Foo - I have lyme disease.

Sucks. Results from a blood test just came in. But that's why my knee swelled up, as some of you may recall from my thread about MRIs. I've had it for 2 or 3 years.

At least they know what the problem is. And from there it can be handled. Hang in there, PC. Well wishes.

Ouch. That sucks. :(

Ouch that sucks. I used to have Phylaria (a minor form of malaria) 12 years ago. Hope you get better.

That really sucks. Particularly the part about having it for a while without knowing. Doesn't that make the prognosis worse?

The first test they did was a lyme titer test, which they called more of a preliminary test. I just had a more comprehensive joint fluid test ordered today, which I guess will confirm the present diagnosis. When they extracted my joint fluid, they found rice bodies, which they say is often a result of arthritis, which we now know would be a result of the disease.

So have you started antibiotic treatments yet, or do they wait to see what the secondary tests show? The little bit of reading I have done shows it usually can be dealt with via oral antibiotics.

Get well soon PC.

My brother (lives in upper NYS) contracted that a few years ago - he noticed the tic bite & took medication promptly and has not (as yet) noticed any after-effects. I hope that treating you lyme disease at this point has the same result!! Keep us updated..... and for the rest of you bike riding foosters - THERE'S A SHOT FOR THAT!! Invest the $50 for the 2 shot series if you live in an area where Lyme Disease is common!

Good luck, PC.
I'm sorry you have to go through that.

Ah, man. If only the the cure were Vodka disease. I hope they figure this one out soon.

feel better dude.

My brother (lives in upper NYS) contracted that a few years ago - he noticed the tic bite & took medication promptly and has not (as yet) noticed any after-effects. I hope that treating you lyme disease at this point has the same result!! Keep us updated..... and for the rest of you bike riding foosters - THERE'S A SHOT FOR THAT!! Invest the $50 for the 2 shot series if you live in an area where Lyme Disease is common!

Good advice, ap.

My brother (lives in upper NYS) contracted that a few years ago - he noticed the tic bite & took medication promptly and has not (as yet) noticed any after-effects. I hope that treating you lyme disease at this point has the same result!! Keep us updated..... and for the rest of you bike riding foosters - THERE'S A SHOT FOR THAT!! Invest the $50 for the 2 shot series if you live in an area where Lyme Disease is common!

Good advice, ap.

Get better soon. The treatment can be a fairly involved round of antibiotics depending on the stage and type of infection. B. burgdorferi can present long-acting beta lactamase and cephalosponinase in certain strains which make standard penicillin/cephalosporin treatments ineffective and infusions of ampicillin or (in extreme cases) vancomycin are necessary. The real tricky part is that Bb is essentially a shapeshifter: It can take a spirochete or cystic form depending on the host environment, and it can act as an intracellular or extracellular infection depending on the treatment adminstered. So it's common to need a "double up" round of antibiotics, one designed for each morphic type, to knock the infection clean.

Ask if their titer test was a Platelia Lyme IgG/M EIA. (I'm just curious if they're using my company's kit)

Presence of IgG vs IgM will tell docs what stage of infection you're in (no IgM means you're past primary infection stage, but IgG levels don't peak sometimes until years after exposure. Low IgM and IgG means you're just coming onto ramp up. Low IgG alone means it's still early stage.) Antibody titers for both M and G can be present with or without the presence of erythema migrans (the typical Lyme disease skin rash.) Even if serology is negative, if clinical symptoms are indicative of infection they should also run a Western Blot for verification, and a 3 week follow-up titer on either blot or EIA.

Aren't you glad he ran all those tests now?

I most likely contracted this in New Hampshire -- which has the highest lyme disease rate -- while mountain biking. On several occasions I found ticks on my head, presumably they fell through the vents on my helmet. So because Lyme disease is very uncommon where I'm going to college, there aren't many physicians who treat it.

I had no idea there was a shot for this...I'm getting one before summer hits.

If I were you I'd be ticked.

Hope you feel better. That does suck.

My brother (lives in upper NYS) contracted that a few years ago - he noticed the tic bite & took medication promptly and has not (as yet) noticed any after-effects. I hope that treating you lyme disease at this point has the same result!! Keep us updated..... and for the rest of you bike riding foosters - THERE'S A SHOT FOR THAT!! Invest the $50 for the 2 shot series if you live in an area where Lyme Disease is common!

I know that there had been a vaccine for it, once upon a time, but I thought it had been taken off the market because it wasn't making enough money for the drug company. Apclassic9, where and when did you get the shot?

Get better soon. The treatment can be a fairly involved round of antibiotics depending on the stage and type of infection. B. burgdorferi can present long-acting beta lactamase and cephalosponinase in certain strains which make standard penicillin/cephalosporin treatments ineffective and infusions of ampicillin or (in extreme cases) vancomycin are necessary. The real tricky part is that Bb is essentially a shapeshifter: It can take a spirochete or cystic form depending on the host environment, and it can act as an intracellular or extracellular infection depending on the treatment adminstered. So it's common to need a "double up" round of antibiotics, one designed for each morphic type, to knock the infection clean.

Ask if their titer test was a Platelia Lyme IgG/M EIA. (I'm just curious if they're using my company's kit)

Presence of IgG vs IgM will tell docs what stage of infection you're in (no IgM means you're past primary infection stage, but IgG levels don't peak sometimes until years after exposure. Low IgM and IgG means you're just coming onto ramp up. Low IgG alone means it's still early stage.) Antibody titers for both M and G can be present with or without the presence of erythema migrans (the typical Lyme disease skin rash.) Even if serology is negative, if clinical symptoms are indicative of infection they should also run a Western Blot for verification, and a 3 week follow-up titer on either blot or EIA.

Heheheheheheheheh. Tit-ers. Heheheheheheheh.

I had no idea there was a shot for this...I'm getting one before summer hits.

Me neither!!! Will look into this too. Used to work with a bartender who had lyme disease (and it took a LONG time for them to finally decide what her ailments were from!).

PC - hope you feel better soon with the appropriate meds!!!!

It's a nasty one untreated. I saw that on House.

Best of luck PC,

My mother and sister went through it last year, they both pulled through just fine.

so are you a limey now?

Best of luck with the recovery, PC.

Regarding shots, it seems to me you guys are confusing Lyme with the other prevalent tick-borne illness, TBE (tick-borne encephalitis or Kumlinge disease). That one is viral and far more serious, and there's a vaccine for it. Around here the vaccine is routinely available.

Lyme disease is borreliosis, and AFAIK, the vaccine for it was pulled because of its high cost. New vaccines are being researched.

--J

I had Lyme back around 1985 while a grad student at Rutgers. We were moving bee hives around the state and don't have a clue on where I picked up the tick, but did see that diagnostic red bulls eye surrounding the bite. Fortunately, I attended a seminar on Lyme disease given by a local doctor and made an appointment to see him. First titer was very high and he said to come back for a second blood draw. I suggested to start with antibiotics now, rather than wait, and he agreed. Two weeks on Tetracycline, rough on the stomach, but never had any arthritic symptoms. I was lucky, several friends and coworkers who also picked it up not so lucky. Symptoms vary widely.

Good luck PC and hope it doesn't cause any long term problems.

Yikes – sorry to hear that, but glad you've figured it out and are getting treatment for it. Best of luck.

so are you a limey now?

Oh stop.

so are you a limey now?

He said his knee swelled up, not his head....................... and I do not recall him mentioning bad teeth come to think of it.

:eek:

"A feeding deer tick may take between 24 and 48 hours to deposit the bacteria in a person, leaving most people a chance to locate and remove the insect before they're exposed to Lyme disease."

I'm sooooooo getting a shot as I will be doing some camping here in NY and PA - starting next month. Don't want something like that sucking on me.:cry:

Best of luck with the recovery, PC.

Regarding shots, it seems to me you guys are confusing Lyme with the other prevalent tick-borne illness, TBE (tick-borne encephalitis or Kumlinge disease). That one is viral and far more serious, and there's a vaccine for it. Around here the vaccine is routinely available.

Lyme disease is borreliosis, and AFAIK, the vaccine for it was pulled because of its high cost. New vaccines are being researched.

--J

Are you talking about Lymerix, or something like that?
I was part of a clinical trial for that drug. It worked for me, at least I didn't get lyme desease. It was an interesting shot, it hurt at the injection site for two days or so, like you got punched in the arm. I joined the trial because my son had lyme, twice. The rash is quite noticable.

Oh stop.

it was just too obvious.


He said his knee swelled up, not his head....................... and I do not recall him mentioning bad teeth come to think of it.

anyway, get well. hopefully it's not as serious as becoming limey.

Good advice, ap.
You're just double posting all over the place today.

Glad they found it! Wishing you speedy recovery!

I'm sooooooo getting a shot as I will be doing some camping here in NY and PA - starting next month. Don't want something like that sucking on me.:cry:The shot is a good idea, but it will do nothing to prevent you from catching Lyme disease. Other nasty stuff, yes, but AFAIK there's no vaccine for Lyme available right now.

--J

Are you talking about Lymerix, or something like that?
I was part of a clinical trial for that drug. It worked for me, at least I didn't get lyme desease. It was an interesting shot, it hurt at the injection site for two days or so, like you got punched in the arm. I joined the trial because my son had lyme, twice. The rash is quite noticable.I believe that's the shot. Not sure though, Lyme disease vaccines have never been available around where I live. I was surprised to read about it. Like I said, TBE vaccines are all the rage here nowadays. Ticks are spreading outside their traditional living areas, possible due to warmer summers.

--J

Hope you get well soon .:)

Sucks. Results from a blood test just came in. But that's why my knee swelled up, as some of you may recall from my thread about MRIs. I've had it for 2 or 3 years.

Holy crap! Your experience mirrors mine exactly. Just Thursday they took a followup blood sample to recheck levels after a month of antibiotics. I'll probably find out within a few days whether I need further treatment or not.