posted
Hi! I wonder about people experiences regarding EM rush. How quickly did it dissappear? I had a rush in a way of uniform lesion, not a 'traditional' bull's eye, and it didn't completely go away even after completing a month logh course of doxycycline. Is it something common? Now it seems to be finally gone (after about 6-7 weeks) but another wierd thing showed up - exactly on the spot of the bite small red dot appeared. It is a single dot, sized about 2 mm and slighly lifted above the skin. Have anyone had anything like that?
Posts: 5 | From MA | Registered: Oct 2010
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onbam
Unregistered
posted
that's all i ever had at my bite site.
The CDC's "prophylaxis" did nothing for me. will pm.
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
My red rash lasted 3 to 4 weeks. The red dot where I was bitten lasted a few months. The lyme doc said the red dot could last a long time.
I am concerned that all you had was one month of doxycycline. Generally, that is not enough medicine to get rid of lyme disease.
To learn about lyme disease, I suggest you read the Burrascano lyme treatment guidelines found here:
Especially notice the symptom list starting on page 9. If you notice a number of these symptoms, even if it is months from now, then you still have lyme disease.
Then, you need a doctor who is a real expert on getting rid of this disease for you. We can give you names on this site. Just post in "Seeking a Doctor" forum and people will send you private messages with the names of good lyme docs.
I hope you don't ever get any symptoms of lyme disease. Sometimes people just get the rash and that is all. That is my hope for you.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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Pinelady
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Member # 18524
posted
Mine took a year.
-------------------- 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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Hoosiers51
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Member # 15759
posted
TF, were you on an antibiotic during those 3-4 weeks?
I had a bite over the summer, and I never saw what bit me. I ended up with a rash that looked like an EM. The strange thing is though, that I was on Doryx (doxycycline) and Moxatag (extended release amoxicillin) when I got the bite, and then of course I stayed on the abx. And the rash lasted about 3-4 weeks. So I wasn't sure if it could be an EM from Lyme or not.....like maybe it was a spider bite, since it showed up despite being on abx?
Or maybe the skin rash was able to show up, despite the abx? I dunno.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
I was not on antibiotics when I got the bite.
I hadn't been on meds for a few years. But, once I got the rash, I went to my old lyme doc and got put on meds for lyme, babs, and bart.
I had a mild herx on day 3-4 of the meds.
I told my lyme doc that I read that once you have had lyme, if you get it again, you will get the rash. He said he believed that was true.
But, we didn't talk about specifically if you could get the rash even if you happened to be on lyme meds.
But, I do think you would get the rash even then. But, that's just my guess.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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Hoosiers51
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posted
TF-
But even though you were on antibiotics during those weeks, the rash still stayed for that long? (so there wer literally weeks that went by with the rash staying present, overlapping with the antibiotics?)
If that is true, it would make sense that my rash was able to develop and stick around so long, despite the antibiotics.
Sigh.
Fortunately, I only saw very mild worsening of my condition....so mild, that it could have just been my normal "bad." So I think the antiboitics did their job overall.
I am wondering if, in the long run, it helped my body develop more immunity to Lyme than I previously had, in the same way a vaccine works.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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Hoosiers51
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posted
To the original poster....it says the rash can last days or weeks.
Here is a quote from an article I just read, in General Support. I can't say if the claim is true, but here it is:
"Early Lyme disease causes flu-like symptoms and a characteristic large, circular red rash that appears anywhere from three to 30 days after the tick attachment, and lasts for days or weeks, according to the health district."
Also, I have heard that tick bites can leave a permanent scar, right at the site of the bite. So perhaps that is what you are seeing now. I still have a small purple discoloration there, from where the skin healed from the bite itself.
However, I can't say for sure it was a tick that bit me, because I never saw what bit me. It could have been some other kind of insect bite, that formed a large red circle due to a reaction to something.
I kind of ruled out anything but a tick though, because the rash lasted sooooo long. You'd think an allergy/irritation would go away within a week. Mine also itched, but not severely.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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nefferdun
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It has been over four years but I remember the rash developed close enough to the tick bite that I wondered if it was connected. I also remember my first trip to the doctor I was sitting in his office for a very long time feeling very sick and looking at the rashes on my arm (two there and one on abdomen) and wondering what they were.
That was three weeks after the bite because I still have the blood panel he ordered. Of course the rashes were spider bites and there was nothing wrong.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
I don't remember the ``bite'' however over the last 4-5 months I have experienced increasing flu like symptoms, joint aches, mood swings etc.
I first noticed the rash by pure chance the middle of June, but it didn't itch or worsen. I showed it to a couple of people but no one had a clue what it could be. I got caught up in the events of the summer and some stressful family situations and chalked the flu symptoms and mood swings up to stress.
As it happened, my sister who is an RN visited about a week and a half ago and I showed her the rash. By this time is had faded slightly but was still clearly visible. By this time I had the rash for about 3 1/2 months. She recognized it immediately as a bulls eye rash and told me to get to the doctor right away. My doc saw me the next day and confirmed the diagnosis and started me on Doxy. I couldn't tolerate it - made me very ill. So I was changed to cefuroxime. Which seems fine.
It's been a week now on the meds and the rash is still there. So at this point I've had the rash almost 4 months.
Is that usual?
Posts: 6 | From Rochester, NY | Registered: Oct 2010
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posted
Thank you for the information and support! I read through Burrascano guidelines and realised that I didn't take doxy long enough. I am considering taking another course just to be on the safe side. I already got a 4 week supply of doxy but I wonder if I should consider taking metronizadole (Flagyl) as a supplement as well. Right now I have a strange headache that has been going on for about 4 days already. That is really uncommon for me. Have anyone had a headache as a sign of Lyme?
Posts: 5 | From MA | Registered: Oct 2010
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
You will see headache listed in Burrascano on p. 9.
When I had lyme, I could have a headache for 3 months.
If you read all the way through Burrascano, you found out that most, if not all, people who get lyme get other diseases with the lyme, called coinfections.
Each one requires its own medications. Flagyl and 4 more weeks of doxy will not cure lyme or babesiosis and bartonella, which are the most common coinfections.
In Maryland, every one I have known who has had lyme has also had babesiosis and bartonella.
I suggest you get to a real lyme doctor now and get treated and see how you react. Starting the appropriate meds will cause a reaction in an infected person.
If you wait for a few months and get more symptoms, it could be more difficult to cure you.
Please be very proactive about this. And, be willing to spend some money.
Also, you have to wait to see the good lyme doctors. Often 3 to 6 months.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
TF, you said that starting the appropriate meds will cause a reaction. Can you explain further?
Posts: 6 | From Rochester, NY | Registered: Oct 2010
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