I'm a 23-year old male. In the middle of May I traveled with some friends to a foresty area/beach in northeastern Europe. I had NO idea about
it then, but I found out today that this area is hopping with infectious ticks, to the extent that the tourist paths are often sprayed with tick repellent. I did walk around barefoot for a period of time, although it was mostly in the sand. We had to walk through quite a bit of forest as well and I would have had my pants rolled up with shoes on. I have no recollection of being bitten by a tick.
I had no rash of any sort -- although even if I did I might not have noticed it because I am black with pretty dark skin and I don't spend much time primping in front of the mirror. Additionally, that trip ended in chaos and trauma so my mind was on other things besides rashes.
about
a week/week and a half later I came down with something that seemed like the flu. Horrible headaches that I could ward off only with huge doses of ibuprofen, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, sore throat. I suspect I had a fever, although I didn't check my temperature. That went away after about
5 days during which I was totally out of service. It could have been EBV, I guess, although from what I've read EBV seems to last quite a bit longer.
Then, diarrhea for, like, a month. I knew it wasn't normal and should have gotten it checked out but I was living abroad and was nervous about
trying to navigate the local healthcare system. The diarrhea kind of went away toward the middle of June.
Fast forward to the end of June. I was back in the US. A few days after I'd been lifting weights, I noticed an odd tingling sensation in both arms; they would go totally numb overnight but "wake up" when I moved them around a bit. I chalked this up to the weightlifting. Then a couple of days later these sensations spread to my legs.
July -- neck pain, back pain, more tingling, numbness, unexplained sensations all over my body. A bit of fatigue but no real cognitive difficulties. Eyes that are sort of dry and burning but no visual impairment or double vision and no sensitivity to light. Awful headaches. Often dull pain in my wrists and knees. Depression, out-of-control anxiety and a total lack of desire to communicate with anyone. This is basically where I'm at right now.
I've been to several doctors, all of whom assumed what I was experiencing was related to the weightlifting and put me on prednisone, muscle relaxants, etc. None of it has helped. One of them even told me I must just be anxious and that I should speak with a counselor to, quote, "sort out [my] trouble spots." I've been going to a chiropractor. The adjustments help with the back pain but have done nil for the other symptoms. The last doctor I saw basically told me he couldn't see a logical relationship between the weight lifting and my symptoms considering their scope and the amount of my body involved. Brought up MS which sent me straight into a panic attack. Told me to go to a neurologist.
I have a neurologist appointment in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I just wanted to know, does this sound like a conceivable progression of symptoms in Lyme Disease? Again, I had no rash and don't remember having been bitten by a tick although I certainly could have been. That was a really adrenaline-y day as we were climbing among sand dunes and frolicking on the beach and I could have been bitten without noticing.
I'm terrified that it could be something like MS and while I don't by any means *want* Lyme Disease, at least it might treatable this early on.
Also, if anyone could PM me some information about
LLMDs in New Mexico, I would be eternally grateful. Thanks
Post Edited (nm108024) : 7/27/2015 3:37:21 PM (GMT-6)