This is a Lyme Disease story. I’m sharing because my experiences with the disease are different from most I’ve read. Lyme disease is a progressive, constantly evolving, debilitating disease. It’s not like catching a cold, where you know you’ve got something.

You grow accustomed to the niggles. The final trigger was my wife seeing me struggle with airport and train station signage in France over the summer, she asked, “am I married to a moron?” Her experience of travelling with me over the years was trying to keep up; not keeping up, and seeing me struggle.

A commonly mentioned Lyme disease symptom is fatigue. I was asked many times over the years, yet I did not experience fatigue, nor rashes. Though as you’ll read an array of other symptoms, all minor niggles, something we’d ignore as they go away. BUT Lyme disease builds over time as the bacteria parties in your blood.

My recommendation is if you regularly hike or garden in the NE of the US, get an annual screening, that ache you’ve been tolerating could be Lyme disease. The brain fog you assumed was menopause, or simply getting old, could be Lyme disease. You may not feel fatigue.

My Lyme test had greater than 8 out of ten bands. I started on antibiotics last week, Wednesday, the transformation is dramatic.

When did I contract the infection? My guess is all the way back in 2015, I had a random inflammation. I showed it to a couple of friends who have gout, that was my suspicion. They laughed and told me it’s not gout, you know when you have gout, they said. It went away quickly, so I assume they were right, just some random arthritis. My mom’s arthritis started at a similar age. But that was the first time Lyme disease presented itself.

Through COVID I developed an ache in my lower back. I’d been sitting in a chair all day, so it was not a surprise, another niggle, ignored. I have many similar stories of minor niggles that went away, each one makes me think, I should have done something. We’re all busy, and when it’s not clear you have something, it becomes a battery of tests and nothing conclusive. Of course, the trigger for a Lyme disease test is fatigue, and my answer was alway no.

I started antibiotics on Wednesday morning last week, on Thursday morning I woke up, got out of bed, and the backache was a fraction of what it has been since 2020. By 2025, the back ache was impacting my walking. You grow accustomed to niggles that slowly change over years. My walking is back to normal, yes my poor wife is struggling to keep up unless I stroll.

I could fill a book on the weird stuff that happened to me over the past decade, a sad comedy. My recommendation is if you regularly hike or garden in the NE of the US, get an annual screening, fingers crossed we’ll soon have a vaccine. That ache you’ve been tolerating could be Lyme disease. The brain fog you assumed was menopause, or simply getting old, could be Lyme disease. You may not feel fatigue or have a rash. I hope this story helps someone, the transformation from something as simple as a one month course of antibiotics is dramatic. Everyday is a new discovery of regained function!