Dorcas Annette Walker

Lyme is not just a tick-borne disease; it can be transmitted by any blood-sucking insect including fleas, mosquitoes, and mites!

The most effective insect repellent I have found is Avon’s Skin-So-Soft that now comes in a spray.

Only a minority of cases show up the bull’s-eye rash and 60-70% show up positive on the Western Blot antibody test contrary to common belief. The CDC criteria was never meant to be used as a diagnosis!

Some early symptoms that might appear within 30 days after being infected with Lyme is: chills and fever, night sweats, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes, circular rash (Bull’s-eye), or a flu-like illness that does not improve within three to five days.

If it weren’t for AIDS, Lyme biotic would be the number one infectious disease in the United States and Western Europe.
Nick Harris, Ph.D.

There is an estimated 100,000 cases annually that is infected with Lyme! Treatment of early-stage Lyme disease alone costs an estimated $60 million a year.

Lyme can disseminate through-out the body rapidly traveling through blood vessel walls and connective tissue changing form. In less than a week after being infected the Lyme spirochete can be deeply embedded inside tendons, muscle, the heart and the brain.

Millions of people who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue syndrome and other degenerative diseases could have Lyme Disease causing or contributing to their condition.
D.J. Fletcher and Tom Klaber

Late stage or chronic Lyme is manifested by fatigue unrelieved by rest, and multiple symptoms involving the central and peripheral nervous system, the musculoskeletal, skin, and circulatory systems.

Lyme is not just a disease that makes you tired and achy. It is a chronic condition that utterly destroys a person’s life and ultimately can be fatal!

Lyme’s Disease has become one of the most debatable and misunderstood infectious disease between the physicians and experts of today. Not only has this disease spread faster than research can keep up with, the test used to detect Bb antibodies raise serious questions, but the broad range of symptoms that cross over into other diseases only confuse rather than set one certain criteria for Lyme. One thing all agree on is that there is no cure for Lyme! To those of us who have become infected our entire life is now ruled by this complex illness. It is quite scary and frustrating.

My first introduction to Lyme’s was a tick I discovered on the big toe of my left foot after coming home late Sunday evening from a weekend church meeting out in the middle part of Tennessee in 1991, where my husband preached. I had kicked off my high heel shoes during the time of fellowship and dinner on the ground outside the church enjoying the warm summer day. I wasn’t worried as I had pulled ticks off as a youngster after playing outside. To my surprise by the next afternoon my foot was swollen and I had a red streak running up my leg. I called my local doctor’s office and was told to come right in. I was running a temperature so they put me on an antibiotic and blood work was done. My foot went back down to normal and I felt fine until a couple of weeks after my antibiotic ran out. I started getting sick feeling like I had the flu with headaches. So my doctor put me back on the antibiotic again. I had no Bull’s-eye rash and all my tests came back negative. At this time Lyme-borne ticks had only been discovered out in the Western part of the state. After a couple of months of re-occurring sickness, I was sent to a specialist in Nashville. He too was puzzled as I showed no classic symptoms, but he put me on a regiment of a month of antibiotics. The specialist warned me that if this was the Lyme Bb it could come out of remission again.

The next two Springs, despite using various brands of insect repellents, I got tick bites on my body and by the next day I had a Bull’s-eye rash that spread rapidly. Each time I went on a month’s regiment of antibiotics to put the Lyme back into remission and soon was back to normal again.

My last episode a couple of years later involved a seed tick so tiny I could barely see it. I didn’t go to the doctor as seed ticks were not supposed to carry Lyme. The spot had a red rash and was itchy, but soon went away. About a month later I was traveling with my husband in evangelism when severe headaches and fatigue hit me. I couldn’t function no matter how hard I pushed myself. When my symptoms kept getting worse I called the Lyme foundation only to be informed that it had been discovered that seed ticks were just as potent or more so than regular ticks and I needed to get on antibiotics immediately. This time it took a couple of months before I was back to normal again. Around this time I was also diagnosed with IBS and had painful joint flare-ups that tested positive for rheumatoid arthritis. Years flew by filled with travel and raising my kids. I have always been very active (my friends kid me that I run instead of walk), faithfully exercised, and maintained the correct weight. I put behind me the nightmare of tick bites being vigilant to always use Skin-So-Soft when working outside in my flower gardens. Getting older didn’t bother me. I figured I’d be able to pursue an active career in writing once my kids were adults. We were pastoring a rural church up in Indiana when it seemed as though my body started falling apart. My doctor diagnosed me with fibromyalgia and postmenopausal. We moved back to our home in the mountains of Tennessee. A year went by and I gradually got worse instead of better. I started charting weather, temperature, anything that could trigger stress, looking in vain for a pattern to make sense of what was happening to me. Days increased where I couldn’t function and was bedfast. I had horrible pain radiating from my spine throughout my entire body, and severe headaches despite increased pain meds. Episodes of overwhelming fatigue filled my brain like a fog until I couldn’t concentrate enough to read or think. I had trouble with my balance causing me to stagger and fall. I began using a walker. Then I started having numbness in my hands and feet.

Not only did I have to give up my kid’s Sunday school class, quit leading the choir, singing specials, playing the organ at church, and resign from being the missionary president, but I could no longer cook meals,

It got to the place where I was in bed more than I was up. Finally at my sister’s urging I called a Lyme’s specialist out-of-state and as soon as the nurse heard my symptoms and history she said that it sounded like my Lyme had come out of remission and urged me to get back on antibiotics immediately. She told me that I didn’t need a tick bite to bring Lyme out of remission. Stress or an unknown factor could trigger it active again. Because of the severity of my symptoms I am now in the third stage. My long-suffering doctor agreed to see if antibiotics would work. Within a week I could tell a difference in my body. Talking with others who suffer with Lyme, I’ve heard that it may take a year or longer to get my system back into remission.

Today I battle constant chronic fatigue and pain from arthritis. My body feels like a car that is running close to empty. Some days I only have enough energy to get dressed or else I must choose between getting dressed and doing a household chore. Other days I stumble around in my PJ’s. Good days I am able to get dressed, combed, and prepare a simple meal for my family; feeling human once again. I’ve lost the independence of jumping in the car and driving to town to shop. Most days my mind is not clear enough to drive. Bad days are spent in bed battling pain or overwhelming fatigue. Then the next day I feel anger at another day I’ve lost out of my life. There are so many things I enjoy doing and goals I’d love to reach that at times seem like the mere wisp of a dream. I also suffer short-term memory loss that is very frustrating when trying to find the right words to communicate- my family knows by how much I talk whether I’m having a bad day or not- ha! Through it all I feel blessed to be surrounded by loving family, supportive friends, and many prayers prayed in my behalf. I’ve discovered from firsthand experience how wonderful and intricate our bodies are. The slightest shift in a body’s chemistry can quickly alter one’s lifestyle. Each day is truly a gift from God.

If you have any questions or comments about Lyme disease you may contact me: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com