12 Years later: Feb 2004
I have been suffering from consistant knee pain and lower back pain for the past 8 months. I also experienced a bout of mental fogginess, pressure headaches (I never get headaches) and panic attacks.

I had a knee MRI which indicated that my knee was healthy.
I had an MRI of my back: I have two slight herniations between L4/L5.

Lab work:

Yersiniose: Negative
Rhematoid factor: Normal
Elisa: Negative
Western Blot: Negative (following bands done in German Lab)
p100
p41
p39
OspA
OspC
p41/1 PBi
p41/ Pko
p18
p100
p41
BmpA
p18

8 months later: Oct 2004
I recently convinced my doc that although my tests were negative, I could still have Lyme. She put me on Doxy 200mg for 20 days. I felt the dose was low, so I'm taking 300mg instead. I was able to get a hold of Vibramycin (the brandname DOXY).

1. My knee pain seems to get better as soon as I take the antibiotics (within 30mins). Is this possible? I started treatment just 5 days ago.

2. As soon as I started the abx I came down with a horrible cold. Sore throat, muscle aches, spitting plegm, sinus head cold). Could this be a herx or just a normal cold I caught?

3. My doc told me not to eat any dairy, including yogurt! and she said that probiotics I should take after I'm done taking the course of abx. Should I be taking something to protect my flora during abx treatment? If so, how much and when?

Thank you so much for your help!

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Hi and WELCOME! Get a LLMD or at least Dr that is willing to learn about lyme. Borrelia Burgdorferi is a clinical diagnosis, based on symptoms and on your response to treatment. Good Luck, bumpy road ahead.

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Sorry for your problems.

I'm curious. Are the Western Blot bands that you mention all positive? Also, were they IgG or IgM. I makes a difference.

Sounds like your lyme has relapsed or you've been infected again.

As tree stated, you should try to find a Lyme Literate Medical Doctor. They truly are the only ones who can treat this disease properly. You'll spend more on them but you'll save yourself a lot of time and money if you go there first.

Post on "Seeking a Doctor." You ahve to have you're email address available for them to email you back the names of doctors in your area.

There's a lot to learn about this and all the other tick born diseases. Your best defense is knowledge. Try to read as much as you can.

And YES, take probiotics at least 2-3 hours before or after your anitbiotic. You'll probably kill some but it's better than ALL.

Answer: All my bands were negative.

About the probiotics, when should I take them. After taking my antibiotic, say two hours afterwards or...? I was told it can interfere with the antibiotic's effect. This is why I was planning on staying away from it. But them again I don't want to get candida.

Thanks again!

first... Definetely start taking the acidolphilous !!!!! :O

You can get yeast throughout your body if you dont....

take it AT LEAST 2 hours before or after your antibotic.

You really NEED to get a lyme literate dr.
Your symtpoms are symptoms of lyme.... but they are also symptoms of other things.... a lyme literate dr. will be able to rule out these other things.

Lyme tests are not accurate....although there are a couple labs that are better than the others... also you could have coinfections especially if treatment does not progress... a llmd will alsoknow how to treat this.

I cant say for sure because I am NOT a dr. but you may just have a cold.

Best wishes