Bitten by a Tick - Symptoms and Cures?

Question

Hello,

My mother was bitten by a tick and a week later her doctor diagnosed her with lyme disease. Her blood test came out negative. She was given doxycycline to take for 22 days, with 2 more days left in her course.

She has flu-like symptoms, chills, slight fever, a stiff neck, and pain in her back, shoulder and arms. Her symptoms went away after 1 week on doxycycline, but then after a few days they came back and have been back ever since.

Has anyone experienced these symptoms and know of the best way to treat it? She has another doctor appointment in a few days, but she wants input from other people as well. Will the symptoms go away? Any homebrew methods that can help? Any advice at all?

Thanks.

Answer 1

The normal course of antibiotics is 30 days so your Mom will probably continue on the Doxycycline for a bit longer than normal since she is experiencing symptoms.  

Your mom is experience the normal flu like symptoms associated with Lyme:  The first stage causes flu-like symptoms (e.g., fever, headache, malaise, muscle pain).  

The symptoms will go away.  For now, she should rest.

Answer 2

The medication is not to relieve the symptoms as she has found out, just simply "detoxing" her body persay.  Other than tylenol and that sort of thing I would say drink warm drinks like tea, less sugar and less fat.  overall this makes the body feel better.  Hot and cold compresses are also helpful.  Plenty of rest when possible and no straining  

Answer 3

Ticks are tiny biting insects that feed on blood of warm- blooded animals and humans. They will burrow painlessly into the skin with feeding parts, bite,draw blood till full then fall off.Just the feeding part goes into the skin.some reactions= raised areas,lumps& growths, called granulomas, fevers,paralysis (very rare).Ticks cause disease.

Lyme disease, most tick bites don't cause any symptoms, But a reaction to the bite can be fevers, headaches,muscle pains,joint pains,fatigue, and muscle weakness. Skin reactions, pus filled bumps, hard skin elevations,and granulomas= Lyme disease..A variety of symptoms can occur with this - flue- like, rash, arthritis, heart rhythm, thinking difficulties.nerve damage. There are 2 types of ticks that can cause this disease,Deer and Western black legged.

Symptoms can start 3 days to a month after being used as a feeder (bitten). This should be over and done with in about 3 weeks to a month

with the use of antibody's. There is no way to treat this disease at home. Most cases of Lyme disease can be cured with antibiotics, especially if treatment is begun early, However a small percentage of people with Lyme disease have symptoms that last months to years after treatments with antibiotics. These can be muscle and joint pains,arthritis, congnitive, fatigue. This is UNKNOWN WHY!

Some evidence (which is very small),that a person's autoimmune response continues to respond even after the infection is cleared.

Answer 4

Good sources of info about Lyme disease:

http://www.lymedisease.org

http://www.canlyme.com

http://www.lymenet.org

http://www.lymeinfo.net

http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org

http://www.ilads.org

http://www.betterhealthguy.com

http://www.publichealthalert.com

Answer 5

Zamil,

You have to educate your Mom very QUICKLY about the potential dangers of this disease, ESPECIALLY regards discontinuing antibiotics ('abx') too soon.

Although the {draconian} IDSA guidelines still says 3 weeks of "doxy" is sufficient, there wouldn't be enough space on all the pages of Yahoo to list all the sad, even horror- stories that families tell of the disease progressing to later stages after having the "standard dose" of doxy for only 3 weeks.

What Prompted her doc to diagnose Lyme (prior to the test results)?

Did she have a rash?

Were the symptoms all consistent with early Lyme ?

Does she live in an endemic area for Lyme?

Have her read "Lyme disease...  The Basics", available at lymepa.org (below) and then have her prompt her doc to extend the protocol, to 4- 6 weeks, Possibly even upping the dose some- IF she's a "big" lady.

(Proper doxycycline dosing is partly based on skin surface area.)

Also, she should never take the doxy near any dairy or mineral supplements as that 'ties up' some of the medication.

  A 'negative' standard (ELISA) Lyme test means NOTHING. Only about 1/2 of those infected with Lyme bacteria will test [CDC] positive.

Also, for reasons as yet not fully understood, females will test + on fewer [Lyme-specific] bands than men. These 'bands' are part of the 2nd part of the Lyme panel known as the 'Western blots'.(IgM&IgG)

  She should have the tests, INCL. the 'blots', run a minimum of 4 weeks following the bite.  If her doc took a blood sample in the first couple of weeks after the tick bite, it would not pick up the presence of antibodies TO THAT BITE.

  Testing + on a SINGLE Lyme-specific band is enough evidence- among a growing group of docs- to show exposure to Borrelia Burgderfori, the causitive agent of Lyme. It is a 'parasitic' bacterium.

   Lyme-literate docs (LLMDs) generally believe in keeping the patient on abx (often switching abx after 2 or 3 months, if needed) UNTIL it has been 30 to 60 days since all Lyme symptoms have cleared.  If her doc does not believe in this protocol, I strongly suggest you look for a 2nd doc who does, preff 1 who is affiliated with ILADS, an int'l group of doctors & researchers (MDs, PhD's etc) who are battling this growing epidemic.       Good luck to you 2.