Mental illness and Lyme?

I will cut the history for now, I just have questions. I have had some relief from basic Lyme symptoms after nearly 2 years of on and off abx. I have been terrible about treating my Babs and oft times irresponsible w/ my Lyme abx and pills.

I was in treatment for depression before contracting Lyme. But after that tick bite all hell broke loose. Many issues and worsening of depression. Note: my depression and anxiety hit new levels which felt/feel more physically caused than mental.

Now, after almost 2 yrs of Lyme and Babs treatment, as well as many years of increased antidepressant doses, (xanax too), I have come to believe I am now bi-polar and at a high risk of having Borderline Personality Disorder. Won't go into all that, unless anyone feels a need to challenge this, then I'll tell you why.

The prognosis for these is pretty poor. Question: CAN or MIGHT LYme cause these issues? The emotional pain is unbearable. I understand that Lyme can and does cause depression. But do you believe that Lyme can/will cause bi-polar and/ or BPD?

If you have a story, I want to know about it.

IF I can renew and dedicate myself to the Lyme battle, can I whip these disorders? (depression, bi-polar, and BPD) Otherwise, I am sad because I cannot force my family to deal w/ such insanity and misery.

I will find a new doc if necessary, but would like to know what others of you think and/or know about all this.

 

+Lyme,

I suggest you get tested for mercury.  Most people with depressive issues have mercury toxicity.  A hair test is more accurate for mercury than a blood test.  Find a doctor, nutritionist, or chiropractor who can help you detox if you're found to have mercury in your body.  Detoxing too aggressiively can throw sensitive individuals into seizures, so it's important to do a slow and supervised detox.  If you have any silver-colored fillings, you'll need to have them replaced before you detox from the mercury.  It's best to have a biological or mercury-free dentist do this so you don't ingest the fillings.

Lyme magnifies these symptoms, so it's understandable that you feel worse now!  Lyme also tends to make the mental symptoms seem physical.

 

I too believe lyme can cause an array of psychiatric disorders. I had a total personality change. Was angy, raging, hating life, telling people off, etc. I had no idea it was from the lyme, just thought I was angry that I was sick. I am now enjoying life and my family and my job again. Now my husband is going through it. It is not easy but I believe with proper treatment and meds, you can feel "normal" again. I am on mild antidepressant and it has done a world of good. Best to you.

+Lyme,
I am so sorry to hear of your struggles! Hang in there and please do get back into treatment! I believe that you have been given some really good advice here. As Achievinggrace said, there is a ton of info out there on Psychiatric Lyme issues.

My experience with psychiatric type issues has been more extensive than I would even like to admit to most of the time, although it has not been as serious as you are suspecting. I have had severe paranoia, depression, anxiety and a few others. As I have gone through my treatment, things are gradually getting much better for me. So I would encourage you to not only go back to your LLMD and get back into treatment, but to be very diligent in taking the right meds at the right time and for the right amount of time.

I wish you the best and please do let us know how you are doing!

+Lyme,

Stay with some type of treatment, whether it be abx or natural route. There really is hope for improvement.

I had primarily neuro lyme and did seven months of abx, then went with homeopathic. I gradually regained mental balance and am so much better two years later.

The depression and anxiety were horrid. I had several suicide plans and thought about it often. I would read the obits just to see who was dying at a younger than normal age and fixated on their cause of death. The only person I really saw on a regular basis was hubby and I drove him crazy ... not pleasant to be around at all. I talked on the phone often to my adult children, but as they don't live close, there wasn't much they could do. But I certainly worried them, and sometimes (especially youngest DD) they just couldn't take it and had to pull away for a bit. I wasn't nasty to them, just so darned depressed.

I was on one point diagnoses bipolar, and have struggled with BPD (having it in the family makes it hard to fight!) ...I'm not sure if the Lyme actually physiologically causes these things...but the emotional toll of having a chronic illness, the frustration of being overwhelmed by symptoms and the stress of life mixing together...that horribly depressed feeling you get when you're disappointed by what you can't do because you're sick, that manic feeling you get when you're so thrilled to be able to enjoy even 5 minutes of seemingly normal life, plus the way being sick strips you of your personal identity...the way I see it all of this is bound to make us way more susceptible to mental illness. I know how hard it is to deal with both at the same time, but I strongly believe that once some of the Lyme symptoms improve, dealing with my emotional "symptoms" will also be easier. Plus having to deal with both at the same time will only make you stronger. If you can get through this, think of what life will be like when you start to get better...regular problems will seem like a breeze! Good luck with everything!

For those with Psychiactric issues and possible Lyme, yo might find this article quite informative. It's called "The Neuropsychiatric Assessment of Lyme Disease" and was written by Robert Bransfield, M.D. who is a psychiatrist that knows about Lyme and it's effect on the psyche. Here is a link: www.mentalhealthandillness.com/tnaold.html

Just some more info, as I believe very strongly that we need to be informed.

Dr. Bransfield is a Psychiatrist from New Jersey who has a great deal of clinical experience with Lyme Disease patients. I have read a lot of his papers and found that his observations correlate with my experiences.

See this link where he notes numerous cases of rage, aggression and mental illness associated with Lyme infection.

http://www.mentalhealthandillness.com/Articles/AggressionAndLymeDisease.htm

HELP! I have a 19 year old daughter, who was diagnosed by an EXCELLANT Lymes Specialist in Jackson, NJ. She will NOT use any lab for the very important "Western Blot" test with the exception of one lab in California.

I have been told, when I asked this Dr, if it's "possible" if my daughter has had Chronic Lymes for 7+ years? She simply said "Yes". My reason for asking if 7 plus years was possible is that my once sweet, loving, daughter, became severely depressed, school grades plummeted, started cutting, and became angry at "me", her very loving, nurturing mom approx 7 years ago.

The progression of these "Mental", in nature symptoms has now reached a point of her alienating from me, which has me more broken hearted than any great mom deserves....but I must tell myself that this is "not" my daughter anymore. She is currently in a "supposedly" "Dual Diagnosis" Rehab outside Dallas, Texas. We live close to Atlantic City, NJ. This occurred, after she went off an antipsychotic med called Saphris 10mg, which is by far the best med my daughter has been on to control her Bipolar?? severe mood swings that reach a proportion, way too often, requiring the local police intervention. She was involuntarily committed to our local hospital "psych ward" for 7 days. I knew she needed a minimum of 3 month rehab, as the (6) thirty rehabs she has previously been in, had zero positive outcome.

Well...I found this rehab thru an 888 # found on the Internet. BEWARE!!!! As I have learned the hard and expensive way, this can be a shady business giving false promises. The "very helpful" saleswoman....basically, who listened to me for 20 hours describe my daughter has having 90% Mental Issues, 10% Recent Drug Issues, only when off antipsychotic MEDS, PROMISED this facility outside Dallas, called the "Treehouse Rehab" WAS THE ANSWER for ALL her issues.

I, of coarse explained her recent (Oct 2015) diagnosis of Chronic Lymes, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, High Cortisol related Thyroid condition, Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder. She also has been treated for "Mucosal Pneumonaie"(Walking Pneumonia), which is the result of Chronic Lymes. I am guessing many do not realize this may occur with Chronic Lymes. But her EXCELLANT Lymes Specialist "knew" to test for this. I was horrified when I received her blood test result in early April 2016 for "Walking Pneumonia", as normal range is 0-99. My daughters result? 350!!! Antibiotics were prescribed. At this point, my daughter is on her way home??

After 4 VERY UNSUCCESSFUL weeks at this Awful Rehab, which told me recently, they are "not equipped" to handle the "Mental Issues" my daughter presents with?!?! I, meanwhile, am out $26,000!!!! Btw, when she arrived on May 21, 2016, on Depakote 250mg, twice daily, they "yanked" her off this important drug, as she had NOT reached a "Theurapeutic" Level required, to then restart the best antipsychotic med, Saphris, which is sublingual, and she will NOT keep under her tongue the required 10 minutes to get into her bloodstream, needed to become Theuraputic, until another oral anti psychic med is given first for 10-14 days. At week 3, at this Bad Rehab, I received a call from the CEO of this Rehab, and listened in horror as he described a "schizophrenic" sounding daughter!!?? He stated he was transferring her to a "State of Texas Psychiatric Ward", later stating there were NO beds available!!?!? Why? I asked did you NOT follow her prior Psych Ward discharge plan of continuing Depakote for minimum 5 days switching then to Saphris??? He had no answer.

Many may not believe what occurred next....but what mom would ever make this up????!!! She was allowed to walk off this 40 Acre Rehab property, in the very bad mental state she was in!!!! What occurred, after she "hitch hiked"....never did this before, for the next 10 days NO mother should ever endure!! She was in a mostly "Grandiose" and "Delusional" state of mind. She turned against me, stating I was "not her birth mother"??!! Said thru texts to random ex friends she was having an alien baby!! Her Millionaire movie star was the baby daddy!! She was friends with "Julia Roberts"!!!! I have NEVER witnessed this bizarre behavior by my daughter!!!! She ended up in a "Middle Eastern Brothel"...but fled, on Thursday June 23 2016, hours after I received a "Death threat" from Middle Eastern man in charge!

The Dallas police REFUSED earlier that same day to list my daughter on an "Emergent Missing Persons List" as they called the "Treehouse Rehab" first, whom lied, stating my daughter was 100% Mentally Stable, when she walked off their Rehab Property?!?!

Thank GOD, our local police dept, put her on this "Emergent" list. She WAS located thru this list, as she was reported to Dallas police, by a Hotel, who stated she was at their bar since fleeing Brothel that Thursday Night, and still there the following day. She explained to kind personal, that she had no money, no cell phone, or any ID....as ALL had been left behind at Brothel in town 20 miles away. She was bare foot, with badly blistered feet, in tattered clothing, sobbing with her head on the bar. The kind staff fed her and allowed her to sleep on their lobby couch. I received a call from an extremely kind Dallas Police officer, whom the concerned hotel staff called the following night...a Saturday night. We both agreed to have her checked out by the local hospital Psych Ward, but they said "she was fine"??? I set her up at the beautiful Hyatt in downtown Dallas, with a paid flight home on June 28, of last month. I do NOT know what occurred on the Monday, before her flight, as she was somehow sent back to the Bad Treehouse Rehab??!!

I believe her fathers sister, her Aunt, reported her to Dallas Police, as they did call me, and said she had called them, and described my daughter in a VERY BAD MENTAL STATE, which she was NOT, that is until 5 Dallas Police escorted her from Hyatt to another Psychiatric hospital for a well check. Why? You may ask would her own dads sister, her "favorite" aunt do such a thing? One reason...she was to pick her up at airport the following day, and let her stay at her dads home, they shared. She promised she would ensure her proper MEDS were taken. But...she changed her mind, as I worried she would, knowing she was the only option, as my daughter had an unspecified, unexplained hatred for me, her mom. She was NOT admitted, but my daughter thought I called the police on her!!! I tried in vain to explain I certainly would not pay for Hyatt nor a flight home and then call police on her!! She hung up on me. She then unravelled. Police were called back...leading her back to this Horrific Rehab!! I believe they only took her back as I gave the CEO, a good reaming out, telling him the day after my daughter was allowed off their property, EVERYTHING they did wrong! I believe this CEO, knowing they did "wrong" by my daughter and me, tried to cover his tracks, as falsified med records were sent, along with the sudden remark made that discharge instructions were NEVER received??

Sooooo, they then put her on a antipsychotic med called Zyprexa??? Not Depakote? They NEVER asked if this med had been tried before? If it disagreed with her?? The CEO, after little more than a week back at this "Circus" Rehab, has NOW SAID....again...not allowing my daughter to even reach a "Theuraputic level on this med, making any therapy successful....that they are NOT the FACILITY for her problems?!?! They said she MUST BE DISCHARGED ASAP???!!! It is up to ME to decide where she will now go??? I am barely holding it together...as they are suggesting "Sober Living Facilities"???? Drugs have NEVER been a problem for my daughter until this past April, when she self medicated, at a concert, far from home at end of this past April, forgetting not only ALL HER CHRONIC LYMES Supplements but her antipsychotic med along with thyroid drug. I apologize to anyone whom has taken the time to read my very lengthy blog.

What I am very curious about is this....could "Chronic Lymes" of 7+ years be causing ALL OR MOST of my daughters Many Mental Issues??

It seems impossible to me, that one person, so young, raised In a nurturing loving home, by Great parents, given a horse for 9 years....as I prayed, being such Theurapeutic animals, and she did have a love for equestrian riding, that this would help with her severe anger, mood swings, hatred of me, her loving mom, that a horse would "heal" her. This, of coarse was NOT the outcome.

If anyone out there has any MUCH NEEDED ADVICE, as to where I can send my daughter, as she is being flown home on July 12 2016. Our home, unfortunately...is NOT an option, as she refuses to see me?!?! My heart is truly broken, as I am the ONLY ONE NEVER to GIVE UP ON HER! There are no relatives willing to help either.

If you prefer emailing me I can be reached at ######

Thank you to those whom have read my lengthily blog. Nanci

Post Edited By Moderator (Girlie) : 7/9/2016 1:29:37 PM (GMT-6)

Hi Nanci, welcome to our community!

I am so sorry for what has transpired...that is terrible...I also think you need to get in contact with the LLMD.


You will see I edited your post - I had to break it up into smaller chunks..as it was difficult to read the way it was.

I went ahead and removed your email address and phone number. As Traveler stated, you can enable your forum email option through "My Profile".

Welcome to the forum. So sorry for what you and your daughter are going through.

It also sounds familiar to me, of my own daughter. She's lived everyplace I have, where I've contracted Lyme, etc., and she went pretty close to the same route mentally and virtually over night, except for the ovarian cystitis that occurred earlier and continues to today. She is clinging to the Fibromyalgia diagnosis and refuses to consider Lyme or any other tick borne infection. She too claimed I wasn't her mother, she hated me. Started a fire in our basement before we left for our store, tried to kill herself with my pills, refused to take her prescriptions from the psych ward tried to run over me with her car.....fortunately at this time her infections are concentrating on her jawbones and whatever teeth she has left, her knees and back. I think she got infected when she still lived at home here where I live, back around 1998.

I also think hormonal changes played a factor because she was 17-18 when things went wrong and they went wrong very fast.

ETA. Saying "fortunately" came out wrong, I meant that she's not so violent with dangerous tendencies now and her bi-polar behavior has diminished to mainly depression. Plus at least now she claims to love me.



This disease does manage to mess with our personalities and I think whatever self control we have or had at our best moments of our lives, dissolve away when are brains are affected by this.

I used to have to force my mind to quit imagining having horrific auto accidents while I'm driving. They would start in, in my head and play out in slow motion detail. I've had very disturbing nightmares, problems with dream-like random, non-sense thoughts while I'm awake that were totally out of my control.

When someone's around that likes to push my buttons when my nerves are very much on edge and have to find seclusion somewhere or I lose it, crying or yelling. Or throwing things.

Post Edited (julymorning) : 7/9/2016 7:46:05 PM (GMT-6)