Well, thank you for your very kind words!! Believe me, I was really, really scared when I had those severe cognitive issues! I had no idea IF I could come back from that, so I set out using everything I could find to help my brain - mainly just 'brain games'. I couldn't even follow a pattern that had already been laid out for me though! So, while it did take a lot of work, I have been rather pleased with the results - even though I can still tell that my brain is not 'totally' back - I'm very grateful for what has returned!!!!
The problem is, small joint inflammation and damage is just not recognized by many...yet. It's mainly only those practitioners that see a lot of Lyme patients, so that they see "enough" Lyme patients to really understand this (of course, they also have to recognize how many Lyme patients they actually have!).
What I did find, was from one Lyme site:
/www.lymeneteurope.org/info/late-and-chronic-lyme-disease - I did look at the reference they cite, but we can't see the whole article without paying for it, so of course, we don't get to see what the poster says about
it:
"The arthralgias appear to primarily involve the large joints (i.e. knees, elbows, hips, shoulders), although smaller joints (e.g. wrists, hands, fingers, toes) may be involved (29). Some patients may have actual arthritis, often oligoarticular, more frequently in men than in women."
The one "non-Lyme" site I found that mentions this:
/www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-info/lyme-disease/lyme-signs-and-symptoms/"The most common presentation is a single involved knee, but both large and small joints may be affected, and usually only one or two joints at a time. "
www.childrenslymenetwork.org/children-lyme/lyme-disease-symptoms/"Joint pain. Migratory joint pain is a hallmark of Lyme disease. The pain can travel between different joints or the intensity of pain may vary for the affected joints. Typically more than one joint is involved. Larger joints are usually impacted, including the knees, hips, shoulders, and elbows. The knee joints may be painful but do not have to be swollen. Pain can also occur in smaller joints, like the fingers, wrists, hands, ankles and feet. There may also be pain in the child’s neck and back.
As for the Bartonella, I would echo WalkingByFaith's suggestion in that you likely need to treat Bartonella as well. Bart is well known for increasing pain in many areas of the body, and those with Neuro Lyme and Bartonella will almost always experience more pain, generally neuro pain. But, Bartonella can and does create nodules on the bones - which is why I also asked about
it.
You can also look into anti-inflammatory herbs. While we always need to be careful and watch our liver health with all these meds and herbs, herbs generally will have less of a harmful impact on the liver. That's why I really like turmeric (with pepperine -a black pepper constituent- to increase effectiveness), as it not only is a very good anti-inflammatory, but it helps to regenerate the liver as well.
Added to that, I also use ginger, and bromelain when my arthritis has got me at the end of my rope. There have been a few times when that wasn't enough, and I turned to DMSO mixed with Arnica gel to apply topically to ease the amazing amount of pain that can be caused during an 'arthritis attack'.