A Lyme Disease sufferer from Somerset yesterday told how he only discovered he had the illness because of a chance internet search. Last month the Western Daily Press told how Andrew Tincknell, from Congresbury, caught the debilitating illness while out running in the county.
Now
John Pym, from Tintinhull, near Yeovil, battled through three years of suffering before finally stumbling across his self-diagnosis on the internet.
In 2001, Mr Pym, a keen sailor who had just completed the tough Fastnet yacht race, started suffering unpleasant pains in his head that
refused to go away and a general sense of mental "fog".
Doctors diagnosed him as suffering from tension headaches. He learned to live with them, but was forced to give up work as an IT consultant a year later.
Then in May last year, he was prescribed antibiotics for a totally
unrelated gum infection. To his surprise, the headaches and his concentration also improved greatly.
Mystified, but determined to find out more about his condition, Mr Pym put the phrase "antibiotics cure headaches" into the internet search engine Google.
Near the top of the list
of list was a reference to Lyme Disease, a condition that Mr Pym had never heard of, but which would explain his symptoms.
The illness is spread by ticks that feed on infected sheep or deer, and can cause flu-like symptoms and serious heart and nervous system conditions if untreated.
Tests revealed that the 43-year-old had traces of Lyme in his system, possibly from an earlier infection many years before and he is now on an NHS prescribed course of antibiotics.
Today he is feeling much better. Although he is still currently unable to return to work, he is helping
the UKbased group Lyme Disease Action, which spreads awareness of the condition and helps support sufferers.
He said: "It is impossible to prove, but my personal opinion is that I have had it for years. Though I have certainly got no recollection of ever being bitten by a tick."
He was, however, often exposed to tick-infested areas because of his love of climbing and outdoor sports.
Also as a young child he suffered from a red rash that sounds similar to a distinctive symptom of Lyme disease, though his mother also had no memory of a tick bite.
But, as
Andrew Ticknell's case proved, it is possible to brush the small parasites off without realising they have struck.
Although he never saw the tick responsible for the disease his condition was diagnosed quickly and he has now recovered.
As for Mr Pym, he is just relieved that his
mystery condition has been recognised and he is getting the help he needs to piece his life back together.
"It was a brilliant feeling to know what had been wrong with me, and I am now on the treatment that I need to get rid of the disease," he said.
"The general guidelines seem
to be to take the medicine long-term for as long as there are symptoms and then for a few months afterwards to make sure it has gone.
"But the NHS didn't really want to recognise it and I have had a constant battle to get treatment."
Across the UK, doctors believe there is a
rising incidence of Lyme Disease, possibly because of growing awareness of the illness.
It is picked up in woodland or heathland, in areas such as the Quantocks, Exmoor, the Mendips, and the coast near Lyme Regis.
For information on Lyme Disease visit
http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/
Lyme Disease Action, Registered Charity Number 1100448, Registered Company Number 4839410
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