Was it all in her head? Gemma’s Lyme disease story

Gemma Harborne was a happy-go-lucky teenager who loved going out with friends and being sociable. However, in her late teens, she became extremely depressed and anxious, and then developed an eating disorder, which left her malnourished. She was confused, lonely and without any idea that she had Lyme disease.

Excerpt from Breakspear Medical Bulletin, No 44 (2018)

When something felt wrong

My name is Gemma and I am a 23-year-old public relations university student currently living in Leeds. Before having Lyme disease, as a talented singer, performing was my biggest passion. During the worst times, before being treated for Lyme, I would wake up every morning and cry for hours because I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.

The beginning

It started at the age of 18 when I began to suffer from depression and I couldn’t put it down to a specific reason. I began to experience random anxiety, which I had never felt before. It was strange because people had always commented that I was such a relaxed and carefree person. Little did I know that these feelings of anxiety and depression were coming from Lyme.

Looking back, my first symptoms of Lyme were all psychological. When I started working at a pub the summer after leaving school, I remember my brain felt so foggy that I kept getting people’s orders wrong. I would also spend a lot of time crying without knowing why and started to develop an eating disorder, which left me weaker.

The following year, I went to study in Oxford and my psychological symptoms worsened. I became extremely depressed and began to isolate myself due to social anxiety, which led to my eating disorder developing further because I was lonely.

The next year, I moved to Leeds to study and this worsened my relationship with food. I tried my best to keep it all a secret, not wanting anyone to know what was really going on.

Confusion and brain fog was affecting me almost all the time. Frightened that people would tell me to eat more, I lied and pretended that I felt fine, although they could see something was wrong.

Physical collapse

I began to experience severe chest pains on a regular basis and often I would lie in bed unable to breathe properly. I remember thinking that my heart was going to stop. I was incredibly underweight and malnourished, creating the perfect breeding ground for Borrelia, the bacteria that causes Lyme, and co-infections. At this time, I had no idea I had Lyme, and I don’t think I could think clearly enough to figure out what was happening. My brain became too foggy to do university work, so I really struggled.

Soon after, physical symptoms came on and within a short amount of time, I constantly had little to no energy, almost always felt sick and had pains all over my body. I didn’t like to admit that I was struggling, as I didn’t want to be told to eat more, so I continued to go out with friends and work in clubs. I would drink huge amounts of alcohol, which then made my health worse. I took a year out of university because I knew I had to improve my health for my final year.

During the year off, I improved my diet and put on weight but still experienced fatigue, anxiety, depression and body pains, which was confusing and discouraging. I was hit with shingles and labyrinthitis at the same time and this is when alarm bells began to ring quite literally. There was a constant, loud ringing in my ears and I was frequently crying hysterically because of the pain. I was too weak to sit up, with excruciating pain all over my body, and was constantly shaking from low energy.

Dismissed, disbelieved & running out of answers

I knew something was seriously wrong and I wanted to do something about it, but when I opened up to people, no one believed me. I went to various doctors in London and they all rolled their eyes and sent me away, assuming because of the huge variety of symptoms that I must be a hypochondriac.

To be fair, I had diagnosed myself with every illness under the sun, but that was because I was experiencing every symptom under the sun, because Lyme was affecting everything.

I was taken to hospital with severe neck and stomach pain and they tested me for meningitis, which came back negative. They told me I must have something else, but they didn’t know what, so they sent me away. Doctors, family and friends would tell me that my symptoms were all in my head, so I stopped socialising because I didn’t have the energy to talk and no one understood. Conversations began to feel like such a struggle and I became so quiet, never wanting to speak. I was told by one doctor I had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and even though I found it hard to believe this, I began to think something traumatic had happened to me without knowing. I was confused, and I was searching for answers everywhere.

My body felt like it was giving up and I felt like I wanted it to. I frequently had out-of-body experiences and when I looked in the mirror, I didn’t feel like I recognised myself.

Finding Breakspear Medical

I remember my dad telling me about his friend who had previously suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and received treatment from Breakspear Medical, which changed his life and allowed him to return to full-time work. I immediately agreed to go.

At Breakspear Medical, I had blood tests done, which showed that I had numerous vitamin deficiencies, five active viruses and a huge toxic build-up. For eight weeks I went to the clinic three times a week for antiviral and cell repair infusions to build up my immune system to fight off the viruses. I had an autonomic nervous system test, which showed I had vascular endothelial dysfunction (an early sign of cardiovascular disease), which is typical of Lyme.

At one point at the beginning of my treatment, I remember lying on one of the hospital beds at the clinic, doing IV infusions and overhearing three patients discussing Lyme disease. It was the first time in my life I had ever heard of Lyme, and I remember listening to them describing their symptoms and I was thinking “That is EXACTLY how I feel”. No one had understood or believed me for so long that overhearing this conversation honestly felt like a part of me was being healed. I cried with relief, as I knew I had Lyme.

Treatment & recovery

A few weeks later, the Lyme test result came back positive. I spent the next month at the clinic six days a week on antibiotic drips, as well as antiviral drips, a cell repair programme and various vitamin drips. I spent my days either sleeping or crying from the pain. At first, it seemed to be getting worse but once I got stronger, I began IRATHERM^® hyperthermia treatments. My symptoms were finally improving and I wanted to start living a “normal” life again, so much that I moved back to Leeds to go back to university.

After completing all of my assignments, including a 13,500-word dissertation, I got 2:1in my degree whilst having Lyme and I am now travelling in Central America before I start my postgraduate diploma at Leeds College of Music in singing performance this autumn [2018].

I am enjoying life again and I feel a happiness in my heart, which I longed to feel for so many years.

I am so grateful to Breakspear Medical for everything they have done for me; I don’t know what I would have done without them. I am not fully recovered yet, but I continue on my Lyme recovery journey and I hope that one day I will be completely Lyme-free.

I want to let anyone who may have Lyme know that it takes a lot of time and effort, but persevere and it is possible to get better. I promise it is worth it.”

– Gemma Harborne

 

If Gemma’s story resonates with you, or if you have been living with unexplained symptoms that standard investigations have failed to explain, we would encourage you to get in touch. Our Patient Liaison Team is here to talk you through your options.

Tel+44 (0)1442 261 333  Email:  liaison@breakspearmedical.com Website: BreakspearMedical.com Address: Wood Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 4FD (30 minutes from central London by train)