I have been suffering greatly for 20 months now. All started with a panic attack at age 40, which I found odd. I still suffer daily with depersonalization, Brain Fog, Constant Vision Issues, Severe Headaches, Anxiety, Muscle twicthes Depression and Suicidal Thoughts. And more.
All my symptoms seem to fit the mold of an anxiety disorder but also Lyme/Bart. I saw Dr. M in NY a year ago who combined with the Igenex report, diagnosed me with chronic Lyme, and Bart, and Babs. I did the ABX for 6 weeks, and then quit. I have tested negative 4 different times at various stages over the last 20 months for all 3 by CDC standards. There is alot of controversy surrounding Igenex, Chronic Lyme and all this stuff.
I have been been treatment resistant to any anxiety medications and therapy. I have spent a small fortune trying to get well.
If this is an anxiety disorder, then I need to accept it and continue working it. But because of the Lyme issue, I keep coming back to it mentally, which makes getting well from anxiety disorder very difficult since I can't even get past step one of "believing" it's anxiety.
I know I'm probably asking for trouble by reaching out here as it is likely a very biased board towards Lyme and co-infections, but I need real help here to figure out if it's Lyme/Bart/Babs or if it's a severe anxiety disorder. My life literally depends on it. I cannot get well without knowing. Treating Lyme and Anxiety simultaneously will not work as the first step in Anxiety is passive acceptance of the disorder. If I am treating Lyme simultaneously, that is not accepting it as anxiety.
Is there anyway I can figure out this puzzle? Lyme or Anxiety? Seems like a pretty simple question, but one that has kept me spinning for 20 months.
Posted by TNT (Member # 42349) on :
Before you accept the diagnosis of anxiety disorder, please at least get tested (and treated) for Bartonella through Galaxy Labs.
Six weeks of ABX for these diseases is definitely not adequate.
I personally believe there is a strong connection between infections and psychiatric issues---especially sudden-onset disorders that are treatment resistant (with psychotics), where a biting insect was involved.
Even for some psychiatric disorders where a biting insect may not be involved. Take Toxoplasmosis for instance. Just check out for yourself the PubMed articles showing a strong connection between toxoplasmosis (protozoan infection), and schizophrenia. Big connection.
Your symptoms sound like untreated Bartonellosis. I think testing thru Galaxy Labs would be a good place to start. It is a very good test with antibodies and culture.
There is just too much correlation between sudden-onset, treatment-resistant psychiatric issues and pathogens to just live with it.
Posted by S13 (Member # 42830) on :
Your symptoms just scream Bartonella! Like TNT said, get tested by Galaxy labs, they are the best for bartonella testing.
Just treating lyme with no specific abx for bartonella will probably not make the anxiety and other psych symptoms go away.
Rifampin can be miraculous for some. For me personally it takes away all of my anxiety, panic attacks, rage, depression, suicidal thoughts, etc. Its not a fast cure because rifampin only inhibits bacterial growth. Fluoroquinolones like levofloxacin can be more efficient, but they have more potential serious side effects.
With treatment resistant anxiety definitely suspect bacterial involvement. You owe it to yourself to at least try to treat for something like bartonella. Just accepting it and trying to live with it is not the right way to go imo.
Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :
Friday,
I just wanted to tell you that my grandson, age 11, developed severe anxiety and OCD in the last year. He does not have tick-borne infections.
He got especially bad the last few months.
The only recommendation the psychiatrist had was to put him on antidepressants.
We did not want to do that, so I searched for a natural solution and found it.
He is about 90% recovered right now, from using Source Naturals Inositol (Vitamin B8) powder mixed in a little juice, three times daily.
We increased his dose slowly to avoid gas or diarrhea.
When he got to the 10 gram dose, we noticed slight improvement. Since we increased slowly, that took about 5 weeks.
With each increasing dose, we noticed even more improvement.
He also recently started a Vitamin B6 capsule.
It has been like a miracle for him.
**Be aware, I don't think you can take it though, if you are already on antidepressants, because of an issue with serotonin.
Here is the information that I read regarding treatment with Inositol and a link to where I get it.
Dekrator, is this therapy a forever treatment, or a child can come off it when "normalized". Thx
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
If you want to rule out lyme disease, you have to treat for much longer than 6 weeks.
You stopped lyme treatment way too soon. So, now you don't know if you really have lyme or not.
You need to treat for about 6 months and see what happens.
Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :
2roads,
We don't know how long he will have to take the inositol.
We will have to wait and see what happens.
Posted by LisaK (Member # 41384) on :
a lot of my sx went away with bart tx, but i also just had genetic testing done and I have double mutations that cause anxiety, etc. so this explains my life long struggle with anxiety and all that. wow. so amazing
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :