Lyme Diagnosis -- The pieces are finally coming together!

Lyme Diagnosis

When I received the call a few weeks ago with the positive results for Lyme disease I was giddy for the first 15 minutes.  I have been "sick" for so long and it was finally a "real" answer   Growing up I was sick A LOT!  It got to the point where at times we'd just call the doctor and ask for an antibiotic.  I don't remember a time I had a lot of energy; tiring out way before my siblings or friends.  Below are some of the diagnosis I got over the years.  A lot of people will say they were misdiagnosed for years.  Yes I do have these health issues, but it all points back to Lyme.  It’s so frustrating because I look fine.  When I say I’m tired, many of the below symptoms are going on.  It’s not just needing a nap; it’s severe.  It is estimated I've had Lyme for at least 25 years.

Symptoms/Diagnosis

multiple throat infections as a child per year.

fatigue a lot from childhood through adulthood.

severe knee pain from about age 12 till adulthood until i changed my diet.

constant low grade infection in tonsils which ended up being taken out.

Diagnosis - chronic fatigue syndrome

Diagnosis via saliva test - adrenal fatigue

Diagnosis - hypothyroid

Diagnosis - hot nodule (thyroid)

Diagnosis - pcos - this was found out when I lost my first child.  I have had 4 losses in total before 10 weeks.

Diagnosis - depression

Diagnosis - anxiety

Diagnosis - epstein-barr virus

Diagnosis - osteopenia

Diagnosis - food allergies

Diagnosis - environmental allergies (diagnosed at age 5)

Diagnosis - perimenopause (age 30)
Diagnosis - fatty liver disease
Diagnosis - high cholesterol

Experiences

Multiple er and urgent care visits with chest pain, and heart palpitations.

In 2010 I had a 3 years stint where I was in bed most of the time unable to do a lot of the normal household chores or cooking having to pay my daughter (or someone else if she didn't want to) to  help me out.

Crashes - I get incredibly cold or hot, cannot hardly move off the couch/bed, dizzy, not able to read and comprehend what i hear.  My anxiety goes through the roof for no reason.  With time and lots of rest I can get back to my "normal".  Sometimes that's in a day, sometimes it's months.

2018 was the first time my legs felt heavy.  I went to go grocery shopping and walking down the stairs of my front porch i almost fell down.  It suddenly felt like I had cement blocks on my feet.  This has happened several times.  

Foggy brain has been awful on and off.  Not being able to put sentences together or comprehend what I'm reading when i’m at my worst.  This has been going on for at least 9 years.  

Random dizziness - I've found when i’ve done too much (like being out of bed if i’ve been tired) can bring this on more, or being overwhelmed with electronics or physical exertion.

2017 was the start of random muscle pain.  Not from working out as i haven’t been able to for a year, but it felt like that same pain.  You know, no pain, no gain?  But I wasn’t working out.  It could be my upper arm one day, my leg another day, and a finger the next day.  Apparently pain that moves around is very indicative of Lyme.

2017 is also the first time i had tingling in my fingers and toes.  It’s progressed.  Some days i’ll have it slightly, other days it’s much more pronounced, and yet other days it’s not there.

Tingling/fuzzy feeling in my brain.  I know, weird description but there it is.  It’s a very odd sensation.

Nerve pain - this started in 2017 as well.  It felt like electrical shocks going through one leg or another.  

Night sweats on and off for years along with very early hot flashes.

There are years I had horrible insomnia.  I'd finally get to the point where I was tired, then every time I'd just fall asleep my heart would skip a beat, thump hard and keep me from sleeping.

At times air hunger.  It feels like you’re not getting enough air and you just have to take some very deep breaths.

Emotional stress easily leads many of the above symptoms.  

Making dinner in the evenings is sometimes hard because I’m already tired most evenings by 4pm.  There were times I’d make dinner and feel like I was close to passing out.  I’d sit down to dinner with the family to eat and I was so dizzy I had to lie down.

Extreme fatigue on and off.  The days I don’t have severe fatigue, I'm still limited on how much I can do, what activities I can do, etc..  I rest up if I know I’ll be going somewhere on a weekend.  Then I pray like crazy my body won’t decide to revolt anyway after I’ve rested.  I just recently read about The Spoon Theory.  It's so helpful in explaining this to the kids.

Currently:

Over the years with the hormone disruptions and adrenal fatigue I paced myself more, cleaned up my diet even more, learned methods of stress reduction, how to get better sleep, etc... All of these things have definitely helped but the symptoms still remain and are starting to get worse again.  My treatment for Lyme disease will start in September.  I'm cautiously optimistic that after this I may for the first time lead a more "normal" life.  I would really appreciate your prayers during this time.  I'm so thankful to finally have answers.

So if you see me posting a lot on facebook or I'm binge watching tv...there's a reason...it's called a chronic illness - an auto-immune disease.