Posted 7/25/2011 7:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hi--I have not posted in some time, and forgot my orig name so have this new one(Ca Kid previously , i think ) Sorry for the long read, but..I checked in and had to respond, as my family lived such a nightmare..my mom was NEVER the same, after Prednisone......... I have been doing alot of researching, reading and THINKING, alot, going over family histories, my OWN memories, etc. My Mom, who had a chronic cough all her life from childhood..and Rheumatic fever as a child also, was given oral prednisone at about age 80 by a hot shot young doctor to treat the cough. He gave her a standard high oral dose 60mg to start--weaning to zero in two weeks time) , she was given the often standard directions for a fast/rapid withdrawal in 2 weeks time frame...however, she suffered a total VERY painful slow collapse in 6 weeks following the final dosage ,and daily worsened as the "too fast weaning" took place, ...she had massive head pain, weakness, malaise, all she could do was eat and sleep.....she finally reached a "Catatonic State" (yes she complained to the hot shot doc, he shrugged her off, she endured WEEKS of "head in a vice kinda pain" and complete downward spiral)..That young DR.....He very obviously DID NOT EVEN KNOW that SOME PEOPLE suffer terrible consequences via rapid withdrawal--my mom, was one of them,,,,,now, I wonder......could there have been a Lyme link??)) her whole body sort of shut down--akin to renal failure --we almost could not get her into the car to get to the hospital, she was inches from a total, physical collapse...at the hospital emergency room , she was "brought back to life" with liquid steroids, I witnessed this whole senario, not once, but TWICE- I attended her daily life since 2003 .....after she was revived by IV steroids at the hospital, it was REQUIRED she have another round and wean off ...but the very SAME doctor directed another RAPID withdrawal from drug, ..same as first time..(we came to learn that corticosteroids withdrawal should take place in tiny increments, over course of many MONTHS--i knew more than the doc before we were thru)....my dear mom suffered yet ANOTHER TOTAL collapse, 3 days in the hospital....I was researching all the while, and finally realized what was happening, and convinced the DOCTORS it was the DRUG inself causing this horrible state she reached again....She herself said had she known what a nightmare the drug could be, she would have shunned it, altogether....... in hindsight (She passed away a little over a year ago) I have begun to theorize, in the backwards musing........my Mom, a CA native was raised in numerous lumber camps and forested areas in CA all her life (her dad in the lumber business). there is a strong likelyhood she had tick exposure, even as a baby, OR that HER Mom had tick exposure ( she was born in WA, but her family immigrated from the Dakotas, and Wisconsin area , where they were farmers in the 1850s--I have snapshots of my Grandfolks and my mom about age 1, "camping" at a CA lake, in 1922/23. All of them, right down in the logs and bushes....the whole family, were naturalists! Her own mother had respiratory troubles, and arthritis, --her Mom's sister DIED of asthma when in her 40s....I began to think, gather together these thoughts and clues, ----if Lyme bacteria can be passed in Pregnancy, perhaps it has been a part of this family lineage, for decades ? It is not NEW, it's been around for thousands of years!? my Brother suffered terrible tonsillitis as a baby...I had a tick bite near redding CA as a kid, about 1964.65, age 6/7 ..tick was fully embedded and plumped, likely was in place awhile/////and shortly thereafter in the SAME time frame,.,,I reported "floaters" to my Mom who was concerned enough to take me to an eye specialist. Little, but i remembered this, which may have been significant, and tick bite connected....Was I first "infected" at that time? My Brother, had a "lazy" eye, as a kid...I, from some point in my own childhood suffered repeated tonsillitis.... all my childhood,,,would get antibiotics, it would come round again...year after year..... My PA, the backyard guy/mowing etc, with pets/lap cats///// where we live NOW is smack dab in tick country, he likely received bites HERE since '69, but was also exposed to ticks as a small child in Eastern Oregon in the mid to late 20s where my Granddad was a water engineer....used to come in from forays into the high desert scrubbrush=buckbrush and hand over his clothes, my G'ma would pick the ticks off.. HE, my Grandfather suffered terrible lung troubles, and asthma much of his life.....I relate all this BECAUSE: it is ones family history, and thinking backwards that often reveals clues and insights ...my MOM had a notion that her cough was familial...or genetic, inherited,,,each time she'd see a new doctor and try to get relief, she would relate her aunts premature death...my mom was smart--she thought it was a significant factoid,,,,,, not a SINGLE doctor considered she might have allergies triggering her chronic cough, OR that someone with allergies often has a compromised immune system, she was never referred to either an allergist, nor immunologist.......a body already fighting bacteria, gets hit HARD, .........maybe "inherited" is/was this bacterial infection of the blood, going BACKWARDS, to my early ancestors!?.....My Pa, 89 has had these things occur since living here in Northern CA since 1969--w/deer in the adjoining wildland parcel, walking thru the property:
Bells Palsy, occular eye pressure, visual auras, sudden hearing loss, high blood pressure, heel pain, severe vertigo, and what doctors consider fringe dementia (he is sharp as a tack, but I see subtle signs as he ages)...he has had HAD "bites" surely--and likely not all were addressed w/antibiotics.. I begin to think that much of the illnesses of the world could be related to tiny bacteria......BELLS and WHISTLES went off when I thought about my Mom's 2 collapses, after i found and read an online Lyme"Essay" in which one doctor suggested NO ONE with LYME should be given Steroids!!!!!! ....not a single doctor thought to EVER thought to test her for Lyme disease (which commonly manifests as respiratory/lymphatic ailments), nor did they delve into family history (her background=where she lived, was brought up, etc, what was she exposed to?........ ALL the GP's, specialists, labs, hospital itself completely missed the cancer that led to her passing !!!!--she was diagnosed 7 days before passing, her pancreas, kidneys,liver totally involved....cancer can take hold in stressed or compromised immune systems..... I write all this, relate it all, just in case......it might "ring a bell" for someone else...my Dad's Bell's Palsey was attributed to Shingles......his heel was attributed to Gout. No Doc ever suggested let's look at Lyme. At 89, standard AB treatment would wipe him out...."living with Lyme", lots of folks are probably doing it. Thanks for reading...