it all started in 2012

I began to get sick in the summer of 2012.  We had just gone through a very stressful season in our family and by the fall of 2014 we had moved 4 times in 3 years.  At the end of this post, I will share a symptoms list- it  is long.  This is a cumulative list that piled up over the years.  I am posting everything that I had noticed but had chalked it up to low adrenal function and passing the age of thirty.  (haha.)  Although I experience a lot of these symptoms on a daily basis, I do not experience all of them every day or every week.  That’s a large part of the reason why it took me so long to test for Lyme, even though I was beginning to be aware of the symptoms.  Lyme is so vague and tricky.  If you research online, it is called “the great imitator” for a reason.  I could feel absolutely sick one day and then be out running hills the next.  I could never quite put a finger on what was wrong with me, but I told my husband quite often with tears running down my face that “they” are missing something, “something is not right.”  That went on for four years, while I went on to be in treatment for adrenal fatigue and a thyroid that kept sinking lower as my medication climbed higher.  The final straw that convinced me to get tested was when I started having symptoms of deep and unrelenting pain in my hand and my once capable arm could no longer open a twist can of jam.  I would never have answers had I not just watched my sister-in-law who happens to be one of my best friends, travel the Lyme road with her son, Ryan.  I was honored to be in Germany with them and see the treatment facility he was at.  So, when it was time for me to get tested here in the states, she graciously walked us through every step and is still walking in those dark shadows with us, helping us find our way out.  Lyme people need that…someone to champion them along and tell them that recovery is possible.  I hope and pray to be that person to others someday.  We are giving it all we’ve got and expecting blessed healing.

So, here is the symptom list.  (Maybe some will sound familiar to you.) I am not breaking it into categories, I am just writing it down straight from my note sheet that I had to bring with me to the doctor’s office as I tried to recall what I was supposed to say when she asked me “why I was here.”

(This is the blood panel that was ordered after that doctor appointment)

Extreme fatigue

Sweaty at random times

Anxiety

Drenching night sweats

Nausea, especially at night

Ear ringing

Hot flashes

Vision flashes

Achy- constant and worse at night,( like a case of the flu) migrating from hand to leg then other leg etc.

Occasional deep stabbing pains in random body parts lasting for seconds, then leaving

Hand pain in joints, burning at times

Weakness with grip

Heart flutters

“Shaky” all over

Neck stiffness

Headache, tightness

Struggle with feeling hopeless

Feel overwhelmed

Have to fight off confusion, don’t know why

Loss of consistent thought ability

Inability to multi-task

Heavy arms and legs- feels like I am walking through mud, lifting 50 pound weights

Decreased exercise stamina, get dizzy and faint

Arms go numb while driving or trying to hold my arms up to read a book in bed
Memory loss- short and long term

Must use calendar and lists to remember anything

Need for sleep, even after a full night’s sleep

Feel like I am losing my mind

Sad and unexplainably overwhelmed by life

Sudden bouts of needing more oxygen while laying down, but breathing fine (called "air-hunger")Anxiety over more than one event in a day

“barely hanging on”
Consistent knee pain that throbs and aches deep (has felt like a sports injury from running hills, but consistently gets worse even with rest)

Low thyroid (keeps dipping)

Low cortisol (keeps dipping)

Increased bruising, possibly due to clumsiness

Eyes feel heavy, have to close them sometimes

Highly light sensitive
Thought I needed glasses, vision is blurred at times but vision screening is normal

Dairy intolerance (one week of deep stabbing pain in intestines if ingested)

Low blood sugar (blood tested at 51 mg/dl in 2014 and 78 mg/dl in 2016)

Occasional brief confusion while driving (forget where I am supposed to be headed next)

Can’t make fast decisions, have to work hard to “think”

Loud noises make me angry and anxious- like everything in me is on high alert

Problems with face recognition after meeting new people

Can’t hold conversation: processing information and talking especially at a fast pace confuses me…this makes me a bit socially awkward (LOL)

Have episodes of feeling that I might lose consciousness

Very low vitamin D levels

Very Low iron levels (iron infusions were recommended)

Various UTI infections (previously have never had any)

Kidney pain, consistent even after we confirmed that there is no infection

Body pain upon standing after sitting on floor or criss-cross style, I limp until my joints get moving again

Sometimes with loud noise/chaos coming at me I have to cover my ears and close my eyes- feel crazy

At times I am unable to verbalize simple things.  Words get caught as I can’t dredge up what to call “that thing in your hand…(a cup)” as I am trying to instruct my children

Greater difficulty at math…scratch that- impossibility. Haha.

Bouts of anger that I later feel was a complete over-reaction

My words don’t always match what I am trying to say, like it’s a bit disconnected

Also sometimes feel disconnected from reality- recalling memories feels like recalling a dream

Head-ache’s that feel like sinus pressure

Twitching, ranging from minor muscle spasms (I can see my muscles twitch in my leg) to convulsive movements that move my whole core/legs/arms mimicking a small seizure but I am coherent the entire time…this is a more recent symptom

Emotionally usually either “low” or “numb”

Swollen glands by thyroid, swallowing is strained (two year symptom, sometimes worse or better)

Sore throat often, often have to clear throat

Decreased hearing ability, fluid in ear drums

I had all these symptoms but thought it was just adrenal fatigue and a period of stress in my life.  I figured that every mom is tired, and I just had to press on and keep taking my supplements.  So many symptoms became so normal, it was not even on my radar anymore.  I was under a physicians care and cancer tests came back normal, so I thought I was checking every box I needed to worry about.  Lyme imitates many different conditions that doctors can diagnose, yet the underlying cause - or "root" of the issue does not get confronted.  I am so relieved to know the root of my symptoms and work toward true healing.  Once Lyme had really taken hold and took my immune system down (Spring of 2016),  I declined really fast.  For anyone who has symptoms similar to Lyme symptoms (do a search online), I always recommend a preliminary screening for Lyme.  Check out the link here.

 

At the treatment center in Germany with my nephew, Ryan, while he went through treatment for Lyme Disease
A shout out to my dear friend, Michelle, who traveled to Germany with me