My names Sara, i'm 17 and i live in PA. I woke up 2 weeks ago and was unable to move my leg from my knee down without being in extreme pain. I thought mayb it was a torn muscle or something because i had worked out the night before. After limping around for 2 days i finally went to Medexpress and they put me in a knee brace with crutches. On the 3rd day my knee began to swell. I made an appointment with a specialist and when i went they drained my knee and took blood work. The doctor said it could be RA or Lyme. I got my results back on 6/2 and was told it was Lyme Disease. The doctor put me on Doxycycline Mono 2 caps for 28 days.
I have been extremely tired but unable to sleep much, have had a loss of appetite and terrible headaches for the past 2 days.
It's defiantly a scary illness. If anybody has any experience with Lyme please let me know how long it takes to be fully better, and what else i can do. I am now unable to complete my school work or even leave my house because i get so sick at times.
First, I want to welcome you to the community, Sara. I am so glad that you joined us and hope that you get the support that you are needing here. Full disclosure, I don't have Lyme, but I do have a chronic, denegerative autoimmune disease so I understand pain, and extreme fatigue. I understand not being able to do your job, or fix dinner or feeling to wiped out to take a shower. Simply stated: it sucks.
Most people who are given antibiotics early (shortly after being exposed via tick bite, usually) recover from Lyme really well. Since you are in your early treatment, you're not feeling better yet and that can be incredibly frustrating, especially since you feel so rotten. Give it time before you panic..let the antibiotics do their job. In the mean time, try to take good care of you and find ways to cope.
Let the antibiotics do their job and make sure you get to all of your follow up appointments with the doctor. You may want to let him/ her know about your headaches and ask if there is anything that you can take for them. If your knee is still bothering you, try to stay off of your feet and keep the leg elevated. The doctor can let you know if it is okay to apply ice or heat to it. We have used SalonPas pain patches for various aches and pains and really like them. They're over-the-counter patches that you apply to painful areas and they can work really well. Make sure that you read the label to make sure that you're not allergic to any of the ingredients, and make sure that you let the doc know of any over the counter stuff you are using. There have been times that I have also used both Tylenol and Ibuprofen for pain. They are different medications and can be taken at the same time. Tylenol every 4 hours and ibuprofen every 6 hours. I do try to limit my Tylenol to no more than 3000mg in one day. The limit is 4000 mg/ day, but Tylenol can cause some serous liver damage, so I am really careful with it.
Do your best to schedule your days as lightly as you can. If you can take some time off, then do so. If not, then do your best to take good care of yourself when you aren't working. Don't be afraid to ask for help from friends and family members, even if it's only for simple things.
I hope you start to feel some relief soon. Until then, we are here for you. :-)
GLAD YOU ARE GETTING TREATMENT EARLY. HANG IN THERE
DEBBIE B
The other thing to remember is that even after finishing a course of antibiotics (for any disease) the recovery can take longer.