This is topic concussion / Lyme meningitis? in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.


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Posted by tvalentijn (Member # 5255) on :
 
Under treatment for Lyme since 2004. Until recently doing very well...

This is the story of my last 2 months:

December 26 I incurred a concussion playing in-door soccer - I fell and hit the back of my head against the boards. I went to the ER but after 5 hours of waiting I went home because I actually felt fine. The week after this I felt OK, nothing more than what you would expect from a mild concussion.

January 14 it all falls apart:
- MAJOR headache,
- super light sensitive
- pain in my eyes, especially when moving my eyes
- sound sensitive
- symmetrical pains in arms and legs (same pain in left and right side at the same time)
- from time to time, one side of my face felt numb (mostly my left but sometime my right)
- nausea, especially when getting out of bed
- my eye sight got worse
- unsteady equilibrium
- weak feeling, especially in my legs when walking
- night sweats, waking up a lot
- anxious, emotional
- lower back pain

A lot of these symptoms reminded me of Lyme and Babesia (duh).

I stayed in bed for 18 days straight and started to recover. A CT scan and an MRI did not show anything out of the ordinary.

The first neurologist I saw gave me Nortriptyline for the concussion.

Last Friday Feb 20 I saw another neurologist, apparently someone who specializes in concussions. He told me I probably only had a mild concussion and he diagnosed me with viral meningitis. Shocker! But since most of the meningitis had already run its course, I should not worry. And I must say, over the weekend I have seen some more improvement.

The neurologist is a firm believer that there is no such thing as chronic or persistent Lyme by the way...


As I was rethinking this all over the weekend, I find it an incredible coincidence that I would get a viral meningitis right after sustaining a concussion. Is there more to the story?

Not all of the symptoms I had are typical for a viral meningitis, particularly the neurological symptoms.

I have read somewhere that a concussion could activate persistent / dormant Lyme. And if that happened with me, could that have caused Lyme meningitis? This would certainly explain the neurological symptoms. I also read somewhere that the pain while moving your eyes is typical for Lyme meningitis.


I have a call into my Lyme doctor to discuss this, but am curious if somebody has more information. How would one treat Lyme meningitis?

How urgent is this? I am comforted by the fact that my condition has improved, except for a persistent pain in the back of my head, increased lower back pain and a new symptom of cold feet and cold hands (strange).

Anyway - here is the story, looking forward to opinions without too much speculation please [Smile]

Thanks,

Tim
 
Posted by Joe Bob (Member # 45015) on :
 
I would get a copy of all scans done and show your LLMD.
I believe it is in my brain too. I am thinking about asking for an MRI.
Read link below
http://www.columbia-lyme.org/patients/ld_spinal_fluid.html
 
Posted by hadlyme (Member # 6364) on :
 
Too bad they didn't do a spinal tap.
I've had meningitis a few times. Only diagnosed with a spinal tap.
Hospitalized once with it for four days.

Was it related to lyme. Yes, in my opinion.
For me it always come with huge die offs... herxing.

It could be that the blow on your head jarred things 'loose'.... and you went into a herx?

It's my guess... who knows how are bodies react to anything.

My meningitis always gives me this swollen head pain, off the charts pain, and then it goes down my spinal cord as if the spinal fluid is poison! Painful to walk and take steps, hurts with each step.
 
Posted by triathlongal (Member # 31684) on :
 
I also had aseptic meningitis ( post brain surgery) and was diagnosed via spinal tap. My white cell count was close to 600 in my CSF - normal is zero or close to it. Hospitalized for 5 days on IV steroids to get inflammation down in my spinal cord and brain.

I suffer from severe headaches and migraines but the meningitis was like no other h.a. Could not walk or lift my head....The jarring from walking created unbearable pain in my head. The most painful thing I ever experienced.
 
Posted by tvalentijn (Member # 5255) on :
 
Update:
I spoke with my Lyme doctor. She said that Lyme meningitis normally occurs when you first get bitten, when they move into your central nerve system and your brain. You get a pain in your neck for a while. I actually remember having this pain at around the time that my other neurological symptoms started (2001)w

She said that it is highly unlikely that the concussion stirred up bacteria and that that caused meningitis

She said it is most likely that the concussion did stir up things in my central nervous system and brain, and that what I have been experiencing is a reaction to that. It is well documented that physical or emotional injury to the brain does this

She also mentioned that I should not imagine that the injury caused a lot of dormant bacteria to wake up or something like that. It is 'just' a reaction to the shock.

I think I will go with this explanation. It makes the most sense to me. Having said that, this morning I felt SO BAD, I thought I had an enormous herx... I am sick and tired of being sick and tired...
 
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
 
Good. Sounds like a very plausible diagnosis. Hope your day gets better!
 
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
 
But wait, it is well-known that a stressor, such as an injury, surgery, emotional trauma, or another infection can cause people to relapse with Bb!! Or, if they had it without knowing it, cause them to become symptomatic, because their body can't fight it anymore.

So what your LLMD said doesn't make sense to me, wording-wise, maybe, but in essence, no.

Is it hard or impossible to bend your neck forward? That is one sign of it, in addition to others.

I'm surprised the neurologist didn't order or do a spinal tap, Sigh. I wouldn't let this go, if I were you. The question is where to go from here, since neither the neurologists nor your LLMD thought it was worth doing anything. Sigh again.

I had what certainly appeared to me to be aseptic meningitis when I started IVIG (known possible side-effect). But my #s in the CSF weren't high enough to declare that I had it.

But the pain was unreal for a long, long time, and I have been having severe migraines my entire life. But this was way beyond that.

But your symptoms may be a low level meningitis, plus a reactivation of your Bb & co, due to the physical stress. That's my hit from what you said.
 
Posted by Kerryblue (Member # 4077) on :
 
I had meningitis/ via spinal tap/ being of the end for me yrs. ago never felt well since 10 days in hosp. Started with balance, all over light pain. Now severe pain every day instead of 3 to 4 days week. Now many symptoms too many to mention. Late stage lyme I gather with all that goes on.
Had much of what you mentioned now plus plus with no treatment with Ins. I am on.
Yikes never ending for yrs. now.
Huggggssss, to all in Need.
 
Posted by WPinVA (Member # 33581) on :
 
After almost 3 years of Lyme treatment and a lot of improvement but not all the way there, I got a mild concussion. It wasn't even that hard of a hit, but my LLMD said that because I was already dealing with Lyme, I was more prone to getting a concussion.

It also took me a while to recover. In fact, the concussion was in October and even now I still have some lingering sensitivity to light, for instance today when I was out in the sun and it was reflecting off all of the snow - ugh!

I hope your LLMD was able to tell you what to do to recover.
 


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