Can someone tell me if I have lyme disease or not?

Question

So over the weekend I encountered a tick. It was lodged under my right arm and I needed help getting it out b/c it was stuck in there pretty good. So on Monday and Today, my whole body is aching a lot. When I walk up and down the stairs my knees hurt and the right side of my stomach hurts a lot, even more if I cough or sneeze. Once a while I get a headache. It looks like a tiny ring is starting to form where the bite mark is. So I went to my DR and he looked at it and said "no, you don't have lyme disease, if you did the ring would be about 2 or 3 inches big." But what I don't get it is, I have some of the symptoms, so how is it not lyme? Can anyone tell me or give me some advice?

Answer 1

Forget your idiot of a doctor. Something is definitely wrong here. If it isn't Lyme disease you might have an infection. Maybe you did not get the head out. Get to the E.R. right now. Do not play with your health. I'm serious. Stop waiting to see what everyone on yahoo has to say and get to the hospital. I am really worried that something is wrong here and you need medical attention.

I found some info online:

Ticks
The very worst out there, in my opinion, is the tick. The very thought of having one of these parasites feeding on you is enough to make your skin crawl. It's not so much that they are known vectors of Lyme disease and that they feed by plunging their beaklike mouthpart deep inside you and then secrete a cement-like saliva which literally glues them in place. It's the fact that they prefer dark and moist places on your body to attach themselves to; places like armpits, bellybutton holes, and, you guessed it, your crotch. These are all places I'd rather not have something nibbling at.
Performing regular tick checks are crucial in heavily tick infested areas. It's best to use the buddy system for this. Of course, this can get embarrassing at times. I'll never forget when my wife and I, while traveling through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, began our nightly routine of stripping down and checking each other's private parts for embedded ticks, when a group of Boy Scouts paddled by. I tried to explain to them what we were doing, which, according to my wife, made the scenario even worse.
If you do find a tick lodged into your skin, make sure not to panic and start yanking away at it. You're just liable to pull the thing in half, leaving its head inside you and increase the chances of infection. The best way is to first spray it with a good amount of bug repellent. This will definitely force it to relax its grip, since the tick actually breaths out of its butt while its head is lodged into your skin. Don't burn it with a cigarette or match like some older guide books recommend. This will just make the tick hold on tighter and become more difficult to get out. After allowing some time for the repellent to take effect, place a pair of tweezers (tick pliers can also be purchased at most outdoor stores), and, without squeezing the tick, reach inside, beneath the body, and gently pull it out. Then disinfect the area with antiseptic or soap and water.

Symptoms of Lyme disease:

A circular red rash forming around the bitten area
Flu-like symptoms
Painful joints
Insomnia
Local paralysis
Skin sensations
Hearing loss

More info from another site:

LD symptoms can imitate other diseases and can be misdiagnosed.

EARLY LOCALIZED DISEASE

Signs and symptoms of Early Local Lyme Disease often starts with flu-like feelings of headache, stiff neck, fever, muscle aches, and fatigue. About 60% of light-skinned patients notice a unique enlarging rash, referred to as erythema migrans (EM), days to weeks after the bite. On dark-skinned people, this rash resembles a bruise.

The rash may appear within a day of the bite or as late as a month later. This rash may start as a small, reddish bump about one-half inch in diameter. It may be slightly raised or flat. It soon expands outward, often leaving a clearing (normal flesh color) in the center. It can enlarge to the size of a thumb-print or cover a persons back.

To be considered local disease the rash must be at the tick bite site with no other major organ system involvement. A rash occurring at other than the bite site in an indication of Disseminated Lyme Disease.

Don't confuse a local reaction to a tick bite, with signs of infection. A small inflamed skin bump or discoloration that develops within hours of a bite and over the next day or two is not likely to be due to infection - but rather a local reaction to the disruption of the skin.

DISSEMINATED LYME DISEASE

Some people do not notice these early indicators of infection. Early manifestations usually disappear, and disseminated (other organ system involvement) infection may occur. General symptoms alone do not indicate Lyme disease.

GENERAL
Profound fatigue, severe headache, fever(s), severe muscle aches/pain.

BRAIN
Nerve conduction defects (weakness/paralysis of limbs, loss of reflexes, tingling sensations of the extremities - peripheral neuropathy), severe headaches, stiff neck, meningitis, cranial nerve involvement (e.g. change in smell/taste; difficulty chewing, swallowing, or speaking; hoarseness or vocal cord problems; facial paralysis - Bell's palsy; dizziness/fainting; drooping shoulders; inability to turn head; light or sound sensitivity; change in hearing; deviation of eyeball [wandering or lazy eye], drooping eyelid), stroke, abnormal brain waves or seizures, sleep disorders, cognitive changes (memory problems, difficulty in word finding, confusion, decreased concentration, problems with numbers) and, behavioral changes (depression, personality changes).

Other psychiatric manifestations that have been reported in the scientific literature include: panic attacks; disorientation; hallucinations; extreme agitation; impulsive violence, manic, or obsessive behavior; paranoia; schiziphrenic-like states, dementia, and eating disorders. Several patients have committed suicide.

EYES
Vision changes, including blindness, retinal damage, optic atrophy, red eye, conjunctivitis, "spots" before eyes, inflammation of various parts of the eye, pain, double vision.

SKIN
Rash not at the bite site (EM) - This skin discoloration varies in size and shape; usually has rings of varying shades, but can be uniformly discolored; may be hot to the touch or itch; ranges in color from reddish to purple to bruised-looking; and can be necrotic (crusty/oozy). The rash may develop a bull's-eye rash or target look. The shape my be circular, oval, triangular, or a long-thin ragged line.

Other disseminated skin problems include:


lymphocytoma, which is a benign nodule or tumor, and
acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) which is discoloration/degeneration usually of the hands or feet.
HEART and BLOOD VESSELS
Irregular beats, heart block, myocarditis, chest pain, vasculitis.

JOINTS
Pain - intermittent or chronic, usually not symmetrical; sometimes swelling; TMJ-like pain in jaw.

LIVER
Mild liver function abnormalities.

LUNGS
Difficulty breathing, pneumonia.

MUSCLE
Pain, inflammation, cramps, loss of tone.

STOMACH and INTESTINES
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, anorexia.

SPLEEN
Tenderness, enlargement.

PREGNANCY
Miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth, and neonatal deaths (rare). Congenital LD has been described in medical literature.

It is possible for the bacterium to pass from mother to fetus across the placenta, resulting in congenitally acquired LD. A link between LD and adverse outcomes in pregnancy is under investigation. However, most studies show that mothers who are promptly diagnosed and treated appear to have perfectly normal babies.

Nursing women with LD often call to ask us whether they should continue nursing. There has been no proved cases of transmission through human milk. There is research that demonstrates that Bb can be found in the colostrum of infected cows and mice. Animals studies have demonstrated that ingestion of Bb can result in infection. Some physicians recommend nursing mothers discard breast milk during active infection. Breast feeding can resume after treatment is completed and the woman becomes symptom-free. The decision to do so should be discussed with your physician.

Answer 2

Your description of the original bite looks more like a spider bite. I'm not sure what your "weird rash" is like; that's the important part. You could have had an allergic reaction (to the bite or something else) or gotten an infection in the original bite by scratching it. Ticks have to hang on and suck your blood for quite a while, a few hours to a day or two (yuck!). They don't just bite and move on like mosquitoes. Unless the bite was somewhere you wouldn't notice a tick for a while, it probably isn't a tick. However, bites can get infected, particularly if you scratch (and it's possible to scratch enough in your sleep). If your "rash" looks like red streaks coming out from the bite and the area is hot, that could be a serious infection you'd need to treat ASAP, insurance or not. If it's just itchy, try anti-itch creams or even mentholated products. If your clothes rub on it or you don't want to scratch it in your sleep, try covering it with a bandaid. Lyme disease isn't transmissible person-to-person, so even if you had it, you couldn't give it to your husband. He's being silly. I get all kinds of itchy dime-sized bites that fail to impress my doctor when I show them off during visits for other reasons.

Answer 3

Yes comeone can tell you if you have lyme. That person is a doctor who had taken the couple hours to do the blood test. There's a very simple and common blood test for Lyme and you should find a doctor with a brain sooner rather than later. I'm not sure of your symptoms but you definitely should get the blood test done.

Answer 4

Your dr can not look an say you do or dont have lyme disease it takes a blood test an lyme disease takes more time than 3 days to show signs like a red rash get a blood test

Answer 5

I would heed the advice of your doctor, and if, just to set your mind at ease, get a second opinion. You can "trick" your body into becoming symptomatic by believing that you are already affected, much to the point that the symptoms will be there, but with no underlying cause.

Answer 6

The Dr should have done a blood test. Get a second opinion.

Answer 7

go to a different doctor...cause if you have the symptoms and he only said you didnt have it cause the rings werent big enough he is full of crap......get a second opinion

Answer 8

I THINK YOU COULD HAVE A BLOOD TEST AND FIND OUT FOR SURE. YOUR PROBABLY OK. THE DR. SEES A LOT THE THESE THINGS.

Answer 9

i agree with kndykisn go too another doctor!