Lymes-like symptoms. Could someone please help me?

[johannasteff83]

Hello everyone,
I am really worried about my sister and hoped some of you could possibly help us on this issue. In December of 2005, my sister and her family had the stomach flu. Afterwards, my sister started having more flu-like symptoms, like an upset stomach with some pain and fatigue. She didn't think much of it, just thought it was maybe a relapse from the flu she'd had earlier. As time went on, her problems kept getting worse and progressed to a terrible burning in her stomach and was unable to eat much. The burning in her stomach isn't constant, sometimes she feels perfectly fine during the day, and then all a sudden her stomach will just start aching/burning. It gets worse at night also. She's had many tests done by quite a few different doctors and no one can find anything wrong with her other than saying she maybe has irritable bowel syndrome. The only thing wrong with that is there is nothing wrong with her bowels and she doesn't have any problems there. She has lost about 30 pounds from not being able to each much. She can usually eat until about 3-4pm and then if she eats later than that, her stomach becomes much worse. Her stomach is also sensitive to some dairy products, but not really fried foods that much. Recently, her arms and legs started getting really achy and sometimes she can hardly walk on one of her legs. She was bitten by a tick last October and has been tested for Lymes, but it showed negative. Also, her joints don't really ache as in lymes, it's just her arms and legs. She does have some lymes symptoms and I just wondered if any of you could PLEASE give us some advice as I'm really worried about my sister! THANK YOU!!

[Unregistered]

has she been tested for lupus?

[Unregistered]

did her doctor consider Crohn's disease (also known as regional enteritis or CD)?

[Unregistered]

Y.enterocolitica?

[student]

I've had lyme disease... i didn't have bowel problems at that time and the information on the internet; for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease doesn't show anything about bowelproblems too. I had problems with my joints; neck, back, legs, feet. Tingling and also painful. I felt very depressed and tired too. I also had fever, sleeping problems and a lot of other problems....
so your sister has only leg and arm problems that look like lyme.
so maybe it is another tickdisease or just something else than lyme. good luck!

[Unregistered]

You are not going to like this answer, but ever consider anxiety? I had a severe pain in my upper stomach - just where the ribs meet in the middle. Very painful. I was on nexium for 1 year to no avail, now I am on Paxil and the stomach pain is gone. I think it is because your muscles inside are always so uptight that you may have muscles spasms and not even know it.~ Just a thought. It helped me!

[Unregistered]

Hi Johannasteph,
Lyme disease testing is very unreliable so it is a clinical diagnosis according to the experts and the CDC. I'm sorry your sisters doc does not know this..many docs don't!
Go to www.canlyme.com for a ton of up to date reliable info.
There are hundreds of research articles, symptoms list, diagnosis and treatment info. There are several other good reliable sites as well...
www.lymediseaseassociation.org (doctor refferals)
www.ilads.org

Unfortunately there is a lot of conflicting info about Lyme disease and co-infections out there. The Infectious Disease Society of America is NOT a good resourse right now as they are under a Civil Investigative Demand by the Attorney General for anti trust issues concerning their Lyme Disease guidlines.

Good luck in your search!!
Gracie's Mom

[Unregistered]

Has she been checked for the human parvovirus b19. It can have a very wide range of symptoms often resembling rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Lymes disease. It is diagnosed with a simple blood test and is often over looked by physicians. I had to go to a rheumatologist before getting the diagnosis.

[Unregistered]

Hi,

Just thought you may want to consider going to an Alternative Physician or Holistic Doctor. These docs are actual MDs but give you a variety of tests normal docs wouldn't give, like checking for parasites, food sensitivities, adrenal abnormalities, etc.

Hope your sister gets better.
t

[Unregistered]

You mentioned that your sister is sensitive to dairy products. Perhaps she has a lactose intolerance, when it is hard for the body to digest the lactose in milk, which is actually the sugar in milk), and by the way can be treated over the counter. Have her cut out the dairy products for a while and if her symptoms go away you might want to look into it.