posted
Hi. I fell ill from Lyme in April of 1997. I went overnight from athletic to bedridden and from sanity to anxiety and depression.
All symptoms, both physical and mental hit me the very same day.
I was way too embarrassed to tell my doctor that I had a red lump under some hair follicles in my groin. Never had it checked out for a tic and regret it.
Anyway, my question is about mental illness stemming from Lyme.
For nearly ten years I was treated for anxiety, depression (and dysautonomia) but wasn't diagnosed with Lyme.
The Lyme diagnosis came in 2005, and both my physical and mental symptoms got worse with my herx reactions. I even went psychotic for three consecutive days while on Rhocephin.
I was on IV Rhocephin again in 2011, and again went psychotic for about three days.
Since IV treatments, I've not had psychosis, but still have a good deal of anxiety and a bit of depression, along with a host of physical problems.
How many of you have had mental symptoms get worse when Herxing?
Who still has mental symptoms post IV treatment? What symptoms do you have??? How are you being treated?
For me, in addition to antibiotics and anti-malarials for Lyme itself, I take Klonopin for anxiety and both nortriptalyne and trazodone for depression.
Is there hope for me getting off these psyc meds? I've been treated for Lyme since 2005 with two years on IV rather than oral antibiotics/antimalarials.
Please share your story with me. I need hope. Thank you. God bless. Ellen.
-------------------- Ellen _ _ ___________ _ _ lyme disease dysautonomia Chiari malformation anxiety Posts: 72 | From Birmingham, AL | Registered: Dec 2013
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posted
For a long time I was often drooling in my chair and could not even relate to the grocery store clerks but at least I managed to buy food and did not require care. Something that really helped me was lithium orotate at low dose. This is what I still use. It really calmed down my brain. The potency is 4.6 mg although they used to label it as 120mg which is probably what the tablet weighed. The low potency is the important part. http://www.supersup.com/advanced-research-lithium-orotate-4-6-mg-200-tablets-605164341930Posts: 705 | From WA state | Registered: Jul 2011
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GretaM
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 40917
posted
Hi Ellen,
I herxed real bad when I started rifampin for bartonella. I was on minocycline at the time as well.
I had 10 days of straight bart mental issues.
Extreme irritation, depression, major apathy towards everyone and everyone. Violent dreams.
I wasn't reasonable. For 10 days straight, it was My Way or the Highway. I had an incident with my temper and some hysterical crying and yelling at the pharmacy.
That lasted 10 days, and then I had another month of dark depression when I increased the rifampin.
It seems to have evened out. Although I take 112.5 mg of Effoxor daily now. So maybe I'm just numb.
Don't feel down on yourself for anxiety or depression.
We've all been, or all are, there.
Lyme, bartonella, babesia, erlichia, RMSF, Proto, BLO... Oh my, the list goes on. Every one of the vector borne infections are terrors. Let alone any normal everyday things we also struggle with.
I don't know if it's the neurotoxins, the cytokines, the damage to our neurons, the damage to the mitochondria. But tick borne infections really do a number on the hormones and receptors in our brains.
Hang in there...we can do this.
Posts: 4358 | From British Columbia, Canada | Registered: Jun 2013
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Judie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38323
I personally know two people who became bi-polar from Lyme.
One went undiagnosed with Lyme for 30 years. She's always believed she was bi-polar. When her meds stopped working I mentioned Lyme. It took her a year to get tested because she didn't believe it and she tested positive for it.
“In 2002, a study at the Prague Psychiatric Center involving 1,900 people found that people with psychiatric illness had about a 30 percent increased incidence of Lyme disease antibodies in their blood compared to other study participants.”
Posts: 2839 | From California | Registered: Jul 2012
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Judie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38323
posted
By the way, I do believe there's hope to get off psych meds.
The people I know who treated Lyme were able to severely cut down on their psych meds or not need them all together.
That being said you NEED your mental health though, so if the meds are helping please don't discontinue them until you know you're ready and have a plan to supplement in other ways to ween off.
Some of the better NDs can help, but only work with a top one for this.
Posts: 2839 | From California | Registered: Jul 2012
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If you're able to, you may want to think about consulting a LL psychiatrist. Both to answer your question about the long term and to see if what you're on now is the best medication for you, as a person with Lyme and co.
Hang in there! Posts: 431 | From New England | Registered: Dec 2011
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posted
I am mostly the same as you Ellen. It felt like it all hit me like a Mack Truck. In fact, in the middle of the night, one night, I had the feeling of being punched in the stomach (literally) and went into extreme anxiety that lasted for 4 1/2 years until I treated the bartonella with HH2 and Green Dragon Botanicals LB Formula as well as Nattokinase for Bartonella. I am still treating Lyme - but the anxiety and mental stuff has been long gone. And I never knew if it would happen. I was completely sane before the anxiety hit - but I had some pretty weird thoughts and dreams after. Looking back, I see me being irritable, paranoid about my kids, as well as having other issues like sunlight sensitivity, joint pain, foot pain...but nothing caught my attention like my brain being taken over. It is the scariest thing in the world. Anyways, I never did the Rocephin and am taking antibiotics now for the Lyme but the Bartonella was eradicated for me strictly using herbs. And my symptoms got way worse for 3 months before they got better. Way worse. Lastly, I detoxed with Zeolite Pure and I felt like a whole new person after that. It mops up toxins and I think recirculating toxins from the herx reactiions cause more ongoing stress when they are not gotten rid of. All the best!
Posts: 123 | From Washington State | Registered: Dec 2013
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posted
I am mostly the same as you Ellen. It felt like it all hit me like a Mack Truck. In fact, in the middle of the night, one night, I had the feeling of being punched in the stomach (literally) and went into extreme anxiety that lasted for 4 1/2 years until I treated the bartonella with HH2 and Green Dragon Botanicals LB Formula as well as Nattokinase for Bartonella. I am still treating Lyme - but the anxiety and mental stuff has been long gone. And I never knew if it would happen. I was completely sane before the anxiety hit - but I had some pretty weird thoughts and dreams after. Looking back, I see me being irritable, paranoid about my kids, as well as having other issues like sunlight sensitivity, joint pain, foot pain...but nothing caught my attention like my brain being taken over. It is the scariest thing in the world. Anyways, I never did the Rocephin and am taking antibiotics now for the Lyme but the Bartonella was eradicated for me strictly using herbs. And my symptoms got way worse for 3 months before they got better. Way worse. Lastly, I detoxed with Zeolite Pure and I felt like a whole new person after that. It mops up toxins and I think recirculating toxins from the herx reactiions cause more ongoing stress when they are not gotten rid of. All the best!
Posts: 123 | From Washington State | Registered: Dec 2013
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posted
Thanks, guys. Getting my kids off to school now, so haven't read your links yet. It's so nice to know I'm not alone, though of course I don't wish Lyme upon my worst enemy. Interesting that you can have even bipolar symptoms from Lyme. I'm afraid to go back on IV's, as I just started a part-time job, and this is my only source of income for myself and my kids (single mom). Making it by the skin of my teeth right now. Still VERY sick. I'd love to find a LL psychiatrist. Anyone know of one? The trazodone is making matters worse, but when I try to taper off it, I get a wicked migraine and irritability. Wish I had never been put on it. If there's more personal experience out there, I'd love to hear yours too. Thanks everyone for being so supportive! Sorry for block writing. Not sure how to get it double spaced. Havea blessed day! Ellen.
-------------------- Ellen _ _ ___________ _ _ lyme disease dysautonomia Chiari malformation anxiety Posts: 72 | From Birmingham, AL | Registered: Dec 2013
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I'll PM you with info about a LL psychiatrist--but he's in the NE. It must be really tough to find LL practitioners in a region where Lyme's not officially supposed to exist!
Dr. H's book, Why Can't I Get Better, has a chapter on neuropsychiatric Lyme ("Lyme and the Brain"). He discusses a number of treatments he's used. It may be worth looking at those to see if there might be alternatives to the IV meds that you could discuss with your LLMD. He also suggests trying glutathione to help remove toxins.
Good luck with your new job. You sound a wonderful person--caring and dedicated to your kids.
You don't need to double space. Just break it up into shorter paragraphs.
Good luck to you, Ellen!
Posts: 431 | From New England | Registered: Dec 2011
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posted
The Borrelia burdorferi bacteria responsible for Lyme do cross the blood/brain barrier, thereby wreaking havoc not only physically but mentally as well.
Ellen and SLML - 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 neurological problems from Lyme. Thanks.
Posts: 9020 | From Illinois | Registered: May 2006
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