Lyme disease

What Lyme disease Feels like

The neighbor Greg (my lover and my friend) and I were heading back from Lavern, Oklahoma when I started getting a headache, I assumed it was from the drive. We were there for memorial day paying respect to his lost loved ones. The next few days the headaches got worse and my arms, knees and back started hurting.

The family reunion was being held the following weekend at Sportsman's lake in Seminole so Friday I rode with the neighbor to take my brothers camper to the lake. Came home with the neighbor feeling weak, drained and tired. I had to head back up there to drop off a few things and when the neighbor went to give me a kiss I barely kissed him, then pulled back. He was a little offended and I told him if you knew how I felt right now you would understand. I hurt all over, It's hard to explain , My skin just hurts.

While back at the lake with my family I started getting dizzy and feeling sick. I told everyone good night and started heading home in my little beretta. On the way home my skin began to burn like I had a sun burn all over but I had not been in the sun much at all that day. I assumed I was running a fever. The dizziness made my stomach turn and I had to pull over twice to ... relieve the pain. I thought about stopping at the ER at three different points but I was worried that I would not even make it to the door. It was 1:30am and there were no other cars out otherwise I would not have taken the chance trying to drive home. If I died it would suck but taking someone else out with me was out of the question. I called the neighbor when I got a little closer and asked him to have a thermometer ready because I just knew I had to be running a fever.

At the neighbor's house.. We took my temp and it was actually 96.2 so I was chilled? I asked the neighbor to run a hot bath for me. Figured if I was chilled the only way to get rid of the pounding in my head was to bring my body temp up. It worked as I laid slumped partially over the edge of the tub to keep from drowning, the pain eased and I started feeling sleepy. I crawled out of the tub to the floor and reached up grabbing the towel and stumbled a few times trying to walk before I finally gave up, my knees just hurt too bad, so I finished crawling to the bed. I drug the towel up with me and just laid on top of the towel. The neighbor was asleep on the couch and didn't know just how sick I really was.


Saturday We had no idea what was wrong with me so we decided I just might be dehydrated. The neighbor loaded me up with Gatoraid and water. Funny thing is my sinuses and stomach were fine. I just hurt all over and my skin still felt like it was on fire, I could hardly move my arms or legs.

The migraines would not ease up and by Sunday I knew I could not work. Boss man Yksel(aka Telli) owner of Frateli's Italian Restaurant told me to go to the doctor. The neighbor had things he had to do so he went down and paid $120 for the doctor visit then Gary and his daughter Marie came to the house and picked me up. Marie bless her heart, she stayed right by my side helping me walk. With no definite reasons for all my symptoms the doctor treated me for the headaches and sent me home.

Monday the pain was so intense it hurt severely just to lift up my arm. It burned like I had been lifting 100lbs over and over again. I could not walk with out help and my hip joints felt like someone was stabbing me there. My speech was starting to badly slur and I could not feel parts of my face. When I was talking to Joe Winett on the phone I was telling him what was going on and he told me it sounds like you have Lyme disease. After looking it up, I figuring he was probably right. I talked to the doctor once again. She agreed and added that it sounds like I was in the second stage. She put me on medication for it and Tommy paid for the prescription. By the third dose, The all over burning feeling went away. By the time a week passed, The headaches were few and far between. It took a week and a half to get to where it was not extremely painful to walk. I couldn't work for about 3 weeks. Most of which I could not sleep laying down because the pain in my shoulders was too intense. Just the weight of my own body made them hurt too bad. I don't take drugs and wouldn't have taken a pain reliever that was not over the counter even if I had any. When I would start crying while I was laying in bed in extreme pain I would just tell myself ,"shut up you are a lot better now than you were a week ago."

My current status

Thanks to the help and support of all my friends and family I feel great. Occasionally my shoulders still hurt. My lower back hurts most of the time but it's bearable. I have over come something that took me down and threatened to take me out.

So a personal thank you to those who aided in saving my life. Telli, Greg, Gary, Marie, Joe Winett, Dr. Pasquali, Tommy, and the rest of my friends and family who checked up on me and brought me food. I love you all and God bless you for taking care of me. Greg and Tommy paid my bills for the month I missed work so thank God for that as well.

Below is more about the disease........

What is Lyme disease

Lyme disease is a bacterial illness caused by a bacterium called a "spirochete." In the United States, the name of the bacterium is Borrelia burgdorferi. Certain ticks found on deer harbor the bacterium in their stomachs. Lyme disease is spread by these ticks when they bite the skin, which permits the bacterium to infect the body. Lyme disease is not contagious from an affected person to someone else. Lyme disease can cause abnormalities in the skin, joints, heart, and nervous system.

Bullseye Rash

In the early phase of the illness, within days to weeks of the tick bite, the skin around the bite develops an expanding ring of unraised redness. There may be an outer ring of brighter redness and a central area of clearing, leading to a "bull's-eye" appearance. Patients often can't recall the tick bite (the ticks can be as small as the periods in this paragraph). Also, they may not have the identifying rash to signal the doctor. More than one in four patients never get a rash. The redness resolves, without treatment, in about a month.

Second Stage

Weeks to months after the initial redness of the skin, the bacteria and their effects spread throughout the body. Subsequently, disease in the joints, heart, and nervous system can occur.

Third stage

The later Stages of Lyme disease can affect the heart, causing inflammation of the heart muscle. This can result in abnormal heart rhythms and heart failure. The nervous system can develop facial muscle paralysis (Bell's palsy), abnormal sensation due to disease of peripheral nerves (peripheral neuropathy), meningitis, and confusion. Arthritis, or inflammation in the joints, begins with swelling, stiffness, and pain. Usually, only one or a few joints become affected, most commonly the knees. The arthritis of Lyme disease can look like many other types of inflammatory arthritis and can become chronic.

Treatment

Most cases of Lyme disease are curable with antibiotics. This is so true that some authors of Lyme disease research have stated that the most common cause of lack of response of Lyme disease to antibiotics is a lack of Lyme disease to begin with! The type of antibiotic depends on the stage of the disease (early or late) and what areas of the body are affected.< full article