Fall 2011 Camping Season in Arkansas

Me and Stella Blue

Fall had arrived and most of the organized bike rides were behind me and one of my most favorite times of the year was here! October in Arkansas! Every fall my husband and I spend as must time as possible in the Ouachita Mountains camping, fishing, hiking and just enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

It has now been almost 1 YEAR since that horrible day. The day when I received the H1N1 flu vaccination. By this time, my symptoms had gotten worse. The arthritis was no longer confined to my hands and feet.  I was now experiencing joint pain in both shoulders, elbows and hips. I wouldn't have the pain every day in all joints. Instead, it seemed to migrate to different locations at varying degrees on different days. I had all kinds of muscle pains and my husband had noted that I was also having some memory problems or "brain fog" as I've seen it described. There were days that I literally felt like an 85 year old. Or worse! And, just when I thought I couldn't tolerate the pain any longer, woof! The pain was gone. And I would go several days feeling great.

I had not stopped my research into H1N1 reactions and complications. I was CONVINCED that I had gotten a contaminated vaccine. I had scoured the internet researching sites such as the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), the Infectious Disease Society of America (ISDA), VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) and many other reputable sites. The information I had learned was extremely disturbing. It seems that reactions like mine were not uncommon; and in fact, were much  more COMMON than I had ever realized. There was ample documentation of reactions to the H1N1 both in the U.S. and abroad which resulted (and continues to result) in severe, chronic, autoimmune disorders such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Autism, Parkinson's, miscarriages, fetal demise and the list goes on. Complications are spread among all age groups. Determined to know more I came upon a name which intrigued me. Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown and a website called The Road Back Foundation.

Thomas McPherson Brown, MD and Albert Sabin (later of polio vaccine fame) worked together at the Rockefeller Institute just before World War II. Brown isolated a bacteria-like agent from the joint fluid of an arthritic woman and speculated that it might be the infectious trigger for her disease. The bug in question, then generically classified as an L-form, was too small to identify precisely, but with the advent of electron microscopy it was shown to be a class of cell-wall-deficient organisms which scientists named mycoplasma, for watery fungus. Mycoplasma is ubiquitous and not at all easy to get rid of, but Brown found that it usually could be controlled by long-term, low-level doses of tetracycline. As that class of antibiotic evolved, he got even better results with the second and third generation, doxycycline and minocycline. Up to then, the only treatments for the various forms of inflammatory arthritis were for the symptoms, and this was the first credible therapy aimed at a probable cause.

Could this be what I have been searching for? Could this possibly be an explaination as to the CAUSE for what was happening to me?

And you still ask "What does this all have to do with Lymes Disease?" I won't string you along any further......