Anita told Tell and Sell Stories all about the ordeal she went through when she was bitten by a mosquito and diagnosed with Lyme Disease. We thought it was a condition that the press needed to raise awareness about.
We placed it in Pick Me Up magazine on their health page. Anita was really happy with the final article, knowing that by sharing her story she would be helping others in a similar situation.
One morning there, Anita's partner spotted a mark under her knee.
They thought it was a harmless bite but, as the mark began to expand across her skin, she went to a local pharmacist who told her it was an infection.
Soon she developed typical symptoms of Lyme disease, including headaches, muscle aches, lymph glands aches, joint pains and insomnia.
Returning to the UK, she went to her GP. At first, he said that it couldn’t be Lyme disease because mosquitos weren't known for carrying the bacteria. But four days later, her blood test results confirmed she did indeed have Lyme disease. (It is now being found that Lyme Disease can be passed on through saliva, fleas, mosquitoes and other blood sucking insects, as well as ticks.)
Anita was given a course of doxycycline and is still taking it. She is also following guidelines to start a strict low-carb, sugar free, yeast free diet.
She says it has turned her life upside down. She still has pains in her muscles and joints, and her lymph glands in her neck are still swollen. She also can’t process heavy carbohydrates like cake or pizza and can’t drink fruit juices because of their high sugar content.
Anita is constantly worried the antibiotics didn't kill the bacteria completely and is terrified of being bitten again – she works outdoors as a gardener.
She says: ‘I’ve been told to keep checking my body incase the disease comes back. Living in constant fear is just terrible.’
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