Lyme Disease

I don't have personal experience with this but from what I know you are lucky to have caught it early if it is indeed Lyme. The "acute" lyme is treatable with the antibiotics. If he had the typical rash then you caught it in an easily diagnosable phase. It is more problematic when you don't catch it early and it spreads, then doctors can't diagnose it as easily but even then they can still treat it with antibiotics. Hope that helps. Good work in noticing the target bruise!

Lyme disease is pretty rare, but if your doctor isn't worried and you are it might bring you some relief to get a second opinion. Usually, with Lyme disease, the tick bite is not felt or noticed since the carrier tick is so tiny. There is a blood test available to ascertain if it's Lyme's disease for sure.

This is pretty helpful, http://www.idsociety.org/lymediseasefacts.htm and Wikipedia has a long and informative article about Lyme disease too.

Good luck,
J.

Hi H.,

Lyme disease is certainly scary, but in your case all should be fine. The really tough cases are when it isn't diagnosed early, because only about 50% of bite victims get the target rash. So you're very blessed that the target showed up and you got him on antibiotics right away. He should be totally fine. If he starts getting flu-like symptoms or any other bizarre symptoms, take him back to the dr. asap.

I just saw another response about deer ticks...it is a myth that Lyme is only back east. Mt. Diablo is actually considered a Lyme disease hotspot! Just go hiking there, you'll see signs warning you to wear long socks to avoid tick bites.

Hi H.,
It is great you saw the bullseye rash. My Mother had lyme and went to the doctor to late. He never saw the rash so he couldn't report it to the CDC for there records. There is also a blood test they can so but it is not accurate, over half the people that have lyme don't get a positive test result. I would reserch further and make sure he takes the antibiotic.
Lymes disease is in Ca. My mom lives in El Dorado Hills with a lot of Deer. She was one of 2 people on her street that got Lyme in the same year.

Good luck.

Hi H.,

My 6yo son just had the same thing happen. The day after we returned from a trip to NH, I noticed a bullseye shaped rash surrounding a bug bite on his arm. But it looked like a rash, not a bruise. (It was red, not blue. And slightly raised/bumpy.) I took him to our doctor's office. They said it looked like text-book lyme disease and that the protocol was to go ahead and treat with antibiotics rather than testing first. (Because the test for lyme is not 100% accurate.) They said that one course of antibiotics would totally treat it since we caught it early.

Have you been traveling back east? It's my understanding that lyme disease is carried by deer ticks, which are common in the northeast but are not found out here (CA).

They gave my son a three times per day for 14 day course of antibiotics. This is a higher dosage than the normal twice a day for 10 days dosage that they give for things like ear infections (which he had just had the month before).

In my son's case, the rash was gone within 24 hours after starting the antibiotic. If your son still has the rash/bruise, perhaps you should take him for a second opinion. I'm not sure they gave you a strong enough dose of antibiotic. But if the rash is already gone, then there is probably not much point of going. It might be worth a phone call or two, but unless you have documentation from the first doctor that the diagnosis was lyme disease, I think it would be difficult to get another doctor to give you a new prescription.

I hope this helps,
D.

I have a coworker who is going throught the same thing herself. All of the doctors that she went to told her that she should not be concerned and did the same but with two weeks of antibiotics. She finally ended up going to a specialist that told her that she needs to be on antibiotics for no less than a month and gave her twice the dose of the antibiotics. I dont want to scare you but it is something that you should look into or ask around.

I would research it just to see if this is the appropriate antibiotic and the right amount of time to be on it. Presumably when Lyme is caught early it doesn't take months to eradicate.

Just beware, there are an inordinate number of people these days, dentists and chiropractors among them, calling everything and anything Lyme, even when tests come up negative. So don't fall into that trap.

We went through a terrible medical ordeal with our son last year, his symptoms could not be diagnosed, and three different Lyme tests came back negative. But you wouldn't believe how many people I ran into in my quest for a diagnosis and cure who assured me that what he had was Lyme (with no evidence to back up that diagnosis), people who had no business practicing medicine. I didn't end up going to them but who knows what they would have prescribed for him if I had. And the tests were right in the end - it turned out his problem was not Lyme.

I agree with Emily. My dad was finally Dx with Lyme after about 10+ years of having it. He even requested to be tested all those years ago, but conventional doctors didn't treat it as a big deal and didn't even test him. Because they didn't catch it soon enough he now has to deal with it for the rest of his life. Usually they will put you on anti-biotics for about a month. He has been seeing a specialist in the Bay Area who is finally treating him properly. It's more like management, but it's way better than before. So my advice is to take this very seriously (again, not to scare you) and see a specialist.

Lyme disease was initially regarded as an uncommon illness caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. According to me, the 3 to 4 week course of the antibiotic treatment using doxicycline or amoxicillin is generally effective in the early disease. The cefuroxime axetil and erythromycin are the alternatives. The oral penicillin is usually prescribed for the children. When given in the early stages, these drugs can minimize later complications.
http://www.biblehealth.com/lyme-disease/lyme-disease-symp...

There are two people in santa cruz that deal a lot with lyme disease. If I were in your shoes I would contact them. Cindy Quatro PA, LAc or Randy Baker MD They are in the same office.
http://www.drrandy.org/wst_page2.html
You are right to be concerned. It is best to be certain that you are taking care of this now. good luck!

I would definitely contact a specialist (a previous post listed a couple). My mom has a friend (in her 50's) who lives in the foothills and was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease after almost a year of getting more and more undiagnosed symptoms. She is now being treated, but there is neurological damage that cannot be reversed. I am not trying to scare you but only to make sure that you know the disease can be severe if not treated correctly, and not all doctors are familiar with it. Luckily you spotted the signs and got your son treatment right away, so everything should be fine, I would just encourage you to follow up with a doctor who specializes in the treatment lyme disease to make sure that there's nothing else needed.
Good luck!

www.liafoundation.org

they use the best natural treatments for LYME

Author Amy Tan has Lyme Disease, here's her story:

http://www.amytan.net/LymeDisease.aspx

And here's a link she gives with more information:

www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org

Sounds like you've done right by your son, just stay on top of it!