Regarding Women of a Certain Age

Outcomes in Cases of Chronic Disseminated Lyme Disease for Three Infected Physicians, Described in Their Own Essays, Published in Peer Reviewed Journals

Virginia T. Sherr, MD
13th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Disorders
Emphasis: Pediatrics & New Research
Hartford Marriott Farmington, CT 24–-26 March 2000

In 1972, a Swedish pediatric neurologist, 46-year-old Dr. Ingrid Gamstorp, noticed generalized fatigue and paresthesias predominately in her left hand. Through the ensuing years, she developed serious balance problems, loss of fine sensation in both hands, multiple muscle pains, deep aches, weight loss, and painful feet. Colleagues dismissed her distress as being the Swedish equivalent of a “tenderfoot."

She began on a endless cycle of trips to doctors, each examining her and referring her on to another for new tests while suggesting stress as the likely cause. She became depressed and contemplated suicide. She was subjected to comments like: “You should know how it is for women of your age. You should just live with it!”

Sixteen years later, a friend noticed her blue hands and suggested Lyme disease, confirmed it with blood tests, started her on IV penicillin, then oral penicillin, then oral tetracycline and finally IV cephalosporin. These nine weeks total of antibiotics stopped the progress of her symptoms and gave her tremendous relief from the burden of being underdiagnosed, untreated and trivialized. However, neurological damage due to long-term, untreated and then partially treated infection left her disabled enough during her last nine years of work that she was forced to retire early.

She said that while the infection was important to her, it “meant a lot to Swedish child neurology, which lost its only professorship at my retirement. Never pat women on the shoulder and say, 'You know, women of your age.."

Her article is:
Lyme Borreliosis from a Patient's View-point
Scand J Infect Dis Suppl. 1991;77:15-6.
Gamstorp I.
Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.

The paper describes my own case of Lyme borreliosis, thus from the patient's point of view, stressing the clues which might have led to an earlier diagnosis. Intense antibiotic treatment is of value, also when given first some 15 years after the probable time of the infection, as, at least in my case, it stopped the progress of all symptoms and removed some of them, particularly muscle pains and skin abnormalities. Long-standing, well-established neurological symptoms, however, remain unchanged, but their previous slow, steady progress has stopped. The diagnosis is in itself valuable, as it is a relief to know what is behind the complaints.

PMID: 1947805