can't sleep

I can't sleep. My heart keeps skipping and I have a crampy feeling in my chest. The last few days were good until now. I'll just lay down for awhile I guess.

I forgot

I had this really good idea for a blog post. But guess what? I forgot! Five minutes ago I was thinking about it, now I have no clue. Hmm. Looks like my short term memory is going. Hopefully this is just a fluke. When I remember what I was going to say, I'll make another post.

Heart problems

A few nights ago I was trying to fall asleep. Once in awhile my heart feels like its skipping. But usually it's only one skip. Anyway, as I was trying to fall asleep my heart skips/ beats really hard for a good 5 seconds. It was really scary and hard to breathe. Painful too. That was probably the worse one that has ever happend. I am going to talk to my doctor about that one.

Other than that, things have stayed the same. Just the usual joint pain. Some headaches too. My pain meds aren't really doing the trick anymore. So that kinda sucks too.

Last night Blizzard defeated Iron 86- 42. It was an amazing game and I had a lot of fun with my friends!

Some pain

So it's been awhile. I've been living with my mom for the summer, thats going well. I finally have my own car so I won't need to worry about someone having to take me places. My natural treatment is going well. Although lately my bones hurt. Also, I think I am starting to lose my short term memory again. Heres some examples:

I couldn't remember what scent I bought my mom from bath and body when she asked me what I got her. (This was a few days ago)

And today I didn't remember that I won the game Horse (b-ball) against my sister.

Maybe it's a fluke. I am not sure. I like the natural treatment better because I don't have stomach problems with it.

Also my car is missing a hub cap. Lame. It must have fell of or something. I'm going to get a new one because I think it looks funny.

I was also very surprised to find out that I am on my College's Dean list. First semester I got a 2.4, second semester I got a 3.5. I'm pretty happy about that.

I've been taking walks every day. I like that. I just don't like getting bit by mosquitos (sp?) Teddy likes it too. :)

I'll be updating more now that it's summer.

blah blah!

Ah! Okay so this week I've been feeling pretty good. Almost "normal". I had energy, I got a lot of work done at the barn, a whole bunch of stuff. But now, I am in pain! Bad pain! My bones in my right arm hurt! Bad! It feels like someone is smashing my arm with a large pointy object. Now that I am not working, I am going to amp up my Lyme treatment. Ugh.

Not much new

Not to much is new right now. I am feeling decent some days. Recently at work I got bit by a rat. Not only did it hurt, I had to get a shot and go on antiboditics for 10 days! I work in the pet dept, it wasn't just a random rat. While on the antiboditics I feel kinda crappy, but it isn't for long.

I finished up school. I did WAY better this semester than last semester. I finished with a 3.5 and now I have a 3.0 average. I am happy with this, I just have to keep it up the next two semesters before I transfer.

Right now I have been working, but in a few weeks I will be moved in with my mom for the summer. When I am moved in there I am gonna amp all my Lyme meds. Then it will be okay to Herx because I am not in school or working. Thats the plan so far!

appointment

My appointment went alright. First I met with one doctor and had Electrodermal Testing. That's sort of hard to explain what it is.

http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?Id=1085

Scroll about half way down and it starts talking about how it works and such.

Anyway, so with that test it can measure different levels in your body. One of the levels I had tested was to see if antibodics was a good idea or not. Antibodics are a bad idea for me. Because of that, I will be doing a natural Lyme treatment for two months. The exact term for it I can't recall. After that two months I will go back to my Lyme doctors and see how I am doing. If my symptoms are gone and I pass the CD57 blood treatment I will be done with my Lyme treatment. If I don't pass the blood test then we will have to go in a different direction.

I guess this will be a interesting two months. I am gonna start out slow on the medications because my doctor was saying I will probably herx on them. I am in finals week right now and also have to cover for one on my co-workers. Once that is all done I am going to live with my mom this summer. There I will amp everything up because I wont have to worry about getting sick for work or anything like that.

Other than that, not to much going on with me. I am having a good week pain wise so I am happy about that. :)

I am running out of Lyme facts, I will have to look more up in my book.

Finals

It's finals week at school. Our last class was today. Tomorrow I have a doctor appointment with my Lyme doctor. I don't know how that will go. Hopefully well, but we will see. I will do another update tomorrow about my appointment.

My Lyme cartoon

This is my Lyme cartoon character that I drew in photodraw. It doesn't have a name, I don't know if it will or not haha.

Still busy

I've been very busy still. A lot going on with school and family stuff. My detox is almost over!!! Thank goodness. I really miss eating bread haha. Other than that, the detox is going fine. At first it was hard not to eat whatever foods, but now its easy, and I really don't crave anything any more. Maybe cheese once in awhile haha. May 5th I can eat normal stuff again.

My last day of school is May 20th. Yuck! I am looking forward to having this sem. done and over with.

With the detox, some of my symptoms weren't as bad, but some got worse. The joint/bone pain got worse, while the headaches got better.

Lyme fact: ticks that transmit Lyme disease can occasionally transmit other tick-borne diseases

Busy busy

I've been very busy with school recently. We are in the last month, and the prof's like to squeeze a whole bunch of stuff in. Once school settles down, I know I will be updating this more often.

This whole detox thing is super hard to do. I didn't think it would be so tough. I crave strange things through out the day. Another tough thing is taking the ultraclear stuff. Today I started taking 2 scoops three times a day. The powder doesn't taste bad or anything, but the texture is nasty. I get so full from it, it makes my stomach all poofy. I take it with juice usually, some times if I have time I will put it in a blender and make a shake thingy. I don't like the feeling of being stuffed, but oh well, its only for a month.

I got some easter candy today that I am going to put in the freezer and eat when this detox thing is done woo. I also got some really cool socks and a book about Obama.

Today at church we had communion, but I couldn't eat the bread or drink the juice (because of the detox). I felt bad about not eating it. I know I shouldn't, and I don't know why I do. Insight anyone?

so far I still have my Lyme symptoms, but while on this detox, it seems the pain and such is less and I haven't had to take any pain killers either. So thats cool!

Lyme Fact:

Is there a vaccine to prevent infection?
No. Although there had been a vaccine against human Lyme disease, this vaccine is no longer marketed.

Source: http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/communicable/FactSheets/LymeDisease.htm

tired

I've been pretty tired since I started this detox. I just feel worn out. School is going fine I think. Around 5 weeks left I believe. Here is what was on the menu for today:

Breakfast:
My medicine shake thingy. I don't know what to call it.

Lunch:
Salad

Supper:
Potato Leek soup
I didn't eat much though because it was kinda blah.

I decided that I will have to get creative with this. I went to a local organic food store and got some Rice rotini noodles. My Grandma cans her own tomato sauce so BANG I will spaghetti. Fancy right?

Also I got some organic chicken broth, and some rice noodles. I will buy some veggies and make soup! I will probably make a bunch then just have leftovers so I don't have to keep making it.

Lyme fact: Past infection does provide some immunity, but that protection is relatively short-lived. It is possible for a person to get infected more than once

Food

I also thought I might as well keep a little journal of what foods I ate on the days I update. I wanted to keep a food journal during this anyway, so might as well do it here.

Breakfast: 1 banana, 1 small apple, 1 small tomato, water.

Yes i know thats a strange breakfast, but I can't eat ceral anymore so yea haha. Also that was the first time I could eat since 2pm the previous day due to detox.

Lunch: 1/2 cup oatmeal and applesauce mixed in

Supper: Rice and mixed veggies, Rice Milk

Craving: Pizza

Appointment

The video blog will have to wait for another time. I've felt so sick these past days. My appointment didn't go well, but it didn't go bad. Basically I haven't made any progress medically. It's almost been a year since I will have been officially diagnosed with Lyme. I am at the point where I have been on the antibodtics to long. Because of the length of time being on them, the level of yeast in my body is really high. I haven't had a yeast infection yet though. The high level of yeast is blocking the Lyme treatment.

Friday I saw my normal Lyme doctor, plus a new doctor there. I do not recall what the test was called, but in one hand I held a conductor type thing, and the hand Dr.B was poking my finger at a acupuncture (sp?) point. By doing that, it gave off some electical (I think) reading which could read different levels in my body.

Today I just got done with the first part of my detox. It was for my liver/Gallbladder. At the appointment, Dr.M pushed on my gallbladder and it hurt so bad. Thats not good.

Talk about the most nasty thing I have ever tasted in my life. One mixture was water and epsom salt that I took four times within the last 24 hours, and then 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (evoo haha) and 3/4 cup grapefruit. Both were equally nasty and I hope I never have to do it again.

Now I start another form of detox that will last 28 days. I know its going to be a challenge to follow all the rules. But considering it cost us over 500 dollars, I am going to follow it 100 percent and not cheat once on the diet.

Here is the list of foods I can NO longer eat: (for 28 days)

Oranges, Orange juice, Corn, creamed vegetables, wheat, barley, spelt, kamut, rye, all gluten-containing products, products made from wheat, soybeans, tofu, tempeh, soy milk, other soy products, peanuts, peanut butter, beef, pork, cold cuts, frankfurters, sausage, canned meat, eggs, shellfish, Milk, cheese, cottage cheese, cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream, frozen yogurt, non-dairy creamer, margarine, mayo, shortning, soda, coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages, Chocolate :(, ketchup, mustard, relish, soy sauce, bbq sauce, white or brown refined sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, candy, and desserts made with those sugars.

Here is the list of food I Can eat:

Fruits, vegetables, ( besides the ones listed above), rice, oats, millet, quinoa (??), amaranth (??), teff (??) tapioca, buckwheat, beans, peas, lentils, almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflowers, pumpkin seeds, fish, chicken, turkey, wildgame, lamb, rice milk, flaxseed, herbal tea, distilled water, all spices unless otherwise indicated.


I am going to have to get creative with what I eat and make. Some weeks, I can't eat certain foods from the list I can eat. This outta be an interesting month.

Currently I am on no antibs. just supplements. I have another appointmeny may 13th. At this appointment i will see both dr.m and dr.b. I hope that this doesn't mess with school to much..

thats all for now. more later!

Lyme fact: About 20,000 Americans are reported with Lyme disease every year.

Video Blog

I'm going to try doing a video blog about my doctor appointment. Look for that soon!

Back again

I had a great time in Florida. My favorite thing was probably going to the Castillo de San Marcos. Which was built it 1672 by the way. Tons of history in Saint Augustine. We went on a ghost tour around the city, that was neat. We also had the chance to check out the lighthouse. There are 219 steps to the top. I am not afraid of heights normally, but I got scared climbing all those steps. I got to see the ocean for the first time, that was also very cool! I loved visiting Saint Augustine, I recommend it to anyone who likes history.

Overall I felt pretty good while in Florida. I think the climate helped.

We had some trouble getting home though. Our fight from Cincinati to Milwaukee got delayed so we missed our Milwaukee to Green Bay Flight. Because of this, we got stuck in the Milwaukee airport for 6 hours. After a bit the airport gets boring, but we made the best of it.

This friday I have an appointment with my Lyme doctor. I don't know what to expect at all. I have a feeling there is going to be a medication change. I sort of just want friday to come and be over with. I keep getting new symptoms, or old ones that came back.

Lyme fact:

The sooner the tick is removed, the lesser the risk of tick-borne infection. Research has found that infected ticks need to feed for 24-36 hours before transmission occurs.

Source: http://www.ct.gov/dph/cwp/view.asp?a=3136&q=388510

I'll be back

Today was a okay day. I had some pain here and there. My blog is going on a tempory break because for spring break I will be in Florida. I am not sure if I will be able to get on the internet. I will post again after spring break is done!

Lyme Fact: The number of reported cases of Lyme disease, as well as the number of geographic areas in which it is found, has been increasing.

How I got where I am today continued

I haven't updated that part recently so here it goes.


I did alright on the BuSpar, but I was still dizzy. It would help me at times because I wouldn't be dizzy when I was trying to sleep at night. I still had heartburn, but the aciphex was helping that. After I was off the clonazepam my personality went back to normal.

Most of the doctors I saw just kept telling me it was "stress" I was a teenager and teens are always stressed. I knew it wasn't stress and my mom felt the same way.

In late 2007 I started to have episodes where I could not remember things as well. I also got bright spots in my eye, flashes sort of. They were not related to my dizziness. Also, at night time my hands would tingle. sort of like the feeling when your foot falls asleep. At this point I was still getting ice pick headaches.

My heartburn was under control mostly because my h-pylori was treated.

Soon the BuSpar was doing nothing for me so I got switched to diazepam. Because I had a bad reaction with a similar medication, I had to start small and work my way up. I was also refered to a neurologist.

Few days later I got more sick and dizzy and ended up back at the doctor to get another IV. It contained Saline, benadryl, and Zofran. I remember when I was on IV's I'd get super sleepy and cold. I also would see things. Usually I would think one of my friends was in the room with me, even tho it was just my mom. Or I would ask where so and so was.

Oh a more familar name for diazepam is Valium.

Next time I will start off with my visit to the neurologist.

Lyme Fact: The Red Cross will not allow anyone who as had an active Lyme infection during the preceding year to be a blood donor.


Source:Coping with Lyme Disease (third edition)
Authors- Denise Lang and Kenneth Liegner, M.D

Ps- I know that my source is not in the proper MLA format, if it is required to do so one day I will.

pain :(

Today my day started out fine. But within the last couple hours I am in a lot of pain. Well I was, but then I gave in and took a pain pill so that took the edge off. I also had a mood swing that left me crying. Michelles dad made a remark about my Lyme and I know he didn't mean it in a mean way or anything, but it just made me cry. I was so stressed all these emotions came out at once.

Then today I was doing my math homework and I thought I better take my meds. A few mintues after I took my meds, I got this heavy feeling of dread. I felt that something happend to my mom. I texted her, my sister and my mom's fiance, no one responded till later so I got super anxious and I got sick. I've never been that anxious before so that was kind of an annoying feeling and it made it hard to do my math homework.

I took my pain pill awhile ago and I am still in pain :( I am not sure if it is safe enough to take another one. Well its mostly my head that hurts now.

That was the weirdest mood swing I have ever had. It stinks because I hate being sad, thats just not how I am. I try to keep it in because I don't want others to be brought down by my crappy mood. Its just so weird a hour ago I was really sad and now I am fine emotional wise.

I am reading this book my mom got me called coping with Lyme disease. It has interesting facts, so for now I will post my Lyme fact from that book.

Lyme fact- The time lapse between the tick bite and emergence of symptoms can be weeks to months due to the spirochete's slow replication and ability to lie dormant in the human cell, and this can lead to chronic infection.

Tired

Today I am pretty tired. I am feeling dizzy and my bones hurt more than the norm. I am not sure really what to think. School is going well right now though, so I am happy about that. I know I am lagging behind on this blog (my mom told me so lol). No worries though, it will pick up. I need to continue to do my catch up part as well.


Lyme Fact: If your pet has Lyme disease, it cannot be spread by contact.

Comments

I changed my blog so now anyone can leave comments, not just people who are on blogger/google accounts. If you do not have a account, just click annoymous, but leave your name if you want me to know who you are. Thanks! And more tonight, I have to study for my Education 201 class.


Lyme Fact: It sucks and is no fun!

Source- personal

((I will put a better fact later tonight :P ))

hiiii

This week so far has been decent. Not one of my best weeks, but not one of my worse weeks either..I keep getting headaches in my right eye. I also keep getting ice pick headaches but they last like 1 minute. So i dont know if that counts as a headache? I guess its maybe just pain in my brain? I was having some troubles moving my middle finger and ring finger on my right hand..but that is getting better.

Here is what I am worried about. I feel good when I am on all of my medications. But when I was on just one I got crappy again. at the moment I am on everything. I think my next dr. appt i will be put on just one again, but i am not sure. Anyway what i am getting at is I am afraid when I am on just one i wont feel as good.


Right now i just dont have any motive to write. I know I have to keep going and I will. Oh yea my glands are hurting today as well. The ones on my neck

Lyme fact:
The actual risk for developing Lyme disease after a tick bite is only between 1.1% and 3.4%.

I am trying to find the direct source for that to make sure its correct, so don't quote me on that one.

Another good day

Today was another good day for me. That makes me very happy! I had the usual bone pain and dizziness, but thats okay. But after being on my feet for 14 hours (work and E.A.T.S) I am very tired.

E.A.T.S was tons of fun! We got many complements from people. My favorite complements were from the people who asked for seconds, and a couple from India who said that the food had great flavor and was well made. Oh something kinda funny..Many people would look at our name tags and say "Well your last name doesn't look very indian!" My last name is very polish in the hard to pronounce type of thing.

So here I am, torn on career choices. This semester I have been observing 2nd graders at a local school. I love those kids. They are so much fun, full of energy, and love to learn. I look forward to every week I get to spend in the class with them.

But...

Yesterday and tonight reminded me how much I love cooking. Before I moved I cooked almost every night. But since ive moved in with michelles family, I rarely cook anymore. I don't know which path to take. I am very torn. I am sure something will help me make that choice sooner or later.

Tomorrow I will write more about how I got where I am today.

Lyme Fact:
Past infection does provide some immunity, but that protection is relatively short-lived. It is possible for a person to get infected more than once.

A good day

Today overall was a good day for me. I got a 84% on my math test!! I only had pain in my bones every once in awhile. Had some unpleasant dizzy spells as well, but its nothing out of my Lyme norm that I'm not use to.

Tonight I cooked Indian Dahl soup with my friends. We made it tonight because tomorrow at my college we are participating in an event called E.A.T.S. Basically people pay money to eat food and the money goes for scholarships.

I finally finished my snowman project. Check it out at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3jnlj6ErbI

Two and a half (ish) months in 39 seconds!

Lyme Fact:

To prevent Lyme disease:
1) protect yourself from tick bites
2) remove attached ticks promptly
3) get early diagnosis and treatment.


I didn't do such a good job on number three. oops.

Have a great weekend!

Stuff about me

Hey here is some stuff about me, gotta love taking surveys.


Name: Kylee

Nickname: Benny or "Kylee B"

Birthdate: June 12th

Birthplace: Wausau

Hometown: Weston

Eye Color & Hair Color: Blue eyes, blonde hair

Height & Weight: 5'8 1/4 and weight changes depeding on medication

Occupation / School: Ace hardware- Pet Dept, Cashier, where ever they want me.Uwmc

Righty or Lefty: Righty

Heritage: Polish, German, french, welsh, native american, I'm a mutt haha.

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Animal: I love most animals, but goats have a special place in my heart. don't ask I dont know why

Favorite TV Show / Movie: South Park, Conan O'Brien, Jon and Kate plus 8, stuff on
the History channel

Favorite Cartoon: Recess, Doug, all the good classic Nic stuff

Favorite Song: Waaaay to many, I dont know.

Favorite Sport: Arena football, ping pong

Favorite Actor / Actress: Funny people

Favorite Musician: People who make good music

Favorite Athlete: Athletes are over paid.

Favorite Comedian: Conan O'Brien, Howie Mandel, Bo Burnham

Favorite Food: Pizza or fruit. Fruit pizza is good too

Favorite Drink: Water, juice (grape), or tea

Favorite Number: 5 i guess

Favorite School Subject: English, Sociology, History, Basically anything BUT math. ewww.

Favorite Clothing: Comfy stuff

Favorite Book: Jodi Picoult, Mitch Album, Tory Hayden, all books by them are good

Favorite Snack Food: cheese-its or almonds

Favorite Season: spring because stuff smells good

Hobby: reading, outdoor stuff

Talent: paying high medical bills

Age of first kiss? I don't kiss and tell ;)

Age you lost your virginity? still holding the V-card. I won't rush into things.

Age you got married? Not married. Depends if I meet the right guy

Age you had your first kid? No kids for me at the moment

Have you ever been drunk? No, I don't drink.

Have you ever gotten high? No, I don't smoke

Have you ever been arrested? No, I haven't got caught yet. Just kidding haha.

Have you ever been in a fight? Not a real one

Have you ever been in an accident? car accident

Fears: Mascots, being alone in the dark, and Jello

Most important possession(s): Things family/friends give to me

Pet Peeve: People who judge others unfairly, just pass the love to everyone, what do you got to lose?

Number of Tattoos: none

Number of Piercings: Just my ears

Best quality: My great personality ;) haha.

Best physical trait: You tell me.

In the opposite sex...

Cute or Sexy: Cute

Taller or Shorter: Taller than me.

Lips or Eyes : eyes

Eye color? Blue is my favorite, but I don't discriminate

Hair color? Some shade of brown, but it doesn't really matter

Petite or Big: i dont care

Sweet or Caring: Both, a good combo

Easygoing or Serious: a mix of both

Sensitive or Loud: More sensitive, I don't care for loud mouths.

Thoughts on...

Abortion: Depends on the situation

Gay Marriage: Go for it. I believe everyone should have equal rights.

Gun Control: Personally I don't like guns, but I don't really care, just be safe and dont be stupid

God: I'd say so.

Aliens: haha maybe...

More stuff

Today was a good day. I only had minor pain here and there through out the day. That was nice. I never thought about taking a pain pill either, so that made me happy too. But it gets me questioning why my moods flip so much. Before all of this happened I would rarely get crabby, generally I'm just a happy, positive person. As my Lyme progresses though, I guess I sort of get mood swings.

Here is an example...Two days ago, I was on the verge of tears randomly throughout the day. I just felt depressed, confused, angry (not in a violent way), stuff like that. But today, I am fine. I had a good day, had some laughs, had good conversations, I just felt happy. Now, not that I don't mind feeling happy and all that, but some times it starts to mess with me. Being sad one day, but the next day being better. Next time I see my Lyme doctor, I will ask him about that.

I think if a person looks at me on one of my bad days, they probably wouldn't even know. I guess I don't vocalize that this is a bad day (whether thats emotional or physical). I have a tendency to cover up my feelings so others can't read me as well. If I start to have a deep conversation with some one though, I can't hide my emotions very well. I guess what I am getting at is that it is easier for me to pretend that I am happy when I am not because then the emotional pain isn't as bad.

so lets see what tomorrow brings!


Alrighty back to how I got where I am today.

I was put on Meclizine for the dizziness.

For a good couple of months, I was seeing my family doctor. There came a point though where he didn't have any other way to try and help me, so I got passed along to another doctor. The dizziness I felt was a weird sensation. It would some times feel like i was on a really rocky boat. Or if I looked around to fast I couldn't see, when/if some one touched my head I felt this huge pressure on my brain. Not really painful, but uncomfortable. Sometimes it didn't even feel like I was walking. Just sort of there.

Because meclizine did nothing for me, I got taken off of it and put on Clonazepam. When all of this dizziness first started, I was able to pass my heel-to-toe tests, but as time when on, it was hard to walk a straight line. Basically, I always failed the test cops give to drunk people.

Me and Clonazepam don't mix. Here's a quote from my medical records

"...Her mom calls this morning and said that Kylee has a completely changed personality while on this medication. She said she's angry, lethargic, falling asleep, she can't possibly stay on it for 10 days..."

Because of my bad reaction, I was put on BuSpar.

I'll continue getting to the present another day.

Oh yea, because of my Lyme, my memory is sort of crappy, so if the question "How does she remember all of this?" pops in your mind, it's because as I write these blog entrys, I have my medical records sitting next to me. The medical records contain medicines I was taken on or off of, what doctor saw me, reason for vist, treatment plan, etc. I had way to many appointments to remember how I got to the point I am at today, so having the medical records next to me really helps.

Lyme Fact:

Diagnosis of Lyme disease can be difficult. Current tests are not completely accurate, and the symptoms can mimic those of other diseases. Diagnosis is easiest when there is a skin rash.

To bad I didn't the rash! Would have saved a lot of time and money!!! haha..


Source:http://www.dhpe.org/infect/Lyme.html


ps- sorry about all the grammar errors, but I'm not going to edit this ha ha.

A rant

Getting off track of how I got to where I am today, I need to rant.

I guess the thing that I hate the most is that I have no one to relate too. I know a lot of people online who have Lyme, and I talk to them. But I don't know anyone in person who knows what this is like..I feel like I can't relate to anyone. People see me and I look healthy on the outside, but its not the outside its the inside thats sick. Basically, even though I know I have friends and family that care very much, I feel very alone.

I've always been bad at math, this semester, I actually was doing okay until now. I try so hard to understand, but half the time I cant even concentrate or what have you. It makes school so much harder. I use to love school, being there, learning, all that. But now with all this, school is just becoming another object that I am having troubling over coming/ understanding If that makes any sense.

Generally in life, I am a very positive person. And I try to live by finding the positive situation in everything. As all this stuff goes on, it gets harder and harder to stay positive. Not only that, some times I feel like I don't even know who I am anymore personality wise. Some times I feel the me three years ago isn't me today. And that makes very sad. One of my biggest fears is that I will lose people because I'm not the same. I know when all of this is over I will know who I am again, but right now I have no clue.


With having Lyme, some weeks I feel good physically/emotionally. But other weeks, like this one, I feel like crap in so many ways.

All my posts won't be this negative.

Lyme Fact:
symptoms can develop within a week to a few weeks of the tick bite. Other symptoms can appear weeks, months, or years later.

The Start

First, before I start anything, I want to express my gratitude to my family and friends. If I did not have them in my life, I know for certain I wouldn't be here right now. All of them have helped me in ways I cannot express in words. They all mean the world to me, and I would do anything for them. I would like to take the time to personally thank all of them on here, but that would take a long time. If you know about my situation, I'm talking about you. Thank you. More than you know.

I decided I will do a couple of posts until my history is all caught up to the present time. I want you to keep in mind that I never got the bullseye rash, which made the diagnosis tougher.

It all started with dizziness. At first it wasn't every day, and it was more of an annoyance, but as time went on, I was dizzy 24/7. I felt sick all the time, sort of like motion sickness I imagine, except I've never had problems with that. Next came the heart burn. I've never had problems with heart burn until I became sick. It was very painful. Tums, Rolaids, etc, nothing worked. First I was placed on Bismuth Subsalicylate, metronidazole, tetracycline, and Aciphex. Aciphex worked well for me when it came to the heart burn. I also had some blood test done to see if the heart burn was from another problem.

I was diagnosed with Helicobacter Pylori.

I was successfully treated for H-pylori after a while. When I went in for a check up, my dizziness was just as bad and I developed ice pick headaches. They were very sharp pains that would last between 10-30 minutes. Within the next 24 hours of that doctor appointment, I got considerably worse. I would throw up when sitting or standing. At that point I was not able to eat very much because I still had reflux and my nausea (from dizziness) was bad.

The next few days just got worse. I ended up back at the doctor many times to get Iv's to stay hydrated. The Iv's had the standard saline and Benadryl.

More tomorrow, I need to go to bed so I can be awake for work!

Lyme fact: Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, that is transmitted by a tick named Ixodes scapularis (deer tick).

Introduction

My name is Kylee and I am 18 years old. I am starting this blog to help journal my symptoms and every day thoughts involving my Lyme. I was Diagnosed with Lyme Disease April 14th 2008. Getting to that diagnoses took along time, around two years. With this blog, I also hope to educate people about the disease, and maybe meet some friends along the way. On a later post, I will go into details on how I got to where I am today. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or what have you.
Also, each post I will end with a fact about Lyme.

Lyme fact: Lyme disease is named after the town Lyme. Which is in Connecticut.