posted
I was surprised that my doctor tested me for Lyme Disease a couple of months ago, and I was surprised with the results as well. My main symptoms are chronic Candida, depression, and anxiety. I have had anxiety all my life, but it has been getting worse over the last few years. I did have one bout of depression 20-odd years ago, then I was okay until about 5 years ago.
My depression takes the form of just not being able to get much done. I have great ideas but no get up and go. I am not sure if I am low energy, my brain has energy to think up great things, but I just don't do them. Often because I get bogged down in negative thinking of various kinds. I stopped homeschooling my daughter 2 years ago because I was unable to keep going with it. I also do have some mild confusion with words lately, and some difficulty with memory.
I know I had a tick bite while I was pregnant 14 years ago. My doctor at that time put me on maybe 2 weeks of antibiotics. The bite turned black and nasty, and one lymph node was swollen. I don't recall being ill, certainly not for any length of time during the pregnancy. The Candida problem started about 11 years ago. First, I could control it with diet, the last few years the diet is not quite enough. Almost.
My first test was the CD-/CD57+. The Abs. CD8-CD57+ Lymphs were 34. My MCV was 100, she is not sure why. My hematocrit was 44.6. I also have low cholesterol, at 132 (lower than she likes to see it). And my TSH is 4.33, so she feels I am hypothyroid.
My IFA was less than 40, so negative. My IgG Western Blot showed + for 41kDa and IND for 34 KDa. On my IgM, it showed + for 31 kDa, and IND for 39 kDa, 41 KDa, and 83-93 KDa. This was thru IGeneX.
She feels that I likely have chronic Lyme, and suspects a coinfection or two, especially because of the anxiety.
I do have quite a few other chronic symptoms that might be partially attributed to the Lyme Disease:
-chronic neck pain, much better than 3 years ago -chronic RSI, including carpal tunnel, finger tendonitis, arm and shoulder problems-- overall better than 3 years ago -palpitations (PVCs), mitral valve prolapse (can this be Lyme-related??) -low body temp -low blood pressure (I saw others mention this, can it be Lyme-related?) -jumping through the roof with very gentle acupuncture -my chiropractor describes my muscle pain as "almost Fibromyalgia" --but it really reads more like RSI to me, as it is much worse when I spend too much time on the computer, and is almost ignorable the rest of the time
I do have some major bruising problems, worsening over the last few years. I used to not bruise unless I had a severe injury. She ran an ISAC panel thru Esoterix. My Fibrinogen Activity was 330, my Prothrombin Fragment 1+2 was 333. The rest of the tests were normal.
She did start me on Boluoke, and I am curious because I am having no change in symptoms on it. My doc thought I might see some changes while on the Boluoke. I am not on a binder, just was reading posts about binders last night.
One interesting thing is that I was on Doxycycline for a localized infection near my tailbone a few months ago, when I was unable to see my regular doctor. For the first two days on the Doxy, I had intense pain and weakness in one muscle in my left arm. I stopped the Doxy on the third day, and the pain went away fairly quickly. My doc feels that the arm pain was a Herx caused by the Doxy. Does this make sense?
I also have an asymptomatic Helicobacter pylori infection and a low stomach pH (5.8). Could the low pH affect the Boluoke? I also have hi LCFAs in the stool, indicating fat malabsorbtion, for which I am taking enzymes.
I am wondering if Lyme and Lyme co-infections seem likely, based on my symptoms and labwork. I know that both Candida and Lyme can be associated with depression and anxiety, but I don't have a lot of other symptoms. Besides, I have been anxious all my life. Also, what is going on with the Boluoke?
My doc wants to get my Candida under control before dealing with the Lyme, because the Candida will just get worse on ABs. And before treating the Candida, she wants to treat my H. pylori infection. I am feeling anxious about getting the Lyme treatment under way, though I believe I have had it for years.
If Candida is so common with Lyme, are you treating the Candida first? If/when it comes back, do you go off ABs and go back to square one? And how do I take Doxy if it causes me such severe pain? Do you start at a lower dose? Does that seem like a Herx reaction?
I am curious about people's experiences and approaches to this.
My doc is not yet an LLMD, she is thinking about getting the training.
Any comments that you have on my situation, lab results, etc. would be welcome!
Posts: 9 | From Nevada County, CA | Registered: Sep 2011
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posted
Hello, I am also new to this website as well. I am currently in the process of trying to get tested thru Igenex as I am positive I have Lyme. I have chronic EBV titers, positive streptozyme test, candida infections, in addition to PVCS, PACS and mitral valve prolapse with horrible palpitations. Over the years I have become very anxious, as I am always thinking I have cancer that the doctors are missing, or that I am dying. I also have severe depression at times, wondering why I feel this way, and wishing I was normal. I am only 26, want to have kids, but am more concerned about how I feel and my quality of life. It is depressing when I can't be normal with all my friends, and that I sleep 12-14 hours a day. I have horrible night sweats, enlarged lymph nodes, occassional fevers, decreased libido, depression, anxiety, low BP, hypothyroid, acne, weight gain, muscle pain, headaches, foggy memory, and loss of words...just to name a few. My dr. put me on anitbiotics for this step infection and I think I herxed as I had awful reactions. I have reactions to everything from vaccinations, skin tests etc. I have NO tolerance to alcohol or pain pills; one sip and I am tipsy. Does any of this sound familiar? Sorry I can't answer all your questions, but I try to relate so you know you are not alone. I was bit over 10 years ago and am sure this has stemmed out over the years. Best of luck, and please share you experiences Posts: 148 | From AZ | Registered: Sep 2011
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Brussels
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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posted
Madrone, lyme and candida have similarities, you are right.
if you suffer from chronic candida, you look like me. I suffered from crhonic candida for about 15 years before I caught lyme, with bulleye rash, like you. Asymptomatic during the rash, but later developed symptosm (weeks after doxy).
There's no doubt that you got contact with borrelia because of rash. Wether borrelia is active or not, I don't know. But I know that candida and borrelia live in the same milieu. Virtually anyone with chronic lyme will fight candida sometime in their journey.
As for myself, I believe candida is even more stubborn than borrelia. My borrelia is dormant for more than 2 years, but I still fight candida on and off sometimes.
I am MORE afraid of candida than of borrelia, just because it is more stubborn (borrelia is though more harmful).
I would, if I were you, try only about2 months of abx to see if borrelia symptosm solve. But then shift to more natural routes to fight lyme. This is because I wouldn't like to trade lyme for a life long fight with candida. It is not nice to have lyme, but as you know, it's not nice to have chornic candida either.
Are you allergic to foods?
I avoided antibiotics because of my candida problem. During my 4 year fight with lyme, I didn't even take more than 2 months of abx in total.
Your fatigue, lack of motivation, anxiety could be both, or only borrelia, or only candida. So it is difficult to say. I suppose the fibro-like symptoms though look more like lyme to me.
Tendonitis, sciatica inflammation, for me, happened only during active lyme, not with chronic candida, so it looks like lyme for me.
As for low body temp it is a hall mark with lyme, but I also get that (to a lower extent) when candida is active.
it is a confusing world, this of lyme treatment.
Having said that, because of my lyme treatment (successful so far), I also caught part of my candida problem. My candida infections are MUCH better than before lyme. I attribute that to heavy metal detox.
I do believe heavy metals play a BIG role in crhonic infections, and they are intimately connected with candida /funghi /mold. Without addressing heavy metals, I don't believe one can get rid of chronic candida.
My lyme doc believes on the total connection of chronic lyme and heavy metals too!
I hope this is not discouraging to you. I'm sending you good luck. Many people try years of abx here, but as a chronic candida sufferer myself, I wouldn't advise you on that. No matter what probiotics you take, your candida will get worse with abx.
Take a look at Buhner's herbs, or the bionic /PE1 threads, or Rife threads, for alternative to antibiotics.
Having said that, if I were just starting lyme treatment, I would try about 2 months on abx to see if borrelia solves. But NEVER long term abx. It's also the opinion of Buhner for lyme diseas
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