rashes re appeared while on treatment for Lyme

Hi,

Two weeks back i started getting rashes in my arms and my arm got painful . Doctor saw it and detected it Lyme and prescribed Doxycycline 100 twice a day for three weeks and one ointment for rashes and claritin for a week.

Rashes got away in a week. But last week rashes started appearing on the arm again, exactly same rashes, today more rashes. Doctor told it might be hives . But i can say these are not hives and are lyme rashes. I still have 9 days of medicines left.Is it possible for the rashes to reappear while on treatment ?

I am thinking to go to other doctor.
Any suggestions.

thanks

Thanks for letting me know that its normal to have rashes to reappear again.

I have filled the ILAD form.But it will take three days for them to come back.

I live in greenwich , ct area. Will you be able to find the Lyme specialist in the area.

Thanks again

Gosh , tried taking infectious disease specialist doctor in near by area. Every doctor is booked for months and months

Hi prags -

Sorry you're here but also glad you found us.

Girlie and Traveler already provided some great info - I just wanted to say welcome.

Did you happen to take any photos of the rash? Did your MD?

Also, I'm not sure if I ever developed an EM (Erythema Migrans or bulls-eye) rash after being bitten - I did get VERY ill at the time and vaguely remember a rash on my back but I was also delirious at the time. I don't remember for sure.

But an entire year after I started treating for Lyme & Co I did develop very obvious EM rashes and continue to do so, 2 years later. So, I agree with the others - rashes can come and go whenever. They are a sign your immune system recognized the microbes in the skin/flesh area, where they shouldn't be. The rashes are very helpful with diagnosis as it's understood that no other microbe can cause an EM rash. But they don't mean a whole lot once you've already been diagnosed (they generally don't communicate anything about infection or treatment.)

Most MDs are just not educated with current information about Lyme & Co, particularly ID docs, believe it or not. As Traveler mentioned, ID docs subscribe to an outdated protocol that defines Lyme in very, very narrow terms, which misses many other manifestations of the microbial infection. So they are generally not worth your time and money. So most of the Lyme community seek out Lyme specialists (LLMDs), ILADS-trained specialists and also why they are few and far between, and take awhile to see.

Your best bet might be to go to another MD, get another round of abx (read between the lines), while you are waiting to see a Lyme specialist. There are other options too, but it's best to get into see an LLMD.

Be sure to check out that "New to Lyme?" thread - has invaluable info about Lyme and will help you determine more about your potential exposure and other ways of verifying infection. You can also look online for Lyme rashes.

-p

Prags - You really should see a Lyme Literate Dr. (LLMD) - did you read the previous posts?

See if you can get an appt with a LLMD, but don't stop treating while you wait for the appt.

Please update us after your appointment tomorrow.

prags said...
you are right...Posted questions and information to find LLMD in my area in the mentioned websites. However when I posted the question here I didn't get any response .

thanks

I found your thread and bumped it back to the top of page 1 for more views.

You can email me (click on the envelope below my screen name ) and I will check my listing for LLMD's in the area you are looking.

So i went to the doctor today. He seemed knowledgeable , he had a lot of theoretical knowledge. He looked at my blood report ( which my primary said that was negative for lyme) and said acc to new guidelines your blood test is positive for lyme.
My rashes have been itchy , the ones which are gone now and the present ones too. He said that he never heard about lyme rashes being itchy, so according to him lot more is going on me other than lyme.
He ordered couple more blood work.
He seemed to talk sensible but did not provide any solution. I asked if higher dosage of doxy would help me. So he suggested me to double up my dosage ( 200mg twice a day) . He said he was not sure if I would be able to tolerate it , so did not give further description. I had these medications left for one week, so he said to try these and see if I was able to tolerate it.

So from this evening , I am taking 200 mg dosage each time.(so total will be 400 per day) Will go for blood test tomorrow. Also i will try to take appointment with llmd on Monday. My rashes are still there and now i am having trouble in swallowing food / water also .
Will continue taking claritin also.And he gave me one probiotic from his office to eat every day.
By the way my appointment lasted one hour and half which i found to be exceptionoly long without being able to provide any concrete advise.

Prags, I'm just getting in on this conversation so I don't know if you've begun any de-toxing methods yet to help your body move the toxin leftovers out of your system that killing the Lyme bacteria create.

If not, you may likely feel what's called a "herx" (for short) reaction that could make you feel pretty bad, intensifying your symptoms and often creating more.

Your system gets overloaded trying to keep up with this added chore and begins to recirculate the crud back into your bloodstream, etc. Much of the information you need is in our intro. This is a link to a good outside source.
www.tiredoflyme.com/detox-methods.html.


If you've already covered this and have started implementing a good de-tox routine, forgive me for being redundant.

So today i went to the doctor referred to my by ilads.org in new york state. He suggested that since I almost have no other symptoms other than rashes which look like lyme, I probably would be better off in reducing doxy to 300mg per day( i have ongoing diarrhea since last 5 weeks, which he think would be worst due to 400mg doxy). He also told that if nothing new pops up and blood results come normal I should start think to quit further treatment after 3-4 weeks.And take good probiotic along with it.

I am little surprised as lyme guidelines says 400 mg per day is minimum dosage.My earlier blood report showed only i41. He has ordered further tests.

I am doing detox methods. Green tea, lemon.Did epsom salt bath and on 2nd day got very bad nausea so left it there.

Does anyone know where is the link for any of the herbs to eat for lyme.

thanks

So a new rash appeared again on the arm, red bumpy and itchy. Called llmd again today. He said my lyme was already under treatment , so if it continues to re appear then we would have to see dermatologist and allergist .
I am still waiting for my blood results.For now I am back to lower dosage of doxy 300mg, 400mg was giving me horrible nausea and i threw up also.

prags said...
So a new rash appeared again on the arm, red bumpy and itchy. Called llmd again today. He said my lyme was already under treatment , so if it continues to re appear then we would have to see dermatologist and allergist .
I am still waiting for my blood results.For now I am back to lower dosage of doxy 300mg, 400mg was giving me horrible nausea and i threw up also.

Your LLMD is making sound like "well you're treating so this shouldn't be happening, so if it continues, it must be something else, good luck"

Yea no. Skin issues are common lyme symptoms and symptoms often times heighten during and because of treatment (herxing). In the lyme world the saying "it gets worse before it gets better" is very true.

So the new rashes are still appearing , less itchy and less bumpy but still appearing. Co infections test came negative and lyme ab value came .04 .
My LLMD strongly thinks that I might not have lyme because new rashes should not appear after being on Doxy 300 mg per day.

Two more weeks out of six weeks of doxy is still remaining...

Are you taking pictures of these rashes? If not, start today.

Are they bulls eye rashes, or 'just a rash'?

Do NOT believe them at this point. Fight to stay in treatments if you have ongoing symptoms. Remember, the CDC is pushing back hard, trying to get doctors and hospitals to stick with IDSA treatment guidelines.

New testing means nothing, as it all depends on how well your immune system is responding to the bacteria - not if you HAVE the bacteria. I had negative tests until I had a full year of treatment - then I was 'suddenly' fully CDC positive for not one, but two tick-borne infections.

And, if you wouldn't mind, would you send me an email with the LLMD's that you are seeing? I'd like to be able to warn others if they choose to use these doctors. TIA!