Babesia and Lyme Disease

When I was first diagnosed with Lyme Disease, I also tested positive for six other co-infections commonly carried by the same ticks that spread Lyme. Co-infections are separate, potentially serious infections that can be parasitic, bacterial, viral, etc., and are often transmitted to you via the same bite that gave you Lyme Disease. Co-infections make Lyme even more complicated and difficult to treat, because many times they can be responsible for causing bigger problems in the body, or exacerbating the problems already caused by Lyme Disease. Additionally, because it's working so hard dealing with all these different infections, the immune system can become overwhelmed and unable to effectively protect the body from any of them. When I first started treatment, my doctor explained that sometimes it's necessary to identify and treat your co-infections before you can have success in treating Lyme Disease.

In my case, we were concerned specifically with my worst symptom, severe and debilitating fatigue. When I use the word fatigue, I'm not talking about being tired, although you do experience sleepiness as well, because of the insomnia and other problems caused by Lyme. But debilitating fatigue has little to do with being tired. When I use the words debilitating fatigue, I'm talking about not being able to function. It's a constant feeling of having lead weights attached to your arms and legs, making it extremely difficult to move. When it was discovered that I had two different strains of Babesia, my doctor knew that while Lyme Disease does in fact cause debilitating fatigue all on its own, the level of fatigue I was experiencing was probably made worse by the Babesia infection. So we worked to clear up the Babesia.

What is Babesia?

 Many people have never heard of Babesia, but it is a relatively common tick borne infection in the world of Lyme Disease. Babesiosis is a parasitic protozoan infection. Babesia Microti is the most common species, and most cases worldwide are reported in the United States. Simply put, Babesia is an infection of the red blood cells. Upon infection, these little invaders cause lysis or rupture of the host's red blood cells. Red blood cells are essential, because they are responsible for transporting oxygen & other nutrients throughout the body. As the infection takes hold, the little parasites reproduce as quickly as possible and as red blood cell depletion increases, they actually begin to deprive their host of oxygen -- which causes extreme, debilitating fatigue.

Transmission of Babesia

While most cases of Babesia are caused by infected tick bites, there are documented cases of transmission via blood transfusion. I was surprised to read that it is actually THE most common disease transmitted via blood transfusion. By the way, this is a HUGE problem because so many infected people out there have no idea they have it...and may continue to do their civic duty by donating blood. So far, blood banks are not screening for it, although there are some experimental screening tests being used. Blood banks also don't screen for Lyme Disease.

In my opinion, it goes without saying: if you have been diagnosed with Lyme Disease and/or any of it's co-infections, you have a moral and ethical obligation NOT to donate blood, plasma or organs. Additionally, I was also told by my doctor that I should remove the "DONOR" designation from my driver's license. If you have Chronic Lyme Disease, where the spirochetes have had the opportunity to make themselves comfortable in all areas of your body - including all your organs - you could pass it on to the recipient of any donation.

Lifecycle of Babesia

Symptoms of Babesia

The symptoms of Babesia seem to be as generalized and vague as those of Lyme Disease. They are listed as flu-like symptoms, including fatigue, fever, malaise, chills & sweating. Most LLMD's describe Babesia as being a "Malaria-like" infection, and in fact, the two look so alike under the microscope that it is said to take a well-trained eye to recognize the differences and diagnose correctly. At my first visit with my LLMD, she informed me that the strange fevers in the evening and night sweats I reported were probably a result of Babesia...that was a revelation to me, since I had been to several doctors about those specific symptoms and each had looked at me like I was crazy. In the early stages of my illness, over the first year or two, I would frequently have low-grade fevers that would come on in the evening and last only a couple of hours. It generally happened 3 or 4 times a week. I also had frequent night sweats, where I would wake to my bedding & clothing being drenched. When my Lyme doctor was not only NOT surprised to hear of these strange symptoms, but also very familiar with them, I almost started to cry right there in her office. I was so relieved to finally have an explanation for so many of the strange and life-altering symptoms I'd been experiencing. The destruction of red blood cells by the Babesia is also a very easy explanation as to why, whenever I've had blood work done over the past 10 years, I'm always told I'm severely anemic. Not surprisingly, none of the doctors that rattled back to me all my "normal" blood tests ever thought there was a need to look into what might be causing the severe anemia.

Red Spots of Babesia

Another strange but seemingly common symptom or side effect reported by those diagnosed with Babesia are tiny red spots or dots called petechiae. They seem to show up mainly on the trunk and thighs. Many report first seeing them while on treatment, and some believe that it is actually a herx reaction to treatment. There doesn't seem to be much information into how or why these little dots appear, but they do seem to be very common among those undergoing treatment for Chronic Lyme Disease and Babesia. This certainly has been my experience. It's important to note, that lots of people have a few of these little spots here and there, and that doesn't mean you've got Babesia. I had a few before all of this started. But in my experience, at least, these spots showed up in droves all over my chest, belly and back while I was on treatment for Lyme & Babesia. Examples are pictured below.

Babesia is a complex illness in and of itself, and as a co-infection, only adds difficulty to the puzzle that makes up Chronic Lyme Disease. Current treatment recommendations include oral and IV clindamycin and oral quinine. My doctor prescribed a combination of medications for the duration of my treatment, and I found much relief from my Babesia symptoms while I was on Mepron, (Atovaquone) an anti-malarial drug. It was magical for me, however it was extremely expensive, so we also tried Alinia as a less-expensive alternative, and I had pretty good results with that as well. You can read more about my experience here. If you have not been tested for co-infections, but have experienced some or all of the symptoms listed above, it's worth a discussion with your LLMD. If you're going to an LLMD, chances are they've already discussed it with you!

For additional information on Babesia, visit http://aldf.com/Babesiosis.shtml