Question about 1st time Lyme Disease treatment

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SoozeE512
SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I don't know if this is the right place to post this since it's not exactly weight-loss related but it's health related and I need help!

Last Tuesday, I went to my doctor after a week of headaches that had led up to a lot of other symptoms that led to her putting me on medication for Lyme disease. I didn't have a bulls-eye rash, but I was feeling flu-like and was having a lot of sinus pain - I went in because I was scared it might be a sinus infection (seems like wishful thinking now!). My doctor didn't do a blood test, but she checked that it wasn't a sinus infection, and then she put me on Doxycycline Hyclate 100mg dose 2x a day for 10 days (with my last dose coming up this Friday morning).

At work, a lot of people with Lyme disease stories say that the medication should last for 30 days so now I'm concerned that my medication is almost up. I've read that you build up resistance to antibiotics after you go off of them so that going back on them becomes ineffective.

Does anyone have experience with only taking the medication for 10 days? Were the 10 days enough or should I request for my doctor to refill the prescription?

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  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
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    *bump* Anyone?
  • rachelklewis3
    rachelklewis3 Posts: 69 Member
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    I used to work as a Medical Assistant in a doctors office. I have seen them rx for 10 days before. If you are concerned about it you should really call your doctor. And, at the risk of sounding rude, if you trust your co-workers advice more than your doc's, it might be time to find a new one.
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
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    I'm really just wondering if people who have only been on it for 10 days are those who ended up with chronic Lyme's disease. I just don't want to be stuck with this for the rest of my life if I can avoid it. I like my doctor, and maybe 10 days will be fine, but doctors are just as human as anyone else so they can't be perfect 100% of the time. I just wanted to hear from people who have had Lyme's and can share their experience with the treatment.
  • PepePants
    PepePants Posts: 47 Member
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    I was in this same situation. I had a suspicious looking, possibly bulls eye looking rash and so called my MD for the Doxycycline immediately. Lymes is no joke! I took the anti-biotic for 10 days, too. (That stuff is nasty! Do not follow the directions to take it on an empty stomach--nausea! Plus, my pharmacist instructed me to disregard that and definitely take it with food, much more tolerable.) Lymes is difficult to diagnose. If you still have vague symptoms (there are a wide-range of different things) after you finish the medication, I recommend you check back with your MD. Hope you are feeling better.
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
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    I was in this same situation. I had a suspicious looking, possibly bulls eye looking rash and so called my MD for the Doxycycline immediately. Lymes is no joke! I took the anti-biotic for 10 days, too. (That stuff is nasty! Do not follow the directions to take it on an empty stomach--nausea! Plus, my pharmacist instructed me to disregard that and definitely take it with food, much more tolerable.) Lymes is difficult to diagnose. If you still have vague symptoms (there are a wide-range of different things) after you finish the medication, I recommend you check back with your MD. Hope you are feeling better.

    Thanks for your response! My doctor advised me to have food with the antibiotic and I'm glad I listened, even with food, the first couple of times I took the antibiotic was rough on my stomach!
  • potluck965
    potluck965 Posts: 529 Member
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    At the risk of sounding repetitive, you do need to address this with your doc.

    That being said, the protocols for treating Lyme have changed recently. It used to be that everyone that was suspected of exposure got slapped with 30 days of doxy. Now, however, they treat a recent (within a few days) exposure with just two doses.

    I can't say about the 10 days, though. Maybe because they think it is early exposure?

    Best to ask the doc.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    I had Lyme Disease 3 times when I lived in NY State. I had a 10 day antibiotic treatment. The first time - huge horrible massive rash and instant neurologic symptoms - they finished the first round and renewed the prescription.

    The blood tests are not definitive. Some people don't get the rash.

    It can be a horrible disease.

    If you finish your antibiotics and still have symptoms call your doctor and ask for a recheck.
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
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    At the risk of sounding repetitive, you do need to address this with your doc.

    That being said, the protocols for treating Lyme have changed recently. It used to be that everyone that was suspected of exposure got slapped with 30 days of doxy. Now, however, they treat a recent (within a few days) exposure with just two doses.

    I can't say about the 10 days, though. Maybe because they think it is early exposure?

    Best to ask the doc.

    Maybe it could be a recent change of protocols that hasn't really worked its way through all health care offices. It just seemed so strange to me that everyone else who had been diagnosed recently with Lyme all had been given 30 days regardless of their varying symptoms and amount of exposure after the bite.

    I will definitely have to ask my doc but it's good to get these different responses.
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
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    I had Lyme Disease 3 times when I lived in NY State. I had a 10 day antibiotic treatment. The first time - huge horrible massive rash and instant neurologic symptoms - they finished the first round and renewed the prescription.

    The blood tests are not definitive. Some people don't get the rash.

    It can be a horrible disease.

    If you finish your antibiotics and still have symptoms call your doctor and ask for a recheck.

    I'm sorry that you've had it 3 times. That sounds awful :(
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    It was. But fast treatment and it was gone just as fast.

    I moved from NY to Ohio, where Lyme Disease is rare. And my kids can walk on the lawn and I don't have to do tick checks on them every night.

    DO ask your doctor to check the most recent protocols if you're worried. There has been a lot of research and you don't want the long term symptoms.
  • amberleigh328
    amberleigh328 Posts: 3
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    I was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago with Lyme Disease. Actually, went to the doc the day before the OP. She started me on doxi 100mg for 2 weeks and when she got the positive test result back called in another 2 weeks. It may depend on how long you have had it. I pulled the tick off about a month before I went in. I never had the rash. Just flu-like symptoms and starting neurological symptoms. How are you feeling? I've been healthy all my life. The recovery has totally taken me by surprise. I'm not even sure how or when to start back exercising.
  • Skyliner218
    Skyliner218 Posts: 1 Member
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    Early exposure can typically be treated with a shorter dosage of Doxy. Once you get past the rash stage, if one was present, a 30 day course would be typical.

    I was infected in 2007 and my doctor completely missed all of the classic symptoms, including the rash. I was pretty sick for a few weeks, then felt a bit better. At around 40 days, I started having problems with my heart not beating fast enough, and ended up in the hospital with Level 3 heart block.

    At that point, it was IV antibiotics for months, then 5 courses of of oral antibiotics.

    Took me 2 years till I was back to about 80%.

    Long story short... Stay on top of your symptoms and communicate that info to your doctor. If they will not do any follow up treatment, find a lyme literate doctor who will.

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