Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and i am having trouble trying to figure out if Lyme/co-infections is my problem?
I did have a tick attached to my groin area in late february/early march and that is why i suspect that i may have it although i did not get the bullseye rash, just a bump that itched and kind of hurt for a month.
Along with other weird symptoms, I will note that these all started in late April, and a month later i was diagnosed by blood test with Mono.
My symptoms started all with a weird depersonalization/dearealization feeling, but it was scary and alarmed me very much.
It kind of happened out of nowhere as i was getting out of the shower and it has not let up since.
I have not been the same since, i now have constant anxiety and depression as well as an impending doom feeling lingering over me, i was not an anxious or depressed person before this at all.
Shortly after i started getting chills, tension headaches, weird feelings in my head like my brain is rumbling around, some skin issues such as random red/brown tiny dots appearing out of nowhere, some brain fog, nausea, tingling feelings on my skin and like bugs are crawling on me, and in the beginning of all this i also had a low grade fever.
I am allergic to foods sometimes and that never was a problem of mine before, I can not drink beer anymore when just two months ago i was able to handle a good amount.
I do not see as clear as i used to and have been seeing floaters a lot as of late when that was never a problem before at all, I see random flashes of white light dots out of the corner of my eye, have light sensitivity as well as seeing strong after images when i look at objects, sound sensitivity especially when talking on the phone it feels like something is banging on my ear drum, and I also have to crack my joints alot and have great fatigue most of the time.
When I was diagnosed with mono i NEVER had any of the main symptoms at all, so I am thinking there is something attacking my immune system that brought the mono out.
I have gone crazy the passed two months trying to figure out what is going on with me and have been constantly anxious and depressed and feel as if i have no hope.
I did however a have Lyme Elisa test and it came back equivocal at 0.91 and i know how terrible those tests are, I also had elevated hemoglobin and a sed rate of 2.
I am sorry to bother you all with this, it is just so confusing to me and i have been a wreck for two months thinking and wondering what could really be wrong with me, because i have a gut feeling it is not just mono dong this to me, and the fact that i was bit by a small looking deer tick just makes me think that could be the cause of everything but no doctors think it is.
I am in Georgia and i do not think there are any LLMD's in this state, so it will be hard to even find out if i really do have it.
I thought the worst case scenarios because of all of this and I have been a mess for two and a half months now and i am not even the same person i used to be.
Thank you all for your time i do appreciate it and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by lyme987 (Member # 22148) on :
It sure sounds like Lyme from all your symptoms and if your elisa test came back positive I would say most definitely yes
You should also get checked out for coinfections-I have bartonella which manifests itself in me (and many others) in many psych issues like severe depression, anxiety, etc
Try going under seeking doctors to get a list of doctors in your state. I'm up north and don't know of any in your area but someone on the boards can help you. Also make sure you read up on the important threads at the top of medical
You can get better, hang in there
Posted by chaZ4456 (Member # 44080) on :
Thank you for the reply, the psych symptoms are the worst for me at the moment, the constant anxiety and depression, avoiding people which i never used to do, always looking for re-assurance when i do bother with people, the weird depersonalization type feeling, and the doom feeling constantly which really freaks me out.
Even though my Elisa was at 0.91 my doc did not want to run a blot cause he thinks it wasn't necessary to do so.
I just want to get to the bottom of all this and im just hoping it isnt something worse, even though im sure Lyme is no walk in the park at all, I want to be able to be treated and have hope instead of playing the crazy guessing game thinking im going crazy or something.
Posted by poppy (Member # 5355) on :
Sending you a private message. Hope you have enabled this function.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
You can take a positive ELISA to the bank. You will have to travel to find an LLMD .. which you most assuredly need.
Welcome! My rash didn't look like a bullseye either. It itched and hurt like crazy.
"I am allergic to foods sometimes and that never was a problem of mine before"
Daryl Hall (of Hall and Oates if you remember them) developed an allergy to celery and all these other weird food allergies. That was one of his first symptoms.
"And then I started getting strange allergies to things I was never allergic to before. I suddenly got this really outrageous allergy to celery, where my eyes and face swelled up like a pumpkin, and I’d been eating celery my whole life, so I thought that was strange. Another time my left arm and hand started shaking and I started getting tremors. Then this weird thing started happening with alcohol. I’m not a heavy drinker, but I suddenly had a major sensitivity to alcohol, where I’d have one drink and I would go to the moon."
Although im not exactly sure how to read the Elisa test too well so I will post how mine came out and you can tell me if it looks on the positive side.
those are my results, what do you all think? I was not exactly positive so that's why i am confused but if you all think i may be or have had similar results please let me know, thanks.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
You are equivocal (in between negative and positive). When that happens, I believe they are to run a Western Blot which is a much better test.
I would definitely pursue lyme disease if I had that result and symptoms suggestive of lyme disease.
If you were negative, you would have a score of less than .91. So, you aren't negative!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Get a western blot from Igenex Lab....
www.igenex.com Test #188 and 189 ...
Posted by chaZ4456 (Member # 44080) on :
I will have to look into all this. I was treated with Doxy for two weeks by another doctor and i finished taking it 5 days before my Elisa test so maybe that is why the numbers were not higher on the Elisa.
I also have a lot of veins showing up on my forehead out of nowhere and a good amount of pressure in the head. so im thinking maybe some infections got into my brain as well, cause im mainly having psych/nuero symptoms.
Also, is that "doom" feeling a symptom of Lyme or a co infection? it is really creepy, its like everytime i try to get happy or excited about something in life this feeling of dread and doom consumes me and it freaks me out, I am hoping that's just the illness, cause ive had that for two months now.
Posted by Judie (Member # 38323) on :
Lyme is a clinical diagnosis. Since you were bit by a tick and started having these symptoms after that, it seems likely it's a tick-borne disease.
Ticks carry more than Lyme. Babesia caused horrible head pressure for me.
Bartonella is known for causing psych symptoms.
You need a doc who will test you and treat you for ALL possibilities.
Elisa is a terrible test. A friend's doc accidentally did the western blot first on her which was CDC positive for Lyme. The doc then ran the Elisa. It came back negative.
The doc told her she didn't have Lyme.
My friend delayed treatment for 4 years because of that BS test and the BS doctor. Her health really declined during that time.
By the way, the western blot is known for false negatives too.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
The feeling of doom could be Lyme ... or one of its coinfections. I would say Lyme or bartonella.