LymeNet Flash: new symptoms during treatment??? (eye pain)

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Posted by Sing02 (Member # 15465) on :

Hi all,

I am currently in the middle of month 3 of treating Bart and last week some absolutely new symptoms startet emerging.

I have quite a bit of eye pain in my left eye (upper, lower eyelid and corner of the eye). Gritty feeling and pressure.

Also some sensitivity to light and eyelids are itching.

Right eye also doesn't feel right. But this also gives me headaches in my temples and my whole body feels sick not like I usually do during my Bart herx.

The fatigue is of a very different quality somehow - just like a cold or a flu. No tension or muscle twitching. My other Bart symptoms also subsided.

Even though my eye stuff sounds like conjunctivitis but I am worried it might be related to Bart since my eye is not really red at all.

In this case is it really normal to develop new symptoms in the middle of treatment?

It feels like the infection "shifted" to different places in my body...

I never used to have headaches on this scale and never an eye pain! So naturally I am worried.

Posted by cjnelson (Member # 12928) on :

up

Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :

up for help from thse w/eye problems.

Posted by swedish lyme sufferer (Member # 14579) on :

what abx are you on for the bart?

Maybe it is Lyme symptoms coming up?
Then you feel like crap and Lyme does give eye problems.

Sorry to hear you are not well.

Posted by Lauralyme (Member # 15021) on :

I've had alot of eye pain, it was one of my first symptoms before DX.

A year later on Abx the eye pain is back.

I tested positive for babesia.
Hope this is helpful to you.

LL

Posted by AliG (Member # 9734) on :

If you are on floroquinolones (ie:Levaquin) for the Bart, I would recommend that you call the doctor (or ophthalmologist) to rule out eye problems that they can cause.

I remember all those symptoms being listed on the questionnaire from the Neuro-Ophthalmologist I just went to.

I didn't have the conjunctivitis-like Sx, just the stabbing eye pain, pain on eye movement and then later on vision problems from an inflamed optic nerve.

I was told that mine is likely from MS secondary to Lyme Disease and not likely to have been caused by the Levaquin.

I'm curious, have you been Txing for the Lyme AS WELL AS Bart, or just Bart?

[confused]

Posted by Sing02 (Member # 15465) on :

Thank you all for responding! I was only diagnosed with Bart so I take Azithromycin and Mycobutin.

I also take Bicillin to keep my urethral infections in check. I know some people with lyme herx on it but I never had any reaction.

I was afraid it could be lyme surfacing but still hope this eye thing is from something else and will go away soon.

I don't know how I will be able to work with this... I also don't have a very typical conjunctivitis.

Eyelids slightly puffy, almost unnoticeable from a moderate distance. No redness in the eye. Doesn't really feel like nerve pain though.

No shooting but rather constant pressure and pain around the eye.

Scary.

Posted by Sing02 (Member # 15465) on :

Pain eased up for few days but yesterday it's all back [Frown]

. Ophtalmologist said I have just mild conjunctivitis...

Funny thing is that I feel REALLY tired when my eye pain flairs up - so tired I can't make myself move at all, and I just slept for 9 hours!!!

Bart herxes were not like this at all! I also have a bad headache with it.

Eye is not read at all - they look completely normal, yet the pain is so bad that when I look in the mirror I expect to see a completely bloodshot eyeball!

What's really strange though is that when it all started two weeks ago I had a very bad flare of my Bart symptoms - particularly tingling in shoulders - that day it was all over my back and even my head!

And since then I don't feel any of the Bart or herx symptoms at all (maybe a tiny bit).

As if the whole thing shifted to a different place in my body! Did anyone had anything like this?

Of course it could be untreated lyme surfacing (I am only txing for Bart, wasn't diagnosed with lyme) but why in the world would the Bart symptoms stop at this junction????

Sorry for such a long post. Oh, and also I have a lot of floaters in front of my eyes recently.

Posted by Corinne E (Member # 4670) on :

Hi,

I have low-angle glaucoma, lyme, bartonella and rmsf. My eye specialist said that bart and rmsf targets the eyes, especially bart.

I saved an article where they are treating glaucoma with low dose minocycline. I was on one month's treatment of mino and tinidazole and herxed almost immediately. Because our only LLD here in BC retired I was not able to get more abx. Even with the one month treatment and bad herxes, my eyes are feeling better. My doctor said when anyone has an auto-immune disease, and glaucoma and lyme, etc., are considered an auto-immune disease, and usually when symptoms are bad, then eye problems will also arise or get worse, that it is necessary to drink lots of water with fresh lemon juice. Keeping your body alkaline as much as possible helps get rid of the toxins.

Corinne

Posted by psano2 (Member # 11711) on :

I've had tons of eye problems, from stabbing pains to conjunctivitis to Bell's palsy. Some have gone away w/treatment for Borrelia and Bart. I'm now also being treated for Babesia and think (fingers crossed) that this may get rid of the rest.

Even though you don't test positive for certain coinfections doeesn't mean you don't have them. I didn't test positive for Bart or Babs, but I've responding treatment to both. If you don't get better, you should consider one of the other coinfections.

Patti

Posted by Sing02 (Member # 15465) on :

I also think there's high chance that Lyme's causing all these eye symptoms. But how come they are linked to such extreme weakness!

Did anyone have eye problems and headaches go together with so much tiredness? I literaly can not get myself to move!

Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :

sing,

i'm going to send a privte message to ICESKATER, another member, who has vision issues with lyme.

i'll send her your thread here to see IF she might be up to typing you a response.

betty [group hug]

[ 02. June 2008, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: bettyg ]

Posted by madge (Member # 13704) on :

my husband was dx for lyme in 06..his only real problems were eye and head pain...was dx for glucoma in 02..been on med for it since then...last nov after being on med for lyme 1 yr..his eye presure for glucoma dropped from 24 witch is very high to 15.. then in march it dropped to 12 witch is normal for glucoma..so i do think eye pain can be caused by lyme...of course his eye DR.does not think its lyme...but all of a sudden to have that big of a change and no change in glucoma med...me thinks he really doesn't have glucoma!!!i know its only a small start but i'll take it

Posted by EyeBob (Member # 12572) on :

Sing

It's very common with Tick Bourne Illnesses to get dry eye. It's insidious because the onset is so gradual. Your ophthalmologist would have told you that this is because of generalized low-grade inflammation to the surface of the eye. It'd be interesting to see whether you think that your symptoms improve as your physical health improves.

Thertears, Optive and Systane are wornderful OTC artificial tears to help with it.

BT