penny3760

The first time I must of caught it was years ago when Lyme was still new to the doctors.  I never had a rash then.  The doctors said the joint pain was just arthritis.I know what to look for now.  I had so much wrong with me then.  I had 4 surgeries in less than 3 years time.  Staph infections.  You name It, I had it.  

cshapiro

Actually, Lyme disease is often mistaken for flu.  It usually takes about 30 days for the Erythema Migrans (the telltale rash associated withe Lyme) to manifest and it only appears in 75% of patients.  The other more serious symptoms can take months to show.  Arthritis can take as long as 2 years and some of the other neurological disorders from Lyme disease can take even longer .  In rare cases Lyme disease can cause lymphocytic meningitis which develops into meningoencephilitis, a potentially fatal type of brain swelling.  About 8% of patient who remain untreated for 3 months develop a heart condition called atrioventricular block.  One thing which is important to know is it takes around 48 hours for a tick to transmit the disease, so if you check you body regularly(or better yet have someone else check) after possible exposure  you can prevent the disease all together.

cshapiro

I'm sorry to hear about you illness and I wish you a speedy recovery.  I know Lyme disease can take a long time to recover from fully so please don' t try to push it.  I don't meant to interfere but maybe this can help.  I have seen the latest research on Lyme Disease and the newest recommendation for adults who have had multiple cases of Lyme is to be treated with Doxycycline 100mg twice daily for a full 30 days.  I don't know what you are taking now but most doctors don't prescribe this course of antibiotics and it might be worthwhile to discuss with your doctor.  I hope you don't feel I'm being nosy, I'm just trying to help.
I wish you the best of health.
Good luck.

penny3760

Thank you so much for the information. I would never think you are being nosy.  It makes me feel good to know that you care enough to try and help me    I have tried Doxcycline and it makes me deathly sick.  I am taking Amoxicillan now.  The doctor said that it should work because I haven't had Lyme that long this time.  It must be working because I feel so much than I did a month ago.  The first time I had Lyme,  I finally had to go on intervenous antibiotics to get rid of it.   Thanks Granny  

shinny

It is very interesting to hear about it Penny, thanks for sharing.

Amoxicillin is the most common antibiotic Dr's prescribe. I believe it can even be given to pregnant women. That's the one I had to take the time I had bronchitis, recently, but when I got it again, I was given co-amoxiclav to strengthen it.

studiojek

Thanks for that information - I had no idea.

cshapiro

Amoxicillin is the most commonly prescribed antibiotic for children.  It is actually a chemical that after being metabilised by the liver becomes just plain penicillin.  Before being metabilised it has no antibiotic properties at all.     In fact the reason some people don't respond to a course of Amoxil is because their bodies don't metabilise it properly into penicillin and not due to any resistance to the drug by the bacteria as is commonly assumed.  This is why it is better to prescribe regular penicillin to the elderly and people with liver issues instead of Amoxil.  The advantage of Amoxil is that it can be taken with food, unlike penicillin which has to be taken with an empty stomach, it only needs to be taken twice a day, unlike 4 times for penicillin, and for children penicillin has a vile taste and is almost impossible to get a kid to take it.

penny3760

You know a lot about medications.  Are you in the medical profession?  

waterlilybarb

EEK!  I'm moving a week from tomorrow and there's still so much to do!  I'm getting ready to go to the bank today and it's raining.    That sucks because I'm on foot and have NO idea where the umbrella is (thus my procrastination here on the site).  I can't wait until it's over.  When they list moving as a major life stress they aren't kidding.  I've done well up 'til now, but with it so close I'm really feeling the stress.  The fact that I'm moving so far just adds to it, plus I have not been well most of the month.

OK, rant over.  I just had to get that off my chest before I frightened the neighbours with some primal scream therapy.   Maybe I'll try and find my ABBA CD and just sing at the top of my lungs all the songs from Mamma Mia.  I'm sure they'd find that less annoying...maybe not.

themegababe

  When I was a teen, there was a band called A Teens, they did covers on ABBA songs. I loved them!  I am excited to see what they did with Mamma Mia!

imarielle626

I remember A Teens.  When I saw Mamma Mia on Broadway I though they took all the songs from A Teens.  ahaha i was young

waterlilybarb

Well, I got to the bank, the grocery store and the dollar store without getting rained on.  YAY!  I was humming ABBA songs most of the way there and back, except in the grocery store which had sme good tunes playong on the loudspeaker.  Then I just started singing along while other shoppers looked at me like I was a nut.   It relieves stress and makes me happy, so I could care less what strangers think.  When there's REALLy good music, I dance in the aisles.   

I came home and packed a couple more boxes, made more phone calls and will do some more packing tonight.   (<me sweating while packing.)  Plus, you can see my meez is doing a mild (?) freak out.

I can't wait until next Thursday!  I'll be at my Mum's by then and can collapse for a bit before helping her pack up that house for our real move in September.  Oh joy!   I'll be even more relieved when September arrives and we can get REALLY settled.   

[ Last edited by waterlilybarb at 7-22-2008 18:07 ]

imarielle626

dancing in the isles of the supermarket sounds fun! =)  I sometimes sing along to the music too, but very quietly because I cannot sing very well so I'll spare those around me from hearing my horrible voice (except for my friends who seem to love to hear me sing cuz they think it's funny). Glad you got your stuff done before the rain.  We had a huge rain storm here too, luckily I made it back from class right before it started to poor!

Your meez is not doing a mild freak out it is actually sleeping which is probably what you should be doing...getting some rest.  packing is exhausting!

waterlilybarb

I had it sleeping earlier (last night actually).  It probably hasn't updated completely yet, but I can see it freaking out.   I wish I could rest, but it's cooler today so I'm trying to take advantage of it before it heats up again.  I REALLY need to finish going through my bedroom closet (the bedroom isn't air conditioned), so that's the main agenda for the evening.

At least I still have an old TV in there so I can watch the results of Canadian Idol while clearing out my closet.   I SO wish I could just chuck everything out - but that wouldn't be very practical.  I'll just get rid of anything I haven't worn in the last year.  If I haven't worn it in that long, I obviously don't need it.  Then I'm going to pack most of my clothes away.  I started packing my shoes, thinking I had a large enough box - but no...they'll have to go in 2 boxes.  I DO love my shoes.

cshapiro

I work as a surgeon in Ontario , Canada.  I am Canadian but I went to med school and did my residency in Boston, so I saw a lot of Lyme Disease during my time their.  Apparently, even though Lyme Disease is found all over North America,  over 80% of all cases are in New England.

penny3760

It's nice to know we have a doctor in the house.    Thank you so much for the advice on the Lyme disease.

meljones_83

Hey everyone, hope all is well.

Barb, hope the packing and preparing for the move is going okay. Penny, I hope you are getting better.

I am excited as I have finished school for the summer and am now moving into my own classroom! It means going in for a few days to sort out the stuff left by the previous teachers and making the room my own but I'm looking forward to it and I'm even more excited by having my own class in it when September comes!

waterlilybarb

How great that you'll have your own classroom Mel!  I have friends who are teachers (some fulltime some do substitute work) and I know they always enjoy the start of the school year, especially those who have a classroom of their own.  I can just imagine how much more exciting it must be for you.   

The packing is going well, though there are always more things to do.  I had a few hiccups, which isn't unusual for such a big move.  The biggest problem I'm having is that I am not taking all of my furniture.  I had someone lined up to take it but they have changed their mind.  Now, it's less than a week until I leave and I'm scrambling to find someone who'll take it.  The charity shops won't pick up on short notice so I'm also having to find someone with a pickup truck to shift the stuff.  Frustrating!

Other than that, I have a friend coming tomorrow to help me clean the kitchen and bring me to do some errands.  Thankfully, the kitchen is pretty much packed except for the few things I'm using.  We'll be able to wipe out the shelves & drawers and wash the floor as well as doing a wipe down of the outside of the cupboards.  That will be a good job done.  The rest of the apartment will have to wait until I empty it as there are so many boxes it would be impossible to wash the floors.   I don't intend to do a deep scrub, since the new tenants will most likely do that anyway, but I DO like to leave the place clean.

Today there's lots to do but my body decided not to cooperate and is forcing a work stoppage.  I'm trying to enjoy the rest, but it's hard when I see things that still need doing.  Well, I'm off now to gt some of the rest I need.

Take are all.  Catch ya' soon!

shinny

That's really interesting. With me, I did respond to the initial course & had started to feel better. However, I had some personal things going on at the same time and had a relapse & hence was put on a stronger course.

Barb, sounds like you are having lots of "fun" with the move !! Well, they do say it's one of the most stressful things you can do. You should take it easy then today and get back into it when you feel more up to it.

waterlilybarb

"Fun" is the word for it.   I've moved many times in my life, but this is the first move so far away.  I understand even better why they say moving is one of life's big stresses.

Thanks for the encouragement.   I'm going to be good now and REALLY get off the computer so I can rest properly.