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Scared I have Lyme Disease

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Lyme Disease
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Posted 9/30/2012 5:28 PM (GMT -5)
Back in like July 31st and August 1st I had three small ticks which I'm guessing were deer ticks. I pulled them off in like the first 48 hours and didn't find anymore of them. Then during class about a month later this girl gives a presentation about herself and how she has "chronic Lyme disease" and that her life span was shortened from it. She said she didn't know she had a tick and it was just on her for awhile and about like 4-5 years later she got the symptoms and stuff and she says her life span is shortened and stuff and that scared me. In the past I've had major anxiety, and It went away about a year ago and haven't had problems with it since she brought this up, and now it's coming back. I begged my mom to take me to the doctor, and she finally did I got a blood test, and the doctor said It came back negative, but then the girl told me that the blood tests were usually wrong, and that I have to send it to some special lab that specializes in it, but my parents won't do that, and now I'm scared that 4-5 years later I'm going to have like brain paralysis, dementia, organ failure and all this other crap. I'm only 17 and I don't feel like dying at like 25. So someone please help me here. My parents won't send my blood to a lab or anything. The only thing thats really happened is that the tick bites sometimes itch every week or so for about 5 minutes then go away. Please someone help me so I don't have to worry about this for the rest of my life, and have my anxiety ruin my life by feeling like I am sick everyday.
Posted 9/30/2012 6:16 PM (GMT -5)
Well if you aren't having any symptoms, I would not worry about it too much. Most people with chronic Lyme feel pretty badly. There is no doubt that they are quite ill. Fortunately, not everyone with ticks on them goes on to develop late stage or chronic Lyme.

Your classmate is correct in that the standard ELISA test is useless and unfortunately it's the main test that virtually every doctor relies on even though Lyme is supposed to be diagnosed clinically. If you do develop symptoms of Lyme, refer your parents to www.ilads.org. They can learn about the differences between acute and chronic Lyme, the best methods of testing, and treatment options.
Posted 9/30/2012 7:42 PM (GMT -5)
Hi tchnologic,
I'm glad you found us! I'm so sorry that this info scared you, but as that girl and Summer said, they can definitely be serious.

As Summer said also, if you aren't showing any symptoms, then don't freak over this. If you can get your parents to watch the movie "Under Our Skin", it might help. It's a movie that explains how serious Lyme disease can really be - this movie has a tendency to scare some people, so be aware. Most people don't get that bad.

It would be a good idea for you to read through our "New to Lyme? Start Here!" thread that is at the top of the forum, so that you can familiarize yourself with the symptoms of Lyme though, if you can do that without scaring yourself any further. Be prepared, not scared.

We are here should you develop symptoms or if you just get scared again. We can soothe your fears or help you to decide if you should try talking with your parents again.
Posted 9/30/2012 7:48 PM (GMT -5)
Ok thanks. I'll wait a little about the movie because they're just getting annoyed. And for the symptoms I'll wait on that, because I don't feel like having a panic attack or anything tonight haha.
Posted 10/1/2012 10:25 AM (GMT -5)
Good decisions!! Hang in there! Not all tick transmit these diseases. No need to be at odds with your parents - I'm quite sure that they only want the best for you as well.
Posted 10/1/2012 11:19 AM (GMT -5)
One other thing. I'm not sure about the girl's specific health problems, but Lyme can be put into remission, and people can have normal life spans.

If you read stories on the forums, you'll see that many people have had the disease for decades before they even got diagnosed - much less treated.

Every person is unique, however, even if you DID have Lyme, your chances of dying at 25 from it are pretty slim.

Just be sure to stay as healthy as possible to avoid an outbreak (good sleep, healthy food, no drugs/alcohol, etc.).

Then, when you're 18, you can get your blood tested from Igenex if you want and start educating yourself, and checking to see if you have Lyme.

But, since you don't have symptoms, I'd just focus on school, stay healthy, and not worry about it for now.

I'm not a health practitioner of any kind. These are simply my opinions.
Posted 10/1/2012 3:15 PM (GMT -5)
Ok thanks that makes me feel better.
Posted 10/1/2012 9:29 PM (GMT -5)
Sorry to here about your tick bites. Hopefully they are bacteria free ticks. I just wanted to mention that it's a falicy that a tick will take days or even hours to infect someone. As soon as they bite, they start injecting fluids so that the victim doesn't feel them and discard them. So, they can infect you immediately. Sorry.
Start educating yourself on all of the possible symptoms now, just in case, but don't drive yourself crazy though. Good luck, Dan
Posted 10/3/2012 6:59 PM (GMT -5)
K thanks ^
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