Each time the diagnosis would change, but the end result would stay the same. This sequence of events would continue for another two years. They chalked it up to my previously damaged spine, gave me some painkillers and sent me on my way. I had a full body MRI (the first of many) and by the end of the night I had seen at least five neurologists. I went to the ER, and that night, I became a medical mystery. My arms were tingling and it felt like I had pins and needles everywhere in my body. Then I went to work one day and lost all feeling in my legs. I had had artificial disc surgery in my spine a couple years prior and thought this new pain was due to scar tissue from the surgery. The pain is so bad I start to cry.Ī few years ago I noticed a pain radiating down my leg, starting from the small of my back. My face is numb, and it feels like I have the flu. My doctor holds me down, consoling me, telling me to breathe because he has no idea what’s going on. My heart races out of control and my blood pressure skyrockets. I can feel my fingernails digging through my skin. The year I arrived, eight cases were reported in Georgia, compared to 1,788 in my home state of Connecticut.Īt least once a week, my muscles start to twitch uncontrollably they tighten so much my fingers turn into fists. Common in the Northeast, Lyme disease is found less often in the South. Then in 2006 I moved to Atlanta, and Lyme disease faded from my mind. Problem solved – no rash, good to go.īuzz off, bugs! How to stay safe during insect season She’d check us for ticks and remove any she found with a match and tweezers. When I was little my mother would have us slather on the DEET before we went outside made sure we had long pants and socks on, especially when we’d play in the woods. I spent the first 30 years of my life in New England, where talk about Lyme disease was prevalent. That number, the CDC reported last week, is about 10 times higher than they had previously estimated.īut what if you never get the rash? What if you blow off your symptoms as a bad case of the flu? It then develops into neurological problems, such as numbness in the limbs or facial paralysis, leaving the patient in excruciating pain.Ībout 300,000 Americans each year are infected with Lyme disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For most people it starts with a telltale, bulls-eye rash and flu-like symptoms.
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