(Lymenet Flash can be reached at http://flash.lymenet.org)

"I have been on Amox for about a week and I have noticed I'm tired all the time. Could this be a herx? I have been tired since getting sick but never this bad. Thanks."

This is just one of the many messages posted online by people seeking advice and guidance. The terminology may look like Chinese to some, but to those belonging to this ever-growing group, it is just a normal conversation. The people on this and other similar websites are tied together by a common thread; they are all suffering from or affected by Lyme disease and/or other tick borne diseases.

Most have Lyme disease and many are also infected with one or more of the recognized co-infections, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Bartonella, which can all be transmitted by the same tick bite. I should say "we" because I belong to this club of "Lymies," as we endearingly refer to each other.

Many here know my story, but others have heard only bits and pieces. I have been sick for about four and a half years, although the infection could have been in my system for much longer than that. I did not have a positive test until last summer when one finally turned up positive. I have been to many doctors, been on many medications, but I have not yet beaten the resilient bacteria that courses through my veins. My story is similar to many others and, like so

many, the end is not yet in sight.

On this site, we gather together to support each other and be supported, to seek advice and get answers. In essence, we come together because we are alike and that likeness breeds understanding. A kind of understanding that others cannot have, no matter how hard they try, simply because they do not know what we know. They do not know what it feels like to have a body under attack by those microscopic enemies.

There is comfort in being with others who know what it is like to be told you are crazy, who have been bumped from doctor to doctor only to be told that nothing is wrong. Others who know enough about antibiotics and painkillers to become pharmacists and enough about this disease to be a better doctor than those we (not so endearingly) refer to as "ducks."

Here race, gender, and age do not matter. We are all equals. We do not even refer to one another by our real names most of the time but by our made-up screen names like Tincup, Lymetoo, mothertoeight, and runner21. We are like family, with short fights among members but with a deep sense of love, understanding, and acceptance.

Those who have been sick for years or even decades gather and give support and advice to those who are just beginning down this path. Those beginning new treatments can ask for any information or advice from those who have tried the treatment in the past. Articles are discussed, doctors are recommended, jokes are made, and hope is shared.

On this website, I have heard many disappointments when medicine does not work and too few triumphs when it does. I have posted my share of questions and learned so much from those who try to give me answers.

Through the challenge of dealing with the many components of Lyme disease, I have not only discovered an inner strength that I never knew I had, but I have met some amazing people. They give me the courage to keep fighting and the faith that someday I will be able to type the message, "I am well!"

Annie (MA)

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