I am not trying to push anything upon any
of you, but if someone had not informed me
I would have never known that I did not
have MS.
I am a 22 year old male formerly a
resident of Vancouver Island British
Columbia Canada. I was bitten by a tick in
my right shoulder when I was ten years
old. I did not have the classic target
rash that doctors state you must have to
have contracted Lyme disease. Obviously
being young I was quite alarmed and pulled
the tick out of my shoulder leaving the
head to continue burrowing into my
shoulder. I went to the doctor had the
tick removed and the tick was sent to a
lab to be tested for lyme disease. The
test came back "negative".
Through my teens years I can now recall
many problems now that I am aware of the
effects of Lyme disease. I became very
tired, often not being able to keep my
head up or my eye lids open. My cognitive
functions began to decrease. Quite often I
was plagued with flu like symptoms as well
as sleep issues and memory loss. When I
was fifteen numbness and tingling began in
my left foot progressing through my left
leg up the left side of my back and into
my left arm and hand lasting for 3-6 weeks
I cannot remember accurately. Being quite
concerned I went to see my family GP at
the time and he told me just wait it out
see what happens your probably fine......
I then requested an x-ray of my spine and
everything came back normal. He told me I
would be fine and just to wait it out, it
will go away at some point. Being young I
took his advice and yes after a few more
weeks I was fine. Then it happened 4 more
times from 15 years of age to 20 years of
age. Every time I went to my GP and was
told the same thing oh just see what
happens it should go away... Each time it
did after several weeks. Then in march
2006 at the age of 20 my vision in my left
eye became severely distorted. I went to
an optometrist which immediately rushed me
to a retinal specialist. Who through a
series of visits determined that I might
have optic neuritis, something common in
Multiple Sclerosis Patients. However the
retinal specialist said it was not classic
optic neuritis, it seemed quite different.
The retinal specialist then sent me to an
opthamologist who determined I was
partially colour blind and there was
nothing more he could tell me. By this
point it was june of 2006 coming up on my
21st birthday and I was lost with no more
doctors willing to help me and fearing
that I may go blind. After about 6
emergency room visits I finally found a
doctor who sent me to a neurologist which
led me to an MRI. The MRI detected brain
lesions. I went to my new GP at the time
who sat me down at the age of nearly 21
and said, "The MRI has found Brain Lesions
that suggest Multiple Sclerosis, this is a
life altering diagnosis you need to plan
around the fact that your body most likely
will not function as it is now. Do not
rely on being able to work and use the
function of your legs properly for much
longer". How could he even have the right
to say such things...??? Or how could he
even tell me I have Multiple Sclerosis off
of an MRI result that says "Brain Lesions
that may suggest Multiple Sclerosis".
There are so many disease and other issues
that can cause these Brain Lesions.
Immediately I requested a Lyme disease
test because of my past, this was actually
my second Lyme Disease test "requested by
me" in Canada and both came back negative.
So on I went with the diagnosis of
Multiple Sclerosis and began to see a
doctor at one of the MS clinics, who
reviewed my case and confirmed the
diagnosis from my MRI result and no
further testing. The MS Doctor said to me
"Your brain lessions and your symptoms
refelt Multiple Sclerosis and I believe
your case is very cut and dry and does not
need more testing". Multiple Sclerosis is
NOT an easy disease to diagnose, nor
should a diagnosis of MS being taken so
lightly... In less than 4 months I went
from possible optic neuritis to Multiple
Sclerosis to being put on MS meds "Rebif
Interferon Beta 1". Which has a whole list
of scary side effects by the way. So I
remained with my diagnosis for the next 15
months, taking my MS meds 3 times a week,
doing self injections of the rebif at
home. Rebif constantly left me feeling
worse than better. I would get awful flu
like symptoms, horrible joint aches and
many other issues. The worst of all was
waking up the next more after my shot and
my spine felt like it was completely
drained of fluid. It felt as if my spine
was stapled together and when I would move
it felt like everything was being ripped
apart. Anyway I stuggled through the side
effect and my condition was rapidly
becoming worse. After about 8 months I was
beginning to have trouble getting up
stairs and my vision was so bad I could
barely see the TV clear from 10 feet away.
At about 15 months I had to use the hand
rail to get up a flight a stairs and even
that wasn't easy! "I have not listed the
other 28 symptoms of my condition that I
had been having because the story would go
on forever"... Then one day my girlfriend
saw something on the discouvery channel
about this girl that was having the same
issues I was, and the doctors were telling
her the same thing and that she needed
psychiatric help she was mentally
unstable. She then on her own found out
she had Lyme disease through some testing
lab in Europe. I then began consumed on
the computer researching which led me to a
lab in California that would test for Lyme
disease and they were acclaimed to be the
most accurate testing in north america I
believe. So I sent my blood down there and
after three weeks I had a positive Lyme
Disease Result. That was about the best
Christmas present I think I have ever
received! I know that's kind of odd to say
but Lyme Disease is much better than MS!!!
A week Prior to my Lyme positive result I
was informed that my liver enzymes were
quite high and I had to discontinue the MS
medication. So with my positive Lyme
result I saw a amazing doctor in Hope
British Columbia who has led me on the
path of recovery through antibiotics! My
vision has drastically improved since
being on the antibiotics and my legs feel
like they used to 5 years ago!!! My other
28 symptoms have began to go away as well!
I only hope I will continue to improve as
I am and now I am trying to create
awareness about this ever growing issue. I
can only imagine how many people are going
through what I have gone through and I bet
many of them will never find out that they
have lyme disease, not one of the many
other disease commonly mis-diagnosed as
Lyme Disease!
Sorry if I rambled and this may be long
but please don't let people around you go
improperly treated or mis diagnosed if you
have even slightest idea that they may
have had some exposer to ticks. Which
could very well be something as simple as
gardening or hiking.
