Keeping Running

Collection of information from others stories...

"I think I've probably had Lyme for a long time, maybe since I was really young. I have two daughters and both have had strange issues that could be Lyme-related - one with a congenital birth defect and one with bad colic (as an infant), asthma, and intermittent fevers/joint pains. Nonetheless, I've always been an athlete and really didn't feel the effects of the illness on my competitiveness until that past 6 years. A local journalist wrote an article in a Philly fitness magazine about my youngest daughter and my pre-Lyme athletic life here: http://www.phillyfit.com/Articles/3-06/Keepingrunning.pdf

I was finally diagnosed with Lyme and this past October after a couple years of obvious declining health. When I entered the Masters track and cross country ranks a few years back I noticed my running going down hill rather quickly, more so than many of the Masters-aged men and women I trained with. Several times over the past 6-8 years I thought I had over training syndrome (maybe Lyme?), and so I quit racing marathons and anything over a 10K. Plus, I started cross-training more, doing spin classes and swimming rather than just running/racing. I also started Dragon Boating with some friends and colleagues here on the Schuykill River in Philly last year (the only race I've done is Philly's Dragon Boat Festival!), and I'm hooked!

Then, in the last year, I started getting all kinds of weird symptoms that had me going from doctor to doctor, with all kinds of strange diagnoses (ms, anxiety disorder, thyroid issues, etc.). By last summer I couldn't run at all because of breathlessness, fatigue, heart palps and insomnia. It was all I could do to get out and take a walk with my friends. My anxiety level was through the roof, too, both physiologically and from not knowing what was wrong. After I started treating with antibiotics, sleep meds, and an antidepressant in October, I was able to sleep more and regain some energy and enthusiasm for exercise. So I started running occasionally between days of walking. Not much, just 2-3 miles at a time and really slow compared to my former pace.

In December I had my thryoid levels tested and my LLMD added T3 to my regimen; by January it really seemed to help! Now, in March, I can join my old running gang for portions of their long trail runs, maybe 40-50 minutes. I still don't run more than every 2-3 days, and I lift, walk or do spin classes on other days. I'm definitely not 100%, as I still have muscle twitching, night sweats, sore neck & shoulder, insomnia when I don't take sleep meds, deep bone pain in my thigh, etc., but at least I have the energy and where with all to exercise more vigorously again. And I am planning on doing the Philly Dragon Boat festival again this October. It's amazing to me how many high-level athletes I've met since figuring out I had this frickin' disease! I swear the fact that we've physically pushed ourselves so much must have something to do with our illness.

It sounds like a good idea to start with a realistic and low-key plan. I had to just give up all expectations about times, distance, etc and just learn how to just appreciate being able to run, no matter how slow and short a distance."