Two things here--first, I will share my story/symptoms in hopes of getting some feedback... does what I have sound familiar to you? Second, I would like to find a doctor familar with Lyme disease in the San Diego area. Any suggestions?
Story--In April 2011 (2 months ago), I was visited family in Chester County PA. During the 2 weeks I was there, I took my dog into the vet and he tested positive for Lyme.
I didn't think anything else of it, and eventaully returned home to San Diego. Over the past couple weeks I have felt very sluggish. Not debilitating, but I'm definitely more tired than normal.
1. I never get headahces, but have developed very mild headaches.
2. I run a lot and have developed pains in my knee and ankles but brushed them off as normal running pains. Although pain has not been "normal" for me in the past. And it hurts all the time, not just when I run, which is also unusual.
3. A couple days ago, my boyfriend noticed something red on the top of my head on my scalp. He took a picture of it to show me, and although it doesn't look like the "typical" lyme rash, it's not normal to have a red blotch on the top of your head! (although it doesn't feel irritated and itn't painful)
4. This past week I have been EXHAUSTED. My body just wants to go limp when I stand. and my muscles ACHE. And I'm stiff, especially my neck.
5. I even seem to have a slight shortness of breath/small lump in my throat.
6. And I've felt in a daze... just not able to concentrate or focus like normal.
So becuase of all of this, there have been times that I thought, "something is just not right with me", but because it wasn't anything extremely painful or debilitating, i brushed it off. But this with this week worsening and finding the red rash on my head is when I finally thought back to my dog and wondered about Lyme.
Does this sound anything like what other people have experienced? If so, whats the best course of action? I'm very fearful of going to my normal doctor, getting tested and getting a false negative.
How likely is a false negative? How am I suppose to know if its a real nagative or false negative?
[ 06-09-2011, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: danirpi ]
Posts: 2 | From San Diego | Registered: Jun 2011
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posted
I hope you don't mind.. as a moderator I am able to edit posts... So I did some spacing for you so we could all read it. My apologies if that offended you!
I would DEFINITELY get tested for lyme, esp since your dog had it and you are feeling ill. It is very easy to have a tick bite on the scalp and most never see it!!!
The best test is through Igenex Lab .. www.igenex.com You need test #188 and 189 .. costs about $200
You can order the kit for free .. get YOUR dr to sign off on it and have the blood drawn. Do the blood draw early in the week so the blood does not clump up while sitting in a post office somewhere. When you send it in, you send the money.
False negatives are VERY common. That is why Igenex is so important...most labs do not test for ALL possible bands. If money is very tight, then get a test thru Quest or LabCorp, keeping in mind that it can come back negative.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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MichaelTampa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 24868
posted
Certainly there are many lyme symptoms listed there, even diagnosis of the dog aside, seems like a good idea to take very seriously and get tested as quickly as possible.
If you do have lyme, the longer you have it, the harder it is to treat, so you would not want to dilly dally with this either.
Sometimes symptoms come on very debilitating very quickly, and other times very slowly and gradually, so understand, that can happen either way.
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
Thank you so much for the help! I just wrote an email to the company to order the test kit. I tried going to the doctor today and the nurse basically made me feel crazy for bringing it up. I have an appointment tomorrow morning with the doctor but i'm fearful of a false negative and a southern california doctor who doesn't know anything about ticks and lyme disease.
I don't know if I have it, but something is definitely wrong with me and although its similar to the flu, I can tell it's DEFINITELY not the flu.
(And I don't mind the help at all with spacing/editing my post! Thank you!)
Posts: 2 | From San Diego | Registered: Jun 2011
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posted
Hi - sounds like you are going to need a Lyme-treating doctor. Any doctor, however, can sign off on the IGeneX test form for the IgM and IgG Western blot tests for Lyme. But if this office gives you grief, you're better off going to a Lyme-literate doctor.
I will pm you with some Lyme-treaters in your area. In the future, you can post in Seeking a Doctor for referrals.
Posts: 13116 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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