LymeNet Flash: Anyone suspect Lyme acquired by non-tick/family means?

This is topic Anyone suspect Lyme acquired by non-tick/family means? in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.

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Posted by Bill ATL (Member # 7817) on :

I have my suspicions on how I acquired this. I'm just wondering if there are any others out there thinking the same, or experience with other means of transmission.

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B

Posted by Linda LD (Member # 6663) on :

Hey Bill,

Check out some old links--I believe i gave my kids LD either through breastmilk or through the placenta.

One boy had Bell's Palsey symptoms at 6 weeks.

A lot of people think you can get this sexuall also.

You might want to see if the ole serch function is working in the upper right hand corner--it often has problems.

Best of luck to you.

Linda

Posted by janet thomas (Member # 7122) on :

The Lyme bacteria is closely related to the syphilus bacteria. Syphilus is sexually transmitted, in utero too.

Then again, ticks are so small and hard to notice and many Lymies don"t recall a rash.

So who knows. One cannot rule out tick exposure. Almost everyone has some tick exposure.

Posted by JillF (Member # 5553) on :

I truly believe my husband caught Lyme from me.

He didn't get sick until after we were married.

Never been an outdoorsy person. No picnics, no hiking, no playing sports, etc. No pets.

He could have picked a tick up somewhere but the fact that he started to get sick after me makes me think he caught it from me myself.

I also wonder if he could have gotten my coinfections too....

Posted by Lymerayja (Member # 6839) on :

There are a whole range of biting flies and other insects in which Bb has been found. What's not yet known conclusively, is whether or not they can transmit the bacteria to a human.

There may be other routes too.

Lisa

quote:
Originally posted by Bill ATL:
I have my suspicions on how I acquired this. I'm just wondering if there are any others out there thinking the same, or experience with other means of transmission.

Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :

B~

I asked Dr. F at Columbia Univ Med Center in NYC if lyme was sexually transmissable. He said one very definite word "no."

In their experience (and they've seen hundreds of patients)...few partners have lyme also. If it were sexually transmissable, many more partners would have it, in their opinion.

However, people here attest that they believe they've gotten it sexually.

My opinion on that (and I'm no expert)is perhaps it is transmitted sexually, but it is not easily transmitted that way.

In my case...10 years ago, I thought I had a spider bite (brown recluse) on my index finger. I took erythromycin for it. About a week after the erythromycin, I got a rash on the trunk of my body, and my hands and feet (the hands and feet were kinda swollen too). I've always thought I was allergic to the erythromycin. Now, I'm wondering if that whole thing wasn't lyme, for lyme bites can present as a brown recluse spider bite (an open necrosing wound).

Then the lyme went dormant in me...and a steroid shot (1) in the knee was enough to suppress the immune system in that joint and activate the bacteria. Three weeks later, I started falling apart!

Although it is interesting for us to figure out how we got Lyme....the bigger question is How Do We Get Rid of It?

By the way...welcome to lymenet...I think I first wrote to you on braintalk.org

Tina

Posted by pippy (Member # 6005) on :

I have been wondering the same thing. where i live it is roughly estimated that 6 out of 100 ticks carry lyme. probably an underestimation. I became severely ill with lyme and babs long before my husband began having symptoms. When we got a dog and knew the horrors of lyme was when we started noticing teeny tiny ticks on us, on our dog, and even in the bed! YUCK... it is all a matter of saliency. What we are on the look out for is what we will notice. when we are not paying particular attention to certain things the mind tends to ignore the information.

So, lyme MAY be sexually transmitted, but like the other posts said if you are exposed to ticks AT ALL, you are much more likely to get it that way. They do NOT have to be attached for a long time and some ticks have the bacteria on the mouth parts. one camping trip or hike through grass could be enough.

Several times after I went in my ozone sauna, there were dead nymphal ticks on the white plastic chair when i got out! I had no idea they were on me! we do not see them. period.

Posted by Lyddie on :

It is hard to understand how I and three of my children have all been diagnosed with Lyme (three of us are CDC positive) when we have never seen a tick in our yard, never go in the woods/grass/bushes, etc.etc.

When I alone was diagnosed (was probably bitten 20 years ago on a hking trip), I ws very skeptical of claims that Lyme was passed on to babies, in utero or thorugh breastmilk. As each of my children in turn tested positive, I changed my mind. I nursed my kids for 2-3 years each, so maybe that was it afterall...

It may be that there are times when the baceria are moving round actively, and are therefore to be found in body fluids (blood, saliva, semen, milk etc.-?), rather than just sequestered away in tissues. One such time would be right after the bite, when the infection is disseminating, but this could also happen during flares.

I think I have seen this idea in a study somewhere. This could explain why sometimes Lyme is transmitted to children or spouses and sometimes not... Just an idea...

Posted by RJPII (Member # 5876) on :

Hi - I'd like to add something as I came across this thread. I am actually feeling horrible at the moment, so I have to be short.I know of several very credible people who have seen enough (studies and patients) to say with near certainly this is transmissable sexually and cogenitally. (I was at conference with Prof. Lita Mattman (search her name) and Dr. Andrew Wright who presented very convincing facts on this. I think Dr. referenced a large study, but can't offer the direct reference to it.

They are still studying the likelyhood of being passed by other means (including sneezing)

HTH...I have to go lay down!
Bob

Posted by HEATHERKISS (Member # 6789) on :

My husband and I live in an old house and have been bit by spiders a few times. I always wondered if they could carry bacteria.

Posted by Lymeindunkirk (Member # 7118) on :

I find it interesting that Dr. F would say NO. I know sooo many mothers who gave it to their children including myself. I have two friends and myself who had Lyme while we were pregnant. All of our sons have it now. Go to the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundaitons web site http://www.canlyme.com/sex.html for an article entitled Recovery of Lyme Spirochetes by PCR in Semen samples of previously diagnosed Lyme Disease patientsby Dr. Gregory Bach. I see so many families (Mom, Dad, two or three kids, grandma & grandpa) in Dr. Bach's office that I can't even count the number. Doesn't it make sense that it can be transmitted through bodily functions if entire families have it? Or did that tick get around some? Besides isn't syphilis sexually transmitted? and it does have a very similar pathology to Lyme.