Yesterday I met with my doctor to discuss the results of my LEAP test. The LEAP test is a blood test to determine what kind of things (food, chemicals) you are allergic to. This was the next step to take in making me better according to my doctor. He had already tested my sugar and cholesterol to make sure that the Lyme was not affecting that. Those both turned out fine so it was back to the food allergy board. I initially was tested for allergies in 2011 and had to eliminate about 80% of the foods I was eating. The results of this test showed that my blood had a high reaction to potatoes and bananas. Those are two staples in my diet so I have now had to reduce eating in transition to eliminating them for 6 weeks. Food allergies are no joke and having Lyme on top of it makes my life very difficult. Previously I made a personal choice to reduce my gluten intake a few months ago which has helped but it has not been without its disadvantages. The next thing I will reduce is my sugar intake. In my research I have read that the Lyme feeds off sugar which makes everything worse and trying to cut out sugar during the most sugar filled holidays of the year is a challenge! But I've learned in my life that it is meant to be full of struggles and challenges so I'm jumping up to the plate to fight them and finally get better (whenever that is).
As a side note, the last time I had my Lyme tested, the doctor said that it was not growing but the remainder of the Lyme that has been in my body for over a decade, so that was positive news. I will have it retested again in 6 weeks when I meet with the doctor again so here's to the next adventure with Lyme!
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Saturday, September 26, 2015
What is Lyme Disease?
Many of you have asked what Lyme disease is.
I'll tell you what it's not.
It is however, a living hell. I've had the disease for 8 months and I have no energy to do pretty much anything.
Here is my back story:
I initially was bitten by a tick when I was like 12 or 13 while living in the suburbs of Chicago. I had the standard bulls eye rash (half dollar size) on my left arm and went to the urgent care to confirm the rash and receive antibiotics to treat the bite. After I completed my treatment, the rash went away and I carried on throughout my life assuming that I was cured.
Last summer I received another rash that looked similar to a bulls eye but was not confirmed as one. The doctor told me he thought it was ringworm from a lake near my house in Houston. He gave me a cream to treat the rash and it went away within a few days.
From that time, I noticed my energy and immune system started to drop significantly but I chalked it up to my final semester of college in which I was finishing my student teaching and finishing the remaining courses. I mean, who sleeps during their last semester as a senior in college anyways right?? Well, I graduated from University of Houston in December 2014 with my bachelors in elementary education. After graduating, I decided I was going to take some time off to regroup and make sure my health was strong enough to return to work full time in August.
After waiting 3 months to see my internist, I told her some of the symptoms I had been noticing throughout the last few months. She initially ruled out fibromyalgia, but ran blood tests for glutathione, rocky mountain spotted fever, and Lyme (CD-57) based on the prior tick bite more than 10 years ago.
I was diagnosed with Lyme disease at the end of January 2015 and immediately started rounds of antibiotics to try and treat the 6 bands of Lyme running throughout my body. During that time, the antibiotics wiped what was left of my immune system out and I slept literally around the clock as well as having multiple doctor appointments to run blood, prescribe more medicine, and see where the disease was attacking my body the most.
At the same time, I was studying for my certification test to become a teacher. Currently I am not certified to teach full time because I missed the test by 2 points (I know, dying right now.) But it actually is a blessing because I am able to sub for the district I student taught for and I just got done with a 4 week sub job where I was working full time and my body almost gave out in that 4 weeks. So right now I know I can't work full time but I'm okay with that right now.
Many people have asked what some of my symptoms are now that I'm down to 2 bands (proof antibiotics do work even if they knock you out).
Some of the symptoms I have on a daily basis include:
I'll tell you what it's not.
- It's not contagious.
- It's not cheap to treat.
- It's not the worst thing that could happen to you.
It is however, a living hell. I've had the disease for 8 months and I have no energy to do pretty much anything.
Here is my back story:
I initially was bitten by a tick when I was like 12 or 13 while living in the suburbs of Chicago. I had the standard bulls eye rash (half dollar size) on my left arm and went to the urgent care to confirm the rash and receive antibiotics to treat the bite. After I completed my treatment, the rash went away and I carried on throughout my life assuming that I was cured.
Last summer I received another rash that looked similar to a bulls eye but was not confirmed as one. The doctor told me he thought it was ringworm from a lake near my house in Houston. He gave me a cream to treat the rash and it went away within a few days.
From that time, I noticed my energy and immune system started to drop significantly but I chalked it up to my final semester of college in which I was finishing my student teaching and finishing the remaining courses. I mean, who sleeps during their last semester as a senior in college anyways right?? Well, I graduated from University of Houston in December 2014 with my bachelors in elementary education. After graduating, I decided I was going to take some time off to regroup and make sure my health was strong enough to return to work full time in August.
After waiting 3 months to see my internist, I told her some of the symptoms I had been noticing throughout the last few months. She initially ruled out fibromyalgia, but ran blood tests for glutathione, rocky mountain spotted fever, and Lyme (CD-57) based on the prior tick bite more than 10 years ago.
I was diagnosed with Lyme disease at the end of January 2015 and immediately started rounds of antibiotics to try and treat the 6 bands of Lyme running throughout my body. During that time, the antibiotics wiped what was left of my immune system out and I slept literally around the clock as well as having multiple doctor appointments to run blood, prescribe more medicine, and see where the disease was attacking my body the most.
At the same time, I was studying for my certification test to become a teacher. Currently I am not certified to teach full time because I missed the test by 2 points (I know, dying right now.) But it actually is a blessing because I am able to sub for the district I student taught for and I just got done with a 4 week sub job where I was working full time and my body almost gave out in that 4 weeks. So right now I know I can't work full time but I'm okay with that right now.
Many people have asked what some of my symptoms are now that I'm down to 2 bands (proof antibiotics do work even if they knock you out).
Some of the symptoms I have on a daily basis include:
- Consistent headaches
- Nerve twitches (my muscles will twitch at random when I am relaxed)
- Chest pain
- Brain fog (I'll sometimes forget what I was talking about or get my words jumbled as I'm reading out loud)
- Muscle weakness
- Overall fatigue
- Nerve pain
- Weight gain
Phew! If you've gotten this far through my story, I commend you! Gold stars all around.
So there's part of my story. I'll share more as life goes on but this gives you a jumping off point to the evils Lyme disease creates.
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