feeling great, but having quivers in my legs

So after upping my dosage of Doxycycline to 400 mg/day last week, as of a few days ago I basically feel 100% better. No more fatigue, swollen glands or feeling sick. I do have a couple of minor symptoms that remain and I'm not sure if they are a result of the actual lyme bacteria, a minor herx or just nerve/muscle damage that will eventually repair itself. I get a weird sensation in my lower legs around the calf muscles. The only way I can describe it is as a quiver. It is not painful or stopping me from going about my day to day activities. I also get the odd muscle switch at various locations throughout my body (again not painful) that usually goes away within a minute or two. Are these quivers or twitches something I should be concerned about or will they eventually go away on their own?

I should also point out that I started light exercise again a few days ago and I don't know if this is contributing to the quiver.

Just some quick background-I believe I have acute stage lyme. Symptoms started late April. I did not notice a tick bite or rash. I probably went a month without treatment before testing positive on the ELISA test and negative on the Western Blot. I started 3 weeks of Doxy @ 200 mg/day. When I finished that I felt better but relapsed a week later. I went back on the Doxy @ 200 mg/day again and then upped it last week to 400 mg/day.

Yes I have felt better since Sunday (other than the quiver). I have enough Doxy from this current prescription to last me another 19 days. I still have enough left from when I started my second round at the lower dose that I can treat for another 11 days beyond that (at 400 mg/day) if I can't get another prescription. I have another appointment with my Family Doctor at the end of next week. I will try to convince him to give me one more month of antibiotics so I can treat for a total of 2 months. He's been pretty good so far but who knows.

Yep 19 days of 400/day left plus the 11 days left from my old prescription if I double the dose that was originally prescribed.

I'm hoping the quivers are just a result of starting to exercise again as they really only started up again once I started (I didn't have them when I relapsed).

Yes I am happy I feel a lot better....just don't want a relapse again!

goshawk said...
I would just add that if the quivers and muscle twitches continue look to checking for co-infections such as Bartonella.

What is the antibiotic treatment for Bartonella? Unfortunately my doctor here in Toronto doesn't know much about lyme and co-infections. He's pretty good as prescribing me what I ask for if I know what I need. I can't seem to find much online about treating bart.

torontolyme said...

goshawk said...
I would just add that if the quivers and muscle twitches continue look to checking for co-infections such as Bartonella.

What is the antibiotic treatment for Bartonella? Unfortunately my doctor here in Toronto doesn't know much about lyme and co-infections. He's pretty good as prescribing me what I ask for if I know what I need. I can't seem to find much online about treating bart.

There are a few choices:

1) Fluoroquinolones - Ciprofloxaxin or Levaquin. These are apparently the best for Bart. BUT, they come with the FDA black box warning for risk of tendon rupture, peripheral neuropathy (which could be permanent), and CNS issues. For this reason, many patients choose not to do them... BUT, I've read testimonies from some that have done them and they were effective.

2) Rifabutin/Rifampin - I've read the Rifabutin is more effective than Rifampin. I've been on Rifampin and I found it easy to tolerate. Some people say it affected their liver enzymes. It didn't do that for me...even though mine were elevated prior to taking rifampin - when I was treating only lyme. I know that both Dr. J (well known LLMD) and Dr. M (bart guru) do prescribe Rifabutin.

3) I do know some people who have gotten better taking other combos. These people were mostly ill for shorter time ie months NOT years.

- Bactrim plus another antibiotic