I was wondering if you could do the same thing as the OP asked of you, except this time with Bartonella?
As some of you know, last week I was clinically diagnosed with Bartonella, but like the OP, there are many of my symptoms that could cross over and be attributed to "just Lyme," (yeah right, "just Lyme").
Can you take a peek at the thread on Babs and help me out by listing what you know about Bart? I would find that most helpful!
Thank you, so very much, in advance! Posted by Toppers (Member # 20083) on :
I know of no better description of Bartonella than the following site, you should check it out. It describes my life with Bartonella perfectly.
___Joint pain and stiffness (often both Left and Right sides as opposed to Lyme which is often on one side only with pain and stiffness that changes locations)
___Muscle pains especially the calves; may be twitching and cramping also
___Foot pain, more in the morning involving the heels or soles of the feet (sometimes misdiagnosed as plantar fasciitis)
___Nerve irritation symptoms which can be described as burning, vibrating, numb, shooting, etc.
___Tremors and/or muscle twitching
___Heart palpitations and strange chest pains
___Episodes of breathlessness
___Strange rashes recurring on the body often, red stretch marks, and peculiar tender lumps and nodules along the sides of the legs or arms, spider veins
___Gastrointestinal symptoms, abdominal pain and acid reflux
___Shin bone pain and tenderness
Bartonella is a bacterium that causes illness, the most commonly known of which is a disease called "Cat Scratch Fever." Thousands of known cases of Bartonella occur in the U.S. each Year, with the vast majority of known cases due to bites from fleas that infest cats or infected dogs (may also occur directly from bites and scratches from infected dogs or cats). Bartonella can also be transmitted by ticks that transmit Lyme Disease. In fact, in a study published recently, deer ticks from New Jersey had a higher prevalence of Bartonella organisms than of Lyme organisms.
It is unclear whether the organism that we see transmitted along with Lyme disease is actually a Bartonella species (such as B. henselae or B. quintana) or is "Bartonella-Like Organism" (BLO) that is yet to be fully identified. While BLO has features similar to organisms in the Bartonella family, it also has features slimiar to the Mycoplasma and the Francisella (causes tularemia) families.
_________________
Babesiosis
As with other co-infections, there is a lot of overlap of symptoms between Lyme disease and Babesiosis. An accumulation of the following signs and symptoms probably warrant testing and/or treatment of Babesiosis:
___Chills
___Fatigue and often excessive sleepiness
___High fever at onset of illness
___Night sweats that are often drenching and profuse
___Severe muscle pains, especially the large muscles of the legs (quads, buttocks, etc.)
___Neurological symptoms often described as "dizzy, tipsy, and spaciness," similar to a sensation of "floating" or "walking off the top of a mountain onto a cloud"
___Depression
___Episodes of breathlessness, "air hunger", and/or cough
___Decreased appetite and/or nausea
___Spleen and/or liver enlargement
___Abnormal labs (low white blood count, low platelet counts, mild elevation of liver enzymes, and elevated sed rate)
___Headaches (migraine-like, persistent, and especially involving the back of the head and upper neck areas)
___Joint pain (more common with Lyme and Bartonella)
___anxiety/panic (more common with Bartonella)
___Lymph gland swelling (more common with Bartonella and Lyme)
By the way, I fixed the link to the Bartonella Information Thread up there. I mistakenly pasted both highlighted links to the questionnaire. doh!
It's fixed now.
Fuzzy
[ 06-30-2011, 01:53 PM: Message edited by: FuzzySlippers ]
Posted by tickbiter (Member # 31829) on :
Looks like another good thread so far. Toppers, that was a great link really well thought out!
Posted by FuzzySlippers (Member # 13658) on :
Although this is in the Bart Information Thread, here is some more info:
Taken from Lymeinfo.net
BARTONELLA ALERT By Lucy Barnes It is well known that co-infections may occur with Lyme Disease relatively frequently. Patients with a history of Lyme Disease who have incomplete resolution of symptoms should be evaluated for Bartonella infections. Bartonella is an intracellular, gram-negative bacteria that can become chronic. Certain lab tests may not detect the infection due to a variety of strains and the lack of sensitivity of the tests. It is advised to use both PCR and IFA methods of testing and not to dismiss the disease due to negative tests when symptoms are present. Various Bartonella species have been recognized since the early 1950s.
Bartonella may not present in its usual form when additional infections, such as Lyme or Babesia are present. In addition, typical Bartonella lesions are not always seen in patients, therefore, a diagnosis of "fever of unknown origin" should alert a physician to consider Bartonella. It is estimated that approximately 2/3 of the patients with Bartonella have a fever. Involvement of practically every organ has been reported.
There are a variety of symptoms associated with Bartonella, including, but not limited to, the following:
BRAIN: Encephalopathy may occur 1-6 weeks after the initial infection and is fairly common in patients with Bartonella. Note: Approximately 50 percent of patients who develop Encephalopathy can be affected by seizures (from focal to generalized, and from brief and self-limited to status epilepticus). Headaches, Cognitive Dysfunction, and CNS Lesions may be evident.
RASH AND LYMPHADENITIS: Erythematous papules (red splotches or slightly raised red spots) may develop. Such papules occasionally occur on the lower limbs but are more common on the upper limbs, the head, and neck. The papules may appear on the skin or mucous membranes. Bartonella may also cause subcutaneous nodules, with some bone involvement possible. The nodules may show some hyperpigmentation, be tender, fester, and/or be enlarged or swollen, but not always.
EYES: Conjunctivitis, Bartonella Neuroretinitis, Loss of Vision, Flame Shaped Hemorrhages, Branch Retinal Artery Occlusion with Vision Loss, Cotton Wool Exudates, Parinaud.s Oculoglandular Syndrome, and Papilledema.
BONES AND MUSCLES: Osteomyelitis, Myositis, Osteolytic Lesions (softening of bone), Myelitis, Radiculitis, Transverse Myelitis, Arthritis, Chronic Demyelinating Polyneuropathy.
HEART: Endocarditis, Cardiomegaly.
Possible lab findings: The following may show up during standard testing: Thrombocytopenia, pancytopenia, anemia, elevated serum alkaline phosphatase level, elevated bilirubin, abnormal liver enzymes. X-ray of the bone may show areas of lysis or poorly-defined areas of cortical destruction with periosteal reaction. Cardiomegaly may show up on a chest X-Ray.
Biopsies of lymph nodes reveal pathology often indistinguishable from sarcoidosis. Reports of biopsies strongly suggestive of lymphoma do occur.
Tests occasionally show an enlarged liver with multiple hypodense areas scattered throughout the parenchyma.
TREATMENT: You MUST consult a knowledgeable physician for information on treatment for disseminated Bartonella. Some of the medications which have been used in the past have included Doxycycline (with or without Rifampin), Ciprofloxacin, Erythromycin, Azithromycin, trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, gentamicin, and other macrolide antibiotics.
Taken from the Bart Info Thread and Doc B's Guidelines:
BARTONELLA & �BARTONELLA-LIKE ORGANISMS�-
� Gradual onset of initial illness.
� CNS symptoms are out of proportion to the musculoskeletal ones- if a patient has no or minimal joint complaints but is severely encephalopathic (see below), then think of Bartonella/BLO.
� Obvious signs of CNS irritability can include muscle twitches, tremors, insomnia, seizures, agitation, anxiety, severe mood swings, outbursts and antisocial behavior.
� GI involvement may present as gastritis or abdominal pain (mesenteric adenitis).
� Sore soles, especially in the morning.
� Tender sub-cutaneous nodules along the extremities, especially outer thigh, shins, and occasionally along the triceps.
� Occasional lymphadenopathy.
� Morning fevers, usually around 99. Occasionally light sweats are noted.
� Elevated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) occurs in a minority, but the degree of elevation correlates with activity of the infection and may be used to monitor treatment.
� Rapid response to treatment changes- often symptoms improve within days after antibiotics are begun, but relapses occur also within days if medication is withdrawn early.
� May have papular or linear red rashes (like stretch marks that do not always follow skin planes), especially in those with GI involvement.
The following info was gathered from a Lyme conference ILADS LLMD during his presentation:
Bartonella Brain Fog Fever Foot/heel pain Ice pick headaches Photophobia Tachycardia Bowel problems IBS/IBD Swollen Glands OCD behavior Anxiety Endocarditis Retinitis Peripheral Neuropathy Rapid relapse off abx Immediate illness following tick bite Subcutaneous nodules Swollen Joints Swollen lymph nodes Psychiatric problems Shin pain No response to previous abx Plantar and costal margin pain (plantar=soles of feet costal margin = The lower edge of the chest (thorax) formed by the bottom edge of the rib cage) Rapid mood shifts Development of these symptoms during Babesia Treatment
Posted by HopesAlive (Member # 29774) on :
This is incredible! Thank you so much, everyone. How nice to have all these resources, right here in one place.
Heading to sleep now, but I will let you know what I think when I have more time to read and absorb.
Thanks to ALL! Posted by canefan17 (Member # 22149) on :
I've REALLY studied Bartonella.
I encourage anyone to try and find the following.
1) Does Bart encyst 2) Does it reproduce fast 3) What can we do to penetrate the endothelial cells and disrupt Bartonella or force it out into the open.
Posted by Jamers (Member # 28016) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)