February | 2013 | lyme at home

Due to Lyme disease causing stiffness, joint pain, and weakness, people with Lyme spend most of their time in bed, relaxing, and limiting their movements.  Although exercise causes herxing and pain, it is very important to fit some exercise into your schedule.  Beside the pain and joint damage, your whole body changes.  Every part of your body becomes at risk.  By involving exercise and a healthy diet, future problems can be avoided.

Some recommendations include stretching, breathing, free weights, walking, pool workouts, and doing these things every other day.  It’s important to know your limits.  Just because you were able to do something before the Lyme doesn’t mean you will be at your best after the Lyme.

An important thing to remember is to avoid cardio at first.  Start slow and work your way into harder exercises.  You don’t want to over do it and discourage yourself.  It will hurt because the oxygen flowing through your system is killing off the Lyme bacteria.

No pain no gain!

I read an article that talked about a new tick transmitted disease that is similar to Lyme disease.  The organism that is this new disease is called Borrelia miyamotoi.  It was first found in Japan in 1995 then in Central Russia in 2011.  In 2001 and 2006, cases were found in deer ticks in Connecticut and Northern California.  Cases of this show fever that burns for days and then disappears.  It can cause flu like symptoms, headache, muscle aches, stiff neck, and fatigue.  A round of doxycycline or amoxycilin will prevent further symptoms.

This seems to be a cousin of Lyme disease.  Luckily it also seems to be treated the same way.  I’m not surprised a similar disease has been found due to the fact that Lyme disease is capable to hiding in the body from antibiotics.  It’s a smart disease and like many other disease and virus’, they soon mutate and become stronger due to the antibiotics.

As spring approaches, be sure to look for ticks in your area!

Lately I’ve heard discussions about hand sanitizer vs. soap and water.  Everywhere you go now in public offer free hand sanitizers in the bathrooms.  People carry around small containers of hand sanitizer with them throughout the day.  There are alcohol and nonalcoholic-based hand sanitizers along with antibacterial soaps and normal hand soap.  The public is so germ sensitive today that there are many options to control germs and it can be overwhelming.

I’ve found some information to help clear up some talk about which is better.

Soap and water should be used as a #1 priority.  Soap and water can clean off dirt and grime.  Hand sanitizer will not clean off dirt but will kill germs on the spot.  There is only a slight difference between antibacterial soap and regular soap.  When using hand sanitizer, the 60% alcohol ones will kill germs the best.  In the end, soap and water should be used before hand sanitizer.  For on the go, can’t get to soap and water, hand sanitizer is the next best thing!

 

Living in the northeast and having animals, I’ve always been aware of ticks.  Constantly checking myself and my animals for ticks has been a habit that I normally don’t think much of.  On this blog I’ve only talked about my personal experience with Lyme disease and posted information geared towards humans.  I recently brought my cat to the vet and while we were sitting there waiting, I noticed a pamphlet for Lyme disease in dogs.

Today I decided to share some info I learned for those who have animals.  Prevention in animals is the same as it is for humans.  Avoiding tick-infested areas in the spring is a good idea.  Checking for ticks and removing them correctly is also important.  There are products for animals to help with prevention, similar to flea prevention.

If you dog has been affected, it’s rare for them to have a rash or target spot.  However, if the vet tests the dog as positive there is an antibiotic of dogs.  Some symptoms include a period of lameness in the dog.  Inflammation in the joints and kidney infection are also signs.  Sensitive to touch, fever, lack of appetite, nervous system complications, and difficulty breathing are also signs to head to a vet.

Positively Positive is a great website that I visit everyday.  It’s a collection of blog posts that inspire well being, change, hope, and anything positive. Today I came across When It All Seems to be Falling Apart .  This post talks about when a crisis happens, whatever it might be, you should find a positive aspect.  Change is scary whether it be a move, a sickness, etc.  When things seem to be falling apart it could be a good thing in the end.

2012 held a lot of change for me including discovering Lyme disease.  At some points during this process I’ve asked myself why this was happening to me.  It’s like you get one step ahead in life and then fall back 5 steps.  Throughout all the sickness and doctors appointments, there were times when I shouldn’t have been able to do anything.  Some how I managed to push through and live a semi normal life along the lines of my lifestyle.

A hardship in life allows you to discover how strong of a person you really are.  Thinking back on all thats happened in the past makes me ask myself how did I find the strength to over come those obstacles.  I surprise myself everyday  with the things that I achieve.

This post reminded me to be grateful and not to worry about hardships that are happening in my life.  Every change is a learning experience and it meant to show you how strong you can be.