An Introduction

Hello. My name is Melissa and I am 30 years old (that was hard to type). I live near Boston Massachusetts. I have been with my husband for 12 years. We have 2 beautiful young children who I absolutely adore. I have Had Lyme for about 17 months that I know of.

It has been a really hard road for me and my family. I was a Veterinary Technician for 10 years prior to getting sick with Lyme. I loved being a technician, and I have to say I think I was pretty good at it. I mostly enjoyed Emergency and Critical Care. I also did a lot of training and supervising. Boy, do I miss it! I haven't been able to work since getting Lyme. It really makes me sad. I miss my friends, the animals and just being "normal" whatever that is. I miss having a skill. I miss having a paycheck too!

In May 2007 I was working 2 back to back double shifts (16 hours each) on a Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday during my second shift I started to feel sick. I felt dizzy, sweaty, drunk, dream like. I ended up leaving early. I assumed it was just that I was over doing it and working too much. I figured I would go to bed and be fine the next day. Boy, was I wrong!

I woke up the next morning and felt like I was going to die. My body hurt so much. I had a very bad headache, sore throat and my voice was very hoarse. The voice thing sticks out in my mind because it was not because of my sore throat. It didn't make sense. I remember being so fatigued I could barely move. I had a fever. It was awful.

I went to my PCP and he ran a bunch of blood tests. I had a CT scan too. 3 Weeks later I was diagnosed with Acute Lyme Disease. I had bands 39 and 41 positive through Quest. I thought great, I have an answer why I am sick. I was confused because I never remember a tick on me or a rash or anything, but none the less, I wasn't surprised. I figured I would get some Doxycyline and be on my merry way. I would get better and that was that. Again I was sadly mistaken.

I started the Doxycycline at 100mg 3 times a day. On day 3 I started to have a Herxheimer reaction. This is when the bacteria start to die off and release toxins into your body. You get very sick from this, or at least I did. I have never felt so bad in my life. I went on like this for 10 days total. I finally called my PCP (who had warned of the herx) and told his receptionist that I was hearing voices and I could not tolerate light or sounds and I was about to jump off the roof.

My PCP was not seeing patients that day, but told me to come in anyway. He ended up admitting me to the hospital for 4 days. I had a PICC line placed and was put on Rocephin for 21 days.

After the 21 days I was still very ill. I ended up seeing a Lyme lierate MD (LLMD) and he put me on Biaxin and plaquenil. This LLMD did not end up working out. I switched to a LLMD in CT. He was much more attentive and particular. It was a better match for me.

I am still being treated and hoping to get better ASAP.

Melissa