Think I have Lyme

[Drew967]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you all know what I've been going through and see if anyone can identify. I think I have Lyme disease, and I'm going to schedule an appt with a naturopath tomorrow. I'm really worried, especially since my symptoms appear to be more advanced. Here's the breakdown:

Started with intense arthritis in both wrists, mellowed out and spread to forearms. Had my mind blown as to why this was happening.

For a couple weeks, I just dealt with the pain in my forearms/wrists, and the tingling. I saw a chiropractic, but a cervical MRI showed nothing wrong.

About 3 weeks after the first onset of symptoms, one of my calves had about a 6 hour spasm - the day after, all my symptoms went away for about 3 days, although i was still overall a little out of energy.

The 4th week (this past week), I've been feeling strong flu like symptoms - chills at night, low energy, headache. The other symptoms came back with a vengeance this time. Halfway through the week, I started having memory problems and fatigue a couple hours a day. I was also really thirsty, and peeing constantly (I don't have diabetes). On Friday, I was really struggling to stay on top of my work and think straight. Also started having panic attacks/anxiety. That night, I couldn't sleep because both my calves were spasming, and it was very uncomfortable. I've been having panic attacks throughout the day, and sometimes not thinking clearly. One side of my jaw, especially my teeth, feels numb.

I went to the ER on Saturday night because I was freaking out, but they told me "we don't have lyme here" (I live in Portland, OR), and they sent me home. The research I did says otherwise, although it doesnt seem to be very prevalent around here.

Until I can see my naturopath, does anyone have any advice dealing with symptoms? the muscle cramping, headaches, the mental slowness? I'm going to try taking magnesium supplements and Epsom Salt to see if it helps. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Drew967]

Hm, thanks for the info. My doctor didn't do any additional testing regarding the high bilirubin that I'm aware of. However, I do know that when I was born, I had high bilirubin - had to be put under a special lamp or something for a few days. So I guess that might have something to do with it? I don't have blood test history, as I've never been sick or needed blood tests for anything (rarely visited doctors before this all happened).

Also, my doctor never ran a CBC or WBC... maybe he didn't think they were necessary. Should I ask for these tests to be ran?

[mojogal]

I had muscle weakness when my Lyme came out big time. I was misdiagnosed with MS just to give you a heads up that Lyme mimics a lot of diseases.

Keep us updated.

[JackieCalifornia]

That's a good approach -- staying as mellow as possible till there's more data.  Take care, keep us posted --

[cave76]

Drew--- thanks for getting back to us.

I'd posted that that might be a reason for your high bilirubin results---- and your  doctor seems to think so too. I just wonder why he believes that? Perhaps all your previous CBC tests have come back high---- which might lead him to think that.  Do you keep copies of all your tests (I hope so). If you do just a quick look back in them would perhaps show several years worth of the bilirubin test getting slowly higher and higher---- which may point to Gilberts disease----- or an untended liver problem.

I wonder how it can be proven that it's Gilberts and not actual high bilirubin. A question for your doctor----- for I sure don't know! He may have already satisfied any concern he might have had.

Just found this---- the differential dx for Gilbert's
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/178841-overview

Your doctor may have already performed a diff. dx. for Gilbert's, I hope

"Gilbert syndrome

As a rule, Gilbert syndrome can be diagnosed by a thorough history and physical examination and confirmed by standard blood tests. Laboratory results include the following:

Unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia noted on several occasions
Normal results from a complete blood count (CBC), reticulocyte count, and blood smear
Normal liver function test (LFT) results
An absence of other disease processes

Specialized tests that have occasionally been used to confirm a diagnosis of Gilbert syndrome include the following:

Fasting test
Nicotinic acid test
Phenobarbital test
Radiolabeled chromium test
Thin-layer chromatography
Drug clearance test
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay
Percutaneous liver biopsy - Very rarely performed"
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[Drew967]

Hey everyone,

Thanks again for all the help. I'm still waiting on my results from the Western Blot (blood drawn last Thursday). I'm still having strange symptoms, which now includes my right arm and shoulder feeling a little weak. I'm hoping we can get this figured out soon, especially if it does not turn out to be lyme.

As for the high bilirubin and albium, my doctor did not seem concerned - he said I might have Gilbert's Syndrome, which means I just produce higher levels of bilirubin naturally. I'll keep you all updated when I find out more info.

[JackieCalifornia]

Actually, the doc might mind a great deal, but has been outed accidentally or on websites where posters are not so cautious -- and once outed on the internet, it's there forever.

It's hard enough to find an LLMD in some states without giving the anti-LLMD troops a roadmap.  Just sayin'.

I personally will continue to stay on the side of caution, in honor of the docs who follow their consciences and treat Lyme as the beast that it is.