Positive Lyme...ms?

This is the place to ask questions if you have symptoms that suggest MS, but aren't yet diagnosed.
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Willisgal
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Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2013 10:54 am

Positive Lyme...ms?

Post by Willisgal »

Hello! I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or advice you could provide. I am in the early stages of trying to determine what in the world is on going on with me.
For 3 weeks now I have been experiencing pins and needles sensations in my arms, legs, and even my face. This is not constant...rather coming in waves. I've had intermittent numbness and cold sensations as well. I still feel strong and I am able to go about my day as usual. These symptoms are just worrisome and in general just don't feel like my self.
I recently saw my family doc. She did comprehensive blood work. All of which came back "normal" except for the Lyme titer. She said 3 of the 4 bands came back positive for Lyme. Therefore she has put me on a 14 day course of Doxycycline. She said if I don't feel better with these meds we will schedule an MRI. I'm on day 4 of the meds...and have not yet noticed a difference. I'm quite scared.
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around a Lyme disease diagnosis. I never experienced a rash, joint pain, or extreme fatigue that is so common with that disease. Not to mention...can't even remember being bitten by a tick! I've read online that many times people with MS experience positive Lyme tests. Does anyone have any insight on this? Do my symptoms even sound like an MS possibility?
I'm so appreciative of your time! Thank you!
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jimmylegs
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Re: Positive Lyme...ms?

Post by jimmylegs »

in my limited xp it can be tough to get a pos result when testing for lyme. people get dx'd with ms b/c the lyme was missed. I don't think it happens the other way around.
my friend recently got a tick bite, the rash, the symptoms, and a neg test result. did the short course of drugs and they didn't help. it's a tough nut to crack.
there are others here with much more info re lyme. i'm sure they'll chime in soon!

this is pretty brand new, might be important.. I don't have time to absorb the info properly right now, but kind of exciting if there are nutritional options for controlling virulence

Manganese and Zinc Regulate Virulence Determinants in Borrelia burgdorferi (May 2013)
http://iai.asm.org/content/early/2013/0 ... 7-13.short
ABSTRACT
Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, must adapt to two diverse niches, an arthropod vector and a mammalian host. RpoS, an alternative sigma factor, plays a central role in spirochetal adaptation to the mammalian host by governing expression of many genes important for mammalian infection. B. burgdorferi is known to be unique in metal utilization and little is known of the role of biologically available metals in B. burgdorferi. Here, we identified two transition metal ions, manganese (Mn2+) and zinc (Zn2+), that influenced regulation of RpoS. The intracellular Mn2+ level fluctuated approximately 20-fold under different conditions, and inversely correlated with levels of RpoS and the major virulence factor OspC. Furthermore, an increase in intracellular Mn2+ repressed temperature-dependent induction of RpoS and OspC; this repression was overcome by an excess of Zn2+. Conversely, a decrease of intracellular Mn2+ by deletion of the Mn2+ transporter, bmtA, resulted in elevated levels of RpoS and OspC. Mn2+ affected RpoS through BosR, a Fur family homolog that is required for rpoS expression: elevated intracellular Mn2+ levels greatly reduced the level of BosR protein, but not the level of bosR mRNA. Thus, Mn2+ and Zn2+ appeared to be important in modulation of the RpoS pathway that is essential to the life cycle of the Lyme disease spirochete. This finding supports the emerging notion that transition metals such as Mn2+ and Zn2+ play a critical role in regulation of virulence in bacteria.
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bartman
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Re: Positive Lyme...ms?

Post by bartman »

I've always wondered why people come here with a positive Lyme test. Anyway, first thing you have to know about Lyme is that it mimics MS but the treatments are completely opposite. If you have MS they treat with immunosuppressive drugs and steroids which make a person with an infection worse. Then you have to know that it is the most controversial disease in the history of medicine! There are two sides in how to treat and one side says 3 weeks of doxy is enough the other says treat until you are better + 2 months. What you should really know is that if you have Lyme you probably have other coinfections as it is becoming more and more common for there to be Babesia, Bartonella, Chlamydia Pn, Mycoplasma Pn and others too. Many people have several infections and they all require there own treatment and multiple infections makes each one more difficult to treat. You should see a LLMD recommended by ILADS. They are the experts in treating lyme + coinfections because they actually see the most patients. Being that it is so controversial to treat with antibiotics longer than mainstreams recommendation, this scares away mainstream doctors from diagnosing it as they fear for losing their licenses and scrutiny fro the medical boards. There is no easy answer on how to treat but most people get better if they get treated properly which is way longer than 2 weeks of doxy. Ironically doxy's cousin minocycline is used to treat MS. IMO the real culprit is bartonella. Please google Dr. BUrrascano's guidelines and read them carefully and educate yourself on this horrible epidemic that is misdiagnosed for over 300 diseases with MS at the top. In the meantime you should be treating with 200mg twice a day of doxy for 6 weeks to be safe! It's much more complicated than I can explain but please ask around and contact a Lyme disease group or message board.
Willisgal
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Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2013 10:54 am

Re: Positive Lyme...ms?

Post by Willisgal »

I'm sure it was a bit confusing to see a post on this forum when I had a positive Lyme. The reason I posted here is because my primary doc expressed concern about my symptoms. She said I may be looking at MS. It's all very scary and new...just trying to make sense of things right now.
Thank you for your help!
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