It never fails. I’m feeling great, so I agree to work a few days and take on an extra freelance project to boot. By the end of the week, the joint pain and nausea are just bugging me so bad. Why don’t I learn I can’t do that stuff like I used to? It just is someone else’s normal work week and it seems like I should be able to, but not happening.
Is this normal for Lyme?
I debated for a long time this year over whether I was going to garden at all. I considered options like getting a huge load of green concrete in and covering the whole yard with it, but in the end, I decided that the pleasure of gardening outweighs the risks. Besides, one of the feral cats probably delivered the tick that infected me to my door.
I could get a relapse of Lyme disease. Or catch West Nile Virus. Or receive a bite from one of the poisonous baby snakes that enjoy the rock wall. I could also get hit by a falling ceiling fan in the house. So, I’m gardening cautiously. Very cautiously. I’m doing my best to alleviate risks with:
And I’m enjoying my time in the garden, even if it is a bit painful because of the joint pain and I can’t do the more strenuous activities I used to handle easily. The bulbs are blooming and the veggie garden (Freshly tilled thanks to my brother.) is partially planted.
I love spring, even it means a legion of infectious deer ticks are being hatched.
Here I was, working on a post about how I have felt like my old self for a good, solid week. No fatigue, no arthritis pain, no swollen, red hands, no mental blanks. I was so excited. I had an off day and thought it was just an off day. Then, the next day, major fatigue and swollen, painful joints.
Then, I realized something. I was on antibiotics for a bronchial infection and they were in my system for a few days making me feel great. As they wore off, the dratted Lyme related symptoms returned.
Even more annoying is the fact that my brother-in-law can’t comprehend that his sister recovered with no lasting side effects and I still have problems. He’s decided that what I have is carpal tunnel syndrome from blogging and freelance writing. Well, I can see where he’s coming from. It makes sense that all this typing is affecting my knees and ankles, as well as my hands. Aggghh!!
Well, I think I’m doing much better lately. I don’t suddenly lose words like I was doing. Do you know how annoying it is to suddenly forget the word for fridge in the middle of a conversation when you’re trying to sound intelligent?
“I’m just going to run and stick my lunch in…uh…that white box thing that keeps food cold and I’ll be right back to help you set up, ok?”
“You know, I think I’ve got it covered. Are you sure you can handle working today? Maybe you need to go home and rest.”
“No, no, I’m fine. Just forgot the word for fridge for a second there.”
I still tire out really easily, but something reconnected in my brain and on top of losing words less often, I am no longer taking an hour to compose a single paragraph. Yahoo!
I’ve been thinking, though. If I knew I’d get Lyme disease, would I have avoided gardening and hiking and feeding feral cats? I don’t think so. I still do some of those things, although I am a little weird about it.
“Here, kitty, kitty. I’ll just stand three feet away so I don’t startle him, wait til his head is in the bowl and stretch over with the treatment tube… Ah, ha! You’re good for another month, buddy.”
It isn’t cheap treating every stray I still haven’t managed to trap and place in a new home, but it is worth avoiding having them drag ticks near the house.
And gardening - well, I like to do that when temps are well below freezing and hide indoors when it is nice. I’m certainly not doing much, either. Walking across the yard wears me out. Digging and transplanting -forget it.
Hiking is still really important to me, too, but I haven’t gotten the nerve or the stamina to venture back out there.
So, what about you? Would you have still done things that could result in a tick bite? Are you still doing that kind of stuff? I really want to know.
I was talking to someone yesterday who got Lyme disease 5 years ago. She says she was full of energy and never sick in 70 years. Then, she became a Lyme victim and got arthritis and a list of other ailments one after the other. She says she’s had many relapses over the past few years.
A woman standing nearby said she must have meant to say Lyme survivor. She responded immediately that she definitely meant victim because she hasn’t overcome the Lyme disease - it still is bothering her.
I don’t like the thought of being a victim, though. Maybe Lyme fighter?
I’m personally doing pretty well this week, although I still have no stamina to speak of!
I still have pain in almost all my joints and have problems walking without hobbling around like I’m 300 years old, but now I am really having problems with joint stiffness from the Lyme disease, too. Last night, I was helping my niece with her math work. She’s learning to add and was really struggling, so I suggested that we make the two numbers and count on our fingers, which is something we take for granted, right? Well, I did the five with no problem - just held up one hand. Then I went to make a 3 with my other hand. I couldn’t. Both the last two fingers just won’t bend. I guess it is back to the doctor again.
I can’t believe I am back to all of the constant joint pain. I’m not taking any pain medications that cause water retention and I’m all puffy handed again, too. Other symptoms, such as dizziness, nausea and whatnot are back, too. The worst part is that I’m still on antibiotics. What a mess!
No matter what the CDC says, Lyme disease doesn’t always just up and vanish after a 30 day dose of antibiotics and I am living (although slightly whiney!) proof.
By the way, I was talking to someone today who was in pain from Lyme disease for quite some time and could barely function. He thinks that Lyme disease may actually leave behind a condition like fibromylagia. His doctor treated the symptoms he had like they were being caused by fibromylagia and gave him a medication for nerve pain and I must say, he looks like he feels 99% better than the last time I saw him. It was really interesting hearing him talk about this right after I read the news article on chronic Lyme disease not existing. Perhaps calling it post Lyme disease syndrome is the correct thing to do.
This new antibiotic seems to be working much better. I can add again, which is really a nice thing. I used to get 99% on my math report cards, but some strange Lyme disease side effect made me lose all ability to do math, including balancing checkbooks. I also can multi-task again, which is also very useful, especially when you are teaching.
Unfortunately, I still have swollen fingers and ankles and my joints still hurt, although some of them do not hurt quite as bad as they used to. I stopped taking pain killers because the Dr. thought they might be causing the swelling, but no change. Hopefully, I will continue to improve and the pain and swelling will go away.
I started really feeling tired and having a ton of joint pain again, so I went back to the Dr. to find out if I have some kind of permanent arthritis problem. She thinks I still have Lyme disease and decided to try another antibiotic for 90 days to see if there are better results. You’re supposed to notify your doctor if you have any of this list of side effects from the medication, one of which is bad joint pain. How to figure out that one is beyond me, unless my joints decide to start talking.
“Hello, out there. This is your hand. Just wanted to let you know that this particular pain is Lyme related.”
“Well, this is your knee and the pain you feel here is from the antibiotic. Call your Dr. right away!”
You come back from a nature walk and you find a tick embedded in your skin. Ick. As you run for the vaseline, you hesitate. Didn’t you hear that wasn’t really the way to remove ticks? Maybe you should get a lighter instead and burn the little biter. No, wait…how do you remove ticks anyway?
Well, there really is only one way to remove a tick properly and it involves tweezers and pulling. Sorry, folks, I know it is gross, but if you don’t take it off properly, you risk infections and ticks hanging around on you for a few more days. Grasp the tick with the tweezers as close to the head as possible and pull it out. It is important to get the whole tick.
You may want to save the dead tick to show your doctor if you suspect Lyme disease. Make sure it is in a container it can’t get out of!
