I picked up Lyme when camping away from my home place back in May 2016 (Connemara). I must have been bitten by ticks hundreds of times over my life prior to this in my home area (Kerry). Of all the people that I have spoken to who have contracted Lyme, all have contracted it away from their home area – do we have a natural immunity against the bacterial strains in our own locale? Definitely something worth looking into more.
I set camp on a Wednesday night at perhaps 2200. I was up at 0600. I saw the 6 or 8 ticks on me straight away and removed them by hand (no tweezers). The ticks could then not have been on me for any more than 8 hours.
The area was bracken and grasses with stone walls and grazed lightly by sheep – real tick habitat in Ireland. The particular area has no deer for a long way – sheep would have been the obvious host prior to me.
On Sunday morning, I noticed a bulls-eye rash on my left arm. I went to the doctor and explained to him what I had. He was not familiar with Lyme but good enough to accept that yes, this is what it was. Blood tests (the Irish-UK method), later showed positive for Lyme. At the time, the doctor went to whatever reference portal doctors here go to and found that 2 weeks antibiotics (100mg twice daily) was recommended. So that’s what we did and I didn’t give it any further thought. Prior to this, I had no stiffness, aches, symptoms, etc. apart from the rash, which developed a few days after initial infection). Through the autumn and winter of 2016, I would be falling asleep early or just about any time I sat down on the couch. I would normally have been very active. I was also working hard at the time and was putting it down to tiredness. From January to March 2017, I was working super-hard (all hours, all days) and basically ran myself into the ground. In late Feb/early March, I had a cough and apparent chest infection and I worked through this but eventually had to take a week off work, which turned into a week in bed, working all hours on the laptop (i.e. no break). So I ran myself into the ground. In April 2017, I was in Dublin for meetings and my legs were very sore on the train up from Kerry. My wife happened to be in Dublin for another meeting that day also and she says she will never forget how stiffly I walked across the court of Heuston Station that morning. I had my meetings, returned to the train and met my wife. I was very lucky that she was with me because there is no way I would have been able to drive home that evening after our train journey. That was a Friday evening and I went straight into bed. I didn’t get out of bed again until a Tuesday not of the following week, but the week after. My legs were paralysed. This all came on within 24 hours, which was very scary because initially I was not sure what exactly was happening and if I would be this way forever. I also had a very stiff back, neck, night sweats, broken sleep, etc.
At the back of my mind (or to the front, perhaps), I was conscious of what someone with experience of Lyme had said to me before – that the vast majority of people who get Lyme and do not get at least 2 months of antibiotics at the start, suffer from relapses.
On the belief that I still had Lyme Disease, I changed my diet to very healthy, vegan, filtered water, no sugar/caffeine/yeast/gluten, etc. and pain/stiffness etc. began to reduce.
I returned to the same doctor as I went to the first time and went through the situation and got more bloods taken. I had arranged for a suite of tests with ArminLabs, Germany. The tests showed positive for Lyme and also Chlamydia pneumoniae and Borrelia were found to be present. The cough and ‘chest infection’ I happened to have back in March then was pneumonia! Funny enough, the Irish-UK tests this time around showed negative.
I subsequently undertook 12 week course of Doxycycline (100mg twice daily) and symptoms continued to reduce over that time. I think the clean and healthy diet during this time was actually more powerful and useful if I am honest.
I had still far less energy than normal and also had a concern about eyesight – I subsequently got an eyesight/eye nerves test and the optician said everything seemed fine, but I still to this day know that my eyesight in one eye certainly disimproved because this right eye was always better than my left eye (which was injured at one time) and now it was actually worse.
I did a second test (re-test) in August 2017 through Armin Labs. The tests that showed positive for Chlamydia pneumoniae and Borrelia now showed negative. However, the immune system was very low. CD57 and CD3+ were of concern (49ul), whereas previously they were not.
I did a third Test (re-test) in September 2017 through Armin Labs and the tests that showed positive for Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibodies. The Immune system remained very low. I was still tired and did not have as much energy as I had before March/April 2017.
I continued to eat healthy, with a vegan diet and introduced fermented foods (the best way to boost immune system?). I have a plant based-diet to this day and love it. I really liked and still to this day use a supplement called “Source of Life, Liquid Gold”. It is simply the best in my opinion and you actually get to like the taste of it after a while (it also comes as tablets if preferred). I stayed away from large crowds and flying because immune system was low. I also took supplements like Serrapeptase, Arteminnisan, Transfer L-factor, Stevia, Samento + Burbur-Pinella + Serapeptase + Artemisinin SOD + Multimessenger + Transfer Factor Lym Plus, Choline, Omega 3, the L-Tyrosine and L-Acetyl Carnite.
I went to Dr. Lambert in April 2018. I found him a very straight to the point guy, which is what a doctor should be in my opinion. He reviewed my history, had a consultation and prescribed a protocol of 3 antibiotics, starting for 5 weeks and to be reviewed then. I did the 5 weeks, was feeling better (climbed Mount Brandon in that time) and he then thought I was doing fine, prescribed 3 more weeks of antibiotics and said he shouldn’t need to see me again.
So, leaving Dr. Lambert’s that morning in Dublin in late May 2018, I was just about in tears of joy to know that the journey was coming to a successful end – I was almost there! Out the other end of a tunnel which for so long I didn’t even know had an end.
I haven’t listed what Dr. Lambert prescribed me because every person’s situation will be different and require professional assessment. I have listed what I had taken previously – the 2 weeks Doxy, because this is the prescribed option by all accounts (I understand they now advise 3 weeks in the early stages…!) and the 12 weeks of doxy was a shot in the dark by my doctor.
Anyway, it all worked out in the end for me. It is now July 2019 and I have been doing great for more than a year, not a bother, really.
My take home messages:
- Ticks don’t need to be on you for 24 hours for you to be infected.
- The 2 weeks doxycycline in the early stages (and I got it very early) is not enough.
- Eat a healthy vegan diet – cutting out dairy and sugar meant I had an easy ride compared to many who have terrible ‘herx’ effects when the bad bacteria are being killed off by antibiotics.
- Take good probiotics. Do not spare on these. You need your gut and immune system to function.
- Go to a doctor who is qualified and experienced to deal with Lyme.
- Stay positive and get on with what you can and what you like – I stayed positive throughout and didn’t dwell on Lyme (which believe me, in the midst of it all was obviously impossible to ignore, but you have to not let yourself get down over it). At the time, I was unsure if there was any light at the end of the tunnel, not just for me personally, but if there was actually any real fix for it. There is.
- Always mind your health – it might still be in your system, don’t run yourself into the ground and suffer a relapse (note to self!).