Yes I know. Im sure this is
nothing new for those of you who have been educating yourselvs on the
subject of
Lyme
Disease. But for me its very new. I dont know what to do. I am in denial
one minute and thinking Im just crazy or a
hypochondriac. And then the
next minute I am in a panic because I am sure I have
Lyme
Disease and my doctor will not treat me. Please read my story and tell
me your personal opinion. No worries....I am not trying to diagnose
myself or expecting to get a real
medical diagnosis from
anyone but I just need to try to make sense of it all and figure out
some kind of starting point to create a "game plan".
I dont understand the time line as to when and how symptoms will appear so I guess I should start off by saying...I have pulled many ticks off of myself over the course of the years. I never thought anything of it since I spent several years on a farm in South Dakota, did a lot of camping and outdoor activities. Ticks were everywhere and it was nothing to pull one or more off when comming back from the feild, pasture, camping, the lake etc.... But now I have had a very distinct and clear bulls eye rash on my knee for nearly 2 months now. It started off pretty small but has trippled or more in size in the past 2 months. I was sure I had ringworm. I am outside everyday for hours. Landscaping and gardening is a huge passion of mine. I Did not consult my doctor and was trying to treat it at home with selson blue (someone told me it was good for ringworm) until I went to the doctor to refill my ADHD meds........ (which I might add was diagnosed with along with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder this past June NEVER had any of this my whole life except some depression and I am 36)... Anyway, I asked the doc to give me somthing for the ringworm on my knee and he emediatley told me it was not ringworm at all. That is clearly looks like "Erythem Migran(s?) and given the fact that you are outside and working in the garden so much I am going to order a blood test to rule out Lyme Disease. But the lab wont get the test back for a little over a week so for now we will just treat it as ringworm and if it doesnt go away in a week make another appointment". I had no idea what Lyme disease was at the time. Just knew it was from ticks and if I had it thought no worries. Some antibiotics and I will be fine. And went on to the next subject. Asked him what I could do about the horrible headache that wont go away and turns into severe migrains at times. I figured since I was quitting smoking I was tense and thus the reason for the headache and migrain. He told me to enroll in the "smoking sensations" class and then he will perscribe me something to help with the migrains to get me through. I went home not thinking twice about any of this. A few days past, the rash did not seem to be getting better but wasnt much a big deal to me. However I felt like I was comming down with the flu. I was so fatigued, my body ached terribly. I was having diarea, the migrains persisted and even got worse, my back and neck were so stiff I felt as if I was hit by a mack truck. My right leg was cramping up a lot and my foot was constantly cramping up even as I tried to sleep. I couldnt figure that out, just figured I needed to drink more water. However the symptoms became unbarable after a few more days so I went to the ER. They just sent me home n told me to fallow up with my doc. Went to my doctor the next day. He told me the ELISA test came back and I do not have Lyme disease. I have no fever so all the issues I am having are stress related. As far as the rash....well he decided it was ring worm. All because a blood test that is so inaccurate anyway especially in the early stages of Lyme came back Negative. Which they almost always do anyway. And here I still sit, suffering from symptoms. I dont know what to do at this point. But hey...the rash is starting to fade a little.
I dont understand the time line as to when and how symptoms will appear so I guess I should start off by saying...I have pulled many ticks off of myself over the course of the years. I never thought anything of it since I spent several years on a farm in South Dakota, did a lot of camping and outdoor activities. Ticks were everywhere and it was nothing to pull one or more off when comming back from the feild, pasture, camping, the lake etc.... But now I have had a very distinct and clear bulls eye rash on my knee for nearly 2 months now. It started off pretty small but has trippled or more in size in the past 2 months. I was sure I had ringworm. I am outside everyday for hours. Landscaping and gardening is a huge passion of mine. I Did not consult my doctor and was trying to treat it at home with selson blue (someone told me it was good for ringworm) until I went to the doctor to refill my ADHD meds........ (which I might add was diagnosed with along with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder this past June NEVER had any of this my whole life except some depression and I am 36)... Anyway, I asked the doc to give me somthing for the ringworm on my knee and he emediatley told me it was not ringworm at all. That is clearly looks like "Erythem Migran(s?) and given the fact that you are outside and working in the garden so much I am going to order a blood test to rule out Lyme Disease. But the lab wont get the test back for a little over a week so for now we will just treat it as ringworm and if it doesnt go away in a week make another appointment". I had no idea what Lyme disease was at the time. Just knew it was from ticks and if I had it thought no worries. Some antibiotics and I will be fine. And went on to the next subject. Asked him what I could do about the horrible headache that wont go away and turns into severe migrains at times. I figured since I was quitting smoking I was tense and thus the reason for the headache and migrain. He told me to enroll in the "smoking sensations" class and then he will perscribe me something to help with the migrains to get me through. I went home not thinking twice about any of this. A few days past, the rash did not seem to be getting better but wasnt much a big deal to me. However I felt like I was comming down with the flu. I was so fatigued, my body ached terribly. I was having diarea, the migrains persisted and even got worse, my back and neck were so stiff I felt as if I was hit by a mack truck. My right leg was cramping up a lot and my foot was constantly cramping up even as I tried to sleep. I couldnt figure that out, just figured I needed to drink more water. However the symptoms became unbarable after a few more days so I went to the ER. They just sent me home n told me to fallow up with my doc. Went to my doctor the next day. He told me the ELISA test came back and I do not have Lyme disease. I have no fever so all the issues I am having are stress related. As far as the rash....well he decided it was ring worm. All because a blood test that is so inaccurate anyway especially in the early stages of Lyme came back Negative. Which they almost always do anyway. And here I still sit, suffering from symptoms. I dont know what to do at this point. But hey...the rash is starting to fade a little.
