Lyme Disease – Follow-up

It’s been about five weeks since I contracted Lyme Disease. And the good news is that all seems to be well.

The initial and significant symptoms are pretty much gone. The nasty headache was gone by the first part of the second week. The fever, chills with uncontrollable shivering and breaking out into a sweat and waking up soaking wet are gone. The arthritis like joint aches and pains are gone. I don’t have and have never had any arthritis, so this was a rude awakening to what many people with chronic arthritis deal with day in and day out. The loss of appetite is no longer apparent. The rash, which, according to the nurse practitioner who treated me, was cellulitis, appears to be gone, but it was persistent.

The only symptom left is some fatigue. I’m not fatigued all the time, though. It just comes periodically and when I’m not expecting it. But, it’s not as bad as it was during the first week. I’m back to sleeping pretty normally, about 6 ½ to 7 hours per night instead of the 12 hours a day I was in bed during the first week.

I went through a 14-day course of antibiotics, Doxycycline to be precise. Fortunately, I did not experience any of the, typically, long list of possible side effects of the medication. The first blood test (taken about three weeks after the onset of the disease) showed that I was definitely positive for Lyme Disease. There is a second blood test known as the Western Blot that my doctor’s office ordered. It apparently confirms the first test and, I guess, indicates some other information that helps the doctor determine if further treatment is necessary. I’m still awaiting word on those results. I may be referred to an infectious disease specialist and that could result in a course of IV infused antibiotics.

The loss of appetite did have one positive result and that was a realized weight loss of about seven or eight pounds. I say positive because it assisted in my personal plan to lose several pounds toward my goal weight. However, such rapid weight loss is typically not the healthiest way to reduce poundage. Since my appetite returned, I’ve probably regained a couple of those pounds. This doesn’t upset me.

All in all, this has been an unpleasant experience, however, I can’t say, at least in my case, that it was the worst illness experience I’ve ever had. I would rather not experience it again, though. That is one of the interesting downsides. Lyme Disease, like certain other diseases such as Emphysema, Hepatitis, Mononucleosis, Syphilis and similar, remain in the patients blood for the rest of his or her life. However, there is no acquired immunity to Lyme Disease. If another infected tick bites a person who has had Lyme Disease, that person can contract it all over again as an entirely new case. This is unlike many other diseases. Additionally, Lyme Disease, like the other diseases I mentioned, can recur at some future time, usually years later, and manifest itself in many unpleasant forms including heart failure, Bell’s Palsy and other neurological disorders, Chronic Arthritis similar to Rheumatoid Arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a long list of other possibilities.

Caught early, as mine appears to have been, I will probably be fortunate enough to never realize any of these later manifestations. However, my advice to anyone reading this is to do your best to avoid being bitten by one of these nearly microscopic, blood sucking deer ticks. How do you do that? I don’t have a clue. I moved away from the habitat where I would have most likely been at greatest risk when I left the ranch two and a half years ago.

People keep asking me where did I get bitten. Again, I don’t have a clue. This region of the country (the Mid-Atlantic), including in towns and cities, is over populated with deer, so it could have been anywhere. All I can suggest is that you are very careful. Look yourself over and wash briskly on a regular basis. If you have children, look them over after they’ve been outdoors. And, if you see the typical bulls-eye rash (which I didn’t have) or any large rash that feels warm or hot to the touch or begin to experience any of the symptoms I outlined, get to a doctor, you’re already infected. Early treatment is important. You won’t like the consequences of untreated Lyme Disease five or ten years from the time you were infected.

For now, I’m pretty much back to normal and plan to continue with my life and plans exactly how they were.

Enthusiastically,

Ed