Additional Tick-Borne Diseases

I am 13 months into my treatment, there is no end in sight, and I am truly fortunate.  Yes, fortunate. As tough as this whole situation has been, and will continue to be on me, I am fortunate that I can still walk and I am not in a wheel chair. I am fortunate that I am not in a constant state of Herx reaction because my body can’t detoxify itself. I am fortunate that I have not gone completely blind. I am fortunate that I can get out of bed and go to work and I don’t have to fight with the insurance company over short term disability payments. I am fortunate that my teeth aren’t rotting and falling out. Over the past year I have had the opportunity to meet other chronic Lyme disease patients and discuss similarities and differences between our battles and treatments. What you just read are some of the experiences that have been shared with me. 

When discussing chronic Lyme disease there will always be the inevitable stories about the long road to diagnosis, the constant changing of the antibiotics and supplements, the diet adjustment, the fatigue and the overall stress that comes with being chronically ill and having to completely change life as you know it, in order to combat the disease. Even with the broad commonalities I just mentioned, you will be hard pressed to find Lyme disease patients experiencing the exact same symptoms and effects; this is why it is so hard to build a protocol for a standard treatment, let alone detect it in the first place.

As previously mentioned, in addition to Lyme disease, I am being treated for three tick-borne co-infections. They have played a major role in my Lyme journey thus far, so it is about time I introduce them.  Here they are in alphabetical order; I don’t want to show favoritism:

Babesiosis is an infection caused by a malaria-like parasite, also called a “piroplasm,” that infects red blood cells. Ticks may carry only Babesia or they may be infected with both Babesia and Lyme spirochetes. People can also get babesiosis from a contaminated blood transfusion.

Symptoms of babesiosis are similar to those of Lyme disease but it more often starts with a high fever and chills. As the infection progresses, patients may develop fatigue, headache, drenching sweats, muscle aches, nausea, and vomiting. Babesiosis is often so mild it is not noticed but can be life-threatening to people with no spleen, the elderly, and people with weak immune systems. Complications include very low blood pressure, liver problems, severe hemolytic anemia (a breakdown of red blood cells), and kidney failure.

Bartonellosis is often mild but in serious cases it can affect the whole body. Bartonella are bacteria that live inside cells; they can infect humans, mammals, and a wide range of wild animals. Not all Bartonella species cause disease in humans. Bartonella henselae causes an important emerging infection first reported in 1990 and described as a new species in 1992. It is mainly carried by cats and causes cat-scratch disease, endocarditis, and several other serious diseases in humans.

Bartonella bacteria are known to be carried by fleas, body lice and ticks. Scientists suspect that ticks are a source of infection in some human cases of bartonellosis. People with tick bites and no known exposure to cats have acquired the disease.

Early signs of bartonellosis are fever, fatigue, headache, poor appetite and an unusual streaked rash. Swollen glands are typical, especially around the head, neck and arms. Gastritis, lower abdominal pain and sore soles are also common symptoms.

Mycoplasma is pleomorphic bacteria which lack a cell wall and, as a result, many antibiotics are not effective against this type of bacteria. There are over 100 known species of Mycoplasma, but only a half dozen or so are known to be pathogenic in humans. The pathogenic species are intracellular and must enter cells to survive. Once they are inside the cells, they are not recognized by the immune system and it is difficult to mount an effective response.  Mycoplasma species have been identified on ticks.

Symptoms include fatigue, musculoskeletal symptoms and cognitive problems.

Each co-infection calls for different medicinal protocols, hence the copious amounts of antibiotics and supplements I am taking which were featured in a previous post. Did this all happen from one tick bite? Multiple tick bites? Have I been bitten again since my original diagnosis or did this really come out of remission?  All questions I would love to know the answers to, but probably never will. What I do know is I need to keep moving forward with a positive attitude. 

You probably think I am a “glass half full” type of girl after reading this post. Truth be told, my glass is always half spilled. I just want to get better, and I believe a positive attitude is an important piece of my treatment.