Mostly these cases are out west. Have you been traveling?
Sorry, have no opinions on the rash.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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Leelee
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19112
posted
I can't see the picture too well as my eyes are very blurry today, but the rash you describe does sound like Bartonella to me.
Perhaps you have both Lyme and Bartonella? I hope not, but maybe? I have Lyme, Bartoenlla and Babesia.
Do you have a LLMD? If not, you can go to "Seeking a Doctor" and ask for a referral. I think all of us on this forum would advise you to get diagnosed and treated by a LLMD.
-------------------- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King,Jr Posts: 1573 | From Maryland | Registered: Feb 2009
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Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
Borrelia hermsii- Northern America Relapsing Fever
Have you traveled at all outside of CT?
Posts: 7052 | From Colorado | Registered: Mar 2003
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Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
Typing of Borrelia relapsing fever group strains. Emerging Infectious Diseases | Date: September 1, 2004| Author: Bunikis, Jonas; Tsao, Jean; Garpmo, Ulf; Berglund, Johan; Fish, Durland; Barbour, Alan G.
Partial sequencing of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer showed two to four genotypes each for Borrelia hermsii and B. turicatae, both relapsing fever agents transmitted by argasid ticks, and for B. miyamotoi and B. Ionestari, transmitted by ixodid ticks.
Field surveys of Ixodes ticks in Connecticut and Sweden showed limited local diversity for B. miyamotoi.
Posts: 7052 | From Colorado | Registered: Mar 2003
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
joey,
Welcome; i'm so glad you found us!! You've come to the right place for education and support!
Dr. Burrascano's most recent "Diagnostic Hints and 2008 Treatment Guidelines for Lyme and Other Tick Borne Illnesses" @
Betty's suggested POSTING GUIDELINES . many of us have neuro lyme where we can NOT read long solid block text and be able to comprehend and read it as is.
please edit your post by CLICKING PAPER/PENCIL ICON to right of your name. that opens up BOTH subject line and body text.
now please break up your WORDY SENTENCES into one sentence paragraphs. Then hit ENTER KEY ``TWICE`` after each paragraph; we need that space for comprehension.
then go to left hand corner and mark box to receive ALL REPLIES, and click EDIT SEND
we thank you for helping us; otherwise, we will SOB, SCROLL ON BY, since we can't read to help you. If I see posts like this, I SOB them; to hard on me. ------------------------------------------------------
People seeking doctors might be able to get help from their state online information and support group. Nearly 3,400 people belong to state groups. Some of the groups are small but more than 20 of them have 50 or more people and seven have over 100.
The groups are moderated and you have to apply. Most don't allow doctor names, but once on the group, you can ask for doctors in a certain area and ask people to email you privately. *******************************************
This explains the medical politics around lyme WHY you need an ILADS-educated or ILADS-member LLMD (and there are also some ILADS-member LL NDs (naturopathic doctors):
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES TO FUEL THE "LYME WAR" -(author's details at link)
As two medical societies battle over its diagnosis and treatment, Lyme disease remains a frequently missed illness. Here is how to spot and treat it.
Excerpts:
Meet the players
The opponents in the battle over the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease are the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the largest national organization of general infectious disease specialists, (and)
and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), an organization made up of physicians from many specialties. ( www.ilads.org )
ILADS, by contrast, asserts that the illness is much more common than reported, underdiagnosed, easier to contract than previously believed, difficult to diagnose through commercial blood tests, and difficult to treat, (especially)
especially when treatment is delayed because of commonly encountered diagnostic difficulties ( http://www.ilads.org/guidelines.html - Accessed April 6, 2007). . . .
" . . .To treat Lyme disease for a comparable number of life cycles, treatment would need to last 30 weeks. . . ."
`` . . .Patients with Lyme disease almost always have negative results on standard blood screening tests and have no remarkable findings on physical exam, so they are frequently referred to mental-health professionals for evaluation.
"...If all cases were detected and treated in the early stages of Lyme disease, the debate over the diagnosis and treatment of late-stage disease would not be an issue, and devastating rheumatologic, neurologic, and cardiac complications could be avoided..."
. . . * Clinicians do not realize that the CDC has gone on record as saying the commercial Lyme tests are designed for epidemiologic rather than diagnostic purposes, and a diagnosis should be based on clinical presentation rather than serologic results.
- Full article at link above, containing MUCH more detailed information. -===
Co-infections (other tick-borne infections or TBD - tick-borne disease) are not discussed in the Savely article due to space limits. Still, any LLMD you would see would know how to assess/treat if others are present. ==========================
TESTING
You should also be evaluated for coinfections. Not all tests are great in that regard, either, but a good LLMD can evaluate you and then guide you in testing. One of the top labs is:
"With most infections, your immune system first forms IgM antibodies, then in about 2 to 4 weeks, you see IgG antibodies. In some infections, IgG antibodies may be detectable for years.
Because Borrelia burgdorferi is a chronic persistent infection that may last for decades, you would think patients with chronic symptoms would have positive IgG Western blots.
But actually, more IgM blots are positive in chronic borreliosis than IgG. Every time Borrelia burgdorferi reproduces itself, it may stimulate the immune system to form new IgM antibodies.
Some patients have both IgG and IgM blots positive. But if either the IgG or IgM blot is positive, overall it is a positive result.
Response to antibiotics is the same if either is positive, or both. Some antibodies against the borrelia are given more significance if they are IgG versus IgM, or vice versa.
Since this is a chronic persistent infection, this does not make a lot of sense to me. A newly formed Borrelia burgdorferi should have the same antigen parts as the previous bacteria that produced it.
But anyway, from my clinical experience, these borrelia associated bands usually predict a clinical change in symptoms with antibiotics, regardless of whether they are IgG or IgM." ===========
ILADS The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) provides a forum for health science professionals to share their wealth of knowledge regarding the management of Lyme and associated diseases. =========== i'm going to try to post a link here with info on SUCCESSFUL LAWSUITS WON ON LYME DISEASE from www.lymenet.org site! look on LEFT side :legal resources" !! all WINNERS!
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quote:Originally posted by seibertneurolyme: Joey,
Can you tell us what lab diagnosed the relapsing fever?
Also curious as to what symptoms you are having.
Bea Seibert
I also would like to hear more about (1) what lab did these tests, and (2) what led your doctors to test for this species of Borrelia?
-------------------- Wildlife biologist working in tropics since 1997; tick bites in Nicaragua in March 2007, started getting sick May 2007; diagnosed with Lyme based on serological testing in Jan 2009; treatment starting Feb 2009. Wish me luck! Posts: 116 | From Seattle | Registered: Feb 2009
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posted
Actually the tests were done at my local Quest lab.
For the past few years I've had pretty severe Dysautonomia (Hyperadrenergic POTS) which the doctors assumed was autoimmune based on my medical history.
I've always tested negative for Lyme Disease -- but I have a new primary doctor who decided to run these tests after I recently found a deer tick on me.
I live in a pretty bad part of Connecticut when it comes to Lyme (Tolland) and it's like an epidemic here.
Posts: 16 | From connecticut | Registered: Apr 2009
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otherwise, we will SOB, SCROLL ON BY, since we can't read to help you. If I see posts like this, I SOB them; to hard on me. 
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