Lyme Disease

[Stolly]

Hate to say this Hes, but my thoughts for both Stolly and you were a reaction to an infection with Lyme and/or one of its co-infectiosn.

As you know it caused an aggressive reactive arthritis in my knees and neck. I also have a friend whose main symptom is Lyme carditis and the heart muscle is inflamed from it... very similar to Stolly's issues.

Testing is very unreliable so negative lyme tests mean nothing. I have had two blood tests and my synovial fluid has been tested as well as a synovium biopsy. All negative. However, I had antibiotics between being bitten and being tested, which messes with the results as well, and after almost 2 years of infection, the body stops producing antibodies as the infection has become systemic.

Hann, with me and my peri 'effing' carditis, I had the lyme test something like 2.5 months after my pericarditis attack. A Lyme disease blood test after such a time period is thought to be far more reliable (with most of the difficulties in diagnosis occuring with earlier tests) so, although my pericarditis is taking its time in clearing up, I'm as confident as I can be that its not lyme carditis. Although Hester had an early lyme test which showed no disease, she was also immediately put on antibiotics as a precaution so she should be okay either way. And although Hester's knee has been diagnosed as reactive arthritis, and not likely to be down to an injury, its extremely unlikely to be as a reaction to lyme disease. For sure ever since Hester had her steroid injection her knee has improved massively, and she is now out doing some light running

I think the only thing that had us worried about lyme disease is that we both had reactive inflammations to different bits of our bodies within a relatively close time frame, having both been camping in the ticky bit of Scotland just a little while before.