Lyme
disease: a hidden disease
WPRI Fox
Providence, RI
by Megan McHale
24 June 2004
Marilyn DeMarco has
always loved being outdoors, whether it’s in the woods, or just her
backyard. But over the years she found she had little energy to do much
more than water her garden. “Over the course of 15 years, I had just
about everything in my body treated that you could think of. They found
everything wrong with me.”
She had pain in her
hips, legs and arms. She suffered from panic attacks, dizzy spells and extreme
fatigue. Lyme disease never crossed Marilyn’s mind or those of her
many doctors, until she went to an endocrinologist a year and a half ago.
“I walked in with two sheets of paper with a list of symptoms down
two pages and I said to her, ‘this doesn’t make any sense. But
this is what I’m living with.’”
That doctor suggested
it might be Lyme disease and referred Marilyn to Dr. Debra Solomon, a psychiatrist
in North Kingstown who has experience diagnosing lyme disease. “I’ve
seen people coming in with many, many symptoms you’d expect people
to see a psychiatrist with.”
Dr. Solomon realized
many of her patients would be presenting with unexplainable psychiatric
symptoms as well as a slew of physical problems. “Over the years, I
really began to suspect that there was something more going on.”
Dr. Solomon says, often
times, many people never see the tick or even the bull’s-eye type rash
so commonly associated with Lyme disease. “I think that in this area,
where it is so common, I think we need to be thinking about Lyme. I think
doctors in any field need to be thinking about Lyme.”
Marilyn is now fighting
to get her life back on track. She can’t work and has limited amounts
of energy. She has been on antibiotics for almost two years now as well
as dozens of other medications. But she says she’s feeling better and
is relieved that she finally has a reason for her pain. “I’m sort
of able now to sit back and say well, what happens is what happens and we’ll
deal with it.”
The International Lyme
and Associated Diseases Society has recently released new guidelines regarding
the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.
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