Hi all,

My name is Amanda. I got Lyme (I think) when I was 19. I had a summer job working as a horsemanship instructor in '97 at Miracle Ranch in Gig Harbor, WA. I came down with the wierdest symptoms I had EVER experienced including mild flu-like symptoms such as headache and bodyaches, etc. But the major symptom was this crushing fatigue that I absolutely couldn't shake. And my supervisors were NOT very sympathizing, since I ceased to be able to do my job at one point. I also gained almost 25 pounds in about six weeks (I've NEVER had trouble with my weight), and this in spite of very hard physical labor! After finally having to take three days off from work, my supervisors took me into a walk-in clinic where they tested me for mono. Whatever. I didn't have it. I spent the following 10 years experiencing exacerbations and remissions of a strange illness that nobody seemed to be able to identify. I saw MD's including my GP in La Grande, who pawned me off to her husband, the town phychiatrist, who in turn got me hooked on anti-depressants as a teen-ager because for lack of a diagnosis, it was determined that my issues were "all in my head." We've all heard that one before.

But my symptoms persisted. I became a therapeutic riding instructor with the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association in 2000 and moved to Snohomish, WA where I experienced a severe relapse. I started seeing a doctor at the Boles Clinic in Bellevue, WA. She was licensed as both an MD and an ND I believe, and took a holistic approach to treatment. She actually was very good and if I had had the money I think she could have done a lot of good for me. She did NOT, however, think to test me for Lyme disease, so I don't know if her treatments would've been effective or not. Anyhow, my symptoms got so bad that I had to quit my job at the therapeutic riding stable or be fired so I chose to quit my job and I moved back in with my family in La Grande.

I went into another remission and ended up going back to school. I studied Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Portland and later physical therapy at Mount Hood community college. I was sick while I was in school but the schools didn't have to make any special accomodations for me though I informed my program directors that I was sick with what I had been diagnosed with as "Chronic Fatigue Symdrome" and later "Fibromyalgia".

In 2005, the year before I graduated as a physical therapist assistant, I spend the summer breaking colts for a ranch near my hometown (stupid idea when you are sick). My system buckled after about three weeks of working and I began feeling pain like I've never experienced before in addition to the other symptoms I still had. I never really got better after that though somehow I did manage to finish out the summer on a reduced schedule. I was seeing a naturopath with a degree also in parmachology based in Milwaukie, OR, at the time, which got me nothing more than about $5000 in credit card debt and no real answers. He did however agree with my, at the time, self-diagnosis of "fibromyalgia".

I finished my final year of school and began working at an out patient physical therapy clinic in La Grande. I was introduced to a Psychian's Assistant who works under a well-known Osteopath in Portland, OR, when I took a continuing education class for work, which was taught by that particular Osteopath. He had some interesting ideas that I was unfamiliar with concerning fibromyalgia.

So I went to his PA. She was the most intuitive and intelligent physican I had seen up to that point in my battle. She dug until she found that the root cause of my problem was Lyme disease. She actually ventured to test me when no other doctor had even attempted this. Being that she was a PA and not a doctor, she referred me out to other doctors to help get a clearer picture of what was going on. Most of the doctors wanted to either load me up on drugs and anti-biotics, and two even denied that I had Lyme disease even despite a positive test result! Recently, I actually got a hold of the actual test that was performed, and found that the test was not only nearly as positive as the chart would allow, but they also sent me a picture of the organism in my blood!!

To treat the Lyme, the PA put me on a course of Doxycycline for 8 weeks. This was bad. I made it through six weeks before my system just about flat shut down. I nearly lost my job and was much sicker than when I started. She advised me to quit my job, which I would've had to do anyway as I was on the verge of being fired. She then referred me to my present Naturopath, who not only confirmed that I had Lyme disease, but also found that I was mercury toxic as well! In the first month of treatment, he succeeded in getting me off of ALL synthetic drugs introduced me to Rife technology. My limited knowledge of Lyme disease and my doc's unique approach to treatment prompted me to start researching the disease itself, mercury chelation, and natural healing in general. This has not only helped my doc to better understand Lyme disease, but has also had a profound impact on my own treatment!

So now I'm FINALLY getting well--and without drugs! I'm not working right now but hope to be able to do that within the next six months or so and my former boss has even said that I have a job when I'm ready to come back.
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Edited by AWinkle (12/31/07 04:52 AM)