Huge relief with diagnosis & treatment of Lyme disease

Valerie Barr tells her story of recovery from Lyme disease, from diagnosis to treatment, which started when her friend contacted a Lyme disease support organisation and was told about Breakspear Medical.

Excerpt from Breakspear Medical YouTube Channel video: Valerie Barr | Recovering Lyme disease patient

Huge relief with diagnosis of Lyme disease

I started to have severe headache, nausea, chest pains, sort of headache with a crushing feeling at the back of the head, like meningitis, sensitivity to light, pains in my joints and so on. I went to my doctor, and they sent me to hospital, suspected heart attack. I stayed in there for a few days, and they sent me home with inconclusive tests. They couldn’t find anything wrong.

Two weeks later, my doctor said, “Well, let’s wait and see” but I insisted on going to a specialist. Four months later, I had seen a heart specialist, a neurologist, an ear nose and throat specialist and a chest specialist, all of whom had run many, many tests and found nothing wrong. They concluded that I was hyperventilating and should go to physio.

Meanwhile, a friend of the family had googled some of my symptoms, developed a theory of Lyme disease and decided to look more into it. She contacted Lyme UK, who put me in touch with Breakspear Medical, which is a clinic a very short distance away from me, which was very lucky.

The consultation

The team saw me very quickly. The reception staff were very welcoming and the waiting area was very comfortable. A doctor took me in and spoke to me very kindly and gently. I was finding it difficult to talk, so it was crucial that they gave me time to explain. They didn’t put me through the great lengthy tests I had endured before.

A doctor examined me in one of the rooms, then took me to the ward where a nurse drew blood and sent it off for testing. The team also gave me antibiotics and food supplements to boost my immune system, which had become fairly depleted.

The diagnosis & how it felt

I felt huge relief to finally have a diagnosis. Breakspear’s testing differs from what I had undergone elsewhere and it confirmed Lyme disease. Everything made absolute sense. It was a common sense approach and I felt happy and relieved, although I was still very, very ill. It was as though someone had wrapped a blanket of comfort around me, someone had recognised what was wrong with me, and someone was doing something about it. That was crucial. I felt better in a strange sort of way, just from that relief, after months without it.

I’d never heard of Lyme disease before… well, that’s not quite true. I had heard of it but I didn’t know what causes it or how you get it. The doctors told me it could have lain dormant.  We had visited a country the year before where it is quite prevalent, so I could have picked it up there. I could have picked it up on the farm. You can just walk through long grass and pick up a tick that could bite you. So I don’t know where I got it.

The successful treatment

To begin with, the team prescribed antibiotics, and over the following weeks they switched to different types as required. Breakspear follows a Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment programme that they believe is the best way forward, and that proved right for me. They also adjusted my supplements over time. My symptoms ebbed and flowed, some more prevalent than others, and I returned to the clinic every month for retesting to check the levels. The team also ran a genetic profile, which helped them understand how my body reacts and rule out other conditions. They treated the whole person rather than just targeting one thing.

I progressed from oral antibiotics to intramuscular injections, continuing with the supplements, which boosted my health and energy. I believe that boost is crucial; it helps the body combat what is going on inside.

I attended twice a week for the injections. Since completing that course, I have continued taking supplements, but I haven’t needed to go back for a while now and I feel so, so much better. I am gradually returning to my lifestyle, which was very active before I contracted Lyme disease.

I’ve started riding horses and I’ve been skiing. I’m still building up my energy but it is getting back to where it was.

#lymedisease Valerie Barr | Recovering Lyme disease patient