posted
I have been feeling quite awful for the last 2 days. I suddenly started to feel unreal, like I wasnt connected with the reality. Its very hard to explain. My friends seem to be like in another reality etc. I have this strange apathy, I dont care seeing anybody, nothing interests me etc, I'm anxious etc.
The strange thing is I am not even taking any abx at this point (had to stop Biaxin for a while because it makes my burning pain so much worse)
Anybody else have this and anything helped with it?
Thx
-------------------- Please dont suggest "ask your LLMD" because we dont have them here in this country... I just have to count on you fellow patients. Posts: 246 | From Finland | Registered: Dec 2006
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lyme in Putnam
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11561
posted
That has been one of my major complaints for so long. What helped me was there is a condition called depersonalization/derealization that when I asked this site, others had the same thing and I was referred to. You'll see it's a common thing, but it's the most uncomfortable feeling you'll ever have. It's almost like pretending to be yourself. Unless others have had this, it won't make sense. PM me if you want, but look up those terms. When you read about, it will take anxiety down some. I realized that I wasn't alone with this. You'll be ok.
-------------------- He took u to it, He'll you through Posts: 2837 | From NE. | Registered: Apr 2007
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disturbedme
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posted
quote:Originally posted by BartonFink: I have been feeling quite awful for the last 2 days. I suddenly started to feel unreal, like I wasnt connected with the reality. Its very hard to explain.
I understand this very much. I feel like this when I'm having a herx. I actually posted a couple weeks ago about having the same feeling/"out of body" kind of experience. It's almost terrifying to have to deal with.
A lot of people on this board experience this. You are not alone.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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quote:Originally posted by BartonFink: I have been feeling quite awful for the last 2 days. I suddenly started to feel unreal, like I wasnt connected with the reality. Its very hard to explain.
I understand this very much. I feel like this when I'm having a herx. I actually posted a couple weeks ago about having the same feeling/"out of body" kind of experience. It's almost terrifying to have to deal with.
A lot of people on this board experience this. You are not alone.
Yep I'm sure this kind of thing can be a herx symptom. The weird thing here is that I'm not taking any abx at the moment (stopped a week ago - unless if this a herx from stopping the med...)
-------------------- Please dont suggest "ask your LLMD" because we dont have them here in this country... I just have to count on you fellow patients. Posts: 246 | From Finland | Registered: Dec 2006
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
I kind of qualify that as part of my brain fog.
I feel as if I am in a dream.
I hear people speaking. Just can't seem to seperate the meaning (reality) from the
Feeling of not realistic.
That is one of my Lyme symptoms that had gotten better on doxy, but is coming back again.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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quote:Treatment is dependent on the underlying cause.
If depersonalization is a symptom of neurological disease, then diagnosis and treatment of the specific disease is the first approach. Depersonalization can be a cognitive symptom of such diseases as ALS, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Neuroborreliosis (Lyme Disease) or any other neurological disease affecting the brain.
posted
I have had this so many times. I call it my brain fog time too. Like I am out of body and mind
Cannot connect to anything around me and all I want to do is be alone becuase quite frankly I am afraid others will see it. And I dont know how to handle it.
I have found that I have beome more and more isolated through the years.
I am a natural extrovert - a socialite! But since this saga I have gone the opposite and I hate it!
It does pass. hmmmmmmmmm....
I hate LYME!
-------------------- Seeking renewed health & vitality. --------------------------------- Do not take anything I say as medical advice - I am NOT a dr! Posts: 830 | From TN | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
I have this, too, and it's comforting to know I'm not alone.
Like the previous post, it makes me want to isolate--and not care if anyone is around me or not, when I've always been an extrovert.
I actually PREFER to be alone when I'm dealing with this, to the point I don't even want to be around my husband. It scares me!
-------------------- "Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead Posts: 290 | From New York | Registered: May 2007
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posted
This sounds like a variation of the "fog" that many of us get. The depersonalization (isolation) isn't something that I personally experienced, but the anxiety that goes along with the "fog" is very real, and something that many of us have gotten.
If you're not on ABX and you're getting it, it's likely a primary symptom of your disease IMHO. Many people report improvement in the "fog" so you too should expect to get better. My "fog" waxes and wanes a little, but much improved on ABX AND SUPPLIMENTS.
Keep us up to date...
BT
Posts: 299 | From New Hampshire | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
yes i know what you are saying about feeling unreal or like you're in a dream.
Posts: 255 | From where we don't have Lyme disease | Registered: Jan 2007
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disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
Many of us know what you're talking about.
I've felt unreal with treatment and without. Have felt a lot better on treatment and only feel "unreal" once in a while. When I was sick for about 7 months and still not sure what I was sick with, I felt unreal almost 24/7. Very scary experience. I know what you're going through. Most of us do. You're not alone.
You should get better with treatment.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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I'm herxing hard and just started feeling this way. Sometimes I hear my own voice when I'm talking and become uncertain what I'm talking about. Bad feeling. I also startle myself by hearing myself commenting on something outloud when I thought that I was thinking it quietly!
Feels very neuro and herx-bound.
Hope yours lasts short.
Best,
wiserforit
Posts: 508 | From Banks of the Hudson | Registered: Jul 2006
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lymeHerx001
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Member # 6215
posted
quote:Originally posted by wiserforit: I'm so glad you posted this!
Sometimes I hear my own voice when I'm talking and become uncertain what I'm talking about. Bad feeling. I also startle myself by hearing myself commenting on something outloud when I thought that I was thinking it quietly!
OH MY GOD I FEEL THE SAME WAY. I have the same symptoms happen to me
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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CaliforniaLyme
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Member # 7136
posted
For me this was Babesiosis HERXES- when I took ARtemisisa and Mepron for the first time each I felt exactly like tihs to where it was scary-
-------------------- There is no wealth but life. -John Ruskin
All truth goes through 3 stages: first it is ridiculed: then it is violently opposed: finally it is accepted as self evident. - Schopenhauer Posts: 5639 | From Aptos CA USA | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
That has been one of my worst symptoms. I too consider it part of my brain fog.
Back in the beginning, it only happened to me occasionally, but as time went on and I started to get more symptoms, it has become almost constant.
I the only way that I could think to explain it, was kinda like "medicine head"...kinda like I took way too many allergy meds.
In fact, that was what my docs kept telling me was wrong in the beginning, was allergies...
I kept telling them that it was more than that, but as we all know..."it's all in our heads"..
It is the hardest part of this illness for me. I can not stand the feeling, almost like being "inside my head, looking out"...
So much for working any jobs until I can overcome it...and I will someday.. I refuse to let Lyme beat me..
Take care Ellen
Posts: 50 | From Port Crane, NY | Registered: Apr 2007
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Pocono Lyme
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Member # 5939
posted
I've had this since around Feb. or March of 04. I finally saw it breaking just this past Jan..
It's AWFUL. Then add the 24/7 dizziness, confusion, blurred vision, disequilibrium and about 50 other symptoms you can imagine the Zombie I was.
It does get better with treatment. The first improvement I saw with it was after Bart treatment. I still have it but nowhere near as bad.
The other descriptions sound like what I was feeling. I tried to describe it as if being woken up in the middle of the night out of a deep sleep, there's a dim light on and you're trying to focus and figure out if you're awake or it's a dream. If I only knew that normal deep sleep again would be nice too.
-------------------- 2 Corinthians 12:9-11
9 But he said to me, �My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.� Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ�s power may rest on me. Posts: 1445 | From Poconos, PA | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I have the not-really-here feeling, AND like this is not the reality I (ever) want to live in, and it just got worse with the addition of new anti-biotic Mepron to go with Zithromax. The Neurontin may be contributing too, I dunno.
I used to be upbeat, very energetic, and willing to tackle almost any challenge (especially physical challenges) and play with my kids. Now I just sort of sit and stare, and worry that I'll iblow a disc or further inflame my shoulder if I do many of my 'normal' activities. I've got a ton of things I need to do requiring physical and mental stamina, and I dread almost all of them.
It's been really hard to get my workouts in, I am used to being a competitive distance runner. I'm also becoming more resentful of others going on with their normal lives, thinking "my normal self could do that and more"..which does me no good. It seems easy for others to say "just think positive"...they don't feel what I feel, they aren't on these antibios, and their brain is not 1/10th it's normal.
Sorry to go on such a rant, but know that others (at least more than just me) appear to have similar feelings. LocalMan PS > oh yeah I should add that I've got 3 young kids and I work full-time. My wife quit her job a couple years ago.
[ 19. September 2007, 07:53 PM: Message edited by: LocalMan ]
Posts: 212 | From Eastern CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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lymeHerx001
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posted
quote:Originally posted by jimmystermite: So much for working any jobs until I can overcome it...and I will someday.. I refuse to let Lyme beat me..
Take care Ellen
Ellen I dont know how you manage to survive without working in this day and age. Your hubby must have a good job or you have very supportive relatives who feel obligated to help you. In my case Im almost 30 and my parents support me, but I do work though I only make $300 a week.
So much for the sick and the lame.
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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savebabe
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posted
Oh my gosh... I thought I was the only one to have this. I am glad you started this thread.
Before treatment I use to feel like I was looking through a glass window to the outside world. I would tell the ducks that I am not snapped into my body, but they blamed in on anxiety.
Looking back, babs treatment helped resolve this symptom.
Posts: 1603 | From ny | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
To BartonFink and any others that still feel this "derealization".
I get the same feelings you described, and when I get it I begin to think very strange thoughts which then sparks terrible anxiety ... it is a very vicious cycle.
When this feeling hits, try not to sit around and think about how strange you feel. It will make things worse. Here are some things that always help me when I feel this way.
1. Exercise works well for me 2. Get on the phone and talk to a friend 3. Read 4. Work on something (computer/hobbies) 5. Watch something funny ... go to Youtube and search for standup comedians 6. Some meds can help (ativan has helped me when the anxiety gets bad, but this drug should not be taken daily for risk of addiction).
Basically do all you can to distract your mind and body. This should pull you away from the strange feelings you are experiencing and help re-ground you.
Good luck and know that you are not alone and that YOU ARE NOT GOING CRAZY ... and you will get over this someday !
Question to BartonFink, prior to Lyme had you ever had these feelings ?
posted
Excellent advice above, and for me, like some others, the surreal feeling is from Babesia herxes. It's scary. Fortunately I have friends and family that understand it, and we chat. Humor helps. Sometimes I just go outside or try to read and do anything to get my mind off of it.
It does get better with treatment and I feel like a cloud is starting to be lifted back to reality.
Posts: 85 | From here | Registered: Jul 2007
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lymebytes
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11830
posted
You are symptomatic, symptoms disappear over time when in treatment.
Biaxin is a great drug for many, you were likely herxing, whatever you use you will likely have to endure the "herx" - not fun for any of us.
If you want to feel better get back into treatment.
posted
I had this at the height of my disease and it happened most often when I was at -get this- WALMART! I am really so much better with treatment. It never happens anymore but I still avoid Walmart. For me it was just a lyme symptom, pure and simple. Julie
Posts: 351 | From La Crosse, WI | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
That's so strange that you mention Walmart. I get the same feeling in there...like I'm pushing the cart and I'm way down deep inside my own body ---- as if I'm an apparition in the store. It's a very very strange feeling. I thought it was their lighting or something - I get it other times too, but most often when I'm at Walmart.
-------------------- Tracy Posts: 24 | From NE PA | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
Lightwise, you are probably right ! The lights are bright, and there is everything happening at once - we have a grocery store included in ours as well.....so there's so much going on.
When I go in Kmart it isn't like that - the lights aren't as bright and there aren't as many people chattering, etc. Even restaurants don't really bother me much because the lights are dimmer.
I think for me - the brighter fluorescent lights really make me anxious.....put that with the chatter, music, people rushing.......yuk. It's manageable, but I avoid it if possible.
-------------------- Tracy Posts: 24 | From NE PA | Registered: Feb 2007
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