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Journeyman Masters Athlete |
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:30 am Posts: 28 Location: Stockholm, Sweden
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After feeling poorly for a considerable time, I had to leave the Lahti world championships prematurely. I thought it was some sort of virus. Today I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Lyme disease (borreliosis, Swedish Borelia) from tick bites. It's no big deal now because I am on a penicillin cure that will clear it up in ten days.
Lyme disease can prove much more serious than my version, with all sorts of nasty side effects. I particularly like the Wikipedia comment: "In rare cases untreated Lyme disease may cause frank psychosis, which has been mis-diagnosed as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Panic attack and anxiety can occur, also delusional behavior, including somatoform delusions, sometimes accompanied by a depersonalization or derealization syndrome, where the person begins to feel detached from themselves or from reality.[27][28]." Well, that explains everything…..
The visible physical symptom is a large circular red mark with a white centre and a white outer ring. In my case it was behind my right knee and more or less invisible to me. The massage physio at Lahti pointed out that I had a large red mark behind my knee but I did not then give it any attention. The actual tick bite(s) must have been a long time ago. Lyme disease is normally not something that will affect the British but these ticks are endemic in the USA, Central and Eastern Europe and particularly in the Stockholm archipelago area where we have our summer place. I had a further six tick bites this last weekend.
The point is that masters athletes should watch out for this one. It will seriously affect your performance and general wellbeing. I felt really run down and was running the 100m a second worse than I should have. If you are in tick-infested areas, check your body for the telltale red mark and go to a doctor immediately.
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