Could I potentially have lyme disease?

Hello everybody,

I was wondering if somebody could help.

For a number of years now I have suffered from depression and general fatigue, although I have remained physically active and employed. Over the past 3 years these and additional symptoms have become progressively worse. So much so I was going to book a doctors appointment this week, as I felt the symptoms were becoming so acute they were seriously compromising my ability to carry out my job safely (Truck Driver).

Those symptoms are:
Acute fatigue (I want to go to sleep constantly, and no amount of sleep
rectifies the problem)
Brain fog (inability to have spontaneous conversation, and construct coherent sentences; word block)
Reduced concentration
Confusion
Disorientation
Balance problems (I stumble into things quite a lot recently)
Co-ordination problems (dropping things and general clumsiness)
Paranoia
Mild hallucinations


Both my partner and I like to go walking in the country, and my partner enjoys out door swimming (lakes, rivers). This morning she bumped into an article about Lyme disease on a swimming website, and she read out the associated symptoms. Coupled with the symptoms I have stated above, she read out others that I also suffer from, and have been to the doctors about - on seperate occasions - over the past couple of years. Things then clicked into place, as I removed a tick from my chest approximately 3-4 years ago with my fingers. I did not seek medical advice at the time, and I did not develop the target rash. 


Those additional symptoms are - which have progressed on a time line since my tick bite:

Pins and needles/Tingling in my hands (doctor diagnosed as possible trapped nerve)
Tinitus (I have recently had an MRI scan for the sudden onset of tinitus)

Reduced hearing (I've started to struggle hearing people speak and understand what they are saying)
Blurred vision (I now wear glasses for certain functions)
Occasional shooting pains in my abdomin and chest
Severe heart palpitations (they occur irregularly, but are severe when in
progress, and last for hours)
Severe all over body itchiness (over the past 6 months i have become very itchy to the point where i make my skin bleed)
Mild facial and verbal ticks
Aching joints
Shooting pains in my ears
Increasingly reclusive behaviour (I only go out of the house when required and i tend avoid human contact)

Stiff back & neck

Sensitivity to light

Loss of labido

Dizziness

Vertigo

Adverse reaction to alchohol

In retrospect these symptoms have only occured since the tick bite, although I have tended to live with them and put them down to certain things, such as: getting older (only 39); central gas heating (used over winter); manual labour; loud concerts; depression etc etc. 

All of these add up to me feeling very poorly, to the point where I can barely function. I'm managing to hold on to employment with my fingernails, but I am very worried for the near future.

Could you please let me know if I might have a case for being tested for Lyme disease, as some sort of diagnosis or direction for diagnosis would be such a relief for me and my family.

I hope that all makes sense

Kind Regards

Paul Hattle

Post Edited (Paul_H1) : 4/17/2011 7:10:53 AM (GMT-6)

It's funny, but I've only just bumped into Lyme disease by pure chance. I thought I was going bonkers. I might still be of course, but what I've read seems very intriguing, and encouraging. I will follow your advice and carry on with my research.

The extra problem I have though is that I live in England, therefore I have to deal with the state run NHS. I know for certain the doctor is going to palm me off, especially considering the major funding cuts our government is currently introducing. Those anti-biotics sound expensive. I will probably end up leaving the surgery with my tail between my legs, thinking I'm a psychological car crash. I will have to prepare myself correctly for the appointment, and also be prepared for a verbal fist fight. Thats the way it works here.

Thanks again

Paul

It's good to know what to expect when I visit the GP. Your advice has been invaluable.

Many thanks

Paul 

I will check out the links you have guided me too. I might be clutching at straws going down this route, but the coincidences associated with my symptoms post tick bite seem to compelling to ignore.

I will let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Paul

P.S On a bit of a tangent, I've just seen the freaky weather you guys are having on the news. My thoughts go out. Keep safe.

Hi Lymester,

Thanks for your reply.

I managed to see a GP today. I was initially told I would have to wait 3 weeks for an appointment, but I insisted that I needed to see somebody immediately - thats the NHS for you. My main concern was safety connected with my job. As soon as I mentioned that they got me in straight away.

I started by telling him about my primary concerns, which were associated with the decline in my cognitive functions. He started going down the depression route when I politely pointed out what I had found out at the weekend regarding Lyme. He was mildly responsive to my idea and situation. He offered me anti depressants and counciling to start with - which is a minor miracle in itself for the NHS - but I declined. I don't have any deep dark secrets I want to share with anybody, and SSRI's make me ill.

He said he would test me for Lyme if thats what I wanted. I said yes. He then offered me 2 weeks of antibiotics, even without a test - which I found a bit worrying. At times it felt like I was the Doctor. I remembered what you said on your post and again declined, telling him I wanted to know a bit more about what was required. What he then asked me to do was to find a GP that was familiar with tick born diseases, he would then swap ideas with that person and come to a long term decision. I see him again on the 6th May.

So, I suppose it went quite well. I just have to find a specialist in Lyme now. I'm going to post on the UK equivalent of this site to see if I can get any joy.

Cheers

Paul

Firstly, i'm glad you guys are almost back to your old selves. It sounds like you've had a rough time of it.

Lymester - That's great info to have in my locker when I go back in on the 6th. I will let the Doc do his pre-start checks to start with and then go from there.

Mik -  I think I might have a good GP this time. I was in the surgery for 80 minutes chatting, and he actually rang me back yesterday afternoon to outline his plan of action! I don't know if you have ever had that before, but i'm quite - in a good way - shocked. I think he might see me as an interesting project to get stuck into - which is fine by me. Anyway, I'm pleased about what you said about LLMDs, as I live in High Wycombe which is about 15 miles from Hemel. I will do a Google search and see where it takes me.

Cheers guys

Paul

Post Edited (Paul_H1) : 4/19/2011 6:31:25 AM (GMT-6)

I have dealt with Lyme for over 20 years (one of the earlier cases in the 'way back time') and thanks to good local medical care have been able to manage my life with minor bumps along the way.  Menopause certainly changed the chronic symptoms and the hormone changes also affected how useful certain medications were.

See if you can at least get a doc to listen to the possibilities and try a round of antibiotics and when she/he sees the Herxheimer's reaction in your system they might start believing you!

I remember speaking at our regional Lyme conference back in the early 90's and listening to the horror stories of trying to find medical care.  I hope things have changed since then--remember you can decide to make Lyme your life or you can have a life and deal with lyme.  I chose the latter and it has made all the difference!  blessings!

Hi everybody,

I've just spent some of today reading around. I must say, seperating the wheat from the chaff is quite difficult seeing as though I know the square root of nothing. Blimey, it's a mine field. This is a whole new world for me, I feel so ignorant it's almost embarassing.

Has anybody heard of, or had, the Bowen Q-RiBb test?

Also, has anybody state side heard of the Lyme sufferer Marjorie Tietjen?

She seems to be firmly locked into the world of conspiracy theories - which I personally don't subscribe to. It's just I found an article she wrote which is bizzarely connected with my own extended medical situation.

Post Edited (Paul_H1) : 4/20/2011 9:20:01 AM (GMT-6)

I've just read it mik, and to be honest it has creeped me out a little bit. The strange thing is I was a telecoms engineer within the British army, and I served in the first Gulf conflict. I had all of the exotic vaccines (Anthrax, Bubonic plague, small pox etc) and the Nerve agent pre-treatment tablets. I can think of multiple incidences where I could have been exposed to depleted Uranium and chemical agents.

The latter is a strange one because before being deployed we was given a new piece of air sampling kit called NIAD. We was told that this kit was fully tested and fool proof, and if it goes off to get your respirator on quickly because it will be a real chemical attack. It went off 3 times while I was out there, each time I got my respirator on as quickly as possible. At the time I thought the kit must be typical British Army crap, but now I'm not so sure. Could I have been exposed to low levels of chemical agent?

about 2 years later I started feeling different. My hair on my face stopped growing and I had clumps of hair fall out from my head. Another 2 years later - then a civilian - I visited the GP for the first time with depression and fatigue. I had heard that other serving soldiers had similar problems and I joined the Gulf war veterans society for help. The GP at the time completely blanked me when I made the suggestion about GWS. With hindsight, i can understand why, as no research had been carried out at the time, the only indication was anecdotal. Anyway, she said it was all in my head and to go away and get on with my life. That's what I have done for the past 16 years, although I have been feeling relatively Ill for the whole period. I have never even thought about or mentioned GWS since that time, let alone research it. During the last 16 years my life has completely crumbled to nothing.

Over the past 12 months my depression along with additional symptoms had intensified to point - like I said on my original post - to a point where I needed to see the GP again. I was finding it harder to fight the symptoms. I thought it was the thing I had been living with for years intesifying and coming to its logical conclusion - I.E total meltdown.

Then by pure chance, at the weekend, my partner pointed out Lyme disease, which rang a bell because the lower list of my symptoms have only occured since a tick bite. I suppose it gave me hope of getting better, although I knew I had a pre-existing condition.

Now today I have found numerous websites mentioning both of them in the same breath. Bizarre. I don't know what to make of it all, I feel as though I've entered some William S. Burroughs novel. I'm just waiting for a phone call from a 6ft cockroach - that's a joke by the way. What the hell is micoplasma? It turns out that GWS might be caused by the same pathogen as Lyme, and therefore treatable with the same ABXs. The GP even brought GWS up when I saw him this week. That's a watershed isn't it? I didn't think UK GPs recognised the condition. Have I got Lyme from a tick or GWS or both? Or are they the same thing? Have I been re-infected? It really has thrown a massive spanner in the works. Maybe though, GWS is nonsense, and I just had depression and associated fatigue before, and now I have LD.

Apologies if i have gone off topic and rambled a bit, but i just wanted to share with you all how spooked I feel.

Post Edited (Paul_H1) : 4/20/2011 5:28:26 PM (GMT-6)