This is topic trauma brings out dormant lyme in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.


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Posted by jimw (Member # 3111) on :
 
The reason I posted earlier about whether lyme can remain dormant is because for years I have suspected that my daughter has had lyme.( I've had it for years) Her symptoms were minor and it appeared her own immune sys was looking after it. I had her tested WB and Elisa but was negative.
Then last fall she was in quite an accident where a drunk driver pulled out in front of them on the highway. She had some pretty sore muscles in her back as well as where the seat belt got her but that seemed to be it...wrong! All of the sudden within weeks her joints were all swelling up she was tired all the time and then her heart went out of whack...going up to 200 bpm then crashing down to 36 then up to 150 etc etc. now they have also detected a murmur. Had her tested again for lyme at our own labs here in BC but of course it was negative and all the docs just ignored it as a possible cause.
Just last month I ordered a kit from Igenex and had an IgG IgM done on her blood. Negative IgM but very positive IgG.
Now the docs here are starting to finally pay attention (plus I found a very good LLMD in the process as mine retired).
My daughters lawyer wanted to know if a link could be established between the accident and her symptom flare up.
It appears there has been some evidence of it and Dr. Donta mentioned it in one of the files that Tincup referred me to.
If anyone else has any thoughts or can direct me to any other articles, anecdotes ...?
I'd love to have Lyme Disease in front of the courts in this way. If he can substantiate this to a judge a lot of issues are going to come up...ie. proper treatment, what her future will bring etc etc..
We have many walls in our way here too when it comes to Lyme and the more its in the forefront the better.
 
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
 
Testing..

Chiropractic Neurology Referral Site:
http://dendrites.com/contacts/dacnb_1.html
 


Posted by jimw (Member # 3111) on :
 
I'm sure if this is happening to my daughter then it must have happened to someone else in
United States. This would be a good way to get it argued from a different perspective before the courts.
The insurance companies may have to prove that a short treatment will cure Lyme or they will pay big bucks for a lifetime of misery and antibiotics.
I don't think they can prove a cure using their own method of what they say is sufficient to treat Lyme especially not to convince a judge who has any brains and isn't in their hip pocket.
If they can't prove it in a case like this how could they ever substantiate it when denying treatment on the basis that short term treatment is enough.
 
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
 
Sorry your daughter is having all these problems. I can certainly relate.

I had the same type problems as she is having.

I had Lyme for years.. was doing well FINALLY.. walking 2 miles a day, doing lots of volunteer stuff and was getting my life back.. when WHAM!

A tractor trailer driver ran his truck into the back of my pick up truck while I was stopped at a red light. I was the turkey in a turkey sandwich when he slammed me into the car in front of me.

Three bones in my back were broken and lots of muscle damage all over. My head was not quite right afterwards either.

Anyhow... the trauma brought about BIG TIME Lyme again. I knew it and the doctors weren't paying any attention. I went 2 years with no Lyme treatment and got really really bad.

FINALLY.. I went to a chiropractor neurologist and they were able to document all the "odd" things related to the accident and then write a good report for the Lyme so I was able to get help. In addition I got a lot of great help for pain and neuro stuff...

The site above in the other post will perhaps assist you in finding one of these specialists. There are only about 500 in the world. Mine went to court for me.. and WOW! BIG TIME GREAT! He was able to say specifically what was what.. and was a great witness. The jury loved the in depth explanations and everyone was very impressed.

I am too tired tonight to search for any more info.. but thought this would be something you could look into for now??

If your lawyer wants to speak with mine about this situation.. or to my chiro neuro.. let me know. I will be happy to get her atorney some assistance.

I am foggy tonight but I THINK I have seen this mentioned in court cases (transcripts, etc) concerning Lyme on the internet?? I would have to do a search for it..

Hope this helps a little??

Good luck to your precious one.


 


Posted by jimw (Member # 3111) on :
 
Wow that was easier than I thought...to find someone else who had been thru it is amazing!
Gotta love the internet eh!
I'll let her lawyer know and he may have some questions, if so I'll be in touch.
In the meanwhile I'll keep on looking.
I had never heard of a Chiro/Neurologist before.
You've got quite the resouces.
I'll be in touch.
 
Posted by bpeck (Member # 3235) on :
 
IMO true for Lyme and Babesia.

Anything that supresses your immune system
(adverse stress or trauma, or other illnessnes) can give Lyme a chance the upper hand .
I've been able to monitor my "flares" big and little for 27 years, and this was true for me as well.

In the animal model for Babesia, chronic
cases can be held somewhat in check by the immune system in young-ish animals, but as they approach old age, the scales tip (immune system not so robust) and the parasites start to win.

So. I agree 100%, trauma helps them increase their numbers.
Barb


 


Posted by b333 (Member # 2479) on :
 
Mine was not an auto accident but...

I've been sick since 1988 with some very painful years. In May 2002, I was having terrible quickness in a tooth which had a root canal. Just to touch it with a finger was too much to take.

They x-rayed and said the post was cracked but no infection, sent me to an oral surgeon. He looked at x-rays and saw no infection. He tried to numb it but it would'nt numb, other than the flesh.

He went ahead and cut the gum open and proceded to dig and pull and tug at it {all while I was not numb}. He was generous {sarcastic} and gave me a little gas. That was the most painful thing I could ever imagine.

EXCRUCIATING PAIN!

During the night, the Lyme must have went to work, because by morning my muscles were so soar and continued to worsen. I got to the point of using a bedside toilet at night, a walker at times and then to a quad cane. I had to be pulled up from sitting or laying, etc.

It was definitely trigged by the trauma of having the root canal removed. I have one more in my mouth and it would scare me to death if it were to mess up.

I can honestly say...if they would do root canals, etc. on my teeth FREE and it would'nt be painful......I would not have it done. Not even FREE! Too bigger risk in my opinion.

God Bless You and Your Daughter,

Pam
 


Posted by rosesisland2000 (Member # 2001) on :
 
I never had any Lyme disease symptoms until...

one night I had a bad fall (actually twice in the same night) and had a severe head trauma.

The whole left side of my face was black. I missed over a week of work. It was very soon after that that I started having weird symptoms, especially the joint swelling and pain associated with it.

They would come and go for three years until I finally got them coming and not going.

Then, in 1999 I finally gave into the fatigue and started seeing docs and having all sorts of tests done.

It took me until Jan. 2002 to finally get a clinical diagnosis and then positive WB.

I really believe I have had lyme disease for many years prior, but have not ruled out the fact that the African dust that falls on the Caribbean Islands could have sent this disease to me.

But, the Head Trauma makes more sense to me as I believe my immune systme was keeping it at bay and when it had to start working overtime is when I started having the lyme symptoms.
 


Posted by Monterey95 on :
 
Hi JimW,

I'm sorry your poor daughter has had to endure an accident and Lyme too.

I wanted to let you know that I think stress/trauma is what caused Lyme to destroy me too.

I was a healthy child. In the 70's and 80's I seemed to be accumulating symptoms and ailments that while not always constant were chronic or recurring--never GONE. Eventually I was a sickly person.

Some VERY upsetting things happened to me over the years but I didn't necessarily get permanently sicker from them. Sometimes I did get sick during a stressful time but I got sick at less stressful times too.

But then in 1990 a very upsetting thing happened at my job and right after that I spent a day in the city with a friend doing a lot of walking, carrying bags, and in cold and nasty weather and I'd long since found walking any distance increasingly difficult. That evening I got this weird weakness and the next day the same and crushing exhaustion when we had to walk a distance (that years earlier I would have thought NOTHING of.) and that was the beginning of the first bout--seven weeks in bed.

I got over it but still had a lot of weird recurring sx. Six months later it happened again--for ten weeks. It started the month after my father had surgery and when a local store in the chain I worked for went out of business (the store thing wasn't horrificly traumatic but it bothered me).

In 1995 I went to live with my boyfriend--my DREAM COME TRUE. At that time a lot of very stressful and traumatic things happened. I left my parents' home, my job, my hometown, and my state which while I did willingly to be with my man who I love--it was still stressful. I was robbed at the airport on the way to Florida. We had a hurricane a few days later (no damage but scarey). I was trying to get used to a new way of life and a new climate. I was trying to find a job. I wanted to impress my boyfriend and for everything to go well. I got heat exhaustion. I got mono. I took a job before I was well enough and struggled and worse because it was evening hours which I find difficult anyway. I partially recovered from the mono and then "relapsed" into what I've had ever since with increasing sx and disability.

Did these events CAUSE Lyme--no--but did they weaken me so it took over--yeah I think so. I was a bomb waiting to go off and it happened at the worst possible time--just when my life was about to START. Now I'll never have one.

Hope this supports your theory about the accident setting off your daughter's illness.

Good luck to her in winning her case and getting cured!

Monterey95
 


Posted by jimw (Member # 3111) on :
 
The correlation between trauma and symptom onset seems pretty strong from all your responses.
I'm hoping we can make a good case for it.
I'm keeping a file on all the posts so I have the info at a glance...the more the merrier!
Thanx so much for your concern everyone.
All get well!
JimW
 
Posted by lla2 (Member # 2364) on :
 
Hi, my trauma was in the form of surgery...my lyme was dormant from 1992 untl 2000 when I had to have a rather lengthy surgery...well the combo of the trauma on my immune system adn the iv abx they give me 'just in case' of infection, sent my lyme roaring, adn I got an awful relapse of mostly neuro symptoms...

Any kind of emotional, or physical trauma can bring the lyme out of dormancy...

Lisa
 


Posted by troutscout (Member # 3121) on :
 
My rolling thunder of Lyme came about due to a trauma caused to the top two vertebrae of my neck.

Neuro-Lyme ensued.

Trout Scout
 


Posted by candycane (Member # 3354) on :
 
I was in a car accident in March. Hit on the right side. All the docs said my sx were due to the car accident when I kept telling them it was different.

Thanks for posting this. It helped me too!

Chris

 


Posted by mbroderick (Member # 5220) on :
 
My son, Jordan, in hindsight has had Lyme for about 4 years with multiple minor problems misdiagnosed. However, last January he took his black belt test in karate. About a week later he just 'fell apart' - intense fatigue, severe cognitive problems, tachycardia, achy joints. It really does appear that trauma of some sort can really bring symptoms to the forefront. Obviously a black belt test isn't a major car accident, but it was something that had been building up in Jordan's mind for a long time - something that he was anticipating - an unknown. Being tested against 7 other black belts sounds traumatic to me!
 
Posted by lymiecanuck on :
 
I don't know for sure if my son has lyme, but suspect it. About 2 months ago, my son hit his head bad on the sidewalk and started peeing more and then became severly constipated and has had to use laxatives since. The doctors didn't listen, as they never do.

My lyme came out bigtime after major stress and injury and allergic reaciton. It was all down hill from there. I had some symptoms come on strong after using inhalant steriods a couple of times, but the above stuff is what did me in.

LYmiecanuck
 


Posted by JillF (Member # 5553) on :
 
I was in a car accident in 97. I hit my head and sliced it open on the window and then was thrown out backwards out of the SUV (the back opened) and onto the street. I only spent a few hrs at the ER and went home sore w/a slight concussion.

Since then I've had memory and concentration problems, bad night vision, back pain 24/7, etc.

The doctors and physical therapists have told me over the years that there is no reason I should still have back pain.

My symptoms would come and go and I thought nothing of it. The back pain was every day but I thought it was because of the car accident.

When I became pregnant in 2001, I seemed to get dumber and clumsier. My back pain increased, etc, but I thought it was due to hormones, etc.

Then, after my son was born, I continued to have worsening memory, concentration problems, problems sleeping, etc. I was told this was normal for new mothers.

I was getting almost no sleep and was a walking zombie. FOr some reason, when my son got to be around 1 yrs old, my major symptoms started. Twitches, spasms, joint pain, vision problems, stabbing pain, worsened sleeping problems, stomach problems, etc, etc, etc. The weird thing is - my back pain went away!!!!!!

Now that most of my symptoms are fading, the back pain is coming back.
 


Posted by Sleepy (Member # 4656) on :
 
I was bitten in 2000, had bullseye, got sick. However, I recovered and life was great until 2001 when I was in a bad cycling accident and the first symptoms flared after that - had the full on encephelitis symptoms and severe neck & joint pain. Docs actually tested again for lyme but it was negative. After that I was tired a lot, but still functioning.

But, another cycling accident in 2002 resulted in surgery and after the surgery I was never the same. The neuro symptoms started almost immediately and became so bad I no longer recognised people I knew and could barely take care of myself. I was a mess. At first I was told it was an allergic reaction to the anesthesia,
then, perhaps a reaction to the anti-inflammatories, then, possibly a stroke during the surgery, then, after I saw a neurologist they queried MS...then, it became Chronic Fatigue Sydrome (and my LTD was denied of course)...but something was horribly wrong with my brain.
Anyway, because my initial ELISA tests were negative back in 2000 and again in 2001 Lyme was never questioned again.

I had to hire a person to do some bookwork for me as I could no longer function at any level to take care of my finances and she had a friend with lyme & told me to see an LLMD.

I did and he said I was a classic case of neuro lyme and we sent my blood to Igenex and I was strongly positive for that and bartonella.

The short of it is, my immune system had totally held the lyme in check until it was overstressed and then, it could no longer hold it at bay.
By the time I went for surgery, I was absolutely depleted and it just put me over the top and that totalled me off.

I had all of this explained to me how the immune system works and it makes sense.

Now, I avoid stress, and getting run down, and am very careful with my diet, and I am just starting to get a bit better.

Good luck!
Sleepy


 




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