Greg
I am a 40 year old California native who grew up playing many sports and brought that into adulthood, mainly playing basketball, hiking, and having vicious games of ping pong. I enjoy many other hobbies including guitar, cooking, travel, and photography when not working as a psychotherapist. Each summer I would help lead a group of children on hikes in northern California. Life began to change a couple years ago when I developed back pain and fatigue. Slowly, it spread and consumed me until I was unable to work. I felt tired, as if I had the flu, headaches, heartbeat skips, and muscle fatigue every day all the time. The symptoms were so intense, I was sure I was going to die, though I quickly learned to not share that with doctors, who gave me diagnoses such as anxiety, depression, psychosomatic disorder, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). After I went to UC Davis for a few months, my doctor told me CFS was rare and there was nothing I could do to improve. From reading on the Internet and sharing with others through Facebook groups, I learned about inaccurate testing for Lyme Disease, decided to get checked again, and found that I am positive for Lyme. As of my writing here, I continue to have debilitating symptoms of pain, thinking, and fatigue, being home-bound and needing help for simple tasks like laundry. I cannot work, participate in any of the activities I enjoy, and cannot socialize easily, making it very hard to maintain my relationships. I feel I am lucky to have found the reason for my health issues within 2 years, as many others had not found out they have Lyme for many years, but the illness has taken my life away and seems very difficulty to recover from.
Greg
