Rossy191276
Senior Member
- Messages
- 145
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
@Rossy191276 - Did you see the SBS's Insight discussion on Lyme Disease in Australia? It sounds like a lot of the labs that test for this in Australia do not actually have proper means of testing/accreditation
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/explainer/what-lyme-disease-and-does-it-exist-australia and actually TV debate/discussion http://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/tvepisode/tick-sick
They talk about accreditation around30- 33.5 min mark in the show.
I haven't been tested for lyme or anything similar, because I have been told that you can't test properly for lyme in Australia. But it does sounds like to me like ME/CFS cycles and perhaps you were just starting to improve anyway at the time of taking antibiotics or it could have been placebo. Just a theory (don't take my word for it).
I go through cycles without any medication. Although my very first bout of whatever illness I have was brought on or exacerbated by probiotics. I got the worse herx reaction every and matches up to pretty much all the symptoms you get with CFS/ME. Over the last few years I got much better, but I go through cycles and my symptoms seem to jump around within my body with each cycle.
Hi Wonderoushope yes I have been watching the programs in Australia...It's a pity that they are all so focused on whether Lyme exists in Australia when such a high percentage of people go overseas...In my case I likely got infected while working in the USA and spending some time running in forests where lyme is present...
Regarding not being able to be tested properly in Australia I got the same results from both Australian and German labs so at least there seemed to be conformity there...In my case since last writing here I have found out from the Australian lab that my 'indeterminate' PCR test was actually a positive that they have to report as indermnate because they only found the lyme DNA in my blood 1 out of 3 times they did the test...But my understanding is that if they find it with PCR testing then you almost certainly have Lyme...
But as many of you know that doesn't solve the problem of knowing whether my symptoms are now caused by active lyme or whether the Lyme is gone and I now have ME/CFS...If I had to bet based on my research and experience I would say I have me/cfs....I haven't had herx reaction to antibiotics...I can't tell whether antibiotics have helped...I actually got better without treatment for a month early this year but when I started exercising again it triggered a downward spiral...My main problem is extreme exertion intolerance...When I first got sick I had been on a paleo diet for a couple of weeks and I think its likely that combo of lyme infection and dietary metabolic changes might have triggered me/cfs...
Thanks for your reply and all the best to you!