Monday afternoon, I get a call from my doctor "You tested positive for Lyme. We need you to take some pills for 30 days, then we'll test you again."
What were my symptoms? Well this rash apparently, although I just thought it was funky. It didn't hurt. I took this photo in mid August & sent it to Chris who was still on the west coast.
I was glad that I was diagnosed with something because I really had been feeling crappy. And I was hoping it wasn't just because I was getting older & shouldn't be exercising as much as we do.
I'm not sure when I got the tick bite because I never found a tick on me. But I am outside all the time, so it could have been any day. I started feeling poorly on our trip across country. I thought it was from sitting in the car all day, but now I know better.
My other symptoms: neck pain (I bought a new pillow & tried sleeping in our guest bedroom). I also had the neck pain during our Bonneville trip, but I thought it was from the hotel pillows. My neck pain was so bad at the end that I was having a hard time going to sleep, I could barely turn over; could not raise my arms over my head; and had a very difficult time getting out of bed. Chris had to help me dress quite a few mornings. And I still didn't go to the doctor...hmmmm
(I like my doctor - it's just a pain to get in to see her. And doctor's usually take one look at you, see that you're a triathlete & don't smoke, pat you on the knee, and tell you that you're the healthiest person they've seen all week.)
I also was very easily fatigued. Again, I thought it was from our cross country trip - too much time in the sun. I was starting to get irritated though, when I could barely get through a 4 mile run (and then felt like I had run 20...) I was telling myself "you're kidding: 4 weeks ago, you were doing an Ironman, now you can barely run 4 miles!!!" Oh the frustration, and still I didn't go to the doctor...
Then my hands and feet started cramping every once in a while. Not really painful, just really inconvenient. Then a couple nights with calf cramping - OUCH! Now those hurt! And I would wake the whole house up with my wimpering (ok, it was more like yelling/screaming/crying). Still no doctor's visit....
Finally a sore throat & jaw - with the pain moving up to my ear. Oh, I have a sinus infection! I better go to the doctor's and get the drugs because this won't go away on it's own. I did tell the doctor that I had been feeling poorly for the past month, so she took some blood samples. She said it was a big possibility that I had either Mono or Lyme. So it wasn't a sinus infection...
A week later, the results were in: Lyme. Yuk. Fortunately, I caught it early & should have no problem getting it cured. I've been taking the pills for over a week now & feel much much better! My neck pain went away after only a couple days on the pills (thank goodness - that was the worst!). I've been cramp free for 2 days now -yippee!!! I am still more tired than I normally would be - but I would say that I'm 90% back to normal! 7 mile run this morning with hill bounding - check!
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