My child 8 year old was diagnosed with Lyme disease last week. Here is a brief history of events.
He got his initial Lyme symptoms two and half years ago. He had Rashes, Lymph node swelling and fever at that time and was given cefdinir antibiotic. The symptoms gone away at that time.
However we observed that his joints were weak since then. When we pull he used to complain it pains. Other than that he was perfectly normal until recently.
A month ago he had an injury at school on his left knee. We suspected of muscle sprain and it got better in next few days. Afterwards, we found his left knee was swollen. X-Rays came good. Orthopedic asked to take Rest, elevation, Motrin and Cold packs and given Knee Immobilizer.
After couple of more weeks it improved but other Knee started showing similar symptoms of swelling. He can't walk or stand. Took him to ER and was diagnosed with Lyme.
Western Blot result shows IGG positive and IGM negative, which was interpreted as infected in the past. Igg/Igm Index is 7.17. He was given Amoxicillin 3 doses/day.
Right now, his right knee shows improvement after 7 days of antibiotics. He started walking today, limping though. Our PCP asked us to go to Infectious Disease doctor and we scheduled an appointment next week. But after reading more about Lyme we feel an LLMD is preferred.
Please suggest which LLMD to choose, because I understand LLMD can have various specializations such as Rheumatology, Pediatric, Infectious Disease, Ortho etc... If you know any good doctor in around Central New Jersey that will be helpful.
We are worried whether he can fully recover and prevent it happening in future. Does this rhyme with anybody? Is it curable? Is it Lyme Arthritis?
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Breaking up your post for easier reading for many here -
[ 07-16-2015, 12:40 AM: Message edited by: Robin123 ]
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
You absolutely MUST find a pediatric LLMD right away! An infectious disease doctor will only treat for so long... MAYBE a month at best.
Did you post in Seeking a Doctor for help in finding one?
You will have to go outside of NJ for help. Not any really good LLMD's there .. and no pediatric ones. Your son will need long term treatment and may have issues for a long time.
Have no idea whether this would help - I take turmeric to reduce pain in muscles and joints. I get it in bulk at the health food store and dip 00-size capsules into it. Whenever I take a capsule, I feel pain relief fairly quickly.
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :
The bacteria which cause Lyme Disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, like connective tissues, so it is not surprising they get into joints, etc.
Your dear son needs to be evaluated and treated by a Lyme-literate doctor (LLMD). Non LLMDs have no clue about this horrible disease or its complex treatment!
Stay away from Infectious Disease doctors. Read the following link about the controversy surrounding Lyme:
A LLMD is one who has treated Lyme disease and the co-infections which come with it for many years and has gotten patients well. A good one will follow Dr. B's Guidelines, the "gold standard" for Lyme treatment.
Btw - please break up your posts into 2-3 sentence paragraphs, as there are people on Lymenet who cannot read large blocks of text due to due to neurological problems from Lyme. Thanks.
I already sent you a PM with LLMD information for VA & PA.
Posted by hopingandpraying (Member # 9256) on :
Here is a link for the "Progress and Success Thread" for you to read:
Former and current Lymenet members have kindly written about their personal experiences and triumphs over this insidious disease.
Posted by Brussels (Member # 13480) on :
My daughter had swollen knees since she got first bitten, when she was 1 year old, then loads of other problems (specially gastric, digestive, allergies).
Knees and GI tract are her weakest parts. She had very swollen knees, to the point of needing wheel chair twice, totally immobilized.
What stopped the cycle of disease was the photons and borrelia nosodes.
Since 2009, never anymore she had to suffer from those terrible pains anymore. I hope it remains past.
I'm sorry for your boy. The pains went down to next to zero very fast (in 5 days after photon therapy), so did the swelling. That was when I got convinced this magic treatment works!
Then I treated myself with the same therapy.
Her whole story is in the loooong thread here called:
PE1 and the Bionic therapy, from 2009.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Where is TroubleLyme?
Posted by Andie333 (Member # 7370) on :
I'm so sorry to hear about your son. I too had horrific, disabling pain in my knee, and it became as swollen as my thigh.
I honestly thought it would never heal, and even my LLMD was doubtful.
Now, I've got full mobility (thank God). It's taken me years, but I never struggle with my knee (my hip is another story).
There are three things I credit with this: first, I was on a high antibiotic regimen for a long time.
Second, I saw an acupuncturist regularly; that was key for me, in terms of retaining mobility.
Third was already mentioned in this thread by Robin: I take turmeric every day. It's provided an incredible relief.
I hope you're able to find a doctor who can help him. I'll keep you all in my prayers.
Posted by TroubleLyme (Member # 46261) on :
Thanks for your valuable responses. I have setup an appointment with LLMD in two days. We have been giving Turmeric daily three capsule amounts of Turmeric taken along with Food or milk.
Also trying to give him neem, goosberry, ginger with honey and Turmeric as they are some of the best herbals to fight germs and widely considered as first aid for infection diseases back in India.
He shown some improvement with right knee and can walk with short distances. He says his ankles are weak and can't walk for more time. Though we suspect it could be due to lyme it could also because he didn't walk for almost a month. I will keep posted after our visit to LLMD.