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Do infectious disease doctors test for Lyme if child shows symptoms?


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my dd is about to be 9 years old, she has been having bouts of fevers and fatigue for since she was 2 years old. she's had strep throat multiple times and two years ago we had her tonsils removed. she done much better since the tonsils have been removed as far as the strep goes but she is still tired all the time. this past week she had her first strep infection since her tonsils were removed. i took her to the dr. last week and i told him about her chronic fatigue and i also told him how her previous pediatrician had tested her 2 years ago for epstein bar and it was positive. i asked him if he thought that the EBV could be causing her fatigue. he said it would very rare since it's been two years that she tested pos. for EBV. now when she tested pos. 2 1/2 years ago the pedi that tested her only tested to see if she was pos. for it, she did not test to see if it was an active case of EBV. so this new pedi said he could order a blood test that would test to see if the EBV is still active. we just got the results in today and the EBV is active, her white blood count was low it was 2.2 and should be at least 4.5, her liver enzymes were elevated and her ASO titer was 1000. the nurse called me today and said that the pedi want my dd to see a pediatric infectious disease dr. to find out why she is still testing pos. for EBV after 2 years and since she's been tired for 7 years. i'm really worried that she has Lyme. in fact i think all 4 of my dc have symptoms of Lyme. i have two boys who have been dx'ed with tourettes. one of my ds started having tics at 18 months old. my other one just started having tics at 3 1/2. all 4 kids have OCD issues and the 2 boys have adhd and behavior and learning problems. i have read about Lyme and read that you can pass it to your child via breast milk. i nurse all 4 of my dc and i am pregnant right now and planned on nursing this one. none of my 4 kids have been bit by a tick that i know of however, i was bit numerous times by ticks as a child. so i'm wondering if perhaps i have lyme and have passed it to my kids thru breast milk. will the infectious disease dr. test for Lyme or do you have to go to a lyme dr. to be tested. also do my dd's symptoms look like lyme and also would she have abnormal lab results such as elevated liver enzymes, low white blood count, etc. with lyme or could it have just been her strep infection and the EBV thats causing the lyme? let me know if any of you who have dc with lyme have experienced these symptoms, etc.. thanks.

 

jen

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I'm in a little bit of hurry this evening but wanted to let you know something really stuck out for me in your post

 

liver enzymes, low white blood count, fatigue is indicative of Ehrlichiosis. A co-infection to Lyme. Sorry, I don't have a better link for you.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrlichiosis

 

I think you definitely need to investigate Lyme.

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Hi Jen,

 

Of course your daughter's fatigue can be caused by many things. But the fact that you feel all of your children are possibly ill indicates that something further needs to be looked into.

 

You mention that you have been bitten by ticks many times... do you feel symptomatic in any way? Where (region/state) were you when these bites took place? Where do you live now (I know these are personal questions, so of course don't answer if you'd rather not).

 

Could you please spend a few minutes and read this article... it is about evaluating a child for tick borne diseases. It lists lots of possible symptoms. Of course, everything you have mentioned so far could fall in the symptom list (inlcuding your daughter's infection of ebv, your sons tics, etc).

 

After reading this article (it continues on for several pages), please let us know what you think.

http://www.publichealthalert.org/pdf/2009_10.pdf

 

Mary

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Hi Jen,

 

Of course your daughter's fatigue can be caused by many things. But the fact that you feel all of your children are possibly ill indicates that something further needs to be looked into.

 

You mention that you have been bitten by ticks many times... do you feel symptomatic in any way? Where (region/state) were you when these bites took place? Where do you live now (I know these are personal questions, so of course don't answer if you'd rather not).

 

Could you please spend a few minutes and read this article... it is about evaluating a child for tick borne diseases. It lists lots of possible symptoms. Of course, everything you have mentioned so far could fall in the symptom list (inlcuding your daughter's infection of ebv, your sons tics, etc).

 

After reading this article (it continues on for several pages), please let us know what you think.

http://www.publichealthalert.org/pdf/2009_10.pdf

 

Mary

 

 

yes, i have been bit by tics several times in my childhood. they would attach to me and my mother would have to pull them off with tweezers. we went camping a lot when i was a child and from what i can remember the tic bites that i would get happened when we were camping. i have lived in southeast texas all my life. we used to camp in east texas, central texas, southwest louisiana and we went a few time to arkansas to camp. my husband's parents have a camp in western louisiana that we go to all the time. i have been going there since high school when my husband and i met and our kids have been going since birth. my oldest ds started having tics at 18 months and it happened a few hours after coming home from the camp house. i've always wondered if it was something there that triggered the tics. none of my kids or myself or husband has had any tick bite that we know of from going to the camp in louisiana. it's in the thick woods so i'm sure there are ticks. my in laws have 3 dogs and they always bring the dogs to the camp and i do remember a few years ago when the tics were a problem. the dogs were getting 20+ tics on them. that hasn't happened again.

 

i read the article and i do have some of the symptoms as well as my kids. i do remember as a young child having "tics" but i just thought it was a habit that i had developed that was hard to break. i had stomach aches all the time and anxiety problems until the age of 22. i was also sick all the time as a child especially with strep throat. my dc have lots of the symptoms listed. my kids are really not sick all the time other than my dd having her bouts with strep throat. since the tonsils came out she's only had 1 strep infection. my daughters main symptom her whole life has been severe fatigue. my boys main symptoms are tics, OCD and behavior and learning problems.

 

jen

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Jen,

 

Since you have a history of tick attachment, and a history of your children in infectious tick environment, you should certainly go ahead and have a doctor evaluate for this. You could just start with you and your daughter. I know you are pregnant now, so I'm not sure about your ability to do this.

 

Have you yet identified where an LLMD might be for you? I know it will involve travel since you are in Texas. There is a great llmd in Missouri that I know someone from Texas (on the lyme boards) traveled to -- he treats kids and adults. However, perhaps a good first step is to contact your state lyme group (see the links in the Finding a Doc posting) to just at least find a local doc who will run the igenex panel. Or do you already have a doc who will do that?.

There seem to be a whole lot of Texans on the Pandas/lyme boards!

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