Tag: lyme disease
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
The past 6 months have been somewhat like a bad dream. I never could never have imagined being sick for this long with so many different ailments. I can’t help but wonder if all the years on methotrexate had such an effect on my immune system that everything kind of shut down for a while. With all this down time I have had the opportunity to learn somethings about myself. I thought I would share some of what all this sickness has taught me.
- Trust your instincts. When two of my doctors had conflicting opinions on whether or not I had a second or continuing Lyme infection I should have trusted my instincts. I could have saved myself valuable time and pain and not have subjected myself to way too many diagnostic tests had I just trusted my gut. I know my body better than anyone else and I knew that I still had Lyme Disease. I shouldn’t have allowed my rheumatologist to talk me into more tests to prove that her opinion was right when I knew deep down inside all I really needed was another treatment of antibiotics. When I finally got the antibiotics was when the symptoms went away and I started to feel better. Lesson learned. Again. I hope this time it sticks.
- Lyme Disease is something to take very seriously. I have had Lyme Disease in the past. I thought that I knew and understood what this disease could do. I could not have been more wrong. I have never in my entire life felt more physically ill than I did with Lyme Disease. I can’t say whether or not the Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) had an effect on the severity of the Lyme Disease but I know that the treatments for the RA had an effect on how well my body was able to handle Lyme Disease.
- I need to nourish my body and my soul. I have always been the one who puts everyone’s needs before mine. It wasn’t a conscience decision, but none the less other things took priority in my life. Now every day I am slowing down and taking time to do things that nourish my soul. Things that bring me joy nourish my self. I find that I have more patience and energy for other things after making my self a priority. Before I put anything into my body I am asking myself will it nourish me or fill me. They are two very different ideas. I have tried to eat responsibly in the past, but I haven’t always looked at what I am putting into my body as nourishment as opposed to something that will fill me up.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Being an independent person and a bit of a control freak I frequently would rather do something myself than ask for help. Part of me just didn’t want RA to get the best of me. I felt like it was a bit of a battle of wills. I wasn’t going to let RA take over my life completely, I could do most things myself and I hated to ask anyone for help. Being as sick as I have been, I have had no choice but to ask for help. There were days when getting out of bed to go to the bathroom was an ordeal. An extremely painful ordeal. It was simply impossible not to ask for help with some of the most basic of needs. I discovered that the world did not end and it was okay if things were not done “my way”.
- A clean is nice but really not all that important. I used to care very much about how clean my house was. I felt that how my house looked was a reflection on me and how I cared for my family. I know that sounds a little nutty but that is how I felt. I really felt like I could not physically do a great many things anymore but I could take care of my family and a clean house was part of that. Of course now looking back I can see how crazy that whole idea sounds. My house currently is picked up. No one is going to trip over anything in my house, but it is a far cry from clean and I really don’t care. I could spend the next few hours cleaning, or I could spend the next few hours playing with Kevin or reading a good book. Now I choose something that will fill me up instead of depleting my resources.
- Connecting with other people that know and understand what it’s like to have RA is important. Knowing that I am not alone in the day to day challenges that this disease brings has helped me in so many ways. There is comfort in knowing that there are people out there that completely understand what I am going through. I am very grateful to all the new friends that I have found here and for their kindness and support.
Tags: ailments, antibiotics, arthritis, body, diagnostic test, disease, infection, lyme, lyme disease, methotrexate, nourish, RA, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatologist, sick, soul
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Lesson Learned, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions, Spirit, Wellness | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
I have not written a post in quite some time now. I have been going through some physical challenges since this summer. It seems that lyme disease does not want to let go of me right now and that is complicating the rheumatoid arthritis. You cannot treat both diseases at the same time so something has got to give and it has been and will continue to be the RA treatment until I am convinced that the lyme disease is gone for good.
I have spent the better part of the past 4 months without the RA treatments that in the past were working for me. So the challenge right now is finding some natural ways to deal with the inflammation and pain of rheumatoid arthritis without it countering the lyme treatments. I am trying right now to find the right combination of diet and supplements that will give me the best results.
This is a new development for me. Over the past 8 years I have never gone without medication for such an extended period of time. It has caused me to question a great many things. In the beginning I was mostly afraid. I almost feel like the medication was somewhat of a crutch for me. I am not saying that we shouldn’t seek out medication for RA. What I am saying is that maybe I didn’t look into some of the other options available to me because I didn’t have to. The medication worked so well that there really wasn’t any need to look further.
I feel like I am embarking on a new direction for my health. It is a little scary for me. There is a certain amount of comfort that goes with handing over the control to the doctor. But now that I have made the decision to take an alternative route, I am feeling empowered that I am in control of my own health and I am hopeful that this will be the right decision for me and my family.
I am hoping that I will be able to post more in the future and keep you up to date on my progress. But for now I am trying to focus on my health and healing and trying to take each day as it comes. I am truly grateful to everyone who has expressed their love and support. It means more than I can say.
Tags: arthritis, disease, health, lyme, lyme disease, RA, rheumatoid, rheumatoid arthritis
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Coping, Decisions, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Solutions | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
I try to look at every obstacle or challenge as an opportunity to learn something about myself. My hope is that I can somehow gain something positive from every experience good or bad. This latest challenge has been no different. What I learned this time is that I need to be grateful for every moment that I am upright and not sick in bed.
I have spent the better part of this summer in bed. I started the summer with most of my family (myself included) sick with the swine flu. By the time I was finishing up the antiviral meds for the swine flu I found out that I had lyme disease. This meant 6 weeks of antibiotics after 3 weeks of antiviral medication. Both medications require that I stop taking my RA meds to work effectively and get rid of both the flu and the lyme disease.
The lyme disease was much more difficult than I had anticipated. It left me feeling more sick than I had ever been at any point in my life ever. It felt a little like the flu on steroids. Fever, chills, body aches and severe muscle pain just to name a few of the rather nasty symptoms I was experiencing with lyme disease.
There were plenty of times during this period when I wondered which disease was causing the pain. Was it the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or was it lyme disease? It was a very difficult time. I never knew from day to day how I would feel or if it would be better or worse than the day before. Many times one disease would be better and the other worse.
Right now I am just dealing with a flare. There was a time in my life when I thought that dealing with a flare was the worst thing I could experience. Turns out that is not true. A flare is awful. A flare is exhausting and very painful. But unfortunately I have learned that some things can be worse than a flare. Being sick with another disease while in the midst of a flare is much worse. I have had only a small glimpse into what others with multiple autoimmune diseases go through and I admire each you. Dealing with one disease is hard enough.
I never thought that I would be at a point when I would say that it’s only a flare. I am not trying to minimize a flare but that is how I feel right now. It is just a flare and I can handle a flare. I know what to expect with a flare. I know what my body needs and what it can handle during a flare. I’ve been down this road before. It is familiar territory.
For now, I am drinking plenty of water, eating a great deal of anti-inflammatory foods, getting plenty of rest and grateful that the only thing I need to deal with right now is this flare. There are no other health issues, just the flare. While this means that I will be in bed more than I would like, I am still able (although rather stiff and sore) to get out of that bed. For that I am grateful.
Tags: anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, antiviral, arthritis, flare, lyme, lyme disease, RA, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, sore, stiff, swine flu
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Decisions, Lesson Learned, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, Spirit | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Many of you know that we have had a bout of the swine flu traveling throughout my household. I am happy to report that we all have survived the swine flu. There is a lingering cough for a few of us but by and large we have weathered that storm. Unfortunately I have contracted lyme disease. I have had it for a while now and it is really kicking my butt. The fatigue is one of the many challenging parts of this particular disease. So because I am too tired to think I decided to share what my surroundings look like while I recover. I hope that everyone is doing well. I am trying to focus on getting better which is requiring a great deal of rest. So I hope you enjoy the pictures and I hope to be back into the swing of things real soon.
Tags: arthritis, cough, flowers, lyme, lyme disease, photo, photographs, pictures, RA, rheumatoid, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA, swine flu
Posted in Autoimmue Disease, Good News!, Rheumatoid Arthritis RA | 2 Comments »
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