When I was 9 or 10 years old, my little brother was diagnosed with Lyme disease. At this time, growing up on Long Island, Lyme was just starting to become more common, yet nothing like it is today. I more or less dismissed it and just assumed it was something that he would bounce back from quickly, like with a cold or a simple virus. Never did I think that nearly 30 years later I would be writing this story living with Lyme disease myself. 

Fortunately for my brother, doctors were able to catch it early enough and he was able to overcome what could have been a terrible scenario. For me, on the other hand, Lyme found me as an adult. I’ve always enjoyed working outdoors and I love running around in the grass with my kids and dogs. Not once while I was doing any of this would I have thought to watch out for ticks. We were always told that ticks are usually in the “tall grass.” I always took that to mean the absurdly high grass that you’d find near some campground or in a totally desolate area, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Although ticks prefer to hide out in tall grass, they can be nearly anywhere and at any grass height. Unfortunately, living in the northeast, it has become all too common to find a tick on you at the end of a day of work or just simply being near a more wooded area where they likely infest. 

We live up in Ridgefield, CT, which for those of you who don’t know, is about an hour and a half from Lyme, CT or where the aforementioned disease was seemingly first discovered. From what I’ve read, it seems like Lyme has really begun to spread throughout our beautiful country, yet some of its densest populations still seem to be in the northeast. I would encourage folks from all over to start to familiarize yourself with Lyme and other tick bites to become better educated on the topic. One thing that I’ve come to learn, as with most diseases, is that for a treatment plan to maximize its effectiveness, catching it early is everything AND if you have the tick, you can learn about what, if any, diseases it might be carrying with a simple lab check. Unfortunately, I do not know when I was bit, nor did I have the tick available for testing. I also don’t recall the infamous bullseye ring anywhere on my body. Sure, I’ve pulled ticks off of my clothing before, but I do not believe they would not have been able to penetrate my jeans or sweatshirts. More recently, I’ve had to pull ticks off of my daughter. Fortunately, in both cases for her, we were able to send them off to the lab for testing immediately and everything came back fine.  We were very fortunate. 

I had no idea that I somehow contracted Lyme disease. In fact, we backed into it after dealing with some unusual symptoms I was experiencing. If you read my previous story about how I Forge Ahead, you’ll know that during the pandemic I had my fair share of anxiety bouts; however, it would not surprise me if the Lyme exacerbated these symptoms. Aside from the periodic anxiety, there were periods where I would become EXTREMELY tired in the early evening and need to lay down. This was typically accompanied by a building fever, aches, chills, stiff joints and excruciating back pain. Oddly enough, many of these bouts would not last more than a single night or at most 24 hours, at which point I would be fully recovered from all symptoms. During this period, I went in for some routine lab work only to find that I had been tested positive for various tickborne illnesses, including Lyme. My physician was able to get me immediately on a round of antibiotics and it seemed to have worked; however, symptoms came back shortly after the treatment plan. To reiterate, the largest unknowns we were dealing with was how long ago I was bit and what was the tick carrying. We were essentially flying blind and trying to throw any antibiotics we could at it. Eventually, I was able to get into a Lyme specialist where we were able to go for even more advanced testing. This process was eye opening as it helped me to determine what we were up against. The physician’s approach in use of a few different antibiotics was seemingly helpful, but also felt like it was tearing my stomach in two. I can’t stand being on antibiotics as I know what it does to our gut microbiome – something many like to refer to as our “second brain,” so letting these meds do their job and then getting off them is a priority for me. While being on a long and thorough regimen of antibiotics, I have been able to eliminate most symptoms and fortunately seem to be beating several strains of what has been running through my system.  At the time of writing this story, there is still some Lyme showing positive on my bloodwork, but not nearly what was showing in the year prior. 

Another unfortunate observation about the entire Lyme process has been the cost. Lyme specialists are rarely “in-network” and often charge very high rates. The bills have certainly been piling up during this process and it is very difficult to tell when they will stop as we don’t really know when the Lyme will be eliminated fully. 

As I work towards recovery, I’ve continued to try and think of other ways to help keep any symptoms at bay and have recently integrated both heat and cold therapy into my wellness plan. I regularly use infrared saunas (accompanied by some activated charcoal, chlorella and spirulina) to help expel toxins through the sweat and I also use both cold plunge and cryotherapy to aide in any symptom flareups. These treatments seem to be incredibly beneficial, and I only wish I had found them sooner. I also continue to stay fit and active and eat as well as I possibly can (hoping to pen a story about my fitness and nutrition journey at some point down the road to share with you all) to help avoid anything that I think could work against a full recovery.

It is important to stay positive too. Life will throw curve balls at us from time to time, but it is important that we figure out how to hit that curve and not just shy away from it. I don’t fear the outdoors. I still run around in the grass with my kids and dogs, and I love every second of it. I’ve just become more aware of my surroundings and always make sure to perform a “tick check” for myself, my wife and kids, as well as the dogs after we’re done playing. I’ve learned from this experience and suspect I will continue to learn more as we work through this journey. A few thoughts to close: 1) be sure to check for ticks and tick bites whenever coming in from the outdoors, 2) if bit by a tick, get it off immediately and SAVE IT. Best to put it into a small sealable bag with some rubbing alcohol, 3) Notify your primary care physician AND mail the tick out to a location for testing. I used www.tickcheck.com and found it to be effective, fast and accurate, 4) don’t panic and stay positive – stress can be just as bad as some of the worst viruses and diseases, 5) if you find that you do have a tickborne illness, aside from what is prescribed to you from your primary care physician, consider alternative treatments such as the hot and cold therapies mentioned earlier – I have found them very beneficial. 

Don’t give up doing what you love doing and don’t be afraid to live your life. 

Forge Ahead!

-Mike

PS – fingers crossed that I’ll be able to write a follow up story with a full recovery some time soon. Stay positive.

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