Symptoms or side effect?

I've been taken off of my antibiotic for the time being. I've been really hoping this wouldn't happen, and I'm still optimistic that when the dr. calls back, I can restart. There are other antibiotics, but the one I am taking is known to be the most effective at killing Bartonella.

Yesterday I started having severe pain in my knees. I have had joint pain that comes and goes with my symptom flare ups, so this isn't necessarily alarming. However, the antibiotics that I am on can cause tendon rupture, so anytime there is pain in one of the joints, we have to be particularly careful as a tendon rupture is the last thing I need!!

And therein lies a huge problem with treating Lyme. It's very hard to differentiate between symptoms, side effects, and die off. In fact, sometimes the pain can mean that your body is getting rid of the bacteria, and then stopping the antibiotics wouldn't be a good thing. And if you stop the antibiotics, the pain goes away, so it's possible to attribute it to the antibiotics when it wasn't that at all. I also don't know how I'm going to feel from day to day, whether my biggest issue will be cognitive (repeatedly saying yellow when I look at an orange item- yes, this has happened), muscular or joint (and in which joint it will be), neurosensory (tingling in my hands and feet), and/or other neurological issues (light sensitivity, cranial nerve issues). So just because my knee hurts today doesn't mean it will hurt tomorrow.

Tough stuff, this is.

**UPDATE 4:00**
The dr. just called, and they are switching my antibiotics. The tendon problem is really a concern, so they don't want to take a chance.