The timeline of what happened next is a bit of a blur, but to this day I still shake my head in disbelief that no one--not me, not the doctors, not my family or friends--connected my sudden problems with that creepy little life-ruiner under my armpit. I developed a severe case of mono (when I came down with Lyme-like symptoms again in 2009, it also presented as a very severe case of mono).
All of the sudden, I was waking up in the middle of the night with panic attacks. My throat felt like I was swallowing glass. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything for months. I had to have 'round the clock help to take care of myself. As the months went on, I suddenly found myself facing agoraphobia, debilitating anxiety and panic attacks, severe depression, restless leg syndrome so bad I couldn't sleep, separation anxiety from my boyfriend who I had moved in with and who selflessly took care of me through this agony (I married this wonderful man in 2002!).
Until I got sick again with Lyme in 2009, this case of "mono" in 2001 was the most painful thing I ever went through--including my two natural childbirths in 2003 and 2007. This should have been a red flag to my doctor that it wasn't just a simple case of mono! Again in 2009, this second case of mono became the new most-painful-thing-I've-ever-endured-in-my-life. I told my doctor over and over--This. Is. Not. Mono! ("This shooting pain going up my legs is not mono! This blurry/foggy vision is not mono! This joint pain, these tremors, mental confusion--and on and on and on-- are not mono...")
A few days ago, I took my kids to a new dentist. I was absolutely dreading telling the dental hygenist that my kids had contracted Lyme disease and several co-infections in utero from me and had been on antibiotics a lot (this is important information for a dentist to know, because antibiotics can affect the teeth). Imagine my surprise when the hygenist informed me that the dentist had Lyme disease, too! When the dentist came in, we started talking and I had mentioned that my Lyme had initially presented as mono and she said hers did, too!
I remember my doctor asking me surprisedly in 2001, "Are you sure you weren't around anyone with mono?!" My boyfriend and I were baffled at the time at how he managed to escape catching my incredibly contagious case of mono--aka The Kissing Disease--after being in such close contact with me before we knew I was contagious. Could the epstein barr virus, the virus that causes mono, be a tick-borne illness? Apparently, I'm not the only one who has wondered this question!
Maybe in the future, doctors will ask people if they've recently been bit by a tick if they test positive for mono. And perhaps that could help lead more people to getting diagnosed properly with Lyme disease instead of being labeled as simply mono, when in fact, that may only be the tip of the iceburg!
