Second Lyme Suspected 2 weeks and updates

A couple weekends ago, we went for a 15 minute hike on a wide, well cleared mountain path. I did not brush up on any vegetation that I know of, however, the next morning, I found a small, black, round and shiny tick the size of a sesame seed, on my inner thigh. It was so shiny, I thought it was a beetle, but it was indeed attached. As I went to remove it, it fell off of its own accord. It was still alive and moving. It appears to be a deer tick nymph, but there were very few pictures of what I saw on the internet to identify it completely. In any case, nothing happened at the bite site, except it stayed looking like a small mosquito bite for a week. There is no bulls eye and no itching or discomfort at the site. However, for the last week, it has been glaringly obvious that the recurrent nausea and occasional dizziness, accompanied by hand and arm weakness and a plethora of forgetful events, in addition to 'breathlessness'-my first noticeable sign with a weird "this is not normal" headache, that I may have it again. I've not been able to get my nurse to call back to order a test, but just today, I found I have a low grade fever as well. I don't have aches anywhere, but did notice random areas that have felt like they were bruised over the last week. Hearing might be affected- had lots of trouble hearing ppl on my cell phone this week. UPDATE: 8.17 I finally got my drs office to test about a month ago, and called back because I never heard results. It was positive for Lyme. Now I am almost 2.5 months in and feeling fine, but I will be on 3 weeks of 100 doxy and diflucan. I'm irritated I got it again and irritated that I need to do this again, with all this antibiotics lasting effects. Most of the effects I had earlier have faded with barely occasionally dizziness and quick light nausea. My arms feel weird sometimes, but it leaves semi quickly. I have been sleeping well and I'm not tired in the morning. A piece of me wants to let my body duke it out on its own, but I don't know what years down the road might be like if I don't give it a good punch now with the antibiotic. Found out I am prediabetic as well, so my diet hopefully will help me through it better than last time.

Secondary rash followup

I ended up going to dr for the hip pain, rash and weird chest pains that all started around the same time.  All tests came back fine regarding arthritis or cardiac inflammation, and they ran a second lyme titer and a western blot (missed the first time around).  I wanted them done to see if there was an active infection going on, just because things were getting weird again.  The titer came back negative, which is great news if it was eradicated, and obvious news if it went into my joints and there was not antibody reaction happening; Lyme tests rely on finding antibodies as evidence of an infection, it cannot actually find Lyme. The western blot is still not back, but I wanted to run the panel #'s by the forums when it does- they seem to give more info than the dr. BTW, a great forum for every subject imaginable re: Lyme or symptoms/reactions is HealingWell.com

Secondary Rash

In early January, I noticed a darker area on my side upper ribs.  I had to look twice to ensure it was not an old scar from when I had shingles when I was 12.  I rechecked it in a week and it had grown again to twice its size, now 3-4 inches oval.  It was not painful, itchy, splotchy, or raised- just a darker color.  Another week passed and it was still there, but now with a lighter center.  It really looked a lot like my original bite rash, except for the center bite mark.  There has been no other accompanying symptoms, except occasional eye twitching, light random dizziness, night sweats, and some fatigue.  That is, other than some pain at the original bite site when sleeping on it, or walking after sitting for a while, like after driving or getting up in the morning.  I am taking Bone, Joint, and Cartilage supplement for my hip and it really makes a difference.  Thinking about calling to see if I need to be retested since I obviously did not get re-bitten this time of year.

Month 3

I expected everything to calm down this month, and for the most part it has- thankfully. What I have been able to pin down was definate reactions to overwork or undersleep. For example, when I did some running/hiking on the trails, the next day(s) I get sick with a cold or sometimes worse, like a flu. It's the same thing with not enough sleep. The beginning of the month, arm weakness and/or a sense of dizziness followed after stressful events. When I got sick with flu symptoms, I went back to the liver detox pills and those helped alot. Mid month, I had a few days of mental blocks where I lost things again, forgot what I was doing, and was really sick in bed, but this followed after too much caffiene (3 cups after being caffiene free for a couple months) and a good workout that happened on the same day. Toward the end of the month, I am noticing weird patches of skin sensitivity, feeling like bruises, that travel around randomly. They don't last more than a few minutes to a day and the eye twitching still comes and goes; both of these are not tied to anything I can track. However, twitching appears to have occurred after taking liver detox a couple days. Also, yeast infections keep recurring. I have been off probiotic last few weeks, but never had to take it regularly to stay healthy in the past. I may have to reconsider taking them for another month.

Month 2

I spent all weekend researching Lyme and found it cannot survive heat and heat multiplies the antibiotic effect, so I visited the sauna a couple times and did some detox baths with Epson sales and hydrogen peroxide. My left eye twitches around lower lid and intensifies over 3 weeks. Occassional to frequent dizzy/ woozy/ buzzed/ floating/ detached feelings while trying to work that causes me to lose balance or really focus on where I am. I have occassional forearm weakness like they are falling asleep or overworked to failure. It feels like they are shaking but they are not. I cannot regulate temperature easily. For example, on my day that I work the freezers, I cannot warm up for hours. I need a heater every morning at the office-its August! As far as memory, on the follow-up appt with Dr, who noted, "You REALLY have it," (I wish I knew what that meant) I tend to ramble and forget what I was talking abou, and my conversations look a lot like that last sentence. Later, I might remember that I meant to tell you that I blanked out on the way to the office and couldn't remember where it was! It wasn't a long blank, but enough to really alarm me and suspect early Alzheimer's. The Dr now informs me previous Dr suspected Lyme and was the reason he put me on doxy. Wish they would just deal straight with me. Exhaustion or sickness, or both, follows the day afer a strength workout...I can't muster energy for cardio. The runny nose is still here. During doxy treatment, I added vit b6 for nausea, magnesium for twitching, a multi vitamin, vit c, and a probiotic three hours after the antibiotic. After the doxy was done, I have continued the probiotic until I run out. All in all, without the Lyme, it's been a stressful couple of months with major events, so I am hoping for all things to settle down a bit.

Week 5

I took pictures of my bite again as it has developed a lighter center surrounded by red edge and darker center. At first I thought it might finally be fading, but it could also be a bullseye. Size is now 10-12 inches across, 8-9 inches wide. I have sudden and intensifying sharp pain INSIDE my hip that made work difficult. During trail running, my whole rash felt like it had meat hooks in it and every step was ripping it down. I had to hold rash area in place to be bearable. Upon returning to the car, I was in searing pain all the way home at the bite site. This felt like a knife was inserted in my hip. Because of this, the spreading, and bullseye, I showed up unannounced to dr the next day and was put on doxy 100 mg 2x day 21 days for possible cellulitis. Rash faded drastically in 2 days. More night sweats, fatigue, night nausea, a 4-5 day migraine, and I've had a runny nose for a month. I received results on Friday...I am told I "definitely have Lyme."

Week 4

I saw my doctor on Monday and she thought it could be a tick bite. They drew blood for 'the whole tick panel.' I was told to call back on Wednesday for results, but none were available this week. I misplaced my keys and phone 3 times over the week and everyone said they told me things I don't remember. I am sick in bed all weekend and sleep most of it. I am sensitive to sunlight while driving, office lights, and screens. Noise bothers me.