I was really hoping these last few weeks of school would go very smoothly. I’d made it this far, limping metaphorically, but since spring break, I wasn’t doing too horribly. My protocol since March this year has been herbals only, and so the hope is that my body in conjunction with the herbals can combat the Lyme and send it packing. Yes. I completely understand that after taking a multitude of antibiotics for over 30 months including IV abx is hard on the system. Yes. I understand that my gut flora is messed up. Yes. I know it will take awhile to get my system back on track. Yes, yes, yes. Got it.
Knowing now what I know about Lyme disease and the various ways to treat it, would I go back and do the same thing? Most likely. When I was first and finally diagnosed with Lyme disease, I was severely ill. Not only had I had Lyme for who knows how long active in my system, I also had a viral overload. Several viruses that we normally have once and then build an immunity to had reactivated in my system thanks to the bacterial infection. So, yes. I think treating with antibiotics was the best choice starting out. It took almost 9 months to truly see any difference in what I was experiencing. I didn’t herx either for about the first 9 months. I was one sick puppy.
Very rarely do I forget that I am still dealing with Lyme. It won’t let me forget. If it isn’t one thing, like severe fatigue, then it is another, like nausea and migraines. The symptoms seem to come and go with no rhyme or reason although the headaches seem to stay my constant companion. When my LLMD first started treating me in 2013, she said that “we want to progressively get to a point where you have more good days than bad.” Sounded like a great plan to me. And sometimes, that is the case for a few weeks at a time.
Recently though, I have had a string of pretty rough days in a row. As soon as I can, I will post about what is going on. Right now, I am just trying to put my nose to the grindstone and get through it. Consequences of this situation right now are that I cannot work, so I have been out this week. Of course, I am grateful that I have so much support at my work and people who understand, but I feel bad that my students miss out. But if it had to happen, this really is the better time of year since we are getting close to finals and summer break. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for a couple of weeks, and I am really ready to get better and get back to work.
So for those of you with Lyme disease out there or a chronic illness, do you also experience a fluctuation in symptoms? Are they triggered by anything that you can pinpoint?
Peace -B
