LYME DISEASE: THE PATIENT JOURNEY
When post-traumatic stress counsellor, Glenda Burns, was bitten on the arm last year, she gave it little thought - until bizarre symptoms began to appear…
days later, she ended up with what looked like a suspicious mole that blistered
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‘I contacted my GP,’ Glenda told SP, ‘just in case it was something more sinister, (I was concerned about the possibility of skin cancer), but we both agreed it wasn't suspicious and that I had probably just been bitten by something nasty. It didn’t look infected and so no antibiotics were required.
‘In late July, however, I began to get much more significant symptoms – and many of them. These included: • neurological issues, such as lack of coordination, which affected my walking and my ability to lift things
• slow speech, which was also slurred at times. I also felt that there was a delay in my overall speech
• hoarseness • chronic fatigue • Raynaud’s syndrome. I suffer from this in general but it was significantly worse than usual
• muscle fatigue all over • pain in joints, muscles, bones in hands, wrists and forearms
• restricted movement in thumb • numbness and pins and needles in hands and arms
• eye strain, sensitivity to light, ‘floaters’, burning, lack of focus - two trips to two different opticians resulted in an emergency ophthalmology A+E referral late Aug.
• headaches • daily temperature of between 34.9°C-35.5°C
‘As I became more concerned, I contacted the GP surgery and had three different consultations between August and November, but all blood screens came back satisfactory. Three different GPs could not provide much more support and suggested everything from stress to peri- menopause etc. In my heart of hearts, however, I knew it was something much more sinister – and serious!
‘In September, a sore lump appeared on the back of my left shoulder and, over several weeks, it developed into a rash and spread into a ring shape. It was extremely sore, burned and kept
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scottishpharmacist.com
ast July, when she was bitten on the forearm, 36-year-old Glenda Burns, thought nothing of it. That is, until, a few
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