When I think back (this is about 15 years ago now) when I was bitten by a tick (and didn’t realize I had been–not until much later did I recall a bite–behind my right ear) I developed a fever with muscle and joint aches, along with chronic fatigue (where I couldn’t get out of bed). This lasted a week at most. And so I thought it was a summer flu. I had no classic bullseye rash. And the thought of tick-borne illness did not cross my mind as I was a ‘city person’.

That fall I was in a grand jury and they offered free bagels and coffee to the jurors each morning. This is when I first noticed a newly developed food allergy–to wheat! I ate half of a bagel and within a half hour was rushing to the nearest bathroom with gastrointestinal distress. Wow. Unusual. Over those next several months I realized I was also allergic to legumes and to bell peppers. Other than that, I felt OK (as far as I can remember).

I believe it wasn’t until a year later that I first noticed I had Raynaud’s syndrome. I was swimming in the coolish ocean off of Cape Cod and as I put my hands in the water my fingertips felt instantly frostbitten, all tingly. Very strange (for someone who grew up in the area and was used to cold water). That same summer I noticed that the veins on the sides of a few of my fingers would look like they were popping out and they’d be very sore (a form of vasculitis). I would rub them to soothe them and it worked. Sometimes the veins in my wrists would be sore, too and looked like they were popping out. And sometimes a few of the joints of my fingers appeared a bit swollen. Sometimes they felt stiff, but they didn’t hurt. And again, this would come and go. None of this was something constant. It wasn’t even something I would consider a nuisance, more like a curiosity. I remember deliberating whether or not to go to a doctor but thought no, because it wasn’t a constant thing. I just pictured a doctor quickly dismissing it.

I believe it was that same summer that I noticed that when I ate sugar (which was rare–I was rather a health nut at that time but enjoyed good chocolate occasionally) my heart would palpitate. I quickly reasoned it was a yeast problem (as I had just read a book about yeast overgrowth called The Yeast Connection–of course now I know that yeast overgrowth can be a symptom of Lyme). Sometimes I’d get a sharp pain in the center of my chest (right at my heart, sometimes to the left of my sternum, sometimes to the right) that would last just a second. And it rarely happened. I knew it wasn’t heart disease as I was young and healthy, so I dismissed it. I also noticed that my sternum looked swollen sometimes and when I pressed on my ribcage as well as my sternum, they’d feel sore, as if they were slightly bruised, but they weren’t. I now know that that is costochondritis and that it can be a symptom of Lyme. I was clueless at the time.

Insomnia made an appearance in my life around that time as well. I remember listening to a lot of late night radio and driving to work rather groggy in the morning, many times. I was always a very good sleeper. So this too, was unusual. But I didn’t really notice it. Only in retrospect does it really seem surprising.

So, I’m about at 1999 or so, and honestly all of those years blend together (and I believe the fogginess of the memory is due to Lyme disease). In 2001 I moved and was hanging up curtain rods and noticed my hands would get all stiff and beet red and warm feeling, and sort of stiff from using them (so that I had to uncurl a few of my fingers). I also noticed when I’d carry heavy groceries with handles, that the handles would leave dents/creases in my hands for several minutes after I put the groceries away and I’d get that strange redness/warmth, just like when I was hanging the curtains. I still don’t know what that was. It was almost like an inflammation of the tissue of the hands, rather than the joints.

I continued having classic signs of yeast overgrowth–fuzzy thinking, general un-well feeling; and so bought all the supplements recommended in the Yeast Connection book: Oil of Oregano, grapefruit seed extract, garlic, caprylic acid, digestive enzymes and probiotics. And they did help for a time. But by the fall of 2000 my food allergies were worse and at one point anything I ate felt like crushed glass in my stomach (I know now that this is called Bell’s palsy of the gut, which is common with Lyme). I sought out a doctor who told me I had IBS, irritable bowel syndrome (despite all of my symptoms focused on my stomach for the most part–with no real symptoms of IBS). I was told to meditate and sent on my way. Well, the stomach issue resolved itself (not surprising as all my symptoms would ‘come and go’). But I started getting muscle aches and pains all over. So, I started going for acupuncture. They started building up my immune system and I’d drink chinese herbs and get needle treatments on a weekly basis. The pain vanished and I felt great while getting acupuncture. Unfortunately I had to stop and after a few months without treatment, my symptoms returned.

to be continued…