posted
i never got a rash so i'm not sure when i got the lyme and babs. i began having symptoms of fatigue around 5 yrs ago. my husband and i were discussing it one night, trying to pinpoint when i may have gotten it.
is it possible that i didn't get it from a tick bite but instead from a blood transfusion?
i had major complications when delivering my daughter 7 1/2 yrs ago. i had a major hemorrhage after delivering her. i went into shock and what my dr. said was DIC so they administered 4 units of red blood cells and 2 units of fresh frozen plasma. i'm truly thankful to be alive!
i felt the normal new mommy tired for her first year. i eventually went back to work FT, going to school PT and started training for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day walk. it was while i was training for the walk that i strained my hamstring. that's when the fatigue started but i chalked it up to not being as active since training was over.
is it possible that i got lyme & babs from the transfusions and didn't show any symptoms for a year or two? could it have been activated by the trauma to my leg?
just wondering what you guys think. thanks!
Posts: 95 | From IL | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
It's best not to go down this road--driving yourself crazy thinking about *how* you got sick. You cannot unring the bell anyway. Better to focus on your treatment plan and getting better. I say this because I can do the same thing to myself: wondering.
Posts: 702 | From North Eastern USA | Registered: Dec 2009
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gwb
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7273
posted
catdog,
Yes, it's very possible. Both my previous LLMD's suspect I got Lyme from a blood transfusion during a botched surgery in 1994. After the surgery I was never the same again. Sadly, it took ten years, and too many doctors to count, to finally figure out that I had lyme disease.
All the wasted time, all the pain and suffering, all the denial from doctors that Lyme wasn't even remotely a possibility. Sad, but more common than people think getting Lyme disease from blood transfusions
posted
Hm... I'm with you, never had a tick bite and my dr's also think it could have been from blood transfusions I had in 1981 with the birth of my first daughter. Had 8 units the first day, and 5 days later had another 9 units.
Who knows.. and yes, you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure this out. I have too.
I had a horse fly bite back in 1972 that was big enough and red enough that I remember it to this day.
Who knows....... it will be my first question when I get to heaven... 'if' I care yet when I get there! ha
-------------------- Lyme, Babs, Fry Bug..... Whatever it is, may a treatment be discovered to make us all whole again! Posts: 941 | From AZ-MT | Registered: Oct 2004
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ukcarry
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 18147
posted
I don't remember the bite or rash either, though I didn't know about ticks, so may just have dismissed it as another insect bite and forgot it!
I did start having bouts of flu-like illness before, but did get worse in the 2 years after my baby was born and, like you, I had to have a substantial blood transfusion after the birth. I remember complaining to a nurse that I had strange aches down my legs afterwards, so have often wondered if SOMETHING was passed to me by it.
However, I started to be ill a very long time ago and so there are all sorts of possible holidays or other times that MAY have involved bites [over 50 midge bites on the Isle of Skye, and a horsefly bite in Crete, for example], so, frustrating as it is, you will never know for sure.
Posts: 1647 | From UK | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
i know i'll never know for sure, just something we were wondering about, not obsessing about. the fact is, it's there, it needs to be taken care of and with the help of this website i was able to find a really great LLMD! i've been sick for 5 yrs but was just diagnosed in june so we were just trying to put a timeline together.
gwb, that's exactly the way that i feel about the wasted time. not to mention the crazy looks i'd get from doctors when all tests would come back normal. or when they'd walk in the room and i had a 2 inch thick file of test results sitting in my lap! that look was priceless, LOL
ukcarry, you said that you had flu-like illness before having your baby. are you saying you think you had lyme before your baby's birth? is your baby lyme free?
with what i know now, i completely agree that lyme & co-infections can be transmitted by other bugs, not just ticks!
Posts: 95 | From IL | Registered: Jun 2010
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ukcarry
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 18147
posted
I was certainly ill before the preganancy, but didn't have the full range of symptoms I have now [and since 1992]: I have assumed that the Lyme was responsible all along and that I maybe had another bite that pushed me into more severe illness, but that may not be right.
My baby is now 20, a uni student and he doesn't seem to have Lyme, but he does have Gilbert's syndrome, where the liver is missing part of the phase 2 detox pathway and levels of bilirubin build up, showing in yellow eyes at times. This is supposed to be inherited, but we don't know anyone in either side of the family with it, so I do wonder if it is Lyme-related.
Sadly, he doesn't do the right things to help himself: spends very little time out of the house during daylight [in holidays from uni], has lots of screen time and knocks back alcohol at a worrying rate when he gets the chance.
I'm glad to hear that you have a great LLMD and wish you luck with your treatment,
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