Everyone has a Story

Once Upon a Time

A girl got sick for 7 years before being diagnosed with Lyme Disease, Babesia, and Bartonella infections.

I got a migraine that lasted for 1 & 1/2 years during my senior year of highschool. I missed alot of school but eventually it moved to just chronic migraines and I was able to go to College.
After 2 years of college, I started to get flares of illness – fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and anxiety. For awhile I just brushed it off, getting diagnosed with Bi Polar Depression and Anxiety disorder in the process.
I thought I was just having troubles with my mental state and my medications.. then things got worse.

My legs started to shake going downstairs which soon became noticeable, especially if there were no hand rails. And my dizziness began, I couldn’t go up stairs without the world spinning around me. Everything was falling apart and I had no idea why.. I stayed in bed alot, had to go home early from parties, and frequently missed out on outings with friends.
The only way I managed to pass classes was literally by crying to my professors.. professional right??

Then my symptoms came to a head about 2 years ago, I had a seizure at work and that finally got me some attention!
I started going to dr after dr with a going total of 25 (which happens to be my age… hah).
I actually went to body talk and was told horrible stories about the poor souls of raped and murdered girls that clung to my soul… um help?
Finally I had to drop out of school, I just couldn’t learn anymore.. it was like I was trapped in a clear jello with no way of pushing through to the words.
So i decided to focus only on getting better, I rested, went to different doctors and got many diagnoses.
All of which I’m sure I have in some way or another.. you know how confusing everything is.. mainly Fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, POTS and Dysautonomia. Although I’ve been told I have those AND Lyme and co infections.. *Head Blown* but nobody told me I had a chance to get better, for a while i was hopeless feeling as though my life was over forever.. that there would be nothing but pain, sleepless nights, anxiety, loneliness etc.. thats when my friends began to disappear.. I was told “Your not that sick” “Just be positive and do something!” and “Just get more excercise!” oh how fun that was, watching my shallow world of fake friends crash around me. At the time, I didn’t realize it was for the better.

But I just kept getting sicker and went from home bound to bedridden. I had a supportive, live in boyfriend but while he was at work, my health suffered. It was more than he could handle as he ended up dumping me because I couldn’t work, visit him, do anything, or have sex.. which of course are the building blocks of relationships..
I had to move in with my parents.. at 25 I had to leave the life I had for years and come back to my childhood. My parents take care of me and help me with everything.. its humbling, horrible, and sometimes fun 🙂
I didn’t see that at first.. but of course I kept getting sicker..
We tried everything, starting with a sort of natural doctor who also used regular drugs but put me on a super strict diet and handfulls of supplements that made me feel like I wasn’t just dying, already dead but stuck feeling everything.. promises were made and broken, time lines thrown out, doctors changing right and left.. the year was a blur.

Finally my parents and I found a doctor to get the right  tests for Lyme and co infections through Galaxy and Igenex NOT labcorp!  Then my Lyme came back indeterminate (sometimes means positive) Bartonella had high antibodies, and Babesia was active in my blood smear! FINALLY SOME ANSWERS!!!!!!!! If you don’t know what that feels like I hope you do very soon 🙂
Those results gave me some hope, I know this is going to be hard but I have some hope that I may get better. Its just going to be a long hard road..

if you feel like your going to die every day, you may have a chronic illness..

So here I am on the Lyme Disease path after so many years and let me tell you this path is NO FUN!
Thus far I have done 3 months on Doxy, Coartum, Azithrimicin, and Tinidazole those were too hard on me, i tried refampin next and actually noticed a difference! Until my stomach started to feel like it wanted to rip itself from my body.
So I’ve been taking a break waiting to get IV abx set up which is getting delayed by my normal lyme doc due to stupid laws down here in North Carolina.
But I will try to keep it positive even if I have to vent sometimes 🙂

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story!