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Hey all! Hope everyone is doing great! It’s been a while since I started my own topic. Things have been pretty good with my mom! She has great days and still a few bad days but the bad are nothing like they were! She feels good most of the time…her life is finally got a bit of “quality” to it! She’s excited about Christmas, we’ve been making cookies and just enjoying the season.
I did have a question. We recently noticed a “bulls eye rash” on her leg. Down on her calf. Mind you, she has not been outside in a very long while for an extended amount of time.
She got really sick about 2 yrs. ago and was diagnosed with scleroderma. Before that she used to go outside and sit on the porch, but she was never one to be out gardening or out in the woods camping etc. We do not remember her ever being bit by a tick but she has always been very prone to getting eaten up by mosquitoes. My question is, can a bull’s eye rash appear out of no where years after a possible bite (whether it might have been a tick that we didn’t know about or or possibly mosquitos?) Thanks!
Hi,
I have no explanation for the appearance of a bullseye, but like your mom, I have experienced it.
It was funny because it happened when I was searching for a doc who would sign off IGeneX for me. I just woke up with a perfect bullseye. No tick inside. After a week it started changing colors into deeper red and purple and then when I did an all night antibiotic compress, it changed into a huge boil. The contents turned out to be sterile: no culture could be grown.
I think you should take photos of the bullseye and call the doctor to see what to do with it.
Hopefully, Maz will answer your post. I think she had mentioned a while ago developing bullseyes while already being treated? But it’s possible that my mind is making it up.
All the best for your mom and you, KrysI actually think that this is a really good sign that her minocycline protocol is working, and also that she may have lyme. My LLMD Dr. Y told me a month ago that often when they suspect lyme based on clinical presentation, it does not show up in the bloodwork because the patient’s immune system is so depressed. Then as treatment progresses, the immune system gets to the point where it actually recognizes the invading bacteria and so it will create a rash or multiple rashes and she is probably forming antibodies right now that would ultimately show up in bloodwork. Many times a person who was negative on the Western Blot when first tested will come up positive after months or years on antibiotic treatment.
You know, I’m starting to believe that scleroderma is just lyme. Just one particular presentation of lyme, that some people get. And in others, it presents as RA, etc. Every person I’ve heard of who is in remission from scleroderma seems to have followed a lyme protocol, even if they didn’t know at the time that they had lyme.
Anyway, I am interested to hear what experts like Maz and Kim will say! But, I have the sense that this is a great sign that your mom’s body is doing its job again and fighting the bacteria. Yay!!!! Merry Christmas to you both and your entire family.
A
Omg–is all I can say. This happened to me as well, when I was on generic minocycline (before I was “officially” diagnosed with SD), and I didn’t know what to think. It wasn’t a perfect bullseye, and it wasn’t red–it had a purplish/brown border. What’s interesting is that it appeared again about 4 months after aggressive antibiotics–specifically iv’s. Like your mom (and MANY others), I don’t recall ever getting bit by a tick. However, I’ve been a mosquito MAGNET most of my life. Even though Dr. F isn’t an LLMD, he said to me on numerous occasions that he gets irritated that people think a tick is the only portal for Lyme Disease. He said mosquitos carry it as well–I agree.
All I can say is that I’m currently on a heavy Babesia protocol, and I feel like I’m going through menopause. You cannot convince me that Scleroderma is causing that…
I’m happy to hear that your mom is having more good days than bad days–that is such a blessing, and what a wonderful Christmas present!
Maria 😀
@mkbeeliever wrote:
My question is, can a bull’s eye rash appear out of no where years after a possible bite (whether it might have been a tick that we didn’t know about or or possibly mosquitos?) Thanks!
Hi Michelle,
So happy to hear your Mum has turned such a big corner and is enjoying every precious second of it with her loving family! 😀 What a special Christmas this will be for you all!
Yes, Andrea is right… a bulls eye rash can appear long after infection, both while on or not on abx. Dr. J. talks about this here on his website:
http://www.jemsekspecialty.com/lyme_detail.php?sid=6
“A little recognized fact about the EM rash is that it can recur, usually in the original site, with or without antibiotic therapy. We estimate that between 5-10% of patients demonstrate this phenomenon during their illness. Other patients remark that they have migratory rashes of moderate duration from time to time that remain unexplained. It is more common, in our experience, to observe the presence of recurrent EM after the onset of antimicrobial therapy. We note that some patients erupt with rash repeatedly while on antibiotic therapy, often in different areas. Eventually this dissipates as the patient improves on antibiotic therapy. Pressure points may play a role in the appearance of the rash, but gravitational influence does not appear to play a role in terms of the site of eruption, i.e. as one would see in a vasculitis-like presentation characteristic of most drug reactions. The first appearance of rash has been reported as late as 6 months into therapy (personal observation). This has led to obvious diagnostic challenges when one is on antibiotic therapy and has to consider a drug reaction. However, we have come to recognize that the LD rash on treatment presents as flat or occasionally raised coalescent islands of erythema, in contrast to the classic generalized morbilliform rash caused by a drug reaction. When confronted with this clinical picture, the Jemsek Specialty Clinic views this as a positive indication of therapeutic benefit, probably representing a dermal form of the “Herxheimer reaction”, and so we generally proceed cautiously on with antibiotic therapy, usually with eventual resolution of the rash.”
My original EM rashes (on my back and mid-drift) were oval in shape, about 4 inches across, and I couldn’t see any bite in the center, which leads me to believe these were late stage, disseminated rashes from an original bite (and possibly others) that occured about 8 or 9 years earlier on my scalp. Since these early manifestations, I’ve had subsequent rashes that look like the one on the lady’s neck in the pic at the above link, occuring on my arms, thighs and belly, at intervals.
As Krys has wisely suggested, would definitely take a digital pic of the rash to keep on file. This is your evidence of infection, as a bulls-eye = Lyme, whatever labs may say down the line.
Hope this helps, Michelle. Have you considered getting Mom to a LLMD to check her for coinfections?
Very interesting, Michelle. 😕 You should definitely take pictures, date them and keep track of her treatment at the time.
You know the drill……….Igenex test, Lyme doc, well mom! 😀 The good news is she’s stronger now and will be able to tolerate different abx to knock out her remaining infection(s).
Take care…..kim
Michelle,
Wow, if this isn’t amazing! Guess that’s good news, your mom has lyme (never thought I’d say that)! Now you know the underlying infection.
A good llmd will know how to alter her treatment protocol, because she may also have co-infections, which can require entirely different treatment. Like Maria, and Maz and Kim and Parisa’s husband and hopefulmama and many others including me; we all have babesia, which is treated with protozoa/parasite medication.
Maria wrote:
Even though Dr. F isn’t an LLMD, he said to me on numerous occasions that he gets irritated that people think a tick is the only portal for Lyme Disease. He said mosquitoes carry it as well–I agree.
He said the same to me, and I was never bitten by a tick, that I know of, but mosquitoes love me. In fact, he recommended a book to me at my last appointment called The Trillion Dollar Conspiracy, by Jim Marrs. It covers how big pharma controls our medical system, and how many of these diseases are man-made. He’s becoming more of a believer in lyme and many other infectious process, beside mycoplasma, as an offender in disease.
Let us know how you and your mom feel about the possibility of lyme…… 🙄
nancyWow Nancy,
That is so encouraging to hear that Dr. F is becoming more of a believer in Lyme. That is going to make my healing process a lot more streamlined 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Sending prayers and love for Michele’s mom and everyone on the board to have a wonderful week-before-Christmas! My infant daughter has pneumonia right now so at the moment I’m just praying for the strength and wisdom to see her through it without depleting my own immune system from stress.
Thank you everyone for your comments, input and prayers! My gut said she had Lyme all along.
I will post a longer reply sometime tonight…but wanted to say thanks! You all have been so helpful – I so appreciate you!
I wanted so bad to upload a picture. I have such issues with pictures now on this new message board. All of them are too big and the system won’t accept them. When I use the upload attachment at the bottom, it gives me a big fat error. And I can’t figure out the other way to post an image in the menu bar running across the top.
Can anyone walk me through this? I want you to see the bull’s eye rash.
Also, don’t get messages that there are replies to my posts! I have the box checked but it doesn’t send me an email.Thanks and I’ll write later…
MichelleAhhhh Haaaahhh! My email alerts were in my SPAM folder! Now if I can learn to post a picture we’ll be in business! You know how I love my pictures! 😆
@mkbeeliever wrote:
Ahhhh Haaaahhh! My email alerts were in my SPAM folder! Now if I can learn to post a picture we’ll be in business! You know how I love my pictures! 😆
We love your pictures too! 😀
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Test…come on baby! Woo hoo, it worked! I used ImageShack and uploaded the picture to that site. Then I copied the link and pasted in to my message!
Here’s the rash, it looks a little foggy but you get the picture!Great job, figuring this out Michelle! Well, your Mom’s rash looks like a bulls-eye to me.
Will try your method to upload my latest rash that looks like Dr. J’s pic above:
This one appeared at the end of a 3-week washout period from Mepron/Biaxin on my belly, a few inches to the left of my belly button. I questioned if it was a bartonella rash, but think it looks more like the late stage rash Dr. J has on his website.
Here is another that appeared under my left armpit during the summer. This one is more like a bulls-eye in appearance and had a chance to show the pic to my LLMD and he agreed it was probably a late-stage bulls-eye. In this pic the center clearing is not as clear as it was in reality at the time, but did have a bit of a brownish hue with a slightly raised bright red circumference.
Btw, thanks for sharing how you uploaded your pic – I had to do some image re-sizing and editing of this post, but got there in the end.
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