One of the main carriers of bartonella are CATS.

http://www.manhattancats.com/Article...bartonella.htm

Well, then given the number of cats I had and the number of sick ones I cared for....likely add that to my list.

I don't have any kitties now....hubby has been allergic his entire life, and I finally figured he needed a break. When my grand little lady died at age 17, that was it. I still have my Labs....uff dah! Three elephants in my house resulting in my swiffing way too much.

Let's not even go where my chickens could take me.

The bartonella one gets from the xithes (or something like that) tick, is the same family as cat scratch fever from cats, but different. It isn't generally tested for. There are many families of bartonella, and people bitten by ticks get a different on from people scratched from cats. If only life were simpler.

But LLMDs (lyme literate MDs) think that bartonella causes more cns symptoms (fogginess, word problems) than the lyme itself. Also neuropsych symptoms--depression, irritabilit..

Here are some youtubes, on bartonella, and on life with lyme and its co-infections.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVeXV...eature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC7ky...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOOX0lJYnKY

LizaJane,

If I was scared before I read this I am now well past and beyond in yet another world.

In Nov my Ophtalmologist ordered blood work more then I knew I had in me and the one thing that stood out was a positive for Lyme, but he brushed it off as it was soooooooo low... later in Feb after leaving him ( another story) I had a never conduction study done and I past with flying colors> his reply was you should look into why you had antibodies for Lyme> So off I went and the next blood work came back clear of any antibodies.

I just got off the phone ealier today from my doctor at the Cleveland Clinic ( won't be going back there anytime soon) with the results of my QSART test which was normal. He suggested I return to the Clinic for Behavoir modifaction.. don't you just love B J Skinner.. I need to run not walk to my doctor!

I would like to ask about the cysts, I have multiple noduals or fatty tissue lumps or what ever on my left arm when I have ask any doctor they all seem to brush them off trying first to get to the root of the issue?
They now (new this week) are pushing down and compressing onto nerves and my pinky down the palm of my hand and up my thumb are numb (numbness is nothing new but being caused by them is).

Sue Bee

There is a very good Lyme support site which can refer you to an LLMD near where you live. From there your treatment should improve. If you've had a positive Lyme test from a regular lab, it is really imperative that you get into the hands of a good lyme doc, as there are so many co-infections that the same tick carries that must be looked for.

I think if you find a good lyme doc, you will be on a better road. There is a road to healing with Lyme.

http://www.lymenet.org/SupportGroups/

If you ask about how to find a doctor you will be directed to the correct links. ILADS i think also links to doctors who belong.

Good luck, it's less scarey to have a known than an unknown.

I believe when the word 'cyst' is used in relation to Borrelia it is referring to a part of the life cycle and the cyst is a microscopic organism, which encases itself as to be immune to most antibiotics. There are several forms of the organism, spirochete, cyst, plasmids.

The lyme bug can curl up into a cyst form, with a waxy type of coating, which lives in nerve cells. It doesn't do much damage there, but it sits there and waits for the right situation to come out and multiple and do its thing. Substances like steroids send it into hiding in cyst form. Flagyl is one of the few medications good against this form, but there are others. They all have some difficulties in dealing with, and that's why some doctors feel that the disease is never totally licked, because you never get all the cysts. I believe my doctors think I will always have some cysts, and what we know that's helpful, is that the bugs die off with amoxicillin when they come out, so that if they come out again, we can give them a good hit!

Thanks, LJ, I think sometimes people get confused and think that the Lyme cysts are actual cysts that one can see with the naked eye....Cysts that you can see and feel are likely due to something else and need to be examined.

Lizajane....I can't remember....Did you have IVIG?

You had asked the name of the Doctor I saw at the Cleveland Clinic:Thomas E Gretter, Neurology & and Qingping Yoa (really loved him he was so cute and charming) Rheumatology.
Doc Gretter was the one who thinks all I need is behavoir Modifaction class?
I am waiting now for the skin bio test at the University of Rochester. lesss traffic!

Sue Bee