Posted 3/3/2015 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
My dates are fuzzy but close.
I have had some minor issues (G.I., Reynolds, upper respiratory infections, etc) with my health for years before getting really ill. However, I had a strong constitution and plowed on. I love the out doors! I live on 100 acres of forested mountains, surrounded by hundreds more. My 3 dogs are free range, outside only dogs and ticks are as common as ants here. I have been bitten (as in fully embedded) by at least 25 ticks in the past 11 years. And those are just the ones I knew about. Even though my cousin and husband have tested positive for Lyme, I figured no big deal, they got better after a month or two on ABX. I never got a rash or bullseye unless I mistook it for poison ivy. I was an avid hiker and would spend all day out in the woods hunting for ginseng, mushrooms, wild herbs, etc. at least 2-3 times a week. Lyme was never a concern.
Now it sounds like I lived a healthy lifestyle. Nope, not even close. I smoked, drank, ate junk everyday and drank diet sodas. I figured I was active and happy, why change.
In 2010 our property got hit with a huge flood. The house was under water up to the ceiling. (We live on a creek.) It took us 6 months of hard, hot work to clean up the mess and rebuild. I never seemed to get my energy back after that. The rest of my family bounced back pretty quick. I was also working a full time job at the time.
In 2011 we bought a restaurant. I continued to work my job and then went to the business for the dinner rush and weekends. I lost weight (not a big deal, down to 123).
In Jan 2012 my job transferred me 50 miles away. I was required to commute where as before I was 10 minutes away from home and across the street from our business. I went into a melt down!
In hind sight I over stressed and took it personal. I had 20 years in so quitting was not an option (or so I thought). I got sick...real sick. Depression was suicidal. My body ached from head to toe. My daughter (an RN) dragged me to every doctor she knew. I was DX with Fibromyalgia, low thyroid, and depression. I went on medical leave from my job but I was still felt useless at the restaurant. I was on so many drugs, I was a zombie. I could see in my families faces that they were scared...and that scared me.
In Nov 2012 I quit smoking and started eating a little healthier, a month later I ditched the diet sodas and after that I went gluten free.
Early 2013 I got off all the meds except the one for my thyroid and took a medical retirement from my job. The depression eased up but the pain was still there. I was put on prednisone and they put cortisone injections into my back. I worked just a few hours a week at the business and didn't hike, garden or play in the creek.
All of 2014 was a blur. I just sat and cried a lot. I didn't do housework, laundry or cook. I ballooned up to 180 pounds real fast, and I didn't care. In Dec my family sold the restaurant. My health was the major factor for the sale. I was glad not to have to drum up the energy I didn't have to go there. My gums are sore and bleed all the time and my teeth are very loose. The DDS said I have major bone loss.
This year(2015). Early Jan I went to get out of bed one morning and my legs buckled. I broke a bone in the top of my foot. That was my wake up call. It was time to start figuring out what was wrong with me and how to fix it. The doctors didn't care. They just wanted me drugged up. I started reading everything I could on the internet about Fibro and there were so many references back to Lyme. Why didn't any of the doctors see the signs? One did an Elisa test and it came back neg. That was it, they never asked me about ticks or where I lived. I know I don't have Fibromyalgia...I have Lyme and some co infections!!!
So everyday since breaking my foot I sit and read all day about chronic Lyme. At the end of Jan I started a Buhner/Cowden mixed protocol. (one week on Coden, next week on Buhner, etc.) Plus vitamins, probiotics, minerals and a Lyme diet. (Oh, and I quit drinking alcohol too even though it was a nice pain killer). I made an appointment with a LLMD but he is so backed up. My appointment is for the middle of next year! I will do what I can in the mean time, however they said I will more than likely get in this year on a cancellation.
So here I am....week 6...the start of getting the old me back (well, minus all the unhealthy stuff I used to do). Thank you all for the wonderful information you provide.