My name is Bill. I live in Alaska. I have a home in central Vermont where I spend the Fall.
I strained my left knee muscles at the end of March when I was in Alaska. In retrospect, I think the knee may have been weakened by Lyme disease before I strained it.
Less than a week later I noticed hip and back pain which I attributed to walking oddly because of the knee issue.
I have since developed awful pain in my left wrist, right elbow, hips, and thigh muscles. The ring finger on my right hand is swollen to the point of not being able to close it. The fourth toe on my left foot is also swollen to twice it's size.
I've been to an orthopedic doctor for the knee injury. X-rays and MRI showed nothing. Various blood tests showed negative for anti-immune issues, gout, rheumatory issues or infections.
About a month ago I had a lyme test that ended up being negative. I went for the test because I pulled a tick out of my last Fall in Vermont. It was certainly attached to me for over 24hrs. Many people in that same area have Lyme disease and may have gotten it from the same land I live on.
However, I've been on doxycycline for two weeks. There is a slight improvement but not much. I'm not sure of my next move. Being in Alaska now is hard because there is not much info about Lyme disease here.
Sorry for the long windedness! Just looking for advice and perhaps a doctor's name to check out.
Thanks so much! Glad I found this board!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I sent you names of Drs in Vermont... that's all I know to do.
You can order the test for free.. then get the blood draw and send in the $$$ with the blood. Costs around $200.
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Hi - you can also chat about everything, minus doctor referral questions, in General Support and Medical Questions, but I will respond to you here since you're here -
Only one Lyme test is accurate - the new one through Advanced Laboratory Services just outside Philly. That's because the test cultures the actual bacteria.
The rest test for antibodies to the bacteria. The IGeneX test is positive 60-70% of the time even when we may have the illness. 27 reasons for a negative test result even when we have it are listed at www.canlyme.com/seronegreasons.html
You can do the IGeneX tests - the IgM and IgG Western blot antibody tests - if you qualify as low-income, you can get 75% off through the www.lymetap.com program.
But if they don't come back positive, Lyme doctors still treat clinically, by history and symptoms.
Pretty typical for tests in general to show negative, since they're not testing for bacteria.
Re joint swelling, I found that teasel root tincture and curcumin capsules take down the swelling. Of course, we can treat with antibiotics also, like the one that helped me was oral clindamycin.
I suggest you check out Steven Buhner's book "Healing Lyme." It's an herbal approach to treatment and it helps many.
Again, you can start a discussion thread in either of the other sections and folks will chat with you.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)