"What were your symptons, and what treatment have you had?"
The first day it came on like any other 'bug'. I was feverish and my head and stomach hurt. The following morning I had a red rash and the glands in my neck were swollen to the point that there was no space between my ear lobes and neck and the fever was higher (102). Thought I had the measles.
A friend of mine is a nurse practitioner, so I gave her a call and told her that I was hesitant to come in to the office because I didn't know if I was contagious, I thought I had the measles. She said that a parvo virus (I didn't even know humans got those!) had gone around the schools and town, and that I should stay hydrated, take something for the mild fever I would experience, and ride it out for 5 days or so.
That night my fever hit 104 and my leg muscles hurt so badly that all I could do was cry.
Called my friend the next morning and told her that the fever wasn't 'mild' and that I was concerned. She again stated (bless her heart) that I should take ibuprofen and stay hydrated. The headache and fever continued for a solid week, although the swelling in my neck did go down. My neck, shoulders and arms itched to the point that I was clawing my skin raw. I tried every itch preparation on the market and received no relief.
On the 8th day, my husband took me to the emergency room at about 4:30 am. The fever had hit 105 and I was almost too weak to walk. If I stood -- I fainted. After a couple of hours of receiving fluids, the doctor (another neighbor of ours) declared that I had gastroenteritis and he was sending me home. In a friendly manner I suggested that I disagreed with him and asked him specifically if it was possible that I had West Nile or Lyme Disease or something. He chuckled in that 'you are so ignorant' tone and assured me that I had none of those things. We asked him about the severe muscle aches and cramping. He said I was dehydrated from all of the vomiting and that was lowering my potassium and making my muscles contract. When I pointed out (AGAIN) that I had not been vomiting, he totally ignored me. When I inquired about the prior rash and the current severe itching, he prescribed a steriodal creme and discharged me and told me to come into his office the next day.
This went on for almost another week with no significant improvement. My husband had gone to a local drug store to fill yet another prescription and happened to tell the pharmacist's wife some of what I was going through. He said the color left her face and she told him to get me to Dr. XXX's office asap. This was the Lyme specialist that had been treating her husband for 4 years.
It took me 2 weeks to get in to see the specialist, but we made the 2-1/2 hour drive with guarded hope.
All in all, I was diagnosed a little over a month after onset, which is fairly early, although not early enough to nip it quickly and easily. I am being treated with antibiotic therapies. The 'itching' in my arms turned out to be nerve pain as a result of some of the neurological aspects of Lyme, and is treated with anti-seizure medication. When you are treated for Lyme, you actually have to get sicker to get better ... strange as that sounds. As the medication kills the Lyme, your immune system reacts to the toxins and you get quite ill.
"When I expressed concern to my doctor he shrugged it off, says it mostly occurs in the northeastern U.S."
Unfortunately, a common misconception. Everyone, please ... if you have been exposed to the possibility of a tick bite and you become ill ... press your doctor to rule out Lyme Disease. In 30% of cases, the tick is never seen and folks don't know that they have been bitten. That was the case with me. However, for the 2 weeks prior to my becoming sick I had been in a thicket on our property cutting black locust for fence posts. I had actually picked a couple of ticks off of my clothing, but never knew that I had received a bite.
This disease is not limited to the Northeast U.S. Doctors have been studying the disease with something akin to DNA analysis and can often tell which strain is from which part of the country. The Deep South and Texas are producing every-increasing cases of Lyme Disease.
I'm not an expert, but I will be happy to answer any questions anybody might have with regard to what I've experienced so far with Lyme. I am 7 months into treatment and am probably looking at at least another year of therapy.
Unfortunate from the gardening aspect of things, one of the antibiotics that I currently take makes me extremely hyper-sensitive to sun exposure and I am, for the most part, unable to spend time outside. I still hunt avidly, and I get really sunburned from time to time, even when I'm covered up well. Sunscreen doesn't seem to help. Hopefully by the time spring rolls around this year I will be able to switch to another medication that will solve this problem.
I just read your post on the history of your Lyme. I had no idea about its long term effects or how difficult it was to treat. I do wish you the best. I think I will take my surgery over your Lyme anyday.
Thanks for the response justa.
Gosh, you have been through a lot, and I am so sorry to hear about this.
I’m glad you posted about your experience, because, from what I a reading, Lyme Disease is much more common than the medical community is admitting.
I had a really nasty tick bite in early summer last year. It didn’t produce the red ring around the bite, but I had a rash and it took forever for it to go away.
Back in the 1980s I lived in Missouri, and this particular summer the ticks were so bad I’d take my dog outside to potty and could see ticks crawling up my leg (in a mowed, manicured lawn). I did pull a tick off then and had the red ring around the bite. I went to the doctor and he also shrugged it off, but gave me a test, which he said was negative.
About two years ago there was a thread on FR about President Bush being treated/tested for Lymes. It had a lot of posts, and there were several posters providing good information.
I hope you are getting better as I type this, and that all freepers on the gardening thread will be aware of the dangers of tick bites.