Hi Mel

I have had Lyme. I distinctly remember scratching off a tiny scab, which was a tick, that I didn't know was there...a few days later the site got hot, then red, then over a few weeks, turned reddish purple, grew to about 4-5 inches in diameter and the center cleared out. I felt crummy, but even way back then, 14 years ago, felt crummy. I went to the urgent care clinic, told the doc I had Lyme and he laughed..."Where do you have this Lyme?" Well, I stood up and showed him the back of my thigh and there it was in its glory...He said, "You do have Lyme Disease..." Out he went and had the entire staff in to look at the rash....classic Erythema Migrans. They took my titer and it was rising, it was still below the cut off, but getting up there...then he gave me oral antibiotics, Amox 500mg three times per day for 20 days. That aborts any further immune response...in other words, your immune system doesn't make antibodies anymore once you start the antibiotics.

Rash went away, I still felt crummy but my titer never reached the level it has to reach in this state to be considered Lyme, even tho, I am a diagnosed and likely logged case of Lyme.

I did get more treatment 6 years later for over 6 months, so is my PN due to Lyme...who knows. I have a 5 positive IgM bands, but in our state IgM is not considered. It is in New York. All a positive response means, it that you were exposed to Lyme or Borrellia Burgdorferi and your body produced an immune response.

Glenntaj knows a lot about immune mimicry and his theory holds some water. I have researched the heck out of Lyme Disease for over 10 years and yes, it can cause PN but there is no research out there that says treating post Lyme with antibiotics will stop PN. Also, they should have looked for BB on PCR in Alan's spinal fluid. My spinal fluid is negative for BB and this point, and PCR looks for proteins present in the actual bacteria.

Again it is a huge bacteria, a real monster, and there is a ton that is not known about it....

I wish I had not gotten Lyme Disease, but, not much is made of it here in terms of my neuropathy.