Madison Area Lyme Support Group

A mom and both her sons experienced a variety of emotional/mood and pain symptoms between them as a result of a Bartonella infection: anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, inconsolable crying, ADHD, rage, eye pain, joint pain and pain in the legs. This family case study was published in Parasites and Vectors in 2013. I would love to see individual amino acids being used to ease some of these symptoms while the infection is being treated (more on this below).

Here are some of the emotional and mood-related symptoms they experienced:

• the mother and both sons developed recurrent rash-like skin lesions, disruptive sleep patterns and both boys developed anxiety accompanied by episodes of inconsolable crying, irritability, and panic attacks
• subsequent to the spider infestation of the apartment, [the mother] developed fatigue, memory difficulties, headaches, irritability, eye pain, insomnia, chest pain, blurred vision, shortness of breath, rash and skin lesions and anxiety attacks.
• The youngest son… awakened at night crying and complaining of pain in his legs
• The older son experienced increased irritability and rage episodes. In addition, the boy’s teacher indicated a lack of attention during class, and suggested that the child might have an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The youngest son also developed severe neurological symptoms and was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome and Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy.

You can read the full investigation, timing, sequence of events and all the symptoms in the paper: Bartonella henselae infection in a family experiencing neurological and neurocognitive abnormalities after woodlouse hunter spider bites  (For more see link)

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**Comment**

Fantastic article that needs to be shared widely.  I believe Bartonella is much more common than doctors believe, and as in these cases, quite severe and debilitating.

A few points:

• Please note the spider infestation. See this article for more on transmission.
• The author mentions Chinese herbs, which in my experience aren’t strong enough to fight this alone.  This is just my experience, and my husband’s and numerous other patients, but and I realize perhaps there are others with a different experience than ours.
• For us, when we relapse, it’s clearly Bartonella that immediately responds to the combination of rifampin and clarithromycin.  Within 2-3 months of treatment we push the symptoms away.
• The author also gets into amino acids to address symptoms – of which I have little experience.  When in the midst of the battle, I hear Dr. Hoffman telling me that if I address the infection(s), the symptoms will either disappear entirely or lessen considerably.  I have proven this dictum repeatedly with each successive, treated relapse.  When money is an issue, you must decide the best course of action as many things are needed to successfully fight MSIDS.  As with everything else; however, each case is individual and for those suffering with severe psychiatric, sleep, and other issues, learning about amino acids may be a key part of treatment.
• My husband has definitely found relief with 5-HTP & Gabapentin for sleep issues.  Strong CBD and melatonin has helped as well as LDN.  Lyme/MSIDS related insomnia is very real.

Please read the article in its entirety, but here’s a highlight on the various amino acids:

• anxiety, irritability, and panic attacks: can be eased by using tryptophan/5-HTP
• disruptive sleep patterns and waking: can be helped by using calming GABA
• inconsolable crying: can be eased by using DPA to boost endorphins
• headaches, pain in the legs, shoulders and elsewhere: can be eased with DPA and/or tryptophan
• rage episodes: can be eased with tryptophan/5-HTP
• ADHD: can be helped with GABA in some instances and 5-HTP in other instances