posted
My fiancee' just recieved his blood work results back from his Dr. and has been referred to a Hemotologist. He has also had Lyme disease in the past and is currently being treated for Lyme right now even though he did not test possitive this time. The Dr. thinks he might be having a relapse because his sypmtons were the same as the first time he had lyme.
Iron test results were as follows: Total Iron Binding 241 Transferrin PCT Sat. 72.7% Iron 175 Transferrin 172 Ferritin 432
His Primary symptons are fatigue, joint pain (all joints without swelling), headaches, muscle pain & weakness (arms, back, legs). His secondary symptons are increased floaters, fog, difficulty concentrating and tingling + numbness in my chin & weightloss (about 10 pounds in 2 months).
He just finished 4 weeks of IV Rocephin and he feels better, but not sympton free. The first day after IV treatment we ended up at ER because he had tremors. Dr. thought it might be Herx? Symptoms got worse for 2 weeks then got better. Is it possible he has both Hemochromatosis and a Lyme relaps? Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
-------------------- joy Posts: 24 | From westerly ri 02891 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Yes, it is certainly possible to have both. Hemochromatosis is hereditary, involves gene disorder. If you have just one, you are a carrier and can have higher iron readings. If you have a matched pair of gene defects, you have the disease and need to have iron levels monitored, and possibly repeated phlebotomy.
According to an article I read on this subject in a medical textbook in hospital library, transferrin saturation and serum ferritin are the most revealing tests. The numbers you listed are in the mid-range, more typical of carrier, although if he is young, such numbers could still be those of an actual disease victim that has not yet accumulated the high levels.
Has he had any genetic testing?
This subject has been discussed before here. Try these two threads:
There was another good long post on hemochromatosis here, but it was older and has apparently gone to thread heaven. They chop off old posts every now and then.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
ask the doc if inositol-6-phosphate(IP6) could be used to bind free iron.
IP6 could be tricky to use because it would also bind other minerals, such as, perhaps magnesium.
since lyme,and probably babesia are associated with a severe deficit in magnesium, the IP6 could be dangerous in that it would further deplete magnesium.
Posts: 2708 | Registered: Feb 2005
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riversinger
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
They don't usually use chelation to treat hemochromatosis. Phlebotomy is very effective, and has fewer potential side effects.
Yes, it is entirely possible to have both hemochromatosis and Lyme. My son has both, and the symptoms can be overlapping. It is important to keep an eye on blood levels of the ferritin and transferrin saturation to know how much to treat.
There can be a lot of relief once the organ levels of iron begin to come down. I would say, if it is determined that he has iron overload, treat that aggressively, then see what is left in terms of symptomology that points to Lyme. The blood draws can be tiring in the begining, so schedule time for rest.
lymie tony z
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posted
I remember reading something way back that revealed iron was toxic to lyme bacteria...
Could the fact that this person having a higher than normal Iron level in his body be triggering herxlike symptoms...or in some way making his lyme symptoms worse due to the iron level in his tissuse????
If they lower his iron level would that make things worse? zman
-------------------- I am not a doctor...opinions expressed are from personal experiences only and should never be viewed as coming from a healthcare provider. zman Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
Not sure where you read that z man. What you might be remembering is that iron is not necessary to borrelia, in the way it is to some other microbes. Needs manganese, though.
So, probably not going to worsen the lyme by treating hemochromatosis, if that is what he has.
Hope I am remembering this correctly. If anyone wants the references, I will hunt around for them.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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Lou, If you could find the reference, that would be a big help.
Thanks!
-------------------- I'm in the tunnel and I still don't see any light!! Posts: 42 | From RI tick capitol of the world | Registered: Sep 2005
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Lack of a role for iron in the Lyme disease pathogen.
Posey JE, Gherardini FC.
Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
A fundamental tenet of microbial pathogenesis is that bacterial pathogens must overcome host iron limitation to establish a successful infection. Surprisingly, the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi has bypassed this host defense by eliminating the need for iron. B. burgdorferi grew normally and did not alter gene expression in the presence of iron chelators. Furthermore, typical bacterial iron-containing proteins were not detected in cell lysates, nor were the genes encoding such proteins identified in the genome sequence. The intracellular concentration of iron in B. burgdorferi was estimated to be less than 10 atoms per cell, well below a physiologically relevant concentration.
PMID: 10834845 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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riversinger
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4851
posted
I don't have any studies, but my son has had no problems treating a long undiagnosed Lyme infection while also treating his hemochromatosis. Iron overload is vey toxic and can cause organ death, so it is not a good idea to avoid treatment if it is needed.
At 24, he has done well on Omnicef and Biaxin, and now on Bicillin injections.
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