Swollen Feet and Ankles

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

My friend has Lyme disease and has been suffering from extremely swollen feet

and ankles causing pain. I have been searching for info in regard to this

problem but can't seem to be able to find anything.

I am wondering if anyone here has any info about why this is happening and what

she can use to treat this symptom?

Thanks,

Chris

[Guest guest]

How about acupuncture? I know many people who use it for pain and

treating other problems without the side effects of western medicine.

On Apr 9, 2010, at 7:38 PM, tnkrbell wrote:

> Hi All,

> My friend has Lyme disease and has been suffering from extremely

> swollen feet and ankles causing pain. I have been searching for

> info in regard to this problem but can't seem to be able to find

> anything.

>

> I am wondering if anyone here has any info about why this is

> happening and what she can use to treat this symptom?

>

> Thanks,

> Chris

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Perch,

Is your email name " fleabite " because you think you contracted lyme by a flea

bite? I ask because about a month before I had the acute early lyme symptoms, I

was bit by a flea on my foot. Have never seen a tick on my body. So just

curious.

-Sonya

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

[ ] Re: Swollen Feet and Ankles

I have those symptoms too, Chris. I have so much swelling that I'm now

taking lasix.I have a scratch on my left leg that is leaking fluid. My

ankles are stiff, it feels like I'm being stabbed in my ankles by sharp

needles. My feet and ankles have a red itchy rash.My wide shoes don't

fit. I had to order ultra wide shoes. I've been walking around with my

velcro fasteners open, that's how swollen my feet still are, even after

3 days of lasix.

Perch

>

> Hi All,

> My friend has Lyme disease and has been suffering from extremely

swollen feet and ankles causing pain. I have been searching for info in

regard to this problem but can't seem to be able to find anything.

>

> I am wondering if anyone here has any info about why this is happening

and what she can use to treat this symptom?

>

> Thanks,

> Chris

>

[Guest guest]

All I know is that I had a small bite on my foot. Just like a flea bite and so

that night I thought I'd better change my sheets in case one got in there. Sure

enough, there was a flea in between my sheets at the foot of my bed. I was sick

about a month later with all the beginning lyme symptoms. I also test positive

for Q Fever & Mycoplasma.

Hmmm... I could've been bitten by a tick camping 13 months prior, but never saw

anything or a rash. The mystery will go on forever.

-Sonya

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

[ ] Re: Swollen Feet and Ankles

>

I ask because about a month before I had the acute early lyme symptoms, I was

bit by a flea on my foot. Have never seen a tick on my body. So just curious.

I'm think I got my first Lyme symptoms from a flea bite, about ten years ago.

I was bitten in my garden by something, causing a very itchy spot exactly like a

flea byte. Only this time the spot slowly developed into a 5-10mm dark nodule

under the skin; it is still there, after many years. Shortly after the byte I

got some Lyme-like symptoms, like the recurring fevers, heart problems, mild

electric shocks in the joints, night sweats etc.

My doc said that is was 'stress', most of it slowly improved in the next years

until I was bitten again 5 years ago, this time for sure by a tick with

devastating effects. Maybe this tick byte was the second infection.

I can't rule out that the first byte was from a tick, because they do occur in

the gardens over here. But I never saw one and the itchy spot suggests a flea

byte. If you check the literature many uncommon varieties of contracting Lyme

disease have been described.

Many insects and arthropods carry Borrelia but usually scientists say they can't

pass the disease. But why would Bb infect these hosts if they are all a dead

end? I'm sure there is a lot we don't know yet, because scientists haven't

bothered to check (or worse, have only checked with their tunnelvision in full

force).

[Guest guest]

>

> All I know is that I had a small bite on my foot. Just like a flea bite and so

that night I thought I'd better change my sheets in case one got in there. Sure

enough, there was a flea in between my sheets at the foot of my bed. I was sick

about a month later with all the beginning lyme symptoms. I also test positive

for Q Fever & Mycoplasma.

>

> Hmmm... I could've been bitten by a tick camping 13 months prior, but never

saw anything or a rash. The mystery will go on forever.

> -Sonya

today I started reading a book from a good German Lyme doctor, Ms. Hopf-Seidl.

She says that a Bartonella infection (e.g. from cat scratch) often starts with a

small brown nodule under the skin - sounds exactly like what I had after my

'flea byte'. The Q-Fever bacteria seem to be cousins of Bartonella, they are

both intracellular parasites of the Rickettsia group.

Currently there is a major Q-fever epidemic in the Netherlands, attributed to

large goat farms. Government tried to sweep things under the rug for a few

years, but now over 2000 people are ill and apparently many of them are

chronically ill (Q-fever can get chronic just like Lyme). At least this disease

is now recognised and patients can get antibiotics, with limited effect.

There is a link between Q-fever and ticks; you can get it from a tick byte,

although transmission works a bit different from Lyme (seems the Q-fever

bacteria are mostly in the tick poop, which can get into the byte wound because

of the tick behaviour when they byte the host).

[Guest guest]

Ya, other than however I contracted Lyme, I have not been around any farm

animals except at the LA County Fair a couple of years ago.

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

[ ] Re: Swollen Feet and Ankles

>

> All I know is that I had a small bite on my foot. Just like a flea bite and so

that night I thought I'd better change my sheets in case one got in there. Sure

enough, there was a flea in between my sheets at the foot of my bed. I was sick

about a month later with all the beginning lyme symptoms. I also test positive

for Q Fever & Mycoplasma.

>

> Hmmm... I could've been bitten by a tick camping 13 months prior, but never

saw anything or a rash. The mystery will go on forever.

> -Sonya

today I started reading a book from a good German Lyme doctor, Ms. Hopf-Seidl.

She says that a Bartonella infection (e.g. from cat scratch) often starts with a

small brown nodule under the skin - sounds exactly like what I had after my

'flea byte'. The Q-Fever bacteria seem to be cousins of Bartonella, they are

both intracellular parasites of the Rickettsia group.

Currently there is a major Q-fever epidemic in the Netherlands, attributed to

large goat farms. Government tried to sweep things under the rug for a few

years, but now over 2000 people are ill and apparently many of them are

chronically ill (Q-fever can get chronic just like Lyme). At least this disease

is now recognised and patients can get antibiotics, with limited effect.

There is a link between Q-fever and ticks; you can get it from a tick byte,

although transmission works a bit different from Lyme (seems the Q-fever

bacteria are mostly in the tick poop, which can get into the byte wound because

of the tick behaviour when they byte the host).

[Guest guest]

These little creepy ticks are out even in the winter time causing

trouble. I was amazed once in the dead of winter how I pulled a tick off

of my thigh. This is an article I read this week aboaut ticks in the

wintertime.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/lyme-disease-could-soar-this-year_2010-0\

4-04.html

<http://www.pressherald.com/news/lyme-disease-could-soar-this-year_2010-\

04-04.html>

Lyme disease could soar this year

<http://www.pressherald.com/news/lyme-disease-could-soar-this-year_2010-\

04-04.html>

State health officials say reports of confirmed cases have tripled, and

southern Maine vets started seeing dogs with active cases in January.

By Deirdre Fleming

<http://www.pressherald.com/contact/Deirdre_Fleming.html>

Staff Writer

Reports of confirmed Lyme disease cases have been pouring into the

Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention this year at a rate

three times above normal.

Fifty cases of people with Lyme disease in Maine were reported to the

CDC in January and February, compared to an average of 15 for those two

months during the previous five years, said Dr. Dora Anne Mills,

director of the Maine CDC.

The warm winter and current balmy conditions are likely to blame,

medical officials say, setting the stage for a possible increase in

ticks and tick-borne disease this summer.

" Lyme disease has tripled in just the first two months of the year.

I've never heard of ticks in February and March in Maine, " Mills said.

Nine hundred cases of Lyme disease have been reported each year during

the past two years. Mills said people likely can expect to see that

figure go up in 2010.

Similarly, veterinarians in southern Maine say many dogs were diagnosed

with Lyme disease this winter, something that normally doesn't happen

until spring.

" I was pulling ticks off (dogs) in January and seeing active cases of

Lyme disease in January, " said veterinarian at Animal

Medical Associates in Saco.

" It's already been a banner year for ticks. Once they get out and start

breeding and feeding, we're in for a rough year. "

As far as Windham veterinarian Diane Shively is concerned, people

should never have let their guard down.

" Lyme disease in this area is very common. We deal with it on a regular

basis, " said Shively, a relief veterinarian at Lakes Region Animal

Hospital.

Ticks normally come out in the middle of April, when the snow is gone

and the ground thaws. But given the tropical weather Maine saw last

fall and this winter, ticks have been active most of the past several

months, said Chuck Lubelczyk, a biologist with the Vector-Borne Disease

Laboratory at Maine Medical Center.

This winter, many ticks never went into the hibernation phase,

Lubelczyk said. The ticks that did hibernate in the ground in the late

fall will feed all summer long when they become active, he said.

And this year, the rodent population is up as well, Lubelczyk added, so

that will serve to spread the disease further because mice and small

mammals carry the tick that spreads Lyme disease.

" I think what you can say is, people will be more exposed to ticks, and

there will be an increased chance of Lyme disease, " Lubelczyk said.

In southern Maine, especially, that's a concern.

Mills said the disease is now found in all 16 counties in Maine.

However, since reported Lyme disease cases began to increase here 15

years ago, Mills said that the numbers have been highest in York and

Cumberland counties.

It is in York County where studies by Maine Medical Center biologists

have shown that anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of ticks carry the Lyme

disease bacteria, Lubelczyk said.

Lyme disease was first linked to ticks in Lyme, Conn., in 1978 after a

spate of cases involving a unique kind of arthritis.

More than 30 years later, little is known about how to successfully

treat Lyme disease in more advanced cases.

When Lyme disease in humans is treated immediately with antibiotics,

there are no lingering problems, Mills said.

However, veterinarians are not as certain how to help cure dogs of the

widespread disease, particularly in advanced stages.

" If you ask 10 vets, you get 11 options, " said. " It's true

there isn't any scientific proof to support any of the common

treatments. We're kind of left to our own good judgment. "

One thing health experts agree on: Lyme disease is a danger now more

than ever.

" If the dog is getting a positive test for Lyme disease, people need to

be aware of their environment. If it's a parent with children, you want

to know if your dog is positive if your kids play in the same place, "

said Shively, the Windham veterinarian.

Perch

>

> Ya, other than however I contracted Lyme, I have not been around any

farm animals except at the LA County Fair a couple of years ago.

>

> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed