May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and as such, I'm sharing parts of my own story throughout May.
Here's PART 1 of my Lyme (healing) story - starting at the very beginning including all the ups and downs I navigated as a kid who just kept getting sicker...
The summer before 7th grade I remember some tick bites after hiking in central PA where I live. No big deal back then - NO ONE had "Lyme" in mind at that time (over 20yrs ago). I was happily living my best pre-teen life, excelling academically, honing my athletic giftings and becoming accomplished in a couple of sports, and developing a quality social life with a variety of activities and interests. It was supposed to be a great season of my life.
Instead, it became a nightmare.
That summer I got REALLY sick. Bedridden for 4wks and no doctor knew exactly what was wrong. I could hardly swallow my throat was SO sore and inflamed. I felt like I had the worst flu imaginable - my joints and muscles (and even my skin!) were on fire and I could hardly move without crying in pain. I was exhausted. I couldn't eat. I had fevers off and on, swollen lymph nodes, and random migratory swelling in my joints. Oh, and I had bullseye rashes all over my body....
Many many blood tests were run, including a "Lyme panel," and "all were negative," per my family doctor - except for Fifths Disease. It was decided I had an extreme case of this very common childhood illness and I was sent on my way to finish recovering from what they thought was this harmless virus.
I did eventually "recover" enough to function - mostly. I was never quite the same again, but I brushed it off and moved on into my teenage years. But through the emotional turmoil of adolescence, a concussion during basketball camp, and some vaccines necessary for a trip I took at age 14, (all of which happened within a short timeframe) I got really sick again. This time it was flu-like, exhaustion, and severe depression as my health seemed to be spiraling. My migratory joint pains continued, and I was VERY much NOT myself. But it was all vague and I was passed from doctor to specialist and back again with basically no answers.
I earned myself a laundry list of rheumatological and autoimmune diagnoses over the next couple of years: psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, IBS, vasovagal syndrome, Raynaud's phenomenon, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, sacroiliac joint dysfunction...just to name a few. I saw Infectious Disease docs, neurologists, and rheumatologists - all of which said nothing was wrong with me, it had to be psychiatric. Off to psych I went. I needed mental health help too at this point, don't get me wrong, I was severely depressed and suicidal at my lowest point, but seeing psychiatrists and psychologists certainly didn't fix any of the causes of my afflictions and sudden decline in health.
In the middle of all of this "health turmoil" I was experiencing, my family doctor did try to help and ran another huge set of labwork on me. Lyme popped up positive. We were shocked! Was THIS it!? Was this the actual issue finally being uncovered?! I had clear chronic and active infection antibodies showing, so our doctor recommended we try 30 days of oral Doxycycline to see if that would help me feel better. It was the "standard treatment" for Lyme, and we were feeling seen and cared for. He even offered to do IV antibiotics for me if this 30-day course was helpful. So we went for it.
A few days into this treatment plan and I was feeling TERRIBLE.
Everything was worse. I was SURE this wasn't helping me - only hurting me, clearly. I muddle through my 30 days, trying to manage worsening symptoms and now dealing with worsening gut health on top of everything. I was barely making it through my schoolwork and had since quit ALL my activities and sports. My only saving grace during this time was that I was already being homeschooled and had SOME academic flexibility while I tried to survive/heal.
This really was my lowest point though, and I didn't even really realize it until I was moving out of it. The turning point was coming, and I just had to hang on. Though I didn't know it yet. It's true what they say. If you're going through hell, keep on going...
Stay tuned for PART 2, where unlikely pivot points in my healing journey started manifesting.
While you're waiting to hear more of my journey, join the best holistic Lyme healing community out there right here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lymeyandcrunchy
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