We went to Shanandoah campground on July 18, 2010. This campground does not have shower.
We went hiking for the whole day. Me, my husband and our 6-months old son. We also played on the blanket on the grass with our baby.
Now two weeks later my husband has huge bull-eye spot on his back and high fever 102-103 for five days. he went to dermatologist and he prescribed doxicyclin for three weeks and his ELISA tests came positive.
I have bullseye rash on the back too. My dermatologist prescribed amoxicillin for 3 weeks. My ELISA tests are not ready yet.
I am breastfeeding. I very afraid on how everything is going to turn for our baby now.
Pediatrician said to continue breastfeeding, They also gave a slip for ELISa for a baby. But they said to wait for one week before doing it. Only if it will come back positive they will prescribe antibiotics they said.
Our primary care physician is not very good and do not care much about patients. I do not expect him to be good in treating Lyme or listening for our suggestions about where to send a test.
Please help!!
I am really worried about baby!
I really appreciate your time and effort for doing it!
Sincerely, Pol
[ 08-07-2010, 12:14 PM: Message edited by: Polina ]
Posted by Siciliano (Member # 15920) on :
Welcome! We are happy to have you. I sent you a private message (pm), click on the flashing envelope.
Also, check out our great "Medical Questions" forum where you can ask all the questions you might have and our wonderful, knowledgeable members will answer them. Just read some of the threads and you'll see just how informative they are!
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Lyme disease has been transmitted to babies through breastfeeding.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Here is a medical reference for you:
"LYME DISEASE AND PREGNANCY It is well known that B. burgdorferi can cross the placenta and infect the fetus. In addition, breast milk from infected mothers has been shown to harbor spirochetes that can be detected by PCR and grown in culture. . . . I also advise against breast feeding for obvious reasons as mentioned above."
This quote is from the Dr. Joseph Burrascano Lyme Treatment Guidelines. Dr. Burrascano is the lyme disease guru of the U.S. and the world. He treated lyme disease for many years in the state of N.Y. Now, he is traveling about speaking at conferences teaching doctors how to treat lyme disease.
Please read and even study this document to get your education on this disease.
Here is a quote from p. 7 regarding testing for lyme right after the tick bite:
"After a tick bite, serologic tests (ELISA. IFA, western blots, etc.) are not expected to become positive until several weeks have passed. Therefore, if EM [the bullseye rash] is present, treatment must begin immediately, and one should not wait for results of Borrelia tests. You should not miss the chance to treat early disease, for this is when the success rate is the highest. Indeed, many knowledgeable clinicians will not even order a Borrelia test in this circumstance."
Posted by Polina (Member # 27447) on :
Dear Sicilliano and Gatoraid Girl,
thank you so much for sending pms.
I spend the whole weekend reading.
Now I am convinced I should get baby tested and get him on prophilaxis antibiotics no matter how the tests are.
I also think both me and my husband should get tested for co-infections.
I decided to continue breastfeeding after reading Medical Questions on this forum.
After all I was already breastfeeding for two weeks after our camping trip and it would make no sense to stop now when I am on antibiotics.
Thank you so much again for a wonderful resource - this website and forum is great!
I really hope in future Lyme will be routine testing for newborns as well as for women who are pregnant or are going to become pregnant.
I also hope insurance companies and physicians will get more educated and will stop ignoring this horrible epidemic that is spreading in front of their eyes.
Best of luck to everybody. Will be back with my story .
Posted by gatorade girl (Member # 24896) on :
Please let me know what happens. You and your family are in my prayers. It is such a horrible epidemic....it seems to go from house to house in my neighborhood. Really scary stuff. Please take care. Thinking of you.
Posted by jlp38 (Member # 27221) on :
For whatever it's worth, I was still nursing when I got sick. I didn't know it was lyme so I had no reason to worry. He has shown no signs of illness at all. I will probably have both of my kids checked/treated at some point, just in case they have some little lyme bugs hiding. I completely understand you worrying about him, but know that he may not get sick and may be just fine.
Posted by pmerv (Member # 1504) on :
They have found spirochetes in breast milk but never proved transmission via that route. I think it's very unlikely, as the spirochetes are very sensitive. How would they survive the stomach acid? It's a lot different from having hundreds or thousands of spirochetes injected directly into your bloodstream by a tick.
If it were my choice, I would be reluctant to give up the KNOWN benefits of breastfeeding for the hypothetical risk of infection this way - especially considering you might give up breastfeeding and then the child could get infected by a tick!
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