Lyme, Ehrlicia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Anaplasmosis

[Hopeny]

We just got some testing back from our first LLMD visit and DD8 turns out positive for RMSF in addition to Lyme. My daughter's case is a pediatrician missed diagnosis, and working back looking at previous bloodwork and symptoms we realize she sadly went 2+ years untreated. During our first round of in depth Lyme testing this year she tested low+ for Ehrilicia and Anaplasmosis, and very high for Mycoplasma. She did 5 days of Doxy and now Anaplasmosis and Ehrilicia tests are now negative. LLMD ran RMSF and it came back IGG positive . He did tell me that Ehrlicia and RMSF sometimes cross react so it could be Ehrlicia causing the RMSF+. Thank G-d she never had the rash on her palms however she was extremely sick when we think she contracted it.

Fortunately Babesia/Bartonella are negative by Quest, Igenex and Sonoma County - so per LLMD while not 100% ruled out, it seems likely that we are not battling this mountain too.

She has been on Augmentin/Biaxin and is now switching to Doxy. We have not added naturals yet to the mix but plan to. She has one copy of MTHFR 677T, Vitamin D deficiency and some liver function numbers are off.

I have not seen many posts around these infections so just wanted to ask if anyone has experience with these, what the treatment has been like and recovery?

As background, DD has had a variety of physical symptoms, leg, knee and hip pain, headaches, dizziness, brain fog, stomach pain, seeing colors, and extreme fatigue. She has had lots of psychiatric issues all with sudden onset, went from a happy, friendly popular kid to a withdrawn, suicidal insecure girl almost overnight. We have been working on some PANS aspects of her illness (Lyme or Mycoplasma induced with Strep exacerbation), and have seen improvments in her OCD symptoms. Thank you in advance.

[colleenrn]

Our LLMD ran all the tests for co-infections. The bloodwork was done after my son had been on weeks of doxycycline. His co-infections were all negative except his IgG was positive for RMSF. He nevr had the typical rashes you get with RMSF, but he did have over a month of several different types of bad rashes, but not the rash on his hands you see with RMSF. I think he just had a different rickettsial bacteria similar to RMSF. Our LLMD said it can cross react with bartonella and maybe he had that but just did not test positive for it. Rickettsia parkeri is in the ticks in our area, so maybe it was that. He was on almost two months of ceftin and a few weeks of zithromax, plus 4 weeks of doxycycline when we did the lab work.

 

Colleen

[philamom]

My daughter is positive for RMSF IgG through Quest. When first tested in Sept 2010 her titer was 1:256 (normal is <1:64). She has since gone down to 1:64, but still positive. She is positive for lyme and bart too. Her liver functions are always off and she is also always low or borderline normal in vitamin D.

[Hopeny]

Thanks both, these coinfections seem uncommon as I am finding hardly any info. DD's IGG was 1:64 range <1:64 so not terribly high. Her erlichia and anaplasmosis were right at the cutoff range by Quest but now back to normal. She has been on anitibiotics for much of this year. She did not ever have the RMSF rash I have seen pics of on hands and feet, but I do recall when she had the initial what we now know was Lyme presentation in 2010 (missed dx by pediatrician and me ) she did have what I thought was an excema outbreak. She is back on Doxy now. I am hoping these next 12 months can just be a healing time for her. She has low Vit D and off liver enzymes too.

[JuliaFaith]

Have you treated for parasites yet? Just a thought. My son's fatigue improved greatly with this treatment. He is doing some treatment for parasites for the 4th time since starting treatment.