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How does Lyme affect us as we age?

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Posted 3/1/2015 4:12 AM (GMT 0)
I've been wondering about something. I asked my LLND and she answered, but I thought I might get more straightforward answers from you all.

I've been wondering how Lyme will affect me in the future. I'm currently 43, and was very healthy prior to my Lyme infection. My understanding is that our goal is to get our Lyme to a point where our immune systems can handle it.

What I wonder is, as I age, will I be more susceptible to Lyme flares because of deteriorating health? Will I be affected by other illnesses more than the general population because my immune system is tied up with the Lyme?

I've also read that a lot of folks with MS, Lupus, Fibro, etc., have Lyme. Does anyone know if those conditions are actually Lyme symptoms, or if people with Lyme are more susceptible to AI conditions because of the toll Lyme takes on their immune systems?

Do y'all have any experience or research on this?
Posted 3/1/2015 4:55 AM (GMT 0)
Im thinking it will depend on how we take care of ourselves as we age.

If we eat healthy, exercise, get our sleep, manage the stress, and continue to take some supportive herbs - I'm hoping we'll be ok.

That is if I can get to healthy/symptom free first.
Posted 3/1/2015 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I imagine it does matter how we take care of ourselves. But I'm questioning whether we'll be worse off despite doing everything we can be doing to keep our Lyme in check.
Posted 3/1/2015 6:21 PM (GMT 0)
Not necessarily - some Lyme patients (even chronic Lyme patients) go on to live a very healthy and active life from what I've read. Of course it depends on how well we take care of ourselves and it will take us doing all we can to stay health and active.

There are many conditions that are misdiagnosed Lyme infections, MS, Lupus, Fibro and soo many more. There are over 300 other conditions that are misdiagnosed and are actually Lyme infections.

Can Lyme lead to other AI issues? Sure, so can a lot of things though. When working backwards on a time line, many things can be linked together, but does that mean that we will eventually develop these conditions? No. There are many people that don't have continued issues with their health simply because they once had Lyme disease.

We have to be careful not to scare the daylights out of ourselves when researching. Just because there is a slight chance that a person that had Lyme will go on to develop another condition, surely doesn't mean that it will happen to us.

I have a large chance of having cancer because both sides of my family have had many different types of cancer - does that mean that I will get cancer? Not really, only that I have an increased chance. But now that I've had Lyme twice (& once was for 40 yrs), does that increase my chances? Maybe slightly, but I could have easily ended up with it anyway.

I actually believe that having had Lyme has brought my health to such a forefront of my thinking and daily life that I now have less of a chance of not only developing cancer, but in that if I do, it will be able to be treated quickly and easily because I'm so very aware of my health and how to take care of myself.

So to me this isn't a weight around my neck to pull me down, but an eye opener to help me be sure that I take care of myself to keep other conditions from happening.
Posted 3/1/2015 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, truly, my Lyme diagnosis has made me become as healthy as I can be. Without the Lyme, I would not be eating as well as I have been and taking care of myself as much as I am.

I wasn't really thinking of it as a weight around my neck, it was more that I want to be prepared for what to expect. :-)
Posted 3/1/2015 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for posting this Jasperilla. This is a very interesting question that I am pondering as well. Several years ago my LLMD said off the cuff, "Well I have no idea what this will look like when you go through the change" I tucked that remark away. At the time I was doing great. Symptomatic free. Now I "have changed" and am struggling once again. I will be 55 and was diagnosed and initially treated in 2006. I think my immune system has changed as my body chemistry has. For many years I never got a cold, flu or stomach virus. This year I have had a fibril virus twice!

My husband has urged me to get ahold of this reminding me kindly (and I do mean in a nice way), that I am not as young as I was and it will get harder to make a come back. I see my LLMD tomorrow morning. We will discuss "what's next"

I do take care of myself. I watch what I eat - very little junk, sugar and carbs. But bodies change.

I would appreciate any comments from the "mid life" set.

PT
Posted 3/2/2015 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
Purple Tulip, yes this is exactly what I'm talking about! I'm finding it fascinating as well! I wasn't impressed with my LLND's response, she seemed to be more theorizing than providing me with any real knowledge, and my Google search didn't yield many satisfying results either. I just think maybe there's not much (if any) concrete information out there.

It seems only logical that it will affect us as we age, because as we get older, our immune systems become less efficient, slower to respond, and just overall not as good. I would think this puts us at higher risk for our Lyme to overpower us again, or for us to be more susceptible to other things because our immune system already has enough on it's plate.

I don't know a lot about medicine, but I'm not sure there are any other bacterial infections that people live with for their entire lives and are constantly battling without ever truly totally eradicating them. To me, it would be a very interesting field of study to learn about how the aging body handles this.
Posted 3/2/2015 2:03 PM (GMT 0)
I guess it depends on whether you believe you can completely eradicate Lyme or you get to the point where your immune system says, "ok I've got this, you can stop the extra help (antibiotics, herbs or whatnot). I've found the second to be the case. And I've gone long stretches where my body is handling it all just fine, With short little pushes til the minor symptoms my body isn't able to handle leave again.

So that brings me to the above post. My body chemistry has changed. I'm trying to find the new balance. And trying to understand what this is going to look like from now on.

Thanks again for posting this.

Pt

Btw I went at least 5 years undiagnosed. Maybe if if
I had found better help sooner?.
Posted 3/2/2015 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know that we've gotten that far with research yet, considering they still don't have reliable ways to test for or treatment for these infections yet - so no one (other than us) are even looking at what it does to our lives down the road - they are still looking at the beginning of the infection and how it happens.
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