List of the most popular hashtags for theme #CHRONICLYME

How did I end up in a wheelchair from a bite? There was so much coverage all over the media yesterday bc there’s been a new study published which found rapidly increases rates of Lyme diagnosis in the UK so I thought I would share my story ⁣ ⁣ I don’t ever remember being bitten. I don’t ever remember a rash (only 30% of people get the bulls-eye rash if they get Lyme from a tick). You can also get Lyme from horseflies / mosquitos / fleas / spiders (anything that can bite). ⁣I don’t know what bit me or where it was. ⁣ I first got symptoms about age 11-12 (almost 15 years ago) - cognitive at first - problems with reading / writing / concentrating / memory loss / confusion. Then at age 13 I got the HPV vaccine which debilitated my immune system & caused the Lyme to get worse - this is when I developed fatigue.⁣ ⁣ Age 15 I had glandular fever & swine flu which made everything worse - the symptoms of those viruses never went away (sore throat / swollen glands / muscle pain). At 17 I had a ski accident & car crash with head & neck injuries which made everything worse + I developed a lot of head / neck symptoms.⁣ On top of all that throughout my teenage years I experienced a lot of psychological trauma which put my body into a state where it could never recover from anything (infections / injury etc)⁣ ⁣ By my early 20s I was completely bedridden - paralysed of the arms & legs. I didn’t leave my bedroom for 7 months or my house for 11 months. I had blackout blinds / no light for that entire time + couldn’t tolerate any noise or cognitively have any communication. I couldn’t be touched by clothes or bed sheets because I was in so much pain and was about to be put on a tube to be fed because I couldn’t even manage the puréed foods my mum used to spoon feed me. Once every two weeks I was carried from the bed a couple of metres to the bath to be washed / changed pyjamas then back to bed. This was my routine for 7 months.⁣ ⁣ Thankfully I found Breakspear medical a private clinic in Hertfordshire who suspected Lyme, tested me for it (positive) + where I’ve been treated the last 3 years. I have made enormous progress but I still have over 50 different symptoms a day!

over here feeling like the ultimate warrior. spiritual warrior, healing warrior, and most of all- #LYMEWARRIOR. i don’t share my healing journey to complain or evoke sympathy or “for the likes.” i share to inspire, educate, and create a sense of community on these little pixelated screens. connecting on here over the last 6+ years, but especially the last 2 that i’ve been sick, has been a light on my darkest days. this community lifts me up and supports and teaches me so much on a daily basis. i am still dumbfounded (beyond) by @nymag writing slanderously about lyme patients and the “pride” with which we share our “#lymewarrior content.” so @thecut, i would say this one is for you- because i am damn proud of my second intensive surgery for lyme disease. (the first of which i’m still recovering from almost a year later.) but i can’t say it’s for you because it’s not. ‍♀️ it’s for me, my fellow lyme warriors, and my non-lyme community on here who empowers one another and are open to education and growth beyond what they’ve personally experienced. i have so much love in my heart for each and every one of you. thank you for making the internet “home” for me for all of these years, and through the darkness too. #lymedisease #lymediseaseawareness #chroniclyme

For years I’d been told by doctors that my lengthy list of conditions were “incurable,” “lifelong,” “progressive” and mostly in my head. . According to plenty of Docs, all I could do was take a bunch of prescriptions everyday for the rest of my life without any hope of actual healing. Now, I’m all for medication if it works. But it wasn’t working for me. I kept getting sicker. . I started to feel really hopeless. Desperate, I looked into what I could do to support my health with diet and lifestyle changes. Once I started connecting with others in the Lyme, autoimmune and chronic illness communities I saw that others were not only healing but THRIVING. And I figured if they could do, so could I. . I found a Dr who supported me in using a holistic approach to healing that included things like diet, lifestyle, mindset, detox and emotional healing. I underwent intensive protocols for healing Lyme that were primarily natural, but also included medication when needed. . That was several years ago and guess what? The holistic approach worked for me. Turns out the folks who told me I couldn’t heal were WRONG: wrong about my prognosis and wrong to doubt me! . This is why hope is so important. Especially when we’ve been told and/or lead to believe that our situation is hopeless. . Cuz trust me, it’s not. Far from it. No matter how sick you are, or how long you’ve been sick, I truly believe HEALING IS POSSIBLE. ✨ . Can you relate to what I went through? Do you believe you can heal? Let’s chat . Xx Kat . . . . #autoimmunedisease #autoimmuneprotocol #autoimmunepaleo #aippaleo #chronicallyill #undiagnosed #lymedisease #chroniclyme #cfs #healinghappens #indiecomics #webcomics #holistichealing #butyoudontlooksick #aipdiet #ebv #comicsofinstagram

I am so proud to be a part of @TheYaSisters campaign to #MakeInvisibleVisible!! Just because a disease isn’t easily seen doesn’t make it any less real. From mental health to autoimmune disorders to diseases like Lyme, invisible illnesses are often just swept under the rug & not talked about, leaving those who suffer feeling like they’re the only ones. But the more I’ve opened up about my own story with anxiety and hypothyroidism, the more I realized how many people around me are battling invisible illnesses, too. Let’s not be invisible anymore. ⠀ Check out @TheYaSisters and the #MakeInvisibleVisible hashtag for more stories of invisible illness & how you can get involved! And always be kind — you never know what battles someone is fighting. #ii

Up, dressed AND have clean hair - the first time that has happened since January! Felt like a “normal” human being for a few fleeting moments. Small wins. Small wins.

yesterday en route to the periodontist to talk about getting lyme outta my mouth! this is a specialized field of dentistry related to the bone & nerves around your teeth. ‍♀️ the things you learn when you have lyme disease! after meeting with the wonderful @drsanda & getting an X-ray, i learned that all four areas from my wisdom teeth removal 10+ years ago are infected and toxic. meaning... lyme, parasites, and more can be living in those little crevices. there were also tiny holes in my jaw bone from these toxins, HENCE THE DEBILITATING JAW PAIN i have had for the last few months. those holes in the jaw bone are called cavitations. diff from cavities (never had one ), cavitations are the result of a pulled tooth not healing properly. i mean, can you even believe that lyme, parasites, and other toxins can live in our mouths?!?! i am so, so happy to say that i will be having oral surgery on july 30 to get these cavitations healed. this is an important step in the healing puzzle for those of us with chronic lyme disease. find yourself a holistic, biological dentist in your area if you think you’re in the same boat. i’ll be blogging + videoing my whole journey for you guys, and doing a podcast with my periodontist to answer all q’s. TIME TO HEAL. ✨ #soulonfire #lymedisease #chroniclymedisease #lymediseaseawareness

#BIGLITTLELIES // it took my years to come clean about my #chroniclyme - and there are so many reasons why. A lot of them had to do with work - I didn’t want my coworkers or potential future bosses to see me as “weak” or undesirable, something I realize is crazy now. But working in the really high pressure environment that is advertising in Manhattan screwed me in a way bigger way. I was so caught up in the rat race of NYC that I never slowed down enough to acknowledge how sick I was. I would literally have seizures and then walk right into a pitch meeting - and think nothing of it! I can’t even remember the number of times I said “I’m fine” and couldn’t have meant it less. These days I’m out of the career game (I haven’t been able to work since 2016) and I can see that in this small way, #lymedisease has been a blessing for me. I got out of a career that I disliked and now I’m dreaming new dreams for my future. What lies do you tell? Or more optimistically, what silver linings have you seen come from your #chrillness (chronic illness)? I love you.

Pondering what it would feel like to eat gluten and not bloat. . . . #splashoflyme #lymedisease #potsie #mecfs #fibromyalgia #fibro #fibromyalgiawarrior #chroniclyme #lymedontkillmyvibe #chronicfatiguesyndrome #bloating #bloatingproblems #lymeproblems #chronicillnessblogger #chronicillnesswarrior #mountains #natures #womeninnature #celiacdisease #glutenfree #noglutennoproblem #wellnessjourney #lakeviews #mountainviews #gluten #glutenfreelifestyle #vacationinthemountains #vacationmode

Happy #WellnessWednesday Today I'm off to try a new treatment called Ozone Therapy. It's used as an alternative therapy to improve the body's intake and use of oxygen. It helps to disinfect the body of Lyme, mold exposure, and other pathogens, like viruses, and protozoa. If you're new to the chronic illness world, those are all things that make and keep us sick! So, I'm about to go blast them with ozone I'm a little nervous because it's my first time and sometimes people feel worse before they feel better (aka herxing). Wish me luck! Anyone here ever tried it Loving this bright orange top to keep me cheery during this neverending rain spell we're having. . . Shop this look by downloading the FREE LIKEtoKNOW.IT app in the app store! Just search for and follow me and you can shop all of my looks in one place! You can even save your favorites for later! OR, click the link in the bio and click "Shop My Instagram". . . http://liketk.it/2CFL8 @liketoknow.it #liketkit #LTKunder50 #LTKunder100 #LTKitbag #LTKshoecrush #LTKstyletip