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Do balance and vertigo symptoms resolve w/ treatment
Has anyone had terrible symptoms of vertigo and balance problems due to lyme? If so, did treatment improve these symptoms, or just stop them from getting worse. I'm worried that even if the lyme is treated properly the damage might be permanent. Also, my balance and vertigo symptoms seem to get worse if there is any added pressure to my head, like if I bend over or laugh or exert myself. Anyone experience this?
Sounds like a good plan -- you're right that it can take time to get an appointment, so press ahead on all fronts. Keep us posted!
thanks for all the info. I am aware of two llmd in nj (where I live )and one in ny and I think I might just call and make an appointment with one of them just in case I don't feel secure with the ID. I'm sure it takes a long time to get an appointment with one of the LLMDs. I do know this ID doctor I am seeing is highly regarded so I just hope he can help.
Once again, thanks for the info.
Once again, thanks for the info.
I hear you.
About the damage being permanent, I haven't heard of that happening, so try not to worry.
About the infectious disease (ID) doc you are going to see .... well ..... by all means go to the appointment and see what the doc does and says and diagnoses and treats ... but know going in that ID docs are sometimes not very knowledgeable about Lyme. There is a split in the medical community about how serious Lyme is (or isn't), how widespread it is (or not), how to test for it and what tests to use (some labs are better than others), how to read the test results, and finally: how to treat with what meds for how long.
The ID docs believe they really do understand Lyme, and logically they should be the docs who are on top of the whole thing -- but there are politics at work about Lyme that can get in the way of getting a proper diagnosis and effective treatment.
The original docs who first discovered Lyme a few decades ago believed that Lyme is a simple infection that is always cured with a couple of weeks of simple antibiotics (often just doxycycline). That approach can work on other bacteria, but more research and knowledge about Lyme indicates that Lyme is actually a tricky witch that is not as the original Lyme discoverers thought (note tho that doxycycline can be effective against Lyme IF it is a very recent infection, and many of us do not know when we were first bitten. Also, nonLLMDs may not look closely for co-infections, which are separate diseases from Lyme and often need different meds).
Research by different docs has shown that Lyme is *not* rare and hard to get or easy to cure, as the original discoverers thought -- and a couple weeks of doxycycline is often not effective. I personally went through 20 MDs before I finally got a diagnosis of Lyme and babesiosis (a 'bonus' infection the Lyme ticks sometimes carry, and there are other infections too), and the doc who diagnosed me with Lyme said gently: "Oh, you cannot possibly have Lyme. I have patients with Lyme, and they are ... all near death." (Gee, thanks, doc.)
I fortunately had an old friend who had had Lyme, and she was the only person I knew who had had it. If my friend had not told me her Lyme story some years before, I would have believed the idiot doc who told me I "could not possibly have Lyme." And the statement about Lyme being a death sentence? NOT if it gets treated properly!
There is still a split in the medical community, and I would, in your situation, find a Lyme specialist who is progressive in his/her views. How to find such a doc? Go to the -- ILADS [dot] org -- website and click through to their 'physician referral' page. They can guide you to a Lyme specialist near you.
Note however that Lyme is still a developing disease, and not all docs (even the ones who are ILADS members) are equally good at Lyme diagnosis and treatment (esp. since Lyme often comes along with other infections that need separate testing from Lyme). There is no absolutely correct way for Lyme docs to approach diagnosis and treatment of a patient -- science and medicine are still trying to figure Lyme out completely -- so keep your antennae up even when you get to the doc's office, and if things don't seem right, then find another Lyme doc. But you gotta start somewhere.
If there is a local Lyme patient group near you, that can be a good place to get a personal recommendation of a good doc. Sorry to make this so complex, but go for it and also be ready to change course if warranted.
Let us know how you do, okay? Best wishes!
About the damage being permanent, I haven't heard of that happening, so try not to worry.
About the infectious disease (ID) doc you are going to see .... well ..... by all means go to the appointment and see what the doc does and says and diagnoses and treats ... but know going in that ID docs are sometimes not very knowledgeable about Lyme. There is a split in the medical community about how serious Lyme is (or isn't), how widespread it is (or not), how to test for it and what tests to use (some labs are better than others), how to read the test results, and finally: how to treat with what meds for how long.
The ID docs believe they really do understand Lyme, and logically they should be the docs who are on top of the whole thing -- but there are politics at work about Lyme that can get in the way of getting a proper diagnosis and effective treatment.
The original docs who first discovered Lyme a few decades ago believed that Lyme is a simple infection that is always cured with a couple of weeks of simple antibiotics (often just doxycycline). That approach can work on other bacteria, but more research and knowledge about Lyme indicates that Lyme is actually a tricky witch that is not as the original Lyme discoverers thought (note tho that doxycycline can be effective against Lyme IF it is a very recent infection, and many of us do not know when we were first bitten. Also, nonLLMDs may not look closely for co-infections, which are separate diseases from Lyme and often need different meds).
Research by different docs has shown that Lyme is *not* rare and hard to get or easy to cure, as the original discoverers thought -- and a couple weeks of doxycycline is often not effective. I personally went through 20 MDs before I finally got a diagnosis of Lyme and babesiosis (a 'bonus' infection the Lyme ticks sometimes carry, and there are other infections too), and the doc who diagnosed me with Lyme said gently: "Oh, you cannot possibly have Lyme. I have patients with Lyme, and they are ... all near death." (Gee, thanks, doc.)
I fortunately had an old friend who had had Lyme, and she was the only person I knew who had had it. If my friend had not told me her Lyme story some years before, I would have believed the idiot doc who told me I "could not possibly have Lyme." And the statement about Lyme being a death sentence? NOT if it gets treated properly!
There is still a split in the medical community, and I would, in your situation, find a Lyme specialist who is progressive in his/her views. How to find such a doc? Go to the -- ILADS [dot] org -- website and click through to their 'physician referral' page. They can guide you to a Lyme specialist near you.
Note however that Lyme is still a developing disease, and not all docs (even the ones who are ILADS members) are equally good at Lyme diagnosis and treatment (esp. since Lyme often comes along with other infections that need separate testing from Lyme). There is no absolutely correct way for Lyme docs to approach diagnosis and treatment of a patient -- science and medicine are still trying to figure Lyme out completely -- so keep your antennae up even when you get to the doc's office, and if things don't seem right, then find another Lyme doc. But you gotta start somewhere.
If there is a local Lyme patient group near you, that can be a good place to get a personal recommendation of a good doc. Sorry to make this so complex, but go for it and also be ready to change course if warranted.
Let us know how you do, okay? Best wishes!
My primary care doctor didn't have much to say regarding the dizziness and vertigo. I am seeing an infectious disease doctor in two weeks. Sometimes I think you get more accurate information from fellow patients then doctors.
Yes, I have read that those are possible symptoms of Lyme -- it's a tricky disease, presenting differently in unexpected ways for many of us. I searched -- lyme vertigo -- and got quite a few hits.
What does your doctor say?
What does your doctor say?
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