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JB,
the bugs always find me and never my husband he always tells me he is taking me along as his bug spray.:roll-laugh::roll-laugh:real nice of him, right.
My spots are still there and the leg is still red, if it isn't better by ealy tomorrow I will go back to the doctor. I did send Dr. K an e-mail to let her know what is gong on.
I eat garlic, but that doesn't help.
Eva:D
Eva Holloway
[user=236]Eva Holloway[/user] wrote:
thanks for the link and they take Medicare and my 2nd insurance. I think when we go out to Desert Hot Springs in June, I will make an appointment with Dr. F, just to satisfy my curiosity about this problem, How long will it take once the blood is drawn and send back to get the report back?
Hi Eva,
Unfortunately, Dr F in Riverside is not Lyme Literate, but there are some excellent Lyme docs in CA, if you need a list for when you go out there. They are usually backed up, though, so if you're planning on a trip in June, you may want to look into getting an appt soon. 😉 If you want the full LLMD list for CA, would be happy to send that to you in PM.
It takes about 2 to 3 weeks for IGeneX results to go back to the ordering physician. Be sure to get your blood drawn early in the week, so you can ship it same day back to IGeneX and the sample isn't sitting in the mail depot over the w/e degrading. Also, a good idea to get a photocopy of your results, as a neg result may still show bands that are significant for Lyme and for which a LLMD would treat.
Hope this helps!
Peace, Maz
Maz,
do you think Dr. K would know how to treat it once I get the results back? I did send her an e-mail about the bite and treatment. It looks better this morning. BTW the salve the doctor gave me seems to work on my hands too, they don't look so scaly and not so red. I may need to check into this. I had to pay 85 Dollars, but if it helps to heal whats wrong with my hands the better for it.
Eva:D
Eva Holloway
[user=236]Eva Holloway[/user] wrote:
do you think Dr. K would know how to treat it once I get the results back? I did send her an e-mail about the bite and treatment. It looks better this morning.
Hi Eva,
Dr K is listed as an ILADs LLMD and an AP doc, however, it's questionable how Lyme Literate she really is. 😕 There have been a couple instances where her knowledge of Lyme has been a bit “iffy” and I'm wondering why your past run-in with EM rash did not alert her straight away to this possibility (??), having you tested and treated when you first went to her. One lady in TX tested negative on IGeneX western blot for Lyme and she had to push for coinfection testing, which turned up highly positive for babesia (a protozoan coinfection of Lyme that needs specific anti-protozoal meds). Sometimes ticks don't pass Lyme, but do pass other infections. This lady had to navigate and push for the treatment herself. So, though I hate to say it…I think I'd probably get an initial work-up appt with a better known LLMD and have her work under their direction, if poss.
It's weird, Eva, because when you did so well on biaxin for your sciatica, I wondered then if Lyme might have been involved, as I also had this neuro issue with Lyme and responded well to biaxin, too.
The new bite may not have been a tick…but if you had an EM rash, even 20 years ago, then you have chronic Lyme. :doh: EM rash = Lyme, no matter what any test says.
Hope this helps, Eva!
Peace, Maz
Thanks Maz,
but I don't think I ever really mentined to her the bullseye rash, so this may be where I have to make sure I get all the info together before the next visit end of May . I have an allergist that does mycoplasma testing and I may ask her what she knows about the other test, she may be able to help me too. I will let you know,
Eva:D
Eva Holloway
Hi Eva,
Just a thought, but Desert Hot Springs isn't too far from San Diego, and there is a really good LLMD in SD who takes Medicare (if that is your first insurance). Don't know if you will be able to get in to see this Dr. Y, but I see her PA, who is also good, and consults with the doctor on everything. If you want, PM me, and I'll give you the info. I don't know of any other good LLMD's in so. cal, the rest are in northern ca.
I was hesitant to tell my AP doctor, Dr. F, that I was also seeing an LLMD. He actually encouraged me to treat lyme/babesia, and thought the additional antibiotics (flagyl, zithromax) were a good adjunct protocol to AP.
Sorry about your bite….I had to laugh when you said you were a bug repellent for your husband – me too!:roll-laugh:
nancy
Maz,
it has been almost two months now and within the last two weeks I have gotten several blisterlike spots on my arms and legs, they itch like crazy and then after I put the creamon it it goes away. (the cream the doctor gave me for the bite) It does leave a darker color patch then my skin is.
I have an appointment with Dr.K. on the 27th and I will bring it up what happened. I wonder if it is something from whatever bit me.:headbang: Don't need more problems. I am working on getting well. I am also having her do a blood test for IGenex. This worries me some.
Eva:?
Eva Holloway
nspiker,
if I see a new doctor I have to see the doctor before I can see the PA; Medicare rules. I will talk to husband about the doctor in SD and see if I can swing it to go there. I will let you know soon.
Eva:D
Eva Holloway
[user=236]Eva Holloway[/user] wrote:
I have an appointment with Dr.K. on the 27th and I will bring it up what happened. I wonder if it is something from whatever bit me.:headbang: Don't need more problems. I am working on getting well. I am also having her do a blood test for IGenex. This worries me some.
Hi Eva,
So sorry to hear you're getting this strange rash. Have you taken a digital pic of it you can share here? Someone might recognize it for you.
As you've got 10 days before you see Dr K, it might help to order the IGeneX kit in advance and take it with you, just in case she doesn't have any on hand in her office. You just call IGeneX and have them mail it to you. It comes with everything you need for the test, ready to go and then all Dr. K needs to do is sign off on the lab sheet that comes with the kit.
Hope you come up with some answers, Eva. If it's not one thing with these diseases, it's another, eh? :doh:
Peace, Maz
Good luck, Eva. :doh:
Depending on the results of your Igenex test, there are experienced Lyme docs in Texas. We can send you the list if you need it.
Take care…..kim
I am just curious I have read that a tick need to be attached for like 24 hour before infection occures. I had a bug bite the other day by the hair line in the back of my head. I scratched off something small but I didn't see it because of the location it was in, but now have a raised mound and redness only like 1 inch across. But I was curious about ticks needing to be attached for a long time before infections occurs. Not sure how long this was there anyway, and I know some ticks are very small.:X
I've often wondered how many of us are very attractive to the biting bugs, much more so than those without immune system related diseases.
I'm another one that the biting bugs actively go after and any bites I get react much more than 'normal', especially since the onset of the RA. Deer flies are the really bad ones for me but, even regular house flies go after me.
[user=2270]spfister[/user] wrote:
I am just curious I have read that a tick need to be attached for like 24 hour before infection occures. I had a bug bite the other day by the hair line in the back of my head. I scratched off something small but I didn't see it because of the location it was in, but now have a raised mound and redness only like 1 inch across. But I was curious about ticks needing to be attached for a long time before infections occurs. Not sure how long this was there anyway, and I know some ticks are very small.:X
Hi Spfister,
The 24 hour rule is just a guideline. LLMDs believe that improper removal, possibly squeezing of gut contents of the ticks (during sleep, pressure from clothes, improper removal, scratching, etc), may result in infection within hours of the tick bite.
To give you an example, when I found a tick on my scalp a couple springs ago, it was in the middle of the night. I had not been outside all day, except to pick up mail at the bottom of our driveway in the mid-afternoon. So, I reckon by the time I found the tick, it had been attached for at least 12 hours. However, when I found it, I had already washed and blow-dried my hair and started worrying at it during the night…scratching it, squeezing it, lying on it on my pillow…until I awoke enough to get up and take a look. I thought I had developed a huge boil on my scalp and got some tweezers and tried to squeeze it. Finally, I squeezed it so hard and pulled (along with a clump of hair) that it pulled the tick away from my head. I was beyond surprised to see it was a tick and not a boil, at all. I think I got the whole tick, including head, but I still have a bump on my head where the tick was attached…two years later. Leaving parts of the tick behind can be a problem.
Also, it's almost impossible to tell when the tick first got attached unless one is outside during a set period of time and it's just rationale to assume that was when it got attached. Some people don't know when the tick got attached, though, so this further complicates the time-frame thing.
So, basically, any tick bite should be examined and the tick kept in a baggie with a moist cotton ball and tested, if at all possible, because some LLMDs believe that tick attachment may only need to occur for a few hours for infection transmission to take place. Any rash that develops should also be photographed and documented and prophylactic treatment should be given immediately. Unfortunately, low dose, pulsed antibiotic therapy is not a good prophylactic and the dose should be increased for a good month or two, just for safety's sake.
And, yup, you're right…nymphal ticks can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence or a pepper grind, so very hard to detect. 😉
Peace, Maz
PS Diamond, I also react a lot to any bug bites. Even mosquito bites now leave huge weals on me that swell up. If I get bitten on a joint, then the whole joint swells up with edema. I think you're right that we're just particularly hypersensitive, as RAers, and we get a pretty good histamine reaction to anything foreign in our bodies.
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