I have been sick for 16 months now and I finally found a neurologist that did the right blood tests. It has come back very high for Rickettsial Titers and he has gotten me in to see an Infectious Disease doctor for Wednesday November 19th...Has anyone ever had this or know anyone that has had this apparently my neuro has said that it is VERY RARE....I have looked it up on the internet but it gives soooo many discriptions...My family doctor called today and said they will likely admit me to hospital, does anyone have any suggestions? Please help Im freaking out scared!!!
Thank you
When you say you've been sick for months, what types of symptoms are you having? Rickettsia is a corkscrew shaped bacterium (called a spirochete) of which different species are found all over the world. Depending on which area they're found, they have different species names. If you've ever heard of a disease called "typhus", that's caused by a Rickettsial species known as Rickettsia typhi.
I'm not sure which symptoms they thought you had related to Rickettsia, but in Alberta (where I'm guessing you're from) the most common form of Rickettsia is the one that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever or Rickettsia rickettsii. The thing with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is that it tends to cause a more acute illness that gets severe quickly if not treated--not something that lasts for months. Additionally, the serology (titers) they did, depending on what came positive, may only be telling you that you were exposed to it at some point in the past, but don't necessarily have disease caused by it now.
Oh, and additionally--in Canada Rickettsial diseases are relatively rare (they are, by the way, carried by different types of ticks) but you see them in the States all the time, and also, Rickettsial disease is the second most common Africa travel related infection second to only malaria! So it's not THAT rare.
My symptoms are very weak, muscle pain ,joint pain that has gotten worse, nausea all the time now, and it has affected m speech in the last 7 months, it had started out affecting my eyes which I have been tested for several other things including ...bleparospasms, eyelid apraxia and ocular apraxia I have also been treated with everything that could possibly be tried for these and have had no luck....My new neurologist talked to an infectious disease doctor and asked her what tests he should test for and the last of the blood work finally came back and it tested highly possitive for rickettsial titers and I was told by him that this is a very rare infection.....Im just wondering what kind of treatment plan I should look forward too if there is one?
Thank you for your help, it is really appreciated. I forgot to mention that I also get severe headaches MASIVE headaches that the morphine that the doctors have me on don't take away, however I will be seeing two infectious disease doctors on Wednesday November 19th and can't wait to see what they have to say, as I have been not well since July 2007 and it has progressivley gotten worse as every month goes by, my husband has taken a lot of time off work to be home with me as the pain and joint problems are out of control and it wasn't until a week ago that they found this in my blood. In July of 07 I got really sick with a very high fever and was admitted to hospital for a week but they couldn't find anything, but they never checked for this infection either, the fever finally went away and a month later I started having problems with my eyes and got worse from there....again thank you for your help
I'm interested in how this has affected your eyes...do they burn? I've been "sick" for over 3 years and no docs can figure out what's wrong with me. It started in my eyes...they burn constantly. I also have pain in my teeth, sinus pressure, pressure in sides of my head, stiff/sore neck, lump in throat, and in general feel like crap every day. If I don't rest, it can turn into severe facial and head pain rather than pressure. I tested positive for RMSF but I don't have fever, rash, nausea, and what I have has lasted 3 years! I've been tested for Lyme but it was negative...although I know the tests are not very accurate. Any ideas?
Not sure if you are still checking this forum. I am curious as to what treatment you underwent and if it worked? I have just been diagnosed with a Rickettsial Infection that I got in India. I am about to start a controversial therapy called Marshall Protocol. I have read so much about ineffective high dose Antibiotic therapies that this method seems to have a decent success rate in Lyme and other chronic infections.
Thanks for reading...
A variety of chronic rickettsial infections have been successfully treated with long term (eight months) pulsed antibiotic therapy. You can google for the research. What I read was a poster paper at a conference presented by (I think) a South African doctor. The trials were very extensive, and the results very encouraging. I looked into this for a friend who had a very high titer and whose principal symptom was loss of balance and dizziness. The long term antibiotic treatment is akin to that in the Marshall Protocol.
A variety of chronic rickettsial infections have been successfully treated with long term (eight months) pulsed antibiotic therapy. You can google for the research. What I read was a poster paper at a conference presented by (I think) a South African doctor. The trials were very extensive, and the results very encouraging. I looked into this for a friend who had a very high titer and whose principal symptom was loss of balance and dizziness. The long term antibiotic treatment is akin to that in the Marshall Protocol.
Hi,
I actually opted out of the Marshall Protocol based on research. I did undergo a 5 month pulsed antibiotic treatment developed by South African Dr. Jadin. My levels when from 1/64 to 1/32 when I was last tested. The medical community here in Canada does not think that this is the cause of my illness and is happy where the levels are at now. So no further Rickettsia treatments are on the horizon.
Yes, Jadin was the South African doctor. I am not booster for the Marshal Protocol and am in fact skeptical of it. Some think that to the extent the MP is effective, it is solely due to the antibiotic component. Anyway, good luck getting well!
You can google for the research. What I read was a poster paper at a conference presented by (I think) a South African doctor. The trials were very extensive, and the results very encouraging. I looked into this for a friend who had a very high titer and whose principal symptom was loss of balance and dizziness. The long term antibiotic treatment is akin to that in the Marshall Protocol.
