posted
Hi, This post isn't about me, it's about my partner.
4 weeks ago we were in Kentucky, camping and hiking, where in 2011 I had embedded ticks and probably picked up Lyme, Babs, and Bart. We did do tick checks most days this year, but he didn't wear bug spray every day, and I KNOW there were ticks even at camp where we were staying.
A couple of days ago, my partner starts feeling icky. He now has a high fever (above 101°F), fatigue, chills, sweats, some shortness of breath, a little bit of muscle twitching and shooting pains throughout various parts of his body every 15-20 seconds.
Part of my is saying, be rational, just because you have TBDiseases, doesn't mean everyone does. But, this sounds an awful lot like a Babs/Bart combo (and echoes a lot of my symptoms). He has no GI symptoms at all.
So... how common is the summer flu?
He hates going to the doctor, but he does finally have insurance (thanks Affordable Care Act). Should he try and go to a GP and ask for doxy, or should we scrimp to have him go to the same LLMD I'm now seeing???
Please help??
Posts: 243 | From Southern Arizona | Registered: Jun 2015
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posted
To get the best of care, in my opinion, he should go to a LLMD and that would be ASAP. It sounds like he may need treatment for several TBDs, and a GP would not serve him best.
He would need the knowledge and experience of a LLMD who can determine exactly what he has been infected with, and the best course for treatment. As we know, that requires specific lab tests from specific labs, the ability to interpret them, and the ability to clinically diagnose as well.
Then, when it comes to treatment, it is complex and individual, and best in the hands of a LLMD, not a GP. Doxy alone may not do it.
Wishing you both the best.
Posts: 873 | From WA | Registered: Dec 2005
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
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posted
- Has he been around any other critters lately? Anywhere?
This could be something other than tick borne infection. Some of the signs of plague are vomiting, swollen lymph nodes and you don't mention those and even note he has no GI symptoms so this is not very likely (I'd think but good to learn more if you are outdoors folks)
. . . twelve cases of plague diagnosed this year in the U.S. Four of those twelve have died. Patients this year in California and Georgia . . .
Swollen lymph nodes one major sign, others listed about :40 into the video
:51 into video, stop the video to see map . . . but don't go only by the dots . . . still, you are in California, where there have been a couple cases this summer in Yosemite.
The black fingers are after it's taken hold. Not an early sign. I don't mean to scare you, really I don't. But this is just something that we all should know about.
Otherwise, indeed, something is going on and it could be tick borne infection. A LLMD would be best to assess in that possibility. But, if there appears to be an urgent matter, do not hesitate to seek care right now - in case it's something else. Just know that most regular doctors usually miss lyme / TBD.
If lyme: Doxycycline, alone, will not cover the bases. And doxy, alone, can cause lyme to become chronic. Lyme treatment requires Rx other than just antibiotics and combination / rotation.
Good luck to him, and to you, too. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
He's on day 4 of above 100° temps! Poor guy...
So it sounds like you all think it might be Lyme...sigh. I guess it was too much to hope for a summer flu!
He is totally poor, and unemployed right now, so I'm hoping it will be easier for him financially than it has been for me thus far.
Keebler-we were just in Washington state drinking filtered lake water and camping, so it's possible it's a parasite or something? No swollen lymph nodes.
But then, I feel totally fine, and I'm the one with Lyme & Co and resultant suppressed immune function...
I didn't know doxy alone could make Lyme chronic. I bet that's what happened to me back in 2004 when I had the summer flu in MA and was given a month of doxy.
Posts: 243 | From Southern Arizona | Registered: Jun 2015
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posted
One month of doxy won't cure much of anything.
So he's seen a doctor?
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
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posted
- I think lyme & other tick borne disease is more likely from camping in Washington state (or anywhere in the Pacific NW) than any issue from filtered water. California has a high risk of lyme, too. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
Nope, no doctor yet. We just had some cipro and gave it to him, and the fever is finally down after 5 days.
I think the Kentucky trip 4 weeks ago is enough to explain potential Lyme and co...we all had ticks crawling on us. We did daily tick checks, but those bugs are so dang small...
He's convinced it's just the flu, but who gets the flu in August??
Posts: 243 | From Southern Arizona | Registered: Jun 2015
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- A "flu" - as the term has come to be used in our casual language - can be any kind of unexplained infection and, yet, even for actual influenza virus strains, such can occur anytime of the year (usually low in summer, though) according to a CDC site I just looked up.
There are other kinds of infections that go around or could be otherwise acquired -- that can be among us at anytime of the year, especially with recent travel.
I got pneumonia one August. Who would've thought that would happen? Yet, I am certainly not the only one but I had previously operated more on assumptions about time of year for certain illnesses.
It's best to avoid any kind of assumptions when seeking out the truth / cause / reasons for just about anything.
Food poisoning should also be considered.
Of course, medical care should be soon. However, as for fever, unless very high, it may be best to let it run its course. Fever can have a good purpose, if not too high.
A medical site could help you find what that safety temperature would be as to what not to go over. I'd check at least 3 credible sites, though, to be sure they all agree on when a fever is dangerously high.
And, I really hate to toss this at you and don't have the energy or even the brain power to put it softly . . . but . . . since Cipro has already been taken, the side effects are vital to consider so he can stay as a safe as possible, especially regarding the risk of tendon injury.
Best to not take any more cipro -- but since taken, please read all you can about it. For many weeks afterward, tendons can be at great risk. Be very, very careful.
posted
This is so so helpful, thank you. There are many things I still don't know about the various drugs (including the ones I'm on or starting soon).
I didn't know cipro can cause tendon problems. I will tell him, but it has helped to bring down his fever, we think.
He takes it, gets a fever spike about a half hour later, then it calms down again. I just need to drag him to the doctor, I think.
And the LLMD is the best doctor I've been to (actually listens to me), so I guess we'll try to get in there.
Thanks again.
Posts: 243 | From Southern Arizona | Registered: Jun 2015
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posted
Cipro is a horrible drug and not effective for Lyme ... at least you wouldn't be able to take it long enough to be "cured" since all the side effects would do the person in.
PLEASE get him to the LLMD right away.
And don't forget probiotics!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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