RSD & Lyme Disease
 

Yep, you guessed it. I got bitten by a tick, one that was infected.

It was about 2 months ago that I discovered blood in the inner part of my pants (on the hard seam). I had been in the garden.

It wasn't until the last few weeks that I was developing a rash on the lower part of my right leg exactly where that blood spot had been.

My parents saw the rash and immediately thought it might be a tick. There was no ring or anything (no bull's eye markings).

My doctor came and didn't think it was a tick, but sent me for some blood work, it came back positive for Lyme.

I just got a round of 10-day antibiotic for it. The rash, however, is barely budging. Yes, it has paled down a bit, but it's not budging, it is even spreading. Of course, it itches like mad and that's not helping on an RSD leg.

I have ABs until this Sunday. If the rash is still here by Monday, I'm going to call my doctor's office. My doctor is on holiday right now, but before he went on holiday was nice enough to prescribe me the ABs. He said it should be dealt with after 10 days.

I'm not so sure.

I'm not willing to put up with chronic Lyme & RSD, so does anyone here have any experience with an infected tick bite?

Just wondering...

CRPSbe,

I am so sorry you're having to deal with the additional worry of Lyme. That would be concerning to any one of us.

Here is an article from Medscape, updated June 29, 2017, on which antibiotics to use for Lyme, at what dose and for how long. The shortest duration appears to be 14 days and can go quite a bit longer. I am close to medical staff and haven't heard talk of shorter courses for what it's worth.

Lyme Disease Treatment & Management: Approach Considerations, Treatment of Early Lyme Disease, Lyme Arthritis

I hope you feel better soon and have a full recovery

Thank you so much for that article, Littlepaw. I am having the doctor come round (well, a different one out of his practice as my doctor is on holiday) because the "rash" has gotten bigger. Since I vomited up my last dose (yesterday) the rash has calmed down a bit.

You'll always see when the doctor comes round that your symptoms diminish. LOL!

Yes, I've been prescribed 10-day Doxycycline and it is hell on the stomach. I am having to take something with it to keep it down - that didn't work yesterday apparently.

Anyway, she's coming round just past noon. We'll see what she says!

I visited family in OK (long ago) and got a bite (never saw what did it) on my leg. The bite swelled, but I thought nothing of it cause that always happens to me. I came home to CA and the bite turned into a rash. A bulls eye. Saw doc, they ran the test and it was inconclusive. Which meant (to them) possible Lyme, take the abx. I did 14 days (I think they wanted me to do longer?) and by then they made me SO sick I couldn't do more. The doc let me stop because I didn't have a positive test.

So sorry you are going though this. They checked me so many times for lyme thinking that would explain many of my off symptoms...but I've never tested positive for it. All the testing though has made me so scared of it. :(

I am on my second round (well, not really) of ABs. First round I didn't complete because my stomach couldn't take the ABs anymore (I vomited the pills right out twice in a row).

So the doc has been (replacement for my own doc who is on holiday) and she gave me different ones. She said the rash was "different" and not what it was supposed to be (it got bigger on the ABs) and my test, however positive, could be a false positive, nevertheless, to be on the safe side, and because I have enough issues to deal with, she put me on different ABs.

Amoxyclav 875 (aka augmentin). I seem to be digesting these well so far. I am on dose n°8 out of 20, so we'll see.

The rash, though paler, has spread on my lower leg (almost half of it is covered). Of course, the reaction might be "different" because I have an RSD leg (well 2 in fact but just the one is affected by the tick) in the first place.

If the rash is not gone, I will be calling the doc back. She might no longer give me ABs, but this has been in my system for 3 months or thereabouts. "They say" the longer it's been in your system, the longer you need ABs.

I really feel they can't take any chances here...

Tiny update.

My regular doctor was back and immediately continued the ABs. With this round, I will have had ABs for 24 days.

I am to call back if it's not gone next week. The infection should be out of my system by then, the doctor said, but... I'm not sure.

If the rash isn't gone, he might have a derm take a look at it. But really, I'm not sure about that either.

I'm so sorry this is STILL going on for you. Thanks for the update. Hugs.

Hoping and Praying you feel better soon Marleen.

Thank you for the well wishes. This is just one more thing on top of it all, you know?

Yeah, you guys know!

The rash is dissipating more and more, let's hope this round of ABs does it. Fingers crossed!