M: At that point, what happened? You obviously found a doctor who diagnosed you correctly?
C: I started working with a Lyme-literate doctor who also has MS. She started me on IV antibiotics for three years. Antibiotics make you feel horrible, but they saved my life. The Herxheimer reactions were pretty severe too. I just felt so sick.
A Herxheimer reaction occurs when antibiotics kill off bacteria or yeast in the body. These reactions are necessary to rid the body of bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Symptoms of such reactions may include fatigue, brain-fog, muscle and nerve pain, chills, sweats, impaired memory, impaired cognition.
M: When you contracted what you now know was Lyme disease, what were your symptoms?
C: I was hiking mountains and walking six miles a day before I got sick. I felt sick to my stomach and extremely tired. Six months later, I was flat on my back. I had soreness in one joint one day, and soreness in another joint days later. This is because the spirochetes migrate. I couldn’t function. I couldn’t walk. I felt like I was pulling a truck. My ears were ringing and I had a sore throat that wouldn’t go away. I felt like I was turning to stone.
M: Did you have the characteristic bulls-eye rash associated with Lyme disease?
C: I was bit by a bunch of tiny ticks — nymphs. Little brown ones. And then there was a deer tick on my stomach. I did get the rash on my stomach.
Celeste was near death because her body was overwhelmed with the untreated co-infections related to Lyme disease including bartonella and babesiosis. These co-infections caused the swelling. Her immune system was severely compromised from chemotherapy; her nervous system was being degraded and destroyed by Lyme disease. She suffered a heart attack — a severe side effect one of the immuno-suppressive medications — Humira. And the long-term chemotherapy negatively effected her liver function.
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