The pettiness and disbelief of some of these commenters is clearly a product of their good fortune never to have experienced what you are going through. They may wish to invalidate your experiences but truly they are only broadcasting their own ignorance. It’s fascinating that they think they’re the ones with the…

How do you explain this in someone who had no symptoms of depression, gets a tick bite, shows the target but is not treated (or the treatment is ineffective), and then exhibits symptoms in line with lyme disease?

So you don’t understand the nature of chronic illnesses in general and don’t want to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Got it. Only nice perfect people can truly be ill.

Even narcissistic assholes who are looking for sympathy can still have a very real disease. Your basic personality and way of dealing with life doesn’t necessarily change. I know someone with cancer. He’s still an abusive asshole.

The brain is still mostly a mystery. Just as meningitis can have many causes - and therefore different cures and treatments - so can depression, and other sets of symptoms. Add to that, different people have different responses to both disease and medication. I think most doctors will just rule out the diseases they…

No I don't remember that and I still find the implication that she's faking gross.

Yes. That’s part of the stigma of Lyme. I’d like to speak out about it more and without a “screen name” but I’m afraid to due to the mental health stigma associated with Lyme.

That’s interesting. I am depressed, and I always just assumed any weird pains were part and parcel of that. But I have a friend who’s been diagnosed with fibro, and she’s one of the happiest peeps I know. Like, this girl is NOT depressed. Except when her pain gets her down. Do you see this often? Fibro diagnosed folks…

God, yes. I had lyme, and despite getting bit by a tick while hiking and literally having pictures of the bullseye (I had nearly 60 bruises at the time and took pictures of them to document and did not notice the bullseye until I was looking through them after I had already started treatment) people look at me like…

Thanks for the kind words. I’m actually having a rough day (Lyme + high stress job are not a good mix) so reading this helped a little! Although reading a lot of the other comments have not.

My mother has the exact same problem with Celiacs Disease (the gluten avoiding one).

All I can say regarding the doctor shopping is that I kind of get where she is coming from. After my initial diagnosis, I started feeling odd again.

Former Lyme-haver here and you have my sympathies. Treatment was freaking terrible, but hang in there! Once you’ve made it to the other side and are looking back it won’t seem as infinite as it does now. I’m rooting for you!

Yes, the problem could not possibly be something you guys just haven’t developed a test for and figured out yet, right? Instead it’s a different vague problem that you know how to throw pills at...but you aren’t sure which pills will work for which people, or if the side effects will be worse than the problem you are…

Lyme doesn’t affect women more than men, chronic lyme does. The study linked (which opened fine for me — it’s from the Journal of Women’s Health) is a little questionable, but they concluded that patients with chronic were more likely to be female. They also point out that other, similar diseases with a similar F…

I suffered through Lyme for, well, don't even really know how long. Based on possible exposure to infected ticks, at least 12 years before I was diagnosed. It was hell. Treatment was hell. I'm so sorry you're finding this out for yourself. I wish you the best of everything, including full recovery. I'll probably never…

I had Lyme and it is all too real. I also have had a fair number of people roll their eyes when I said I had it. Not helpful.

Did you ever think that MAYBE the guy was a drug addict because of constant physical pain? Because most doctors don’t understand, acknowledge, treat the underlying problem, the only option some people have left is addiction to drugs just to get some relief. Which is the worst fucking way to have to deal with it, but…

Why is she a terrible spokesperson for chronic Lyme? I watch real housewives and I not only appreciate her experience with Lyme but I feel sick when the women attack her for faking it and I think she's done well in the face of all that harassment.

I’m currently suffering from Lyme. I suppose you could call it chronic since the initial round of treatment didn’t take care of it.