posted
I am aware of a couple of cases where 2 people in the same family are suffering with Lyme. In some ways this seems statistically unlikely. On the other hand family members are exposed to the same environment. I am concerned about transmitting it to my family. Can anyone confirm that blood-blood contact is necessary for infection? Can the spirochete survive at room temperature for any length of time?
Posts: 29 | From East Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2010
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posted
might get a mixed review here. some people believe it's sexually transmitted or transmitted thru saliva. everyone has their own opinion and i think no one really knows. i bet there is just not enough scientific studies to back anything up. if it's out there...i'd like to see it because i would love to have this issue cleared up.
i've had a few boyfriends while i didn't know what was wrong with me....none of them went on to show symptoms of lyme to my knowledge and we keep in touch.
could they have been exposed? of course...but i don't know if it's enough exposure to make a person ill.
again...blood to blood contact seems more likely to transmit rather than from sharing a glass with a family member, especially with a babesia infection.
posted
Bizarre as it seems, my daughter came down with Lyme after having an anterior neck fusion just as I did 10 years before -- different parts of the state, different doctors/hospitals but same area of the spine. She had not lived in the same house as I because she was old enough to be on her own and going to college when my surgery was done.
I can't connect the dots.
Posts: 245 | From Texas | Registered: Jul 2009
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posted
According to my family it can. All of us are sick with different ailments. Husband first..then 2 years later me then 2 years later kids and mother in law (which stayed with me when I was very ill and took care of me). I don't need a study to make me believe I am living it.
Posts: 433 | From new york | Registered: Dec 2004
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Tammy N.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26835
posted
Like Fyrecracker said, I think you will get mixed opinions on this.
My husband and I both have Lyme and cos. We definitely believe it is sexually transmitted. Remember, Bb is a spirochete, and a distant cousin to syphilis, which is a sexually transmitted disease. So why would the Bb spirochete be any different?
There is enough good info out there to support the belief that it is sexually transmitted. Both of my LLMDs said yes. Also, Dr. K says yes. Just to name a few.
I also think it is harder for a man to get from a woman. For obvious reasons, I think it is easier for a man to give it to a woman.
I think it is also smart to not share plates of food and drinking from the same glasses because some of the co-infections can be spread through saliva. My husband and I keep to ourselves and NEVER share from plates/glasses except with each other.
Final thought - not everyone gets everything they come in contact with. Those who are strong and healthy don't pick up infections the way those who are immune challenged do.
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
I think that there is way too much doubt to take any chances.
Also...if it is, in fact, airborne, bloodborne, transmissable, etc., what if you are on antibiotics...like other illnesses...if you are on antibiotics for a while, like most here are, do you then become non-contagious because there is antibiotic in your system?!?!
My personal opinion is, if you are still symptomatic, whether or not you are on antibiotics, you could still be contagious to others.
Just my two cents...
~Tri
-------------------- ? date of bite/no rash 10/09 symptoms, 4/10 diagnosed, after 6 mos. ER visits, tons of docs/tests CDC+ 23/39/41/45/58/66/93 currently on oral plaquenil, doryx, rifampin, pyrazinamide, nystatin, numerous supplements Posts: 718 | From Pennsylvania | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
My hubby shows no signs of Lyme, though all 3 of my children have been clinically dx'd and have very low cd57 levels. Only one of my kids was bitten by a tick, then treated immediately. He was 'positive' BEFORE the tick bite.
I bf all 3 for a year+, and I am a firm believer that it can be passed in utero.
Posts: 206 | From In the shadow of a mountain | Registered: Feb 2011
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Lyme may lie at a very low (non-dectable) amongst the normal population. Just like a lot of pathogens/viruses. You may acquire the infection at one point of your life (or maybe you are born with it). If your body quickly mounts a successful immune response, you begin to feel better quickly, and there is no need to see the doctor. You may dismiss it as some type of flu.
During a trauma, you may acquire CFS due to spikes in cortisol or other triggering hormones. I am not sold on XMRV yet, but I do think CFS is caused by a retrovirus. Because of deficiency of NK cells and a down-regulation of specific toll-like receptors caused by CFS, your body doesn't mount a successful immune response and fails to generate much of an antibody response as well. Because of this acquired immunodeficiency, your body fails to keep certain viruses and bacterial infections under control. It's known the herpes viruses family (and others) can be chronically reactivated, but a connection with Lyme disease has not been established by the mainstream medical community.
I also think the stress caused by Lyme and co-infections may lead to CFS in a certain patient population, and maybe this is what they are defining as Post-Lyme Syndrome. But as far as I know, Post-Lyme Syndrome is just a label that really hasn't been studied.
I know there is a recent study able to distinguish Lyme from CFS by comparing proteins from a spinal tap. I am more interested in finding similarities in proteins in PLS and CFS (if any).
However, while I haven't looked at this study in detail, I do wonder how strict the inclusion criteria was. For an example, did the patient have to have arthritis, a positive ELISA, a positive Western Blot (IgG & IgM), through mainstream labs. I do believe that those that acquire CFS around the same time of the infection can not generally mount an antibody response that will be positive through LabCorp or Quest. And this makes things a lot more complicated.
Posts: 967 | From A deserted island without internet access | Registered: Sep 2009
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posted
It is an unknown answer at this point and everyone has their own opinions and fears of course.
WHen i read it on here the first time I panicked and went crazy. I asked my LLMD and he medically explained to me how it is no way transmitted except through a tick bite. SInce he is well renowned and treating for 20 years I have to believe he is right. He told me to go home and live a normal family and sexual life.
Families can all get lyme just from living in the same area. A tick nymph only has to jump on you take a tiny bite and off and you will never know. That leaves every single person open to lyme everywhere they may live.
If it was transmitted the way some people fear, there would be no one left on this planet at this point. I agree with how some people have a better immune system and can be bitten and never get lyme.
No one in my entire family has lyme and we have homes in high tick areas upstate NY. Only the two of us that have had numerous tick bites have lyme. One was cured with only early doxy and never has symtoms again...good immune system and I am down for count like a sledge hammer hit me!
Not a believer in the CD57 test since I have lyme and my count is 185?
-------------------- Diagnosed with chronic neuro lyme 12/10 after 30 years of vertigo.2 tick bites in 3 yrs from upstate NY. Was on omincef for nine mths..zith and rifampin stopped.Remission~ All the pain and symptoms are back and I am not treating now with biaxin. Posts: 788 | From New york..queens | Registered: Nov 2010
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MichaelTampa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 24868
posted
Very well documented baby can get it from mother as fetus.
I think there are way too many cases of spouses both having it, to explain it away as they both got it from a tick. Probably many cases where one spouse gets it directly from the other.
But, I remember reading, borrelia spreads itself also through urine. Infected deer urinates the borrelia out on the grass, and then a rat that walks over that grass is infected. (Perhaps it goes to cyst form to do this, read this early on before I knew much about the different forms.) Why can't this happen among humans, urine or any other fluid?
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
It is a very tough subject on this board. THe last time it was asked it went on forever.
I think you have to beleive what you feel and do what you feel is best for yourself. If doctors even differ and they are suppose to know than how can we make a judgement.
I chose to live my life without fear and to on normally but it is everyones right to take precautions if they are frightened. It is a personal matter and no one really knows right now.
Just dont allow yourself to become lyme disease!
-------------------- Diagnosed with chronic neuro lyme 12/10 after 30 years of vertigo.2 tick bites in 3 yrs from upstate NY. Was on omincef for nine mths..zith and rifampin stopped.Remission~ All the pain and symptoms are back and I am not treating now with biaxin. Posts: 788 | From New york..queens | Registered: Nov 2010
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Tammy N.
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26835
posted
Do we think syphilis is contagious?
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
Kday, I fully agree with your assessment. I think is far more prevalent than we think, like any other bacteria or virus. But, for some reason, certain people's bodies cannot manage to fend it off. The LLMD who diagnosed me told me that, and it makes sense to me.
I believe that my mother also has Lyme, and has more advanced, but similar, symptoms to me. Neither of us has ever been a robust person. On the other hand, my sister has always been a strong person and is entirely healthy. Was she lucky enough just not to get the bugs or did her body just keep it under wraps?
This makes me wonder if I might recover more fully by supporting my immune system rather than focusing on abx and other anti-microbials. My body is not handling abx well, so I'm starting to think about the other route.
-------------------- We really know so little about the body and the microbiome. Posts: 261 | From Southern California | Registered: Jan 2011
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