posted
Well its been a long time since ive been on this site(probably 2 yrs) but i figured id post and let you guys all know how ive been doing and what ive been up to. Some of you may still remember me.
Since the last time i posted on here a lot of things have changed in my life. I wanted to give some people hope and encouragement that things do get better.
Right now im living in myrtle beach SC. Back to the place i originally became sick with lyme about 6 yrs ago. The last time i posted on here i was living at home in PA.
Anyways, so about 2 yrs ago i made the decision to stop visiting lyme sites and wanted to stop constantly thinking, living and being lyme disease. I was still pretty sick at the time but i just got even more sick of the fact that lyme disease became who i was as a person. So i decided i need to just let go of worrying and accept that i was sick but take every day as the came and tried to make the best of them.
Along with this i got really into postitive thinking meditation and pushing myself to step out of my comfort zone.
When i decided to do this i was living at home had no job, no money, no girlfriend and really not much to be happy about but i knew that sadness, and constant worry about how i was feeling was no longer the answer.
I had been sick for years and felt like i was stuck as im sure most of you feel. Id get a little better and worse. From one symptom to another and overall made some improvement but then id hit a plateau and/or relapse. I had enough of it and i wasnt going to fight it with anger, sadness or worry. I just gave up in a sense. When i say "gave up" i mean i let go of the fact that i cant control what this disease does to me. I felt like i needed to not let lyme control me and this was the best way out.
Not long after i did this did i really start improving. None of my medicine changed, just my attitude. I feel like changing my attitude and outlook on life the medicine started working better. I started pushing myself more and going out. Sometimes it worked, other times it didnt. But i wasnt going to give up or worry. I just accepted that i couldnt control it. I took small steps and got my life back on track.
So on with my story, I will save you from a longer and much more drawn out story. Like i said in the beggining, I am now living in Myrtle beach. I have been able to work a full time job as well as go to school full time. I just graduated college in May with a degree in graphic design and my last two semsters averaged a 3.8 gpa while working full time. It took my almost 10 yrs after having to drop out 6 yrs ago due to lyme but im still really proud of myself because i thought id never get that chance.
Now saying that, Im no where near completely well. Sure im better but I still have symptoms that i deal with everyday. Most of them are nuerological and some days are better than others.
I was really nervous to post on here because being on this site reminds me of when i was really sick but this will hopefully give some people encouragement.
What i did was not easy at all but i took small steps to get me where i am now. My next step is to save up some money and put myself through school to become a naturopathic doctor.
If you guys are curious what I did to get myself well than id be glad to help. Most of it was a change in attitude along with a healthy diet and lifestyle and treating with herbs.
Good luck to you all. you can get better and live a happy normal life with lyme disease.
Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
Hi Joe!
So glad to hear you're doing better!
p.s. Didn't you have depersonalization? Were you able to find something to reduce that?
We still have people here with depersonalization, but I haven't seem much info about things to help it.
[ 07-07-2011, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: Carol in PA ]
Posts: 6947 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
phyl6648
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 28522
posted
Great news, happy for you.
Posts: 1058 | From VA | Registered: Oct 2010
| IP: Logged |
feelfit
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12770
posted
I remember you Joe and you were in pretty bad shape....So nice to hear your story. Congratulations on graduating and success to you in your endeavor to become a ND.
Posts: 3975 | From usa | Registered: Aug 2007
| IP: Logged |
momindeep
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7618
posted
Well done.
Posts: 1512 | From Glenwood City WI | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
Yes i do still have some depersonalization. I have yet to find anything to clear it up but ive learned to live with it. Its better than it used to be so im just happy about that. I think with time it will get better but if it doesnt im okay with that.
posted
Well put! I appreciate your attitude and it is a lesson I need to learn. climber
Posts: 108 | From Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2010
| IP: Logged |
kidsgotlyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 23691
posted
Hi Jocus20. So glad to here you are doing well. It's nice to hear of a success story. Thanks for posting.
-------------------- symptoms since 1993 that I can remember. 9/2018 diagnosed with Borellia, Babesia Duncani, and Bartonella Hensalae thru DNA Connections. Posts: 1470 | From Tennessee | Registered: Dec 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Great to hear this info. I, as well, have changed my attitude towards all of this. I was consumed by my Lyme disease in everything I did. I decided to learn how to live with the symptoms, I take no meds, except my vitamin and simvastatin. I have good days and bad days as well, but I continue to work as a nurse 40 hours per week. Some days I really have to push myself, but I do get through it. I'm not ready to lay in bed and collect disability until I absolutely have to. I have been living with LD for 3 years now.
-------------------- kristi in Palm Coast Posts: 24 | From palm coast, fl | Registered: Apr 2011
| IP: Logged |
joalo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12752
posted
I remember you and how much you were struggling. I think your attitude has a lot to do with how you feel.
Congratulations on your graduation!!!!
-------------------- Sick since January 1985. Misdiagnosed for 20 years. Tested CDC positive October 2005. Treating since April 2006. Posts: 3228 | From Somewhere west of the Mississippi | Registered: Aug 2007
| IP: Logged |
I tried that experiment too, and took a long break from posting on here.
I just get worse and worse. I almost went to the hospital last week.
My husband has never been on this board, and his body is wracked with pain. He is so deathly sick, but he crawls to work 60 hours a week to pay for all the meds, and appointments that we need.
Our daughter has never been on this board, and she is writhing in pain each day. She hardly gets any sleep. She couldn't handle high school. So we tried homeschooling her. She is just way too sick to even handle that.
We are in really , really bad shape. We have been on abx for Lyme, and have treated for co=infections for 2 years.
I don't feel much better than I did 2 years ago.
I may need I.V.
I tried herbal and vitamins and a whole host of natural things.
I was working out at the gym 30 hours per week and had a full time job.
I thought that I could beat this disease, and I felt better for a month, but then one day, it just got so bad that I spent almost a year screaming and crying in pain and sufferring.
They finally gave me pain meds, sleeping meds to cope.
Honestly, when you write a post like that it makes me mad. It makes me think that you must not have gotten as sick as me and my husband and daughter are.
Our LLMD is having us all come down, to get more tests, or to really see if we need to attack these infections from a different angle.
We are so sick that they are worried about us.
This post made me so depressed.
-------------------- I am not a doctor. I have no clue. Posts: 606 | From somewhere out there | Registered: Sep 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think everyone's experience is different.
Missing - I'm sorry that hasn't worked for you, but I'm still thankful for posts like this. I love hearing about any improvement anywhere!
Posts: 707 | From Colorado | Registered: Jul 2010
| IP: Logged |
posted
Jocus - thanks for posting that. I am newly dx with a bite 3 months ago and already my spirits have sunk. I told my husband my life will never be the same...they are doing a brain MRI because they think I have neuro.
I read all kinds of bad stuff about that and figured I may as well give up and forget what I used to be like.
So this was good to read and made me feel like there really IS hope and some people actually DO get better and can be happy again.
Congratulations on your accomplishments and hope you continue to do well!
Posts: 33 | From PA | Registered: Jul 2011
| IP: Logged |
posted
There IS hope. Sometimes that's all there is, but never forget those three words. Those are the words that have kept me going these past 22 years.
Now that I am more than 1 1/2 years into abx treatment I can avouch for my belief. I AM getting better, slowly but surely. Starting out my very well known LLMD told me that I should expect to work on this for two years at least and I realize that he is right.
I am no longer in a wheelchair or on oxygen. I need no IV's for pain. Sometimes I can cook dinner and sometimes I can work on my writing. For more than 10 years I could not even read, let alone write.
I do think that having a positive attitude is a wonderful medicine. It is often next to impossible to find it, I know that so well.
My husband has always been so upbeat for me. He quietly endured "fibromyalgia" for years. My LLMD persuaded him to be tested and we found that he, too, was ill. He is on abx and for the first time in many years his knees do not hurt.
We hope that when he is feeling better he will be able to work more and things will get better for us.
I am so happy to read about your progress, Joe! Thanks for reporting it and for inspiring the rest of us to keep on trucking.
-------------------- DOCTOR: "I don't think you are sick." PATIENT: "We are all entitled to our opinions. I don't think you are a doctor." Posts: 697 | From Northern California | Registered: Jul 2009
| IP: Logged |
-------------------- I am not a doctor. I have no clue. Posts: 606 | From somewhere out there | Registered: Sep 2009
| IP: Logged |
Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
Joe, so awesome to hear from you!!! I am THRILLED to hear you are better. Your story is amazing, inspiring, and I couldn't be happier for you! I hope you will post it on LymeFriends as well.
I miss you Joe, I think of you and have wondered how you are doing. I'm so happy you took the time to come back here and let us know.
I can imagine how hard it was. It is truly PTSD and you associate the Lyme boards with the trauma of that horrible time in your life. What your story shows me is that for you, like for many others, there was a component of anxiety and depression perhaps that was being worsened and triggered by spending so much time immersed in "all things Lyme," and that kept you stuck in a mindset of illness.
What you were able to do with your strength, determination, and strong resolve was to step out of that arena, and change your mindset. You replaced the activities and things that were feeding off your fears with positive activities and practices. This was a conscious decision on your part to take charge of an aspect of your health that was adversely affecting you; the mind body connection.
This is a true success story for Joe. Everyone's success story is different. Let's celebrate the courage and strength it took Joe to come back here and share this despite the fact he had to look a "trigger" square in the face to try and give us some hope!
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[hi]](graemlins/hi.gif)
![[woohoo]](graemlins/woohoo.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic