I have had the insufferable Lyme disease for 10 years now, which is half of my life, because I'm only 21 years old.
I don't have memories of even being healthy because I was infected at such a young age.
I was first infected when around 11 years old. Because the disease is so misunderstood, it took 4 years for me to be diagnosed and treated. At this point, the illness becomes chronic, difficult to get back into remission, and wreaks complete havoc on the nervous system and brain.
Doctors kept telling me that I was okay and there was nothing wrong with me and that it was in my head.. Even though I was rotting away. It got to the point where I was under 100 pounds,bedridden, so lifeless, and slowly dying. I couldn't go to high school anymore and had to have teachers come to my house.
Doctors kept telling me that I was okay and there was nothing wrong with me and that it was in my head.. Even though I was rotting away. It got to the point where I was under 100 pounds,bedridden, so lifeless, and slowly dying. I couldn't go to high school anymore and had to have teachers come to my house.
Finally, I met a Lyme Literate Doctor in Mount Kisco, NY, who tested me properly and saw that I had a full blown Lyme infection and Babesia infection.
After the IV antibiotics I wasn't on the brink of death anymore and I was able to walk again. I was still sick though. Then while I was at Penn State, I started to have my symptoms come back. I also experienced intense mental disturbances because of the toxins, mold, and the Lyme and co-infections.
I was hospitalized and then it got so bad that I had to just leave. I took off during finals week and drove down the east coast. I lived in a tent in the forest for the summer in North Carolina and my symptoms started to get better, physically and mentally. It seems that I was away from mold exposure and toxins, so my body was starting to heal a bit. Though I still had symptoms. I moved in with my grandmother and started to feel improvement with exercise, diet, and supplements. I continued to have a lot of symptoms and throughout my entire 10 years, I have never felt okay.
Then I moved to Florida, which is where I am living currently. A month or so of living here, I became so ill again. I was getting tonsillitis every month and was given antibiotics every time. I don't have any allergies, so I know it wasn't that. Florida houses have a ton of mold though and I definitely lived in a moldy apartment. So it killed my immune system and brought back the Lyme. My stomach also has always been so toxic and messed up because of all the antibiotics I've been on.
A few months ago when school was still in session, I was becoming bedridden again. Things were getting really bad, I was getting flashbacks of my bedridden, dying days that I had in high school. I was missing all my classes and when I could muster up energy to go, I couldn't even drive so my dad had to drive me. When school stopped, my body wasn't under extra stress, so I felt a little better. I have lost so much weight and I am right back where I was in high school, though not as severe (I was literally dying).
Now I hope for a happy ending to this story. Only time will tell. Thanks for reading.
