posted
I'm with you. I always looked about 5-10 years younger than my age. Now, I look older. For me, part of it is from about half of my hair falling out. It's pretty thin now, where it used to be very thick. Also, I look much more tired than I used to. Plus, when you feel like you're 100, the energy level just isn't there to appear youthful. There's no spring in my step anymore.
I did gain about 30 pounds from lyme. I've lost about 20 of it by eating a low carb/healthy diet, with lots of greens/protein/no sugar. Lyme has thrown off my metabolism though, so that it's taken me years to shed those 20 pounds.
And I still look older than my age. So it's the disease, not the weight. Oh, well!
Posts: 366 | From MA | Registered: Apr 2006
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posted
Yes, lyme has taken a huge toll on me physically. I used to be a model. I'm shocked at just how much I've aged in a short amount of time.
Posts: 925 | From California | Registered: Sep 2004
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
Yes; I turned almost snow white at age 30; I got this undx lyme at age 21.
Always looked much older & really do now that I have to use my cane to get around.
From the time we married 31.5 years ago, at my highest weight was 81 lbs more!
The holistic MD also said mold causes us to gain weight, etc. too.
But their is a "consolation" ... on WINDY days, I do not blow away!
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TheCrimeOfLyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4019
posted
Yes, it has.
I USED to: Weigh about 112-115 and was in GREAT shape and very well physically toned.
I had nice long, healthy hair with NO gray that was easily manageable.
I had no bags under the eyes.
I had no acne.
And I had soft, silky skin.
Now, even on my best days, you can tell that my hair is split and falls out, not to mention gray.( im 29 and silver toping it here) You can visibly see that I am hiding ALOT of acne and trying to cover up huge bags under my eyes
and NO one can miss the fact that my arse has slid into the BACK Of my legs and they are now one,and that when I sit down, my stomach flops over my pants.
not to mention the fact you could scrape dead skin off my legs with a putty knife if you wanted to. I have NO muscle tone left anywhere. I got fat, I got gross and I LOOK and feel old.
-------------------- You want your life back? Take it. Posts: 3169 | From Greensburg, Pennsylvania | Registered: Jun 2003
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treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
Yep went from 210 to well over 300lbs eyesite 20/15 vision to using 2.75 magnification to read grey hair more white than grey, being physicaly extra strong to getting bye strength. I use to smile all the time and had a whacked out sence of humor. One thing in all of this is I have gained more compassion for peoples problems, Which intern makes me a target for users aint life grand
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
posted
My hair is dark gray and light gray, no color. And has been gray since high school.
And all muscle tone on my legs is missing, in its place is cellulite.
But my GYN thought I was 17, as he explained after my exam and biopsy, that menses is irregular when it first starts. Kinda a big mistake as I am 34 and concerned about early menopause -not puberty. Apparently he never looked at the chart.
Anyway, since I still get carded I was actually wondering if Lyme made me look younger? Like my hormones are so messed up I am not aging properly?
Yeah, probably not.
Posts: 243 | From chicago | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
Just a suggestion..google MSM it claims it's great for hair, nails, skin among other anti aging stuff. I've only been using it for 2 full days but so far I like it..
Posts: 740 | From BC Canada | Registered: Mar 2003
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lymednva
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9098
posted
My Lyme dx is new, but I've always been told I look many years younger than I am. When I tell people my oldest is turning 30 they can't believe I am old enough to have a child that old. I am!
I make it a habit to always put on my makeup and keep my hair looking good when I got out. I am always being told how great I look, and people think I'm healed. I'm not!
I have very little gray hair, but probably inherited that from my dad.
The one thing that I don't like is that I've battled my weight for 30 years, since the time I was dx'd as hypothyroid with a multinodular goiter.
Being on the anti-yeast diet has helped me in this area. I'm beginning to shed the pounds and am thrilled about that.
-------------------- Lymednva Posts: 2407 | From over the river and through the woods | Registered: Apr 2006
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posted
I am 42. My face has more deep lines and hair is grayer/more fragile.
My nails have ridges. My eyes are dull and are gray and bloodshot even in the morning. I look as tired as I feel.
My weight actually rose when I got infected from 110 to 125 in a 4 year time. Now that I have treatment (four months) I am back to 110.
I think I am afraid to eat anything! All I eat is protien and veggies. Haven't had a bite of sugar since December.
(How can you not lose weight?..or am I the only one not eating goodies here...) Fess up lymenet people-- You all keep telling me --No sugar or Carbs and I keep listenting (and dying for one measly little piece of cake)!!
So yes, I look and feel old..especially since my 61 year old mom just had a full face lift and looks younger than me.
-------------------- We are spiritual beings on a human journey...
was afraid to look in the mirror. I had white hair
growing on my jawbone. I was so scared. I
thought I had cancer or AIDS. The progression was
so rapid.
With treatment my gray hair went away. But now I
am starting to get a few. But they are wirey, not
like the total color change I had in the
beginning. My eyes are always red. I now have
acne I have never had too.
Even when I
wear makeup I think I look different, (not good)
which is
very rare because by the
time I get it on I am ready for a nap. I have
also gained and am about 25lbs more than the
most I have ever weighed. I don't
like the way I look in pictures anymore. Also I
notice my kids look very different in pictures
these days. I don't know if I am being more
critical since I know they have lyme. Maybe in
the past I would have just tossed it without
thought but there are so many photos where it
seems they almost have Bell's Palsy and drooping
eyelids, etc.
lyme x 9
Posts: 399 | From Texas | Registered: Apr 2005
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Andie333
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7370
posted
I gained quite a bit of weight before my Lyme was diagnosed.
By the time the tests came back positive in June, and I started treatment, I looked and seemed both old and completly beat.
Up until I got really sick, people always thought I was about 15 years younger than I actually am.
With the weight gain, the lack of muscle tone, the contstant pain and the mental toll this disease took, I started looking my age most fo the time.
At Thanksgiving, a friend took a picture oif me that made me want to try. I seemed so spent and so lacking in vitality.
Within 6 months of being on the abx, though, I had lost most of that pre-Lyme weight. Finally, after eight months, I started getting some color back in my face.
It also helped, as others said, when my hair quit falling out.
Now, it's hard to look at me and think I'm sick. In fact, just today, someone who hadnt' seen me in several months told me how really good I look.
I'll be glad when I can start doing some light workouts and can get back some of the muscle tone I've lost.
Andie
Finally,
Posts: 2549 | From never never land | Registered: May 2005
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posted
When I was at my worst, and even now if I've crashed, my face, which has always looked younger than I am, suddenly looks at least 10-15 years older.
I was horrified when I first saw this. Then I started feeling better and my face started looking more like it's old "younger" self.
I bought some emu oil to try on my arthritic joints, and after it didn't really help, decided to try just using on my skin, and it's really wonderful. I honestly think some of my wrinkles have disappeared. I put it on after I've showered and use it in place of moisturizer. Try it. You might like it.
Patti
Posts: 449 | From Pasadena, CA, usa | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I did gain A LOT of weight before being diagnnosed and during my first year of treatment, probably something close to 30 pounds!
But the GOOD news is that I was able to shed 20 of those with a diet and moderate exercise. And I could shed the other 10, but I feel so GREAT with how I look now, that I don't mind them. And I actually feel much prettier than I ever have. I get more compliments now .....lots of dating.
I think some of it has to do with a positive attitude and a cheerful personality as well.
Now that I'm symptom free, I'm enjoying life more than I ever did. Hope you all experience this someday.
You are in my prayers.
Posts: 712 | From Ottawa, ON, Canada | Registered: Sep 2002
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AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
Are you supposed to have wrinkles under ur eyes at 29? they weren't there a year ago!
Other than that I look normal and to look at me (unless my fatigue is bad - which is often) you wouldn't know I was sick.
(at least thats what I am told these days... and not just by my family strangers too!)
just don
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1129
posted
I can stand in a crowd of people that 'used' to know me well. Now they dont have a clue, who I am, like putting on a Halloween mask.
When I reintroduce myself they say, but you are SOOOOO old. Well I am going to turn 156 in a few days!!!
I used to have longer(sorta) blonde hair that bleached white almost in the summer. Now, next to 'none' and I keep it clipped short because no body to impress with any!! It used to be my 'best' feature. Guess I am fresh out of those!!
Thats why I go without. And nobody cares. cuz I remain --just don--
-------------------- just don Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001
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Areneli
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6740
posted
Not yet, although I have gained 30 lb within the last two years of my sickness. Couldn't do much moving around.
Posts: 1538 | From Planet Earth | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
Fat, wrinkles, grey, sallow, red eyes, puffy, stiff, flaking skin, dandruff, course hair, ridges in nails, rashes, red face, broken capilaries..yellow teeth
What else? Toe nail fungus..stiffness, pain.. depressed, CRANKY..
Oooooooooooooooh, l-o-v-e-l-y! Are the guys drooling yet?
You name it on this list I had it except the weight loss.. and before Lyme I was a performer in vibrant good shape.
I'm here to tell you I had ALL of that and it got somewhat better with abx,
however it has completely reversed, and improved to beyond 10 years AGO with a concerted effort on cleansing (kindey, colon, parasites, yeast), changing the diet, liver flushing, and keeping the Lymph moving.
No fancy creams, I use sunflower oil on all my skin and some Kombucha tea under it as a serum..
These outward improvements are mainly all done from the inside out.
FULL hydration with clean water, cleanse, detox, and rebuild with the right digestable foods - minerals - I am not vegan or anything..
Wrinkles filled in and I have almost none, hair is good again, no more dandruff, body skin is smooth and good color, eyes are clear, nails have no ridges, I am no longer 'puffed' but still have weight to loose.
I am still loosing slowly.
For me, the more I clean from my cells, the more my Lymph can get backed up.. when that happens you might as well have an air pump attatched to me, it's that fast..
That and the colon have to stay moving. As soon as my digestion is not healthy, it starts showing quickly.
For Lymph I am using the Red Root Bruhner and other herbalists reccommend and a rebounder plus a Chi machine.. (leg shaker)...right now, because I had another 'back-up' recently after using some different herbs and not being as dilligent with my eliminative pathways.
We all have different needs and places we are starting from (I didn't start out rebounding, couldn't do it - it is a process you start from where you are today), but I just want to let folks know and to keep in mind that the 'aging' they see in the mirror is not you.. it's your organs showing signs of stress. Learn to clear and rebuild them and they can do wonders on their own. They are built to.
-- and not to get it in your head that it is irreversable. It was very damaging to me to look at these things and think "that was it" .. that idea in your mind is a VERY powerful obstacle. Don't believe it for a second. That's not "it".. you can undo these things. They will only be permanent of you don't work on it.
The ways to reverse it are available right in your grocery store or farmers market, maybe some herbs to assist - not expensive, the only cost is total commitment to doing it and educating yourself... and don't believe you can't do it.
Family, freinds, Doctors (even the 'good ones') will just say it's all part and parcel - nothing you can do, you're just getting 'old' and/or beat up from the illness..that's because they don't know how to tell you to take care of it.
Baloney. Don't believe it!
Best, Mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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I TOTALLY agree with what you're saying, as I have experienced it myself. I have seen my haggard face suddenly become taut like I've had a facelift after eliminating a lot of toxins. Right now I'm going through a slow, gradual detox, and my haggard face, dandruff, acne, rashes, wrinkles, limp hair all reflect that. I too am moving the lymph, doing a colon cleanse (including colonics). The liver is what I really want to work on, as I know it is SO congested. But I know I have to stem my impatience and do this slowly. I too start bloating up like crazy when I'm not efficiently eliminating the flood of toxins.
Posts: 50 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I think any chronic infection is stressful, and any stress ages us more rapidly. Just look at any US President: pretty much every one of them appears to age about 10 years in 4.
Posts: 727 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2006
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You're right, I should have emphasized that, it is a slow process (Ive been at it a year and a half and still going) You also see what is coming out and how as things progress.
I too had/have those reactions where things got worse through detox phases. Toxins come out through every orifice, plus skin and hair. I have 'new' hair growth and I can see the line where the 'old' hair is (through the detox phases my hair got worse).. so can my hair guy, whose wife is an alternative practitioner. He expected to see this in my hair and we now have.
Noone can do this fast, it took years and allot of factors to get this way, it won't get corrected without steady work. The liver is so important and takes a while to decongest, and lifestyle changes to keep it that way. Kidney health is way more important than I realized as well. There are safe, gentle herbs that can do a good job for the kidneys.
Sress is another factor that has definite physiological effects, but can also be corrected with these efforts and learning how to take care of your body.
Tho it's not this simple - it doesn't age us unless we allow it to.
I would ask what the President(s)'s diet and health of internal organs is! No - forget it, I don't want to know.
Mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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