Last year my MDL wb test came out eqivocal and bowen revealed mid level lyme infection (1:16) and no coinfection. I have been having all kinds of symptoms for last many years like CFS, brain fog, neuro and musculoskelton symptoms, especially muscular weakness and pain/ache throughout the body including groin area and in left teticle, feeling sick most of the time. I took 2-3 months of doxy last year, currently not taking any abx because of GI intolerence.
Right now I am going to have surgery in few days for my inguinal hernia problem (a surgeon diagnosed it, but I am still confused because I read lyme can cause groin and testicle pain ??). I am also kind of scred of surgery always and especially now as I know that I have lyme infection. I know many of you lymies have undergone differnt kind of surgeries, can you guys tell me what are the general risk or complications involved in surgery keeping lyme in mind. Another thing is, should I mention my lyme infection to hospital guys or surgen but I know they are all lyme illiterate and they won't beleive or take it seriously what I would tell them, as my MDL WB result was equivocal, and ofcourse bowen is not recognized to them ? Please help.
thanks truenblue
Posted by jloisu (Member # 7538) on :
Truenblue,
I had this exact same pain, was diagnosed w/a possible inguinal hernia, although I was having all kinds of other symptoms..neuro, GI, etc.
I am not saying you don't have a hernia, but when the surgeon went in to repair mine, he found that all I had was a thinning of the abdominal wall and not a hernia and that it was not the cause of my pain. That was November of '04.
Was diagnosed w/Lyme in May of 05 by Bowen w/ 1:128 serial dilution value, and equivocal w/IGeneX w/many indeterminate bands and some positive that are specific to lyme.
Don't want to detour you from your surgery if it really needed, but I would make sure you get a second opinion since I went through the exact same thing for nothing but pain.
Do you have pain when lifting things?
jloisu
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Bummer. I'm sorry you are going to have surgery. Did you get a second opinion?
The surgeon who did my gall bladder surgery this summer did listen to me about my wanting IV abx during surgery. My mistake was in not continuing abx after the surgery.
Maybe it wouldn't have made a difference, but I ended up with a hospital infection. Could be that I would have gotten the infection anyway. I don't know.
So are you currently taking abx??
Posted by truenblue (Member # 6507) on :
Thanks guys for your response.
jloisu : Sorry to hear that you did undergo surgery but that didn't do any good. I don't feel pain while lifting things, instead I always felt constant pain when I press around groin area especially left side and down to testicle and lefft thigh. Three weeks ago pain worsen when my one y/o accidently jumped over my left testicle, now I feel it more when I bend down to pick up something.
Second opinion is always a good idea I tried to see some other surgeon 2 weeks ago but couldn't as they don't see you w/o referal so I went back to the same surgeon who examined me a year ago and diagnosed inguinal hernia which was not big according to him at that time.
loisu, did surgeon do anything for that thining of wall problem I mean did they use any inert material (mesh ?) to strengthen the wall ? did you get second opinion before going with surgery ? How did it take for you to recover ? And did you find the actuall cause of that pain or was it just lyme related ?
Lymetoo: Currently I am not using any abx, waiting for my GI/stomach to settle, because it is not tolerating any abx. I took Zithromax, Seroquell, MagTabSr and Saventaro for few days all togather, about 5-6 months ago which really messed up my GI and caused bad diarrhea for several days, I lost 12 lbs. Eversince my stomach is not tolarating anything hard, even spicy food causes diarrhea so I am kind of messed up right now. I think my only option is IM bicillin now.
Posted by lpkayak (Member # 5230) on :
i have had lots of ortho surgeries and some others while having lyme. others on here have said stay away from surgery with lyme because it really is hard to recover. i did not find that excwpt with my bunion surgery-and at the time both feet were very bad with lyme. it took me 6 months to get out of the wheel chair and that is not normal.
i had a gall bladder done and it was easy-and i felt wonderful for a few days after=all my lyme pain was gone-at first i thought it was the IV abx---but i guess it could have been left over anesthesia.
i did have one doc want to do something (it was an ortho thing in my feet) that wasn't necessary and would probably have stopped the pain in one spot but of course it would have started somewhere else. i ran into a lot of lyme people at a conference and after talking with them cancled that surgery and i am glad i did.
my neuroma surgery did not work at all and was awful cuz i woke up in the middle but the docs didn't know-and i was too paralyzed to tell them. i just felt and heard and saw what was going on.
i hope you can get a second opinion and not do it unless you are sure. i did have many surgeries(thumbs, knees, veins etc) that have improved my pain level and my ability to function...but don't take surgery lightly. things can go wrong ie infection. good luck.
Posted by LabRat (Member # 78) on :
Do tell your doctor you have Lyme, all docs are more Lyme aware now.
Posted by livinlyme (Member # 3773) on :
Tb,, I don't know if this will help.. but I had tooth pain in one tooth (or so I thought) I know it is not in the same area .. but the same goes with sinus issues and lyme... people get treated for the sinus infection they think they have and it really is the lyme flaring up your nostrils.. ABX makes it go away.. now back to the tooth.... I swore the dentist disturb the tooth cracked it or what I could not live with he pain .. I told him do something.. he filed and shaved and then I returned 2 weeks later and said do something it still hurts he took an x-ray there was nothing there.. he filed and shaved and I left .. 2 weeks later I went back and told him take the damn thing out I cant live with the pain.. he did and for 2 more weeks I had pain in a tooth that was not there.. but it did finally go away.. I think the anti biotic he gave me as standard procedure since I had rheumatic fever as a youth took care of the pain .. meaning moved the Bb out of my mouth...
This may explain on a different level what you are experiencing.. can someone give you an antibiotic that concentrates in the groin area of the body?? chase it out of the pants so to speak... oh come to think of it I suggested that my mother use triple antibiotic cream on her foot since she said it hurt so badly .. she laughed but did it and the pain left her foot and her shoulder ended up frozen for a week.. that is the cheapest and easiest effort.. cant hurt any either try it you may find it works..it did for her.. and she had had pain in her foot for months ...even years..
hope this may help you, Linda D
Posted by jloisu (Member # 7538) on :
Truenblue,
He used mesh.
I got a second opinion because the first surgeon was a jerk...but even he wasn't for sure..but thought it might be a hernia and I was in pain and desperate.
It took about 2 wks or so to recover...
And no, it did nothing for me except leave 3 scars...because he did exploratory while he was in there to check to see if he could see any other causes and checked my appendix to boot. I believe it was all Lyme related.
Sorry for the no so great news on my end, just don't want you to go through needless surgery like I did. If you really have a hernia though, by all means I hope you have the surgery you need. If I had it to do all over again I would have waited (but hind sight is 20/20). Hernias usually present themselves more obvious than my symptoms were...that is why they weren't sure if I had one or not and if it was the cause of my pain.
jloisu
Posted by lymie tony z (Member # 5130) on :
Very early on I had terrible testicular pain right side/
I was told I had a hernia
I never did the surgery and the pain went away as do a lot of my pains that just crop up out of nowhere and then subside.
Many ortho or rheuma's don't understand when I tell them that the pain and swelling of my joints is improved with abx...they say it's not possible that abx's have that affect...
Do what you want but as a hernia is not a life threatening problem you may want to wait...
I always told my surgeons(many knee surgeries) the problem I have with lyme...
Not too many give it much thought...most poo pooed me.....
Oh by the way my testicular pain went away and I've since been told I don't have a hernia...
go figure............zman
Posted by lymeloco (Member # 7192) on :
I got a second opinion when for a torn rotator cuff. Glad I did. The first surgeon was setting up a date for an operation.
All I needed to do is strengthening exercises. I did ask my llmd will the lyme interfer with the surgery if I did go ahead with it. He said they'll put you on antibiotic, but it'll be a different one that I'm on now.
I would get a second opinion first. Good luck!
Posted by pq (Member # 6886) on :
i suggest that you NOT use the expression 'lyme disease,' and instead use the expression 'neuroborreliosis,' or borreliosis. i use the latter term. i'd go back to the initial office, request your intake form and cross-out the term 'lyme disease' and put in neuroborreliosis.
Posted by truenblue (Member # 6507) on :
Thank you guys very much for your valuable replies and sharing your experiences.
truenblue
Posted by bugabooboo (Member # 7383) on :
I had an appendectomy/partial colectomy in June. The appendix was adhered to ascending colon and they had to take it.
Due to a surgery a few years ago, weight loss and this recent surgery, there is a lot of room for my insides to flop around.
Lately, I've been experiencing groin pain. Knowing the possibilities I did some research and have been doing some exercises on a slant board and just laying there, massaging my gut. The idea is to readjust things within your body, get the pressure off other things. You should see a Duck to make sure you don't have a possible strangulated hernia which can stop blood flow to an area and cause problems.
Posted by bugabooboo (Member # 7383) on :
I wasn't finished...
Anyway, I recently found out that my arches are falling and just that little bit of misalignment can cause nerves to be pinched and throw your back out, or even cause other problems, like pain in your hip and groin.
I've been going to my chiropracter a couple of times a week and find that this pain improves with it. I also got some special insoles...just started wearing those so I don't know how much they will help.
My gut also couldn't take oral antibiotics, and I have been taking colloidal silver for several weeks. A lot of folks don't go for that, but it sure keeps the symptoms down for me.
These are just things about me that I share. I'm not a doctor...
Oh, before I went into surgery I called my LLMD. Do you have one?
They usually give antibiotics after a surgery routinely.