Anti-Malarials

At what I thought would be my last visit to the Lyme disease specialist, I was told that my lingering symptoms are not due to Lyme disease, but due to a type of malaria called babesia that is carried by ticks.  I am 90% well at this point.  I feel almost normal.  The lingering symptoms are: some mild joint pain, (no more swelling) tinnitis in both ears, thrush, dry mouth, and night sweats with vivid dreams.  I am taking an antimalarial, along with a cocktail of herbals, probiotics, and anti-fungals.

A new symptom that has popped up recently was purpura on one of my wrists.  I googled searched purpura+Lyme disease to see if anything came up, and sure enough it did.  There must be others out there experiencing this symptom with Lyme disease.  In case you have never heard of it, purpura are purplish-red spots appearing on skin or mucus membranes anywhere on the body.  These spots are actually tiny, broken blood vessels just below the skin.  My google search indicated that these spots could be the result of a bacterial infection, low platelet counts, or they could be caused from medication side effects.  They could also be a sign of another serious disease.  If you have these spots, definitely bring them to the attention of your doctor so that you can rule out something more serious.  My doctor is taking the precaution of retesting my platelet count, which was normal at the last office visit.  Fortunately, these spots are temporary, and have already decided to fade away on their own.

I never thought that I would get Lyme disease and I never thought that I could get something like malaria (babesia) living in the United States.  Going through Lyme disease and the 2 co-infections that came with it definitely has been a learning experience for me.  I won't need to visit the doctor for another 16 weeks.  Hopefully, that will be my last visit.  At that point, I will have been in treatment for just over a year, and living with this illness for over 2 years.

Below is a link to a Good Housekeeping magazine article that parallels my own experiences with Lyme disease and the struggle to get properly diagnosed:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/a33353/chronic-lyme-nearly-ruined-my-life/?src=spr_FBPAGE&spr_id=1443_209788223