Infectious Arthritis Q & A

One month ago I tested positive for Lyme Disease, after going to my internist with a large rash on my shoulder. (The rash turned into a classic bulls-eye over 5 cm wide.) My doctor prescribed 2 weeks of doxycycline. But my friends and I had heard the treatment was longer. So after I searched the CDC and Johns Hopkins website for the standard treatment, I asked for 2 more weeks of antibiotic. My doctor refused and only would prescribe 1 more week for a total of 21 days. (Her reasoning was the extended antibiotic could be harmful to my intestinal flora since I had also taken 10 days of eurythromycin sp? to treat a rapid skin infection that had developed in the rash cellulitis?) It has been over 1 week since my 3 week antibiotic was finished and I am starting to feel very fatigued, somewhat achy and flu like. I am concerned that I didn’t stay on antibiotics long enough. Is there a standard treatment/testing procedure once a patient has finished the initial course of antibiotics? E.g., when should I get re-tested?

I have been on methatrexate for 5 weeks. I have LLL pneumonia and am taking leavaquin po daily. Is there a contraindication/ Does the methatrexate inhibit the antibiotic or vice-versa?

I was diagnosed a year ago with Lyme Disease. I had a positive Elisa test and was positive after the Western Blot IgM and IgG tests. I had a six week course of doxycycline and three weeks of Rocephin. After 3 weeks on the Rocephin treatment had to be discontinued as my liver titers whenn over 800. Since then my rheumatoid factor has gone to over 400 (over 13 is high) and was put on Plaqunil for the rheumatoid arthristis. I am still tired and my joints, especially shoulders, knees, and and ankles hurt. Several people have told me about work done by a Dr. Joanne Whitaker in FL and a blood test that they over to culture the blood for the presence of Lyme. There is so much false and misleading information about Lyme Disease. Does JHU have physicans that specialize in Lyme Disease.

No one can explain why every joint in my body is deteriorating at such rapid rates. I am 55 yo and ever since having severe Lyme disease and Bell’s Palsy at age 50, nothing has felt right. They called it Fibromyalgia for years, until I inisted on MRI’s and then they discovered, bi lateral carpal tunnel, a destroyed knee, two bunions which never healed after surgery, invasive sinus surgery with chronic infections,severe hip pain, and severe scoloiosis and degenerating discs with severe back and neck pain. My hands hurt and developed enlarged joints under the thumbs. My lower back has fused together, and the pain is relentless. I am on Oxycodone, but after 3 months they are losing their efficacy. Vioxx didn’t work, I developed GI bleed from Ibuprofen and am limited in my choices. Could the severe back labor I endured for 15 hours at age 41 have done this to my back? and thrown my body into a premature decline or is it more likely the LYME. I wasn;t diagnosed for four days after collapsing and being admitted to the hospital. Is there any hope for me, or am I doomed to a lifetime of pain and deterioration?

If joint pain caused by strep goes away on its own how long does it take and is five months too long to still be in serious pain?