Hilliard, OH
Infected: 2017
Diagnosed: 2020
My name is Grace. I am a college student from Ohio. I got sick with a “mystery illness” in high school. It wouldn’t be until the middle of college (about three years later) that I was officially diagnosed with Lyme disease. While waiting for that diagnosis, I became completely bedridden. I do not remember being bitten by a tick, so I felt it was impossible that I could have Lyme. Then tests started coming back, and the grief set in that this was the “mystery illness” I had been dealing with for so long.
It’s taken a long time and I definitely have a long road ahead, but I am finally healing. I’ve learned a lot along the way about many things, like treatments. I pulse antibiotics and take supplements, and that does seems to be helping. Not everyone does that treatment, but for those newly diagnosed that I’ve talked to, a lot of people seem to go that route first. With any treatment however, I would recommend checking in with yourself. If it’s not working, stop doing it. If it’s causing you to be less functioning than you were before, stop doing it. Progress also isn’t linear, but no treatment should be worse than the disease (I’ve learned that the hard way throughout this medical journey).
The other important tip I would give (I say this is the most important) is to be kind with yourself throughout this process. You did not ask to be sick. You did not deserve it. Feeling defeated, while absolutely valid, is putting the blame on yourself. Losing your health is so traumatic. You have to keep going because you deserve to feel as healthy as possible again.
Lyme disease turned my life upside as a teenage girl. Now as a young woman, it is up to me to turn it right side up again, and I feel I am finally getting the chance to do that.