My son has had Chest pain and shortness of breath off and on now since March, MAINLY ON along with tons of other symtoms but these seem to be the scariest. He was diagnoised with lyme in August, and his co-infection panel done this week also showed he has Bartonella. His doctor put him on Erythromyin 1000 mg a day and Ciprofloxacin 1500 MG per day. every since he started his abx he has been getting severe chest pain and some heart palps. Is this a herx? Can bart cause heart problems. His digestive problems are also flaring up again. Its only been a few days back on abx so i dont think it is yeast. This disease just never gives you a break. Still wonder if he has babs because of the chest pain and shortness of breath, any info would be helpful. Posts: 12 | From Fremont, Wisconsin | Registered: Oct 2005
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Can you give some details on the kind of chest pain he is experiencing?
Before I started antibiotics I was having chest pains and palps, the chest pains were worse when pressing on the sternum. I believe the pains were caused by costochondritis, which is the inflammation of the cartilage that connects the sternum and ribs due to infection. Costochondritiss can also present as pain during inhalation. This seems to be a common symptom of Lyme. Remember a herx can bring out new symptoms or make other symptoms more intense.
If it hurts when pressing on the edges of the sternum then it's most likely benign. Heart related pain shouldn't present when gently pressing on the sternum.
However any chest pains should be reported to your doctor just to be sure.
posted
Bart can cause endocarditis although I believe that is rare.
Your son is on fairly high doses of antibiotics -- you might want to ask the LLMD if you can back down a litle for a few days til things calm down some. He is probably herxing.
Sometimes with a new antibiotic 1 or 2 days is all it takes to bring on yeast symptoms or G.I. problems -- hubby had to stop clindamycin for 3 weeks due to severe diarrhea (10 - 15 times a day)-- started after 1 pill if I remember correctly.
Be sure to take acidophilus regularly and you could try adding in either olive leaf extract or oregano oil capsules or goldenseal -- all will help balance G.I. bacteria. If diarrhea is a problem -- try saccharomyces boulardii. Bifido bacteria is another good bacteria to try.
G.I. symptoms are an ongoing battle for most Lyme patients as long they remain on antibiotics. Hubby does better if he rotates around between various supplements every 2 - 3 weeks and doesn't take the same things continuously.
Hubby also has costochondritis which acts up more when he switches to a new antibiotic. Lately, he has also been having occasional heart palpitations as well which I generally think is more a Lyme symptom than from a coinfection.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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valymemom
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posted
I remember someone posting lately that bart likes to get in the rib cage area.
Does he have other babs symptoms besides the shortness of breath?........('cause all we read.... that points to babs.) What does your llmd think of those breathing symptoms?
My son developed thrush (soon) on his abx so he would swish mouth/brush tongue with peroxide and then immediately chew on acidolphilus to put good bacteria back. This really helped him.
I did not develop thrush/stomach until later and our llmd put me on nystatin. When she found my son was also having diarhea, though, she switched his abx.
I know how terrible you feel - how helpless - and isolation can come, too...... but stay here posting and reading and keep walking thru this with us.
Posts: 1240 | From Centreville,VA | Registered: Mar 2005
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Foggy
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posted
My 5+ years of scary chest pain was caused by Babs. After a thorough normal cardio workup, my PCP was puzzled. Mepron and a macrolide made a BIG difference and it's been 2 years with no pain.
Be sure to talk to your LLMD about this.
Posts: 2451 | From Lyme Central | Registered: Aug 2001
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The chest pain is more of a stabbing pain or shooting pain when his heart beats. He's Been to a cardioligist who ran a gamet of tests and found nothing wrong. There is some soreness when he presses down on his chest but his says that is more of a dull flat pain when it bothers him. Any exertion seems to make it worse. Especially the heart pounding.As far as all his symtoms go ill try to name a few. Anxiety attacks, deppression,lyme rage, tremors,chills,myalgias, severe burning nerve pain, muscle pain, dizziness, vertigo, major fatigue, heart palp, GI problems,(started before treatment) was diagnoised with a yeast infection in the colon before being diagnoised with lyme. He is following all the yeast protocols -eating wright, taking probiotics and adophicilus, but he still tends to get the yeast back when on antibiotics. I heard stomach problems can be caused by bart. After bart treatment for a month we plan on going to IV Rhocephin or Zithromax for the lyme, Is one month of bart treatment long enough, his titer done through IgeneX was faily low they said. Is it possibly for Igenex to miss babs when testing. I hear there accuracy rate is in the 90 percent range. Thank you for all your replys , they have really been helpful.My son is really worried that this is never going to get better, its been hard to keep his spirits up, and he is always in so much pain. He is 18 and had to miss graduating last year because he became extremly sick in march. HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN HIS CLASS THAT DID NOT GRADUATE. Now he is starting to loose all his friends because he just doesnt feel good enough to do anything. I pray that this will get better soon, i dont know how much longer we can all take this. It is sad to know that we are not the only ones going through this, what a horrible disease, but my prayers are with you all and i thank you for all your help.
Posts: 12 | From Fremont, Wisconsin | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I have never seen that statistic for babs and IGeneX testing and in my opinion it is totally wrong. There are many strains of babesia just like there are many strains of Lyme and the tests only test for 1 or 2 of the different strains depending on which test you had done. Chills and dizziness/vertigo definitely sound like babs symptoms.
If he is not taking it I would definitely suggest adding COQ10 to his supplements -- it is expensive, but a must for heart and brain symptoms. Up to 400mg daily.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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henson2
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posted
Hi,
I'm the poster girl for chest pain: the sharp laser-like penetrating pain just to the left of my sternum and then radiating left was one of my worst and most consistent symptoms.
I had the whole gamut of cardiology tests, too, multiple times.
My LLMD tells me it is a common Lyme symptom because the Lyme bacteria are in the nerve roots in the spine, and they like to inflame a nerve that wraps around the rib cage. So, in essence, it is nerve pain.
(Altho, I am not a doctor and would urge you to contact your own doctor).
I have had a long road with it: I went to a pain clinic at a major hospital and they did a series of 3 sets of nerve block injections in the area, sometimes right into the sternum and ribs themselves. The first set didn't do anything and the 2nd and 3rd set made the pain much, much WORSE! So please be very, very cautious about nerve block, or trigger point, injections.
Here's the good news: I am, after a long battle, finding that prolonged antibiotic treatment is at last causing it to subside. (I hesitate to say it so I won't jinx it!)
You might also want to rule out any GERD or esophageal reflux involvement because GERD can be a sx of Lyme (I read on the Canadian page's list of symptoms). Do follow up w. a doctor.
It felt either like a thin laser-like point of pain, through which all of my energy was draining out. Or a screwdriver in my chest. Or several points at which arrows were lodged in my chest. I have had all of these sensations.
Do have it checked out with a doctor. As I said, I didn't have shortness of breath, but that could be a reaction to the level of pain.
Antibiotic treatment for Lyme is causing it to subside.
I don't know if it is particular to Bartonella. The 2 best abx for this pain have been IV Claforan (which in the end I couldn't tolerate for other reasons) and Tetracycline. But the Tetra didn't start attacking it until I had been on other regimens for a long time, including Biaxin/plaquenil and erithro.
I don't know if this helps. My LLMD was the first and only doctor in a long line of specialists who recognized this chest pain. He warned me it would get so bad sometimes I would think I was having a heart attack. And then he explained the nerve involvement, the nerve that wraps around the rib cage. That nerve ending is attached on either side of the sternum and the nerve ending gets particularly inflamed by the spirochetes in the nerve roots in the spine.
And it can definitely flare when I start a new regimen or herx. Although mine was mostly severe all of the time.
My warmest good wishes and strength.
[ 19. May 2007, 01:43 AM: Message edited by: henson2 ]
Posts: 1066 | From East Coast | Registered: Dec 2000
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henson2
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posted
PS
I am also a student (altho in grad school and older than your son) but I do know the pain of watching classmates go by and get done. It can be very painful and isolating socially.
Do you know about the Lyme group called Lyme Warriors? I believe that is the correct name. It is an online group just for teens going thru this. I have heard it is a very active group.
I know how hard it's been for my parents to watch me go thru this - it may be harder on the parents than on the kids, feeling so helpless.
With treatment, your son will get better.
Sending encouragement. Do check out Lyme Warriors and maybe he can get hooked up with some other teens in the same situation he is in, and may not feel so alone.
Warmest good wishes. Posts: 1066 | From East Coast | Registered: Dec 2000
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Foggy
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posted
Sorry to hear about your son's situation. This is devastating for the entire family and I hope things improve.
Mom, I neglected to mention that I had a neg Babs test, yet, most of the classic babs sxs, and this caused much confusion. I was also vomiting blood and had 2 Endoscopies. I was complacent, thinking it might be GI related, and my 1st LLMD was dismissive of chronic Babs.
Reactions are idiosyncratic, but finding a LLMD that would treat coinfections, especially Babs, even with a neg titer, was worth the expense and hassel. Got me out of bed and gave me part of my life back.
Posts: 2451 | From Lyme Central | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I have the same rib pain as henson2 described. At one point earlier this year I thought for sure I was having a heart attack because it was all left sided and I had not experienced this symptom before. It eventually subsided, however, since I started on levaquin for treating bartonella it has come roaring back full force. Makes me think this is defenitely a bartonella symptom.
Posts: 202 | From vancouver, canada | Registered: Jun 2005
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caat
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posted
yes, bart can effect the heart and also the lungs.
Posts: 1436 | From Humboldt county ca usa | Registered: Mar 2002
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