Lyme disease symptoms still affect local resident

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It's been almost a year since Carol Cline first told News-Tribune readers her story about her struggle Lyme disease - and she's still getting calls from people who want more information.

"They don't always remember my name, but they remember the article and the disease," she said. "I talk to them about their symptoms and in some cases, they've been diagnosed with other diseases. I give them names and numbers of various Lyme specialists."

Cline, who works as a receptionist at the Mineral County Board of Education, is currently taking in excess of 30 pills a day to battle symptoms of the disease, which is an infectious, immune mediated multi-symptom disease. According to Lyme disease Web sites, the bacteria which causes Lyme is transmitted to humans by the bite of a deer tick.

Cline first started seeing symptoms in May 2002. After visits to the emergency room and 14 different doctors, she finally found a neuromuscular forum online which listed a Lyme disease Web site which listed her symptoms.

After visiting a Lyme specialist in Washington, D.C., she started on antibiotics in February 2004. She has been on the protocol of more than 30 pills a day since May.

"I'm currently on 1,000 mg of Ceftin and 200 mg. of minocycline, which are antibiotics," she said. "I have a B12 shot once a week and four nystatin tablets (an anti-fungal) every day. There are also numerous vitamins and supplements."

She said treating the disease is expensive, as the Rocephin IV antibiotic is $200 a day.

"That's just for the antibiotic. That didn't include the PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line in my bicep and I had to have a nurse visit once a week to change the PICC line dressing."

She's also had more than 200 bicillin shots, which are approximately $50 each.

"That's $10,000 right there in bicillin," she said.

The main symptoms she's still experiencing are her eyes are still sensitive to bright light and she still has a buzzing in her legs and feet.

"I'm sensitive to bright sun, even bright overcast," she explained. "It (Lyme disease) is particularly difficult to eradicate from the eyes because it's difficult for the antibiotics to cross the blood-brain area."

She said the buzzing runs along the nerve pathways in her legs and feet, although when she keeps busy, she doesn't notice it as much.

"It's hard to believe after all the antibiotics that I'm still having active symptoms of Lyme," she said.

Other than the sensitivity to light and the buzzing in her legs, Cline feels well. She's even joined a gym in January.

There is currently no cure for Lyme disease and the disease can become resistant to medications.

"After the antibiotics stop and you think you're cured, you can relapse days, weeks, months or years afterward," Cline said. "It is much harder to treat the second time around because it (the Lyme disease) blends in and camouflages itself in the body."

She said every so often she has to switch antibiotics and Lyme can go into cyst form, which makes it virtually impenetrable.

Cline's doctor, who now has an office in Towson, Md., has a master's degree in public health and nutrition, which is why most of her pills are vitamins and supplements, she said.

"He advocates exercise also because it helps to strengthen the immune system. He said you can't just lay on the couch and let the antibiotics work," she added.

Since she was diagnosed with Lyme, Cline has become somewhat of an expert on the disease.

"Before I got stricken with it, I knew a little about it," she said. "I just thought it's a bug bite. You take antibiotics for three or four weeks and that's it. That's what I thought."

She noted there are a few very good Web sites where you can find more information on Lyme disease, including www.lymenet.org, which has a very active discussion forum, and www.ilads.org. Many Lyme Web sites list the many symptoms, including those Cline had, which are fever, fatigue, swollen glands, pulse skips, twitching of the face or other muscles, headache and loss of muscle tone.

Cline said if you have many of the symptoms and feel you might have Lyme disease, finding a specialist is essential.

"You can have a flaming, raging case of Lyme disease and still have a negative test result," she said. "If you feel you have Lyme disease, you have to find a Lyme specialist because it is ultimately a clinical diagnosis."