posted
Anybody else feel like they are being tortured?
I've been doing ok. Started Doxy again. It seems to work.
However, I had intense chest pain today. I had chest pain for 2 years so I am familiar with it, but Doxy really likes to make it as intense as possible.
I do get chest pain from herxing, but it never really resolves. I think Doxy is really hitting the source of the chest pain hard.
I have had all symptoms of bart. I have pigmented scratch marks and non-pigmented scars. However, serology has always been negative (LabCorp), and I don't see it or can't identify it under microscopy, so I can't say for sure that I do have it.
I've been on a number of antibiotics, and despite what I read here, if what I am feeling is bartonella and/or bartonella endotoxins, Doxycycline really seems to hit it. It's not a Lyme die-off.
I am taking Doxy with 15 drops of Banderol since it's anti-bart, so maybe it's banderol or the combo of the two.
My Lyme load is way down. This is another animal. I had to force myself to take the meds today even though my body thinks it's not a good idea. I try to listen to my body, but I honestly think potent endotoxins are taking control of my pain and mind/feelings right now.
I don't know how a sane person could endure what I am doing. I feel like I just have to temporarily lose my sanity and disassociate myself from my own body. I've quit Doxy before. I know it's not supposed to me incredibly hard to tolerate, but I think it hits bart or an infection that has all the same symptoms. I've never had a heart attack, but i couldn't imagine the chest pain being much worse.
I am 24, and it would be nice to be chest pain free.
Posts: 967 | From A deserted island without internet access | Registered: Sep 2009
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Lymeorsomething
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16359
posted
I get the chest pain every so often. It usually lasts about 5-6 weeks and tapers off. My heart is fine according to all tests. Plus I still run so I can't be too bad off cardiac wise.
I've treated lyme hard so I suspect it could be Bart or BLO related.
Mino seemed to set the chest pain off this time. Mino has some action against Bart.
Have you tried Levaquin? The cyclines have some action against Bart but usually in minimal ways.
You may want to step things up a notch and try Factive or Levaquin. If not, maybe Bactrim.
You may be just ticking Bart off (no pun intended) with the cyclines.
Or it could still be lyme...lyme enjoys chewing on the chest wall and heart muscle
-------------------- "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Posts: 2062 | From CT | Registered: Jul 2008
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Haley
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 22008
posted
I had severe chest pain in the beginning of my treatment. It seemed to me that it got better after Rifampin. It is very possible it's Bart but I have sometimes wondered if it might be linked to Ehrichia. I have high Ehrlichia numbers. If Doxy gives you a herx maybe you are dealing with Ehrlichia.
I am now back on Rifampin, ramping up very slowly. The last time I started at 600mg I almost ended up in the ER, I was sure that I was having a heart attack. Rifampin also hits Ehrlichia.
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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'Kete-tracker
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 17189
posted
Mind describing the "chest pain" in more detail?
Is it located in one specific spot, maybe along a lower rib, that won't quit? Or is it more like badly strained muscles throughout the chest area?
Does it seem to be in the area of your heart? (Not a good thing! You'll need a "heart echo" done. Your life could depend on it.)
Is it worse later in the day? Better after a rest? Or is the discomfort level unwavering?
Localized inflammation Can be a root cause (& where this inflammation is occuring is critical), but sometimes it's just "nerve pain".
I had a spot pain nearly centered in my chest- about an inch in- that started late, late 1 night when I pushed myself too hard. Thought it was something happening at the base of my esophagus.
Turns out neither an esophagoscopy nor a full chest CAT-scan (w/ contrast") showed anything. It was my 1st symptom of note, & started exactly 4 months after a double deer-tick-bite one late Spring day.
Was told by my LLMD that it was simply associated with the Lyme strain I'd contracted. "It's your marker", he said. A neurological issue that would resolve with treatment... which it did, slowly, over 3 - 4 months. (Phew!)
Posts: 1233 | From Dover, NH | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
Chest pain is always worse upon waking. It can get better after I get up.
I've had all the typical stuff from the cardiologist in the past when chest pain was severe. It was "normal".
I did have a Bicycle VO2 stress test with EKG (bicycle ergometry test with gas analysis) that was way abnormal and indicative of Lyme and co-infections and/or CFS (It seems that I have both conditions). I think it was more of a marker of disability than anything as I was in the 1 percentile at the time.
I do think it's partly neurological as neuro symptoms flare when chest hurts. However, things like Tylenol and Aspirin can help chest pain (not a placebo effect, believe me).
My chest pain is tolerable right now. It's been on/off throughout the day. This morning was excruciating. I wish I had some pain medicine to make it through a couple days, but they don't want me to be on anymore CNS depressants. I really only need them a few days a month though at most. I tried gabapentin, but it doesn't really work when I am like this. It just adds some dizziness and wooziness to the head pain and chest pain.
It's the doxy. I've been doing well. Started the doxy and felt a bit bad at first. Felt better for a week or so and herx we come!
I really have no symptoms of Babesiosis, but that along with Lyme came up on electrodermal (Asyra) screening through my CFIDS doctor. This comes from a doctor that was initially telling me that I probably don't have Lyme. After some more lab testing through Quest, he changed his mind. Nearly everything he ran came back abnormal indicating CFS and/or Lyme once again (this doc really seems to know what tests to run). Other docs just run a CBC and Liver panel over and over again like a robot that doesn't know what else to do. Hypercoagulation was very bad, and he guessed that this could contribute to my chest pain. I'm not sure about this, as Fibrin dissolving enzymes haven't done much for the heart, but helped clear the head. He (along with all doctors I have seen) said nothing is wrong with the heart. Asyra screening came up as Babesia felis (as in a cat strain of Babesiosis), but of course there is no human test for this.
Prior to this I had all the Igenex Babesiosis panels done. All negative, including FISH.
While he is good as a diagnostician, he is not so good at treating. He seems like he is waiting for the latest CFS info. However, he told me he is going to try GcMAF pretty soon, but I don't have the money for that stuff.
I'm not convinced I have Babesiosis. No night sweats or any of that.
I thought about ordering Falcigo (artesunate) from an online pharmacy on my own since it can kill Babesia (if I have it) and is very helpful for CFIDS.
I am considering moving to NYC for a bit as I have relatives. My mom suggested that I should see a doc there, and I think she's right. A local doctor in town is treating me, but in this state everything is behind close doors since they persecute anyone who says Lyme. While I have made significant improvement in terms of Lyme, the lingering symptoms that I think are attributed to other infections are irritating the hell out of me.
I had a couple flus, and I think my immune system and body is shot from fighting those as well. As weird as it may sound, at least I actually get bugs now. I used to not catch anything, and this is when my immune system seemed to be at its worst.
If I don't count the last couple weeks, I've actually been doing good. I've just been doing terrible since these bugs and herxes, and even though the overall trend is uphill, the bad days are discouraging.
Even though it may be ridding infection better than others, I still don't like Doxy. Yuck.
But then again I don't like any antibiotic (with the exception of colloidal silver).
I type too much.
[ 12-20-2010, 02:23 AM: Message edited by: kday ]
Posts: 967 | From A deserted island without internet access | Registered: Sep 2009
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jackie51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14233
posted
There are other antibiotics that can help with lyme if you just can stand the effects of Doxy. It might be slower, but worth considering. I'm on Zith and Mepron for Babs. The Zith hits the lyme too, according to my doctor, though he is not technically an llmd.
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