pretty much gone away. Didn't happen overnight took some time.

Post Edited (k07) : 4/11/2016 3:58:10 PM (GMT-6)