Keystonepaul
5 year old buck +
Appreciate Tap posting the Tick protection thread- lots of good advice and lots of stories on what ticks can do to folks. thought I'd share my 13 year old sons story and what we've learned over the past 7 months:
end of August son got bronchitis, antibiotic knocked it out of him pretty quick, only he didn't get better- tired, lethargic, headaches, confusion, nerve and muscle coordination issues- speech became halting, movments slowed. Not all the above were there initially, but all joined the party eventually, and . These continued to get worse over the course of the next few months- obviously we got to the pediatirician days after the lethargy, etc started- eventually complete bloodowork, tests for this, that the other thing, repeated bloodwork, lyme disease tests, etc- NOTHING showed- lyme negative, repeated testing- got the other type of lyme test done as wel- trips to Hershey medical center- nuerologist, specialsist, etc, etc- NOT ONE THING PRESCRIBED, NOR DIAGNOSED, following any of these visits- pushed off from one specialist to the next. Got appt with a lyme-literate doctor, but not until March- called daily for cancellations- finally got one when we got 6 inches of snow mid December- drove 1 hr in 6 inches of falling snow- love the Subaru!!. paid 275 to send our bloodowork to California lab for 'Supersized" lyme test. after physical exam and discussion- we began Doxycycline, another antibiotic, and an anti-malarial drug. In addition to probiotics and teasil which brings lyme spirochetes out of hiding. We have continued these, and have added b-12 injections. Son stopped going to school in October and started 5 hours of in home teacher/ week as his movments got worse and worse- looked like a concentration camp survivor with muscular dystrophy, about the only thing he didn't have was actual muscle aches, just lethergy to the point of not being able to use the muscles well- along with a neurological component. Recovery has not been, nor should it be expected to be, leaps and bounds. It's been inch by inch, but it continues to inch in the right direction. We are currently up to going to school 3 days a week for 2 periods each day, plus meeting a teacher at the library 3 times a week for an hour as well. Moving up to 3 classes 3 times a week next week...
lyme test- there are a number of bands they measure that must show reactivity above 100, however that is determined. The CDC requires a certain number of bands to be positive (over 100) for lyme to be confirmed. NY state- for instance requires 5 bands, I believe. What we've been told is- several things- combined symptoms with any band being positive is an issue- that band is positive for a reason, lyme can compromise the immune system thereby bringing down the immuno response these tests are looking for- which is where all the false negatives and unreliablity of lymes tests come in to play, you don't get numbers for all the bands just positive or negative- you may have reactions on many that just don't reach 100, amd lastly, tests for other tick borne illnesses, babeseosis (spelling?), etc, etc, is even less reliable........Anyone in the Northeastern PA/NY, NJ area that needs information on the doc we used or just wants to talk about what they are going through can PM me and I'll get you my number and any infomation, I can. Good luck and take preventative measures when in the field!!!!
end of August son got bronchitis, antibiotic knocked it out of him pretty quick, only he didn't get better- tired, lethargic, headaches, confusion, nerve and muscle coordination issues- speech became halting, movments slowed. Not all the above were there initially, but all joined the party eventually, and . These continued to get worse over the course of the next few months- obviously we got to the pediatirician days after the lethargy, etc started- eventually complete bloodowork, tests for this, that the other thing, repeated bloodwork, lyme disease tests, etc- NOTHING showed- lyme negative, repeated testing- got the other type of lyme test done as wel- trips to Hershey medical center- nuerologist, specialsist, etc, etc- NOT ONE THING PRESCRIBED, NOR DIAGNOSED, following any of these visits- pushed off from one specialist to the next. Got appt with a lyme-literate doctor, but not until March- called daily for cancellations- finally got one when we got 6 inches of snow mid December- drove 1 hr in 6 inches of falling snow- love the Subaru!!. paid 275 to send our bloodowork to California lab for 'Supersized" lyme test. after physical exam and discussion- we began Doxycycline, another antibiotic, and an anti-malarial drug. In addition to probiotics and teasil which brings lyme spirochetes out of hiding. We have continued these, and have added b-12 injections. Son stopped going to school in October and started 5 hours of in home teacher/ week as his movments got worse and worse- looked like a concentration camp survivor with muscular dystrophy, about the only thing he didn't have was actual muscle aches, just lethergy to the point of not being able to use the muscles well- along with a neurological component. Recovery has not been, nor should it be expected to be, leaps and bounds. It's been inch by inch, but it continues to inch in the right direction. We are currently up to going to school 3 days a week for 2 periods each day, plus meeting a teacher at the library 3 times a week for an hour as well. Moving up to 3 classes 3 times a week next week...
lyme test- there are a number of bands they measure that must show reactivity above 100, however that is determined. The CDC requires a certain number of bands to be positive (over 100) for lyme to be confirmed. NY state- for instance requires 5 bands, I believe. What we've been told is- several things- combined symptoms with any band being positive is an issue- that band is positive for a reason, lyme can compromise the immune system thereby bringing down the immuno response these tests are looking for- which is where all the false negatives and unreliablity of lymes tests come in to play, you don't get numbers for all the bands just positive or negative- you may have reactions on many that just don't reach 100, amd lastly, tests for other tick borne illnesses, babeseosis (spelling?), etc, etc, is even less reliable........Anyone in the Northeastern PA/NY, NJ area that needs information on the doc we used or just wants to talk about what they are going through can PM me and I'll get you my number and any infomation, I can. Good luck and take preventative measures when in the field!!!!