[Closed] Lyme?

It's a bullseye rash which is a classic indicator though far from a dead cert. Can't say anymore without testing.

Any particular reason to get tested now or are the antibiotics enough?

I don't know. Guess it depends if you got the right course of antibiotics.

Get tested. Two colleagues have had similar rashes recently, both tested positive. OK, the treatment may not initially change, but they now know the antibiotics are in fact needed, and know what the issue is if further symptoms occur. And from the experiences of others who were not adequately treated, for once this is not just a silly DM panic.

Nice ringworm.

Thanks. Just phoned GP to get call back to discuss getting the test

Nice ringworm.

Could well be, but testing for Lyme is cheap. if it's negative he can get an antifungal instead - seems like useful info to me.

Advice from my Dr was run through the antibiotics first, then wait a while (2-4 weeks is what she said) then get a test done.

The surgery I deal with gets about 100-150 cases a month during the season, but then ticks are absolutely everywhere here, as is TBE and Lyme disease.

And that looks like a text book infected bite. Just like I had. Bloody ticks.

NHS testing for Lyme is cheap, and unreliable unfortunately

According to the NHS I don't have it

According to a Lyme specialist, I definitely have it

Watch out for any flu like symptoms

You don't want it. It's not just the DM. Don't be told to wait for a test, either.

JC has gone public on FB, nine out of nine of his family have tested positive.

(edit) Don't be told to wait for a test before treatment.

Do yourself a favour and do research on the classic symptoms
If you think you have it take action, the NHS is in denial and the test ls cheap because frankly they don't work
I had Lyme and after two negative tests and a consultant telling me I didn't have it as i 'wasn't ill enough' i went private

A ten day course is also inadequate

How many others on here have experience of Lyme Disease, then?

I had it last year, the GP knew very little about it but did some research on my behalf. She took bloods but said she was starting me on amoxicillin straight away. She also described why the tests were so ineffective - basically, it only comes back positive if your body has the correct antibodies as they test for the biproducts of your own immune system doing its job.

My bloods came back positive. I had a month of antibiotics (I think) and they seemed to help.

My bite was also on my elbow and looked similar.

Snazzy sweater...

Detective Starsky's been on the phone..... he says he wants his jumper back. 😀

[img] http://tinypic.com/5vy5j4 [/img]

I'm being given fashion critique by... mountain bikers?! 🙂

He's right that's clearly a Fisherman's jumper.

They're all the rage, see.

[img] [/img]

It's actually an ancient Bench cable knit hoody jumper thing. It's warm.

I love that jumper. Looks warm.

Youngest brother in law was bitten 5 or more years ago but didn't pick it up. About 6 months later he lost most of his sight! (One eye blind the other lost all but a slit in the middle). This year the medics finally deigned to test his blood, 'oh you have Lymes disease'. He has been insisting it was Lymes for the last 4 years. A month of lumbar antibiotic treatment as a day patient has sorted it out.

On the plus side he now has most of his vision back, enough to pass the DVLA sight test for a licence.

Don't muck about with it.

I had a typical bullseye come up on my leg a couple of weeks after being in a likely tick environment. The nurse at our GP surgety seemed quite clued up on Lyme. Had a blood test and 10 day course of anti-boitics. Can't recall the specific type, but they made me feel like crap and sun burn really, really easily (almost fatal for a fair skinned giner like me), which wasn't great as we were heading off on a camping holiday to Cornwall. Blood test came back negative, but I'm not convinced.

Does look like a classic rash, junior B had Lyme this year.

Pharmacist said ringworm (bulls eye rash radiating from under hair out on to face) but go to the docs. I explained my concern to the doc and he was of the 'better safe than sorry' school and gave him a two week antibiotic course. Blood test at the time came back negative, one taken after the course came back as positive but treated (no idea how that works, but the practice lead who is someone important in the FCGRPS took time out to call me personally, explain what to keep an eye on going forward and reassure he was 99.99% sure it'd been dealt with).

For the sake of inconvenience vs. potential long term harm I'd take the antibiotics.

Mark90 sounds like Doxycycline

That's what I've got

Doxy gives brutal sunburn, thing is you develop sensitivity too it. I once took it as a Malaria prophylaxis for a couple of months in the tropics with no issues. then a year later had an ear infection in Feb, got given doxy and was red raw and peeling after a cloudy sunday ramble 👿

Hope you sort the Lyme.

actually an ancient Bench cable knit hoody jumper thing. It's warm.

You're really not helping things with this....

On the other hand, sunburn only set in after I'd been on doxy about two-and-a-half years. And I'd taken it previously to prevent malaria. YMMV, obviously.

It wasn't regular sunburn but some sort of sensitivity to sunlight, most unpleasant.

You're really not helping things with this....

I'm 6'7" and not even 14 stone. I have size 14 feet. I ride a bright orange 64.5cm road bike and a similarly enormous mountain bike. In these trying circumstances, sartorial elegance is a hopeless ask, so I focus on basic warmth.

i had the classic bullseyrash however id didnt find out what that meant until many years later when i read about it on here, i had the vague symptoms but it could also be many other things, i persuaded my GP to test she said it was expensive, test came back negative but im still not convinced, the bite goes back to around 2005 i got tested last year, feel ok but definatley get some of the symptoms Lyme, but the problem is they can be almost any other condition too....

I'm 6'7".... size 14 feet..... ..... I focus on basic warmth.

You are Chewbacca and I claim my five pounds. 😀

oh she also said i had probably had Lyme but my own natural antibodies could have cleared it up..not sure about that from what ive read..:-/

How many others on here have experience of Lyme Disease, then?

My stepfather reckons he had it for over 10 years. Only recently been treated, but seems to be getting better.

OP, get online and get more Doxy to take the dose to a month

Even the BBC...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34579423

OP, get online and get more Doxy to take the dose to a month

Don't do this.

Mark90 sounds like Doxycycline

Yeh that's the one.

Back of my hands got quite burnt and really sensitive to the sun light. Most unpleasant burning feeling.

most guidance for patients with a rash and no other symptoms is for 10-21 days oral antibiotics (in some it depends a bit on which drug you use). CKS (one source of UK GP guidance) suggests 14-21

early blood tests are notorious for false negatives, and a positive result wouldn't change the above treatment anyway as I understand it

I had undiagnosed Lyme for about 4 years. It was shit. Really really shit.

In the end I went private. 1 year of antibiotics sorted it. Then I developed gut dysbiosis as a result of the crazy amounts of ABX. That was shit too (pun intended). Back to 'normal' now, it has been a long journey though and there are no cast-iron guarantees of full recovery.

Anyway, get it treated properly and get it treated fast. The longer it's left (even partially treated), the harder it is to get rid of.

[url= http://www.ilads.org/lyme/ILADS_Guidelines.pdf ]ILADS treatment guidelines[/url] suggest [b]1 month[/b] of antibiotics for early Lyme. Perhaps show this very document to your GP if there are any questions...

If I was the OP's GP I'd say "disappointing guidelines, those".

(however I should stress that [b]I AM NOT A DOCTOR[/b])

They offer no specific recommendations for different presentations (asymptomatic vs disseminated disease with neurological involvement ??) beyond a wooly statement about tailoring drug choice to severity

On duration, in the oral antibiotics section they say:

[b]One study[/b] has suggested that oral doxycycline (100 mg twice
daily for 30 days) is as effective as intravenous ceftriaxone (2 g
daily for 30 days) [b]in early disseminated Lyme disease[/b]

Two European studies have demonstrated similar efficacy of oral
doxycycline and parenteral penicillin and ceftriaxone in early Lyme disease
[44,45]

No real help for asymptomatic cases in the "duration" section, as it refers explicitly to

patients with [b]persistent, recurrent and refractory[/b] Lyme disease...

[b]for neurologic complications[/b] of Lyme disease, doubling the length of intravenous ceftriaxone treatment from 2 to 4 weeks improved the success rate from 66to 80% ...

previous treatment failures, frequent relapses, neurologic involvement, or
previous use of corticosteroids or evidence of unusually
severe Lyme disease ...

Flipiddy - where did you go to get treated in the end?

Just interested to know for all the people who went private. Who did you see? were you referred by your gp or did you just find a lymes specialist?

Any recommendations for anyone around the south coast?

I was treated by a doc who, I believe, was subsequently leaned on by the GMC. At the time we kept helpful doc's details out of the public eye. That would have been about '05 to '08. I doubt things have got better.

I can only suggest you look for LD support groups on FB or try http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk

Flipiddy - where did you go to get treated in the end?

this what he said

thanks

There are only two places i know of that treat Lyme, GP's are extremely reluctant to even diagnose let alone treat due to pressure from the GMC

One thing op didn't mention was whether he was in a tick area and if any other ticks have been seen there. Not all farms and areas are affected would be worth asking or checking whether the animals there actually have ticks. Ticks can be tiny and get knocked off but in my experience once on they hold on tight and don't just fall off. They like to stay on for days if possible. Obviously the elbow is an exposed part and could be knocked. Generally ticks climb upwards trying to reach the neck or less easily accessible parts to avoid removal by the animal. They like the back of the neck or ears. The bite on your elbow could just be a mosquito.

When we lived in the US in 1989 the locals there too Lyme disease VERY seriously. More than one of our neighbours took the time to call in at our house and tell us about it and advise us not to let the kids play in the garden barefooted. When I was out biking in Hampshire last week I noticed quite a few Lyme warning / be aware posters around the bridleways and farm tracks

But Radioman, just where are the tick areas?

@slowoldgit

That's where local knowledge helps. If you go to a new area and are unsure ask local riders. It's wrong to assume the whole country is flooded with them . They are found in specific habitats. They can often be found in bracken and damp woods and long grass especially if deer are around. Near sheep is another one. However local knowledge is key. Where I ride I know some parts with loads but others where ticks are very rare. Take appropriate precautions in the way you dress and repellent plus where you ride.

One thing op didn't mention was whether he was in a tick area

Yes, Berkshire. We went to a deer park/petting zoo place last week, and fed deer close-up.

The bite on your elbow could just be a mosquito.

Yep, indeed. Not chancing it though - will at least do the antibiotic course

I'm not sure there are any [i]no tick areas[/i] now. Not that I'd bet my health on. There was a time when LD was assumed to be a risk only in the New Forest. A GP told me that, too bad about Northern Scotland and the places I'd worked abroad.

With ticks carried by migrating birds, small mammals, deer, and many other animals, who's to say. Even Richmond and Bushey parks, in outer London, may hold the risk...

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/are-london-s-lyme-disease-hotspots-safe-and-is-a-vaccine-on-the-horizon-a3091186.html

They don't bother doing tests up our way now as it's assumed you've been previously exposed which results in a positive result anyway.

flipiddy - Member
I had undiagnosed Lyme for about 4 years. It was shit. Really really shit.

In the end I went private. 1 year of antibiotics sorted it. Then I developed gut dysbiosis as a result of the crazy amounts of ABX. That was shit too (pun intended). Back to 'normal' now, it has been a long journey though and there are no cast-iron guarantees of full recovery.

flipiddy

Can you tell me what treatment you had for dysbiosis?

I'm struggling with gut and skin problems too after a long antibiotics course. I can't seem to find much reliable info on what to do about it

@flipdaddy glad you are better. It's stories like this which aggravate me when people argue we have the "best" or a even "world class" free health service