Lyme's Disease

[Lisa Almquist]

My 14 y.o. son is starting antibiotics for this today. He's got all the classic symptoms (fever, joint aches, headache and many bulls-eye's around his arms and legs). His lab results came back negative for Lyme's but his doctor said it may be too soon to show a positive result. I'm glad he's getting early treatment but has anyone else gone through Lyme's disease? Does it have many or any residual symptoms? His dr. seems to think he'll be 100% fine but WebMd says different!

[glenn57]

nurse lisa, you should have better answers than us. i have heard and talked to a dr. personally about lymes, they cliam treated early you should end up fully recovered. if not caught early then issues may arise. i dont know of any human having it but my 11 year lab was tested positive for it. he didnt have it last year they did give him some drugs for it. good luck with your son.

[Lisa Almquist]

Thanks glenn-I sure hope he's back to a 100% soon!

[hopeforfish]

Been there done that. He is starting on the antibiotics quick so there should be no problem. The problems come up when a person has had this for a very long time and it has started to do very bad things. Since he still as the initial signs he will be fine.

Hope

[glenn57]

how long do you think hes had it? having a test come back neg and doc telling ya it may be to early for the test to show it should be a good sign. your sheltie had a full tick i picked off 2 weeks ago and i really should have her tested but not every tick has it, BUT..... ireally dont know.

[Lisa Almquist]

Thanks for the confident answer Hope! I really needed that!

Whatever happened to the Lyme's Disease vaccine? His dr. said it is unavailable at this time.

[Gary Crichton]

Good Luck and it sounds like you caught it early enough, and that is a good thing.

G.C.

[SkitterPopper]

I wonder about the bullseye's you are refering to. I am not a doctor but I did have Lyme's Disease a few years ago. I was told at the time that the bullseye is where the tick entered your skin and is usually gone within a week or so. So this means he had ticks real recently. I had the trademark bullseye and the doc was able to cut and pull the tick out. It was tested at the U of M and confirmed that I had Lyme's Disease. I was also told that I was lucky to see the bullseye so I could begin treatment ASAP. They put me on Cipro for about a month and I never retested positive. I had to go in for a few years and double check that it did not come back. I hope your son can recover as fast as I did.

[wanger29]

Caught early enough you got nothing to worry about. I had several friends that had it last year, close to same time. Yeah the bullseye's where it went in. Which is a nice pre-indication before symptoms come in full force. A good friend of mine actually got one of those bullseyes from a common woodtick before.

[chaffmj]

Lisa,

What your son is going through sounds exactly like what happened to me including having the test come back negative. I haven't had any problems since and that was 12 years ago. Hope to see you and Jim on Burntside this winter. Maybe some of your laker skill will rub off on me. Take care.

[Lisa Almquist]

I was also skeptical about the multiple bullseye's but his dr. reassured me he's seen several cases with more than one bullseye.

We'll be on Burntside this year for sure! I think I just had some beginner's luck, chaffmj. But time will tell and hopefully I'll get myself a new and improved avatar huh?

[delmuts]

Lisa. I got the shot back when it was offered, but shortly after that it was pulled of the market due to supposedly it caused and or increased arthritis. I was contacted by a lawfirm about a large class action suite against the company. I didn't want any part of it, since i already had arthitis,and if it WORKED. Better for me! del

[Lisa Almquist]

Good to know, del. I would rather be more vigilant (bug spray and long pants/sleeves) than allow my kid to possibly deal with arthritis his whole life. His dr. thinks he probably picked a tick up in Jay Cooke since his XC team runs their trail system several times a week this past fall.

[Powerstroke]

Lisa, I've had to take a course of antibiotics for this very same reason. I removed the tick personally so I know it was there before the bulls-eye showed up.

Yes there are very terrible long-term affect if he does have lyme's but if he's tested negative once and he is taking the meds he should be fine. I know a guy who has severe joint pain and neuro problems because of it, but he got it many years ago before everyone knew about it.

I know its the mom talking and not the nurse, but trust your doc and you will be fine. If you disagree get another opinion.

[Lisa Almquist]

That's good advice Andy. I thank the Lord we caught this early! I have confidence that he'll be ok now. My son's been taking his doxycycline for a few days now. The bullseyes are all gone now and the headaches have stopped. He's still fatigued but I think he's for the most part, out of the woods (pun intended??!!)

[FishNovice101]

Lisa,

That sucks about your son, but I am glad to hear that there is already improvement.

I will be praying for his speedy recovery.

Char

[Lisa Almquist]

Thank you Char! He is feeling really pretty good now! He was one sick kid for a couple weeks though. I LOVE antibiotics!

[Powerstroke]

The power of modern medicine. I'm glad to hear your son is feeling better. I know its difficult to face things when they can have such terrible prognosis.

I hope he continues to get better.

[delmuts]

Glad to hear he is getting better fast!

[DeeDee]

Glad he's feeling better Lisa, i hope he's 100% soon.

[Sandmannd]

Sorry to hear he got it Lisa, but it's good to hear he's doing better already. All the best to you guys, I'll be hoping he continues to get better.

[fishinchicks]

Lisa,

I'm glad the antibiotics are working for him, and that you caught it early. My mom's didn't get caught in time, so she wasn't as lucky as your son. She has to have IV antibiotics every so often when her symptoms come back.

[upnorth]

Lisa, good to hear that you son is making progress. Modern medicine works miracles.

[mngirl]

Good to know he is doing well. I have never had it, but I had a teacher when I was in 1st grade that had it and ended up having to quit her job because she did not catch it early enough. Both my mom and grandma have it but caught it early, and I have a cousin that got it this summer but again should be ok. Hope the best for you.