Lyme Disease
Way back when all this started for me, the doctors first thought that I had Lyme Disease. Of course, most doctors are really good at getting you all convinced that you have a particular illness or disease. In this case, they asked me if I had ever been bitten by a tick, which of course that answer was yet, many times. Then it was all about removing the tick, how it was removed, and did I have any redness or swelling. Of course, all those answers simply fed into the whole paranoia that I had Lyme.
My family practice doctor wrote me lab orders for a blood draw so they could test for antibodies to the Lyme disease bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi in my blood. That came back as negative, so it was back to the Family Practice Doctor again to see what is next. This time she ordered another blood test, but this time for the more expensive, more accurate, and likely not covered by insurance Western Blot test which takes several weeks for results. Again, not a problem bleeding on command for the vampire, and then the wait began.
So we are sitting on pins and needles during this time, waiting to find out the results. Of course, that test came back negative also.
So I didn’t have Lyme disease. Which is a good thing, but…. now we had to figure out what I do have.
Lyme Disease Symptoms
If untreated, new signs and symptoms of Lyme infection might appear in the following weeks to months. These include:
- Joint pain. Bouts of severe joint pain and swelling are especially likely to affect your knees, but the pain can shift from one joint to another.
- Neurological problems. Weeks, months, or even years after infection, you might develop inflammation of the membranes surrounding your brain (meningitis), temporary paralysis of one side of your face (Bell’s palsy), numbness or weakness in your limbs, and impaired muscle movement.
Less common signs and symptoms
Several weeks after infection, some people develop:
- Heart problems, such as an irregular heartbeat
- Eye inflammation
- Liver inflammation (hepatitis)
- Severe fatigue
Well, I can see why my doctor thought I had it at first. I certainly have neurological problems along with fatigue. NEXT!!!!
Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.
It took me a few years to get a full diagnosis (Fibromyalgia, Complex regional pain syndrome & Migraines) but before all that, they tried to tell me it was Lyme. I hate the outdoors so I know it was unlikely that I was bitten by an infected tick. They had to run several tests to confirm that I actually didn’t have it.
They had to run several tests on me to rule out Lyme. I however love the outdoors and I have removed a fair amount of ticks from my body throughout the years.