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Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by lesiva on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @09:28AM (#20746740)
Do you remember what you were given? Your description sounds exactly like something I've been dealing with on and off for a few years now.

I'm actually surprised to hear such an accurate description from someone else, as my Googling has turned up very few matches so far.

Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by MaDeuce on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @10:04AM (#20747159)
Not the OP, but my experience with Lyme 25+ years ago in New Jersey was similar. I took oral and IV antibiotics over multiple years. The antibiotics I recall taking are Claforan, Ceftin, Augmentin, Penicillin, Ampicillin, Rocephin, Doxycycline, Azithromycin.

While my symptoms would often improve during/after a course of IV antibiotics, they would always return. I don't ever recall thinking that one of them was what cured me. It was more like the symptoms gradually tapered off over years. I do, however, credit my MD's willingness to aggressively treat the symptoms with my eventual recovery.

Interestingly, both my MD and his wife (also an MD) had Lyme, as did at least one of their children. My advice to people who think they have Lyme is to seek out a physician that has experience in treating Lyme and a willingness to do so. At the time, there was a lot of pressure in the medical community to simply give two weeks of oral doxycycline and then tell the patient that they have to live with whatever remains.

Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by jcoby on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @10:36AM (#20747455)
> Doxycycline, Azithromycin

These are the two that sound familiar to me. Doxycycline in particular.

The bite was ~3 years ago for me. I still have the mark on my ankle. It was red and raised until about 6 months ago. Now it just looks like a faint bit of scar tissue.

Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by Medicalidiot on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @11:50AM (#20748324)
Doxy is the firstling treatment for Lyme disease
Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by driverdan on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @08:23PM (#20753589)
> I took oral and IV antibiotics over multiple years.

This is not a standard or reasonable treatment for Lyme. Antibiotics will kill it in a standard course. It sucks that you still had issues afterwards. Did they do additional blood tests?

Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by jcoby on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @10:03AM (#20747157)
I do not. It was one of the generic broad-spectrum antibiotics. One of those "take two then take one daily" if I remember correctly.

The doctor I went to was equally perplexed. He basically said "you never go to the doctor but you're here. I don't think you have lyme but I don't know what you have. I'll give you an antibiotic and see if it helps."

Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by sp332 on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @10:25AM (#20747338)
That sounds like Zithromax, aka a "Z-Pak".
Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by jcoby on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @10:30AM (#20747385)
It could have been. Looking at the list that MaDeuce posted above Doxycycline sounds more familiar. I really don't remember though.
Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by lonelappde on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @10:34AM (#20747432)
Brand name for azithromyclin, similar to doxycycline. Both are antibiotics used for a wide variety of conditions where bacteria are known or suspected.
Re:Time to Get Serious about Tick-Borne Diseases by eigenloss on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @11:04AM (#20747758)
Azithromycin and doxycycline are completely different chemicals; the former is a macrolide, the latter is a tetracycline. Both are used for Lyme (and various other infections).