nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
I feel extremely tired at times. I can be fine and then it just hits me. I have no stamina. If I try to run I am breathless. I had to run about 100 feet and at the end of that distance I felt like I would black out.
My eyes do not get better. HA helps them but if I quit using it for a few days they are blood shot and extremely dry and irritated.
I have had a few bouts of air hunger but it went away.
I will suddenly feel very depressed for no reason - just like a "dark cloud" passing over.
I have hot flashes but do not have drenching sweats. I do not have fevers.
When bartonella was primary, I had insomnia. Gratefully I am sleeping better but I can fall asleep during the day now which is unusual.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
Only the air hunger sounds like Babs to me. Babs generally causes, air hunger, throat swollen, hot and cold chills, dizzyness are some of the more pertinent symptoms my daughter experienced. I guess some folks could experience diff things.
Posts: 163 | From Central New Jersey | Registered: Jan 2010
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cactus
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7347
posted
I did have extreme fatigue with babesia, but I had other symptoms too - fevers, chills, etc.
I also had hot flashes without the sweats.
It would be worth investigating.
One other thing though - when you describe your tired feeling, it sounds a lot like what I experienced before getting my thyroid and adrenal issues addressed. Have you had those checked recently?
-------------------- �Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?� - A.A. Milne Posts: 1987 | From No. VA | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I have recently had symptoms similar to what you describe, and no fevers or sweats (now or previously). I haven't even had any hot flashes. Air hunger, blacking out or feeling dizzy, yes. I thought my spleen was swollen, but that turned out to be lipomas. My eyes are dry, but I don't know how long they've been that way. I had one bout of depression for no apparent reason, during a herx, which stopped when I stopped all my meds for a couple of days. Not sure if that was related or not, but it was during the period since my symptoms changed.
I suspected babesia too, but my LLMD didn't think it was.
I tested low for vitamin B-12, and then learned that that can cause anemia symptoms and also neurological ones.
Poor B-12 absorption can be caused by gluten sensitivity, and also, in my case, by being on the blood sugar drug Metformin for many years. Maybe other drugs could have that effect, too. The study I read was only on long term users of Metformin.
I am not sure which it is, or maybe it's both, so I just got off that drug and started a gluten free diet. Too soon to know if it is helping.
My air hunger was really bad for a week, and then it got better. There were a couple days where I couldn't push a grocery cart or carry a small bag of laundry because my muscles burned and I almost passed out. The dizzy spells seem to come and go. So I am conjecturing that the air hunger type stuff can come and go.
I do not have any obvious symptoms of gluten intolerance, and have not had a test for it, but it seems that the only early signs may be malabsorption. By the time you have some other sign like diarrhea or breaking out in rashes, it has already done a lot of damage.
Just throwing those out as other diretions to look, if it isn't babesia. Maybe a B-12 or gluten test could give you a hint?
I don't know if gluten always affects absorption of B-12 and not other nutrients, or affects B-12 first, or if it affects different nutrients in different people.
-------------------- Don't forget to laugh! And when you're going through hell, keep going!
Bitten 5/25/2009 in Perry County, Indiana. Diagnosed by LLMD 12/2/2009. Posts: 756 | From Inside the tunnel | Registered: Jan 2010
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
I hope I don't have it. Maybe it is just the lyme coming out again. I do get dizzy but that is mainly from certain drugs. I was also extremely dizzy when I first started treatment and I had chills at that time.
Maybe something is going around. But that sounds so familiar as before I was diagnosed I thought I had whatever was "going around' - every month it was something different.
I took B12 injections for awhile and it made no difference so I don't think that is it.
I guess I will find out when I go to the LLMD. I will just have to keep track of my symptoms as they vary so much. thanks
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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tick battler
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Member # 21113
posted
Sounds like it could be babesia to me. I always knew when my young children had it because they would start lying around more and not want to go for walks. When my 3 year old started asking to be carried when we went for walks, I asked the LLMD to test for babs and it was positive. All tests prior to that had been negative. It seems to me that the extreme fatigue rather than sleepiness is babesia.
When one of my boys has babesia really bad, he starts hallucinating colored spots. He also loses his appetite and gets very, very emotional and irrational.
Hope this helps.
tickbattler
Posts: 1763 | From Malvern, PA | Registered: Jul 2009
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nefferdun
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Member # 20157
posted
Well, I hope the IGENEX tests for babesia are better than the ones for bartonella. I am going to the GP this morning to set up for the tests so they are done when I go to the LLMD.
So sad that your little children were infected but I am glad you found out what was wrong and I hope they are recovering.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
Actually from what my LLMD told me is that IGENIX does not test for all 17 strains of Babesia, so you could have a negative test as my daughter did. When she started treating the babs, she got considerably better. Keep that in mind and discuss with your LLMD. Hope things get better, this really is horrible for our children to endure.
Posts: 163 | From Central New Jersey | Registered: Jan 2010
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tick battler
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Member # 21113
posted
Thanks, nefferdun. My 3 children are doing much, much better and are making great strides on an herbal protocol after plateauing from 2 years of abx. They did make improvements on abx for the first year.
I have found the babesia tests from Igenex to be pretty good, but in our case, they didn't show positives until the symptoms were strong. Once symptoms lessened, the tests eventually turned negative. But they were positive for about a year. If you can, you should get both the FISH test and the duncani (WA-1) test.
tickbattler
Posts: 1763 | From Malvern, PA | Registered: Jul 2009
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posted
My doctor didn't even want to test me for bartonella through igenex, because she said the test was so inaccurate and she had never had anyone test positive for it, even when she felt they had bart.
However, she did test me for babesia, and I tested positive. So, although you may still test negative even when you have babesia, I think the igenex test is more accurate for this co-infection.
Also wanted to add that what you say regarding your symptoms really matches what I experience with my babesia. I become more depressed after a treatment for babesia when I herx (I use a rife machine), and I feel very woozy, cloudy, spacey, and tired.
I know those symptoms can be connected to lyme or other coinfections too, but for me babesia plays a large role. Actually, I just wrote a blog post about my experiences with babesia over the last month, if you are interested.
nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
I am going to give the abx more time until I can't take them any more because of side effects or have run out of treatments reaching a plateau on everything. If I can't get into remission on abx, I will try to see Dr. K or someone like him.
The GP is setting up the tests for me.
I feel much better today. I am practically bi polar with my moods. For no reason I can be happy and for equally no reason I am depressed. At least I can feel happy again. Before bart treatment I felt nothing. I was numb.
This morning I was literally elated that K Mart had something on sale that i wanted.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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