Woman Diagnosed With Lyme Disease After Being Bitten By A Tick At Family Barbeque | HuffPost Life

'It was like someone was squeezing my brain.'

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A mum has been left almost bedbound after she was bitten by a tick at a family barbeque.

Simtee Few, 32, from Harlow, Essex, was bitten by a tick - a small blood-sucking bug resembling a spider - as she relaxed in the garden with her family and her two children.

But months later, she started to develop flu like symptoms, palpitations and a tingling sensation that was so bad, she thought she was having a stroke.

Doctors struggled to provide her with a diagnosis, but after almost a year of tests, she was told she had lyme disease – a bacterial infection spread by ticks, that can lead to extreme fatigue and neurological problems.

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Now, in a bid to control her symptoms, Few wants to go to Germany for treatment, to try to improve her quality of life.

“I had never heard of lyme disease and had no idea something as tiny as a tick would turn my life upside down,” she said.

During a hot summer day in July 2015, Few, her finance manager husband, Laurence, 49, children Emily, four, and Oliver, three, were playing in the garden where they then lived, in North Edmonton, north London, with friends and family at a barbeque party.

Although she didn’t feel anything, Few looked down and saw a tick on her right foot.

She explained: “I just looked down and I happened to see it, but I didn’t really know what it was. I tried to brush it off, but it wouldn’t go. I pushed it with my finger really hard, which I now know is the wrong thing to do. I wish I had known the proper way to pull a tick out, because I could have stopped this.”

In order to prevent lyme disease, all parts of the tick’s body must be removed using tweezers, but Few had left the head of the tick under her skin.

Thinking nothing off it, the next day Few went to work as customer service assistant and although the area was swollen, she had no other symptoms.

“There wasn’t any pain and I didn’t have a rash, which is sometimes the first sign of lyme disease, so I just went to the chemist and got some cream for insect bites,” she said.

But just two weeks later, Few started to experience more severe symptoms and booked an appointment with her GP.

She said: “I started getting flu like symptoms, general fatigue and panic attacks during the day, to the point where I was begging my husband not to leave me on my own with my kids.”

But while waiting on an appointment and increasingly worried about her health, Few did some research.

She said: “I had started googling my symptoms and lyme disease came up. I had never heard about it, but I remembered the tick bite. The swelling had gone down and the bite wasn’t noticeable at that point.”

When she mentioned it to her GP, she was told it was unlikely, but the doctor agreed to an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay blood test which checks for the antibodies related to lyme disease.

She also researched treatment at the private Breakspear Clinic, specialising in environmental disease but when the NHS results came back negative, it put Few’s mind at ease and she decided not to proceed with private treatment.

But her condition continued to deteriorate and by December 2015, Few was becoming increasingly unwell.

She explained; “I woke up a few times during the night with a tingling sensation and numbness. I thought I was having a stroke. It was so scary.

“I couldn’t talk, I had a stiff neck, heart palpitations and my left leg became so weak and heavy, I was struggling to walk.

“I had to resign from my job, because I was struggling to cope. It was awful, but I put it down to the stress of moving house a few months earlier.”

By January and February, she was experiencing migraines and dizziness so severe, she was almost bedbound.

“It was like someone was squeezing my brain,” she said. “It was so bad, it was affecting the way I was talking and I couldn’t put sentences together. It was like I was drunk all the time and getting up every day with the worst hangover.

“I went from going to a boot camp three times a week and running to raise money for Cancer Research, to not being able to walk down the stairs. It was something that was very difficult to explain.

“I was studying for forsenic accountancy exams at the time but I had to put that on hold because I was just too ill.

“In the July, almost a year after the tick bite, I went to drop my husband at the train station, with my kids sitting in the back of the car. After five minutes, I had to phone him and ask him to come back, because I couldn’t work out how to start the car. My mind just blanked out. I knew there was something really wrong.”

Turning to the internet again, Few’s research kept bringing up lyme disease and she read that tests for the condition are not always reliable.

Desperate for answers, she paid £1,000 for tests at the private Breakspear clinic.

She was shocked when, this time, the results came back positive.

She said: “I was sort of relieved that I at least knew what was wrong with me, but it was also devastating. I had two kids to look after and I was trying to stay strong for them. I’d been telling myself that it was just a phase and it would go, but now I knew what it really was.”

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The only treatment available on the NHS for lyme disease is a course of antibiotics, which must be administered in the first two weeks after being bitten.

Sadly, it was too late for Few and her only option was to try private treatment.

She and her husband remortgaged their home to pay for treatment, which included pulsating antibiotics - where the antibiotics are given at a very high dose at regular intervals.

Although the treatment has helped to control some of her symptoms, she is still very unwell and now takes 60 tablets a day and has to stick to a strict diet of organic produce, cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar to help to reduce the inflammation.

She said: “The treatment has been great but there is better treatment available abroad because research there is more advance.

“We are fundraising for alternative treatment in Germany through GoFundMe, because I want to reduce the number of tablets I am taking to lessen the strain on my organs and have a better quality of life. There is a high level of metals like nickel and mercury in my blood, which are also doing damage.

“They will build up my immune system using a cocktail of vitamins and hope that it will make my body start to heal itself but they will also look into stem cell treatment.

“There is no cure for lyme disease, but I am determined to do everything I can to control it.

“I want to raise more awareness of the condition. It’s so important that people know what to do if they are bitten by a tick, because that can stop it and it’s crucial for people to get antibiotics in the first two weeks, as that can stop it in its tracks,” Few continued.

“After the first two weeks, the disease becomes so much more difficult to manage and without treatment on the NHS, anyone who has this ends up a bit lost.” she said.

To donate to Few’s GoFundMe page, visit gofundme.com/yepsm8-lyme-disease.

Facts About Lyme Disease

There Are Two Types Of Ticks With Lyme(01 of11)

Canada has two kinds of ticks that spread Lyme disease: the western blacklegged tick, which is found in British Columbia, and the blacklegged tick, which is found in other parts of the country. In Canada, Lyme-carrying ticks are most often found in southern British Columbia; southeastern and south-central Manitoba; southern, eastern, and northwestern Ontario; southern Quebec; southern New Brunswick and Grand Manan Island; and parts of Nova Scotia. However, ticks do attach themselves to birds, which means they can be found in areas other than those where Lyme is considered endemic. (credit:pennstatenews/Flickr)

Who Is Most At Risk?(02 of11)

While anyone can get a tick bite, people who work outdoors or participate in outdoor activities are more likely to be in areas where ticks are found. Take precautions against tick bites while golfing, fishing, hiking, camping, and hunting, Health Canada advises.

Lyme Disease In Canada (03 of11)

Overall, Lyme disease cases in Canada are increasing: the government reported 128 cases in 2009 and 682 in 2013. But while the incidence of Lyme disease is rising in some parts of the country, it's holding steady in others, says Dr. David Patrick, an infectious disease specialist at the University of British Columbia. “Canada is a whole bunch of different ecosystems,” hes says, which means there are many different environments for ticks. More Lyme is being seen in southern Nova Scotia and southern Ontario, he say, up to 50 per cent of ticks on the Niagara peninsula. By contrast, Lyme is only found in 1 in 200 ticks in British Columbia where this level has remained constant for some time.

Know Your Local Risk(04 of11)

Because risk can vary so greatly across the country, it’s important to know what it’s like where you live, Patrick says. The Canadian government works with experts and public health organizations across the country to track tick populations and Lyme disease incidence.

Everyone Should Be Aware(05 of11)

But everyone should be aware: “It doesn’t matter where you live,” Patrick says. “People should know about tick prevention.” While Lyme disease is the most common disease spread by ticks, others are a concern as well. And even if you live in an area with low incidence of Lyme disease, that doesn’t mean the individual tick that bit you doesn't have Lyme.

Preventing Lyme Disease(06 of11)

If you are hiking in the woods or in an area known to have ticks, stick to the middle of the trail, Patrick advises. Wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, and consider using an insect repellent with DEET, he says. Afterwards, have someone help you do an allover tick check — the bites are painless, so you may have been bitten without realizing it.

Symptoms To Watch Out For(07 of11)

If you’ve been bitten by a tick, watch for the symptoms of Lyme disease over the coming days or weeks. You may see a mark where you were bitten — many people say it has a bulls eye shape, round with a clearing in the centre. Patrick points out that the clearing may not be obvious. “If you have a rash after a tick bite, you want to see a doctor,” he says. Some people also experience fever, chills, tiredness, swollen lymph nodes, or fatigue after a tick bite. And if things progress, you could have more serious symptoms like sore joints, arthritis, heart rhythm issues, and nervous system issues. It’s uncommon, but Lyme disease can be fatal if left untreated.

How To Remove A Tick(08 of11)

Blacklegged ticks can range in size from that of a poppyseed to a pea. If you do find a tick embedded under your skin, it’s important to remove it quickly and completely. With a pair of tweezers, grab the tick under the body, where the mouth connects to the skin, and pull it out steadily (get someone else to help if it’s too hard to reach by yourself). “What you’re trying to do is not leave the mouth parts behind,” Patrick says. Once the tick is removed, wash or disinfect the area.

Get The Tick Tested(09 of11)

In most parts of the country you can get the tick tested for Lyme disease, Patrick notes. If you remove a tick, try to save it in a plastic bag or pill bottle and record the date and location of the bite. Ticks can be submitted to the National Microbiology Lab, which tests them to determine where in the country blacklegged ticks are being found and what the risk levels are.

Watch Out For Pets(10 of11)

Pets can get Lyme disease — dogs are particularly at risk. However, animals like dogs cannot spread Lyme to humans, Health Canada says. However, pets can carry infected ticks into your home or yard, so check your animals, particularly if they’ve been in wooded or overgrown areas. (credit:shutterstock)

How To Treat Yourself(11 of11)

Lyme disease is often treated with a two to four weeks of antibiotics, though some people require a longer course of treatment. “The recommended courses of antibiotics do a very good job of eliminating the organism,” Patrick says. However, for some people, symptoms can persist for six months or longer after treatment. Always speak to your doctor if you are concerned.

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