Lymes disease

As many of you know from family or Em's blog that I have or hopefully now "had" lymes disease. I have done some research online and my prognoses looks very well. Luckily for me it was caught early and in that case is very treatable and curable. A lot of people dont know all the facts around lymes disease and should consider checking it out. Here is some info I found....



In the early phase of the illness, within days to weeks of the tick bite, the local skin around the bite develops an expanding ring of unraised redness. There may be an outer ring of brighter redness and a central area of clearing, leading to a "bull's-eye" appearance. This classic initial rash is called "erythema migrans" (formerly called erythema chronicum migrans). Patients often can't recall the tick bite (the ticks can be as small as the periods in this paragraph). Also, they may not have the identifying rash to signal the doctor. More than one in four patients never get a rash. The redness of the skin is often accompanied by generalized fatigue, muscle and joint stiffness, swollen glands, and headache resembling symptoms of a virus infection.

What is the treatment for Lyme disease?
Most Lyme disease is curable with antibiotics. This is so true that some authors of Lyme disease research have stated that the most common cause of lack of response of Lyme disease to antibiotics is a lack of Lyme disease to begin with! The type of antibiotic depends on the stage of the disease (early or late) and what areas of the body are affected. Early illness is usually treated with oral medicines, for example, doxycycline (Vibramycin), amoxicillin, or cefuroxime axetil. Therefore, if a person finds a typical "bull's-eye" skin rash (described above) developing in an area of a tick bite, they should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Generally, antibiotic treatment resolves the rash within one or two weeks. Later illness such as nervous-system disease might require intravenous drugs, for example, ceftriaxone (Rocephin).
For the relief of symptoms, pain-relieving medicines might be added. Swollen joints can be reduced by the doctor removing fluid from them (arthrocentesis). An arthrocentesis is a procedure whereby fluid is removed from a joint using a needle and syringe under sterile conditions. It is usually performed in a doctor's office. Rarely, even with appropriate antibiotics arthritis continues. It has been suggested by researchers that sometimes joint inflammation can persist even after eradication of the Lyme bacterium. This has been explained as an ongoing autoimmune response causing inflammation of the joint that was initially stimulated by the original bacterial infection. The doctor also can inject cortisone into swollen joints or use oral medications, such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Nuprin), to reduce inflammation and improve function....



I was treated with a 14 day treatment of doxycyline, plus I was given a faster acting antibiotic via an IV that was specifically given to me in to combat the bacteria from lymes disease. Good call by the Dr., since my illness did indeed result from lymes.