Juan Pedro considers that medicine must incorporate other focus and the world reality in the world we live in to improve Lyme diagnosis. After seven years, this physician is remaking his life with patience and great self-care.
Juan Pedro, you are getting out of a 7-year process with Lyme. At which moment you are?
Currently, I am facing antibiotic treatment and waiting for the analytical revision results. The treatment is very intensive. I started in February. I feel fine compared to a few years ago. I also believe that it is going well because I was taking care of me starting the therapy, my body answered. If you have a healthy way of life, you can take less time recovering like it was in my case, though I needed psychologists.
Which is your actual symptomatology?
Now I am recovering and remaking my organism, not my cognitive level. There are days that at 7 o’clock I am very tired like post-infection syndrome. Lyme makes you stay months weak and can’t continue a normal life because the body needs weeks. My case has been a year-long process with many changes.
Changes, in which sense?
I felt misunderstood around me and society. They made me colon previous exams. My body hurts and this marks my entire life. Lyme commented that after the illness there is a huge change in the people. Like the way we face issues and the way of seeing life, it makes you stronger. I am happy and think that what patients in Spain need is to have an early diagnosis because surely they treat fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, or autoimmune diseases without success. Medicine publishes all these treatments with immunosuppressants and this is the case that many people go in a wheelchair, suffer an infarct, or sclerosis. We need that this disease is visible and is treated in a near way to the citizen.
You are a health professional. Why do you consider that illnesses are not treated or are unknown?
I consider that to be a question of financement and resources. It is about interests. The Covid vaccine has been a priority because it was needed to help citizens and the economy recover but, what happened to the HIV vaccine? It depends on the pharmaceutical interest. Public health is necessary, there are good professionals there, but they treat you superficially. It is needed to add other medical focuses and the reality in the world we live in. It is not like the disease’s healing from a biologistic point of view and is not complemented with the toxic world we live in now.
Complete and holistic Lyme treatments
Are you disappointed with the sanitary system?
I have worked at public health for 2 years, but now I am in the process of recovering from my illness. My dream is to work holistically taking into account the digestive system and psychoneuroimmunology. I don’t despise public health, but it would be nice if it was integrated, the patient will improve in this kind of pathology. There are pathologies that conventional medicine is adequate. I think that the sanitary system is changing and everything will be in its place. Even if it takes a long time due to the existing interests.
This holistic focus you are talking about, you knew of it due to your Lyme diagnosis?
I’ve always had this side inside my nature. I wanted to discern the background and go further. Before the Lyme diagnosis, I studied a lot because I knew there was something more. I found myself alone and homeless due to the health sector because I was seeing the public health results negative. I didn’t feel good. I reached a point of despair and said to myself “I know I’m not crazy, but I can´t stand like this anymore”.
How did you obtain your Lyme diagnosis?
I passed a study period of articles and readings. Everything led me to think I was intoxicated by heavy metals. It was there when I contacted a specialist. Since the tests, I obtained the Lyme result. I was feeling sick at least for 7 years, but I was feeling worse and worse.
What was the diagnosis at that moment?
Nothing, in theory, they didn’t give me a concrete diagnosis. All the tests were negative. They told me to stop eating gluten to receive an HIV analysis. They continued searching a few issues but they didn’t know where to continue the process. They never gave me a complete diagnosis. Anything they told me was related to how bad I was.
After all you´ve gone through, what would you comment on to other patients starting this process?
Try to find reliable sources. Don’t receive advice from anyone. You need specialists that help you with your discomfort. Make them notice that the worst thing you can make them feel is uncomprehension, which can end in desperation.
You were commenting that your neurological symptoms persist. How do you deal day to day with Lyme?
As I have that obsession for going further, meditation helped me. In my case, also being alone. There are days where you ask how you are and you don’t want to answer. On the other hand, anyone has understood that with my activity I could feel tired. This has affected my relations and what has discomforted me was talking to other people that have gone through the same.
Do you know how much treatment you have left?
What guides the evolution rhythm and the analytics is revision. Currently, I am waiting for the results. I think everything is going well, although I am feeling tired.
