Ticker Tape Parade

It all started with an 'allergy' attack before leaving for a trip up North to visit friends in N.Y. and my folks in Western Ma. I had sneezing fits to beat the band . I thought the air filter in the HVAC needed to be changed . It was early October.
We traveled to W. Ma. first to spend time with my family and stayed at the Lord Jeffrey Inn in Amherst. The foliage was peaking and gorgeous and we strolled around town enjoying the quaint New England scenery. It was warm enough for bees to be out although in the morning a band of bumblebees on the asters in front of our Inn stood frozen in time from the frost laden dawn. I felt somewhat frozen , too as my allergies turned into a head cold . I was achy and tired but thought nothing of it.
We arrived a few days later in New Jersey to stay with friends . My head cold turned into a full blown flu and we cut our trip short to head home.

I did all of my normal holistic healing tricks ( vitamin C , raw honey, zinc, nasal washing , probiotics, chicken soup ) but instead of feeling better in a few days , my nose completely shut down , no air , no sense of smell or taste and i had a raging ache in my head , jaw and face. My neck was so stiff i could barely turn it.
After a month of illness i gave up and went to my GP. She diagnosed an acute sinus infection ( something i have never had before ) and put me on an antibiotic . It barely made a dent but by the end of the week i felt some relief so i thought it was on the way out. A few days later it roared back stronger than ever and i started feeling dizzy.Back to the Doc. She put me a stronger anti-biotic Levaquin which came with a short novella of warnings and side effects from the pharmacy. I was desperate and i took it .
That night i had wildly violent and bizarre dreams . I woke up profusely sweating and felt all tingly . I blamed the Levaquin but since i wasn't dying i kept taking it.
I continued to feel dizzy , tingly and nauseous but i soldiered on . Some of these were listed side-effects afte rall . Nothing to be concerned about right ?
By the end of the Levaquin i could feel the sinus infection lifting but my ears started ringing , felt painful and my hearing was muted- like i was perpetually underwater.
I decided to go see an Ear Nose And Throat specialist and see what was going on.
I was vacuumed and examined and given another course of antibiotics - this time Amoxicillin. She suggested i see an allergist .
My sinus infection finally cleared up - not gone exactly but much better so that i could function fairly normally and the bizarre buzzing and tingling abated. My ears felt better , too. I had a battery of allergy tests and the results were " a slight allergy to house dust and mold " Nothing out of the ordinary.
A few weeks went by and i started running again , something i had let slip due to not feeling well . When i got back from my first run i felt good but when i looked in the mirror i was shocked. My face was all red and puffy like i had been skiiing in below freezing temps ! I passed it off as wind-burn ( something else i have never had except in the above scenario) .It lasted for the day then faded. Strange.
The next time i went for a run my hip felt on fire . I had been getting that same feeling in September and attributed it to an ITB injury. I must be getting old, i thought.
This time it didn't go away but persisted anytime i tried to exercise .
Even when i did yoga . That was really strange.Then it went away as mysteriously as it had appeared.
After two weeks of feeling 'well' i ended up having the same old probems with my sinus , ears and frequent headaches along with bone-crushing fatigue.
Now i was confused. Usually when i took good care of myself , got lots of rest , ate a healthy , organic diet , and exercised i felt great .
I decidedly did NOT feel great . I felt broken.
I was sick all throught the holidays barely comeing out of the 'Fog' for Christmas with my immediate family. I started thinking i had a hormone imbalance or something more sinister - could i have picked up a parasite ? I do like sushi , i am not a grem-phobe - i let the dog kiss me and i do not always wash evrything before i eat it. If it says pre-washed i don't always do it at home. Does anyone ?
I suffered through several more sinus infections , took antibiotics when weeks passed and i couldn't get rid of it . I would feel better for awhile and then BOOM something else would hit. It was near my birthday when i noticed burning when i would pee.
Oh no - a UTI , now ? I haven't had one in years .
i marched to my GP who was now starting to look at me funny . "what's wrong with you lately " she asked , not unkindly.
That's what i'd like to know.
My urine culture was negative but the Nurse Pratitioner gave me Cipro and said to come back in three days if it didn't clear up.
I was back .
And i had a sinus infection again , too .
And an upper respiratory virus .
I asked my GP to test me for anything and everything under the sun . Hormones, blood , thyroid, anyhting else she could think of and give me a complete work-up.
"This isn't me " I said , " I don't get sick like this and i heal fast . I feel tired ALL of the time no matter what i do . Something is wrong with me."
She agreed to do some tests to try and figure out what was going on .
Unbeknownst to me she added in a Lyme Disease two-tier test ( she had once contracted this in the 80's and always tested for it as a result ) . My tests came back and everything was normal - EXCEPT for the Western Blot test .
"I know why you are so sick ", she said over the phone " You have Lyme Disease"
My mind reeled . Everything i knew about Lyme disease ( not much, as i would soon learn) told me it couldn't be. "but i didn't have a rash "
"Not everyone gets it " she said. "It would explain all of your symptoms and inability to shake the infections. I am putting you on doxycycline for 28 days , that should take care of it "
I was speechless . For the first time in my life.
" okay" , i said and hung up the phone.
I went straight to work learning everything i could about Lyme Disease. I went to the CDC site and the NIH site . Not very much information and it was very concise and close-ended. I suspected there was more to learn.
Boy , was i ever right about that . I soon learned more that i ever cared to know about tick-borne disease , arrogant scientists, doctors and the organizations they run , the meddling and insensitivity of insurance companies, the thousands of suffering children and adults who are denied care , the controversy over 'official' diagnosis versus clinical observation and whether 'chronic lyme disease ' even exists- and the most frightening of all - the mercurial and morphing nature of the Borrelia Burgendorfii , the bacteria responsible for so much confusion and illness. The only thing all the 'Experts' can agree on is that there is much still unknown about this bacteria and the illness it causes.
In the meantime , a growing number of lost souls are stuck in the crossfire .
I am now one of them.
i am a "Lymie".