HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

20 years after finding a bullseye rash...have I had lyme all this time?

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 1/5/2017 5:40 PM (GMT 0)
Let me start by saying I definitely had a bullseye rash nearly 20 years ago in my armpit as a child. I remember my parents being concerned and taking me to my pediatrician, but nothing after that. I assumed for years that he checked it out and told them I was fine.

Now for as long as I remember I have struggled with excessive neck and shoulder stiffness and pain, anxiety, depression, migraine headaches. In recent years I have developed a tendency towards ovarian cysts, been diagnosed bipolar, developed IBS and GERD. Just recently, in the last year or so, my joints and muscles have been aching constantly. I am always exhausted and could easily nap at any given time. I have memory problems and cannot remember huge parts of my life. Sometimes my knees barely get me up the stairs and sometimes it hurts to hold my phone because my hands seize so bad. I am only 27.

It's worsened the last few months and for a while I told myself it was just the winter weather or that it was because I had put on weight.

But I'm starting to get worried. The more I read about Lyme the more familiar it all sounds. I originally began worrying that I maybe had fibromyalgia but someone mentioned lyme and i remembered my rash from so long ago. I had just assumed the test came back negative but now reading about how unreliable the test can be, especially at such an early stage, I am concerned.

I want to get tested but currently do not have health insurance. I've considered urgent care, but worry they aren't as well versed in the disease.

I guess I'm just looking for thoughts and direction. If someone develops that tell-tale rash, how likely is it that they have lyme disease? Also, how likely is it that it could have laid dormant (or semi-dormant) for almost 20 years?
Posted 1/5/2017 5:45 PM (GMT 0)
Yomcmeans,

Welcome. I'm very sorry you have Lyme, but thankful that your intuition/inner voice is giving you these old memories so you can heal yourself.

Lyme can lie dormant for years and bulls-eye rash is 100% lyme positive. Often something traumatic wakes it up. That is what happened for myself and my son.

There are amazing moderators on this forum who will walk you through every step of what to do. The support, expertise, kindness, compassion and wisdom of this board has saved my sanity.

You CAN heal from lyme, even late stage lyme.

Hang in there. You are young and younger people usually heal faster.
Posted 1/5/2017 5:56 PM (GMT 0)

yomcmeans said...
Let me start by saying I definitely had a bullseye rash nearly 20 years ago in my armpit as a child. I remember my parents being concerned and taking me to my pediatrician, but nothing after that. I assumed for years that he checked it out and told them I was fine.

Now for as long as I remember I have struggled with excessive neck and shoulder stiffness and pain, anxiety, depression, migraine headaches. In recent years I have developed a tendency towards ovarian cysts, been diagnosed bipolar, developed IBS and GERD. Just recently, in the last year or so, my joints and muscles have been aching constantly. I am always exhausted and could easily nap at any given time. I have memory problems and cannot remember huge parts of my life. Sometimes my knees barely get me up the stairs and sometimes it hurts to hold my phone because my hands seize so bad. I am only 27.

It's worsened the last few months and for a while I told myself it was just the winter weather or that it was because I had put on weight.

But I'm starting to get worried. The more I read about Lyme the more familiar it all sounds. I originally began worrying that I maybe had fibromyalgia but someone mentioned lyme and i remembered my rash from so long ago. I had just assumed the test came back negative but now reading about how unreliable the test can be, especially at such an early stage, I am concerned.

I want to get tested but currently do not have health insurance. I've considered urgent care, but worry they aren't as well versed in the disease.

I guess I'm just looking for thoughts and direction. If someone develops that tell-tale rash, how likely is it that they have lyme disease? Also, how likely is it that it could have laid dormant (or semi-dormant) for almost 20 years?

Regarding the bolded, if you get a bulls-eye rash, it's Lyme 100%. The bulls-eye rash is not a symptom of a tick-bite like many people think, but actually a symptom of Borrelia infection.

Welcome!
Posted 1/5/2017 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Yomcmeans,
Welcome to our community! I"m so glad you found us.

If you haven't ​yet​, it would be helpful for you to start with reading through the thread at the top of the forum titled,"New to Lyme?...Start here!!", as it is packed full of important information, symptom lists, helpful links and pdf's, how to detox when one has these infections, information on probiotics and much more. And this is another good list of possible detoxing routines: www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html Detoxing for us is an incredibly important part of our healing.

Your story is eerily similar to mine, only mine has drug on further, as I'm now 53 - but I was infected by the age of 7 myself. I wasn't properly diagnosed until I was 44 years old, and it's been quite a ride since. Although I never have had a bull's eye rash - ever. But, there are over 100 different strains of Borrelia (Lyme) just in the US alone, and not all of them will produce a bull's eye rash. Only Borrelia burgderfori (the actual name of the bacteria that causes "Lyme" as the case definition describes) produces a bull's eye rash, but not every time. Most estimates are around 10 - 20 % of those actually infected with Borrelia burgdorferi actually see a bull's eye rash. So, no doubt, if you had a bull's eye, you have Lyme.

During the years I was infected and undiagnosed, I went through periods of seemingly very little symptoms, but they would always cycle back in, particularly any time I was under any stress - and the bigger the stress on my body, the more ill I was later. This is actually quite common with Lyme.

First of all, you will need to see a doctor that actually acknowledges these infections for what they are, and how dangerous they really are.

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.


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/

And www.LymeDoc.org


​ You will want to find a well 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.lymenet.org/BurrGuide200810.pdf
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply