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Could it be Lyme? Please read!

Hello everyone, I've come to this forum seeking for help. I have many symptoms which make me strongly suspect of Lyme disease. I'm a 21 years old male living in Argentina. I believe I might have contracted Lyme in Europe last year, since I was a lot in the woods and worked as a lumberjack there. Here's my story:
My health had always been good. I almost never got sick before. I did sport regularly, I love going running. On July 14th, after running (I really overexercised), my fingernails turned purple. Since then, they have stayed that way, although sometimes my right thumb and my left index fingernails turn dark blue but get back purple when I press them. I also got chest pain and palpitations. On the next day, I went to hospital and got an EKG done which showed no abnormalities. I was referred to a cardiologist and pulmonologist.
A week after that overexercising incident I felt pins and needles and a burning sensation within my head, which I just ignored. That night I drunk alcohol, and the effect was really exaggerated. Looked like I got completely drunk after one cup.
On the next day I woke up somewhat lightheaded. I was like that until afternoon and the feeling was over. That night my stomach was feeling a little bad and I had shortness of breath. I skipped dinner and took a medicine that contains alprazolam and sulpiride, which I was prescribed some time ago for anxiety, I thought it might have been just anxiety.
Then on the next day the real problems started. I got a sort of lightheadedness, wooziness, I don't know what to call it but is not spinning, just some kind of instability. I felt a mild pressure on my forehead between my eyebrows and on my nose and headaches on the sides of my head, like a pressure. The headaches were throbbing. My vision got notably diminished and somewhat blurred, and it felt like I needed to sleep, my eyes were heavy.
On the next days I went to the cardiologist and pulmonologist, who perfomed xray, EKG, echocardiogram, blood works and spirometry. No abnormalities. I was referred to a neurologist who perfomed CT scan with normal results and prescribed a medicine which helped a little bit with the wooziness and told me everything is stress/anxiety.
Well, I thought this nightmare would soon be over but I was wrong. On the next days I started developing many other symptoms:

*Mood instability
*Lack of concentration/motivation/emotion
*Muscle pain/twitching/numbness
*Inability to think clearly/focus on a conversation
*Joint pain
*Fatigue
*Facial numbness
*Malaise, sensation of feeling ill
*Neck pain/stiffness
*Short-term memory problems
*Early awakening
*Weakness in legs/arms
*Burning sensation/pins and needles in many parts of the body
*Weak voice
*Eyelid twitching
*Strange/unusual taste in mouth
*Erectile disfunction/lack of libido.

Now a rheumatologist is looking for possible autoimmune disorders, so far he seems to find nothing unusual. Needless to say my life is ******* ruined and it looks this is a neverending nightmare. I spend most of my days on bed and can't go to school, this really hurts me because I was supposed to become a teacher in four months. A dream that seems to have died. And since the symptoms seem to worse, it looks my life will soon be over. So disappointing.

Anyway, due to the possible exposure to ticks I had last year (almost one year ago), I'm strongly suspecting of Lyme Disease. What else could it be? What do you think? Please, any answer will be really, immensely appreciated. Thanks in advance
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Avatar universal
It sounds like you have done your homework on Lyme Disease. I think there is a good chance you do have it, since you worked in the woods in a Borrelia endemic area.  Ask your doctor if s/he will authorize tests at IGeneX. You can contact IGeneX about getting a test kit and the shipping requirements for Argentina. (IGeneX is in California.)

When you contact ILADS, if you cannot find a doctor in Argentina to treat you, then you could also inquire about ILADS doctors who are willing to consult with your doctor there over the phone in order to diagnose and treat you.

You can check out lymeneteurope.org for more information about European Lyme and possible coinfections.
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1763947 tn?1334055319
Couldn't have said it better, Jackie is brilliant in her descriptions.
Feel better and keep us posted!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
So sorry to hear about what you are going through.  I too would consider Lyme as a possibility.

I just did a search on google for

   lyme disease argentina

and found many interesting links to medical and veterinary articles, as well as news commentary and other items.  Until I got Lyme disease, I never noticed books, articles, etc. on the topic, because Lyme didn't exist in my little world.  If you begin to look, however, you will find many leads to possible physicians and others who do understand Lyme and how to diagnose and treat it (as well as other diseases that the Lyme ticks often carry, called 'co-infections').  If you contact some of those who are researching Lyme, they may be able to give you the names of physicians in Argentina who are progressive thinkers about diagnosing and treating Lyme.

Everyone's symptoms are different, depending on your own genetic make up, on the co-infections you may have, and on the strain of Lyme that you have (which varies geographically -- if you were infected in Europe, then your symptoms may be different from those commonly seen in South America).  

Finding a knowledgeable physician is the most important thing you can do, but because there is much disagreement in the medical community about Lyme, the doctors who know the most are sometimes very quiet about their practices, to avoid controversy and criticism.

The main US group that Lyme physicians often join is called International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS).  They have a website at ILADS [dot] org, and there is a list of its members, as I recall.

Also, you can email ILADS with your location and request the name of a Lyme specialist near you:

           contact [at] ILADS [dot] org

Previously they have responded with names of Lyme specialists near you, but I just looked at their website and do not find that suggestion still posted.  Try it, but also go to this website:

              lymediseaseassociation [dot] org

which is now listed on the ILADS website as a source of physician referrals, although I do not know if they include non-US countries.

Also, you might search this website on the right side, near the top of the page, where there is a small search box for 'Search This Community' and enter Argentina or other search terms.  Then you will see other messages that have been posted here in the past that may have helpful information.

Let us know if we can help further -- above all, do NOT give up until you have answers!  Let us know how you do -- best wishes --
Helpful - 0
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