Test results last week:
West Nile, positive.
"But I don't believe that you have it," said the doctor. "And if you did all you could do is wait to get better and rest a lot. So we will run the test for co-infections"
Me: "Ok cool."
One week later...
Babesia positive FISH test.
Doctor: "But we don't know that you have it because you don't get cold sweats at night," (I do have almost all the other symptoms currently)
"Let's do another test for West Nile Virus just to make sure..." says the doctor
Sure, why not? I mean, we didn't trust the first test. Let's just run another one we won't trust.
How many tests do you need to run before you finally trust one of them? We all know that testing for Lyme and co-infections is impossible and notoriously inaccurate. So, at what point are you going to just treat me for the symptoms that I have instead of faffing about with more tests?
I'm extremely symptomatic for Babesia. And it's really likely that I have Bartonella too. I even have a positive for Babesia. So, I'm not really sure what we're waiting for. How many tests do you need to be convinved? And why didn't we start with the convincing test? Not run four others we don't trust.
It's all so frustrating.
So, the current theory is that I have Babesia and Bartonella, common co-infections with Lyme. The reason that the antibiotics (doxycycline) helped but didn't make them go away was because Babesia and Bartonella are treated with different antibiotics, stronger ones, and Babesia also needs to be paired with an anti-parasitic. So, that could explain why doxycycline helps with the symptoms when I'm on it, but doesn't make them go away.
But don't worry, I'm going to run another test for Babesia and a different test for Bartonella. And just for kicks I'm going to run another test for West Nile Virus. So, let's see what results we get this time. But it's looking like I'm going to be on the hunt for a new doctor very soon. If anyone knows of a doctor in the San Diego area who knows how to treat Babesia, or other Lyme co-infections, I'm all ears.
Fun stuff over here!
For more on co-infections, there's an informative article called TOUCHED BY LYME: A close look at six Lyme-related infections.
For Other Posts about Lyme Disease see the following:
How to Find the Right Doctor for Lyme Disease
How can you be Certain you have LYME DISEASE?
Lyme Disease a List of Symptoms
Lyme Disease the Great Masquerader of Diseases
I Feel Like I'm Playing Lyme Roulette
Do I have Lyme Disease or West Nile Virus? or a Co-infection?
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