Question from a new person

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I've been perusing the site for some time now. I wondered if I could

ask a couple questions. When my daughter was 6 years old she woke

up one morning with a VI nerve palsy, she couldn't move her left eye

outward. We were referred to a Children's Opthalmologist who put

her on a 6 week course of Prednisone and did an MRI, which showed

inflammation of the nerve. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the

best thing to do. In the meantime, she began to complain about left

ankle and knee pain. Neither was unusually swollen, but we went to a

Children's Rheumatologist. He did the for Lyme, as well as

many other tests. The was positive so he ordered the Western

Blot, it was negative. In the meantime, the VI nerve palsy resolved

and she presented with IV nerve palsy, her left eye would not move

upward. Now we were sent to an Opthalmologist specialist who, after

a number of MRI's and bloodwork could find nothing wrong. This went

on over the course of 9 months. She would complain of other things

like hot hands and feet, headaches, stomach aches and for the most

part she just wasn't herself. Her eyes resolved, but then she

presented with VII nerve palsy, Bell's Palsy. Now we were sent to a

Neurologist who did lots more blood work. Myasthenia Gravis was

suspected but tests were found negative. Another Lyme came

back positive. So the Neurologist want a picc line right away. She

was administered Rocephin, however with each dose, she got sicker

and sicker, running 104 degree fevers and a rash from head to toe.

She didn't finish the 10 days before she was hospitalized. She had

huge blisters in her mouth and was very ill. The Infectious Disease

Doc came to see her in the hospital and said she never had Lyme

afterall. They had done another Western Blot which was negative.

They also tested her for Herpes, which was also Negative. So, I had

had enough. We found a support group and was recommended to a

doctor in PA who put her on oral antibiotics for about a year. Now

having said all that, this is my question. My daughter is now 14,

she has had no symptoms since then. But she began pubertal

development at a young age and obtained her menstrual cycle at the

age of 10, this has made her very short. She's 4'7 " tall. (I'm only

5'2 and my husband 5'4 so she wasn't going to be a giant) But, the

issue is that while she grew during the 2 year span of her illness,

she never really had any growth spurts. I wonder if Lyme can affect

the pituitary gland in a way that affects our hormones. At the time

of her development, there was a drug (Lupron) that could have been

given to her to, in essence, shut down the pituitary gland to allow

for more growth. She would have had to be on this via injection for

years. However, in 1999, there were no long term side effect

studies and I was very much against putting anything in her body

that I didn't know the effects. One major side effect in this drug

is joint pain and bone loss, I figured she had had enough of that.

Shutting down the pituitary gland in a person with Lyme could have

had disastrous repercussions. But now, I'm second guessing myself

and feeling rather guilty about not pursuing the drug. She does

seem so small, although she's proportioned and very healthy today.

Did I do the right thing? Do you think Lyme could have caused her

lack of growth?

Thank you so much. I'm sorry this is so long but I needed to give

you her history.

Kim