thank you

diane

An ID doctor will tell you no, your daughter does not have Lyme. They want to see the rash and have a positive blood test, plus she has already had a course of antibiotics. You might find a sympathetic one who will agree to and additional 10 days to 4 weeks of an antibiotic, but then they will tell you that she is cured and no further treatment is necessary. Most likely the experience will only lead to further distress and heartache.

So, what to do?

You have conflicting blood work, which is not a surprise. Once someone has been on antibiotics, it can skew the results of blood testing, because you are killing off the things the blood test is looking for. If you wait long enough, and the initial course of antibiotics did not kill everything off, then she will test positive again at some point.

The best advice is to find a Lyme Literate Doctor, or LLMD. These are doctors who diagnose and treat Lyme patients based on lab testing, physical history and clinical presentation. It is the skill of the physician in interpreting all of these things that leads to the clinical diagnosis, which they will then treat based on their findings. From my perspective, it sounds like your daughter has something very Lyme-like going on, so it is worth checking out to be sure.

It can be a long and expensive process, but if you feel better in the end, it's worth it.

If you send me a PM with your location, I will help you find a doctor.

Tom

Good for you for supporting your daughter but she needs to be proactive too. I wish I could say the same of my own parents...my mom has Fibromyalgia and also has been diagnosed with pre-MS symptoms, so she is somewhat supportive but my father ignores the fact that I am sick at all and doesn't understand why I need to keep going on about it. He even refused to watch the documentary Under Our Skin that I purchased, primarily for the purpose of passing info about Lyme onto those who are in my life that care. He's been "too busy". Sorry, I am a bit upset with him right now.

And just a note about not remembering a tick bite...the little devils can be as small as a period on a piece of paper and ticks carrying Lyme and other infectious bacteria are now being found ALL OVER the country. Also only about 50% of people who are infected get a rash and symptoms vary widely from person to person. Tests should be done to rule out all other possibilities but lab tests alone cannot be used to negate the possibility of Lyme.

I wish you the best of luck and your family will be in my thoughts. I hope you find the help you need...feel free to pick my brain anytime. There are alot of really great people here to help you too. Knowledge is power...

Best wishes!

Tom really hit the nail on the head here. Get her to an LLMD.

Many people think that it is only ticks that carry this disease, but that just is not so. Bitting/blood sucking insects can be carriers too. She may have been bitten any time before she presented with the headaches. Some get bitten, and years later begin to show signs...each person is different.

There is hope tho. Once you get her to the right doc, and get on a treatment plan, you can start moving foreward.

The key is going to be educating yourself. Getting your hands on the info that will help your daughter. There are many ways to get better. Often it tends to be a mix of conventional and alt treatments. Diet changes are important too.

You have found a really great place with really great people...lots of info and support.

Feel free to pm me anytime

Christine