hikeandbike

Two weeks ago I had a painful swelling under my left arm. Went to the doc and it was thought t be a skin rash. The next day had pretty severe flu like symptoms. Went back to the doc and she found a bite mark near the armpit.
Started treating me for Lymes with antibiotics. I really had no energy for the first week and little the next. Starting to feel much better now but not full speed. Haven't been on the bike for a few weeks now.
Has anyone had experience with Lymes and can you share what the after effects can be?
Thanks.
Larry

alcanoe

It can be devastating if not treated early enough. It also returns periodically as it's now doing with a relative. I can't remember the actual symptoms though I studied them extensively on the web back when we did canoe tripping in Canada. Do a google search.

I got my doctor to prescribe an antibiotic so we would be prepared for immediate treatment as our trips lasted three weeks and even the put-ins/take-outs were often far from civilization. We also carried a tick kit to help examine ourselves for the deer ticks which are very small and hard to spot.

Apparently the threat is every where, including the suburbs based on the last article I read on it. It also favors no US geographic area.

Al

Altair 4

My wife went undiagnosed for 8 months after being bitten. Our PCP denied that Lyme Disease was in our county. After being seen by a sports medicine doc and a neurologist to no avail, a very detailed history taken by a rheumatologist finally got my wife on the right track.

In the meanwhile, her physical condition deteriorated markedly. Initially, she developed an arthritis-like condition in her knees which slowly spread to her other major joints and spine. Between the pain of that and the energy sapping of the disease, she was essentially only able to get up, shower, go to work, come home and crawl into bed.

Extensive and lengthy antibiotic treatment has brought much of her health back, but her knees have not fully recovered, although she is able to enjoy cycling again, but at a limited endurance/distance level.

Other effects of untreated Lyme can include neurological deficits and cardiac involvement. It can reflare. There's much debate in the medical community on the necessary length of treatment for Lyme. My kid was bitten this summer and had the classic "bulls-eye" rash. She is still under treatment three months later. Other than the rash, she has exhibited no other symptoms.

-Edit-
We knew that both bites occurred in our local area - either in our yard, school yard or soccer field. All of which teem with deer after dark.

ericm979

I had the same experience of "oh, there's no Lyme here" from the doctor, even though I had all the symptoms. She was wrong, it is where I live. But after arguing for a while I insisted on getting antibiotics and she relented. I had to deal with decreased performance due to the antibiotics but as far as I can tell have not had any symptoms of Lyme itself.

leob1

There is no "s" in Lyme Disease. (sorry pet peeve).
My son had it twice, both with the bullseye, and both treated with a sigle course of antibiotics.
My wife had it with out the bullseye, and was treated for it only after having six months of pains in her hip. Took about a year for the pain to subside to the level where she didn't feel it all the time. It also took many trips to many Drs. to pinpoint the cause of the pain.
We live in a Lyme hot spot, but this was early on so it wasn't on the forefront of the PCP's minds. By the first time my son got it, they where seeing many cases a week, so they knew what to look for.
BTW the bug that causes Lyme is a close cousin to syphilis.

Banded Krait

My late mother contracted Lyme disease while gardening in her yard when she was 76 years old. The tick which infected her crawled up her leg and bit her on her upper thigh, right where it attaches to the hip. Fortunately, she developed the classic bull's-eye rash at the spot of the bite, so it was very obvious that she had been infected. She sought immediate medical attention from her personal physician, and she prescribed the standard antibiotic treatment (tetracycline, I think). My mother fully recovered and had no lingering aftereffects from the infection.

Phil85207

It sounds like you were lucky to get it treated soon.

TomD77

August 2010 found that there was a local nature trail (walking only) that supposedly has 3 different species of carnivorous plants. Made it about 1/4 mile down a very narrow path with grass overhanging from both sides and happened to look at my legs (shorts). They were COVERED in ticks and I blew out of there almost screaming while frantically trying to brush the ticks off. Missed one. Got sick as a dog for about a week and tested positive for Lyme but no problems after antibiotics.

hikeandbike

Thanks for sharing.
I'm feeling OK now. Played a little racquetball tonight, just can't go hard. Energy's not there.

ChasH

You are very fortunate to have had an early diagnosis, extremely fortunate. Take it easy for a while and you should be fine.

bigbadwullf

Had a girl come in to get an eye exam. One eye saw horribly(20/400), the other was fine. Coincidentally the eye that saw poorly was also VERY farsighted. One could have made the mistake of saying that eye had amblyopia ( lazy eye) and call it a day. Something just bugged me about it and I sent her to an eye referral center. Turned out is was Lyme and she had a swollen optic nerve(not visible by examination at the time I saw her). She came back in a few weeks and the eye saw 20/20. Sometimes you just get "that feeling" something isn't right. Glad I listened to that little voice in my head.

Terex

My oldest daughter had it. Undiagnosed until severe problems of fatigue. High school years lost including promising modeling and swimming careers. Started senior year of HS in cardiac intensive care unit of local hospital. Chronic immunosuppression, with symptoms of fibromyalgia through her 20's. She's in her early 30's now, married with two young children and feeling good.

Consider yourself lucky. If untreated, the spirochete pervades entire body, and hides out in areas (like spinal fluid), that even multiple courses of IV antibiotics can't reach.

Read the Wikipedia article to start. Not everyone gets the bulls-eye rash, or has it in an area that is easily observed.

olddurace82

I hate ticks! Rather have a leach or chigger any day.