This is topic Surgery while suffering from Lyme in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.


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Posted by sweetsaidie (Member # 6922) on :
 
My daughter is scheduled for arthroscopic hip surgery in 2 weeks. In the meantime, she is suffering from an intense flare up of her Lyme. The surgery is important because she can not walk without pain now, but I'm wondering whether there are things to be concerned about (general anesthesia is necessary).
Thanks!

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Posted by GEDEN13 (Member # 4151) on :
 
i have noticed that after your body goes through a truama (surgery) ,the lyme critter's seem to be more active.

i have had 3 surgery's.in each case, lyme symtom's like photophobia, ear ringing,lyme arthritis and the like,seemed more intense.

but i was never put on abx afterward's.(post surgery) you should keep your llmd abreast of what is going on.

i often thought that maybe the anesthesia and after care painkiller's(vicodin) might contribute to the to the surge in lyme activity.

i just don't know....but please have a tissue sample sent to a lyme lab (bowen,mdl).they are your best bet to get a positive reading for lyme.

this way you have documented proof of lyme...

best of luck.....gary

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Posted by mlkeen (Member # 1260) on :
 
My son had his wisdom teeth out last week. He definately had a lyme flare up several days later. It was mild arthritis and that run over feeling. He has been on abx for almost two years.

General anesthesia is hard on the body. My choice was laughing gas but our HMO pays 100% with GA. Go figure.

Mel
 


Posted by lymie tony z (Member # 5130) on :
 
I have had surgery all my life and I think it is because I have had lyme all my life...
The last two surgeries I knew I had lyme and I waited till after IV abx to go in and have the surgery done.

The first knee replacement post surgery was rough...but they gave me my own blood without freezing it firs and then gave me two or three days of Vancomycin...which I believe one of the two sent me into a nightmare of symptoms.....

The second knee replacement I had my blood frozen and had a spinal instead of drugs to deal with pain and I'm not sure what abx they pumped into me but I had a lot easier time not experiencing any lyme flareup.

Is this surgery really necessary for your youngster??
She may experience pain there even after the surgery because the soft tissue around my knees still experiences pain...bone/joint pain of course has been negated due to the prosthetic replacement.

Just be aware there may be a flare up of symptoms to deal with...no one told me that and it freaked me out......at least your daughter will know going in and arthroscopic is not as invasive as what I had done.
Good luck and God bless...........zman
 


Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
 
Surgery has always made my Lyme flare too....severely, but I was NOT on abx at the time. I didn't know I had Lyme back then.

I agree that the surgery may not resolve the pain issue. What kind of structural problem does she have?

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oops!
Lymetutu

 


Posted by duramater (Member # 6480) on :
 
While on IV antibiotics for Lyme I was in a bad car accident and had surgery to put my face back together (I was incredibly sick & weak with the Lyme at the time). I continued on the Abx throughout & afterwards for a while as well.

I noticed no change in symptoms following the accident & surgery, perhaps b/c antibiotics were pouring into me the entire time.

I did have trouble with anesthesia (breathing) and ended up staying in the hospital for a week because of it. I don't know if that was a Lyme-related reaction, but I suspect it was more related to my history of asthma and allergies.

Have we covered the gamut on the on/off antibiotics before/during/after surgery issue with all these answers?

I hope it goes very well for your daughter.

~DM
 


Posted by tjtighe (Member # 4057) on :
 
I have had a few surgeries since I have had lyme including a hysterectomy. I didn't have any unusual problems. I also didn't know at the time that I had lyme. I do keep on hand my anesthesia record from a surgery when I had absolutely no nausea for the first time.

Hope all goes well.

tj
 


Posted by bg (Member # 46416) on :
 
I've had 12 surgeries *& last yr. dx with my late stage lyme.

Each was worse than the previous. 2 I ended up with staph infections really bad & 5-12 days hospital stays. Don't remember if I got abx back then.

I do recommend an epidermal in the back. I had that with my last surgery; worked great that I wasn't aware I'd been operated on until they weaned me off it 3 days later & then the pain came.

I need the anesthia, sp. Since I can NOT reach delta 4 sleep, I heard the people talking during a colonscopy. Last one I did, I had the man come in to give me one; I didn't feel anything & didn't think they had done anything.

Best wishes on your child's upcoming surgery, and most importantly that it will WORK to ease their pain. Betty G., Iowa
 


Posted by Paisley (Member # 6502) on :
 
dear sweetsadie,

sorry to hear that your daughter is having a difficult time with lyme and pain.

I don't want to presume I know much about this topic, but I did want to give you my experience, so that you have as much info. as possible.

I've had lyme for 20+ yrs, but it wasn't rediagnosed until recently (I was treated w/ 4wks abx in 80's. )

This summer I started dragging my left leg and within one day I couldn't walk any longer. The pain had started in my left knee and then radiated down to my foot and up to my hip.

As I have learned, the pain is radiating from my hip. After a two week hospital stay the drs, who did not know that I had lyme, were not able to give much info. They did notice that I have a dislocaetd congenital hip and degenerative disc disease. They wanted to do exploratory surgery to find out what might be causing the pain, but I wanted to wait.

Then I discovered that I have lyme. The pain is probably due to nerve damage (temporary or permanent) or pressure from the disc damage in my back. Surgery for me would make we weaker. I have had three different surgeries for other issues and I have not had good experiences with any.

If I absolutely had to have surgery I would, but if I could avoid surgery I would at any cost. I don't believe my body is in a state where it can repair itselt as quickly as someone who isn't affected by lyme.

Don't want to confuse you, but wanted to recommend you ask as many questions as you can possibly ask before she goes in for surgery. What are they looking for? Are they aware of her history of lyme? Does she have any osteoarthritic conditions? Have they done a bone scan to see if there is anything going on in her hip?

best of health to her
regards
paisley
 


Posted by cat woman (Member # 6932) on :
 
Then I discovered that I have lyme. The pain is probably due to nerve damage (temporary or permanent) or pressure from the disc damage in my back. Surgery for me would make we weaker. I have had three different surgeries for other issues and I have not had good experiences with any.

If I absolutely had to have surgery I would, but if I could avoid surgery I would at any cost. regards
paisley[/B][/QUOTE]


I have had much of the same problem. I don't know how long I've had Lyme disease but was diagnosed in 04/04. Symptoms generally have gone except for the damage to my spine. I'm no longer on antibiotics but still use a Rife/Barr machine to keep things in check.

My legs were getting worse though. A EMG/nerve conduction study showed some nerve damage in my right leg. There were days when I could barely get up steps.

My doctor gave me a B12 shot and this improved things dramatically. I am currently giving myself a shot of B12 every other day and I'm now able to get back into exercise and walking again.

Evidently, a B12 deficiency can cause nerve damage whcih can become permanant even if you don't have anemia. It never occurred to me that I could be deficient since I take vitamins and supplements on a regular basis and had my blood continually monitored.

I hope this can be of some help to someone, especially before they consider using steroids or getting surgery for disk problems.

I have received a lot of valuable information on this site. I would be lost without this website and people like Skyking, Gigi, Marnie and others too numerous to mention. Thanks for all the info and caring here.
 




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