Back in mid to late 2010, I was bitten by something while walking my dog. I felt the bite, but I didn’t know what it was and I just brushed my arm. Working at a stables, I get bitten by all sorts of bugs. I usually just brush them off and carry on. I had no reason to think it was anything sinister, so I did as was my usual.
As the weeks passed, I noticed the bite mark was getting worse and spreading into a strange pattern. (I now know that the rash was the ‘bull’s eye’ that is sometimes associated with the bite spreading.) I’d started suffering with headaches, dizziness and nausea among various other problems. I didn’t think they were related, so I simply thought I was fighting a virus or something.
I spend a lot of time around veterinarians and I am very interested in the medical profession. I try to be as clued up as possible with illness and treatments, but this one had me stumped.
I battled through the next few months, with my symptoms becoming worse as every week passed. I don’t think it’s physically possible to truly convey how awful the symptoms of Lyme Disease are. I struggled to get through each day. There was no relief from the symptoms. I felt like I had severe flu, but with added extras (not the nice kind of extras either).
Every inch of my body ached, muscles and joints. I had a headache for months, but it actually felt like my head and face were going to explode. I could only eat dry crackers because the thought and smell of food made me literally vomit. I was exhausted all of the time, no matter how much I slept. When walking, I would veer off to the right all the time, or I would fall over completely. My balance was shot to pieces.
I honestly don’t know how I managed to get in to work pretty much every day. At that time, I was working during the week as a secretary at a school and at the stables on the weekends. I was living on my own and self-employed, so I think the prospect of not getting paid pushed me to keep going. I am a very stubborn person in general, and I hate being cooped up indoors so I think that made me even more determined. Probably pretty stupid on my part though. I even remember bringing a horse in from the field, puking my guts up as I led him in. He was normally such a naughty and dangerous horse, and I begged him to behave himself, because I knew I would never be able to hold him if he misbehaved. Thankfully, he was good or it would have gone very pear-shaped.