Still on that boat…

Strawberry blonde in a dizzy world!

Iffy

July22

Well after the last post I quite literally fell on my ass! I was rather a fool to think things were going to be that easy. Things have been very up and down.

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I went to see a GP in Sussex who has a special interest in Chronic Lyme Disease which was really interesting. We appear to be very limited for doctors in this country that actually treat or even believe Chronic Lyme exists. He was really nice and although he can’t be 100% sure, thought it was ‘pretty likely’ (got to love the certainty of modern medicine!) I had Lyme disease. He works alongside a herbologist and they both felt my immune system was pretty rubbish after all those antibiotics and I needed an six week mixture of herbs to boost it. Yes, I was rather sceptical but if it’s the only option you have you just give it a go. I was rather more cynical when during this course I came down with every ailment known to man. I persisted, even with the Lyme tea – and no, I didn’t get the munchies after!

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Alongside this the Professor at the Hospital of Tropical Medicine has pretty much held his hands up and said he has no clue what’s really wrong with me and has referred me to his colleague who is a Neurologist. He seems to feel we need to go right back to the start and look at it with fresh eyes. I can see his point, and I really appreciate him for trying but I’m so tired of all this.

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Anyway, I’ve since been back to the Lyme GP and he has now started me on a six week course of multiple antibiotics. My Dad reassured me that there were cheaper options should I so choose (that’s Beachy Head in the background).

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I started them a couple of days ago and feel pretty awful. I can’t even have a drink or sit in the garden as they can cause skin hyperpigmentation, and we all know if anyone is going to have a reaction it will be me. Fortunately it ties in quite well for Sardinia which is in six weeks time. That glass of Prosecco in the sunshine with good friends will be all the more enjoyable! For now, it will be back to back episodes of Orange is the New Black to keep me from losing my marbles 😉

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3 Comments to

“Iffy”

  1. Avatar July 30th, 2015 at 6:43 pm Emma Says:

    Hi Sues, nice to see you’re back on your blog! That tea certainly looks ahem ‘interesting’… Good luck with the new neurologist and medications xx
  2. Avatar July 31st, 2015 at 6:10 pm Susan Cartwright Says:

    Thanks Emma xx
  3. Avatar August 6th, 2015 at 6:55 am Snowy Says:

    Fingers crossed for the new stuff. We are watching orange is the new black too!

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Who am I?

Was – independent, intelligent (with plenty of dizzy moments), successful, busy, funny (depending on how much Prosecco I and the people around me had!), quite stressed out but overall happy, without even realising how lucky I was.

Now  – ? just a mess really! I was diagnosed with Migraine Associated Vertigo (MAV) eight years ago when my life changed dramatically. It’s a variant of migraine that means I feel dizzy and tired nearly all of the time. If I try and do anything ‘normal’ this sparks of vertigo which gradually gets worse and worse until I pass out unless I lie down for hours, sometimes days. What this means is I spend 90% of my time in bed in a quiet dark room. Normal activities like shopping, walking, going anywhere bright or busy, the cinema even visiting friends who have patterned wallpaper or a gravel drive is a nightmare!

I’m continually trying new medications, all of them with quite nasty side effects (worsening of vertigo, weight loss, hair loss and sense of humour loss to name but a few) to try and find the magic one that will work for me. Fingers crossed the one I’m on now will work, time will tell.

A good friend set up this website so I could become a ginger whinger. No I’m kidding, so people can understand what I’m going through and maybe it would help me to have a bit of a rant. I have quite a dark sense of humour, I think that’s the only reason I haven’t gone completely bonkers! I clearly don’t have the most exciting of lives but I live in a small village with some entertaining characters and I’m always having blond moments (I blame the meds but I’ve always been a bit dappy!). Who knows I may even get better, and I can assure you life will be filled with amazing adventures then!

Scrap that! After zillions of Consultants all saying that they know what’s wrong with me and that they can get me better. Endless drugs and procedures I was finally Diagnosed with Chronic Lyme which was great – until I find out that nobody in the UK has a clue how to treat it. That complicates things some what 😉

 

@still_on_that_boat