Sounds like you have already done some good research on your symptoms. In response to your questions:

. "when I told them that the joint pain traveled they said it would never manifest in the fingers and it would never travel. "

Absolutely it does for many of lyme people, myself included. Migratory pains are a key symptom.
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Help, I need a specialist to talk to in depth about the sequence of symptoms.

Please check the "Seeking a Doctor" because you will need a special kind of doctor who really knows about lyme in order to do a knowledgeable clinical diagnosis, with appropriate confirmatory testing.

I would not delay based on all you have relayed of your symptoms.

Wishing you a speedy diagnosis,

for local LD support groups to contact for medical support. There is one for NYC, but you are close to NJ, so I would look there, too.

I know that there is a llmd in ny but i dont know his info hopefully someone who is knowledgeable about where the llmds are located will come along shortly.

sorry about the er experience but ive never ran into anyone there who understood lyme at all (once a nurse was semi knowledgeable cuz a family member had it)

I cant tell ya how many times they say you have been treated for more than four weeks.... you know longer have lyme... antibotics dont work after 4 weeks....you now have fibromyalgia (which is BS)

of course then i say i get sooooooooooo much worse a couple days off abx and better on them ... explain that.... of course they cant.... eventually they stop arguing with me and treat me for whatever I actually went to the er for ...

when i was admitted one dumb*** duck ran a lyme test on me without telling me... and when it came back neg a few hour later... he smuggly walked into the room and said i dont have lyme... then i went thru the whole speil and added that he couldnt have used a reliable test cuz it came back to fast ... and i started asking him about testing type blah blah blah... he shut up but then... prescribed the lowest amount amd weakest type of pain med he could and told me to take it every 12 hours... when it wears off in 4 hrs... i was wondering why i was dying....

as you can see hospitals are not lyme patient friendly at least in my experience.

_____anyway

lyme is much easier to treat in the beggining so as soon as u get a lyme literate drs. name make an appointment.

most of us have experience the "its all in ur head" tactic so ur not alone.... when drs arent definite what is wrong with u thats what they say... either that or "its stress"

sorry my reply is so long just wanted you to know most of us have experienced the same frustration with hospitals and drs .

A couple comments -

1) Tick attachment time: Studies have shown that if ticks have the spirochetes in their salivary glands when they bite, Lyme can be transmitted immediately. There is no safe period.

2) When infected with the Lyme bacteria, it takes the body about 4 weeks to produce enough antibodies to have a positive test result.
Too early & it's negative.

3) There is NO test that should be used to "rule-out" Lyme disease.
Lyme is a "clinical diagnosis" - based on symptoms, tick bite, endemic area for Lyme (MD is), response to treatment, etc.

4) On the ILADS website (International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society), "Basic Info", #10 begins: There has never...been one study that proves...that 30 days of antibiotic treatment cures LD.
# 5-8: info on testing www.ilads.org/basic2.html
Print a copy. It's short.

5) Lyme Arthritis in my finger joints is about 75% of my joint problems.

6) Your symptoms could be Lyme and/or co-infections like Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Bartonella, all Tick-Borne Diseases (TBDs).
Read "Co-Infections" http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/021366.html

Bartonella, Cat Scratch Disease, can cause swollen lympth nodes & other symptoms you're having. Read "Bartonella Alert" http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/008362.html

Babesia can cause sweats & chills, headaches & other symptoms on your list.

Print "Diag Hints & Treat Guidelines..." 32 pages of excellent info written by one of the best Lyme Literate Med Drs (LLMDs). www.ilads.org/burrascano_1102.html

For excellent links on all aspects of TBDs:
"Links for new LymeNet members" http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum1/HTML/009342.html

Again, welcome to LymeNet.
Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to.

My first symptom was a swollen pinky. One ER doc thought it was a broken bone, and put my finger in a cast! When the pain and swelling travelled, I tore off the cast and ordered a Western Blot from my friendly walk-in clinic (thanks to Lymenet for the info), which came back positive for Lyme.

I was a dance major at NYU. I have worked with my body my whole life, as a performer, choreograpgher and teacher. I KNOW when my body is off. Don't let people talk you out of how you feel.

And yeah, there are a lot of doctors out there that have no clue. Keep a journal of your symptoms -- that helps when you're too tired and foggy to remember everything you want to say to your doctor.

Regards,
Shaz

Welcome, it looks like you're joining the party.

Arthritic, numb hands were my first pain symptom. When the pain became transient I knew I had lyme. Apparently, if your use you hands a lot they become a primary site. I believe this may be speculation, and I'm not sure where I read it.

Anyway, long term abx has made my pain minimal.

Good luck finding a doctor.