Has anybody traced their Lyme origin to ticks in Europe, specifically Austria/Germany?
Posted by Maryland Mom (Member # 2043) on :
My mother is German and I know in my heart she has had Lyme for many years, but undiagnosed. Her medical history is filled with things like sarcoidosis, eyeritis, arthritis, back and neck pain, and severe chronic sinus infections.
My first LLMD suspects I may have also initially contracted Lyme in Germany, though I did not get sick and get a bulls eye rash till I was bitten in Maryland years later. My sx have been largely neurological and more similar to that from the strains in Germany.
Posted by Nicole_Denise (Member # 20620) on :
I haven't specifically traced my Lyme to Europe, but I sometimes wonder if I got bit there. All my symptoms started within a month of returning from a trip that included Switzerland, Austria and Germany. However, I could just have easily gotten int at home. I just wonder, because I seem to have mostly negative blood tests, and maybe it's because I have a european type of Lyme.
Posted by Karensky (Member # 21350) on :
I might have contracted my lyme in Spain,France or Germany...I wonder too about that ...BUT...does it matter ? Are the bacteria different ? I mean borreliosis is the same everywhere no ?
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Yes, the bacterial species are different. One is called B garinii and the other is called B afzelii.
B garinii causes more neurological symptoms, and B afzelii can cause ACA, a tissue paper-like skin atrophy (acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans - say that 3x fast!).
There's also a European tickborne encephalitis virus (TBE).
Posted by lymecurious (Member # 22733) on :
Reason I ask is that I was bit by a tick in
Austria while traveling. Am now beginning the
process of finding a doctor to find out if I have
lyme. My symptoms were severe 3 weeks following
the bite, severe body aches, extreme fatigue,
nausea, cold chills, but no rash. Over the
following years with no diagnosis/treatment,
other symptoms continue to come and go,
including dizzy spells, chest pains, rashes,
fatigue, memory issues, and others. Just curious
to know if these are common with European tick
bites/lyme symptoms.
Posted by Marz (Member # 3446) on :
I got mine in Germany for sure. I think western blots pick up any strain of the bacteria. I did have a positive Igenex.
But I think it's difficult to get a positve for strains of babesia and bartonella from Europe on tests here. It's difficult enough for U S strains.
I've not been as sick as most people with lyme here, but your mother sounds quite ill.
I think my German friends, a husband and wife, had it when I was visiting because they were having headaches and fatigue while I was there, but they never went to a doctor for it.
Neither of them were working and they just slept a lot.
If you see a LLMD here, I'd ask about the chances of testing positive for babs.
Posted by Marz (Member # 3446) on :
Sorry, I got you confused with Maryland Mom whose mom has lyme.
Posted by Brussels (Member # 13480) on :
Lyme disease in Europe is similar to what I read here in this forum. My strain was a a Swiss one!! My daughter was infected in Belgium first, then again in Switzerland.
All your symptoms are very common in Europe too. For example, for the small list you gave, I had all of them.
Babesia here seems to be worse than the American strain.
If you follow the forum long enough or do a search, you'll see there are many that got infected in Europe. The contrary also happens, Europeans being infected in a vacation trip to the US.
Posted by Katra (Member # 18171) on :
my then 20 yr old daughter spent the summer in Greece on an archeological dig. The college told the students there where no diseases they could pick up in Greece. After being home for a month she developed flu -like symptoms that never went away. This September she celebrated her lyme's "3rd bithday". She has several complications. Nowhere seems to be safe.