posted
Hi All. I am surprised to find myself here, but so glad to have found this site.
I am still getting used to the idea that I may well have Lyme. For the last several months I thought perhaps I was having a thyroid/hormonal problem.
This is my story, copied over from my post in seeking.
I have progressively been having symptoms since last fall. The first and most noticeable has been insomnia or more accurately fractured sleep, which resulted day-time fatigue, and digestive constipation.
Over time these have worsened to the point that I am sleeping just 3-5 hours per night, and not at all during the day despite Ambian etc. I felt like I was going crazy.
These symptoms have been joined intermittently by joint pain in my hip, ringing in my ears, redness in my eyes, heart rhythm changes, mental fog, stiff neck, numbness in my hands, tremors, hoarseness and phlegm in my throat among others.
My thyroid, blood count, GI exam etc. have been negative/normal. Hip X-rays normal. I had a mildly positive ANA, and a neg. Lyme, though I don't know which test was used.
However, the two instances where I had a let up in my symptoms were after two days of fever (which I let go unless it gets over 103) with the flu, and very recently when I was put on antibiotics after a dog bite.
Because the Lyme came back neg. my doctors have been ruling it out as a possibility. However when I ask why I would get better after antibiotics they throw their hands up.
This has all been very frustrating, especially as my doctors have been focusing on the symptoms, with Ambian and trazadone both of which didn't work, and suggesting depression or anxiety as my root problem.
I have some Dr. Names now, and I got my hands on some doxycycl thanks to an old dr who knows me really well.
It has been just a few days, and I have already been sleeping better.
If this is like the last trial of antibiotics though, my sleeping will come back in day or so with some long day-time naps and crabbiness.
I feel so baffled by all of this. I knew that there was something wrong with me, but so many of the symptoms were annoying rather than critical.
The improvement of my troubles with antibiotics really took me by surprise.
I feel lucky, and overwhelmed.
I managed to stay active through all this, pushing myself to exercise, even when I really didn't want to on the hope I could get exhausted enough to sleep.
I know now that I am not going crazy, but I am finding it difficult to wrap my head around the idea that all this could be caused by a bacteria.
I hesitate to assume that it IS Lyme at this point, since I remember no tick bite, tested negative, and though I did have a rash mixed in with poison ivy rash that seemed different it was still not like the classic bulls-eye.
But I just can't come up with anything else.
Anyway, thanks already for the wonderful info you have all put together in these pages.
Always looking on the bright side, I don't have a prion disease and this isn't leprosy or brain worms. Posts: 4 | From York PA | Registered: Jun 2008
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
Welcome to LymeNet!
Your symptoms do resemble the symptoms that many of us get with Lyme.
You can compare your rash to the page of rash pictures at the Canadian Lyme Foundation. http://www.canlyme.com/ Click on Symptoms, and then on The Lyme Rash.
Some of your symptoms might be from low thyroid, but I think there's something about Lyme that triggers thyroid problems.
Supplemental magnesium may help the cardiac irregularities.
Read Dr. Burrascano's Treatment Guidelines to see which supplements he recommends, and you can get started on those. http://ilads.org/burrascano_0905.html
Try to read as many of the posts as you can each day, and this will give you an idea of what's going on.
Carol
Posts: 6947 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
welcome sara; glad you introductred yourself too! we did this earlier...
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