I am off to see my cardiologist today, and explain to him that I have lyme and educate him a little.

I have had cardiac symptoms...(he was the first doctor I saw--but didn't recognize that I had lyme going on).

Do any of you have cardiac symptoms? If so, could you describe them?

I will make a short list of people's symptoms that get posted here, and give them to my doctor, so he can know what people experience who have lyme (and thus be able to diagnosis lyme more easily. )

If anyone has articles that would benefit him, please share those too...

Invasive Cardiol. 2003 Jun;15(6):367-9. Related Articles, Links

Complete heart block due to lyme carditis.

Lo R, Menzies DJ, Archer H, Cohen TJ.

Section of Electrophysiology in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine,
Winthrop-University Hospital, Mineola, NY 11501, USA.

Lyme carditis is becoming a more frequent complication of Lyme disease, primarily due
to the increasing incidence of this disease in the United States. Cardiovascular
manifestations of Lyme disease often occur within 21 days of exposure and include
fluctuating degrees of atrioventricular (AV) block, acute myopericarditis or mild left
ventricular dysfunction and rarely cardiomegaly or fatal pericarditis. AV block can vary
from first-, second-, third-degree heart block, to junctional rhythm and asystolic pauses.
Patients with suspected or known Lyme disease presenting with cardiac symptoms, or
patients in an endemic area presenting with cardiac symptoms with no other cardiac risk
factors should have a screening electrocardiogram along with Lyme titers. We present a
case of third-degree AV block due to Lyme carditis, illustrating one of the cardiac
complications of Lyme disease. This disease is usually self-limiting when treated
appropriately with antibiotics, and does not require permanent cardiac pacing.

Publication Types:
Case Reports

PMID: 12777681 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Acta Cardiol. 2003 Jun;58(3):211-4. Related Articles, Links

Cardiac conduction disturbances in Lyme disease.

Swinnen J, Moerenhout C, Cools FJ.

Faculty of Medicine, UZ Gasthuisberg Leuven, Belgium.

A young patient is described presenting with third-degree atrioventricular block, who had
a flu-like syndrome a few weeks before admission. The diagnosis of Lyme disease was
suspected by serologic antibody detection and confirmed by Western immunoblot assay.
Pacing was necessary because an unstable escape rhythm persisted. After treatment,
atrioventricular conduction recovered. Lyme disease, a tick borne disease, is discussed
with emphasis on cardiac involvement: atrioventricular block is a frequent complication
of early disseminated disease. If treated with adequate antibiotic therapy, the prognosis is
good.

Publication Types:
Case Reports

PMID: 12846512 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Ugeskr Laeger. 2003 Apr 7;165(15):1570. Related Articles, Links

[Borrelia burgdorferi myocarditis]

[Article in Danish]

Hendricks O, Kjaeldgaard P, Koldbaek I.

Klinisk Mikrobiologisk Afdeling, Sonderborg Sygehus, DK-6400 Sonderborg.

We describe a case of progressive arrhythmia and heart failure combined with
neurological symptoms that was resistant to conventional cardiological treatment. The
outcome of a serological analysis was Borrelia IgG on a level consistent with chronic
Lyme Disease. Antibiotic treatment with doxycycline resulted in complete remission of
all cardiological symptoms. This case demonstrated Lyme Disease to be a potential factor
in the pathogenesis of myocarditis as suggested by international publications.

Publication Types:
Case Reports

PMID: 12715663 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Rapid heartbeat 120 to 150, one time it lasted for 3 days. High blood pressure 160/110, syncope, mitral valve prolaspe, and MPV's.

My cardio doc had no idea why this started all of a sudden but did ask if I had a lyme titer.

Good luck with your visit and keep us posted.

quote:

---

Originally posted by timaca:
Hi all~

I am off to see my cardiologist today, and explain to him that I have lyme and educate him a little.

I have had cardiac symptoms...(he was the first doctor I saw--but didn't recognize that I had lyme going on).

Do any of you have cardiac symptoms? If so, could you describe them?

I will make a short list of people's symptoms that get posted here, and give them to my doctor, so he can know what people experience who have lyme (and thus be able to diagnosis lyme more easily. )

If anyone has articles that would benefit him, please share those too...

Thanks in advance....Tina

---

My resting heart rate was high-around 140. Blood pressure incredibly low, average around 70/40, although there were several times when even the Doc got no reading at all. (He asked "How are you conscious?" Answer "I'm not. I'm faking!)

We were thrilled when I got it up to 90/60!Fainting and near fainting. Heart beating so hard that not only could you see my shirt moving, but when I tried to sleep at night the whole bed would squeak in rythym to my heartbeat.

Had a minor heart surgery, (electrophysiology study) before dx'd with Lyme. That was fun...

I took the articles, and people's experiences to the cardiologist today. He was very appreciative of the info.

He was the first doctor I saw 1 1/2 years ago when my symptoms started. He did not think of lyme then.

He is going to repeat the echocardiogram to see if there have been any changes to the heart since my echo a year and a half ago.

He also wants to do an "event recorder" which I guess is a device that I wear for a month to try to actually record what my heart is doing.

He wants to make sure something else isn't also going on with my heart too.

It is NICE to find a doctor who listens, and acknowledges lyme, and is willing to learn about it.

Tina
ps...if anyone else has info/articles to add, just post them, and I'll copy them and get them to my doctor. Thanks again...

I also have the anti-cardio lipid antibody where your platelets stick together and can cause heart attacks and strokes. Get yourself tested for this. I take one baby aspirin a day for this.

Since your blood pressure is going too high, also get your MAIB tested. That is a kidney test to see if the blood pressure has damaged your kidneys. Mine did.

All of this was lyme. I went to 16 different docs, all kinds until I found out my bite was from a tick. I had a raised white bite with a black hole in the center. If only I would have known it was the tick, I might not have suffered so much.

(She didn't know these were signs of a heart attack when she was having them, she has never been around/seen anyone have one!)

I just about had the heart attack that day!

Daughter's EKG was completely normal though, dunno?

So glad you found a good doc! Hold on to em, as you know, they are not a dime a dozen!

Trails