I have been sick for 4 years and currently live in Boston. I started feeling sick when I lived in CA - I was on a horse farm and everyone (cats, dogs, horses) had ticks. The ticks had ticks.
I am trying to figure out if there should be a different abx protocol for a lyme strain from Ca versus a lyme strain from MA.
If there are any west coast lymies out there - What are you on???
thanks!
Posted by valymemom (Member # 7076) on :
I am sorry that I can't help you but I have a friend who is from southern CA and she has been ill for over 16 years with so many lyme symptoms. She does not believe that lyme is in southern CA; she will accept that it is in northern CA but she says southern is too hot/dry for ticks. She is from the Riverside area.
CALDA has so much information I would think you could contact them.
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
I was bitten by the tick in San Diego over three years ago.
It was not in the wilderness or on a trail. It was in a ritzy suburban neighborhood down the street from the Four Seasons Hotel.
The doctors in San Diego kept saying there is no Lyme Disease here. I have since been diagnosed with Lyme and multiple coinfections, see a Lyme doctor from northern California, and have met dozens upon dozens of Lyme patients in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles.
The best place to post your question is the CaliforniaLyme group that is a yahoo group. Most of us are members or board members of the California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA). Or you can contact CALDA directly.
There is a ton of information about Lyme in California. While northern California has been a hotbed for tick-borne diseases, Southern California has emerged, too.
The only different test I would recommend is the Babesia WA-1 which is a west coast strain, however that is not the strain of Babesia I have.
The protocol is not different. All my Southern California and Northern California Lyme pals are on ILADS-type protocols.
In Southern California, the ticks usually come in on rodents and birds. That's how it is in my area. It does not have to be in a deer-populated area.
Jill
Posted by psano (Member # 7785) on :
I was bit when I was looking at a vacant lot just off the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena (the wash that leads up to the Rose Bowl.) My Drs kept insisting that Lyme didn't exist in Southern California, but we have a lot of deer in the foothill areas. I've even seen deer in the hilly areas of Beverly Hills.
I'm also being treated by a Dr. in northern California, since I couldn't find any LLMD in So Calif w/an open practice.
Posted by mag (Member # 8920) on :
hi bad tick
i was in sou cal in 2005 for 9 months got lymes in ventura county
as per rumor from my llmd there are about 30 people in that county- that he has treated for lyme disease.
as the disease emerges, we are seeing more areas becoming hot tick tick spots
Lyme is now a reportable diseas in CA i wonder - where are these numbers posted mag mag
Posted by tabbytamer (Member # 3159) on :
hi bad tick,
I got bit (and sick with Lyme) in San Diego county in 1988. Our low income apt property was infested with mice and we lived just a mile from a lake (lots of birds around).
I had the best results so far from Bicillin injections. But recently it was discovered I also have Babesia, the WA-1 strain.
Posted by badtick33 (Member # 9078) on :
Hi Tabby,
Did you get a test just for WA-1 babs strain or is the test for babs in general? Oh, and what is the test called? is it a western blot?
Posted by Semi-Retired (Member # 7722) on :
"Huh? I thought Lyme was just an East Coast "thing"" Exact quote by surgeon as he was prepping me to insert PICC line.
I resisted the sarcastic/biting reply cuz he had a big needle and I wasn't about to pis^ him off. As it turns out he hit a nerve anyway and it ran down to my funny bone. Ouch!
Yes, LD is very common in CA. The Malibu Mountains are riddled with ticks.
I don't know if I got bit or where but my tests do indicate I was exposed to it and I live in suburbia but often used to mountain bike etc.
Badtick: To answer your question about Wa1: Test is done through Igenex and they send it out to another lab. Antibody test, but I believe they can also do a PCR, check their website.
Tim
Posted by groovy2 (Member # 6304) on :
Hi All
Tim that was funny--
Yep- lyme ect seems to be all over Cali- Many folks on LN from CA -
With how things are today- No reason I can see that its not everywhere--
Travel is so quick and easy now people -packages- pets-farm animals ect.-
I saw a show on the migration of life -- I think this one test was in SF CA. and 95% of the species they found in the bay where Forgen-Ouch-
Here in Austin the river is over grown with a weed that comes from fish tanks- I think --We call it duck weed --
We have to mow the river-- Im not kidding--
Doctors dont think Lyme is in Austin -- I got it here For Sure --Jay--
Posted by tabbytamer (Member # 3159) on :
quote:Originally posted by badtick33: Hi Tabby,
Did you get a test just for WA-1 babs strain or is the test for babs in general? Oh, and what is the test called? is it a western blot?
Yes, as Tim said, it is a test that specifically looks for the WA-1 strain through IGeneX labs: two tests were ordered 1) "Babesiosis WA-1 Antibody IgG/IgM", and 2) "WA-1 PCR".
My blood was drawn at the docs office, sent to IGeneX, then IGeneX sent it to "County of Sonoma Department of Health Services" Santa Rosa, Calif. for processing.
My WA-1 PCR came back negative but the WA-1 antibody came back positive.