Ten years have now passed since the initial onset of my Lyme disease symptoms, and I’ve been on a learning journey since I discovered its presence early last year. Lyme disease and the complications that have arisen from it have monopolised my entire twenties; a whole decade of my life. But I’m finally treating it now so there is light at the end of the tunnel – it just happens to be a very long tunnel.
Receiving the right treatment from the NHS has been difficult; they are working with outdated treatment guidelines and a serious lack of Lyme knowledge. My GPs have been helpful in making referrals and doing what they can within guidelines, but I’ve had a nightmare elsewhere with unreliable consultants and insufficient appointment systems.
I did make it as far as the Infectious Disease Clinic at Hammersmith Hospital though, and was offered a lumbar puncture to look for Lyme antibodies in my spinal fluid.