sandyfeet said...
I think this is a really important question and not a depressing one.
Where I'm at, right now at least, I strongly believe most people will recover from lyme fairly quickly and easily given access to the right treatment but there are a certain percentage of us that have a more complicated illness and a longer road to recovery. We _will_ get better but it might take a lot of patience and experimentation and relapsing along the way.
Being positive is important to recovery, absolutely, but I also don't want to live the life that I do have right now wishing it all away and waiting for that day that I'm better. I have youngish children at home with me - they're growing up and I need to make the most of the time we have together because I suspect that by the time I'm better they'll be on to the next stage in their lives. I don't want to look back on this time with regret. I need to find a way to accept what _is_ right now and do what I can to find things that make me happy, ways to connect with the people I love even if I'm laying on the couch all day, and things that make me grateful for who I am and what I have each day.
100%. I love your post, matches my thinking. At least, it matches how I try to think about
things and contextualize the experience. There are a percentage of us who have a harder time treating the infections (for a variety of reasons). It can be a long grind, lots of ups and downs, but taking it one day at a time is key. It's easier said than done, and I've had moments of extreme frustration, but trying to practice gratitude in the midst of this storm can be helpful.
There are a lot of different ways to get better, we have to try different things, see what works, see what we can tolerate. If we haven't seen improvement over time, are we missing a part of the puzzle? in my case I plateaued after a lot of lyme/bart treatment and it turns out babesia is what is holding me back. Now that I've turned to treating this (which is grindingly hard given the herxes) I've been making slow but steady progress. Some people can't tolerate antibiotics or don't see improvement, and in those cases it can be worth trying herbals (and vice versa). For some, mold is the hidden factor holding them back. It just depends, but don't leave any stone unturned.
When I get down about
things, which especially happens if I trigger a bad herx, I try my best to stay calm and give myself positive pep talks. What has helped me is looking at how far I've come. And when I'm down it helps to find the stories of patients who were extremely sick and how they eventually got better. It helps inspire me to keep going because even if it is a long journey getting better is always possible so long as we are still alive. In my own situation I feel giving up is not an option so long as I have treatment avenues and ways to keep getting better.
I'd like to incorporate a bit more meditation into my daily routines. I think this can be a helpful tool. There is a lot of emotional baggage with these journeys. And finding things that can make us laugh, or destress, is very important. I like to watch shows, listen to audiobooks, distract myself with sports/sports radio.
Sometimes I also get frustrated at the time I've "lost," how much energy I've had to expend trying to get better. But I try to tell myself that this journey is helping me evolve and become the person I'm meant to become. Hopefully we can learn from these experiences.
Post Edited (sebreg) : 10/19/2018 12:09:04 PM (GMT-6)