Living With Lyme - Stories

Read more: Philippa's Story

In 1998 I went to Queensland on a working holiday. During the month of August I became very ill with flu like symptoms and spent two weeks lying down. The doctor's thought it was glandular fever, but the test was negative and they assumed it was some other virus.

Read more: Andrea's Story

My name is Mark and I was bitten by a tick whilst at work at Unanderra on the Sth Coast in late Sept 2011. Two weeks later I came down with flu like symptoms, a painful hip joint, which slowly and confusingly saw pain travel from joint to joint over the coming weeks. After many Drs and tests, my conscientious Hip specialist suggested the tick was to blame following my “off the cuff” comment that I had been bitten by a tick and he thankfully referred me to a Tropical Diseases Professor who started me on Doxycycline and other.

Read more: Mark's Story

Back in March 2009, my body literally crashed.

Within a few weeks I was seeing a neurologist and was also admitted to hospital shortly thereafter. After five days of extensive tests, I was diagnosed with MND, Bulbar Onset. This diagnosis was confirmed by two other neurologists over the following weeks.

Read more: Brendan's Story

My husband and I have both got lyme.  We are now on treatment (which is working), thanks to a doctor who believes that it is in Australia.

Read more: Gundy's Story

In September 2008 I got a tick in the head in Mapleton, SE Qld. It was removed by my GP, but had been there 2-3 days. Two weeks later I became ill with brain fog, extreme tiredness, dizziness, loss of appetite, gastric upset and generally felt very unwell. The GP prescribed Flagyl for giardia. My symptoms abated slightly for a few days, then quickly returned and worsened. 

Read more: Karin's Story

Over 22 years I’ve been hospitalised many times but no cause for my illness was found. I am 52, used a walking frame for 4 years and sometimes a wheelchair. When I got sick I had never been out of Australia and never been to Queensland either.

Read more: Rosemary's Story

For eight years I worked as a field officer for the NSW National Parks Service. In 2002 I was carrying out bushland regeneration and received 110 nymph ticks over my legs, buttocks and lower back, while two larger ticks were embedded in my back. Due to infection I saw a doctor and he said he didn’t have time to remove them all – in short it took days to get them out.

Read more: Natalie's Story

I noticed a 5cm red ring on my back about a week after returning from a survival camp in Nth Queensland with multiple tick bites when I was 16yo. I was thought to have glandular fever at the time, but never associated my sore shoulder, knee, dark urine, mood swings, fever/flu symptoms, fatigue, numbness or the bullseye rash that developed to be about 25cm diameter over about a month.

Read more: Tim Tam's Story

Hi my name is Emma and I was bitten by a paralysis tick in the Jervis Bay national park on 30th of April 2010. I began having major symptoms within 10 days and was hospitalised and tested for many virus and bacteria diseases. All results were clear and I was told it was stress related and to see a neurologist.

Read more: Emma's Story