This is the story of my brother-in-law John
(not his real name) who suffered for so many years with Lyme disease and his
amazing recovery once the real cause of his symptoms was discovered and
appropriate treatment given.
John moved to southern Humboldt County in
Northern California in 1983. His wife (my sister) and two small children had
bought a house on 20 acres that was two miles down a private gravel road. The
land is hilly, mostly forested with grassy meadows and brush. They maintained their
own power and water systems and use wood for heat. All this requires a lot of
hiking around the property to maintain the long pipe from the spring and the
gathering of wood for the winter.
The insect pests around their home are
mosquitoes, chiggers and ticks. Deer wander freely on the land. If you have to
walk in the grass and bush you may get bitten.
John can’t remember when he first heard about
Lyme disease, but it was some years after he had moved there. He learned that a
bite from a Lyme infected tick would give you a bull’s-eye rash and mild flue
like symptoms. Later the symptoms would develop into swollen and sore joints.
John never experienced these particular
symptoms, even though in retrospect, he now suspects he did have Lyme disease as
far back as the 1980’s or early 1990’s. Lyme disease is a subtle disease. He
says that you can feel fine most of the time and when you don’t, well sometimes
you don’t feel your best and that’s life. It happened that Lyme disease had
just been discovered in this area about 10 years earlier. Lyme disease is now
found in many areas of the US besides its hot spots in the Northeast.
John started having symptoms he could not
ignore around 1997, and overall body soreness mainly centered in his upper
body. It was painful to take a deep breath and the pain interfered with his
sleep and left him with very low energy. The answer to the pain was Aleve (noproxen
sodium) one tablet morning and evening. For the low energy he started taking
Ritalin, a mild time release amphetamine, 10 mg morning and midday. The Aleve
and Ritalin treated the painful symptoms and allowed him to perform in a high
stress job.
Around 2004 his mind seemed clouded, he had
trouble controlling his emotions and was quick to anger. When he explained this
to his doctor, he was prescribed Wellbutrin and that controlled those symptoms.
His years of treating the symptoms and not the
disease came to an abrupt end in 2009 when he was hospitalized for bleeding
ulcers, the result of taking Aleve for all that time. Now that he was allergic
to the most effective pain reliever he became desperate to discover the reason for
his symptoms and the permanent cure for his sore body.
A neighbor suggested he see a new doctor at the
local clinic. After many negative test results for a variety of other diseases,
the doctor asked if he had ever been tested for Lyme disease. He had not
because he did not have the classic symptoms of joint swelling and joint pain.
The doctor took a sample of blood and sent it
to the laboratory to be tested for Lyme disease. It was POSITIVE in the screen test and confirmed
by the more specific Western Blot method. John had late stage Lyme disease
which was diagnosed with a simple blood test and after all these years of
suffering, proper treatment could be started to treat the cause of his symptoms.
Testing was also done to see if he had two of
the common co-infections associated with Lyme disease: - Babesia, which was positive; and
Ehrlichia which was negative.
His general blood count and the test CD-57+ to
check his immune status were all normal.
John went on a two month regime of doxycycline antibiotics.
Though taking antibiotics for that long was tough he was happy to finally find
and treat his disease. Within a couple of months he started feeling less pain
and went from taking twelve Tylenol a day to just two at night. His mind also
became clearer; he was better able to focus, was less anxious and had better
control of his temper.
He feels that the multi-year onset of the
symptoms of Lyme disease were subtle. As he aged he was less able to cope with
them. The recuperation was long as well. In the five years since the end of his
treatment he still feels like his health both physical and mental is improving.
He has since discovered many people of his area
were also treated for Lyme disease. He asks newcomers now if they have been
tested for Lyme disease. He wishes someone had mentioned it to him years ago. Find out more about Lyme disease and the controversies surrounding it by clicking here.
