my family thinks im crazy..

My husband has been supportive from the start...he new I had something seriously wrong with me. But, when I watched the "Under our Skin" video with him...it really got his attention.

He wants to buy it and make copies to take to work and have all his co-workers watch it. Bless him!

have them read this forum!! yes lyme symptoms are so messed up and awful- yet to others people with lyme don't always look sick- and they don't understand the anxiety and depression and sickness is so horrible.

This is my first response on this site and in this group. I am 71 and wife is 66. Last winter we were both diagnosed with lyme. In addition to lime, i have babesia, bartonela, and some sort of internal fungul infection. With these diagnosis, wife and I finally know what has been following our lives since we've been born. We both believe we got our respective lyme from our mothers and even grandmas. The lyme diagnosis now explains 2 events which almost killed me but which the doctors at the time had no explanation. At age 18, I fell ill with recurring fever and it went as high as 107F. I should have been dead or brain injured, but 3 weeks in intensive care, and after only treating me with cold water constant rinses, i came back from death's door. They had absolutely no explanation for this fever. At age 38, i again landed in the emergency ward at our local hospital, this time with severe arythmia wherein my heart beat was under 30 beats per minute and those beats that did occur were so erratic and so forceful that it felt my heart would just jump out of my chest by itself. Again, after 3 weeks in intensive care the docs let me out and they just prescribed these little pills and said i have to be on them for about half a year. Again, upon being asked what caused my arythmia, they could just shake their heads and tell me that they did not know.

As a kid i had severe growing pains and aches that kept moving around and no one could figure out what i had. That is now a symptom of lyme.

I had severe gas problems and stomach cramps all through my childhood and teen years and i think i can lay that one on Lyme.

I had Bell's palsy twice, and that's a symptom of Lyme. My mom had it once.

I got bitten by a tick 9 years ago in BC, Canada, and i went to my doc then in Alberta, and he looked at my bulls eye rash that ended up lasting 2 months, and he took the tick that had bit me for analysis, and at the end he just told me that a bulls eye rash does not mean anything, and that there could be bugs that give you bull's eye rashes and they are meaningless.

With testing, i found out that i am totally contaminated with lead, mercury, and cadmium, as is wife. After 6 weeks of being on antibiotics, we have started strict regime of supplements and the herxing has crippled me. My right knee has swelled up and walking has become difficult since last February. The same has happened to my right elbow and my right shoulder. Our LLMD has been trying to address these issues and there is a bit of progress re my right knee. All this is hard for me to take because just a few years ago i was participating in running marathons.

Regarding wife, Lyme seems to have stalked her family of origin with psychiatric and psychological problems on her mom's side. M in law was one of a family of 4. 2 of them had to be hospitalized in govt psychiatric wards and they graduated from there in a sort of daft state of mind. Suicides and delusions have haunted many of her cousins.

From what we see, Lyme has now been given to our own two kids. Both show symptoms of lyme and they are not being treated at all. They have developed severe anger issues at their parents, and our son has also dropped out of society living on its margins with govt help. He is a single father of 2 young boys and this spring he has ended his third common law union and we now have no idea where he lives. We would not recognize our 2 small grandsons if we saw them. This family estrangement is so hard to bear.

So thats where i am with lyme. I know i am off topic here in my writeup of advice to you. All i can tell you, is that in spite of the things Lyme throws at you, life is still worth living, and that you should hold your head high and not let people's bad attitudes get to you. Love those who support you and get rid of people who bring you down. You do not need that. Thank you for reading my story. I will probably post more here over time. xfmlg

xfmlg, In order to be fair to both you and Jenuhful, I'm moving your post to a new thread, which you can find here: www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3198565&p=1

Thank you so much! All of you! I just can't seem to get over the guilt of being sick. I like to pretend it's not real. I was a caregiver and my mom passed away when I was 21, so I have a fond appreciation for what it means to be the sick family member. It breaks my heart every time I don't up to doing things with my son. I need a better perspective. I'm not letting my family down if I need to rest, I'm giving my body the strength it needs to conquer these little ******s! I can say these things and know that they are true, but I still feel awful.