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Lyme possibly in South Georgia
I'm a 37 year old male in Valdosta, GA. I'm been having a bad time lately and just wanting to talk. About 2 years ago I got bit on the bottom of my buttocks by a tick. I had been I. The woods all day and I didn't even notice it. Late evening my wife noticed it as I was
Going into the shower. We removed it best we could. I never got a ring rash but I did get a bump with about a quarter sized red area around it. This bump has healed some and the. Come back like a flare up off and on since them. Sometimes it feels like it is a new raw bump but it's always the same one. I had experience heart racing and faintness about 6 months after it. That was brushed off and since he had headache and dizzyness. Sometimes I feel very disoriented. I mis talk a lot like the wrong words come out of my mouth. I e had a facial numbess around my check gone off and on for some time now. I have another bump on my belt line that was a more recent tick that I immediately got removed. It flares up almost identical to the one on my buttocks. My doctor told me it was nothing. I was give. Steroid cream for my dash. Ofcourse it didn't help. When I mentioned the possibility of Lyme I was brushed off and test not taken. I was told to give the steroid cream time to work and we'll see what happens. My memory is shot I can't tell you without really thinking hard what I did yesterday. Long term is fine but little things that should come easy sometimes don't. My beaches are in the front temple of my head and feel like pressure. Not like a sinus headache. Sometimes my left leg feels numb like really numb and also my fingers. My wrists often hurt very ad I have no strength in my grip. And recently my fingertips are tingling and start to feel numb at times. None of this stuff is constant it is all very random. At times I will have no symptoms others I will have one or multiple. They don't seem to have any pattern or length of time before coming or going. It's very disturbing no o e has take. Me serious. I feel tierd and lethargic I realize I'm getting older and have even had that suggested as to my tiredness and my forgetfulness and blurred thoughts. Anyways. I'm going to try again day after tomorrow for a wellness test and blood work.
Going into the shower. We removed it best we could. I never got a ring rash but I did get a bump with about a quarter sized red area around it. This bump has healed some and the. Come back like a flare up off and on since them. Sometimes it feels like it is a new raw bump but it's always the same one. I had experience heart racing and faintness about 6 months after it. That was brushed off and since he had headache and dizzyness. Sometimes I feel very disoriented. I mis talk a lot like the wrong words come out of my mouth. I e had a facial numbess around my check gone off and on for some time now. I have another bump on my belt line that was a more recent tick that I immediately got removed. It flares up almost identical to the one on my buttocks. My doctor told me it was nothing. I was give. Steroid cream for my dash. Ofcourse it didn't help. When I mentioned the possibility of Lyme I was brushed off and test not taken. I was told to give the steroid cream time to work and we'll see what happens. My memory is shot I can't tell you without really thinking hard what I did yesterday. Long term is fine but little things that should come easy sometimes don't. My beaches are in the front temple of my head and feel like pressure. Not like a sinus headache. Sometimes my left leg feels numb like really numb and also my fingers. My wrists often hurt very ad I have no strength in my grip. And recently my fingertips are tingling and start to feel numb at times. None of this stuff is constant it is all very random. At times I will have no symptoms others I will have one or multiple. They don't seem to have any pattern or length of time before coming or going. It's very disturbing no o e has take. Me serious. I feel tierd and lethargic I realize I'm getting older and have even had that suggested as to my tiredness and my forgetfulness and blurred thoughts. Anyways. I'm going to try again day after tomorrow for a wellness test and blood work.
Welcome to MedHelp Lyme -- I'm sorry to hear what you are going through, and glad that you are continuing to figure things out. When I had Lyme, I had trouble remembering things that I wanted to tell my doc at the next appointment, so I used a notebook (either paper or on computer) saying (for example) how I felt on waking and throughout the day, what I ate, what meds I took, and so on. It didn't take much time to do, and it helped me AND my doc figure out what was up, what to test for (based on my symptoms) and (once I was on meds) how I reacted to the medicines, how well I slept, and so on. Everyone has different symptoms, partly because the ticks can carry a variety of infections and also that our individual immune systems act differently ... and one common effect of Lyme is poor memory, making it hard to related to the doc how you have been feeling -- and my daily notes were very helpful to my doc, partly because I was so forgetful and also I was not always aware that I was having a feeling that was actually a symptom of Lyme or its co-infections often carried by the Lyme bacteria. Lots of moving pieces.
(I kept my 'how I feel' notes on my computer and then printed out the notes to take them to the doc at my next appointment.)
Lyme is a new illness and spreading fast. As a result, many docs don't know much about Lyme and the other infections the ticks carry about half the time, results in confusion for everyone. The medical profession is so complex and specialized in various areas now, and science itself is still figuring things out, making the whole situation more confusing. A doc who doesn't understand Lyme particularly well can misunderstand and misdiagnose your symptoms, and as a result may not run the appropriate tests to get an accurate diagnosis. Without an accurate diagnosis, treatment is something of a guessing game.
It looks from the map that you are about half way across the Florida panhandle, so you may want to look for a Lyme specialist in Florida if you are not finding good docs in Georgia. Three suggestions:
-- Go to the ILADS [dot] org website. It is a well known and respected voluntary organization for MDs and other medical personnel who take a thoughtful and learned approach to diagnosing and treating Lyme disease and other infections also often carried by the Lyme ticks. As with any group, the MD members of ILADS are only human, so if you don't get a good feeling about one doc, then move on to another ILADS MD.
-- Look online or by word of mouth for patient-oriented Lyme groups near you -- other Lyme patients are often well tuned in to who the best local docs are.
-- Come back here and post a new comment like "Need LLMD near [Pensacola, Florida]." As an unwritten rule, we do NOT put the names of our Lyme docs in public here -- in some states, the medical establishment tries put Lyme docs out of business, so we keep the names OUT of this website. It is easy to use 'private messages' on this site to communicate confidentially between us without spilling the beans on recommended Lyme docs.
If you have Lyme, you may well also have other infections that about half the 'Lyme' ticks also carry other infections that need different testing and treatment. For example, I had Lyme and also babesiosis. A good Lyme doc will take a careful history of your symptoms, and based on that would order tests to confirm the presence of any such co-infections (like my babesiosis was) to determine what appropriate medication should be given going forward (usually antibiotics). My Lyme doc treated my co-infection first, and when that was gone, then Lyme was treated -- each infection was treated with antibiotics, but different antibiotics are usually needed to target each of the infections present. Some people prefer herbal or other treatments, but I personally would take antibiotics again.
If you are interested in reading more about the Lyme situation in the medicine and health arena, at some time you may want to read a book called 'Cure Unknown', which explains the mess the medical profession over all has fumbled the whole Lyme disease situation. (Now in paperback.)
Treatment for Lyme and any co-infections usually takes perhaps 4 to 6 months or a bit more, depending on several variables, and it may be some more months getting back to feeling less fatigue and being back to your old self. It is however *definitely* worth getting well. If you are not aware through friends or media which Lyme-savvy MDs may be near you, let us know and we'll brainstorm some more.
Best wishes! Keep us posted.
(I kept my 'how I feel' notes on my computer and then printed out the notes to take them to the doc at my next appointment.)
Lyme is a new illness and spreading fast. As a result, many docs don't know much about Lyme and the other infections the ticks carry about half the time, results in confusion for everyone. The medical profession is so complex and specialized in various areas now, and science itself is still figuring things out, making the whole situation more confusing. A doc who doesn't understand Lyme particularly well can misunderstand and misdiagnose your symptoms, and as a result may not run the appropriate tests to get an accurate diagnosis. Without an accurate diagnosis, treatment is something of a guessing game.
It looks from the map that you are about half way across the Florida panhandle, so you may want to look for a Lyme specialist in Florida if you are not finding good docs in Georgia. Three suggestions:
-- Go to the ILADS [dot] org website. It is a well known and respected voluntary organization for MDs and other medical personnel who take a thoughtful and learned approach to diagnosing and treating Lyme disease and other infections also often carried by the Lyme ticks. As with any group, the MD members of ILADS are only human, so if you don't get a good feeling about one doc, then move on to another ILADS MD.
-- Look online or by word of mouth for patient-oriented Lyme groups near you -- other Lyme patients are often well tuned in to who the best local docs are.
-- Come back here and post a new comment like "Need LLMD near [Pensacola, Florida]." As an unwritten rule, we do NOT put the names of our Lyme docs in public here -- in some states, the medical establishment tries put Lyme docs out of business, so we keep the names OUT of this website. It is easy to use 'private messages' on this site to communicate confidentially between us without spilling the beans on recommended Lyme docs.
If you have Lyme, you may well also have other infections that about half the 'Lyme' ticks also carry other infections that need different testing and treatment. For example, I had Lyme and also babesiosis. A good Lyme doc will take a careful history of your symptoms, and based on that would order tests to confirm the presence of any such co-infections (like my babesiosis was) to determine what appropriate medication should be given going forward (usually antibiotics). My Lyme doc treated my co-infection first, and when that was gone, then Lyme was treated -- each infection was treated with antibiotics, but different antibiotics are usually needed to target each of the infections present. Some people prefer herbal or other treatments, but I personally would take antibiotics again.
If you are interested in reading more about the Lyme situation in the medicine and health arena, at some time you may want to read a book called 'Cure Unknown', which explains the mess the medical profession over all has fumbled the whole Lyme disease situation. (Now in paperback.)
Treatment for Lyme and any co-infections usually takes perhaps 4 to 6 months or a bit more, depending on several variables, and it may be some more months getting back to feeling less fatigue and being back to your old self. It is however *definitely* worth getting well. If you are not aware through friends or media which Lyme-savvy MDs may be near you, let us know and we'll brainstorm some more.
Best wishes! Keep us posted.
2 Comments
I am very thankful for the reply. Also thankful you were able to read what I wrote. I was not feeling well at all when I wrote that. My headaches are a dull constant pain accompanied with being light headed and dizzy feeling. This bump that fades away some then is aggravated, I think becuase of the location has never healed. It has almost turned into a knot. I was originaly told it was probably where some of the tick remained inside me when we pulled the tick off and that it should have eventually come out. I don't know if there is any validity to that.
Does it sound like this could be a possibility. I am not certain I have Lyme. I do know I was bitten by a tick and my health has changed since. Maybe not right away but over the last 2 or so year and more recently the last 6 months has been a drastic increase in symptoms. Perhaps they are totally unrelated.
I wrote a message to ILADS asking them for members in my general area. I'll wait and see what turns up. I am also going to demand blood work this time with my doctor. I think writing down stuff will be key. I have found in my work that I must write down everything. I function well but have learned to compensate for my memory being bad and slow to recall things. I am usually very quick and have noticed a sharp increase in symptoms very recently. It seems like the headache/dizziness and joint pain/numbness are more frequent and longer lived than in the past.
Does it sound like this could be a possibility. I am not certain I have Lyme. I do know I was bitten by a tick and my health has changed since. Maybe not right away but over the last 2 or so year and more recently the last 6 months has been a drastic increase in symptoms. Perhaps they are totally unrelated.
I wrote a message to ILADS asking them for members in my general area. I'll wait and see what turns up. I am also going to demand blood work this time with my doctor. I think writing down stuff will be key. I have found in my work that I must write down everything. I function well but have learned to compensate for my memory being bad and slow to recall things. I am usually very quick and have noticed a sharp increase in symptoms very recently. It seems like the headache/dizziness and joint pain/numbness are more frequent and longer lived than in the past.
I just searched online for
georgia lyme disease
and got some good leads. ILADS may come up with names of member docs near you, and you could also scout for those who are not ILADS members. In general, I would likely look toward seeing an ILADS member, because they have at least some leaning toward the way I would want to be diagnosed and treated, but just because a doc pays dues to a voluntary group like ILADS doesn't mean the doc will follow ILADS guidelines. (Seeing an ILADS doc is like getting introduced to the friend of a friend: it's a nice start, but not a guarantee.)
Let us know how you do, okay? Best wishes -- !
georgia lyme disease
and got some good leads. ILADS may come up with names of member docs near you, and you could also scout for those who are not ILADS members. In general, I would likely look toward seeing an ILADS member, because they have at least some leaning toward the way I would want to be diagnosed and treated, but just because a doc pays dues to a voluntary group like ILADS doesn't mean the doc will follow ILADS guidelines. (Seeing an ILADS doc is like getting introduced to the friend of a friend: it's a nice start, but not a guarantee.)
Let us know how you do, okay? Best wishes -- !
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