[lesiva]

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.

[MaDeuce]

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.

[jcoby]

> 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.

[Medicalidiot]

Doxy is the firstling treatment for Lyme disease

[driverdan]

> 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?

[jcoby]

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."

[sp332]

That sounds like Zithromax, aka a "Z-Pak".

[jcoby]

It could have been. Looking at the list that MaDeuce posted above Doxycycline sounds more familiar. I really don't remember though.

[lonelappde]

Brand name for azithromyclin, similar to doxycycline. Both are antibiotics used for a wide variety of conditions where bacteria are known or suspected.

[eigenloss]

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).