My husband is starting IV on Tuesday. The most alarming symptoms are heart palpitations and upper body internal tremors, which come and go.

Question ONE: Any one else have these symptoms?
Question TWO: Any success stories with the IV?

Thanks, Karen

Hi Karen, welcome to the board!

I am sorry your husband has Lyme but it is good he will be starting treatment. I have a few questions. Is he seeing a Lyme knowledgable doctor? Was he tested for the co-infections ticks can transmit--Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis (HME & HGE), Bartonella, and Mycoplasma? This is important because many people who have Lyme are co-infected. It may affect treatment choice and progress.

Many people who have Lyme have these symptoms. Heart palpitations can also be from Babesiosis. Does he ever have night sweats and/or shortness of breath?

Many people have good success with IV treatment. How long is the doctor prescribing for? Which med and dose? Will he have a PICC line put in? If so, there is a great product you can get so he can shower without getting the site wet. It is called a mid-arm protector and you can get it at Brown Medical.

There are several people on this board who are currently on IV. They have a post called "PICC line people." You may want to read that.

Tell you husband to hang in there okay? He is not alone! He is lucky to have you looking out for him.

Hi Karen ,
I have palipitations and other times a vibrating sensation coinsiding with my heartbeat , the latter whenever I lay down to sleep . I don't know of anyone else who has this sensation and was wondering if your husband's is the same .
I was on IV for (6) weeks , felt terrible the whole time but felt better at the end of the treatment . Don't think it was long enough because all symptoms returned in (6) months .

Hi,

I had major heart palpitations and arryhymia from Lyme and Babesiosis. I didn't do iv, but it all but stopped when I went on oral abx treatment, though I think the Babesiosis had a lot to do with the heart symptoms. There is someone in my Lyme support group whom I was told was on iv for 4-6 months and now seems to be symptom free.

Dear Karen,

I was on the IV rocephin for 9 weeks and then had to stop because of liver enzyme problems. Mine jumped from 40 - 737. Make sure your husband takes milk thistle to keep his liver clean. If I had known about it when on the IV I might have been able to continue and would be better now. Hopefully he is taking a good probiotic too to replace the good bacteria in his system that will be depleted from the meds. After coming off the IV all the symptoms that it had "cured" came back except the palpitations. I have had them maybe 2 or 3 times since last January but not nearly as bad and really not bothersome. I may have some babesia sticking in me and that may be why I can't shake this lyme but will see Dr. Crist in Missouri in 2 weeks. Hopefully he will cure me. Good luck with your husband's treatment and feel free to ask any and all questions or just come on to vent because it is a wondeful group here and you will garner a lot of lyme knowledge.

Maureen

I haven't had IV, but I'm considering it. Same drug. I DO have both those symptoms, along with muscle aches and tingling/burning pain. "internal tremor" - yes that's a apt description for the vibrating feeling inside.

How long is long enough for the IV? It seems like so many people feel they should have been on longer. Rocephin can cause gall bladder problems and that's one thing I"m worried about. Has anyone had problems (or no problems) with the gall bladder?

And, Ticker, to answer the question you asked me on the other thread, I was tested for coninfections and they came up negative.

I thought my symptoms were pretty mild, but Klawk's husband sounds like he has less symptoms. Klawk, just out of curiousity, did your husband try orals? Did they help him at all? Or did you decide to go right to IV?

Dear gyyl,

I was on rocephin IV for 9 weeks and was starting to see some improvement but had to stop because my liver enzymes jumped from 40-737. I wish I had known about taking milk thistle to clean your liver and gall bladder because I would have taken it. My doctor informed me about the gall bladder problem but it never cropped up just the liver. There are a number of people on here who are on the picc-line and getting various forms of meds thru it. I never knew there were so many drugs for lyme in IV form. The CDC acts like Doxy is the drug of choice. The picc-line people are all having various results. We did have 1 member who was on it for 6 months and is cured. His/her name was samaya and you can read his/her threads if you punch in the name in the search box. I also encourage you to read the picc-line people thread because you will read about how the people who are now on a picc-line are doing. Let us know what you decide.

Maureen (BDFM)

Thanks for your responses,

In answer to DIANNEOM: Your symptoms are the same as my husbands. The internal shaking has gotten so bad that if he doesn't take Ambien he'd never get any sleep, and will shake even while awake. Very scary. I would appreciate more replies from those who have, or had, shaking and palpatations; and your experiences with IV.

In answer to other questions asked:

1. I don't think he has been tested for co-infections. I will ask the doctor. Is it just a blood test?

2. He had taken oral anti-biotic's for 30 days and the symptoms pretty much disappeared, but came back soon after stopping. That's when we went to see the specialist. Spinal and blood test were taken and IV was recommended.

3. We've just been notified that he will be taking Rocephin for 30 days. I will check out the side effects and be prepared. K...