Are there any special problems associated with lyme disease during preganancy, such as can the bacteria be transmitted to the unborn child ? I am very ignorant on the subject so forgive me if the question is ridiculous.
[ 02. September 2006, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: Mercer ]
Posted by just don (Member # 1129) on :
Welcome aboard Mercer, Your question is a definte yes it usually IS transfered to the baby thru the placenta. There are good special steps to take to prevent this from happening.
Are you pregnant NOW or are you thinking of getting pregnant??
Others will be along soon to clear up the 'how to do this' successfully.
I am not very well qualified for it since I remain, --just don--
Posted by Mercer (Member # 9997) on :
The answer to the " are you pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant" question is I believe I had Lyme 23 years ago when I became pregnant and am only now being diagnosed with it. My daughter however has had eerily similar symptoms and I am thinking she may also unknowingly be suffering from the disease as well.
Posted by DL_Utah (Member # 8815) on :
I am not an expert on this topic, but my mom and I are in a very similar situation. She has been sick for so many years, I can't remember how long. When she was finally diagnosed with lyme, her doctor told her that she probably had it when she had my siblings and I. Her llmd recommended that we all be tested for the disease. So far, four out of the five children in my family have been tested and three of us have come back positive and are receiving treatment right now. So, in answer to your question, yes, it can be passed from mother to baby and can there hide for years. You should probably have your daughter tested if she is having symptoms.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
Posted by savebabe (Member # 9847) on :
According to my PA, both lyme and babs can be transmitted to the fetus. I know they can prevent the lyme from passing to the baby, but I don't they have an anwser for the babs. I am thinking of having a child within a year and this is a real concern.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
Yes, your daughter should be tested for lyme/co-infections from IGENEX, CALIF.
MD must sign, date, show DIAGNOSIS code why they are having you tested. Make sure the form shows to FAX results to MD plus snail mail paper copy. Mine were lost for about 5 weeks!
It's PREPAY unless you are on medicare; call Ignex at 1-800 no. shown on their site and ASK $$ COSTS to have this done.
Good luck on getting treatment for you both; many moms/off-spring on here BOTH infected by pregnancy. Bettyg Posted by LML2260 (Member # 9615) on :
Hi Mercer,
I had a similar situation. Wasn't diagnosed until last year after 25 years of symptoms. All three of my children had similar symptoms over the years. Two had positive tests, one indeterminate. All three are being treated and have made signicant progress.
Remember Lyme is a clinical diagnosis and even if your daughters test isn't positive, she could still have it. A trial of antibiotics could be useful in that case.
Good luck,
Lynne
Posted by LML2260 (Member # 9615) on :
P.S. I forgot to add that I do believe they were infected during pregnancy. I have never seen a tick on anybody ever!
Posted by TexasChaos (Member # 7465) on :
Many non-Lyme literate ducks will say no, but my personal experience is a big YES.
My mom was sick before pregnancy but when pregnancy lowered her immune system (so your body won't reject the baby as a "foreign invader"), her illness really exploded.
Exact same thing happened to me when I was pregnant. I have three children and was not diagnosed until after the third was a year old. We have had our 2 oldest children tested, one of them has Lyme and one does not. (I got Babs and Bart from my mom too).
I suspect that the uninfected child is uninfected because I was on antibiotics during that pregnancy for multiple kidney infections and UTI's.
Definitely get your daughter checked out as well, before her immune system becomes overly compromised.
Good luck!
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Yes, it is a proven fact and on the CDC website. There are many instances of it in published literature.
There is a lot of info about this in the archives - do a search for more. Terry
Posted by sometimesdilly (Member # 9982) on :
This is probably redundant, but YES, for sure lyme can be transmitted to a fetus. Tho it can be slightly more complicated than that..
I was first infected when 5 months pregnant, 4 years ago. In retrospect, I know I was incredibly fortunate to have had a bull eye's rash, which even my incompetent lyme-ignorant DR couldn't miss, so I was given 3 weeks ABX. According to Dr. F at Columbia and my extremely knowledgable treating Lyme DR, the odds that my son would contract lyme were vastly reduced by that ABX treatment, even it proved sadly insufficent for it to do diddly for me.
The window of time time in utero when my son could have contracted it apparently would have been the time between the bite and when I began taking the ABX. Unfortunatly, who know how long that was as I never saw the tick and the rash was smack dab on my back, near my neck, hidden by approx. 50 lbs of long hair.
Thanks to every good thing in the universe, my son appears to be symptom-free, and again according to Dr. F, 4 years out,in his case, it is unlikely that the Bb has been dormant this long.
Because he is symptom free we have not tested him, since we understand any good DR will treat to the symptoms, not the much-flawed tests. Which is not to say I don't worry about the possibility, but that is another story.
i'm sure there was more to respond to, but I've forgotten what that might be...
Posted by Lymeindunkirk (Member # 7118) on :
All of the lyme literate docs I've come in contact with say YES. You will find that there are thousands of children out there that have been born with lyme. I personally know 5 of these children which includes my own. I had Bells Palsy in my 9 month and I remember at the time my doc telling me its common for women to sometimes get Bells Palsy while pregnant. Of course no one could tell me WHY I had Bells Palsy or much else about it. Having learned that Bells Palsy is a big RED flag for lyme makes it sound to me like a LOT of women are pregnant with lyme. Kind of scary! My sister was just diagnosed and shes pregnant. Thankfully she is being treated for the lyme.
Posted by 5dana8 (Member # 7935) on :
Here's a link. It goes on to talk about breast milk & umbilical core blood:
"Relapsing fever can not be transmitted from person to person except in the case of pregnant women who sometimes transmit the infection to their fetus."
Also from the CDC:
"TBRF in pregnancy
TBRF contacted during pregnancy can cause spontaneous abortion, premature birth, and neonatal death (Melkert and Stel 1991). The maternal-fetal transmission of Borrelia is believed to occur either transplacentally (Steenbarger 1982) or while traversing the birth canal. In one study, perinatal infection with TBRF was shown to lead to lower birth weights, younger gestational age, and higher perinatal mortality (Jongen, van Roosmalen et al. 1997).
In general, pregnant women have higher spirochete loads and more severe symptoms than nonpregnant women. Higher spirochete loads have not, however, been found to correlate with fetal outcome."
2006: Complications of Pregnancy and Transplacental Transmission of Relapsing Fever Borreliosis
" We demonstrate that B. duttonii infection during pregnancy results in intrauterine growth retardation, as well as placental damage and inflammation, impaired fetal circulation, and decreased maternal hemoglobin levels. We show that spirochetes frequently cross the maternal-fetal barrier, resulting in congenital infection."
Posted by lymeladyinNY (Member # 10235) on :
Hi Mercer, unfortunately, the answer is yes.
My son is infected because I was infected when pregnant with him.
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