posted
This episode all started for me in Dec08 with a blister on my ankle. My doctor said it looked like a spider bite, but as there are no spiders that bite here it is unlikely.
After much investigation, I discovered it could be Lyme, however I have had 3 negative tests. (no not igenex - im waiting till i've stopped the doxy before i get a test there)
My doctor is still with me on this, I am on my 7th week of Doxy but my symptoms are not getting any better, I'm thinking perhaps it's time to stop.
I'm really worried it could be MS. I have had previous episodes of numbness & tingling in the past which have been put down to migrane. I also have had numbness in my back for many years which was diagnosed as notalgia parasthetica.
I have been having constant tingling in my hands, arms, feet & legs for 6 months + now my left arm feels week & my left foot & two toes are feeling numb.
I know not all EM rashes are a classic bullseye but has anyone else's started with a clear blister. It did have a red ring around it originally but maybe that was inflamation?
I am begining to think perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree.
Posts: 69 | From UK | Registered: Jun 2009
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It drives me crazy when MDs say "spider bite". I've handled and been around spiders my whole life, none ever bit me. Why do they say that??
Spiders don't go around biting. There are a few species that can if provoked here in North America, but they have quite a lot of venom and you'd know it!
Anyway, it's more likely you were bit by a tick or some other insect that feeds on blood.
But that blister may not have anything to do with your symptoms. You say you have had symptoms for years. If they are lyme related you may have been exposed years ago and never known it.
Infections from tick bites only show the rash 30-40% of the time, if that. And then the rashes can vary so much that they might not even look like a bullseye.
I took a tick off me and never got the rash, though the tick tested positive. So forget the rash unless you had one that was obvious.
Where do you live? Your profile says UK. I don't know what the incidence of lyme is there.
Some researchers believe that MS is actually undiagnosed lyme. Maybe so. But at least, lyme symptoms often resemble MS.
7 months of doxy with no improvement doesn't mean much. If you've had lyme for years it may take years of abx to get rid of it. Or you may need to switch abx (I was never put on doxy).
I suggest you see a LLMD and get your tests done at Igenex to rule lyme in or out.
Your tingling and numbness are familiar symptoms for lyme and I'm sure many people here will have similar experience.
Good luck,
James
Posts: 872 | From New York City | Registered: Jun 2008
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posted
Thanks James, I had been on Dartmoor & Exmoor the week before the blister appeared. There has been instances of lyme found there.
I can't really think I have been bitten before this, especially as the tests still show neg.
Seeing a Immunologist next week, no LLMD's near here unfortunately. Only 1 in the UK taking new patients and as i'm in Wales, he's a long way from here and very expensive. I've been told this Immunologist has good knowledge of lyme so I'm hoping that at least he'll be prepared to consider it as a possiblity.
Posts: 69 | From UK | Registered: Jun 2009
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posted
I have heard that MDs in Europe understand lyme and know how to treat it. The "controversy" that we have here isn't a problem there.
Lyme has been known in Europe for a long time. And the worst of the strains here are identical to Euro-lyme (according to Cure Unknown). But our MDs have disregarded the Euro-MDs experience.
So, you probably have a better chance of running into a MD that will be able to take you seriously.
The negative tests don't necessarily mean you don't have lyme. The lab, the criteria, and the MDs interpretation can have a lot of influence.
You should keep us, (or at least me) up to date. I'm curious to know how the MDs over there will handle this.
You could have easily been bitten by a tick and never known it. I mean, you must have been in the country other times in your life. Have you ever been hiking? Have you been to the Continent? The US?
And, maybe it's not lyme at all.
Good luck.
James
Posts: 872 | From New York City | Registered: Jun 2008
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
You asked if anyone else started with a clear blister. Evidently, people do. Here is what Dr. Joseph Burrascano says about a blister type bite:
"Some lesions have an atypical appearance and skin biopsy specimens may be helpful. When an ulcerated or vesicular center is seen, this may represent a mixed infection, involving other organisms besides B. burgdorferi." (p. 7)
The word "vesicular" means blister. So Burrascano is saying that if your bite looks like a blister, it may represent lyme and another disease also.
I believe you are barking up the right tree.
Study the Burrascano lyme treatment guidelines and learn all you can about this disease. That knowledge will lead you and enable you to make good health care decisions.
I practically memorized this document. It is not an easy read because it was written for doctors, but it will give you your lyme disease education.
Try to get treatment that lines up with the Burrascano lyme treatment guidelines document. It got me well and a number of my friends and acquaintances.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Thank you so much, I was about to stop the abx.
The blister did turn into an ulcer that lasted about 4 months. I was having it dressed at the local surgery for quite a few weeks and is still quite red.
I have two dogs and spend alot of time in woodland. Also as a child my parents often took us walking in the country. Maybe this was a flare up of an old infection or even a re-infection, I have heard this can happen.
I wont give up on the lyme theory yet & will take this info with me to my appointment,
Posts: 69 | From UK | Registered: Jun 2009
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