Got my first hospital appointment on Monday, what should I expect?

I am new to this forum, having spent several weeks researching Lymes Disease. I got bitten by 2 ticks which resulted with the Bulls eye rash. One was on my ankle and the other on the back of my leg. I never felt the bite and only noticed when the rash came out. I could see the puncture wound and the rash expand as time went on. My ankle one was small, but the one on the back of my leg grew and covered the entire back of my leg! At the time I thought I had been bitten by a spider, so researched spider bites but nothing resembled the rash I had...it was months and months later that I came across the same rash in pictures on the internet when I was researching another problem I had, that it was a tick and that this was first stage Lymes Disease. I don't remember having any flu like syptoms, but do remember slapping on the IB gel over the rash as it was uncomfortable. I rememeber now complaining to freinds that I felt 'unwell' but never saw the doc, as how do you just go to one saying you feel unwell?

I live in Madeira, live next to a banana plantation and know that with the amount of time I spend in my garden, my ticks were lurking in my back yard!

I forgot about it and got on with my life.

I would say that in the last 6 months my feeling of unwell returned. Fatigue and random pains in my joints.

My neck glands would swell up and down like a yoyo, some days worse than others.

Headaches that would last for days, pressure at the back of my neck. But I am a cluster headache and migraine person anyway...but these seems different.

My knees, were the first and biggest problem for me as they have deteriorated quickly...give out at any opportunity and squeak and creak when I flex them. Some days they swell up at the back of the leg.

Random pains and aches, here one day gone the next.

But the worse and most debillitaing is the brain fog, memory loss and fatigue. Again random, a few good days then a couple of bad ones and the feeling on being unwell...can't describe it, just don't feel well!

Over the last few months my toes (the two either side of my big toe) just go dead, mostly the left, some times both. It's irritating!

But i the last few weeks I have now started the tingling. Last week I woke up and couldn't walk as the pain in my knee was unbearable....by mid afternoon it was fine.

A few days later I woke up and my left hand was in agony, as if I had fallen on it in my sleep and had sprained all the tendons and muscles, I couldn't hold a cup...the pain was excruciating.

I felt so ill, I drove myself to the hospital and was given a jab of diclofenac in my bum, prescribed strong anti inflamatories and told I had fibromyalgia. Was assured my knees were arthritis and that I would have some blood tests and xrays when I would next see my doctor.

This is the fun part. I live on a foreign island and haveonly just got myself into the medical system here. I never go to the doctor and hadn't seen one for about 2 years. So on Monday I had my very first appointment with my local GP. English is not his first language and having sat with me for a while listening to my bizzare non sensical problems in a language that is not his own, his diagosis was that I see a shrink and get a psych evaluation. I left feeling humiliated, offended BUT frustrated as I had got to a point where I was conscerned and needed to talk this through with a medical proffessional that my suspicion of having had the bites, the rash and not seeking treatment at the time, could be connected to what I was going through now.

I wrote to him the next day explaining this and attached copies of some information I had got off the internet. Chose my words carefully expalining that I was conscerned and that if he took the time to read through the material and felt there was some milage in this to contact me back. I have to say as a result of that appointment with him, I was never going to go back to him.

The following morning he rang me personally, apologised and insisted on me seeing him that day. I went back and spent an ahour and a half discussing my symptoms, the bites, the rash, how I felt at the time. He did several tests and ruled out fibromylagia. Showed me pictures of rashes and had himself researched Lymes on the internet. He had already called the hospital and spoke to them, telling me they wanted to do a study on me. Apparently getting Lymes in Madeira is rare, although they have had a few cases of it reported.

I had 5 vials of blood taken and urine sample yesterday, then he insisted on seeing me again and said that the hospital would call and I should expect an appointment with them within a week to 10 days. He also said that at this stage my infection would be difficult to treat.

The hospital called me yesterday afternoon (Friday) and I have an appointment for Monday I am shocked at the speed of this but am worrying as I have no idea what to expect as I have to take a translator with me as no one in the disease department speaks English!

I felt fine yesterday and started to feel like maybe he was right and I need to see a shrink as this is all in my head, but then I woke up this morning as my thumb on my left hand was twitching which spead to my index, then middle finger.....it wouldnt stop, a freind came over and saw it and couldn't belive what she was seeing. My right kidney area has been aching all day, and I had stabbing and needle prick feelings in my head this afternoon. This evening it has all calmed down again, apart form an ached from my left hand to elbow...tomorrow I will probably be fine again.

So my question here is, what am I to expect on Monday....will I have any more tests and what are they likely to be? Has anyone had a similar experience and symptoms? Am I alone in this or am I completely bonkers?

0 likes, 20 replies