My brother lived on Long Island 16 years ago before moving to Florida, and I believe he may now be experiencing symptoms of non-treated Lyme disease. He is very dark skinned, due to Italian bloodlines and may not have even noticed any type of bulls eye upon being bitten. He's 60 years old and now experiencing extreme nerve damage to feet as well as joint pains in the knees and wrists. He has gone to many doctors (in Florida), all of which don't know how to diagnose his situation. He was always very active and is now having trouble with just walking. Are there any type of tests to determine if this is in fact Lyme? And being as though Florida does not contain a high concentration of Lyme infected ticks, would it be better for him to come to New York is search of medical attention?
Thanks for all your responses.
Posted by In19944 (Member # 34272) on :
I lived in Florida when my symptoms began. It's literally a black hole for lyme patients. There are a few lyme docs here and there but ver few. Some highly regarded llmds are in new york, connecticut, and in the new england area.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
Just zipper in the state name where you seek a LL doctor. To join for discussion, best to join in your own state. -
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
At least 40-50% of patients never have the benefit of a bullseye rash to tell them they got infected.
Fl is pretty woeful when it comes to good lyme specialists. I will send you some information. You may also want to post in Seeking a Doctor for more info on doctors.
quote:Originally posted by baja600: He's 60 years old and now experiencing extreme nerve damage to feet as well as joint pains in the knees and wrists.
...now having trouble with just walking.
The nerve damage is known as neuropathy. The Lyme bacteria can cause this, as they eat the myelin surrounding the nerves. Taking statins to reduce cholesterol can make this worse.
See Appendix A, section 2, Neuropathic pain. See Chapter 4, focusing on nerve pain.
I was able to reduce my neuropathy with B vitamins and B12 sublinguals. Regarding the joint pain, he can do alot for himself by reducing inflammation with systemic enzymes and fish oil.
He can look into Hyaluronic acid to help his knees.
There is so much he can do to reduce his symptoms without taking antibiotics, as noted above. He can also take supplements to improve liver function and to strengthen the immune system.
Is he able to do the reading and research to treat himself? Does he even want to?
Reading the information himself would work better than getting recommendations secondhand from a stranger online.