For those of you unfamiliar with Lyme Disease, you get it from being bitten by a tick. A deer tick, which is a tiny thing about the size of a poppy seed. Then you get a rash, flu-like symptoms and then all "you know what" breaks loose! This disease has over 200 symptoms and can cause nerve damage, blindness, infections in any part of the body and it is something that if it is not caught by a Dr. right away, can be with you for life. In my case, since I was exposed to it before a lot was known about it, it went undiagnosed for 5 years or more. When it finally was diagnosed, I ended up in the Hospital and had to be put onto I.V. antibiotics. My heart was infected with it and I almost died from it.

I have had so many relapses with it, where I again needed high doses of antibiotics for long durations, that I have lost count. Just what it has done to my life, has been so devastating, that I can and do get depressed sometimes. For instance, I was unable to have children because of it, having had 7 miscarriages. I suffered severe debilitating back pain for several years, before it was diagnosed. I was not able to hold a job. I could sometimes help out with the family business, but even that was hard, and there were many times I had to take a "back seat" and do little to nothing but rest.

As medical science progressed, stronger antibiotics were developed that work against it. However, I am allergic to one, and another is becoming ineffective because I have had it so many times.

As to the mental aspects of Lyme Disease, they pretty much run the gamut of emotions. If an unwanted emotion exists (and there are all kinds of those!), I have had it many times. I can also just get into a kind of desperation about it all, wanting to find some kind of solution. I have been to more kinds of Dr.s looking for more solutions than I can remember. None of them has been able to solve it. All of them combined have given me some relief, but I do have medical bills that are probably much higher than your average person's because of this, and I live on a low fixed income.

Thanks for reading and for your support, in whatever form it may take....