posted
I was bit by a tick on memorial day and 6 days later woke up stiff and sore. Later that day I came down with a fever which originated in my eyes.
over the next few days my temp was routinely over 105. I also developed a cough which was mostly unproductive.
I went to my doctor who gave me Tamiflu and a cough syrup. My fever gradually came down over the next few days but I developed numbness in my skin, especially in the face and neck, soreness in my cheekbones, and a red rash spread sporadically over my body.
then my left arm turned red and became sore around the inside of the elbow. There is no rash or abnormality where I was bit.
They tested me for the flu at the ER which came up negative. A lyme test was also negative, which I know are very inconclusive anyway.
My fever wont go away and fluctuates greatly, anywhere between 97 and 103 in the last few days.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Posts: 22 | From pleasant gap, pa. 16823 | Registered: Jun 2009
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Correction: This should read: " for someone without a spleen . . ." I left the "out" out of without. Ooops.
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I think you need to get in to see a lyme literate doctor ASAP, considering that fever.
You might even go to the ER tonight if your fever is still high. More below about that.
First, by chance, if you have lost your spleen through accident or surgery this is of the utmost importance: you need to be assessed immediately for BABESIA. Babesia is another tick-borne infection that often accompanies lyme and it often affects the lungs (coughing?).
For someone withOUT a spleen, babesia can be fatal.
Regardless, you need medical attention ASAP by a doctor who know about lyme disease.
in addition to LYME and BABESIA, you need to be assessed for ERHLICHIA, two kinds, HME and HGE, although they may be calling it anapla-something now.
I'll come back with a set of links that I've put together. Normally, I'd try to weed them out specifically for you but I'm really tired and just can't do that.
Step by step, you should find your way to post right now in "Seeking a Doctor" and you should contact your local support group for doctor's names.
If that arm is still red, take photos. Not all rashes are bulls eyes or even exactly rash-like.
The lyme test could not possibly have worked as you would not yet have developed the antibodies. But they probably just did the ELISA, anyway.
If you can't get to a doctor who will give you doxycycline right now, I'd get someone to go to vitamin store and get you the very, very best ALLICIN capsules (if you are NOT allergic to garlic). Best to take that with food.
I am not a doctor, though, so I can't advise. That is just what I would do, what I wish I had know to do.
Best of luck. Sorry you had to find us, though. With prompt care, this can get better. Good thing you are going to get early treatment.
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[ 06-10-2009, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
It is a tape of a great show on lyme disease done by a Boston TV station a few months ago.
When you get to the site, select the link to view the show. The show was taped by a girl on LymeNet and she put it on-line for all of us to be able to view it.
You will learn a lot about the medical controversy surrounding lyme disease and why it is so hard to find a doctor who knows how to cure a person of lyme disease.
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.
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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:
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.
These 3 posts may not mean much but, after you read a bit, you'll see that getting proper diagnosis and treatment has been very difficult for lyme and TBD (tick-borne disease) patients. You might just want to glance a the top three treads to get an idea of what is being done to help change that.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Chris,
I recommend that if you want more replies, that you edit the heading to your thread.
Everyone here has strange symptoms. What you have is:
Urgent: Bitten Memorial day, now high fever and skin reactions
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Oh, and as it is late and stores are closed . . . if your fever goes up or you get worse, get to an ER and tell them to treat you for lyme, babesia and ehrlichia as it's too soon for tests and the fever and skin problems after that Memorial day tick-bite are huge clues to all these tick-borne infections.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever may account for the redness but you say it's not really a rash so that is a bit confusing.
Bartonella might also be considered.
Treating you could save your life and there is no time for tests.
If you stay stable, call tomorrow morning and get in to see a LL doctor. Tonight, if you have raw garlic around the house, you might take one clove (the smaller segments of the larger bulb).
Eat some food like oatmeal or rice and soup and, in the middle of your little meal, take that raw garlic clove and cut it up and swallow it fast. Then finish your food. Repeat until you can get in to see a doctor.
Again, I'm not a doctor and hate advising this, but it is what I would do if I could not find a doctor right away. Allicin from garlic is used as a support measure and does have antimicrobial properties. Cooking it destroys the allicin, which is the key ingredient.
Olive Leaf Extract is also something that I might take but, my guess is that you don't have that at home right now.
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Oh, and avoid steroids, even in skin cream, as they can make lyme much worse.
disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
Definitely sounds like you have lyme and a few of the co-infections. Please please please see an LLMD before this get worse. Go to the Find a Doctor section here and ask for a LLMD in your area. Lyme and co's are nothing to mess around with.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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Pinelady
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18524
posted
I agree with Keebler. You could have anything. If they don't find it test with Igenex is in order.
-------------------- Suspected Lyme 07 Test neg One band migrating in IgG region unable to identify.Igenex Jan.09IFA titer 1:40 IND IgM neg pos 31 +++ 34 IND 39 IND 41 IND 83-93 + DX:Neuroborreliosis Posts: 5850 | From Kentucky | Registered: Dec 2008
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Chris,
I hope you are doing okay and the the fever is going down. I hope you found a doctor who will take this seriously.
posted
thanks Keebler...my doc is looking at my liver cuz my enzymes are high and its enflamed. I'm definitely gonna look for a lld.
Posts: 22 | From pleasant gap, pa. 16823 | Registered: Jun 2009
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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Chris,
Is your doctor not willing to give you antibiotics in case this is lyme?
If this is lyme, of course, the liver enzymes will be elevated, especially with a high fever.
Is the fever down? Even if so, I cannot stress enough the importance of addressing this early. Having no treatment can cause major damage if this is lyme.
While you look for a LLMD, can you get some ALLICIN capsules, then? Delaying can be a dangerous bet. At least allicin might help and can't hurt while you find a doctor who knows what he's doing about tick bites and fevers.
There are ways to support and protect you liver, outlined above by Burrascano and by Singleton. Milk Thistle is one of those.
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[ 06-11-2009, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Leelee
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19112
posted
I would highly suspect Lyme or something else from the tick bite.
Your illness and the timing of the tick bit are too coincidental.
-------------------- 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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