How long has it been?

I was diagnosed literally less than 24 hours ago...
So far I've been overcrowding my brain with information about this disease.
As far as I can recall, I've never had a tick bite or a rash... I'm sure I'm wrong though. I tested positive in a blood exam and to be quite honest it was extremely disappointing to have been unable to get any information out of my doctor. He basically called me and said: "you have Lyme disease, take this antibiotic for 3 weeks". And I left with a ton of questions. I'm highly considering seeing a different doctor that's more informed in the matter. So far I've been lucky enough to only feel the joint pain and fatigue... I'm always tired. It's tough because I feel like I've felt that way my whole life practically; some of the symptoms seem like things most people feel... depression, tiredness, headaches... Don't most people suffer from some of these at some point in their lives? Just lately I've been more tired than usual which is why I went to see the doctor. I thought it was iron deficiency or something. Is it possible to know how long you've had Lyme disease for? Does it go based on how your symptoms progress? I want to make sure I get the right treatment for it since my doctor seems to be practically useless.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for the suggestion Utahgal, from what I've been reading the dosage I had prescribed is no good (3 weeks of 100mg of doxycycline). So I'll be checking the site you suggested asap!

Hi Lymeinash,

Welcome to the forum! It's really good that you have all these questions and are starting to educate yourself.

If you have been feeling symptoms all your life, you might be looking at a long-term infection with a recent re-infection. There is really no way to tell until you start getting adequate treatment.

A good LLMD will test you for a lot of different things to rule out other problems and will get you on the road to wellness. You will have to be your own health advocate and gathering information is an important part of that.

You might want to try to write down all your symptoms and when you had them to get a feel for how long this has been going. Remember, the symptoms come and go and rotate over time.

Have a look at our "New to Lyme?" thread at the top of the forum; it has a lot of helpful information.

Welcome, Lymeinash! I'm also new here and just recently landed on the proper diagnosis. I wrote up my symptoms before my fist visit last week with an LLMD, including those that I'd always dismissed as "normal" for all human beings. The odd thing is, I know I was bitten by a tick in second grade, 30 years ago, and have felt sik ever since. But until I found this site I never connected all the dots! To sum it up, here are the rounds of symptoms I've had that came in waves and now all point to Lyme for me:

Elementary years: excise-induced fatigue, frequent "flu", headaches, fainting, dizziness, insomnia
Teen years: mild to severe headaches every single day from 7th grade to 12th grade, insomnia, joint aches and pains, knee grinding and joints slipping out of place (knee caps, hyper-extending elbows during sports), spider veins appeared, exercise-induced asthma and yawning, frequent sighing for no reason
College: Exhaustion & exercise-induced fatigue, severe insomnia, teeth decaying "from the inside"
Twenties: Extreme exhaustion, severe insomnia, adult acne, eye twitching began, painful feet, bouts of "Walking pneumonia", allergies developed and got progressively worse
Thirties: Extreme nausea (like days of a bad hangover or morning sickness), frequent dizziness, vertigo, heavy legs, a feeling of "floating" or not being connected to the world, finger and face tingling. But on the bright side, NO MORE DAILY HEADACHES!

Hope this list helps you identify whether what you have fits Lyme or just the usual human aches and pains of life. (I knew something was wrong with me but also attributed most of the exhaustion and headaches to life stress of being a young single parent and teacher in the inner city. So glad I was wrong and can finally get treatment!) Good luck to you!